UNIT 3 CNC MACHINE TOOLS

Structure
3.1 Introduction
Objectives

3.2 Drives and Actuators

3.3 Feedback Elements
3.4 Work Holding Devices
3.5 Tools Used in CNC
3.5.1 Machining Centre Tooling
3.5.2 Turning Centre Tooling
3.5.3 Tool Presetting
3.5.4 Automatic Tool Changes

3.6 CNC Machining Centres

3.7 CNC Turning Centres
3.8 In-process Gauging
3.9 Summary
3.10 Key Words

3.1 INTRODUCTION
In Units 1 and 2, we have studied the basic details of automation and numerical control
as is practiced in manufacturing industries. In this unit, we will study more details of
these machine tools as to their constructional features and their utilization in automated
manufacturing.
Objectives
After studying this unit, you should be able to
• understand the various types of drives and actuation systems used in CNC
machine tools to generate the necessary motions,
• get the details of various types of tools and tool change systems that are used in
CNC machine tools, and
• understand the construction details as well as the various options that are
available with varieties of CNC machine tools.

3.2 DRIVES AND ACTUATORS

The various drives used in CNC machines are :
• Spindle drives to provide the main spindle power for cutting.
• Feed drives to drive the axis as per the programme.
Spindle Drives
In view of the large material removal rates used in the CNC machines, large power
motors are used. Further the speed is generally infinitely variable. Hence to
provide such a control generally DC motors are used. Infinite speed control is
achieved by varying the voltage infinitely. However, with the developments in the
microprocessor controlled frequency converters, the use of AC motors is being
preferred in the current generation of CNC machine tools. One more advantage of
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Principles of CNC using the AC drive for spindle is that it can also be used for positioning the spindle
Manufacturing
axis (C-axis) such as in Turn Mill centres.
Feed Drives
The feed drives that are used in CNC machine tools are
• DC Servo motors
• Brush less DC servomotors
• AC Servo motors
• Stepper motors
DC Servomotors
The force that rotates the motor armature is the result of the interaction
between two magnetic fields (the stator field and the armature field). To
produce a constant torque from the motor, these two fields must remain
constant in magnitude and in relative orientation. This is achieved by
constructing the armature as a series of small sections connected in sequence
to the segments of a commutator. Electrical connection is made to the
commutator by means of two brushes. As successive commutator segments
pass the brushes, the current in the coils connected to those segments
changes direction. This commutation or switching effect results in a current
flow in the armature that occupies a fixed position in space, independent of
the armature rotation, and allows the armature to be regarded as a wound
core with an axis of magnetisation fixed in space. This gives rise to the
production of a constant torque output from the motor shaft. The axis of
magnetisation is determined by the position of the brushes. If the motor is to
have similar characteristics in both directions of rotation, the brush axis
must be positioned to produce an axis of magnetisation that is at 90° to the
stator field.
DC servomotors are high performance motors and are useful as prime
movers in numerically controlled machine tools where starts and stops must
be made quickly and accurately. The lightweight and low inertia armatures
of DC servo motors respond quickly to the excitation voltage changes. Also
low armature inductance in these motors results in a low electrical time
constant (typically 0.05 to 1.5 ms) that further sharpens motor response to
command signals.
Brush Less DC Servomotors
In the brush less motor, the construction of the iron cored motor is turned
inside out, so that the rotor becomes a permanent magnet and the stator
becomes a wound iron core. The permanent magnets, located on the rotor,
requires that the flux created by the current carrying conductors in the stator
rotate around the inside of the stator in order to achieve motor action. The
stator windings are interconnected so that introducing a three-phase
excitation voltage to the three stator windings produces a rotating magnetic
field. This construction speeds heat dissipation and reduces rotor inertia.
The permanent magnet poles on the rotor are attracted to the rotating poles
of the opposite magnetic polarity in the stator creating torque. The magnetic
field in the stator rotates at a speed proportional to the frequency of the
applied voltage and the number of poles.
In the brush less motor, the flux of the current carrying winding rotates with
respect to the stator; but, like the dc motor, the current carrying flux stays in
position with respect to the field flux that rotates with the rotor. The major
difference is that the brush less motor maintains position by electrical
commutation, rather than mechanical commutation.

