In addition to noise insulation and devices for smoke, fume, mist, oil, and metal chip collection, ECO ZENN models offer regenerative braking that saves energy and feeds it back to power supply. Most functions used by programmers, operators, and maintenance personnel can be accessed while machinery doors are closed, and production flexibly is promoted via 6-tool change station, pressure control system, replay system, as well as auxiliary trimming and beading units.

http://news.thomasnet.com/fullstory/573519

Under the terms of a licensing agreement Lantek has granted TekSoft distribution rights for Lantek sheet metal software through TekSoft’s international VAR network.

TekSoft and Lantek have signed a software licensing and distribution agreement.

Under the terms of this agreement, Lantek grants TekSoft distribution rights for Lantek sheet metal software through TekSoft’s international VAR network.

The software for punching, laser, waterjet, plasma and oxyfuel machines will be marketed under the FABWorks name.

TekSoft, a leading provider of CAD/CAM applications since 1981, develops and markets CAMWorks, which is available for machining centers, turning, mill/turn, multiaxis and wire EDM applications.

CAMWorks is a SolidWorks Certified Gold CAM Product that provides state-of-the-art machining capabilities seamlessly integrated into SolidWorks 3D mechanical design software.

FABWorks also provides an integrated interface between the SolidWorks design environment and the FABWorks machining environment.

Parts that are designed in SolidWorks can be automatically unfolded and transferred directly to FABWorks for machining.

The benefits of this agreement were clear to both companies and negotiations were concluded quickly.

“TekSoft has over 20 years of experience in developing and selling CAD/CAM software through a large VAR network.

When they decided to expand their product range to include sheet metal software, they investigated the fabrication systems available in the market and talked to our competitors,” stated Alberto Martinez, Lantek’s managing director.

“In addition to Lantek’s best-in-class CAD/CAM software, our international reputation as a leading software company in the sheet metal industry made their decision an easy one.” According to Mike Coleman, President and CEO of TekSoft, “We seek out the best-in-class solutions, we negotiate and we license.

This allows us to provide a full suite of established and proven CAM solutions while offering ongoing enhancements.

The agreement with Lantek enables us to quickly offer our customers a product that is at the forefront of the sheet metal software industry.” Coleman also stated that TekSoft is offering FABWorks at a significant discount to its existing ProCAM fabrication customers to encourage them to make the transition.

* About TekSoft - TekSoft develops and markets CAMWorks, which is available for machining centers, turning, mill/turn, multiaxis and wire EDM applications and ProCAM, a stand-alone CAD/CAM product.

TekSoft sells its products through 140 resellers in 40 countries and has an installed base of over 33,000 licenses.

TekSoft is a subsidiary of Geometric Software Solutions Co .

(GSSL), a leading PLM services provider with over 20 years of experience in CAD/CAM/CAE, PDM and MPM.

Based in Mumbai, India, GSSL has business development headquarters in Merrimack, NH, USA, and sales offices in Germany, Singapore and Japan.

GSSL is publicly traded on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange in India.

* About Lantek - Lantek develops and sells CAD/CAM software for the sheet metal industry.

Lantek CAD/CAM software product range includes punching and cutting software for oxyfuel, plasma, laser and waterjet machines as well as software to drive press brakes, tube cutting machines and production management software.

Lantek is one of the leading software companies in the sheet metal industry with distributors worldwide and branch offices in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, UK, USA, Japan, South Korea, India, and Czech Republic.

Lantek is a recognized provider of sheet metal software with more than 5,400 customers in 76 different countries.

http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/tfy/tfy106.html

Considering resonant frequency, Index-Werke has redesigned of CNC turning centres to reduce vibration and double the machine structure stiffness to maximise metal removal rates.

Index-Werke noted that the higher the resonant frequency (RF) of a machine tool’s structure, the greater is its inherent stiffness.

Consequently it becomes more difficult for machining forces to induce vibration.

So Index has redesigned its patented SpeedLine C-type CNC mill-turning centres to increase their RF above that of all other lathes on the market.

