TTM 01 2006 ENG

TTM Progetto INGLESE

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Pagina 1

Innovation & High Technology

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Magazine

Issue no. 1 May 2006 Six-monthly magazine by Tube Tech Machinery

TheWorld Championship already has a leader By purchasing a laser cutting system FL600 3D by Tube Tech Machinery, EXMA, a major Service Centre in Yutz, France, made a remarkable improvement in the offer of tubular components. Today Exma can produce pieces with diameters up to 610 mm, and on one hand this widens the range of products and on the other considerably reduces the production cycle times.

Today Exma can support builders operating in several industrial sectors, namely in the tube structural industry, where aesthetics care and architectural design are essential components and where steel tube is the ideal solution from the technological point of view, as it grants a better static behaviour, if compared with traditional beams.

Parts machined with the FL600 3D were employed to build several football grounds in Germany for the World Championship 2006 and for the new BMW exhibition pavilion in München.

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ast April 2006 Tube Tech Machinery held an Open House to present the manufacturing capacity of the newest FL400 3D, the latest TTM model in the field of laser tube cutting.

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t Wegener’s, an important service centre in Germany, TTM has recently installed one of the first systems for tube laser cutting named FL400 3D. This machine has a strategic role in the company’s product line, now facing the new market of steel tube.

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he French company Chaillous manufactures a wide range of telescopic arms for mobile cranes and the FL600 3D system has completely renewed the production process, with significant advantages in terms of precision and production time.

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TTM Progetto INGLESE

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TECHNOLOGY

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Tube Tech Machinery applied the concept of fast laser cutting on a machine conceived to work on very big size sheet metal, benefiting from the significant experience gained on laser cutting machines for big diameter tubes and profiles.

A real stroke of 12000 mm on X axis, 3200 mm on Y axis and 500 mm on Z axis; X axis shifting maximum speed of 100m/min, and up to 115 m/min for the X-Y simultaneous positioning, a positioning precision of 0.1 mm/min in X and 0.02 mm/min in Y and Z axes, a 6 kW laser resonator.

This is the technical Identity Card of the newest TL312.2 SPEED 3D, the flatbed laser cutting machine developed by Tube Tech Machinery, with which for the first time the company approaches thus confirming its vocation for problem solving.

In the TL 312.2 SPEED 3D, the motion along 5 interpolated axes, run by linear motors,

The very significant size of the handled material is the element of continuity in the company’s core business. In fact, the TL312.2 SPEED 3D inherits and updates the main design concept of reliability and quality, already matured by TTM in the field of 3D laser cutting, now applied to big diameter tubes and profiles. Evidence of this is the machine’s structure, made of normalised electro-welded iron-work, designed with the aid of FEM programs, to optimize the flexion and torsion stiffness, as well as shape and size as related to the stress states.

guarantees excellent dynamics and high performance.

Fast laser cutting, despite the size With the TL312.2 SPEED 3D Tube Tech Machinery has been able to transfer the concept of fast laser cutting onto a machine designed to work on big size sheet metal. The first machine, which will be activated at the customer’s premises towards

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FLATBED CUTTING MACHINES

BIG DIMENS ELEMENT OF the end of the summer, can machine a surface of 12000 x 3200 mm, but TTM can go even further, to cut bigger surfaces. The Laser technology combined with the structure is rigidity allows maximum speed with unchanged precision across the whole working field.

By adopting a three-dimensional cutting head, the laser beam can be addressed to any point inscribed in a semi-sphere, thus allowing inclined cuts and chamfered holes, (while the motion along 5 interpolated axes, run by linear motors, guarantees excellent dynamics and high per-

formances).The machine can be equipped with a high-frequency resonator of up to 6000 W power, and can thus guarantee high working speeds even on sheet metal of significant thickness.

Besides, the TL312.2 SPEED 3D is equipped with an automatic pallet exchange, to load and discharge the sheet metal outside the working area, reducing the dead time between machining cycles, thus improving productivity.

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TECHNOLOGY

TL312.2 SPEED 3D The flatbed laser cutting machine developed by Tube Tech Machinery.

The first, very light gantry carries the laser head and can move very quickly and perform all the required machining with high accelerations.

The second gantry, running after the first one like an elastic band, being connected with it by pressurized bellows, carries the laser resonator, reaching all the working area and permitting machinings with constant quality and precision and, above all, very fast machining time

SIONS, THE F CONTINUITY The “elastic-like” double gantry The machine’s main feature is the double gantry, respectively accommodating the 3D cutting head and the resonator. The first, very light gantry carries the laser head and moves very quickly, performing all the required machining with high accelerations. The second gantry follows the first as if connected by elastic bands - in fact pressurized bellows - and carries the laser resonator, thus reaching all the working area and permitting machining with constant quality, precision and above all, very fast machining time.

