Xiongke clamp tower and cone tower

Release time:

2020-12-08

Many people feel unfamiliar with fixture towers and tapered towers, probably because they look different on different machines. If used properly, they can greatly increase the number of workpieces in a machine tool, providing the ideal machining prerequisites for reduced downtime and increased machine uptime without human intervention, while providing a high degree of flexibility-all with careful design.

The compact spring-driven TANDEM KSF plus vise requires no media supply, making it particularly suitable for workpiece storage solutions.

Fixture tower with 4-axis horizontal machining center with integrated pallet changing function. The basic idea has always been: the fixture tower can increase the clamping station of the machine tool itself, thereby improving the processing capacity of the machine tool and reducing the downtime as much as possible. After clever planning, the workpiece storage system with fixture tower can be used for several consecutive days of fully automated production.

The same principle applies to the recent success of tapered grippers on five-axis machines. Maximum access to the workpiece and extended machine run time without human intervention-especially when the loading process is carried out automatically by the machine itself or an external pallet system. Due to its development potential, SCHUNK and other similar leading companies in gripping systems and clamping technology have been continuously expanding their clamping tower and conical clamping tower product portfolio for many years. Starting from a comprehensive modular system consisting of basic pallets, basic profiles and clamping surfaces, it combines a wide range of clamping equipment and standard clamping jaws, which is very practical.

Through the SCHUNK VERO-S quick-change tray system, the fixture tower can be reassembled quickly and accurately.

Eliminate downtime

Basic principle: One or even more (ideally) workpieces can be clamped on each side of the clamp tower, and then processed one by one. With the help of modern CAD/CAM systems, efficient and automated machining of even the smallest batches, down to individual parts, is possible. The installation method is based on a workpiece-specific tooling plan, preferably outside the machine tool, at the independent or external installation site of the machine tool system. Clamping of the gripper tower or tapered gripper tower inside the machine tool can be done via the machine's own transport system, or using spreader or robot. In addition, by using a clamp tower and a tapered tower, non-productive downtime such as replacement, alignment or determination of a zero point, such as continuous operation outside the machine tool, can also be avoided. The quick-change pallet system shortens the change time of the workpiece, the clamping device or the pallet, especially when high flexibility is required or the fixture tower or the cone tower cannot meet the demand.

SCHUNK KONTEC KSM2 multi-purpose clamping vise provides a variety of different clamping solutions for series parts, and can be quickly and easily installed in the clamping tower.

Structural Design of Damping Hollow Body

The fixture tower usually adopts an integrated design. As a single module, the base plate and clamping column are made of cast iron EN-GJL-250; and, due to its stable hollow body structure design, it can ensure high rigidity, good vibration reduction effect and high basic accuracy, so no milling is required before use. The standard version is available in two base plate sizes (400 x 400mm, 500 x 500mm) for standard machine pallet types DIN 55 201 and JIS 6337-1980. A separate interface may also be provided. The perpendicularity to the base plate is 0.01mm to 200mm, the surface is finished milled, and the roughness is Ra 1.6. This ensures precise positioning of the clamping device and the workpiece. The Ø 50 H6 centering device can be used to quickly and accurately install the fixture tower on the existing machine tool table. For JIS 6337-1980 basic pallets (500 x 500 m), spacer plates and edge locator stops can also be used.

The combination of rotary table, quick-change tray system and clamping cone tower assists the 5-axis machine tool to achieve efficient small batch production.

Many Variants

Jig towers and tapered towers offer a large number of variations and designs. The SCHUNK clamp tower itself contains five basic profiles: a double-sided tower with two clamping surfaces, a triangle with three clamping surfaces, a cube or cross with four clamping surfaces, and an octagon with eight clamping surfaces. Another special form is the conical clamping tower, which can be used for 5-axis machine tools to clamp multiple workpieces at the same time to make it easy to access and process, especially suitable for the increasing number of machine tools with workpiece storage function. By selecting the correct shape of the workpiece and the machining process, the interference profile and thus the accessibility of the spindle and the tool can be optimized. Depending on the variant, the height of the standard clamp tower is 710 mm or 1,000mm.

