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Automation Systems

Keeping steel wheels spinning

Since 1910, Simmons Machine Tool Corp., Albany, New York, has built machine tools and measuring machines for producing and maintaining railway wheel sets. The company also manufactures automation systems. 

Each wheel traditionally is placed on a machining center using a forklift, a crane or another manual handling method — a slow, inconsistent process in which worker safety is a concern. Simmons Machine Tool sought to boost productivity and improve worker safety when loading and unloading railways for repairs in a vertical CNC lathe.

Hydraulic Press Solutions

Hydraulic Press and Automation Capabilities
Greenerd will present unique hydraulic press application solutions at IMTS this year, including discussing an automated 30-Ton Gantry style hydraulic press which was built for an application requiring precise positioning of pins. A linear transducer mounted in the press cylinder enables a minimum depth to be programmed into the control to ensure proper pin depth has been achieved. The 25' long hydraulic press features automated gantry positioning with optical recognition of the distance between each set of pins to be inserted. The cycle can be initiated in autonomous operation where the gantry moves to each pin location and applies the set of tonnage on the pins. 

HS flex Heavy

HS flex Heavy Automation Solution
The HS flex heavy handling system is designed to be adaptable to five-axis PERFORMANCE-LINE machining centers (C 400 and C 650) as well as the HIGH-PERFORMANCE-LINE models (C 32 and C 42). This also marks the first time that the C 650 is available with automation capabilities. 

Presenting an automated coolant delivery system

Precision Tool Technologies Inc., Brainerd, Minnesota, developed the FullShop automated coolant delivery system to eliminate manually monitoring and replenishing coolant so that the shop could enable unattended machining. This video, presented as a video supplement to CTE's May 2020 Productive Times article, offers a quick overview of the company's FullShop system, which monitors coolant usage at a machine tool sump and automatically replenishes coolant before it runs low.

Software and Hardware Kits for Cobots

Software and Hardware Kits for Cobots
Twenty proven software and hardware kits for the most popular cobot applications are available on the UR+ platform, a large and comprehensive ecosystem of products certified to integrate seamlessly with cobots from Universal Robots. By reducing recurring engineering decisions for common applications, the "plug and produce" kits decrease project risk and complexity and are ready for fast implementation for tasks such as finishing, inspection, assembly, machine tending, material removal, dispensing and material handling.