CB-F Production system from Kitagawa

By Niraj M Wanikar, Chief Editor, CNCTimes.com, 2022-01-25 13:56:00

Hamish and Sophia reveal the strength, speed and flexibility of the Kitagawa Europe CB-F production system produced in partnership with Lang Technik.

The CB-F production system, designed to be retro-fitted to your vertical machining centre is one of the two product lines introduced earlier this year (find out more) that features a Lang Quick.Point zero point directly within the system’s trunnion bed. 

If you are already using Lang work holding and/or a rotary table you can adopt this system to further enhance your vertical machining centre.

The built in zero-point system immediately does two things, first it increases your machining envelope allowing for more workpiece space. Second the overall trunnion weight is reduced which lowers the systems moment of inertia allowing for heavier workpieces.

However the real advantages of the Kitagawa and Lang quick.point systems working in conjunction is the systems accuracy, strength and flexibility. 

Kitagawa Rotary tables have a repeatability of +/- 2 Seconds and this particular system pictured is with the Kitagawa Compact MK200 rotary table and MSR142A tail spindle combination with a static clamping torque of 1020N.m. However the same trunnion system can be attached to the high strength Kitagawa GT200 series rotary table which would bring the static clamping torque up to 1,270N.m. But what is most impressive is this high static clamping torque is achieved with pneumatic clamping alone, therefore no requirement for expensive and messy hydraulic power packs. 

Kitagawa Rotary tables also have amongst the highest allowable cutting torque (driving torque) for any rotary table systems on the market.  They are designed with large diameter, high toothed worm wheels which enable more driving torque to be transmitted to the spindle and a large mechanical advantage due to the worm wheel/worm shaft gear ratio.

Of course Kitagawa tail spindles are an essential part of a trunnion system and these need to be capable of providing a high static clamping torque as well to complement the rotary tables own static clamping torque. The Kitagawa MSR142 in this system, like the rotary tables has a multi disk clamping system built-in, providing multiple friction surfaces to increase the torque compared to conventional air clamped models.

Meanwhile Lang’s own Quick.Point zero-point system within the trunnion ensures any workpiece or work holding system using compatible clamping studs is held in place to within 5 microns of repeatability with a holding force of 6,000kgs. Quick.point is a manually actuated patented rod system that is virtually maintenance free. Sophia and Hamish demonstrate how easy and fast it is to build different types of work holding onto your CB-F production system using the Quick.Point. 

Another advantage of Kitagawa working alongside Lang to produce the CB-F production system enables both companies to provide their own work holding to interface seamlessly with the zero-point mechanism. Lang Makro.Grip vices or Kitagawa JN Series manual chucks ensures any round or square billet can be securely gripped. Kitagawa can also provide their range of static chucks which can be actuated pneumatically (or hydraulically) and serviced via a rotary joint built-in to the spindle of the rotary table. Therefore with some simple modifications the CB-F production system can be set up for automated loading and unloading of workpieces allowing for lights out production.

The high speed capability to change the different quantities, sizes and shapes of workpieces being presented to the machine spindle combined with the ability to machine multiple faces in a single operation makes the CB-F production system an excellent production multiplier ensuring you can produce a greater number and more variety of parts with higher accuracy and a reduced takt time.

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