Fast assembly due to a pre-assembled energy chain in a machining centre

Profile

• What was needed: Energy supply system with pre-assembled readcable cables.
• Requirements: High flexibility, short-term delivery, long-term system partnership
• Industry: Special mechanical engineering
• Success for the customer: Energy supply system was designed in such a way that as few interfaces as possible are involved and at the same time a clean supply of all components is guaranteed; cost- and time-saving assembly thanks to pre-assembled overall solution; chainflex special cables guarantee long service life

Pre-assembled energy supply systems on the high-precision machining centre.

Problem

The product range of the machine tool manufacturer Dörries Scharmann Technologie GmbH (DST) in Mönchengladbach includes machining centres of various types: Turning, drilling and milling centres as well as grinding machines. One focus is on the machining of complex components.
The development of the multifunctional gantry machining centre "DBF 630" was launched after the machine builder realised that there was a high demand for small parts machining in the automotive sector, among others. It serves the increased customer demands for accuracy and unit costs. The complete machining with radial and axial run-out accuracy from 5 to 6 µm on pump and valve housings, fittings, sealing flanges and rock bits are among the typical applications of the new machining centre. Its guarantee for success is the turning, drilling and milling head (DBF). For turning on a stationary workpiece, the rotating turning tool can be moved radially +/- 35mm (servo axis).  Thus speeds of up to 1 200 min^-1  are possible for turning operations. For drilling and milling, a 35 kW spindle accelerates up to 3 500 min^¯1.   The compact machining centre with 
630 x 630mm pallets and payloads up to 600kg has a chain magazine with a capacity of up to 60 tool places.
Very high demands are placed on the availability of the machining centre in use. As a rule, it runs 24 hours in production operation. Accordingly, all used components and the complete cable guidance must be durable. Also important for the energy supply: It was important to the machine builder to install a complete system that would be delivered ready to operate by the specified deadline. Because harnessing after delivery costs a lot of time and money. There are not only storage costs, but also ordering costs. Every single part has to be handled several times and expensive assembly times do not pay off for the machine specialist.

Solution

DST has been using energy supply systems from igus for a number of years. In close cooperation with igus, the design engineers at Dörries Scharmann have developed a concept for connecting the energy supply system to the machine in such a way that, on the one hand, there are few interfaces and, on the other hand, a clean supply of all components is guaranteed.  Another major concern was to make the assembly of the machining centres as simple and planned as possible, so that no problems would arise.
In concrete terms, the "DBF 630" machining centre is now equipped with two energy supply systems that are sold with ready-harnessed chainflex cables under the name readycable. The ready-to-connect cables can be installed in a time-saving manner.  From the actual energy supply system up to each chainflex special cable, the machine builder relied on high quality parts: All bus, servo or control cables are equipped with integrated strain relief elements. In addition, there are additional interior separation elements to increase the service life of the individual cables. Connectors, connections and steel components specified by the customer round off the complete pre-assembled system.
Since Dörries Scharmann manufactures exclusively to customer specifications, the difficulty lies in defining the exact length of the supply cables. Therefore, it was important for the machine specialist to have a supplier who could provide technical support, respond flexibly to the different requirements and, above all, implement the order at very short notice. Stefan Nethövel,  Division Manager Materials Management/Logistics at Dörries Scharmann adds: "When the machine concept is established, the delivery of a completely pre-assembled energy supply system must be guaranteed within ten working days. “

Pre-assembled energy supply systems with integrated strain relief and the steel components specified by the customer.

Pre-assembled energy supply system with chainflex cables.