TPT May 2014

Technology News

Automated tool change for tube sizing machine

HG150IDOD from AddisonMckee

The tool gantry

are returned to the appropriate position. The overhead gantry system uses electric servos to provide precise control and positioning for tooling retrieval, installation and storage. To provide a safe workplace, the automated cell is designed with perimeter guarding, interlocked gating and safety scanners. The HG150-IDOD machine was supplied with the AddisonMckee patent- pending Hydra-Green hydraulic power pack and control circuit to improve safety and reduce electrical power consumption, operating sound level, and hydraulic oil usage. The machine also included the DigiView control system, an advanced digital control that provides control of machine sequences including velocity, step cycle and multi-hit functionality.

overhead gantry to change the tooling sets, thus eliminating manual handling. Tooling changeover time from part- to-part for pre-programmed tubes is approximately 90 seconds.” Tools are securely stored within a rack system that holds up to ten ID finger/ OD jaw sets. The HG150-IDOD control system links with the tool changer system and utilises tooling identification to store the tools in programmed storage slots and retrieve the proper tooling set for a chosen operation. Once the operator recalls a saved sizing program, the machine retrieves and installs the associated tooling set and automatically adjusts to the pre- program parameters. The tool identification device uses an RFID tag system installed onto the tooling holder and an RFID reader at each tool storage location to verify tools and lengths of the tubes are also measured highly accurately. Thanks to these different measuring system modules and more than 25 years of experience in 
measurement technology for tube rolling mills for every application in the rolling process, it is possible 
to put together an individually tailored IMS tube measuring system by the module principle. This module system will also make it easy in future to integrate other

ADDISONMCKEE has developed a solution for automated tool handling, making tool changeover faster and safer, for an aerospace tube manufacturing customer. The customer currently uses AddisonMckee IDOD tube sizing machines to form tubes in the 2 to 6" diameter range. The tool sets utilised in these large sizing machines can weigh up to 300lb, so loading and unloading using an overhead crane system can be cumbersome and time consuming. Regional sales manager Don Miller stated, “Our customers are very safety conscious, and are continuously looking for faster and safer methods of tool handling. Initial project discussions centred on our FM-SIO machine design that holds several tooling sets within a carousel that rotates for tool change. The project evolved into a high tech pick-and-place system that uses an

AddisonMckee – USA Website: www.addisonmckee.com

Tube measuring system TECHNOLOGICAL advances in the field of rolling and automation technology have in the past few years led to transformation of IMS’s wall thickness measuring systems into multifunctional tube measuring 
systems.

parameters such as surface structure or roughness into measuring systems. IMS can look back at more than 100 delivered and running tube measuring systems, 40 of which are used with multi- channel technology by leading global tube manufacturers. IMS Tube Measuring Systems – Germany Website: www.ims-gmbh.de

These measuring systems not only measurewall thickness and its distribution over the 
cross-section of a tube, but also the outside diameter and its profile around the circumference. The 
temperatures

27

www.read-tpt.com

M ay 2014