Advanced CNC systems from NUM are helping US machine tool manufacturer Bourn & Koch, Inc. to extend its competitive edge in the market by using state-of-the art machine control software. Following a highly successful project to migrate control of powerful 7-axis horizontal gear hobbers to NUM’s Flexium CNC platform, the company is now standardising on this control technology for an extensive range of its gear production machines.
Bourn & Koch chose to upgrade to NUM’s Flexium CNC on its 25H - 400H Series II gear hobbers, starting with the 400H. The speed and power of this machine means that it can replace as many as seven older style gear production machines, making it a popular choice with companies machining large precision components such as bull and cluster gears, worms, shafts, splines and pinions. Capable of accommodating work pieces up to 400 mm (16 in) in diameter, the 400H has an axial travel capability of 1,168 mm (46 inch) as standard and can be customised for the production of even longer parts. Customers are typically prime and sub-contract manufacturers producing mechanical power transmission components and systems for the defence and aerospace, oil/gas drilling, mining, heavy equipment and power generation industries.
To simply program the machine The HMI on the 400H gear hobber makes full use of the software’s capabilities by combining a conversational style dialogue with powerful graphics, which means that the machine operator does not have to use or even know about ISO languages. To produce a part, the operator simply inputs machine setup information such as cutting speeds, work piece and tooling geometry via simple fill-in-the-blanks menus, while graphical images provide clear and unambiguous views of the hob tool and resultant gear part. All calculations involved in creating the machine control program for a particular part are handled completely automatically.
The company decided to migrate the design to NUM’s Flexium CNC platform as a matter of course. Tim Helle, President of Bourn & Koch, explains, “We offer customers a choice of CNC – NUM is the standard on most of our gear hobbers – and have a policy of using the latest technology to maximise the performance and cost-effectiveness of our machines. This approach also results in progressively simpler machine operation, with less need for training, and means that spares are readily available, which contributes to machine uptime and reduces customers’ support costs.”
NUM AG Battenhusstrasse 16 CH-9053 Teufen Tel. +41 71 335 04 11 [email protected] www.num.com
Bourn & Koch Inc 2500 Kishwaukee Street Rockford, IL 61104, USA. Tel. 815-965-4013 [email protected] www.bourn-koch.com
