APPLICATIONS
Gianandrea Mazzola
Macchine Utensili
Internal
view
of the
transfer
machine
BB712
operating
in Brawo.
110
IN ORDER TO SATISFY ITS
PRODUCTION NEEDS FOR RAW AND
MACHINED PARTS IN BRASS, COPPER,
AND ALUMINUM, BRAWO HAS
A LARGE DIVERSIFIED MACHINE
PARK. WITHIN THIS MACHINERY
THERE ARE ALSO SYSTEMS DESIGNED
AND PRODUCED BY BTB TRANSFER .
THESE ARE CUSTOM MADE
MACHINES EQUIPPED WITH
VARIOUS STATIONS AND TOOLS
WHICH ALLOW TO MACHINE LARGE
VOLUMES IN A VERY COMPETITIVE
MANNOR. VERY COMPLEX AND IN A
SINGLE POSITIONING.
Flexibility,
productivity
and quality in
a single word:
transfer
MAURO PINI TECHNICAL
AND R&D MANAGER FOR
BRAWO SPA.
OVER 160 YEARS OF INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
HUG spa - Holding Umberto Gnutti - is the result of the Gnutti family's important
entrepreneurial activities. The history goes all the way back to the year 1860: over a
160 years of industry that in 1946 converged in the production of semi-finished nonferrous alloys.
Lumezzane, a worldwide famous industrial district in Brescia province, was where
the Gnutti family launched with success its entrepreneurial activities in the hot
forging of copper alloys, brass, and aluminum through the company ALMAG. Over
the years, investments and acquisitions, such as BRAWO in 1972 (until 1989 it was
known as Metalstampati Bonomi, brought about a highly structured and diversified
industrial and commercial group. Increasing management expertise and know-how
and continuous investments in innovative production processes resulted in market
leadership. As for the organizational structure, the significant growth of the group
led to the Holding Umberto Gnutti - HUG spa, founded in 2011. Another aspect of
Brawo’s industrial development is the many initiatives it took which allowed the
formation of a synergistic and comprehensive industrial group. Because of these
initiatives, it was able to operate in complete productive autonomy. The group is
also geographically strategic with Brawo S.p.A., (operating from northern Italy),
Brawo Brass working Ltd. (operating in Canada as Lofthouse Manufacturing), Brawo
USA Inc. in the United States, Bonfix BV in The Netherlands and Emmebi S.r.l. in
Italy.
The high availability of tools (total of 60 tools, 10
machining simultaneously), the travel of the unit
strokes, and the possibility to position the part in
space with 5 axis in each station allows the BTBM10 to be the most flexible transfer machine
currently available on the market.
JUNE 2016
The Gnutti family is an outstanding example of a trend of
entrepreneurial success, which through the Holding
Umberto Gnutti S.p.A. (“HUG”) fully controls Brawo S.p.A.
which is a world reference for the supply of raw and finished
parts in brass, copper, and aluminum. «Mauro Pini,
Technical Manager for Brawo explains – raw and finished
parts for industrial sectors such as plumbing, valves for gas
distribution, functional components for the refrigeration
technology and systems for the underwater compartment. It
also includes fire suppression systems, heating and welding
industry, and components for the diversified automotive
industry.
Production under cintract of technical components even
very complex obtained by forging and subsequent finishing
processing. The part finishing is carried out in mechanical
departments for chip removal that include numerous
systems that differ according to the part dimension and
complexity. Among these systems there are 3 machines
designed and manufactured by the company of Brescia.
« Highly customized transfer machines – adds Pini –
equipped with several stations and tools that allow to
Macchine Utensili
T
he town of Lumezzane, located in the
province of Brescia, is universally
recognized as the industrial district with
the highest success percentage among
metal alloys machining companies. It even
earned an appearance on the cover of The
Economist
APPLICATIONS
the rotary table of Btb-M10 operating in Brawo is equipped with a direct drive motor, with
a positioning precision of ±1.5», total cycle time 3,5 seconds
"Curbiter"
tool change
with 6 positions
for BTB-M10
work significant volumes of parts with high productivity and
geometrically complex even in a single clamping
Up to 60 tools, 10 of which
are in simultaneous machining.
After consultation with the major manufacturers on the
market, the Brawo technicians identified in Btb Transfer the
most qualified partner to accommodate precise
specifications and meet certain technological requirements
«It has been a very ambitious challenge – points out Pini
Macchine Utensili
as the project to be developed was characterized by
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our precise demands in terms of precision and tolerances,
part finish quality, also containing many innovation arising
from the experience gained on previous systems». these
important requirements meet their highest expectations in
Btb-M10 transfer machine. We refer in particular to a system
capable of bringing together in one single machine all the
main features of a "classic" transfer which is the high
production capacity, combining them with maximum
flexibility in machining of the machining centers with 4th and
5th axis. In the configuration chosen by Brawo the machine
has 6 stations: one for loading/unloading and 5 for working.