24 AC Servo Motors
 These are basically the AC synchronous motors with built-in brushless tacho CNC Machine Tools
and position encoders. The main advantage of these machine is the low rotor
inertia and high power and low weight. This makes them very attractive
since they are small in size compared to the equivalent DC servo motor.
Stepper Motors
A stepper motor rotates (steps) in fixed angular increments. Step size, or
step angle, is determined by the construction of the motor and the type of
drive scheme used to control it. Typical step resolution is 1.8 degrees
(200 steps per rev). However, micro-step motors are capable of
0.0144 degree steps (25 000 steps per rev). Micro-step motors are hybrid
200 step per rev motors that are electrically controlled to produce
25 000 steps per rev.
Stepper motors are usually used in open loop control systems as shown in
Figure 3.1, though an encoder may be used to confirm positional accuracy.
There are many types of step-motor construction. However, permanent
magnet (PM) and variable reluctance (VR) are the most common types.

Figure 3.1 : Typical Step Motor System. Precise Step Systems have Feedback Loop (Dotted Line) using
Encoders or Resolvers

PM Step Motors
The permanent magnet step motor moves in steps when its windings are
sequentially energized. Figure 3.2 illustrates a permanent magnet rotor surrounded
by a two-phase stator. Two rotor sections (N and S) are offset by one half tooth
pitch to each other. As energy is switched from phase 2 to phase 1, a set of rotor
magnets will align with phase 1, and the rotor will turn one step. If both phases are
energized simultaneously, the rotor will establish its equilibrium midway between
steps. Thus, the motor is said to be half-stepping.

Figure 3.2 : Step Motor with Permanent Magnet Rotor

Stepper motors have a number of benefits, which call for their use in motion control
applications.
• Low cost
• Ruggedness
• Simplicity in construction
• High reliability
25
• No maintenance
Principles of CNC There is virtually no conceivable failure within the stepper drive module that could cause
Manufacturing
the motor to run away. Stepper motors are simple to drive and control in an open-loop
configuration. They only require four leads. They provide excellent torque at low speeds,
up to 5 times the continuous torque of a brush motor of the same frame size or double the
torque of the equivalent brush less motor. This often eliminates the need for a gearbox. A
stepper-driven system is inherently stiff, with known limits to the dynamic position error.
In the machine tool, the rotary motion from the drive motor needs to be converted to the
linear motion. For this purpose a lead screw and nut arrangement is normally used. The
Acme thread used in conventional machine tools has more friction and consequently the
maximum feed rates are limited. In order to increase the feed rates to higher values, it is
necessary to reduce the friction between the nut and the lead screw. Another problem with
the Acme thread is the clearance between the nut and the screw, which causes a considerable
backlash. The backlash will reduce the accuracy of the dimensions produced. Hence most of
the CNC machine tools use a lead screw with a recirculating ball nut.
To reduce the friction, the recirculating ball screws employ rolling friction by the use of balls
very similar to a ball bearing. The nut is replaced by a series of balls that circulate in a
channel made in the form of threads as shown in Figure 3.3. This rolling motion of the balls
results in a very low coefficient of friction between the screw shaft and nut. The balls at the
end of the thread portion in the nut will be repositioned back into the beginning of the thread
form by a deflector or an external return tube.

Figure 3.3 : A Recirculating Ball Screw and Nut Arrangement

(Courtesy : Computer Aided Manufacturing by P. N. Rao, Tewari and Kundra)