The efficiency of Tube Tech Machinery’s solution is also proved by the speed of 100 m/min reachable on the X axis, which is more than double than in traditional machines carrying both cutting head and resonator on the same gantry.

TL 312.2 SPEED 3D combines the highest levels of productivity in the big size sheet metal cutting with a real improvement of the working environment quality thanks to the advantages of the laser technology and a fume extraction system, which constantly follows the cutting head du-

ring the work, guaranteeing the total elimination of fumes and dust. The system is fully automatic and managed in full autonomy by a CNC, while a user-friendly CAD-CAM software completes this laser cutting system, unique in the market.

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INFO...

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A WINNING CO-OPERATION n developing and designing machines, Tube Tech Machinery makes use of an intense and ongoing co-operation with the University of Brescia. This choice reiterates the company’s mission to supply customers with performing and reliable machines, originating first of all from the accurate designing of components, from calculation to verification, and from the development of innovating ideas and solution, in strict co-operation with the academic world.

rated on accelerometers, to further investigate the machine dynamics.

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In the privileged Circle

Betting on innovation and research Tube Tech Machinery has decided to face the challenge of a new and complex market by betting on innovation and research, starting a co-operation with the University which is giving satisfactory results and which in today’s days proves more and more crucial for companies operating in sectors where new ideas and new methods to set them going are strategic.

The co-operation started with the development of the Speedfly 5, the machine designed to use laser to cut on the line, just downstream the tube forming unit, from steel coils, and the welding line.

In this case the tube cannot turn on its axis, so the

problem was to get the laser beam to turn all around the long metal cylinder coming out of the welding line. The solution was found by processing genetic algorithms and motion laws, so as to create an innovating system of motion planning for the Speedfly5, which brings the laser speed to 120m/min, along the tube axis. The work with the Engineering Department goes on with the verification of machine structural parts applying the FEM System (Finite elements Method), to optimize the strain and the deformation, as related to the stress and the machine undergoes while it’s working. This way the machine stiffness was optimized. More tests are scheduled, to be ope-

Today all TTM machines are designed to guarantee the customer a machine which exploits all the most advanced opportunities of technology.

Relying on the choice to concentrate resources in research and development, beside choosing high quality components, such as linear and torque motors and new materials with high mechanic performance, TTM can offer machines with extraordinary features and reliability, highly customized for each single customer; all this grants TTM to belong to the privileged Circle of the laser machine suppliers.

THE STRATEGIC PLUS able to propose the most suitable application.

However it is to be admitted that, although the quality and reliability of both suppliers remain undisputable, in time TTM has widened its co-operation with Trumpf, which has become more and more a strategic one, namely due to the complementarity range of TTM’s machines, as compared to Trumpf’s ones. Whether we refer to tube or flatbed machines, the TTM systems fit in a market niche that Trumpf does not occupy with its own machines; therefore there’s no competition between the two companies.

y choosing to manufacture laser machines and solutions for big dimension components, Tube Tech Machinery placed itself in a very demanding market in terms of productivity, efficiency, precision and reliability. The company’s philosophy is to supply a customer with the most suitable machine to his precise needs, with a high degree of customization, so that the customer can get the highest possible return on his investment.

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For these reasons, since the very beginning of its activity, TTM has always co-operated with the major Laser Resonator manufacturers, i.e. Rofin and Trumpf.

Therefore, also as far as the laser resonator is concerned, TTM can provide a high degree of customization, being

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“To be able to apply a given laser resonator, in a market where we are the only ones to have the choice, is an important strategic plus for TTM”, says Mr Fiorenzo Castellini, the Managing Director of the Castellini Group, to which TTM belongs. “This, however, does not prevent us from equipping a machine with a Rofin resonator (as we keep a very good relationship with Rofin as well) whenever an application requires so. This attitude perfectly fits in our philosophy, which aims to the satisfaction of the customer, which becomes a customer because he buys a TTM system, and not because the machine he buys is equipped with Trumpf or Rofin.

In this context, it is worth to point out the use TTM is entitled to make of the innovating Trumpf CO2 Laser resonator TLF 6000 (6 kW), employed to run important tests on cutting and welding. By knowing the performance and the “behaviour” of this resonator in the different applications, TTM improves its know-how and aims to be able to offer the customer the best possible solution for his issues.

