Linking two roll lathes doubles capacity without increasing personnel costs

Published
May 06, 2019 - 08:15am

Article from Heinrich Georg GmbH Maschinenfabrik

Heinrich Georg Maschinenfabrik has received an order from Vítkovické Slévárny spol. s r.o. for the supply of a roll lathe, the third lathe so far supplied by GEORG to the Czech roll manufacturer. The new machine will be linked with one of the existing lathes. Thanks to this solution, only one operator will be needed to control both machines.

With the new machine, Vítkovické Slévárny will expand the capacity of its facilities in Ostrava, where two other GEORG roll lathes of the ultraturn series have already been in operation for several years.

The new machine will be virtually of the same design as the machine supplied in 2013. However, a novelty is its connectivity with the existing lathe, which will allow both machines to be operated by just one person. Among others, the two machines will be equipped with cameras and monitors for the operator to be able to control both of them permanently and simultaneously.

Tomasz Dolba, manager of the Ostrava roll shop, explains his investment decision: “We manufacture rolls for section and strip rolling mills. The lathes we need for our machining tasks must be extremely flexible because we use them for both rough machining and high-precision finish machining. The hydrostatic guideways of the machine beds in our GEORG lathes have proved very successful in two respects: thanks to the low wear of the equipment, the machines retain their accuracy over a very long period of time and that provides us a clear cost advantage.”

The now ordered ultraturn lathe will be designed to machine up to 8,000mm-long rolls with diameters of up to 1,550mm and roll weights of up to 30 tons. The 170 kW main drive achieves a maximum torque of 70,000 Nm. Like the two earlier machines, GEORG will also supply the new machine complete with a dust extraction system and a cabin that protects the operator against flying metal chips. This provides a maximum of work safety and optimal ergonomics.

According to Jan Ebener, head of sales at GEORG´s machine tools division, the recent order confirms GEORG’s strategy towards deeper interlinking of production processes. “The new machine is an exact twin of the one we last supplied to Ostrava. This shows us that the customer is satisfied with the quality and reliability of the previously supplied machines in every respect. By interlinking both machines, we take efficiency to the next level: our customer receives double the capacity without extra personnel costs.”

Supply of the new machine is scheduled for the summer of 2020.

Related Glossary Terms

  • lathe

    lathe

    Turning machine capable of sawing, milling, grinding, gear-cutting, drilling, reaming, boring, threading, facing, chamfering, grooving, knurling, spinning, parting, necking, taper-cutting, and cam- and eccentric-cutting, as well as step- and straight-turning. Comes in a variety of forms, ranging from manual to semiautomatic to fully automatic, with major types being engine lathes, turning and contouring lathes, turret lathes and numerical-control lathes. The engine lathe consists of a headstock and spindle, tailstock, bed, carriage (complete with apron) and cross slides. Features include gear- (speed) and feed-selector levers, toolpost, compound rest, lead screw and reversing lead screw, threading dial and rapid-traverse lever. Special lathe types include through-the-spindle, camshaft and crankshaft, brake drum and rotor, spinning and gun-barrel machines. Toolroom and bench lathes are used for precision work; the former for tool-and-die work and similar tasks, the latter for small workpieces (instruments, watches), normally without a power feed. Models are typically designated according to their “swing,” or the largest-diameter workpiece that can be rotated; bed length, or the distance between centers; and horsepower generated. See turning machine.

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