Each station has 2 machining centers positioned
perpendicular to each other. The part holder is a rotary tilting
device (4th and 5th axis) that can be positioned in any
angulations. This leads to a multiple double spindle concept
that machines simultaneously in each station. . It is able to
perform the most diverse machining operations in all angular
positions of the 5 sides of the part.
«Pini adds - The possibility to have a highly performing spindle
is very significant for our production needs. It is able to reach a
speed of 12.000 rpm with a 65Nm torque. The 10 machining
centers working simultaneously on 5 stations gives us the
availability of 60 tools. This divides the operations and leads to
a drastic decrease in cycle time per part. the cost of tooling the
machine for a part change becomes minimum thanks to the 6
tools for each machining center and the simplicity of
repositioning the part holder . The 6 tools are mounted on an
automatic tool change system (a BTB Patent) called
"Curbiter"». «What makes the difference is also the 4th and
5th axisproviding an important working area of 300mm - he
states». the 4th axis rotating table provides 360.000 positions
(360° in continuous), with a rotation of 0°-180° in 0,9
seconds. Rotation during main table rotation, with hydraulic
clamping active during machining and optional self-centering
30 mm (15 + 15); 210.000 (210° in continuous) are the
positions or the 5th axis a 0-210° in 1,5 seconds, rotation
during main table rotation in this case also with hydraulic
clamping active during machining.
–
The central rotary table is also very performing with its
direct drive motor. The positioning precision is ±1.5» with a
cycle time of 3,5 seconds. «The table is very performing says Pini - for which, in order to guarantee and maintain the
desired accuracy and repeatability on all stations, with the
interaxis of 2,350 mm, we made a number of
improvements for maintaining and balancing the
temperatures. A real self-learning map that allows an
automatic correction of any temperature changes».
Productivity and flexibility together
MACHINES
The company of Brescia, BTB transfer was founded in 1987
and is now a world reference point for the design and
manufacturing of transfer machines. Over 850 machines
installed in over 30 different countries with more than 150
customers. One of these customers is Brawo SpA. Highly
productive and precise machines with a rotary table for
metal cutting and chip removal of various materials such as
steel, aluminum, brass, copper, cast iron. The machines are
created by a team of 130 employees, 40% of which are
mechanical and electronic engineers. The industrial fields
served are various and diversified, such as automotive
industries, petrochemical, high pressure hydraulic, fitting
and valves, heating and refrigeration, household appliance,
and more. Common and unique is the commitment aimed to
meet both the needs of large industries and the small and
medium businesses, through the development of suitable
and customized solutions for individual specifications. By
choosing BTB Transfer you are able to count on full technical
support where the best technological solutions can be found to
make production efficient , fast and competitive.
Custom built machines that follow the customer
from the design to the machine testing and after
sales service, like in the case of the company of
Brescia, Brawo starring in this article.
BTB system BB712 functioning in
Brawo with 4th axis in continuous
and a high number of machining centers
working with 41 spindles.
© RIPRODUZIONE RISERVATA
Brawo SpA is
specialized in the
supply of raw and
finished parts in
brass, copper, and
aluminum .
JUNE 2016
«CUSTOMER-ORIENTED»
This is a machine with 4th axis in continuous and a high number
of machining centers for a total of 41 spindles.
«This allows us to take advantage of the high productivity but
also the flexibility in machining parts with numerous operations.
the machine is model BB712 equipped with direct drive table,
vertical axis, 10 machining stations (9 of which machine
simultaneously) with rotating chucks, 4 units, 23 machining
centers CNC controlled.
This machine has been running for over a year and it fully satisfies
the needs of the Brawo technicians, so much as to plan the
installation of a second one, even more performing as far as cycle
time.
«the new system –Pini comments –will have the same number of
spindles divided on 12 stations instead of the current 10 with a
total of 25 machining centers allowing us to save even more on
cycle times».
The same satisfaction is also towards the two BTB M-10
machines to which another one will be added at the end of the
year. «We have found in BTB a qualified partner , not only able
to offer quality products to transform our need and
instructions in technology. This partnership leads to very
customized results that fully fit into our technical
specifications . Its not only a simply product supply, its a
combined development finalized to reach certain goals, often
very ambitious, in terms of productivity, tolerance, precision,
machining quality, and energy efficiency».
From an energy point of view, BTB machines have proven to
meet the expectations despite the high consumptions
involved. Even in this case BTB had to respect the rules defined
by Brawo. The cooperation with BTB Technicians has also been
very satisfying, which is a guarantee in terms of customer care
and competitiveness.
z
Macchine Utensili
Besides the two M10 model purchased by Brawo, another
machine has been recently acquired and is operating in the
plant of Pian Camuno (BS) .