Sprutcam allows programming of more towers on lathes with secondary spindle (MTM). With this technique you can create NC programs for the simultaneous machining of multiple parts and with more tools.
In modern creation of production batches multi turret machines (MTM) are becoming increasingly popular. Their key advantage is its high performance combined with a relatively small footprint. Additional capacity is reached thanks to their ability, in fact a multifunction machine multi turret can combine two, three or even four machines in one.
The image above shows a typical type of machine multi turret. It includes a turning Centre with turret and a 6-axis milling machine. It is also programmable on sub spindle that provides secondary operations for workpiece machining. The machine processing technology standard process includes:
- The piece locked in one of the spindles.
- Turning performed using the lower turret.
- Milling carried out by rotating turret top.
- The piece can be transferred to the other spindle.
- A new piece can be loaded into the spindle free.
- It's possible the contemporary machining of both parties. In this case the turning is done using one of two spindles and at the same time the milling is performed using the other spindle. If necessary the turrets and milling can use both spindles.
- Discharge of the finished part from the second spindle.
- Loading the next piece.
The control of each section of the machine is typically performed by a separate channel controllers, each channel runs its own program and therefore the programming of such a machine performs the task of creating two or more programs, one for each control channel and in addition you must also schedule the synchronization of these channels. To ensure proper coordination for processing multiple channels you should use the "waiting". In our case, for example, the turret is able to start milling workpiece machining left Chuck while the same piece is machined using the lower turret.
To ensure an effective use of a multi machine Tower is necessary to minimize the waiting time. This task requires the equitable distribution of work among devices. In our example, the amount of processing performed by the tower and the head should be roughly the same. Furthermore, the processing time of the spindle to the left and right spindle should be balanced.
When there are several parts and fixtures that work simultaneously in one area, realistic simulation of the process and the possibility of collision control between the various moving objects becomes very important. Only with this kind of simulation you can be really sure of the accuracy of program developed and basically to minimize the risk of collisions caused by programming errors.
Then the system SprutCAM possesses all the necessary features for programming multi turret. These include:
- Complete schemas of kinematics of machinery including various equipment (chucks/turrets, etc).
- Different ways of positioning of the workpiece and the exchangeability between axes control channels.
- Programming capacity of loading, unloading and gripping.
- Assessment tools and load balancing on each channel-by-channel, accessible control in labor transfer mechanism.
- Interactive setting "wait" points (points of synchronism).
- Realistic simulation of processing in real time and simultaneously of all channels.
- Collision control of all objects in the working area.