THE POINT OF DIAMOND orty-five years at a run”. This sentence, marked by Mr Giuseppe Castellini in his even and nervous handwriting, opened his personal notebook, where he retraced the history of his company, Castellini Officine Meccaniche, for the monograph published in 1996 in occasion of the 45th anniversary of the company’s foundation. Only a year later did Mr Castellini pass away.

Today the company is leading the group, where not only is Tube Tech Machinery an integral part, but rather the “point of Diamond”, the flagship and it is about to celebrate the 55th anniversary of activity. Also part of the group is the company Ro.tech.

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OPEN HOUSE

TUBE LASER

CREATING NEW IDEAS IN OUR CUSTOMER

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espite representing the middle range between the two existing models so far featuring the TTM production (FL200 and FL600), FL400 3D is in fact very different from both, as it addresses a kind of user who foresees in the tube cutting capability a fundamental step forward to the finished product. FL400 3D is intended to be the key point to cycle time reduction in the production of finished parts, with above all high cutting quality and extremely precise machining.

Last April, Tube Tech Machinery held an

present the manufacturing capacity of the newest FL400 3D, the latest entry in the field of tube laser cutting.

the Open House, is highly satisfactory. Of course more that 50% of visitors are Italian, as it is our major aim to strengthen and increase the home market. Undoubtedly the European reference is for Tube Tech Machinery a valuable introduction, but we have the feeling that in Italy the market for this kind of machine is also opening up”.

“The FL400 3D is suitable for whoever wants to get the finished part directly from the tube machining, even those in the iron work field”, Eng. Filippini points out. “clearly with the advantage of reducing the cycle time and doing away with all the issues connected with traditional production”.

THE GOOD POTENTIAL OF THE DOMESTIC MARKET The Open House gave very good results, considering the great interest that it aroused in the visiting customers, and not only those from Italy.

In fact there were several were the visits from potential users from all over Europe. Also judging from the requests received, this machine has the potential to open new market outlets, stirring new creative ideas. “With the FL400 3D”, Filippini adds, “in fact TTM applies to the big size tube market the most advanced technology, based on linear motors, high dynamics and

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four mobile mandrels. For example, the machine can load the new tube with two mandrels, while the other two are still holding the previous one being cut. This grants an obvious time saving-dead time due to loading and unloading activities is reduced. For all these reasons, and beyond the two machines we have delivered in a month, the response we are getting from

FL400 3D intends to be the key point to cycle time reduction in the production of finished parts, above all with high cutting quality and extremely precise machining.

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A P P L I C AT I O N S

] The FL400 3D will allow the company Wegener to complete its offer with tubular products of various sections.

3D layout of the FL400 3D system as supplier by TTM to Wegener.

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he company Wegener GmbH, based in Ahaus, is an important German service Centre, specialized in the production of components derived from sheet metal, and addressed to several industrial sectors, ranging from structural steel to heavy transport. An industrial reality, where the system FL400 3D by Tube Tech Machinery recently installed and successfully tested at the end of March, will be able to prove all its potential, namely in terms of manufacturing capacity, cutting quality and above all reliability. “we are fully satisfied to see the new machine ope-

TUBE LASER

THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF THE FL400 rating – said the Wegeners during the preliminary acceptance test – as it is totally fulfilling all the requirements, originally defined in the technical specification.”

TTM has recently installed at Wegener, an important Thanks to the new equipment supplied by TTM, Wegener can now complete the range of its offer with tubular products of several sections, with diameter up to 406 mm and length up to 14000 mm. Actually the FL400 3D can produce a finished part starting from 14 mt long tubes, thanks to the capability to machine holes, slots and other bevelled machining, at very high speed and precision, which can be reached thanks to the use of linear and torque motors applied on the 5 working axes of the cutting head and on the rotation of the 4 independent mandrels.

The system can also mark the pieces for easy identification, thus optimizing the logistics of the finished parts. The TTM machine will have a strategic role in the customer’s production, as it will allow Wegener GmbH to enter a new market, the steel tube market, which is rapidly expanding in Europe.

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Service Centre, one of the first models of the tube laser cutting system FL400 3D. The machine has a strategic role in the production of the customer’s company, which can now enter a new market, the steel tube market.

Mr and Mrs Wegener during the acceptance test at Tube Tech Machinery’s.

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A P P L I C AT I O N S

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Chaillous manufactures a wide range of telescopic arms for mobile cranes and by adopting a laser cutting system for tube and bars, it revolutionized the whole production process with evident advantages in terms of precision and timing.

An undoubtedly smart investment

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his is what Mr Jean-Michel Babin, the Managing Director at Chaillous, declared talking about the three-dimensional laser cutting system FL600 3D, about one year after the installation.

