The remit from the customer was simple, design and produce a grinding spindle that can do two jobs in one with 2 different grade fixed wheels. Sounds easy, but the solution to develop a grinding spindle able to grind with two different wheel grades without the use of an expensive tool changer mechanism demanded the combination of the experience of the customer (A leading player in the manufacture of grinding machines for the renewable energy sector) as well as the full linear and rotary motion background of Jena Tec working as a team to develop a highly customised spindle suitable for a demanding grinding operation.
Jena Tec's solution was to develop a motorised spindle capable of grinding speeds up to 6,000RPM with a special splined dual shaft arrangement utilising a highly effective seal and bearing arrangement which allows a static position rotating outer shaft to hold a large diameter grinding wheel while maintaining a smaller diameter inner grinding wheel maintained in a fixed rotational position from inner to outer wheel. Utilising Jena Tec's precision linear motion components, the system uses a servo drive and gearbox arrangement to extend the inner shaft and wheel very precisely when required while keeping very accurate run out and stability. Through spindle coolant was also required and achieved through the use of a specialist Deublin coupling. Another customer demand was to use spring water cooling which meant providing specific elements of the machine tool spindles in corrosion resistant materials.
The key benefit to the customer was that they can combine roughing and finishing operations with 2 different wheels on the same machine tool spindle thus saving the number of fixed position spindles needed within the machine layout, reducing handling time in between operations and also machine footprint. This contributes to the customer being able to offer a much more competitively priced machine tool system with higher productivity compared to their existing competition.
The Jena Tec dual spindle was designed and delivered in adherence to demanding customer build schedules and is another clear example of Jena Tec's specialist area of product development to support OEM machine tool makers product introduction and technology development.
For more information please go to www.jena-tec.com or email sales@jena-tec.com
