Page 30 - Industrial Technology March 2020 issue

SYSTEM INTEGRATION

HIGH SPEED DRILLING

DRIVES & CONTROL SYSTEMS

“ GETTING THE RIGHT DRIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR HIGH-SPEED DRILLING

WE USED MOTORS AND
MOTION CONTROLLERS WITH oday’s production techniques for manufacturing managing director of Tool Drives said: “That’s why we
examined the drilling process very closely and developed
kitchens, windows, furniture, acoustic panels and
ENOUGH POWER TO APPLY other similar products have a number of things in a special feed screw and used motors and motion
Tcommon, although two are particularly controllers with enough power to apply maximum forces
MAXIMUM FORCES WHILE STILL important. One, they require a high number of precisely while still allowing a high degree of fine control.”
ALLOWING A HIGH DEGREE OF drilled holes and two, the drilling speed of these holes is He added: “Choosing the right drive components was
FINE CONTROL a key determinant in their lead times. In reality, most essential to achieving the desired result. The inverter drive
woodworking processes have plenty of room for for the high-power drill drive needed to be able to supply
improvement and thanks to the latest high-speed drilling an output frequency of 1,000Hz, but at the same time,
units manufacturers can finally tap into this potential. fine control of the PM motor used for the drill unit’s drive
Powerful drive technology for high-power CNC is a must.”
applications has been important in this development. The search for the ideal inverter drive for their high
In the of Summer 2019, drive specialist Tool Drives speed drilling unit led the designers to look at the Yaskawa
travelled to the LIGNA trade fair in Hanover to range of drives and they were suitably impressed. The
demonstrate what modern high-speed drilling units can A1000, which was used on the drilling unit showcased at
do. It takes just 17 seconds for the high-speed drilling unit the LIGNA trade fair, supplies the required output
to drill one hundred holes 6mm in diameter and depth in frequency of 1,000Hz, provides 1.5kW of power with
a coated composite wood panel, the type typically used for open-loop vector control and delivers up to 150% of its
kitchen furniture and crucially with the greatest precision. rated output for short bursts. 2020 will also see the
During this operation, the drill reaches speeds of up to launch of the new GA500/1,000Hz, which will be another
18,000 revolutions per minute, even though It has to option for this type of application.
adapt its power to the different layers and characteristics
of the panel to ensure that the cut edges and inside Powerful drive components
surfaces of the holes are smooth and clean. However, Tool Drives’ choice wasn’t just down to the
However, impressive speed isn’t everything; it’s the technical specifications of the A1000. As Meier explains:
finished quality of the drilled holes that really counts. “With Yaskawa we have secured the services of an
Commenting on the drilling processes, Volker Meier, international automation specialist who guarantee
worldwide support along with plenty of experience in the
woodworking industry. Thanks to their extensive product
range, we were also able to use them as a one-stop shop
for many of the other components we needed for our
drilling unit. The drive components are perfectly attuned
to one another and Yaskawa gave us the expert advice we
needed. Getting our control system right was a tricky task,
but they helped us implement our needs precisely.”
The Yaskawa MP series’ all-in-one machine controller
is a single platform that combines all the functions
required for the machine’s processes, including motion
and PLC functionality, inputs/outputs, sequential logic and
process algorithms. The controller integration saves on
system costs, reduces the amount of space the unit takes
up in the control cabinet and standardises the
programming. The scalable hardware for motion
applications is suitable for use in complex applications
with up to 64 axes.
With the high-speed drilling unit the drilled hole
specifications were achieved using Yaskawa’s tried-and-
tested G-code. The MotionWorks IEC software and the
Yaskawa toolbox feature make programming the machine
controller easier, combining the five programming options
ladder diagram (LD), function block diagram (FBD),
structured text, instruction list (IL) and sequential function
chart in one developer package. In addition, these
controllers also have a built-in web server and are
compatible with international network protocols such
MORE INFORMATION: www.yaskawa.eu.com • salesuk@yaskawa.eu.com • Tel: 01295 272755 as Profibus and Ethernet.

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY • March 2020
30