Beakbane invests £100,000 in CNC test rig (Video)

At the heart of the investment is a purpose-built CNC rig for testing protective machine tool covers. This features a moving column box construction with linear drives that exactly emulates the axis movements and duty cycles of a machining centre. The rig is capable of replicating machining centres currently on the market which typically have axes capable of 60 m/min and 0.6 to 1 g acceleration as well as test components for next generation machines at axis speeds of 120 m/min and accelerations of 2 g. At these speeds it is particularly important that the design of the protective cover keeps noise to a minimum and can cope with high dynamic loads. The rig can test products in a vertical or horizontal plane and has a maximum stroke of 3 m. It is designed to allow pairs of covers, left and right hand, to be tested simultaneously. The rig can accommodate pairs of covers up to 2 m wide or, alternatively, up to three pairs of smaller covers. The rig is fully programmable for stroke, speed and number of cycles at specific speeds to simulate real duty cycles. Beakbane's protection products that will be tested on the machine include telescopic slideway covers, concertina covers and lamella covers. These, as well as armoured aprons, roller blinds, slideway wipers and other specialised protection components, can be custom-built to suit a customer's specific needs Beakbane's managing director Barry Reeves said: "This investment in testing facilities is helping us to push out the boundaries of what we can do to support machine tool manufacturers in the drive for ever more productive machines. It keeps us in the forefront of cover design, positions us for the future and underlines our commitment to ensuring that quality and reliability are always to the fore on Beakbane products." Related video: Beakbane's slideway cover test rig