Heralded as a smart new clamping technology solution for everyday work, the innovative pneumatic arbor holder from Hermle AG for the C 30, C 40, and C 42 CNC machining centers offers outstanding machining benefits for the customer.
Keeping in mind the concept "better machining and improved performance for the customer," design engineers at Maschinenfabrik Berthold Hermle AG are constantly enhancing the company's machining technology. This applies not only to the universal and 5-axis CNC machining centers, but also the company's automation technology, which includes pallet changers, pallet and workpiece magazines, additional tool magazines as well as handling and robot systems. Hermle-Leibinger Systemtechnik GmbH (HLS for short), which is a subsidiary of Hermle AG, is responsible for automation technology, thus ensuring that complete production solutions come from one source. The automation specialists from HLS deal not only with handling and material flow equipment, but also with innovative clamping technology as a basis for lean process solutions.
The company's most recent development is a pneumatic arbor holder that is very easy to install on the machine table (A axis) and can perfectly clamp workpieces like shafts or even long and narrow medical equipment parts, turbine blades and impellers as well, not to mention optimally positioning them. The pneumatic arbor holder is designed to be mounted on the C 30, C 40 und C 42 model CNC machining centers and can be used for clamping with a pin or a bushing (can be changed manually). The entire opening stroke or traverse range of the arbor holder is 240 mm and can be individually adjusted/positioned between 0 to 240 mm by the machine control unit with a repeat accuracy of +/- 1 mm. Moreover, the set pressure on the pin can be finely adjusted via the machine control unit.
Using the C 30 U as an example of a CNC high performance machining center where the distance between the table surface and the tip is about 440 mm, in an off-center and max. extended state, it becomes apparent that the max. workpiece length to be machined in the Y axis (if A axis position -90°is used) remains the same at 440 mm; and, unless there are possible add-ons for clamping the workpiece, no restrictions have to be taken into consideration.
With a "C 30-centered" machine bed, an A axis position of -90° consequently reduces the available Y axis dimension and the set-up of the arbor holder additionally limits the A axis swivel range to the -100° to 25° range. Using a pneumatic rotational indexing device, the positions -90°, 0° and 90° can be achieved which makes it possible to clamp or reinforce the respective workpiece with the tip or with the bushing.
For example, this means that workpieces with an 80 mm diameter and a 440 mm length (A axis swivels by 90°) between the tip and the clamping fixture on the NC rotary table (C axis) can be machined along the complete length. On the other hand, if it is a less "inherently stable" workpiece, such as a shaft with a 30 mm diameter and 440 mm length, this is clamped into the clamping fixture of the NC rotary table (C axis) and precisely guided and supported in the bushing. In the A axis 0° loading position, workpieces can be simply inserted into the clamping fixture and, by quickly changing the bushing manually, without any downtimes even if the workpiece has a different diameter.