Drake Rack Mills Upgraded for Faster Production of Automotive Steering Racks |
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Drake Manufacturing's 4-axis CNC Rack Mill, Model GS:RM, has a redesigned cutter head for more stability and increased speeds with coated HSS milling cutters, the company said. Part capacity has been increased by 200 mm, and the machine now accommodates racks from 500 mm to 900 mm in length. The machine also has a cast polymer base that dampens vibration and is designed to contribute to improved cutting performance and accuracy. "Drake Rack Mills are designed for automated production of steering racks and easily fit into a manufacturing cell environment," said a spokesperson. "The GS:RM is only 2,500 mm (98 inches) wide and has a 1,000 mm (48-inch) load height. The front access automatic loader easily ties into the customer's automated cell conveyor system. "Parts are loaded on to the infeed conveyor on the right side of the machine and are then automatically cycled into the vise. The milling cutter produces a finished 6-degree helix rack in less than 40 seconds to a depth of 8 mm. Finished parts are then fed onto the exit conveyor on the left side of the machine. "For faster change over when running families of parts, Drake equips the GS:RM Rack Mill with a CNC controlled helix ( 14-degrees) and power table positioning with tenth-micron feedback for dialing in the center tooth position, helix and over ball dimensions. "Drake programs all customer parts and stores them in the machine's CNC. No operator programming is required. The operator follows the on-screen prompts and enters the appropriate values. Setup time between parts can be accomplished in under 10 minutes, including cutter changes. Drake provides a quick-change arbor and cutter change fixture to minimize tool changeover time. "The GS:RM's simple setup and operation is ideal |
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for low labor cost environments. Drake has recently shipped rack mills to China, Poland and USA auto steering manufacturers." For more information contact: Drake Manufacturing 4372 North Leavitt Road Warren, OH 44485 330-847-7291 Fax: 330-847-6323 E-Mail: info@drakemfg.com
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