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December 2014

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Cell for Low Mix, Medium to High Part Volume



Methods Machine Tools, Inc., a supplier of precision machine tools and automation, demonstrated its new Twin RoboDrill JobShop Cell at IMTS 2014. The Twin JobShop Cell featured two FANUC D21 RoboDrill vertical machining centers (VMCs) being serviced by a single, articulating FANUC LR Mate 200iD robot. The cell featured the ability to load and unload multiple parts at one time to amortize typically longer load / unload times compared to parts that are handled one at a time.

"Traditionally, articulating robots are known as the standard for parts loading and unloading on machine tools, but have not always been the method of choice when working with parts having short cycle times during manufacture," said John Lucier, Automation Manager at Methods Machine Tools, Inc. "The Twin RoboDrill JobShop Cell offers an excellent solution to this fast cycle time challenge and is ideally suited for a low mix, medium to high volume of parts. The demonstration at IMTS featured 30 seconds cutting time per part, resulting in 250 finished parts per hour. Traditionally, it might take about seven seconds to load / unload one part, but due to handling multiple parts at once, the Twin RoboDrill JobShop Cell demonstrated the load / unload process at less than one second per part."

The Twin JobShop Cell featured two side-by-side RoboDrill machines with a FANUC robot entering from the side of each machine to give operators full, unfettered access to the front of the RoboDrills for tool changes, off-sets and maintenance. The cell also combined FANUC Robotics' IR Vision System with a flex vibratory in-feed system to bring the parts into the cell. The flex feeder conveyed a group of parts into the vision camera's field-of-view for inspection, selecting the "good" parts for directing the robot to load them into the machine.

FANUC D21 RoboDrill VMCs include a FANUC 31iB5 control, which features fast FSSB high-speed processing. "This control offers streamlined electronics to reduce the number of components and provide an ergonomic display," said a company spokesperson. "To reduce the chance for downtime, the control provides efficient troubleshooting and maintenance capabilities, allowing users to analyze systems on the RoboDrills and receive notifications if any of the drives or electronics require adjustment."

For more information contact:

John Lucier

Methods Machine Tools, Inc.

65 Union Avenue

Sudbury, MA 01776

978-443-5388

sales@methodsmachines.com

www.methodsmachine.com

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