Acu-Rite DRO package seals the deal

A special purpose hybrid turning/grinding centre developed and built within eight weeks by an Acu-Rite approved retrofit distributor is playing a key role in the production of a range of aerospace seals.

A special purpose hybrid turning/grinding centre developed and built within eight weeks by an Acu-Rite approved retrofit distributor is playing a key role in the production of a range of special square section polymer seals being used in extreme applications in the aerospace industry.

Based on the reground and reconditioned bed of a Hardinge HLV manual centre lathe, the machine was completely re-engineered by Chris Stinchcombe, managing director, Machine Tool Controls (MTC) of Pontypool. As well as panel build, the project involved the installation of a new cross slide and headstock packer to raise the centre height by 65mm and to carry the Acu-Rite linear encoder and two tool posts.

The machine will help produce the critical closure areas of aerospace seals of diameters from 5mm to 350mm and between 2mm and 10mm in section. A carbide knife blade in the front tool post is used to clean cut the moulded edge of the seals at 45º, and a grinding spindle in the rear tool post position is used to grind the inside diameter (when the seal runs on a shaft) or produce a step on the outside diameter (if the seal is to be located in a housing).

Key for the machine operator to maintain position of the slides and tolerances is the use of an Acu-Rite 200S LCD panel-mounted digital readout (DRO) supplied by Heidenhain (GB), the world-leading supplier of angular, linear and rotary encoders, digital readouts and CNC systems.

The 200S provides a very clear display for the operator to maintain the + 0.025mm tolerance on the 5mm diameter of the smallest seal and + 0.1mm on the largest. Also due to the capability of the DRO, the operator can monitor the rotational speed of the grinding wheel and spindle motor as well as benefit from full on-board help menu display and interlock guarding for the chuck.

Depending on the sizes of the seal, the machine will use one of four different sizes of vacuum chuck. The chuck is located on the headstock with aluminium inserts tailored to suit the appropriate size of the component, to locate it against the backing plate. The seal, which has already been ground and pre-sized on a mandrel, will be simply pushed into the chuck and held by vacuum ready for processing.

“The Acu-Rite 200S DRO has proven very popular in the retrofit market for turning, milling and grinding operations,” Stinchcombe concludes, “providing very clear and functional display of two or three axes of movement on its 5.7 inch LCD display. The large 3D tactile keypad makes data input easy for the operator and ability to hold 16 tool offsets/diameters, preset and zero reset as well as near-zero warning.”

www.heidenhain.co.uk
 

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