The Integrex i-H series of multi-tasking machines from Mazak was designed to allow for additional automation technologies to be added onto the machine after purchase as a company's production needs grow and change.
The series of machines are available in different configurations including machines with a standard main turning spindle, milling spindle and tailstock. The “S”-designated configurations feature second turning spindles, and “ST” machines have a second turning spindle and lower turret with live rotary tool capability. The series offers five bed lengths that vary from a compact design of 23" to 100" (590 mm to 2,500 mm). The machines can be part of a highly flexible and fully automated cells with Integrex i-H machines at its heart fed by robotic equipment and other automation technologies.
The models’ standard main and second spindles are equal in power and torque, which allows for mirror-image part processing, and Mazak offers various horsepower, torque and bore size options for both.
Spindles come in standard, high-power and high-speed versions, as well as speeds that range from 12,000 to 20,000 rpm. The spindles maintain their full torque ratings throughout the entire range of spindle speeds.
In addition, the machines can be configured with identical turning spindle bore sizes on each side for small- to medium-size shaft processing.
Various automation options are available for retrofit onto these machines. The retrofitted options are packaged as kits for installation by Mazak service technicians. Options include an overhead gantry loader, a parts unloader and parts catcher, a bar feeder, automatic chuck jaw changers for either a machine’s main or second spindles, or a pedestal-type standalone robot.
Automatic front-door capabilities and various openings for automation incorporated in the machine enclosure help ease the retrofit process. Machine-side panels are removable when access is needed for adding a parts catcher, and there’s a top panel for overhead gantries. The machines also feature full-size, top-to-bottom front doors that can be retrofitted in the field for automatic operation to accommodate a standalone robot.
Another add-on option is a magazine-style automatic jaw changers for main turning spindles, and for second spindles. Auto jaw changing allows shops to make a variety of parts from one size of bar stock. For instance, with a 4" (101.6 mm) diameter bar feeder and auto jaw changer for the second spindle, a shop could use Mazak’s job scheduling software to run myriad parts and diameters from a single barstock size.
A newly redesigned gantry loader (GL) is shorter in height by 16.25" (413 mm) and thus requires less overhead clearance. It provides A/B-axis swing arm synchronization, and with a conveyor at the left side of the machine, the GL further reduces load and unload time. In addition, the GL system can connect to multiple machines at once.
Alongside a standard slant-type lower turret, a new orthogonal-type lower turret allows shops to run larger-size parts, use longer tools for deeper boring and drilling operations, and have the turret work at a machine’s main or second spindle without interference.
Adding to its capability to change production as jobs change, the machines features a tool magazine that can accommodate up to 112 tools.
All Integrex i-H Series machines feature Mazatrol SmoothAi control that several enhancements. An optional second screen can display the status of multiple connected Mazaks machines.
Mazatrol advancements include the control’s Solid Mazatrol function that allows shops to work from solid models to generate programs for specific part features. The control provides cutting-condition monitoring through its Smooth Ai Spindle function and thermal stability with its Ai Thermal Shield function. The Mazatrol SmoothAi CNC also has specific functions for advanced robot automation and unmanned operations.
The Integrex i-H series of multi-tasking machines from Mazak incorporate innovations that give today’s shops the ability to adjust to continuously changing part types as well as varying production demands with one machine. The new series provides a scalable automation integration solution that lets a machine’s capabilities evolve as production need’s change.
Related Glossary Terms
- boring
boring
Enlarging a hole that already has been drilled or cored. Generally, it is an operation of truing the previously drilled hole with a single-point, lathe-type tool. Boring is essentially internal turning, in that usually a single-point cutting tool forms the internal shape. Some tools are available with two cutting edges to balance cutting forces.
- chuck
chuck
Workholding device that affixes to a mill, lathe or drill-press spindle. It holds a tool or workpiece by one end, allowing it to be rotated. May also be fitted to the machine table to hold a workpiece. Two or more adjustable jaws actually hold the tool or part. May be actuated manually, pneumatically, hydraulically or electrically. See collet.
- clearance
clearance
Space provided behind a tool’s land or relief to prevent rubbing and subsequent premature deterioration of the tool. See land; relief.
- computer numerical control ( CNC)
computer numerical control ( CNC)
Microprocessor-based controller dedicated to a machine tool that permits the creation or modification of parts. Programmed numerical control activates the machine’s servos and spindle drives and controls the various machining operations. See DNC, direct numerical control; NC, numerical control.
- gang cutting ( milling)
gang cutting ( milling)
Machining with several cutters mounted on a single arbor, generally for simultaneous cutting.
- milling
milling
Machining operation in which metal or other material is removed by applying power to a rotating cutter. In vertical milling, the cutting tool is mounted vertically on the spindle. In horizontal milling, the cutting tool is mounted horizontally, either directly on the spindle or on an arbor. Horizontal milling is further broken down into conventional milling, where the cutter rotates opposite the direction of feed, or “up” into the workpiece; and climb milling, where the cutter rotates in the direction of feed, or “down” into the workpiece. Milling operations include plane or surface milling, endmilling, facemilling, angle milling, form milling and profiling.
- turning
turning
Workpiece is held in a chuck, mounted on a face plate or secured between centers and rotated while a cutting tool, normally a single-point tool, is fed into it along its periphery or across its end or face. Takes the form of straight turning (cutting along the periphery of the workpiece); taper turning (creating a taper); step turning (turning different-size diameters on the same work); chamfering (beveling an edge or shoulder); facing (cutting on an end); turning threads (usually external but can be internal); roughing (high-volume metal removal); and finishing (final light cuts). Performed on lathes, turning centers, chucking machines, automatic screw machines and similar machines.
Author
News items authored by Cutting Tool Engineering have been written or edited by the editors of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine. The reports represent material submitted to CTE by outside authors, and edited by CTE editors for style and accuracy.
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