To reduce the backlash, the ball screws can be preloaded to eliminate the axial displacement.
One of the methods followed for pre-loading is keeping a spacer between the two parts of the
nuts such that they press against the opposite flanks of the thread. This increases the axial
rigidity of the nut while decreasing the axial displacement.
The recirculating ball screws have a number of advantages compared to the conventional
type of screws.
(i) The accuracy of the screw can be maintained over a much longer period since
the wear of the screw is relatively small.
(ii) Since the friction is small, it is possible to carry heavier loads at faster speeds.
(iii) Also, the power required for driving is small due to negligible friction between
the nut and the screw.
Slideways
Another important element for consideration during the design of the CNC machine
tool is the slide motion. The conventional slideways such as the V, flat, round or
dovetail have large amount of friction because of the sliding contact between the
sliding members. This will not allow for faster slide movement demanded by most of
the CNC machine tools. Thus in CNC machine tools, rolling friction elements capable
of providing a very low friction are used which are generally termed as linear motion
or LM devices.
Linear Motion Systems
26
 A typical linear motion guide used in CNC machine tools with hardened rails is shown CNC Machine Tools
in Figure 3.4. These contain a number of recirculating balls that provide a rolling
motion between the slider and the rail. These balls will be circulating through the
rolling tracks providing a very high rigidity and low friction for the movement of the
axes. With a slideway with LM device it will be possible to move the slides with a
very light push. This would reduce the wear rate allowing the systems to maintain the
accuracy throughout its life.

Figure 3.4 : Antifriction Guideways Used in CNC Machine Tools (Courtesy : THK Co. Ltd., Japan)

Another type of linear motion device is the use of a ball bush where the balls are
arranged in a track inside of a bush, which can slide along a ground rod to provide
the linear motion similar to a round slideway used in conventional machine tools.
A typical machine bed is shown in Figure 3.5 using the recirculating ball lead
screw along with LM guides for providing a very fast feed motion.

Figure 3.5 : Use of Recirculating Ball Screw and the LM Device for Axis Movement in the Bed of a
CNC Machine Tool (Courtesy : Bridgeport Machines Inc., Bridgeport, USA)

3.3 FEEDBACK ELEMENTS

As mentioned earlier, the CNC machine tools generally are run with a closed loop control
system. For this purpose it is necessary to provide appropriate feedback in order to achieve
accurate control of the movement of the axes. The feedbacks that are normally used are the
displacement and velocities of the individual axes in the machine tool. The typical positional
sensors used in the CNC machine tools are:
• Encoders
• Linear scales
27
Principles of CNC The encoder is a transducer that is connected directly to the rotor or the lead screw and hence
Manufacturing
is the simplest arrangement requiring no additional gearing. An optical rotary encoder
converts the rotary motion of the motor into a sequence of digital pulses. The pulses counted
to convert to the position measurement. The optical encoder consists of a disc (as shown in
Figure 3.6) with a number of accurately etched equidistant lines or slots along the periphery.
The encoder disc is attached to the shaft of the machine whose rotary position needs to be
measured. The disc is placed between a light source (generally infra red LED) and a light
measuring device (photo diode) as shown in Figure 3.6. When the disc rotates the lines are
interrupted and the light measuring device counts the number of times the light is interrupted.
By a careful counting and appropriate calculations it is possible to know the position
traversed by the shaft.
The rotary encoder is normally mounted on the servo motor shaft or at the end of the lead
screw as shown. This allows the control to calculate the actual distance moved from the
rotary motion by using the lead of the lead screw. If the lead screw has any backlash, then
that will be reflected in the position indicated by the encoder. It therefore becomes
mandatory to eliminate the backlash in the lead screw to accurately get the position of the
axis. Also this requires that the pitch of the lead screw be more accurate over its entire length
for accurate sensing of the position.
To obviate such a predicament, it will be better if the exact position reached by the slide can
be measured by means of a transducer rather than the indirect way with the encoder. This can
be done with the help of a linear scale attached directly to the slide. In this case the positional
measurement will be direct and hence any of the inaccuracies present will not be affecting
the measurement. The linear scale consists of a finely graduated grating made of either glass
or stainless steel, which is the measuring surface attached to one part of the slide. A scanning
unit is fixed to the other part. The scanning unit consists of a light source, a glass grid with
graduated windows and some photo diodes as receptors. The basic principle employed in
such measurements is that when two gratings overlap each other, a Moirè fringe pattern is
formed corresponding to the displacement. The actual distance moved can be calculated by
measuring the shift in the fringe pattern.
Sensor
Position
A

Slotted
Hole

Light
Light
detector
source

Section through A A

Figure 3.6 : The Principle of Rotary Encoder with a Rotating

Disc and Light Interruption for Position Measurement

3.4 WORK HOLDING DEVICES

Work holding in CNC machine tools is more important since the conventional work
holding devices such as vices or chucks are rarely used except for very simple
components. For complex shapes of the workpieces it becomes necessary to use some
special fixtures for quick setup of the workpieces. The modular fixturing systems, which
are in vogue for conventional machine tools have been refined and are widely used for
holding the workpieces in CNC machine tools.

