CNC upgrades Leifeld metal spinning machine
October 20th, 2008 by 
admin CNC Design has retrofitted a Leifeld PNC350-19/2 metal spinning machine at Murdock Metal Spinning in Melbourne, Australia.
This model of Leifeld spinning machine is now self-programming and can learn from the operator The machine was originally built in 1985, but the machine has aged, electronic components have become unreliable and expensive to replace, support has become remote and the operator interface has been outdated The retrofit involved the installation of the Siemens Sinumerik 840D CNC Control and Simodrive HLA card.
The hydraulic axes controlled by Moog servo valves were retained and interfaced to the CNC system.
The critical teach panel controls were connected to fast analog I/O via the digital bus to ensure the system is responsive during the teaching process.
A new operator panel was installed with a 10in colour screen and machine control panel.
A dedicated operational system was integrated into the standard Sinumerik HMI Advanced software.
A feature of the machine is its ability to learn from the operator manually spinning the part and then generating a program, meaning no CAD/CAM or programming skills are required.
Before manual spinning, the roller is taught the working area for collision prevention with the tool and other devices.
Software was developed to ensure the roller maintained minimum pressure requested by the operator when teaching the tool contour.
During teaching the position of the X axis controlled, as is the applied pressure, with the latter parameter critical to the spinning process.
During commissioning, together with the operator, the manual spinning was finely tuned to allow the operator to ‘feel’ the spinning of the part.
Strong engineering at CNC Design was needed to develop the software for real time data acquisition and program generation during teaching.
Customised screens were developed to save programs, change system variables and view and edit programs.
After program generation, programs can be viewed graphically with the ability to navigate through passes and delete unnecessary movements, optimising the cycle time.
All development and design of the system was completed offline while the machine was in production.
The commissioning phase involved cabinet and machine wiring, servo valve servicing, tuning of axes, testing of all software, fine tuning of the machine and trials.
Posted in CNC Metal | 