Top efficiency rating in large volume gearbox production

September 22, 2014 5:59 pm

VT 4-4 vertical turning machine from EMAG delivers top efficiency levels in large volume gearbox production
 The market is growing and competition intensifies. The supply industry is facing increased competition from new players on the emerging markets. A closer look at the profitability of production sites might help to face increased competition in supply industry.
Component production must become faster, deliver greater precision and show a greater degree of economic viability. What the relevant production solutions should be like, becomes apparent with a closer look at the new vertical turning machine VT 4-4 developed by the turning specialists at EMAG. This machine delivers top efficiency levels in large volume gearbox production.  For a number of reasons, the production of drive and gear shafts represents a very specific key task in the manufacture of automobiles. For one, many of their components are of a very detailed and highly complex geometry, on which so much depends. For instance, high-precision gearings ensure a highly effective torque transmission within the gearbox, whilst high-precision shoulders and grooves guarantee the safe connectivity of components. The efficiency of the powertrain as a whole depends to a large degree on the functionality of their shafts. And these highly complex components must be produced in their millions – quickly and at the greatest precision. On completion of the central turning work the shaft should ideally display a geometry that is as close to its final contour as possible. The tolerances production planners are looking for in this respect are in the micrometre range.
How can these high-performance requirements be reconciled? The turning specialists at EMAG have been focusing on this particular question for decades. The machine builder’s development team creates tailor-made, highly innovative manufacturing solutions for the production of shaft-type components. Their vertical, 4-axis shaft turning machine VT 4-4 in particular follows this tradition. It opens up new potentials in the machining of components of a maximum length of 1,050 mm and a maximum diameter of 200 mm:
Simultaneous: Machining is carried out in 4 axes at a maximum speed of 4,500 rpm. The process employs two turrets with twelve tool stations each, equipped with turning tools or driven tools (with one station reserved for the gripper). Automated: Workpiece grippers move the raw-parts to the machining area and remove the finished components, i.e. whilst one gripper inserts a new raw-part into the machine, the other gripper removes the finished component from it.
A reduction in unit costs is guaranteed“This principle offers a great step up in performance in the production of shafts – especially in an environment that deals with large component volumes“, explains Dr Guido Hegener, Managing Director of EMAG Maschinenfabrik GmbH. “Owing to the fast workpiece changeovers and the powerful machining in four axes cycle times are very short. In combination a simple automation system, this ensures that the unit costs are kept to a minimum. This is of great benefit to the user. “In its standard execution, the machine is equipped with two space-saving, recirculating conveyors that accommodate up to 28 raw-parts and 28 finished components respectively. Transfer and turnover units or robots ensure that a number of VT machines can be linked up cost-effectively and with great ease.

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