28
Grid plates are generally used as one of the fixturing bases. The grid plates are provided with CNC Machine Tools
precisely drilled and tapped holes to facilitate the clamping operation as shown in Figure 3.7.
Since the holes on these grid plates are made at precise positions, the operator would know
the exact location of the component depending upon where he is clamping. These grid plates
can be permanently clamped on the machine tool table if necessary. This can be very
conveniently used together with the zero shift facility (G53 to 58) to clamp even multiple
small components.

Figure 3.7 : A Grid Plate with Holes which can be used as a Machine Table

The grid plate can also come in the form of a cube with 4 parallel faces which can all be
used for clamping multiple workpieces as shown in Figure 3.8. This fixture in
conjunction with a rotary table will allow it to be used as an indexing fixture for
clamping more workpieces to the machine tool in a single fixture.

Figure 3.8 : A Tombstone for Mounting Multiple Components on Different Faces

In addition to these standard fixture bases, a large number of fixture elements such as
angle blocks and base elements (Figure 3.9) are used to quickly clamp the workpieces in
position.

Figure 3.9 : Modular Fixture Elements used for Supporting Complex Workpieces

SAQ 1
29
(a) Briefly describe about the type of electric drives used in CNC machine tools.
Principles of CNC (b) What are the requirements of feedback devices in CNC machine tools?
Manufacturing
(c) Give a comparison of the encoder and linear scale as a feedback device for
displacement in CNC machine tools.
(d) Give brief write up on encoders used in CNC machine tools.
(e) Why a recirculating ball in screw is universally used in the actuation system
in CNC machine tools?
(f) Give the advantages of recirculating ball screws compared to the
conventional Acme screws.
(g) Give a brief description of the linear motion elements as used in CNC
machine tool slides.

3.5 TOOLS USED IN CNC

Generally the cutting tools that are used for conventional machine tools can also be used in
CNC machine tools. However, a few differences do exist from those of the conventional
tooling used.
3.5.1 Machining Centre Tooling
A cutting tool used in CNC machining centre is an assembly of a number of parts besides the
actual cutter as shown in Figure 3.10. The assembly (as used in vertical machining centers
using shank mounted tooling) consists of
• adopter to suit the spindle taper,
• collet for holding the straight shank of the end mill (this is not required for taper
shank tools),
• retention knob that is used by the hydraulic draw bar in the spindle housing for
retaining or releasing the tool from the spindle, and
• cutting tool, the end mill.
Adopter

Retention Knob Cutting Tool

Figure 3.10 : The Complete Tool Assembly (for Parallel Shank Tooling)
as Used in a CNC Machining Centre

3.5.2 Turning Centre Tooling

In the case of turning centers, generally the single point cutting tools are used for major
operations such as turning and boring. These generally have the square shank and
accordingly the tool turrets have square slots to accommodate these shanks. Typical tool
turret as used in CNC turning centers is shown in Figure 3.11.

30
 CNC Machine Tools

Figure 3.11 : Typical Tool Turret Used in CNC Turning Centers Showing the Single Point Turning
Tools as well as the Hole Making Tools (Courtesy : George Fischer, Switzerland)

3.5.3 Tool Presetting

Since the generation of actual geometry is taken care of by the CNC part program, which is
essentially the coordinates through which the cutting tool tip moves, it is important to know
the actual dimensions of the tool when it is placed in the spindle. The relationship of the tool
with reference to the tool holding mechanism requires a special attention during CNC
machining process.
The actual point to be programmed in a CNC part program is the tip of the tool whereas the
axes will be moving with respect to a known point in the spindle, e.g. the centre of the
spindle in case of machining centres. It becomes therefore necessary to know precisely the
deviation of the tool tip from the gauge point on the spindle. Hence the tool setting
equipment is generally used. A simple mechanical type tool setting device is shown in Figure
3.12.

