Bar turning centres have robotic arm unloader
Bar turning centres have robotic arm unloader
Highly productive, one-hit mill-turning of complex components can be performed on the new Biglia B745 Y3 and B765 Y3 14-axis CNC lathes, which are capable of processing bar up to 45 mm and 65 mm diameter respectively.
The appearance of the larger machine at MACH 2008 on the stand of sole UK agent, Whitehouse Machine Tools, marked the UK launch of these Italian-built machines.
Both lathes are equipped with a full C-axis on the main and counter spindles, which are rated at 15 kW / 5,000 rpm except for the main drive on the larger machine, which is 26 kW / 4,000 rpm.
Three Y-axis turrets accommodate up to 50 tools, 36 of them driven at up to 4,000 rpm by a 3.7 kW motor. Each turret has 85 mm of Y-axis movement in addition to its X and Z travels. The cross feed allows features to be machined off the centreline of the component, both along its length and on either face.
The ability to have three tools in cut simultaneously results in very fast cycle times.
To cope with the high production output from the machines, an integrated CNC unloading arm removes finished components from either the main or counters spindle automatically, provided that the parts have been machined from bar.
This allows long periods of unmanned running. The gripper cannot, however, be used for handling parts up to 250 mm that have been chucked.
Promoting high machining accuracy is the sheer weight of the machines at around 9.5 tonnes, including swarf conveyor. The structure of the cast iron bed assures rigidity and stability under heavy cutting conditions. Despite the machines’ size, the footprint is compact at 4.3 m x 2.1 m.