Nakamura-Tome Precision Industry (Hakusan City, Ishikawa Prefecture, President: Kenichi Nakamura) has developed a new product, “Flex Arm”, which enables complete automation from workpiece transfer to jaw replacement. By incorporating the Flex Arm, the entire process from workpiece transfer to jaw replacement can be fully automated. It allows for automated operation for multiple types of workpieces without stopping the machine.

【What is Flex Arm？】
Flex Arm is a new product that completely automates everything from workpiece transfer to jaw replacement.
In addition to the loading of materials and unloading of finished products by the conventional compact loader, the new Flex Arm has an additional hand change and chuck jaw change function.
This enables unattended automatic operation for multiple types of workpieces without stopping the machine.
Another attractive feature is that the height of the machine is the same as that of conventional machines, making it a space-saving machine.

【Advantages of Flex Arm】
The key to unmanned nighttime operation in a high-mix, low-volume production is change of the types of products.
In the past, automation has mainly focused on loading materials and unloading finished products.
At this time, automation for the product changeover has been one of the biggest challenges.
By using Flex Arm, unmanned nighttime operation with product changeover is possible, which is expected to improve production efficiency.
In addition, the Flex Arm system is mounted on the machine and can be easily controlled by the operation panel attached to the machine, compared to changing jaws with an industrial robot.
Also, since the system is installed in the machine, it is highly compatible with the machine, and the start-up time is fast enough to be used immediately after delivery.

【Developer’s voice】
In recent years, with the shift to high-mix low-volume production, we have received many requests from customers who want to automate setup changes.
Some customers have said, “We can’t secure enough human resources for the night shift to change the jaws and change the product type,” and others have said, “Even if we wanted to automate the process for a single product, we can’t because there are not enough number of workpieces.
We have been developing Flex Arm to solve these customer needs and to realize long-time automation in a high-mix low-volume production environment.
We hope that Flex Arm will solve the problems of troublesome and time-consuming setup changes and make our customers happy.

【Consultation with Nakamura-Tome】 Nakamura-Tome accepts inquiries from customers. Not only do we accept inquiries about Flex Arm, we also accept inquiries about products and processing. Please feel free to contact us via the link below.

Nakamura-tome Precision Industry Co., Ltd. is pleased to announce the addition of the “Chatter Canceller” function to 30 of its products as a standard feature.
By incorporating the Chatter Canceller function, chattering can be suppressed without significantly reducing machining conditions, and in addition, surface roughness can be prevented from deteriorating, and tool life can be reduced and damage can be prevented.

【Background】
We have received many concerns from our customers regarding chattering during machining. In the cutting process, chattering causes deterioration of surface roughness, reduction of tool life, and damage, and we have been looking for a solution to this problem.
This time, we approached the chattering phenomenon from a different perspective, and as a result of repeated in-house experiments, we were able to confirm the effectiveness of chatter suppression, which led us to incorporate the function into 30 models.

【What is Chatter Canceller?】
Chatter Canceller is a function that suppresses the occurrence of chatter by periodically changing the spindle rotation. (*1)
Normally, when chattering occurs, measures are taken to suppress chatter by reducing the machining conditions, but Chatter Canceller has less impact on the machining time than measures to reduce the machining conditions.
Chatter control can be commanded by adding two lines of M code, minimizing the burden on the operator.

【Developer’s voice】
We believe that chattering is a great enemy for those who are engaged in machining. The good thing about this function is that it can be easily executed by anyone with only two lines of M-code, so we would be very happy if our customers could use it and feel the effect. We have conducted many experiments in our company, so if you have any problems, please contact us first.

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【Consultation with Nakamura-Tome】
Nakamura-Tome accepts inquiries from customers. Not only do we accept inquiries about vibration care, we also accept inquiries about products and processing.
Please feel free to contact us via the link below.

(*1)Not all chattering phenomena can be suppressed by this function.