Hardinge Inc. (www.hardinge.com) has added more accuracy, more spindle clearance, more axial load and more radial load to its 5C rotary system line with the introduction of its 5C2 Rotary Indexer.
The indexer body has a curved front casting over the spindle and a removable handle for increased spindle clearance and tool access.
Its dual-bearing spindle accommodates heavier radial and axial loads increasing overall indexing capabilities.
The company said the indexer accommodates parts that weight 100 lb (50 kg), and that tailstock thrust per spindle of 1,000 lb (4,448 N) is not a problem, even on a quad unit with tailstocks.
The indexer is built with a hardened and ground steel worm gear that has cross-axis helical gears and a hardened and ground steel worm drive shaft to provide high accuracy and reduced wear. Additionally, double eccentrics provide for fine gear-mesh adjustment.
Hardinge said the indexer’s backlash range has been lowered, and overall accuracy has been improved. Further, users can compensate for gear wear to extend the life and to improve the accuracy of the indexer over time.
Hardinge said its 5C2 unit has repeatability of ±4 arcsec, ±25 arc-sec accuracy and a maximum TIR of 0.0002 in. (0.005 mm).
Each unit is shipped with a printout of accuracy — final inspection is performed using a Heidenhain encoder mounted directly on the spindle nose to ensure final positioning accuracy and repeatability.
Hardinge offers three collet closer options:
The pneumatic fail-safe closer provides 1,760 lb (798 kg) of drawbar force and features a 27-mm through-hole.
The pneumatic high-force closer allows reduction of gripping force for delicate parts.
The manual closer is lever-operated with 950 lb (431 kg) of drawbar force.
Hardinge said it is easy to integrate the 5C2 Rotary Indexer into a CNC manufacturing applications for true 4th axis interpolation. Hardinge said the 5C2 system is industry compatible for drop-in replacement with fast 360- deg/sec indexing speed with Fanuc, Siemens, Heidenhain, Hurco, Milltronics, Fadal, Haas, Yaskawa and other CNC systems.
The design incorporates a collet-ready spindle for total gripping flexibility. Collets, step chucks, expanding collets and manual jaw chucks can be used without the use of an adapter.
This allows a wide variety of gripping options to handle most part sizes, shapes and materials. 5C2 Rotary Indexers are available in single, dual, triple and quad configurations with or without tailstocks.
