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Microfinishing System Slashes Changeover Time

Responds to the need for increased flexibility in microfinishing a variety of automotive and diesel crankshaft sizes, IMPCO Machine Tools has introduced the Worldflex Microfinishing System. The Worldflex will permit manufacturers to produce bearing finish and geometry (roundness improvement) on crankshafts and camshafts to extreme tolerances, in relatively short cycles, and will permit dramatically faster changeover to process different size shafts.

Any crankshaft or camshaft can be processed with this machine and microfinishing technique. Only these two types of machines cover a part size range from 10" to 60", making Worldflex capable of handling 95% of the world's crank sizes, IMPCO says, added that some automotive OEM's are considering increasing levels of flexibility and producing crankshafts on systems designed for lower production, such as 25-60 pph. With a Worldflex system, the automotive industry particularly will be able to respond economically to varying production volumes and process a range of current and future product sizes.

Machine designed for flexible production

Parts are loaded between a headstock and a tailstock mounted on a slide. The servo-driven ball-screw slide can position the part anywhere along the travel axis of the machine to present the bearing journals to microfinishing tooling. The tooling is mounted to the end of microfinishing arms, each of which is mounted on its own independent slide. The variable positioning of the part and the flexible of Worldflex, according to the company. Previous types of microfinishing systems are equipped with fixed-position tooling and parts are indexed to a predetermined location at each station.

"Which and how many arms are used to process any shaft is determined by required production rate, the number of bearing journals on the shaft to be microfinished, and the level of quality required," said Norm Judge, IMPCO Vice President Marketing. "Each Worldflex machine is equipped with only the number of arms required to process the crankshaft at a specified production rate. Changeover to process a different part can be easily accomplished by repositioning, adding, or removing arms, if needed."

Each arm package is mounted on a linear bearing rail on bottom and top for maximum rigidity. These rails are mounted on two additional perpendicular rails, allowing the user to adjust positions of the arms to accommodate part centerline and journal locations for virtually any crank configuration, according to the company. These rails, while enabling changeover, also assure the stability and squareness of the arms to the crank centerline. Each arm has its own supply of microfinishing medium (tape) and indexing ability, so tape is only consumed where machining occurs.

Production capacity of a Worldflex is variable. Each machine is programmed to engage only the number of arms required to process the part design at desired production rates. This permits the user to use more arms per cycle to process more journals simultaneously for high production rates or fewer, as production dictates.

"Worldflex allows the user to quickly adjust production rates and to changeover to process a range of part sizes, providing levels of flexibility that microfinishing never had," pointed out Jim Vasilenko, IMPCO Vice President of Sales.

On a series of crankshafts, for example, the centerline spacings remain constant, but the spec required GBQ Level II microfinishing at 18 pph. Arms advance to Level I on two mains, two pins, and finish oil seal surfaces. Slides pull back and head and tailstock shift sideways, radially reorient crank, and microfinish the next two mains and pins to GBQ Level I while four additional arms microfinish the first two mains and two pins to the required Level II. The part shuttles again to accomplish the next level of microfinishing, and shuttles again to accomplish Level II and thrustwall. The different levels of IMPCO GBQ Microfinishing are applied as necessary to achieve geometry and surface finish specifications. Total Cycle time 200 sec. to achieve specified surface finish, roundness, and size.

The first application of this new concept is currently in production at a mid-west diesel crankshafts for Caterpillar. The company specified IMPCO's patented Generating Bearing Quality (GBQ) microfinishing process to achieve circular geometry and surface finish on all main and pin journals, as well as oilseal surfaces and thrustwalls, with a high degree of flexibility to permit processing a range of crankshaft sizes at a production rate of 18 cranks per hour.

This innovative Worldflex microfinishing system provides the flexibility, process control, and production rates the customer required.

IMPCO Machine Tools is the world's leading designer and builder of microfinishing machines and systems and is the developer of the patented GBQ (Generating Bearing Quality) microfinishing process for dramatically, statistically and consistently optimizing bearing journal size, geometry and surface finish to improve part function.

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IMPCO Machine Tools

3417 West St. Joseph Street, Lansing, Michigan USA 48917

Phone: (517)484-9411 Fax: (517)484-0502

Email: Sales @IMPCO.com