September 2007 Edition

Spotlight: CNC

CNC Router Changes the Face of Business

The time and effort of manual routing hindered business. The addition of a CNC router helped the company soar.

Switching from manual machine tools to a CNC router helped a plastic fabricator produce a wide range of products while trimming production time by 90 percent.

RBC Enterprises, Baltimore, MD, makes safety guards for machinery, control panels for electronic equipment, housings for medical laboratory equipment, as well as other products. When the company produced its products manually, it had to turn away complicated parts because production took too long.

Installing a CNC router let the company compete in the cutting of complex parts.

RBC Enterprises owner Robert Couts now defines part geometry using CAD software and the CNC machine cuts the parts.

"It used to take 16 hours to manually produce 32 polycarbonate timing windows,"Couts said. "Now I can make those same parts in 90 minutes on my Techno LC CNC router."

Couts founded RBC Enterprises in 2002. When he started, he produced work manually, using vertical milling machines, table saws, and routers.

"Producing quality parts by hand was time-consuming and took a considerable amount of experience," Couts said. "For example, a timing window consists of a 12" disk with a series of holes around the perimeter. Each hole has to be located precisely. I used to lay out the part with an indexing head on a milling machine. It took about 30 minutes to make each part. Make a mistake and turn the part to scrap."

Couts said CNC solved these problems by ensuring accuracy. While investigating CNC options, he discovered the least-expensive machines he needed for his work cost about $100,000, more than he could justify for his operation.

No Need to Cut Steel with His Bare Hands

The router had the accuracy, speed, programming ease, and operation he needed. The CNC router was designed for polymers, wood, and nonferrous metals. It cost less than $20,000, including software.

"I've been happy with my choice," Couts said. "I found the router easy to use and reliable. When I have a question, I call Techno and receive immediate answers.

"For example, once a servo motor went out. The Techno support representative helped me troubleshoot the problem. He sent a new motor by next-day air. He walked me through the installation and recalibration process. In 24 hours I was back in business."

Techno's LC Series CNC router is constructed on a heavy steel base that includes a t-slot aluminum table surface, ballscrews on all threes axes, closed-loop servo motor drives, and Techno's Windows-based G-code interface. Techno offers free software upgrades for the life of the machine.

The drive components offer play-free motion, accuracy, and repeatability, with minimal maintenance. The closed- loop servo control system provides constant position feedback, higher power, and continuous motion that eliminates losing position in the middle of a part.

The machine is available in five sizes, with work envelopes of 30"×24", 48"×48", 48"×96", 59"×120", and 78"×120". Each model provides a repeatability of 0.001", a resolution of 0.0002", and a maximum speed of 250 ipm.

Optional equipment includes a laser scanning module, CNC lathe attachment, Porter Cable router, vacuum blower, and fourth axis rotary table.

Couts produces the complicated work using the CNC router. He begins by laying out the geometry using the EnRoute 3 Professional CAD/CAM software from Scanvec Amiable.

The timing window, that took so much time and effort to produce manually, is now done in minutes.

It takes Couts about 20 minutes to design the timing window using the software. He then generates the G-code needed to operate the machine and exports it to the machine controller.

When he needs to cut parts, he loads a 4' × 8' sheet of polycarbonate, selects the program, and launches the work. It runs unattended and cuts 32 parts in about 90 minutes. While the part is running, Couts typically programs the next job or prepares quotes for customers.

A cam is another example of a part that Couts produced manually and now makes on the router. He used to make the part from 3/4"-thick plastic sheets using a manual router. The part was difficult to cut manually because it has a 1"-wide arc about 3' long.

Cut the Chatter

Chatter during the cut took place because it was so narrow. The operation was also dangerous because the operator's hands were near the cutter. It took about two hours to manually route 10 parts. The CNC router now cuts 10 parts in 30 minutes.

The Techno router provides improved accuracy and surface finish. Couts also saves material costs because the router can nest parts more efficiently than was done manually.

"About half of the company's revenue comes from the Techno LC machine," Couts said. "Sales rose because the CNC router makes it practical to produce complex parts we weren't able to cut manually," he said. "I've obtained military, medical, and industrial work that I couldn't compete for in the past because the parts were so complex that I could not meet the required tolerances with manual machining, or because it would take too long to make them by hand.

"If I didn't have the CNC router I'd have to consider closing my business."Techno Inc.

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Multi-Axis Motion Controllers for North America and International Regions

The RMC150/151s are multi-axis motion controllers for applications in North American and international regions. The RMC151 includes pressure/force options.

The RMC150 multi-axis motion controller includes the RMC150E CPU module with a built-in 10/100 MHz Ethernet port. Programming, configuration, diagnostics, and automatic tuning are achieved using RMCTools software. The RMC150 can handle a maximum of eight synchronized axes. The RMC151 can control eight dual-loop position-pressure/force axes.
Delta Computer Systems, Inc.; Vancouver, WA

www.rsleads.com/709mn-222

Protected Machine Tool Control

The Sinumerik 840D sl is a Profinet connection for machine tool control. As a Profinet controller, the Sinumerik in the machine also controls the distributed I/Os or the Sinamics S120 system as a positioning drive. Both cable-based connection and W-LAN communication can be used for this purpose. With Profinet, machine tools have a real-time Ethernet system that meets the requirements of IT, automation and motion control. Open standards also permit communication via W-LAN or GPRS. The communication interfaces can be connected wirelessly to remote service centers using GPRS. The Sinumerik control is secured against attack from the network. With Scalance S from Simatic Net, the machine tool control is also protected against data spying, data manipulation, communication system overload, interaction, and addressing errors. The existing network structure does not have to be modified or adapted.
Siemens Automation and Drives; Elk Grove Village, IL

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CNC Simulators

NC Guide and NCGuidePro CNC Simulators provide a realistic operation, part programming, and maintenance environment to lower training costs. NC Guide and NCGuidePro can simulate a range of CNC configurations, including lathes, machining centers, and compound applications. Multiple display and keyboard configurations can be selected and saved to match each of the CNCs being used in an organization.
GE Fanuc Automation; Charlottesville, VA

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Field Bus Availability

The IndraLogic PLC platform offers DeviceNet and Ethernet IP connectivity for the North American, European, and Asian markets. Users can now choose their fieldbus with minimal engineering changes. Uniform DeviceNet connectivity is now available as a scanner in the motion and PLC controllers; the company's panel-mount Inline I/O and IP67 Fieldline I/O systems; and IndraDrive servo and spindle drive platforms. Ethernet I/P adapter functionality, with unsolicited explicit messaging, is available via the local Ethernet port of the CNC and PLC controller. The company already offers Profibus DP as a standard fieldbus platform.
Bosch Rexroth AG; Hoffman Estates, IL

www.rsleads.com/709mn-225

Marking Machine Control

The PCS-2000 operates dot-peen, laser, and scribe marking machines. Its software shows the operator how to enter date codes, serial numbers, change the text location, or the orientation of the mark. It uses an Intel Celeron 2.0 GHz processor with 256 Mb of RAM and 30 Gb of storage. The 15" LCD monitor has 1024×768 resolution and a touch-screen keyboard eliminating a conventional keyboard. The monitor and processor are mounted in a Nema 12 enclosure with a cooling system designed for high-temperature shop environments. It comes with Windows XP. It also has pcAnywhere for control via the Internet.
Columbia Marking Tools; Chesterfield, MI

www.rsleads.com/709mn-226

What do you think?
Will the information in this article increase efficiency or save time, money, or effort? Let us know by e-mail from our website at www.ModernApplicationsNews.com or e-mail the editor at pnofel@nelsonpub.com.