What Visitors Can Expect

The One-Hit Machining Message

The event is aimed squarely at UK and Irish component manufacturers looking to increase productivity and improve their process efficiencies. Central to that proposition is one-hit machining — the operational and commercial benefits of completing components in a single setup will be championed throughout the day.

The logic is familiar to any production engineer: fewer setups can lead to fewer opportunities for error, less work-in-progress, and shorter lead times. A horizontal simultaneous 5-axis mill-turn platform such as the Heller HF 5500 FLEX embodies that philosophy, combining milling and turning operations in one machine. By pairing it with ten further multi-tasking machines from DN Solutions, Mills CNC is giving manufacturers the chance to evaluate that approach across a range of platforms.

For component manufacturers weighing up an investment in multi-tasking technology, the Leamington Spa event offers a concentrated opportunity to see 11 machines under one roof — and to judge for themselves whether one-hit machining delivers on its promise.

HF 5500 FLEX – a closer look

Equipped with the Siemens SINUMERIK ONE control and 24” multi-touch screen, the HF 5500 FLEX features a powerful HSK-T (mill-turn) spindle (45kW/12,000rpm/400N-m), up to 90m/min rapids on its linear axes, a 630mm x 630mm rotary, tilting table and a 50-tool position ATC.

The machine’s “FLEX” designation refers to the machine’s table loading configuration which, unlike some other Heller models, is built without an integrated pallet changer but, instead, features a) fast and flexible table loading access with direct workpiece set up and b) the ability to integrate the machine with a myriad of external linear or rotary pallet systems.

The absence of an integrated pallet changer also means that the HF 5500 FLEX is a more compact machine with a smaller footprint.

Key attributes

The HF 5500 FLEX’s spindle is characterised by its narrow (lean) neck which, with its horizontal orientation, allows maximum spindle/tool projection and optimal reach inside complex-shaped workpieces.

Unlike vertical machining centres, the HF 5500 FLEX’s horizontal configuration and a 225-degree tilt on the machine’s table allows chips to fall naturally, and unencumbered, into a central conveyor to keep the workspace clear. Such ‘gravity-assisted’ chip removal ensures uninterrupted machining and higher productivity.

To manage heavy machining loads, the HF 5500 FLEX utilises a unique combination of a counter bearing and a YRT high-precision axial-radial roller bearing on the machine’s A- and B-axes ensuring greater process reliability and higher accuracies when machining higher loads.

Real time, multi-layered thermal compensation (i.e., active spindle thermal growth compensation), chilled spindles and drive and cabinet cooling keeps heat, and its effects, out of critical structural zones during heavy-cutting cycles and long machining runs — thereby improving part accuracies.

Furthermore, all linear axes use direct absolute linear encoders (measuring systems) rather than relying on motor encoders to maintain high precision, and ball screw thermal expansion issues are immediately detected and rectified in real time too.

“The Heller HF 5500 FLEX is a powerful, fast, precise and flexible mill-turn machine that delivers unrivalled simultaneous 5-axis machining performance and exceptional one-hit part processing.

“For highly-regulated industries and sectors that demand the machining of flawless, right-first-time and repeatable high-precision components, even when machining hard and difficult-to-machine materials, the Heller HF 5500 FLEX can be relied upon to deliver.

“The machine is one of eleven advanced machine tools being showcased at our Innovation Day technology event in October and, along with our latest SYNERGi automation systems, will demonstrate the way forward for component manufacturers looking to maintain, or acquire, a competitive edge.”