HMC range is aimed at automotive sector

The HMC range of compact horizontal machining centres is tailored to the automotive sector. The HMC 500 machining centre comprises a fast 180° hydraulic pallet changer with a high load capacity for safe and accurate pallet positioning as commonly used in the car industry. This is combined with a 360° rotary loading station that utilises four 90° index positions with optional hydraulic clamping. Working envelope is 700 by 630 by 700 mm in x, y and z, respectively. The indexing table has a hydraulic four-cone pallet location system for enhanced repeatability with a positive air pressure to guarantee protection against coolant and swarf. This heavily ribbed machine bed is a single-piece casting with high damping characteristics for enhanced rigidity. The bed has a three-point location with vibration damping elements that not only improve rigidity but also the surface finish and quality of work. The slideways of the HMC 500 are rigid and with backlash-free, pre-tensioned roller slides, stick-slip-free axis movements, and feature a Schneeberger direct measuring system integrated into the slideways, providign high accuracy. To enhance performance further, the fast 40-tool carousel works with a disc magazine - there's an optional cassette magazine. Capable of holding tools up to 80 mm diameter in any of its four tool taper options, the HMC 500 has a chip-to-chip time of less than 4 secs. This speed is matched by the HMC 500’s direct drive that delivers 50 m/min rapid traverse rates with 5-7m/sec2 acceleration. Swarf management system is integrated into the machine bed and features a spiral conveyor that can be combined with the coolant system to guarantee high swarf removal rates.. Fanuc 21i-MB control is standard with Siemens Sinumerik 840D control optional. Both controls are supplied as standard with powerful shopfloor programming packages. To further promote user friendliness and the operational experience, the HMC 500 also provides the option of a status beacon, Visiport rotating wiper, coolant flush for the work area as well as work area extraction.