Advantages of Vertical CNC Groove Milling Machine compared to Horizontal Groove Milling Machine
Depending on the designer's perspective, CNC sheet metal V-groove milling machines are designed in two main forms: vertical and horizontal. The horizontal groove milling machine originated from South Korea and gained popularity as an imported equipment. However, after using it, many drawbacks became apparent due to its flawed design concept, which can be attributed to the following aspects:
1. Precision advantage: The depth of the groove directly affects the bending angle's effectiveness. When the depth error reaches 0.05mm, the bending position's radius (R) becomes noticeably inconsistent. In vertical groove milling machines, the cutter moves in a straight line position relative to the table, with a distance precision between the cutter tip and the table within a range of 0.02mm. In contrast, horizontal groove milling machines face a platform that is 1.5 meters wide and over 4 meters long, making it difficult to achieve precision within a range of 0.1mm.
2. Energy consumption: Vertical groove milling machines have a reciprocating motion of the tool holder, weighing around 60kg. On the other hand, horizontal groove milling machines have a reciprocating motion of the gantry and tool holder together, weighing around 1000kg. The energy consumption of the latter is more than 10 times that of the vertical groove milling machine, making the vertical machine more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly.
3. Processing range advantage: Vertical groove milling machines have over a dozen independent pressure plates and clamps for automatic workpiece clamping, allowing for the processing of various sizes of sheet metal. They can groove in both horizontal and vertical directions, with a minimum workpiece size of 80*80mm. Horizontal groove milling machines are only suitable for grooving large sheet materials, and after grooving in the vertical direction, the deformation of the sheet material makes it impossible to clamp it horizontally for grooving.
4. Processing technology advantage: The working table of vertical groove milling machines is made of high-quality mold steel, which undergoes heat treatment and precision grinding to achieve a mirror-like surface finish. In contrast, the working table of horizontal groove milling machines is made of ordinary iron plate welded and processed, and it is less durable than stainless steel plates. This leads to surface imperfections and blemishes on the processed products.
5. Installation advantage: Vertical groove milling machines are made of welded steel plates, which provide high strength, stable and quiet operation. They can be placed and installed on a flat and solid cement floor with ease, and are convenient for relocation and lifting. Horizontal groove milling machines, on the other hand, have high-speed gantry movements and large impact forces. Additionally, the platform requires foundation adjustments, which necessitate concrete foundations and significant civil engineering work.
6. Safety advantage: Vertical groove milling machines automatically clamp the workpiece hydraulically, ensuring automatic positioning and operation, with the operator kept away from the moving parts of the machine. In contrast, horizontal groove milling machines clamp the workpiece within the machine's range of motion, and the gantry and control parts operate together, posing a higher risk of personal injury to the operator and significant safety hazards.
In general sheet metal bending processes, larger radii are left at the bending locations, and the thickness of the processed sheet affects the size of the radii. The existence of these larger radii angles affects the overall aesthetics of the product. To solve this problem, Beili Machine Tools has introduced a new design concept for their CNC sheet metal V-groove milling machine series. These machines offer high processing precision, ease of operation, stable and reliable performance. They are used for V-groove processing on stainless steel, ordinary iron plates, copper, and other sheet materials, making them especially suitable for V-groove processing before bending.
Machine performance and characteristics:
- The machine frame is made of welded steel plates, with stress relieved through vibration aging to prevent deformation.
- Equipped with European industrial control CNC system for accurate positioning.
- All drives use AC servo motor transmission, eliminating the need for carbon brush cleaning and maintenance.
- The tool holder adopts high-precision ball screw transmission and servo motor drive, achieving high speed and high torque.
- The machine uses hydraulic clamping and independent hydraulic pressure plates to ensure secure and stable workpiece grooving.
- Equipped with Japanese Mitsubishi CNC system.
- Axis control: 3-axis (X, Y, and Z axes).
- Color display (640*400 dot matrix).
- Drive method: Digital AC.
- Position output: Absolute position encoder.
- Absolute/incremental programming.
- Metric/imperial conversion.
- Minimum setting unit: 0.01mm.
- Data input: MDI input for processing data, simple and quick. Users only need to input the plate thickness, sheet length, V-groove depth, and feed rate per pass, and the program will automatically calculate the processing.
- Program storage capacity: 128 programs (approximately 6000 steps).
- Number of grooves: 1 to 10.
- Program capacity: 256KB.
- Operating temperature: 0-45 degrees Celsius.
- Storage temperature: -30-60 degrees Celsius.
- Backgauge (Y-axis) repeat positioning accuracy: +/- 0.05mm.
