- Horizontal machining centres for fully automatic production
- Origins and development of horizontal machining centres
- Where are horizontal machining centres used?
- Which manufacturers produce horizontal machining centres?
A horizontal machining center (abbr. HMC)
is a machine tool used for the automatic manufacturing of workpieces through a variety of different processes, where a tool is driven by a horizontally orientated main spindle. Like all other types of machining centres
, the horizontal machining centre allows for the manufacturing of workpieces of complex prismatic shapes.
- Automatic processing of workpieces through a variety of machining techniques
- Tools can be automatically switched
- Primarily used in the manufacturing of prismatic workpieces
Personalized It also contains three additional translational axes that are numerically controlled. Common types of horizontal machining centres are the gantry design and the shelf-mounted models. Gantry machining centres are very versatile and suitable for the processing of large workpieces. Horizontal machining centres with shelf-mounted robots are somewhat restricted but they offer a very short chip-to-chip time. A portal construction is usually found in vertical machining centres
. Machining centres can usually be found in the form of horizontal or vertical machining centres. Statistical analyses have concluded that the use of a horizontal machining centre would be more advantageous for two thirds of commonly processed products. The axes of motion could either be applied to the tool or the workpiece itself.
BOHLE Horizontal machining centre in use There are 5 usable forms of horizontal machining centres with 1, 2 or 3 axes in the tool carrier or workpiece table. Automatic tool switching is typical for all machining centres, as well as the automatic switching of drilling heads. The state of the main spindle can be deciding factor when deciding which form of machining centre to use.
Horizontal machining centres are based on drilling machines
and milling machines
. The major developmental steps were the introduction of numerical operation, a concept that was invented at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1951, as well as the ability to automatically switch tools out of a tool magazine. This allowed for automatic processing of workpieces, which is a characteristic of machining centres. The various forms of milling machines, like gantry
and shelf-mounted models, are also a form of horizontal machining centre.
Horizontal machining centres are mainly used to process prismatic workpieces, particularly through boring and milling. They are suitable for the manufacturing of single pieces as well as small-scale or large series. For mass production (for example, automobile or airplane manufacturing) the reduction of idle time is an advantage. This can be achieved using the possibility offered by a machining centre: it is able to process a workpiece with one clamp and several tools either simultaneously or after one another (these tools can be switched automatically).
Horizontal machining centres are mainly found in the range of products offered by AXA, BRIDGEPORT, CHIRON
, DMG/MORI-SEIKI, DOOSAN, HECKERT, HERMLE, HÜLLER-HILLE, HURCO, MAKINO
, MATSUURA, MAZAK
, MORI-SEIKI and OKUMA
Those and other important brands can be found in our regular industrial auctions
. Take a look and find the desired machining center. In case the machine you are looking for is not available just sign up for our Newsletter and don´t miss any news on upcoming auctions or new machinery offers.