COMBINING FLEXIBLE KURT CARVLOCK CLUSTERTOWER SETUPS WITH DOUBLELOCK VISES AND DEDICATED FIXTURES MAXIMIZE MACHINE OUTPUT AT SPX SERVICE SOLUTIONS
21 March 2005 - Kurt Manufacturing Company

Many of the components for these products require turning, milling, drilling and tapping done on machining centers. One of these systems -- a Diekel Maho DMC 80H machining center - utilizes a very efficient yet extremely flexible Kurt workholding system that accommodates many different size parts for relatively small production runs.

With high productivity and just-in-time delivery the name of the game, SPX Service Solutions achieves these goals using flexible high density workholding. The workholding system combines a full size range of Kurt CarvLock Cluster Towers with DoubleLock Vises, equipped with changeable and/or carvable jaws to handle small and large parts. There are four Kurt Towers along with five dedicated fixtures mounted on the machining center's automated conveyor pallet. Based on order need, part blanks are loaded into these workholding fixtures and shuttled into the machining center, which operates 24 hours a day, five days a week.

'Our workholding setups allow us to maximize the full output potential of our palletized Diekel Maho machining system,' reports Daniel Sayner, facilities and manufacturing engineering manager of tools and equipment for SPX Service Solutions. 'We have over 2,000 different part configurations programmed into this machining center. Parts range in size from small to large in materials ranging from tool steel, 4140 steel and aluminum to castings and investment castings. Specific parts and quantities constantly vary so there is no set system or pattern to follow for scheduling. Quantities needed range from one to several dozen so it's a real scheduling challenge to keep the machining center in the cut 24 hours a day all week long with efficient setup and minimal system downtime.'

Achieving these goals requires imagination, skill and good equipment. SPX Service Solutions has all of these and more. Its high density workholding system is well planned so that part scheduling and setup are extremely efficient. When this writer visited, we observed the system transitioning from one shift to the next with nary a skipped beat and only an occasional check by an operator who was also tending other nearby machines. It's a good example of getting maximum output from a high speed, high precision machining system that is designed to operate non-stop straight throughout the workweek.

Kurt CarvLock Cluster Towers Combined With Dedicated Fixtures Provide Capacity And Flexibility To Handle Over 2000 Different Part Workholding Setups

Imaginative high density workholding that meets SPX's needs is possible because of the versatility and straightforward design of the Diekel Maho DMC 80H horizontal machining center. It's a good choice because it's inherently flexible and powerful with the capacity to machine a wide range of materials in many sizes, large and small, at high speeds. It has a spindle speed up to 6,000 rpm with a 900 mm X-axis, 710 mm Y-axis and 710 mm Z-axis travel. Feed range is up to 40,000 mm/min with rapid traverse of 40 m/mm per minute. The tool magazine holds 180 holders of either SK 50 or HSK A100 mountings. Main drive is powered by a 37 kW, 1005 duty cycle motor with Siemens 840D powerline control.

The output potential of this system is maximized by the well-engineered combination of dedicated fixtures along with Kurt vise tower workholding, enabling the system to operate aggressively with high feed rates and minimal spindle travel part to part. Tolerances are fairly tight with a target true position of ± .005 inch on most machined surfaces. The four Kurt Cluster Tower setups include four, six and eight inch capacity Double Lock vises and eight inch capacity CarvLock vises.

'We chose Kurt for our modular setups because of their flexibility, rigidity and repeatability,' reports Sayner. 'The changeable jaw plate systems give us all of the clamping options we need for our parts. The towers and vise combinations are really rigid. We don't have to worry about vibration or chatter because the ductile iron vise bodies dampen any tendency to vibrate when aggressive operations are called for. They're as durable as our dedicated fixtures. All of the vise systems employ the Kurt Anglock design feature that minimizes jaw lift so clamped parts stay properly positioned for precision machining. Each vise has a hard steel screw that clamps quickly and easily by hand with a force up to 5,556 lbs that converts to precise repeatable clamping. (A patented key design in the CarvLock Towers makes locating these jaw blocks very fast with ±0.001 repeatability).

Jaw changeover with the Kurt CarvLock Cluster Tower system is fast -- one jaw set snaps out and another jaw set snaps in with little effort in about sixty seconds. Another nice feature of the CarvLock Tower system is that there are four different jaw systems available -- machinable aluminum or ductile iron jaws (in three heights), an EZLock quick-change jaw plate system, and standard hard jaw plates. For its parts, SPX uses the machinable ductile iron jaws.

With an inventory of over 200 sets of Kurt jaw plates, SPX utilizes a Remstar Shuttle for recording, locating, retrieving and storage of Kurt jaw plates. Located for fast access near the Diekel Maho machining center, the enclosed Remstar system is far more efficient than conventional storage racks or trays because it provides a computerized and automated system for storing, locating and delivering jaw plates as needed for a particular part run.

'The large inventory of Kurt jaw plates is real key to our machining flexibility,' reports Sayner. 'Keeping track of jaw plates and scheduling part runs with them is a breeze with the Remstar.'

Comprised of vertically arranged trays, the Remstar has an extraction platform and a series of computerized push button controls so when a particular set of jaw plates is ordered out, the system retrieves them quickly at a travel speed of 138 feet per minute.

Careful scheduling is also a key factor in making this system maximally effective. Gerald Meixner, SPX's scheduler, determines the part setup and scheduling mix based on required part orders for each 24 hour day. Meixner works an 11:00 AM to 9:30 PM shift that overlaps an earlier and later shift to co-ordinate with operators who run the machining center and do part setups and load/unload operations.

'We really like what we've done with this entire system because we expanded our machining capacity using the Kurt modular components and they're fully compatible with our dedicated fixtures,' Sayner concluded.

http://www.kurtworkholding.com

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