What is the zero point clamp system
The zero point clamping system is a unique positioning and locking holding system, which can keep zero point remains unchanged of the workpiece from one station to another, from one process to another, or from one machine tool to another. The precise clamping module requires high clamping force and repeated positioning accuracy to ensure the interchangeability on different machine tools.It is widely used in various machine tools such as vertical machining center, horizontal machining center, turn milling compound and so on
How does zero point clamp system works
The zero point positioning structure of different brands is slightly different, but the principle is similar. They all adopt hydraulic or pneumatic control mode to clamp or loosen the positioning pin through special mechanical structure.
zero point principle of positioning fixture
1. Six point positioning principle
The workpiece has six degrees of freedom in space, that is, the moving degrees of freedom along the three coordinate directions of X, y and Z and the rotating degrees of freedom a, B and C around the three moving axes of X, y and Z. To determine the position of the workpiece in space, six support points, commonly known as positioning elements, need to be arranged according to certain requirements to limit the degree of freedom of the workpiece, which is the “six point positioning principle” of workpiece positioning. It should be pointed out that the shape of the workpiece is different, the positioning surface is different, and the layout of the positioning points is also different.
2. Relationship between restricted degrees of freedom and workpiece machining requirements
According to the different processing requirements of the workpiece processing surface, some degrees of freedom have an impact on the processing requirements, and some degrees of freedom have no impact on the processing requirements. The degrees of freedom that have an impact on the processing requirements must be limited, but the degrees of freedom that do not affect the processing requirements need not be limited.
3. Complete positioning and incomplete positioning
The positioning in which the six degrees of freedom of the workpiece are restricted becomes complete positioning, and the restricted degrees of freedom of the workpiece are less than six, but it does not affect the positioning required by the processing, becoming incomplete positioning. Complete positioning and incomplete positioning are the most commonly used positioning methods of the workpiece in actual processing.
4. Basic principles of workpiece installation
The principle of workpiece installation on NC machine tools is the same as that of ordinary machine tools, and the positioning datum and clamping scheme should also be reasonably selected. In order to improve the efficiency of CNC machine tools, the following points should be paid attention to when determining the positioning datum and clamping scheme:
① Strive to unify the design basis, process basis and programming calculation basis.
② The clamping times shall be reduced as far as possible, and all the surfaces to be processed can be processed after one positioning and clamping as far as possible.
③ Avoid using the occupation adjustment scheme to give full play to the efficiency of CNC machine tools.
Key player in zero point clamp system market in China
China’s zero point positioning market has a huge demand, ranking first in the Asia Pacific region and has great growth potential. Therefore, various brands are competing to enter the Chinese market. Here are the players in the Chinese market:
ZEROCLAMP
EROWA
SCHUNK
HAINBUCH
AMF
SYSTEM 3R
LANG
Benefits of use zero point clamp system
1.After the zero point clamp installed and debugged, and the processing program is imported into the machine tool, the workpiece can be processed directly. when changing the fixture, you only need to put the workpiece on the plate of the zero point clamp.
Because the datum point is fixed, there is no need to worry about the change of machining size. It is not necessary to measure while debugging for technicians
Without zero point clamp system, the whole debugging and inspection time is usually more than 30 minutes on average, or even longer. After the zero point system used, the switching time of the fixture can be controlled within 2 minutes, which is equal to more than 28 minutes saved, and the production and processing can be completely carried out. Over the years, the time saved can create higher value.
2.After the benchmark is determined, no matter who operates, the accuracy can be kept within 0.005mm. therefore, for the frequent replacement of customers’ on-site operators, it undoubtedly solves the problem of maintaining the stability of product quality.)
3. The use of zero point is very helpful for replacement the fixtures with small batch and multiple varieties product. When the machining of the last batch of parts almost finished, install the part to be planned on the support plate in advance. After the last part completed, removing the fixture, cleaning the table base of the machine tool, putting in the interchangeable support plate, and then calling out the corresponding program to process directly.
