At the beginning of 2011 Fritz Studer AG presented its new S41 universal cylindrical grinding machine to the market. The company can report a sound success. By the end of 2011 45 cylindrical grinding machines had already been built, 33 of which are proving themselves in customers’ demanding production environments.
More stable, despite a greater centre height and distance between centers, quicker, more precise and more efficient in the long term. These are the buzz-words used by the industry to describe the decisive advantages of the new S41 universal cylindrical grinding machine one year after its introduction. The S41 also has a wide array of other attractive characteristics. For example, the optionally available center heights of 225 or 275 millimeters and centre distance options of 1000 or 1600 millimeters increase the machining options significantly.
One of the secrets? Granitan! Stability is a crucial factor for high precision and high productivity in a cylindrical grinding machine. Thanks to the increased stability, workpieces with weights up to 250 kg can be machined on the S41. One feature that makes a significant contribution to the stability is the extremely solid, rigid and thermally stable mineral casting machine bed made of Granitan®, with integrated guideway system. The guideways are much further apart than on the previous machine and, together with the workpiece axis, form a considerably larger and thus more stable distribution force.
Improve productivity The higher stability also enables higher travel speeds. Direct drives move the longitudinal and cross slides at speeds of up to 20 meters per minute with an axis resolution of ten nanometers. The B-axis, the vertical swivel axis of the turret wheelhead, also uses a direct drive. The turret wheelhead thus swivels around three times faster than on previous machines, and positions with a positioning range of less than one angular second. This reduces auxiliary times and increases the effective grinding time and consequently productivity, particularly when the machining operation requires the engagement of various grinding wheels. The turret wheelhead enables over 30 configurations of external grinding wheels and internal grinding spindles. This is valued particularly by customers with broad workpiece ranges with differing grinding tasks.
Special applications for special requirements Up-to-date a third of all S41s were delivered in a universal standard version. However, the S41 also offers many different options for special customer requirements. For instance, it offers all prerequisites for integration into extensive system projects. Moreover it can be equipped with additional applications, such as an ascillating grinding axis on the wheelhead, which enables grinding of high-precision internal and external tapers or conical control cams. A further application is the Y-axis on the wheelhead. This vertical grinding spindle enables grinding of keyways, for example, or control edges for power-assisted steering. A motorized workhead is optionally available for live spindle grinding of high-precision, heavy workpieces.
To know more about this true success story: Fritz Studer AG Thunstr. 15 CH-3612 Steffisburg Tel. +41 33 439 11 11 Fax +41 33 439 11 12 [email protected] www.studer.com
