A CNC conversion project carried out on two Morando vertical boring machines has increased productivity by 60%, improved machine reliability, simplified servicing and introduced self-diganostics.

CNC update on borers raises productivity A CNC conversion project carried out on two Morando vertical boring machines has increased productivity by 60% improved machine reliability and simplified servicing. CNC Design has completed in 2003 and 2004 the CNC conversion project of two re-engineered Morando Vertical Borers, for a steel manufacturing company in New South Wales, Australia. The machine type is a vertical borer, manufactured by Morando, Italy in 1970.

It is installed at manufacturing workshop for the profiling and machining of wheel sets for wagons and locomotives.

Originally the machine was a conventional vertical borer used for machining of rolling stock wheels, for which a profile was generated using a template copying attachment.

This machine had been re-engineered and refurbished by Acumat Australia Pty in 2003.

In this process significant sections of the machine had been re-assembled with components and systems of new design providing an upgrade of previous functions and completely new capabilities.

The major engineering conversion is in CNC equipment, replacing the previous mechanical copying functions.

CNC Design was responsible for the complete supply, installation and commissioning of new Siemens Sinumerik 840Di CNC system controlling one 88kW main drive (6RA70 drive and original DC motor) and 6 feed axis motors (1FK7 with integrated Alpha Gearbox).

Maximum benefits have been iinstilled into the machine are: * Increased productivity by 60%.

* Improved machine reliability, ease of servicing, self diagnostics.

* Improved surface machining finish.

* Fewer broken tools.

* User-friendly interface for operation.

Through the proven in-house experiences in wheel lathe automation technology, CNC Design had successfully integrated 3-channel machining, all in the same time.

Now simultaneous machining of the one wheel with three tool slide pairs is possible.

Each slide is driven by a separate ballscrew and AC servo motor.

This project enabled the customer to achieve the capability, life and productivity of a new machine for approximately 50% of the cost.