Figure 3.12 : Typical Tool Setting System Useful for Machining Centre Tooling
(Courtesy : Trimos, Switzerland)
In this system, which is very similar to a two axis height gauge, the base is provided with the
exact taper as used in the actual machine tool. The assembled tool is therefore placed in the
spindle taper. The measurement is done with the help of a probe head, which can move in
two axes along the column and perpendicular to it as shown in Figure 3.12. The probe can
measure the diameter as well as the length of the tool. The display is shown digitally so that
there is no error in measurement. Also some systems are provided with a serial port for
sending the measured values directly into any tool management system or a personal
computer for the purpose of generating the tool offset values. A variation in these presetting
systems is that they are provided with an optical projector element for the accurate
identification of the tool tip.
3.5.4 Automatic Tool Changes
31
Principles of CNC Any time spent by a metal cutting machine tool when no chips are generated is a waste.
Manufacturing
Therefore considerable effort is made by the machine tool designers to reduce or eliminate
most of such idle times. There are a considerable number of operations involving tools,
which can be classified as idle times. They are tool engagement and disengagement, tool
change and tool setup. The automatic tool changer or ATC is one such component of CNC
machine tools that reduces the tool change operation. These are particularly useful in
machining applications where a number of tools are to be used for finishing the job.
For an ATC to operate, there should be some way of keeping a number of tools in close
proximity to the tool change arm. Tool magazines are used for that purpose. Storage capacity
of tool magazines vary between 12 and 60 in the most common machine tools. Higher
capacities upto 200 may be found in some special machine tools. The common types of tool
magazines used are turret for small capacity (about 12), drum or disc for medium capacity
(12 to 30) and chain for larger capacities.
A chain type tool magazine provides the necessary flexibility for storing large number of
tools. A typical chain type magazine is shown in Figure 3.13. The tools are attached to
the pockets, which are in turn attached to the chain that is moving on appropriate
sprockets. The chain allows for a very large variety of arrangements.

Figure 3.13 : A Typical Chain Type Tool Magazine

In the case of turret the tool changing is relatively simple, because of the turret indexing.
However, in the case of other tool magazines, a tool changing arm with a single or dual
grippers will do the necessary operation of removing the new tool from the magazine, and
replacing that with the old tool from the spindle in a series of planned motions. The tool
magazine is placed close to the spindle such that the actual tool transfers do not consume a
lot of time. Typical tool change times vary from 2 to 10 seconds.

3.6 CNC MACHINING CENTRES

As noted earlier, the first CNC machine developed was a vertical axis milling machine
retrofitted with the control by changing the appropriate elements in the process. The
initial developments in the machine tool industry continued this trend in the initial stages
to convert the popular machine tools by making the necessary changes in the controlling
part only. However, this trend has been changed in the later years after recognizing the
full potential of CNC machine tools. Hence special CNC machine tool designs have been
done to take greater advantage of the controlling capability.
The CNC milling machines have been successfully improved with a variety of options to
improve the productivity and flexibility. As a result these are called now as machining
centres to reflect that versatility, and it is possible to do all the milling and hole making
operations to the highest possible accuracy thereby reducing the other finishing
operations. A typical CNC machining centre is shown in Figure 3.14. The CNC
machining centres can be broadly categorised into two varieties :
• Vertical axis machining centre, and
• Horizontal axis machining centre.

