EMO Hannover 2019 showcases new technologies

Andreas Scheuer, Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, together with Lower Saxony's First Minister Stephan Weil, Member of the Board of Management of Deutsche Telekom Adel Al-Saleh, Cecimo President Dr. Roland Feichtl, and EMO General Commissioner Carl Martin Welcker, opened EMO Hannover 2019. Highlighting international production technology, the theme of the show is Smart technologies driving tomorrow's production! with more than 2,200 exhibitors from 48 countries presenting innovations for industrial production.

“Digitalization and networking have been the subject of much discussion over the last few years, but they are now finally being implemented in the production processes," Carl Martin Welcker said during the opening press conference in Hannover.

A few show highlights

GF Machining Solutions’ AgieCharmilles CUT AM 500 horizontal wire EDM, which debuted at the show, is a fast, precise, affordable, and automation-ready alternative to the use of standard EDM equipment or a band saw to separate additively manufactured parts from build plates. In addition to improving overall efficiency, the CUT AM 500 also resolves a number of quality barriers encountered by manufacturers created by the use of band saws, including but not limited to geometric inaccuracy, loss of workpiece material (kerf) and damage to the part. Ideal for risk-averse industries, such as aerospace and medical technology, the CUT AM 500 maintains the integrity of the part by avoiding part contamination and damage.

Big Kaiser’s high-precision tooling systems and solutions for the metalworking industries, showcased its new EWA system – the future of fine boring. With the EWA, based on Big Kaiser's EWE digital fine boring heads and the EWN precision boring heads, there is no need to stop the machine tool to take measurements and manually adjust the boring tool, saving considerable time. By eliminating the human factor, the likelihood of scrapping expensive workpieces due to human error is mitigated. This reduces costs, improves accuracy, and enables handling of multiple bore sizes and repeatable bores.

Also shown was the Mega Micro Coolant Nut, made specifically for Mega Micro Chuck 6S. This allows for more efficient coolant supply for the micro-cutting tool and is ideal for high-speed micro-machining up to Ø6.

The updated hydraulic chuck with switchable coolant supply also will be showcased at EMO. Models for Ø 4-12, HDC4J-12J, allow switching from a center- or peripheral-coolant source.

New, smaller sizes of the C4 Turning Tools made an appearance, expanding the available lineup, as well as a display of a hydraulic chuck for Swiss lathes – a single wrench enables easy cutting tool exchange on the gang slide for faster setups. The chuck delivers highly accurate runout and repeatability.

In alliance with Takisawa Taiwan, JTEKT Toyoda Americas showed the NEX-105 turning center at the show. The NEX-105 is a compact solution capable of mass producing small complex parts, offering spindle speed up to 6,000 RPM and fast indexing capabilities on its linear roller bearing guideway. This 6” chuck size machine will be running live cutting demonstrations throughout the show, featuring a maximum swing of 15.7” (398mm), a maximum turning diameter of 6.7” (170mm), and a maximum turning diameter of 6.7” (170mm).

Toyoda meets the growing demand for producing components with high metal removal rates, short cycle times, and good surface finishes at a competitive price. Toyoda’s FH500J horizontal machining center is designed for speed and production reliability – featuring a 15,000rpm, 50hp (37 kW), 303Nm (223ft-lb) high acceleration spindle. This 40-taper spindle is designed with four ceramic bearings at the front of the spindle for unrivaled rigidity and reduced vibration. Its patented hydraulic preload system brings your spindle up to 10,000rpm less than 1 second without spindle warm up. This machine is equipped with a direct drive B-axis table featuring an index time (90° degrees) of 0.5 seconds. The FH500J machining center – with the spindle design, preload system, and high torque features – allows machine shops to take advantage of more aggressive machining and high-volume machining in a compact footprint. Less than 2% of FH500J spindles have needed replacement.