It has been on the market for ten years and was presented in a new guise at AMB Stuttgart – the enhanced CT960 universal internal grinding machine from Studer. The all-rounder with four spindles for complex grinding tasks has received revolutionary innovations in the area of the B-axis and the grinding spindle turret – for even greater precision and speed.
For every internal cylindrical grinding application Studer has the optimal machine – primarily for use in machine tools and toolmaking as well as for the aerospace and automotive industry. The focus is on machining small to medium sized parts: Die plates, spring collets, tool holding fixtures, hydraulic components, medical components, thread ring gauges and many other workpieces made from tool steel, tungsten carbide, ceramic and glass.
Highly dynamic direct drive One of these all-rounders is the CT960 with four spindles and a fully interpolating B-axis – a complete universal internal cylindrical and die plate grinding machine with external grinding options. The completely overhauled grinding spindle turret now has a highly dynamic direct drive. “This will enable superfast swiveling times in the future”, emphasizes Michel Rottet, Internal Grinding Product Manager at Studer.
Infinitely variable angular position in four ranges The new turret with direct drive is a very important component for complete machining. It enables the use of up to four grinding spindles and a measuring probe. This allows complete machining of workpieces in the same clamping as well as process-based measurement – with minimal auxiliary times combined with greater precision. The swiveling time for 90° is < 2 seconds, for 270° < 3 seconds. The angular position of the grinding spindles is infinitely variable from –5° to +30° in all four positions. The functions previously executed by means of mechanical indexing are now undertaken by the StuderSimCT software.
Fast and wear-free B-axis The decisive innovation of the CT960 lies in the automatic B-axis of the workhead with a swiveling range of +61° to -91° and a direct drive, which enables very fast and precise positioning as well as very precise grinding with interpolation of the B-axis for grinding radii. Thanks to the new design the B-axis now has no contact surface, is completely closed and consequently wear-free and moves even faster. With its precision of < 1/10,000° the machine is in the range of the barely measurable.
Details for even greater precision However, details are also important for achieving optimal grinding results. And these have certainly been taken into account in the improvements to the CT960: On the one hand a new coolant distributor ensures well-regulated internal conditions, while on the other hand the machine base, comprising GGG60 casting, has been overhauled. The new shape and resulting higher rigidity have a positive effect on the entire axis system. An easy-cutting grinding wheel is essential for cost-effective and high-quality grinding. The dressing unit in the base pedestal of the CT960 has therefore also been re-designed, and the dresser has been reinforced with a new stop – for even greater precision during grinding wheel dressing.
Fritz Studer AG CH-3602 Thun Tel +41 33 439 11 11 Fax +41 33 439 11 12 [email protected] www.studer.com