Geo Kingsbury Machine Tools, launched the machines in the UK at the recent MACH 2008 machine tool exhibition.

Using the RF measure, the Index C-type lathes are over twice as stiff, or rigid, than the existing Index G-series models of equivalent capacity.

The company said that there is more scope for finding the ’sweet spot’ for any combination of toolholder, cutter and workpiece material.

The design allows depth of cut to be increased for maximum metal removal rate.

* Improved surface finish - as well as increasing productivity, the increased rigidity and lower machine tool vibration also ensure good surface finish of the machined part, said Index, as well as prolonging tool life and reducing noise.

Index said that better damping leads to higher accuracy machining, even for strenuous applications involving intermittent hard turning and reaming.

The SpeedLine C-type 42mm and 65mm bar automatics, when launched in 2005, were the first in the world to replace conventional compound turret slides with two interconnected steel plates sliding directly over the machine bed.

The recent redesign of the range has seen these machines improved and two new models introduced with 30mm and 90mm bar capacities.

The defining characteristic of the lathes that provides such high RF and stiffness hinges on the actuation of the turrets.

Each is mounted on a front plate while an interconnected rear retaining plate is driven kinematically from behind the machine bed.

The critical advantage is that the distance between the turret centreline and the point at which it is driven is much shorter than for a compound slide.

Up to 14 tools can be used in each of the three turrets in the following manner.

* Turret 1 moves in X-,Y- and Z-axis above the spindle centreline and works at the main spindle.

* Turret 2 mounted below the spindles operates in X-, Y- and Z-axis at either end.

* The motion of upper turret 3 is restricted to the X-axis and works only with the counter spindle, which moves in the Z-axis.

Three tools can be in cut simultaneously for high productivity.

There are two sizes of machine frame, designated C100 and C200.

The former is the ‘host’ for the 30mm and 42mm bar capacity spindles and the latter (shown at MACH 2008) is for the 65mm and 90mm spindles.

Distance between the main and counter spindles is 510mm and 710mm respectively.

All models are fast, with 1G acceleration in X- and Z-axis up to 60m/min for the smaller machines and 50m/min for the larger models.

http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/kmt/kmt212.html

CNC Design has retrofitted a Leifeld PNC350-19/2 metal spinning machine at Murdock Metal Spinning in Melbourne, Australia.

This model of Leifeld spinning machine is now self-programming and can learn from the operator The machine was originally built in 1985, but the machine has aged, electronic components have become unreliable and expensive to replace, support has become remote and the operator interface has been outdated The retrofit involved the installation of the Siemens Sinumerik 840D CNC Control and Simodrive HLA card.

The hydraulic axes controlled by Moog servo valves were retained and interfaced to the CNC system.

The critical teach panel controls were connected to fast analog I/O via the digital bus to ensure the system is responsive during the teaching process.

A new operator panel was installed with a 10in colour screen and machine control panel.

A dedicated operational system was integrated into the standard Sinumerik HMI Advanced software.

A feature of the machine is its ability to learn from the operator manually spinning the part and then generating a program, meaning no CAD/CAM or programming skills are required.

Before manual spinning, the roller is taught the working area for collision prevention with the tool and other devices.

Software was developed to ensure the roller maintained minimum pressure requested by the operator when teaching the tool contour.

During teaching the position of the X axis controlled, as is the applied pressure, with the latter parameter critical to the spinning process.

During commissioning, together with the operator, the manual spinning was finely tuned to allow the operator to ‘feel’ the spinning of the part.

Strong engineering at CNC Design was needed to develop the software for real time data acquisition and program generation during teaching.

Customised screens were developed to save programs, change system variables and view and edit programs.

After program generation, programs can be viewed graphically with the ability to navigate through passes and delete unnecessary movements, optimising the cycle time.

All development and design of the system was completed offline while the machine was in production.

The commissioning phase involved cabinet and machine wiring, servo valve servicing, tuning of axes, testing of all software, fine tuning of the machine and trials.

http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/cns/cns108.html