Breton Worthy - CNC monobloc bridge saw with fixed workbench and rotating head ~ Fabshop machines

Thursday, 15 January 2015

Breton Worthy - CNC monobloc bridge saw with fixed workbench and rotating head

Thursday, January 15, 2015 No comments

WORTHY is a NC monobloc cutting centre with 4 axes (3 of which are interpolated) with a fixed work bench and twist head, specially engineered to perform multiple machining operations:
- slab cutting, billet shaping and pocketing,
- inscription engraving and drilling,
- using a diamond disk or drilling tools.

STRUCTURAL FEATURES
- The galvanized steel monobloc structure takes up a minimal amount of space with relation to the axis travel and is installed rapidly, with no need of foundations.
- The stabilized, arc-welded steel bridge houses the guides for the spindle carriage sliding and slides on runways along the "Y" axis on rolling components; the bridge is actuated by a gantry rack and pinion assembly and driven by a digital brushless motor for rapid and precise positioning.

- Arc-welded steel spindle carriage sliding on ground guides along the "X" axis by a rack and pinion assembly, which is driven by a digital brushless motor.

- The "Z" axis for the spindle vertical positioning slides on recirculating ball guides and is driven by a digital brushless motor assembly that controls the rack and pinion assembly. The high dynamism of this axis is guaranteed by a pneumatic cylinder that balances the weight of the cutting unit.

WORTHY is provided with the "Energy Management" functional capability that transfers the energy generated during the braking stage to the electrical grid. Special drives allow achieving the internal energy balance according to which the energy generated by a motor during braking can be used by another motor under acceleration.

- The twist cutting head rotates around its vertical axis ("C" axis) by ± 190 degrees. The head is driven by a digital brushless motor, can be manually inclined by 90 degrees and is equipped with a laser unit with continuous beam for cut alignment.

- The spindle motor features a power of 13 kW, is controlled by inverter and has a working range between 1.000 and 4.500 revs thus enabling to use disks with a diameter between 350 and 600 mm without affecting the cutting performances. It is also possible to mount drill bits with ½ gas fitting on the spindle in order to make holes on the slabs. The disk guard is 600 mm in diameter.
- The manual lubrication plant of the transmissions and other moving components of the machine is concentrated in three points only so as to simplify maintenance and avoid forgetting to lubricate some component.

- The two doors, required to conform the machine to the CE standards, features wide see-through surfaces that ensure worker safety in case chips are thrown around during the cutting operation and maximize his comfort preventing water jets from hitting him, while maintaining a clear view of the machining operations.

PROGRAMMING
Programming and management system
- WORTHY is provided with the same computer numerical control (CNC) that Breton installs on all its bridge saws: the efficient, tried-and-true Siemens 840SL.
- On request, programs for optimization or profiling with interpolation may be installed.
- The electrical cabinet is installed on the machine, therefore it doesn’t need to be linked to the machine and remains inside the open doors.

- The control panel can be conveniently positioned by the operator and is equipped with a 15-inch colour monitor. A hand-held push-button panel simplifies the operator work when he is required to stand nearby the piece currently being processed.

OPERATIONAL POSSIBILITIES
The machine operating in manual mode is very simple, rapid and intuitive.
With the standard software, the machine carries out the following operations:

Manual cutting of rectangular or polygonal pieces

The manual execution of single cuts and/or pieces is very simple thanks to the experience gained on hundreds of bridge saws sold and, thanks to the use of "macros" (typical pieces whose dimensions can be changed at will), the piece positioning and orientation can be executed either through the machine's axes or by directly positioning the piece to be processed on the monitor.

Automatic cutting of polygonal pieces
In this mode, the machine cuts the slabs into polygonal pieces in a fully automated cycle. The polygonal pieces to be produced can be drawn on the monitor or imported from DXF files.
Execution of curved cuts with interpolation (possible only when purchasing the "motorized inclination" accessory).

Inclined cuts
WORTHY makes it possible to execute inclined cuts through the manual or automatic (optional) inclination of the disk that minimizes dimensional mistakes when cutting rabbets at 45 degrees. Flat, circular cuts can also be performed.
The "automatic inclination" package includes:
1. The "A" axis motorization with spindle inclination from 0 to 90 degrees.

2. The slab thickness touch probe that detects the slab thickness i.e. the slab actual height with respect to the bench top both at the beginning and at the end of the cutting operation.

3. An automatic device detecting the real diameter of the disk.

OPTIONAL SOFTWARE PACKAGES
Software package for order management and optimization of the pieces to be installed on the machine
After the job orders (composed either by simple rectangles or polygons) and slab dimensions have been loaded on the PC mounted on the machine, the software analyses different cutting combinations in order to optimize the slab surface utilization and minimize the slab off-cuts.

Slab dimensions can be loaded in various ways; usually, the operator draws the polygon representing the slab or he may use the digital camera, if available.
Any possible defect of the slab is displayed on the picture taken by the camera or, failing that, traced on the polygon drawn by the operator.

Expansion software for profiling billets according to geometrically complex shapes
This software expansion enables to profile billets utilizing a vertical or horizontal “comb” technique with diamond disk, according to geometrically complex surfaces. The shape of the profile to be obtained is defined on the machine using a simplified CAD 2D program (fitting out the machine).

The shape of the billet to be profiled and its shaping are displayed on the touch-screen. Since the machine can operate with interpolated axes, it is also possible to produce pieces with complex spatial shapes.