Double Duty Device: Trade Shows & Events
Engis Corp. unveils a hybrid bore-honing system integrating multi-stroke honing and single-pass finishing, enhancing precision for hydraulic spool valves.n
Scheduled to be unveiled at IMTS, an innovative machine tool tackles two key steps in bore creation that are normally handled by separate systems.
Wheeling, Illinois-based Engis Corp. describes its new machine as a hybrid bore-honing system. The machine combines the functions of conventional multi-stroke honing and the manufacturer’s single-pass finishing technology. Designed for high-volume manufacturing of hydraulic spool valves, the integrated technologies can achieve high precision when finishing bored components, while also producing sharper, burr-free corners on part cross holes and fluid-metering edges, according to Engis.
In the production of hydraulic spool valves, the single-pass finishing process is “very good at achieving very high precision,” with tolerances under 1 μm, according to Bob Marvin, director of global bore-honing operations at Engis. But when too much material is removed during this process, Marvin pointed out that material displacement can result in the creation of rollover burrs in the cross holes and/or on the metering edges of a valve. Therefore, he noted, bore finishing is normally preceded by a roughing operation that employs conventional honing stones. After this step is completed in one machine, parts are transferred to a single-pass machine where a relatively small amount of material is removed to finish the bores.
By contrast, the Engis hybrid system integrates single-pass bore finishing with a multi-stroke honing process in a single cabinet. “It’s easier to have it all done in one operation because there’s less labor involved,” Marvin said. “And there’s a big savings in floor space as well.”
Inside the hybrid, parts are loaded into holding fixtures arranged on a rotary index table that moves them around to the different manufacturing stations. At the first station, a multi-stroke honing column uses expandable honing stones to semi-finish the bores. The programmable expansion amount is checked at the next station, where a gauge measures the bores.
Review the print ads from this magazine to continue
This quick advertiser review unlocks the rest of the article and keeps the full-screen reader focused on the ads instead of the page chrome.