32
 CNC Machine Tools

Figure 3.14 : A Typical Vertical Axis Milling Machine Retrofitted with a CNC Controller

Figure 3.15 : Present Day Production Vertical Axis CNC Machining Centre

In addition to the basic improvement in a number of machine tool elements that

contributed to the productivity, a number of essential attachments have been developed to
increase the machine utilization rate. One of the important options is the automatic tool
changer or ATC as is generally called, is used for changing the cutting tool in the spindle
in the shortest possible time of the order of 3 to 6 seconds. The details are given in Unit
2.
Another such important option is the automatic pallet changer or APC for changing the
workpiece on the table in the shortest possible time, typically of the order of 10 seconds.
Generally the components machined on machining centres require large cycle times. Many a
times they also require large setup times. It would therefore be preferable to setup the
workpieces away from the machine tool such that the machine utilisation is improved. For
this purpose pallet, which is a smaller version of a machine tool table is used with the
machining centre. These are normally available in standard sizes with precision drilled holes
or with T-slots like a machine tool table. The blanks can be clamped, setup and unclamped
on these pallets at a location away from the machine spindle thus, not disturbing the
machining function. A typical CNC machining centre equipped with ATC and APC are
shown in Figure 3.16.
The pallet changer shown in Figure 3.16 consists of 4 pallet locations with three pallets. One
pallet location is near the spindle where the actual machining takes place, while two locations
B and C are meant for workpiece setup, loading and unloading. The fourth location at the
center is that used for exchange with the pallet near spindle after completing the machining
operation by simply indexing. When the machining of the component on the pallet near the
spindle is completed, that pallet moves into the central indexing position, where the pallet
with the next part is already in position. Then the shuttle mechanism allows the pallet to be
indexed to allow the pallet with the blank to move to the spindle to carryout the machining
operation. As the machine tool starts machining the pallet shuttle will do the necessary pallet
transfers to the empty position for unloading.
33
Principles of CNC
Manufacturing

Figure 3.16 : High Production Horizontal Axis CNC Machining Centre with Automatic Tool Changer
and Automatic Pallet Changer (Courtesy : Cincinnati Milacron, USA)

The machine shown in Figure 3.16 has only a small number of pallets in position which is
not conducive for long unattended operation. It is also possible to integrate such a machine
with a separate pallet carousals that can be linear or rotary with larger number of pallets for
long hours of unattended operation of the machines. Such systems are normally used with
machining systems that may be integrated with more number of machine tools into an
integrated operation.
The vertical axis machining centre is one of the most commonly used machine in the
machining of dies and moulds in the tooling industry. This is generally provided with a
variety of accessories to cater to a larger spectrum of jobs that can be completed by them in a
single setup. Most of these come with 3 axes. Additional axes can be added, for example the
spindle head can be swivelled in one or two axes (about X or Y axis) to provide A or B axis
motion (as shown in Figure 2.3). These are required for more complex machining of 3D
surfaces as are commonly employed in dies and moulds, and the aerospace industry.
A horizontal axis machining centre or popularly called as HMC (Figure 3.17) is heavier than
the vertical configuration and is normally used for large metal removal rates. Rotary table is
one of the most common accessory used with the horizontal machining centre. This provides
a fourth axis in the form of B. The availability of a rotary table in horizontal machining
centre makes it feasible for the machining of all four faces of the component that are facing
the tool. Thus a large part of the component can be finished in a single setup allowing for
closer tolerances for the critical components.

Figure 3.17 : A Typical Horizontal Machining Centre with an Automatic Pallet Changer
34 (Courtesy : Cincinnati Milacron, USA)
The rotary tables can also have some swiveling capability. For example the rotary table can CNC Machine Tools
have two rotary motions in A and B axes in place of the conventional C-axis. If such a rotary
table is interfaced with a conventional 3 axes horizontal machining centre (or a VMC) then it
will be possible to machine complex sculptured surfaces.
SAQ 2
(a) Show the construction of a typical tool used in CNC machining center.
(b) Give a brief description of the CNC machining centres.
(c) What are the requirements of tool pre-setting in CNC machining?
(d) Give a brief description of any one of the tool pre-setter you are familiar
with.

