A FIRST: VERTICAL TURNING CENTER INTEGRATES GEAR CUTTING CAPABILITY

One Stop Shop: By turning blanks and cutting gear teeth all in one setup, this multi-process machine tool increases productivity and return on investment by reducing setups, part transfers, processing time and space requirements. The system uses pallet changing and automatic tool changing for the highest productivity.

The first technology advancement for large vertical turning centers (VTCs) resulting from the recent acquisition of German gear manufacturing equipment specialist Modul by MAG IAS (Erlanger, KY) is the integrated gear cutting capability on a VTC 2500H for workpieces up to 2700 mm diameter. The new multi-axis machine tool combines gear hobbing and milling capabilities with the VTC’s wide range of turning, milling, drilling, threading and contouring capabilities.

This VTC can turn blanks and subsequently cut gear teeth, all in one setup. The machine’s ability to execute rough turning of the outside diameter and gear cutting on the inside diameter in one set up results in higher quality gears. It also eliminates a separate gear cutting machine and reduces labor, part transfers, setups, work-in-process and plant footprint/overhead.

Gear production capabilities include hobbing, form milling (of external and internal gears), turn-milling of gear teeth with carbide end mills, and chamfering/deburring. This system is ideal for the part making requirements of the wind and power generation industries, mining equipment, marine and other heavy machinery.

The hobbing module is fully integrated into the VTC to allow turning, milling and hobbing or form milling of internal and external geared slewing rings. Two different heads are available with 36 kW or 46 kW power. They can hob modules up to 24.0 mm or form-mill teeth up to module 28.0 mm on parts with a maximum face width of 600 mm.

The functionality of the gear manufacturing software is fully integrated into the turning center’s control with one common HMI, so programming gear cutting operations is simple and intuitive. Features include workshop-oriented dialog for input of all geometric and technical parameters for the workpiece and hob.

In addition to gear cutting, these VTCs can perform standard and hard turning, as well as live-spindle machining, contouring and part probing operations on multiple sides and the full diameter of a part. Customer-driven features include use of standard modular tooling, such as KM 80 and Coromant Capto® solutions, as well as automatic tool changers; green design with minimal hydraulics; minimal or flat-floor foundation requirements for many models; and innovative chip management and removal that minimizes operator intervention. A full machine enclosure meets CE specifications and ensures a dry floor environment.

Aside from this new system, MAG also offers horizontal turning centers, inverted-spindle VTCs and vertical twin-table turning centers equipped for integrated gear processing, along with a full range of gear cutting tools, including solid hobs and milling cutters, heavy-duty hobs, inserted-blade hobs and milling cutters, as well as carbide end mills. The company also manufactures a line of dedicated gear production machines and related technology at its facility in Chemnitz, Germany. www.mag-ias.com