Rotary table specialist PL Lehmann is looking forward to welcoming customers on Stand 28 in hall 17 at MACH 2020 (Birmingham NEC, 20-24 April). Since 2018, the company has been directly represented in the UK and Ireland with sales and services. PL Lehmann prides itself on close relationships with partners from the machine-tool industry. Indeed, its scope of supply for rotary tables allows interface with most vertical machining centres and grinding machines.

The compact Lehmann rotary tables show their advantages by being light in weight and small in footprint, but strong when it comes to clamping torque and load weight. These attributes means users can still use quite a bit of space on their machine tables for three-axis operations as room remains for additional vices.
Lehmann’s modular system is based on four sizes of rotary table, which are expanded by a building kit to create customer solutions. With a clamping torque range of 250 to 5000 Nm, spindle load capacity between 17 and 1600 kg, speed from 40 to 300 rpm, and accuracy of 2 arc-sec, the company says its rotary tables are in a class of their own.
The range also permits the creation of different fourth-axis solutions with up to four spindles, tailstocks and counter bearings, as well as a five-axis solution featuring a strong and precise rotating and tilting axis. In addition, the modular systems allow a direct encoder and special labyrinth sealing for grinding applications.
For further information www.lehmann-rotary-tables.com

The products of Roemheld Rivi, a manufacturer of magnetic clamping plates for securing dies and moulds, are now available in the UK through the Hitchin headquarters of Roemheld UK.

Solutions from Roemheld Rivi are deployed not only in the plastics sector, but in the rubber industry. It is the only magnetic die-clamping company to have the technology to operate in the rubber sector due to the ability
of its M-TECS series plates to withstand temperatures up to 240°C.
Dies and moulds made from ferromagnetic materials can be clamped and subsequently released over their full surface area, while high plate stiffness resists bending. The systems work without electrical power and require only a short current pulse lasting a few seconds to activate and deactivate the magnets.
Permanent magnets generate a field that penetrates a few millimetres into the tool and hold even heavy mould halves weighing several tons in the correct position, bringing them together absolutely parallel. Even moulds with complex geometries can be precisely clamped without deformation, while uniform distribution of the clamping force ensures low die wear.
Every magnetic clamping system is customised by Roemheld Rivi using standardised components and is virtually maintenance-free. Solutions can be configured flexibly with regard to size, geometry, clamping force and fittings, and are available on short delivery times. The systems can generally be retrofitted to existing machines within just a few hours.
Roemheld Rivi is currently forming a new network comprising 15 service locations throughout Europe and one each in the USA, China and Japan. Intensively trained Roemheld Rivi engineers will provide enhanced support for customers in their native languages, and each centre will have access to replacement parts to speed service and support.
For further information www.roemheld.co.uk

Schunk’s new design and selection tool for gripping modules simplifies and accelerates the engineering of handling systems. Just a few details about the gripper type, workpiece and gripping application are enough for the system to output the right modules from Schunk’s gripping component range.

Next to corresponding gripper types appears extensive technical information, drawings and images. The hit list comprises details on the respective utilisation ratio and utilisation reason. Schunk’s tool makes it possible to take advantage of individual grippers, while preventing costly oversizing. In addition, the calculation and design process is considerably faster. Intelligent logarithms enable targeted pre-selection of components which might not otherwise have been considered by the designer or systems planner as a viable solution for the application.
Both the hit list and the individual information can be saved, meaning that complete documentation and archiving of the design, as well as recalculation of the modified information, are possible. Data can be always retrieved for follow-up projects.
The intuitive, HTML-based tool considers around 2550 Schunk grippers and is always up to date with respect to the gripper types and technical data. As a result, designs will always be based on current information.
For further information www.gb.schunk.com

After many years of providing Lang five-axis work holding and automation systems through a UK agent, Lang Technik UK has been established to support both existing and potential customers. By way of official introduction, the company will be present at MACH 2020 (Birmingham NEC, 20-24 April) on Stand 40 in Hall 17, where product demonstrations will take place.

Several work-holding systems will be on show, including Makro Grip, the company’s original form-closure technology that provides high holding power for five-face machining. Makro Grip uses pre-stamping, a technology developed by Lang, where the workpiece is stamped outside of the machine tool with up to 20 tons of pressure before being clamped in the vice. Components requiring high holding power, but which might also be prone to deformation, can be securely clamped using this process. In short, the pre-stamping process eliminates the need for the vice to exert unnecessary pressure on the workpiece, resulting in improved surface finish and accuracy.
Another system being demonstrated will be Lang Technik’s Quick-Point system. Quick-Point acts as an interface between the machine table and clamping device, and is offered in a range of variants. For instance the system is available in round, rectangular or square plates, for single or multiple clamping, and can be used in vertical and horizontal machining centres, on three- and five-axis tables, and on fourth-axis rotary or trunnion systems. The attachment of the zero-point plate to the machine table or faceplate is achieved through the use of a prefabricated hole patterns for common T-slot distances, bore patterns and bolt circles, or individual, customised mounting options.
“Although we have many competitors and imitators, Lang Technik is the original and remains at the cutting-edge of work-holding design and manufacture,” says Lang Technik UK director Gareth Barnett. “Our engineers have many years of experience in applications related to work holding. In addition, we are proud to be backed by the engineering, design and product knowledge of Lang Technik Germany.”
For further information www.lang-technik.co.uk

Productivity can quickly plummet without the freedom of alternately turning workpieces with large and small diameters. Tool specialist LMT Fette, based in Schwarzenbek, Germany, has tackled this challenge by converting a universal lathe into a solution that drastically reduces set-up times. The solution combines Schunk quick-change jaw and chuck technologies, so that even rush orders from other business units can be incorporated during production without impacting on the company’s overall performance.

When Thomas Frankenberger, machine operator at LMT Fette, recalls the strength it took to change lathe chucks in the past, you can still see the stress on his face: “Exact positioning was always an art when you had a 500 mm lathe chuck weighing 220 kg.”
Even with two people, it was a challenge to screw the lathe chuck on to the fine-threaded draw tube. “If you were off by as little as 0.5 mm, it wouldn’t work,” says the experienced operator.
Forcing the screw would ruin the thread, which would spell big trouble. In extreme cases, the draw tube would have to be elaborately re-machined with the thread restorer. “In the past, every time you changed the chuck it would require time, manpower, instinct, experience and physical strength,” says Frankenberger. “Now that we’re using the Schunk quick-change chuck system, I can easily change the chuck by myself with much less effort and far less risk of accidents. It used to take 45 to 60 minutes, sometimes with two colleagues, but now it takes just 15 minutes to do a complete chuck change with only one operator, including all secondary tasks such as cleaning, oiling and storing the second lathe chuck.”
Instead of using multiple fastening screws, the patented Schunk Rota FSW quick-change chuck system is reliably released and locked with a single clamping screw.
For further information www.schunk.com