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The Recontrol and Recertification Project
This project started out as a stock machine for MTB,
however, once Fairfield Mfg. and Graziano Transmissioni of Italy became
interested, the project evolved into a serious effort to prepare our first
machine for delivery to a foreign country. We put in the extra effort to
insure that the machine we delivered would not require installation and
training after installation. And this proved to be an excellent decision,
since we have not dispatched an engineer to Italy since the machine has
arrived. It has been running flawlessly ever since.
At the start of the recontrol project the machine was
configured with the original Fellows control system, and hydraulic unit.
Both were showing significant signs of age, and had become a chronic
maintenance headaches. Replacement parts were no longer available easily,
and finding qualified personnel to repair the equipment was equally
difficult to achieve. So the decision was made to replace the systems
entirely.
As part of the recontrol project Machine Tool Builders
designed and manufactured a completely new electrical cabinet and hydraulic
unit at our facility. We engineered and manufactured the mechanical
adaptations required to convert the machine from a mechanical shaper into a
fully numerically controlled machine. All these pre-manufactured items were
then assembled at our facility.
New Hydraulic System
The new hydraulic system Machine Tool Builders designed
and delivered, contained all new components of the latest design, with full
warranties and readily available through local vendors, thus assuring many
years of trouble free operation.
New Electrical Cabinet
The original electrical cabinet was removed in it’s
entirety and replaced with a totally new one, designed and manufactured at
our facility. All of the cabling to and from the machine was replaced in
the process.
The new control system was
centered around a NUM Power 1040 CNC. We chose Indramat Ecodrive servos
coupled with Indramat MHD motors and SSI encoders because of their
performance and reliability. This combination of controls was extremely cost
efficient, offered short lead times and was very easy to implement, which
translated into savings for the customer.
Mechanical Conversion
Since the original machine was mainly mechanical, there
was a significant amount of mechanical modification required to complete the
CNC conversion. Among the most extensive modifications was the addition of a
servo motor, ball screw and automatic clamping system for the stroke length
adjustment. Additional mechanical changes included installing servo motors
to the stroke elevation, radial axis, stroke drive, table and cutter
rotation.
Mechanical
Recertification
Both during the recontrol phase and after the
machine was under power, the recertification process was also in progress.
Our recertification program includes the inspection and repair if necessary
all the major components within the machine. The machine alignments are
checked against the manufacturers standards, and corrected if required. The
hoses, belts, wires and other miscellaneous equipment are checked and
replaced if they are worn. The result is very reliable machine, certified to
be within the manufacturers new machine tolerance limits. |
