Automatic Product Documentation for Machine Tools [May 2012]

By admin May 28, 2012 5:55 am IST

Tool manufacturers can now automatically create dimensioned engineering drawings of machine tools showing their precise geometry, by using a new facility for NUM’s renowned NUMROTO grinding software. By producing cross-sectional views of a tool – at any position along its length – the new NUMROTO Draw function can effectively automate production verification. The drawings can also incorporate images obtained directly from 3D simulation of a tool, enabling even complex grinding details to be portrayed graphically and unequivocally.
NUMROTO Draw is ideal for tool manufacturers seeking a means of showing customers precise details of tools prior to production, or of confirming the ground geometry of a tool as part of the delivery process. The software is also likely to prove popular with tool resharpening companies, as it enables them to provide customers with documented confirmation of work, either before or after it has been carried out.
Most product documentation software packages for multi-axis tool grinding that are currently on the market take the form of relatively simple drawing generators. They are generally limited to a single type of tool, such as a drill, and present information as parameterised drawings. Whilst these are adequate for documenting the outer geometry of a tool, they are not suitable for showing the precise cross-sectional details of a complex ground geometry.
NUMROTO Draw overcomes these limitations through tight integration with the core NUMROTO software, which provides a wealth of data sources. The drawing is derived directly from the same data source as the CNC program, ensuring there is no ambiguity in the process. Using data that defines the spatial course of the tool’s cutting edge, the software automatically calculates all dimensions that require presentation and then generates the appropriate drawing. If any of the dimensions do not meet a customer’s requirement, they can be amended very easily.
Provided that the NUMROTO program also includes the grinding wheel data, NUMROTO Draw can process this information to create 3D details and integrate them with the drawing. The 3D details can be represented as colour images or as wire frame models, and provide an extremely accurate portrayal of the tool’s profile or cross sectional geometry between or at any position(s) along its length.

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