The newly developed system for the complete machining of the flat surfaces of high-precision components consists of a grinding machine and a brushing machine, which are fed from a simple parts store.

The special feature of this system is its multi-spindle technology and a cycle time of less than 9 seconds. With this machining combination, flat surfaces can be ground and brushed. In addition, the system can be coupled with a loading cell for 1400 parts. Thus, the system runs automatically and without operator intervention for half a production shift. Both processing machines are based on the DFine platform. The heart of the machine is a multi-spindle workpiece carrier, which can accommodate up to 8 clamping devices.

In the first machine, the workpieces are processed by a grinding wheel. The workpieces are fed via a pallet belt and loaded into the clamping device by an integrated gripper. A second gripper turns the workpieces. During machining, the fully planetary movement produces a high degree of flatness. The integrated measuring station checks dimension and parallelism before the parts are fed to the brushing machine of identical design.

The parts are then brushed in this machine. The novelty: The machine is almost identical in construction to the grinding machine, as is the kinematic relative movement between tool and workpiece. The resulting advantages include not only identical parts and operating concept, but also the machining result, which is better than with conventional brushing. This is because the grinding burr is removed again in exactly the opposite direction due to the similar relative movement. The result is a uniform edge rounding even with more complex components.

At the beginning and at the end of the processing line is the loading cell from rbc robotics. It is loaded with stacks of frames in Euro pallet size. This results in an enormous storage volume, which can hold a work supply of up to 4 hours, depending on the size of the part and the processing time. As an option, the storage cell can be equipped with a camera system that recognises the type and orientation of the parts. An SPC drawer can eject components for inspection.

The modular concept of the DFine machine line offers the user many advantages: As a standard machine, it has shorter delivery times and can be configured for individual customer requirements by means of many options. Defined internal interfaces allow the machine to be reconfigured later. This creates high investment security, because the brushing machine can also be converted into a grinding machine if required. As a system, an interlinked system can of course be configured and reconfigured after a few years.

The "DFine" machine line is suitable for pinions of a planetary gear, for example, and results in a different, significantly more efficient machining process than the usual procedure.

In the DFine, two large or even four small workpieces are machined simultaneously on both flat surfaces in one cycle. This works as follows:

The multi-spindle rotary table is divided into an OP10 side and an OP20 side. In a first step, the OP10 side is loaded with a set of workpieces. After the top face shoulders have been machined, these parts are turned by the indexing gripper. At the same time, the first gripper unloads the other two clamping devices and inserts a set of new workpieces. Clamping is done with collets in the bore, which gives the machined surface a high concentricity to the clamping surface.

The amazing thing about this is the extremely short cycle time. During a full cycle of 18 seconds, two or even four workpieces are finished simultaneously. Clamped grinding could hardly be more economical.