COMPACT AND ECONOMICAL TOOL MONITORING UNIT

 

Marposs will introduce at IMTS-2016 in booth E-5516 and S-8719, its new TMU tool monitoring unit. The compact and economical TMU system detects breakage, wear and missing tools by measuring and matching the variation of power consumption in different cutting sessions. The unit is easily installed in the cabinet together with the sensors devoted to power consumption measurement. The new TMU system consists of a TMU True Power (TP) module and TMview software. It is aimed primarily at applications involving simple processes like drilling, tapping and milling; large batch production; less expensive machine tools; machines with simple or no NC; and for installations requiring monitoring with no data/process analysis. With TMU any machine can now be easily equipped with a user-friendly tool monitoring system.

The TMU satisfies one of the most important requirements during mechanical chip removal processes by monitoring the state of the tool during the processing phases (wear, breakage, missing tool, etc.). This is important because it enables users to improve machining quality, while reducing rejects and the idle periods it would be necessary to impose on the machine if this type of check were performed manually. It is equally important to monitor any overload conditions independently of the machining process.

The TMU True Power module determines the state of the tool on the basis of the electrical power absorbed by the spindle during the machining process, since the power consumed by the spindle varies according to the state of the tool. The TMU TP module has been designed to be sensitive enough to detect the slight variations in power consumption caused by very small tools or finishing processes.

Both the TMU TP and the TMview software have been devised in such a way that the "tool monitoring" application can be installed quickly, and is simple to understand and to use. In fact, in its most simple operating configuration - RING mode - the application requires just 4 I/O from the PLC (one for the "Start/Stop" function and the other three for monitoring the alarms). The ability to record, and subsequently compare, machining processes of the same type means that it is very easy to program the TMU TP to control processes that are difficult to monitor due to the type of timescales involved, such as tapping, which uses small tools and fast operating speeds.