Automation comes as a standard part of the package with the Hardinge EMAG VL Pick-Up Spindle Lathes, as do a chip conveyor and air filtration unit, all at less than GBP 75,000 for a 16kW, 7,500 rpm spindle, linear scale feedback and much much more. The same 60m/min in the X-axis and 30m/min in the Z-axis slide movements, and workholding system, are used to pick up the raw part and replace the machined part, as are also used to do the machining. This integrated design for loading and machining, immediately eliminates the need for separate slides, controls and drives for the automation, as well as the special grippers required with most other autoload / unload systems for lathes.
The ultra short travel distance from the working area to the pick up point on the VL3 and VL5 machines from Hardinge EMAG provide the opportunity to produce chip to chip part change over times from 4 - 5 seconds, - quicker than most bespoke automation systems on horizontal spindle lathes.
The provision of autoloading for any currently hand loaded CNC turning operation, releases the machine operator to do additional useful work, while the machine is operating at 100% efficiency for as long as there are raw parts on the table.
For stable round parts as raw materials, there is no adaptation at all required to change over from one operation to another, as the VL is programmed to pick up different heights and diameters of parts as a feature of the machine set up.
The standard loading prisms supplied with the VL machines are used to position the parts at the pick up position ready for machining, and carry the finished parts away for the operator to unload at suitable intervals.
VL's have been most successfully employed on a wide range of applications from 8 second machining cycle, single feature hard turning operations, through to 4 or 5 minute soft turning operations on sawn billets or castings.
The cardanic (multi-gimballed ) plate at the VL pick up station automatically compensates for unmachined or non-square faces on the work pieces and ensures an accurate and repeatable location in the workholding device.
Automation used to be the preserve of high volume production, but with the advent of the lean VL concept of integrated automation, any repeating batches of work in lot sizes of 50 or more, can quite reasonably be produced with all of the benefits of autoloading.