“A system which has guaranteed significant advantages – Mr Babin adds – among which the full operational automation, from the loading of raugh tube to the discharging of the finished piece, ready to be assembled.

Additional operations, like re-handling, re-loading and deburring, are completely done away with.

The machining precision is significantly higher than with oxicutting that we used to use and now we can also perform operation which were previously not possible at all. The 3D laser head allows any cutting path, no limits to the complexity of the shapes to be cut. Another significant element is the reduction of labour, with a beneficial effect on costs. Last but not least, safety: the automatic handling of the tube reduces the chances of accident next to zero.

What a lot of operations on one single system The French company Chaillous is specialized in the manufacturing of telescopic arms for mobile cranes, a wide range of which is supplier to the company Manitou. A peculiar feature of the production of these telescopic arms is the number of additional machining to be made: these arms are to be coupled telescopically and require important machining like openings for the insertion of oleo dynamic pipes, holes for pins, lightening windows and so on. All these operations were traditionally performed at Chaillous with band sews, plasma cutting, drilling, boring and grinding machines. Although with good results, the machining time was rather long and the cutting precision very poor. Besides, the traditional cut-

ting produced burrs which required a subsequent removal. All this required several operations, supplementary machining and a lot of handling the pieces around from one machine to the other, with additional time and production costs, not to mention the big amount of temporary stock for each production step.

Chaillous has rationally solved these problems, installing the FL600 3D, which can apply all the different machining required on the single tube, with no need to repeat the positioning or make a further finishing, allowing an excellent precision, thanks to the laser. Besides, the high cutting quality requires no manual deburring.

The cutting speed is much higher (given the same thick-

ness) as compared to oxicutting and plasma cutting. But the main advantage for the French company is represented by the variety of operations that the same machine can perform.

“Satisfied of our purchase” As mentioned in the opening, the FL 600 3D is already in ordinary production and has proved its sturdiness and reliability, even in the severe operation conditions where it operates. “We are satisfied of our purchase – adds Thierry David, the supervisor of the new plant - the machine is giving us what we asked”.

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PROSPECTS

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EVENTS

ube Tech Machinery continues its activity of exploration, research and application of new ideas in the field of laser machines. Tube Tech Machinery has recently completed its manufacturing program of tube laser 3D cutting machines, widening its range that now is composed of the model FL250, recently renewed to increase the size of machined tube from Ø220 to Ø254 from a min. diameter of 20 mm; the newest FL400, ranging from Ø 40 to Ø 406.4 and the flagship FL600, ranging from Ø 88.9 to Ø 610.

For each of them several configurations and options are possible. As far as flat bed cutting is concerned, we are realizing a number of machines with a working field of 3200x12000 mm (with pallet change and 3D head) and 3200x12000 mm (with pallet double change), besides a very new cutting and welding system, whose development can rely on the exclusivity rights to use the “Cut and Weld” head developed by Trumpf.

This will be the TTM novelty for EUROBLECH in Hannover next October 2006.

This system can load various sheet metal sizes, ranging from 1000x2000 up to 2000x4000, and trim and weld them together, to produce pieces of up to 4000x 24000. Our ideas are exclusive, without conditioning or compromises, capable of creating a new standard for size and flexibility, much appreciated by customers.

Our manufacturing philosophy is to make machines and system which are reliable and excellent in quality. From the mechanic and assembly points of view, nothing is left to chance , like for the components, chosen among the best the market can offer. We are always ready to follow and back the customers’ requirements, to supply them with a system which will totally meet their expectations.

What we are gathering in these years comforts us of the significant economic and human efforts invested in this project since the very beginning and fully gratifies us, and allows us to look into the future with a positive attitude, strong of the extreme satisfaction that our customers show.

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WIRE & TUBE Düsseldorf 24th - 28th April 2006 Hall 3 Stand B36

The extreme satisfaction.

LAMIERA Bologna 10th - 13th May 2006 Hall 30 Stand B12 C13

TUBE RUSSIA Moscow 23rd - 26rd May 2006 Hall 3 Stand B1-16

BIMU Milan 5th - 10th October 2006

EUROBLECH Hannover 24th - 28th October 2006 Hall: 11 Stand: F06

TS 4.20 2D

Tube Tech Machinery S.r.l.

Via Bonfadina, 33 25046 Cazzago San Martino (BS) Italy Tel. +39 030 7256311 Fax +39 030 7256333 info@tubetechmachinery.com www.tubetechmachinery.com

Associato UCIMU - Sistemi per Produrre