Friday, June 18, 2010

Dual Grinding Spindle Offers High Productivity and Small Footprint


The remit from the customer was simple, design and produce a grinding spindle that can do two jobs in one with 2 different grade fixed wheels. Sounds easy, but the solution to develop a grinding spindle able to grind with two different wheel grades without the use of an expensive tool changer mechanism demanded the combination of the experience of the customer (A leading player in the manufacture of grinding machines for the renewable energy sector) as well as the full linear and rotary motion background of Jena Tec working as a team to develop a highly customised spindle suitable for a demanding grinding operation.

Jena Tec's solution was to develop a motorised spindle capable of grinding speeds up to 6,000RPM with a special splined dual shaft arrangement utilising a highly effective seal and bearing arrangement which allows a static position rotating outer shaft to hold a large diameter grinding wheel while maintaining a smaller diameter inner grinding wheel maintained in a fixed rotational position from inner to outer wheel. Utilising Jena Tec's precision linear motion components, the system uses a servo drive and gearbox arrangement to extend the inner shaft and wheel very precisely when required while keeping very accurate run out and stability. Through spindle coolant was also required and achieved through the use of a specialist Deublin coupling. Another customer demand was to use spring water cooling which meant providing specific elements of the machine tool spindles in corrosion resistant materials.


The key benefit to the customer was that they can combine roughing and finishing operations with 2 different wheels on the same machine tool spindle thus saving the number of fixed position spindles needed within the machine layout, reducing handling time in between operations and also machine footprint. This contributes to the customer being able to offer a much more competitively priced machine tool system with higher productivity compared to their existing competition.

The Jena Tec dual spindle was designed and delivered in adherence to demanding customer build schedules and is another clear example of Jena Tec's specialist area of product development to support OEM machine tool makers product introduction and technology development.

For more information please go to www.jena-tec.com or email sales@jena-tec.com

Jena Tec Systematic Contract to Automotive Tier 1 Supplier


The Systematic Multi Head range now exclusively manufactured by Jena Tec provides a wide range of engineered solutions for High Productivity Machining. Our experienced engineers can design or retro-fit our multi head components into your machining centre to maximise the productivity demands of today's environment, offering you time and cost savings in the manufacturing process.

In June 2010 Jena Tec is pleased to announce a significant value contract win to a leading UK tier 1 supplier to an automotive OEM for diesel engine components. The Jena Tec remit was to re-design a range of multi head systems and replace an aging Marwin 3 machine transfer line of rotary transfer systems with new slideways and multi head drilling systems to enable a new diesel engine variant component to be produced using an existing line. As space was at a premium, investment in additional machine tools to satisfy production and also the high capital cost meant that Jena Tec's Systematic upgrade option was the preferred option in terms of timing, cost and floorspace to allow the customer to meet rising demand for production of new engine types.

The scope of supply includes the design, manufacture and retrofit of a complete series of CNC machine tool systems with more modern technology and machine tool components allowing faster productivity and throughput. The complete project will be designed, installed and commissioned by January 2011. Jena Tec's investment in the brand name of Systematic, a well known respected name in the automotive industry has secured their position in the niche engineering sector and takes advantage of a shrinking skill set for this type of work available in the UK. Export potential of this high precision sector of the machine tool industry is showing positive indications as Jena Tec capitalise on their global distribution network and group companies particularly in mainland Europe, USA and Asia.


For more information contact the Jena Tec team on +44 (0)1623 726010 or email at sales@jena-tec.com