3.7 CNC TURNING CENTRES

Similar to the milling machines the lathes are also provided with CNC controls. Majority
of the components machined in the industry are of the cylindrical shape and as such the CNC
lathes are important machine tools. Similar to the machining centers, the CNC lathes are
capable of carrying out a large range of operations, and therefore these are more
appropriately called as turning centers. The major innovation provided in the CNC lathes is
the provision of slant bed to help remove the chips from the machining zone more
efficiently while allowing for a better and unobstructed view of the machining zone. A
typical CNC turning centre is shown in Figure 3.18. Most of the turning centres are
provided with a tool turret, which generally has a capacity of 8 to 12 tools of various types.

Figure 3.18 : CNC Turning Centre with Slant Bed

One of the major developments that have taken place in the CNC turning centres is the
development of turn-mill centre. If you go through a number of industrial components
that are axi-symmetric in nature, you may notice that many of them cannot be completed
in lathes alone. There will be some operations for which the job may have to be taken to
a milling machine, drilling machine or a grinder for finishing. Typical operations could
be drilling of cross holes, milling of flats, keyways, slots, etc. In such cases the
completion of the job gets delayed which contributes to the additional cost as well as
time. This can be taken care of generally by providing milling/grinding attachment on a
lathe so that additional machine tools will not be required for completing the job.
For this to happen, it is necessary that the tools need to be provided with separate drive to
provide the necessary motion to them. During such operations, the spindle will not rotate
and the tools get the necessary movements to position and move them as per the
35
machining requirements. Such a machine tool is called the CNC Turn Mill Centre. It can
Principles of CNC be seen in Figure 3.19 that the hole making tools in the turret such as twist drills, end
Manufacturing
mills, and boring bars are provided with rotary motion. Such tools are called driven
tooling. Since the main spindle is not rotating during the machining operation with
drilling and milling tools, it can be indexed suitably to get the necessary profiles. This is
called the C-axis. The driven tooling can move in the X and Z directions like the normal
turning centre. The combination of these 3-axes can make the machine tool really
versatile and would allow for a range of complex surfaces to be produced. Typical jobs
that can be machined by these machines is shown in Figure 3.20.

Figure 3.19 : The Driven Tools in the Turret of a CNC Turn Mill Centre
(Courtesy : George Fischer, Switzerland)

Figure 3.20 : Typical Shapes of Component that can be Machined by the Combination of X, Z and
C-Axis Movements (Courtesy : Traub, Germany)

3.8 IN-PROCESS GAUGING

The measurement of dimensions during the machining operation helps to keep the machining
operation in a close check. For this purpose the touch trigger probe is generally used. The
touch trigger probe consists of a sapphire sphere joined to a rigid measuring unit as shown in
Figure 3.21. The measuring unit is mounted in an adopter and clamped in the spindle similar
to the normal tools. The measuring units consist of an omni-directional switch which will be
triggered whenever the measuring unit experiences a small elastic deflection. This switch
will be used to arrest the motion of the axes.
For the purpose of measurement, the probe will be commanded with a motion away from the
surface, which needs to be measured. As the probe approaches the surface it will slow down
and will completely stop when it touches the surface. There will be a small elastic deflection
36 of the measuring unit when it touches the surface, but the controller will be able to
compensate for the deflection. The current position of the probe tip in terms of the x, y and z CNC Machine Tools
coordinates are recorded. Similarly the probe can touch different points on the surface, whose
coordinates can be recorded. Then depending upon the geometry of the different points, it
would be possible to calculate the dimensions or any other tolerance parameters. Some
examples are given later for clarification.

Figure 3.21 : Touch Trigger Probe Used for Inspection on a CNC Machine Tool

The touch trigger probes can be used for the following applications :
• Measuring dimensions
• Assessing tolerance limits
• Measuring tool offsets
• Datuming the components on the machine tool table
• Digitizing the surfaces
Measuring Dimensions
In order to measure a dimension, the probes can be used. The surface to be measured
should be clean and should preferably cleaned by a flood of cutting fluid, which will
help in flushing away any chips present on the surface as well as reducing the
temperature of the surface. A typical example of measuring slot width is shown in
Figure 3.22. The part programming should be made such that the probe will touch the
first surface and gets its coordinates (x1, y1, z1). Then the probe will touch the second
surface and gets its coordinates (x2, y2, z2). Then the width of the slot can be calculated
by the following equation (assuming the width is in the x direction) :
Width = x2 – x1