Regardless of their design, the clamping surfaces can be configured individually.

Flexibility of clamping surfaces and clamping devices

A total of four different clamping surfaces are available: the 50 mm drilling grid provides a high degree of flexibility. It is suitable for the installation of various clamping devices, but at the same time can also be used for regular adjustment. The additional reduced grid is specially designed for SCHUNK KONTEC fixtures. In both cases, the grid holes are equipped with hardened assembly bushings and galvanized threaded bushings. The clamp can be positioned and fastened directly to the clamp tower using Ø12/M12 mounting screws. According to the specific needs of users, can be customized to provide a third option, namely blank clamping surface. The fourth variant provides maximum flexibility and can be equipped with SCHUNK VERO-S NSE-T 138 quick-change tray modules.

With the aid of the triangular clamp tower, twelve workpieces can be machined one by one. The KONTEC KSC vise of the SCHUNK KSC base series ensures safe clamping.

These devices act as a quick-change system, and high-precision clamping device replacement can be completed in a few seconds without the need for screw fixing and clamping. By using the standard SCHUNK VERO-S dowel pins, the quick-change pallet module can be directly combined with various clamps from the SCHUNK standard series. Users thus benefit from a unique variety of different clamping modules, ranging from powerful clamps to single-action, double-action or multi-action vise, to lathe chucks with multiple jaws. Through the application of SCHUNK claw scheme and claw quick change system, the clamping device can be quickly and flexibly adapted to different parts series, ensuring high precision and economy, but also to ensure a high degree of customization.

Considering the matching of the workpiece, the clamping device and the type of processing, different design forms of the fixture tower can be generated, thus opening up different possibilities for improving the metal cutting efficiency.

Clamping tower system-complete configuration of clamping device

In addition to this freely configurable modular solution, Arrow Stone can also provide a large number of pre-configured clamp tower solutions. These clamp tower systems typically consist of four fixed vise s of the SCHUNK KONTEC series, which can be configured as a single module or combined into a mold center EN-GJL-250 to form a clamp tower. You can choose between the following clamping tower systems: single-action vise KONTEC KSO with a single module design, double-action vise KONTEC KSC-D, multi-function clamping system KONTEC KSM or KONTEC KSM2, vice for modular machine tools KONTEC KSG and spring-loaded power clamp TANDEM KSF plus. The latter enables safe clamping without a medium supply; and, due to its compact form factor, this type of clamp is increasingly in demand in view of more efficient storage of workpieces.

If required, SCHUNK can also develop specialized solutions such as TANDEM plus clamp towers.

Dedicated solutions for specific applications

If the standard product does not yet meet the requirements, Arrow Stone can also provide dedicated solutions for specific applications; for example, vibration damping clamp towers made of cast iron GGG40 or clamp towers that reduce weight by optimizing the geometry. The highly rigid clamp tower can also be used for highly demanding milling operations. Special turntable, on which the fixture tower can be rotated, rotated or installed vertically or horizontally, while achieving ergonomic feeding.

The SCHUNK clamp tower made of mineral castings is a lightweight device and can absorb vibration during machining. CASTING FIXTURE TOWER

The jig tower uses mixing technology to combine the mineral casting core and the steel or aluminum shell. Its low dead weight also becomes a key advantage when extending the range of additional clamping devices and workpieces. In addition, its shock absorption capacity is six to ten times higher than that of traditional gray cast iron, which has a long-term impact on cost-effectiveness. This results in higher cutting parameters while reducing tool wear and improving surface quality. Further advantages include low thermal conductivity and associated slow response to temperature changes, as well as chemical and mechanical resistance to aggressive and abrasive media.