Citizen Machinery (Stand: 20-260) will be demonstrating its patented LFV (low frequency vibration) chip breaking with 4-axis simultaneous capability.
While the functionality made its debut at the turn-milling machine supplier’s open house in Brierley Hill last October, the event in Birmingham this April will provide a first opportunity for a wider audience to see the new technology in action.
Citizen rolled out its original LFV chip-breaking functionality to international markets more than a decade ago. Integrated into the operating system of the control driving the axis motions of Citizen Cincom sliding-head lathes, and more recently selected Miyano fixed-head models, it is designed to break stringy swarf into manageable chips. Distinct from programmed chip-breaking macros offered by other suppliers, LFV synchronises high-frequency vibration in the direction of the cutting feed with spindle rotation to create intermittent air-cutting to break long swarf effectively.
Today, the technology has been developed to enable the function to be programmed to start and stop in four separate axes at the same time, the X and Z movements of both the main and sub spindles. 4-axis LFV is a major step forward, as it greatly enhances flexibility, reduces cycle times and eliminates operational bottlenecks, since there is no need to stop the machine to remove tangled swarf, however complex the program. It is particularly advantageous during lights-out production when working with malleable materials like copper, some stainless steels, aluminium, titanium, nickel alloys, lead-free eco-brass, and plastics.