LVD launches advanced bending cell

LVD used the recent Blechexpo towards the end of 2021 to introduce a new bending cell that requires no robot teaching. The new Ulti-Form robotic bending cell keeps bending productivity at its peak, handling short and long production runs efficiently, says the company. The innovation was nominated for the Blechexpo Award 2021.

According to LVD, Ulti-Form offers a fast ‘art to part’ process based upon the company’s programming software. CADMAN-B automatically calculates the optimal bend program and imports all bending data into the robot software CADMAN-SIM. Notably, no robot teaching is required. CADMAN-SIM automatically calculates gripper positions, generating the fastest collision-free path for the robot before feeding the information back to CADMAN-B, enabling the operator to work with just one program.

LVD’s auto-adapting gripper accommodates a number of part geometries, automatically adjusting to workpiece size. This smart design saves investment in different grippers and gripper changeover time.

Ulti-Form features a 135-tonne automated tool-changing press brake with built-in tooling warehouse integrated with an industrial robot. The cell handles parts from 50 x 100 mm, up to 1200 x 800 mm, and weighing up to 25 kg.

Equipped with LVD’s Easy-Form laser-adaptive bending system, LVD says that Ulti-Form guarantees angle accuracy, ensuring consistently accurate bending results.

LVD also took the opportunity at Blechexpo to demonstrate the Phoenix FL-3015 fibre laser cutting machine with new 20 kW power source, as well as the updated CADMAN v8.7, a software suite designed to empower the smart factory.

For further information
www.lvdgroup.com

All roads lead south

Southern Manufacturing 2022 takes place this week on 8-10 February. From modest beginnings as a regional event, Southern Manufacturing has evolved into a fully-fledged national show, with increasing influence across continental Europe and further afield. In 2018, the event entered its third decade with a move into its new permanent home, the £35m Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre, a 20,000m sq m complex offering world-class facilities, easy access and free onsite parking.

Although the event is important enough to attract big name manufacturers, it is also an extremely accessible show for the rich eco-system of engineering SMEs operating across the UK, and increasingly, mainland Europe. As usual, MTI magazine will be present at the show. From Stand G230, passing visitors can pick up a copy of our show issue, or call in to learn more about the industry’s easiest way to buy and sell machine tools.

For further information
www.industrysouth.co.uk

Lots to see from XYZ at MACH

On stand 130 in hall 18, XYZ Machine Tools will use MACH 2022 (4-8 April, Birmingham NEC) to shine the spotlight on its new XYZ SS 65 sub-spindle lathe, a first for the company and one it says is generating lots of interest due to its capability and competitive pricing.

Introduced due to demand from customers seeking increased productivity and reduced spindle downtime, the XYZ SS 65 features a 16.5 kW, 4000 rpm main spindle with 65 mm bar capacity and a 200 mm diameter chuck as standard, as well as an 11 kW, 5000 rpm sub-spindle with 52 mm bore and 150 mm chuck.

The German-built Sauter 12-position turret has live tooling at every station, with 100 mm (±50 mm) Y-axis travel. The C axis on both spindle facilitates contouring, with each featuring a brake to allow substantial milling cuts. Maximum turned diameter is 380 mm and the Z-axis travel is 520 mm, while control is via the Siemens 828D ShopTurn with 15-inch touchscreen.

Also making its MACH debut will be the XYZ ProTurn RLX 780 lathe. Although not new to the range, the sheer scale of this machine has precluded it from appearing previously. Weighing in at 8600 kg, the machine features a swing over the bed of 780 mm (1090 mm in the gap) and a distance between centres of 3000 mm.

A 32 kW motor powers the spindle with the gearbox providing two speed ranges from 20 to 1300 rpm. Control is from the latest RLX ProtoTRAK system with touchscreen interface. Software features include gesture control; constant surface speed; electronic hand wheels to generate tapers, radii and fillets manually; enhanced ProtoTRAK assistant for on-board help at the touch of the screen; and the TRAKing feature.

For further information
www.xyzmachinetools.com

Volatile year 10% up on 2020

The latest Contract Manufacturing Index shows that 2021 was a volatile year for the subcontract market with large dips in May and September but strong peaks in August and November. Overall though, the result was good, with the market 10% higher on average than the previous year. The final quarter showed the traditional year-end slump, compounded by supply chain issues, but nevertheless, with a CMI of 110 it was only down 6% on the previous quarter and 64% up on the same period in the previous year. Across 2021, the strongest market sector was industrial machinery.

For further information
www.qimtek.co.uk

Holding single-figure micron accuracy

The first new machine acquired by Rugby-based subcontractor Technoset since the onset of the pandemic is a twin-spindle Cincom M32-VIIILFV sliding-head turn-mill centre from Citizen Machinery UK. Replacing two smaller M12 and M16 Cincoms that were about 20 years old, the machine joins a previous-generation M32-VIII bought in 2017. There are also eight twin-spindle, fixed-head Miyano bar-fed lathes on-site from the same supplier for the turning and milling of components from stock up to 64 mm in diameter.

A primary reason for acquiring the latest M32 was a need to machine complex telecoms components, in particular a family of 12 mainly aluminium connector parts for use in the defence industry. Many of them are complex, with a lot of milled detail and drawing tolerances below 10 µm.

Technoset can achieve that level of accuracy reliably, even when running lights-out, partly because the lathe incorporates Citizen’s LFV (low-frequency vibration) software in the Mitsubishi control’s operating system. It is possible to call up variants of the LFV function automatically in any part program to break what would normally be stringy swarf into manageable chips.

Says Technoset’s managing director Kevan Kane: “Citizen Machinery’s M32 sliding-head lathe has been the most important contributor to Technoset’s business since we bought our first one in 2000. Something that has surprised me is the speed with which the machine technology has advanced, resulting in a step-change in performance.”

Improvements to the turning centre include 1.5 times faster live tools powered by a 2.2 kW motor and a programmable, 9000 rpm B axis to enable simultaneous machining in five CNC axes rather than four. Combined with the back tool post, whose Y axis now has adjustable-angle tooling, it enables faster production of more complex parts.

For further information
www.citizenmachinery.co.uk