Figure 3.22 : Use of Probe for Measuring the Width of a Slot

The dimensional measurement can be carried in two possible ways :

• in-cycle measurement
• post-process measurements
The measurement of dimensions using probes in between cuts is termed as in-cycle
measurement. This method helps in maintaining higher accuracies for critical
dimensions. This can be done by writing the CNC part program with a spare cutting
pass to be taken, if the part dimension is out of tolerance. However before the
measurement is done, the surfaces need to be clean without any chips by proper 37
washing with a flood of the cutting fluid.
Principles of CNC However, in the case of post-process gauging, the measurement is done after the
Manufacturing
machining is completed but still in the work holding fixture. If the part is out of
tolerance, then remedial cuts can be programmed for critical dimensions bringing the
part within specifications.
Measuring Tool Offsets
To measure the tool offsets the probe is slightly different from the one that is used for
inspection. The tool measurement probe head is flat faced as shown in
Figure 3.23 for machining centres. The probe is to be clamped at one end of the
machine tool table. Then the offsets are to be measured, the tool can be brought in
contact with the probe tip in both the directions to obtain the tool offsets (length and
diameter). The same probe can also be used for tool breakage monitoring as well.

Figure 3.23 : Probe Type Used for Tool Offset Determination in Machining Centres

Datuming the Components on the Machine Tool Table

The setup of a workpiece on the machine tool table requires that the datum of the part
is to be established before the part program can be activated. This is termed as
datuming. Generally the dial gauges stationed on the spindle are used for the purpose.
The touch trigger probes can be used in the place of dial gauges to identify the datum
far quicker. The inspection probe can be made to touch the respective surfaces in order
to obtain the datum.
Digitizing the Surfaces
Unknown profiles and surfaces on the part can also be measured with the help of
these probes. This process is termed as Digitising. The probe can be made to touch
on the curve or surface at specified close intervals, and the corresponding
coordinates of the points can be recorded. Later on this data can be used to fit a
closed curve or a surface to match the requirements of the part. A typical example
of a digitizing process is shown in Figure 3.24.

Figure 3.24 : Probe Used for Digitising a Profile

SAQ 3
(a) Give a brief description of CNC turning centres.
(b) Explain the reasons why turn-mill centre is preferable to a 2-axis CNC
38 turning centre?
 (c) Describe five applications where the touch trigger probes can be used on a CNC Machine Tools
shop floor.
(d) Write a short note on digitising using touch trigger probes.
(e) What are the various types of tool magazines used in CNC machine tools?
Give their relative merits.

3.9 SUMMARY
Spindle drives provide the main power for cutting action, while the feed drives provide
the necessary geometric movement capability. Various types of servo drives are most
commonly used for spindle as well as feed drives. Recirculating ball screws are generally
used for converting the rotary motion of the drives to linear motion. Ball screws reduce
the friction and the backlash that is inherent in the convention lead screws. Linear motion
devices incorporating antifriction devices are used in the slideways. Most of the
industrial grade CNC machine tools use feedback devices such as encoders and resolvers
to provide the necessary positional accuracy for the slides. Work holding is normally
performed with modular elements to provide the necessary flexibility. Off line tool
presetters are generally used to measure the tool parameters that can be input into the
CNC controller. To improve the versatility of the machine tools, they are generally
provided with automatic tool changers that help in reducing the idle time of the machine.
Machining centers are also provided with pallet changers to help reduce the idle time of
the machine during the change over from one part to the other. A number of special
facilities are provided in the machining and turning centers such that most of the
machining operations are completed in a single machine tool. Touch trigger probes
provide additional capability of automatic inspection in the machine tool itself.

3.10 KEY WORDS

Spindle Drive, Feed Drive, Servo Motor, Stepper Motor, Recirculating Ball Screw,
Linear Motion Systems, Encoder, Linear Scale, Work Holding, Tool Presetter, Automatic
Tool Changer, ATC, Pallet Changer, Machining Centre, Turning Centre, Touch Trigger
Probe.

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