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GEORG's new portal-type milling machine – GEORG ultramill – is for high-precision aluminum plates. With an accuracy of surface parallelism of +/-0.05 mm achieved by this machine, GEORG is setting a new standard. At the same time, production throughput increases significantly as GEORG has doubled the machining speed and implemented a high degree of automation compared to machines generally in use so far.
The new machine mills the surfaces of up to 3,000-mm-wide aluminum plates with a unique precision of surface parallelism. While +/-0.1 mm used to be the industry standard, the new machine achieves an accuracy of 0.05 mm. In a single run – without rough and finish machining – it provides a surface roughness Ra between 0.28 and 0.4 µm.
With milling speeds of up to 4,000 mm/min and feed rates of up to 60 m/min, machining times are more than 30 percent shorter than those of conventional machines. This is enabled, among others, by the high milling unit drive power of 200 kW.
Also the high degree of machine automation has contributed to the marked increase in throughput: The plates are automatically fed into the machine, held firmly down by a vacuum clamping table, automatically turned over when the top side has been milled and again held down automatically by the vacuum clamping table while the other side is being milled.
Dr. Wieland Klein, Head of GEORG’s machine tools division, has already received feedback from users of the new machine. “First users of the machines have been reporting dramatic reductions in machining and non-productive times. And the product quality has become much better. Our preloaded and backlash-free guideways guarantee highest precision and long-time accuracy of the machine.”
GEORG measures the plate thickness in three tracks by means of laser triangulation. The integrated GEORG Maintenance System (GMS) continuously monitors the complete machine, among others also the tool wear. The machine data is transferred to the host computer, linking the machine with the plantwide process network.
Related Glossary Terms
- feed
feed
Rate of change of position of the tool as a whole, relative to the workpiece while cutting.
- gang cutting ( milling)
gang cutting ( milling)
Machining with several cutters mounted on a single arbor, generally for simultaneous cutting.
- milling
milling
Machining operation in which metal or other material is removed by applying power to a rotating cutter. In vertical milling, the cutting tool is mounted vertically on the spindle. In horizontal milling, the cutting tool is mounted horizontally, either directly on the spindle or on an arbor. Horizontal milling is further broken down into conventional milling, where the cutter rotates opposite the direction of feed, or “up” into the workpiece; and climb milling, where the cutter rotates in the direction of feed, or “down” into the workpiece. Milling operations include plane or surface milling, endmilling, facemilling, angle milling, form milling and profiling.
- milling machine ( mill)
milling machine ( mill)
Runs endmills and arbor-mounted milling cutters. Features include a head with a spindle that drives the cutters; a column, knee and table that provide motion in the three Cartesian axes; and a base that supports the components and houses the cutting-fluid pump and reservoir. The work is mounted on the table and fed into the rotating cutter or endmill to accomplish the milling steps; vertical milling machines also feed endmills into the work by means of a spindle-mounted quill. Models range from small manual machines to big bed-type and duplex mills. All take one of three basic forms: vertical, horizontal or convertible horizontal/vertical. Vertical machines may be knee-type (the table is mounted on a knee that can be elevated) or bed-type (the table is securely supported and only moves horizontally). In general, horizontal machines are bigger and more powerful, while vertical machines are lighter but more versatile and easier to set up and operate.
