Stator ring jacket machining system

• Inner shell, outer shell and end shield machining on one machine bed
• 3 motor spindles
• Direct transfer from spindle to spindle
• Simultaneous machining of 3 components in 3 operations
• Outer diameter < 300 mm, length < 300 mm

Maximum process reliability, clearly structured tools and machining operations, intuitive parameterization of the individual machining steps with the shortest cycle time on one machine bed.

Processing machine, loading and unloading conveyor, gantry loader, robot handling, quality assurance, automation sequence, clamping devices, tools and technology – all from a single source and optimized by HK-CON.

The welded frame construction of the machine bed in flat-bed design supports the machining assemblies and absorbs the generated process forces. Ribbing of the bed provides the necessary rigidity for low-vibration machining.

The X-axis guide with the orthogonally arranged Z-axis guides are mounted on the long side of the bed in three sections. This arrangement leads to the 3 cross slides, which support and position the 3 horizontal work spindles. The linear axes are equipped with absolute length measuring systems – glass scales. The alternating arrangement of the X-axes with overlapping travel paths enables the spindles to transfer components in a secure axial and radial position. The mobile or stationary tools are located opposite the spindles. Depending on the machining task (milling, turning, drilling, reaming), 4 stationary tools are driven by a motor. The clamped workpiece is machined via the axes of the spindle (X, Z and C) on the positionable or stationary tools.

Chutes arranged centrally between the tool carrier and the X-axes guide the falling chips out of the machining area onto the conveyor belt close to the floor. The cooling lubricant is also fed back to the coolant system with its belt filter and pumps through these chutes.

Bearbeitungsraum mit Spanndorn

• automatic feeding incl. alignment
• centric clamping
• complete machining in 3 operations
• direct transfer from spindle to spindle
• 100 % measurement incl. downstream automatic tool correction and incl. laser station
• simultaneous machining of the inner and outer contour
• simultaneous machining of 3 components
• all-round carefree package: turnkey from a single source

The cast blank of the stator ring shell with end shield is efficiently machined to the required accuracy in three operations on one machine bed. Without the end shield, the outer diameter of the shell is 285 mm, the inner diameter is 270 mm and the length of the shell is 300 mm.

The loading conveyor carries the component over pallets to the transfer position of the gantry loader. This grips the blank, feeds it into the machine processing area via its travel paths and transfers it precisely to the face clamping chuck of the work spindle in processing position 10.

Opposite the clamped ring jacket are two independent tool carriers that can be moved in the X and Z axes. Tool carrier 1 is equipped with a holder for 2 cutting inserts for outer ring machining, while tool carrier 2 has a holder with 4 cutting edges for internal machining and the grooving tool for the outer ring groove on the stop side via a separate holder. The travel paths of the work spindle and the tool carriers enable simultaneous roughing of the outer and inner surfaces of the shell. Further inserts of the internal tool holder perform facing of the inside of the end shield and machining of the central rotor bearing seat. Facing of the end face of the shell is carried out using a cutting insert of the external tool holder. The machining of the annular groove with the grooving insert completes OP10.

The component is then transferred from the face chuck to the mandrel of the motor spindle from machining position 20.

Tools OP10

Tools OP20

The 8 tools of OP 20 are fixed in their position, 4 of these tools are driven. The cutting inserts of the turning tools rough and finish the outer shell stop and end faces of the end shield. The grooving tool cuts a second annular groove in the shell. The external machining of the rotor bearing seat, the production of a bore and the secondary shaft bearing seat as well as a reference groove are performed by 4 driven milling cutters or a reamer. The end shield of the ring shell is finished with OP20.

The mandrel transfers the component to the face chuck of OP 30.

Tools OP30

The tool structure of OP 30 with its two tool carriers that can be moved in the X and Z axes corresponds to that of OP 10. Each tool carrier is equipped with a cutting insert via a holder. These simultaneously finish the inner and outer surfaces and subsequently finish the bearing seat and the end faces. The machining of the component is completed with the finishing.

Hydraulically clamping chuck with stop, centering and air system control.

HK-CON face chuck

Mandrel with stop and air system control

The second gantry loader grips the component in OP30 and transports it via the blow-off unit to the intermediate station of the test and final loading area. Two NC axes in conjunction with a pneumatic gripper perform the assigned functions for each gantry.

Gantry loader assembly

The blow-off unit is placed on top of the OP30 work area and separated from the machine room and the surrounding area by two bulkheads. The external surfaces are cleaned of cooling lubricant via fixed nozzles and the internal surfaces via the guided nozzle lance using compressed air.

Blow-off unit, mobile nozzle lance on the right

From the intermediate station, the industrial robot guides the stator ring jacket via the measuring station to the pallet of the unloading conveyor, which feeds the component out of the safety area for laser marking. The results of the measurement are used to correct the tool in the CNC. The pallets on the unloading conveyor are equipped with RFID transponders for clear identification. When the component is placed on the pallet, the production data is written to the transponder. The laser marking station reads and resets the data.

Measuring station

Measuring station with handling robot

… with 30 pallets each

Loading conveyor, manual loading

Unloading conveyor

• 3 machining spindles, each with 104 kW, 585 Nm, 1700 rpm
• Travel range per machining spindle
  X1/X3: 2010 mm
  X2: 2260 mm
  Z: 340 mm
• 2 hydraulic chucks with stop, centering, and air system monitoring
• 1 mandrel with stop and air system monitoring
• 4 stationary driven tools HSK 63 6000 rpm
  2 x 8.9 kW, 16 Nm
  2 x 20.3 kW, 50 Nm
• 4 stationary tools Capto C5
• 5 movable tools for parallel external and internal machining
  1 x tool movable in Z-direction (410 mm), Capto C5
  3 x tools movable in Z-direction (410 mm) and X-direction (50 mm), Capto C5
  1 x tool movable in Z-direction (410 mm) and X-direction (50 mm), HSK 100
• 1 loading gantry (travel range Z-direction: 3550 mm, Y-direction: 1615 mm)
• 1 unloading gantry (travel range X-direction: 2500 mm, Y-direction: 1615 mm)
• 1 blow-off unit integrated into the enclosure (approached by unloading gantry)
• 1 intermediate storage
• 1 measuring station
• 1 loading conveyor with 30 pallets, manually loaded, picked by gantry
• 1 unloading conveyor with 30 pallets with RFID memory for data transfer to downstream laser marking