CNC FANUM - Polish CNC machines
for processing plastics, composites and aluminum
Every year, machines designed for processing various types of composite materials and thermoformed plastics have an increasing share in the number of machining centers built by FANUM. After more than ten years of rapid development and effective entry on the domestic market, as well as the first steps made a few years ago on foreign markets (including the German market, which is known for its very high requirements), the last year - 2018 turned out to be a breakthrough in some extent in the activities of this company from Podkarpacie. Until now, the production of FANUM, the annual settlements were dominated by machining centers intended for work in the furniture industry and generally - in the wood industry. Last year brought a change, as the number of machines built to order of manufacturers from the composite and plastics processing industries turned out to be greater than the number of machines for the furniture industry. For FANUM, however, this phenomenon is mainly of statistical significance, as the machines built in this company were designed from the very beginning with a view to processing also other materials, such as various types of plastics and aluminum.
CNC multi-use
The FANUM offer includes several different types of constructions, which were created to meet the specific production needs of many companies from various industries. These machines are mainly used for manufacturing of tools, models, molds and processing devices. Other applications are high-performance serial production of finished products (e.g. for trimming thermoformed elements and composite laminates). The main feature that distinguishes the design series of machines are their kinematic systems. These are, in turn: gantry CNC machining centers with one or two movable tables; then machine tools with a solid table and a moving portal. Gantry machines are distinguished by the largest available working space among FANUM machines (width and height are several, and the length - even several dozen meters).
CNC machining centers - Delta and Sigma
Five-axis machining centers of the Delta and Sigma series are gantry machines that differ mainly in the number of working tables and the type of working heads used. The Delta is a single table design, while the Sigma series machines typically include two independent tables. In special configuration cases, the Sigma series machine tools can be equipped, like the Delta, with only one working table. The surface structure of tables is usually flat, and to enable the workpiece to be fixed, T-slots or a network of threaded holes are made in it. Another type are vacuum tables for direct fixing of plate elements - directly or by means of intermediate plates (in the case of processing plate elements along their entire thickness). Another type of table offered is a structure with fixed or movable beams, which are most often used in the processing of complex shapes.
The working head used in the Delta machines has, like other five-axis machines, a torsion-tilt structure, which consists of interpolated rotary axes A and C. It is equipped with one liquid-cooled electrospindle with a rotational speed of 24,000 rpm. the tool clamping system used is the HSK-F63 type coupling.
The second type of FANUM gantry machines is the Sigma ST. These machines present a much greater variety of basic design versions and possible equipment options. Most often they are equipped with two work tables, which are used for alternating work, which has an excellent effect on increasing production efficiency. Thanks to equipping the machine with an appropriate casing and (used as standard) safety systems, the work performed with these machines is easy and safe. The exchange of workpieces on one table is performed while processing is in progress on the other table. In the case of the production of objects with larger dimensions, after switching to the "tandem" mode, both tables can work simultaneously, connected by software - as one table.
Sigma ST is produced in various dimensions and this applies to: the width of the gate, the range of table stroke and the working height (the Z axis stroke can be even 1500 mm). A wide selection of electrospindles is also available for these machines, ranging from the standard 10 and 15 kW / 24,000 rpm. to special ones, with a power of 6 kW and operating at speeds up to 36,000 rpm ..
The Sigma ST series machines are most often used in the plastics processing industry, as fast, production machining centers for trimming excess and making holes, slots, etc. in elements after thermoforming and in the polymer composites industry.
Lambda CNC series - many varieties and areas of use
The most numerous series of FANUM machine tools, manufactured for the composite industry, are various types of CNC machining centers built under the common name of LAMBDA. Almost 100 machines of this series have been built since the beginning of the company's activity. Apart from Poland, they also work in countries such as Austria, USA and Germany. These machines are built in several basic construction lines. The first are models marked with GT and ST symbols (machines with a moving portal), while the second line is the MT and VT variants, in which the main moving element is a horizontal beam.
The first type from which the production of Lambda machines began was the model with the symbol ST. It has a portal that moves along 4 guides (two per side). As a result, this structure is distinguished by particular stiffness among other similar competitor machines available on the market. The portal movement is driven by two servo drives, mounted symmetrically on both sides of the machine. As a result, the portal always moves in a way that ensures perfect perpendicularity between the axes: transverse - X and longitudinal - Y. Machines of the Lambda ST series are always delivered with a full fence made of elements of profiled steel sheet and with doors that automatically open sideways or with a roller shutter that opens upwards for loading workpieces. The fence is one of the set of security devices used in these machines to guarantee fully safe operation.
Lambda GT - the right machine for the toughest machining
Among the Lambda series, the GT model is the type of machine produced in the greatest number of copies. Due to the construction used, this machine is especially predisposed to perform high-performance production of all kinds of models and forms from the hardest materials in its category. The basic element of the construction of these machines is a mobile portal, which actually consists of two portals connected in the upper and lower parts on both sides of the machine into a monolithic and very rigid structure. The working head is mounted on the Z axis column, which moves transversely (X axis) to the table axis along four guides (two guides on each side of the column), which ensures high system rigidity.
The Lambda GT, similarly to the ST version described above, can be equipped with a T-table, or on special request - a vacuum or vacuum hybrid table (with additional T-slots).
Lambda ST and GT machines are used primarily for the production of models and molds for the composite industry, plastics processing and for the production of models for metal foundries.
Lambda MT - Multi-Purpose Machining Center
The MT model was designed to process not only polyester-glass or wood objects, but also for the production of products from various types of composites, such as, for example, conglomerates used in the production of, among others, sinks and wash basins. The construction of the machine is based on a spatial cage made of steel profiles, where the moving element is a horizontal beam, moving in the upper part of the machine (in the direction transverse to the loading door). Lambda MT is produced in two versions: for dry operation and for operation with the use of cooling liquid. In the latter case, it is, for example, water, which directly cools the place of treatment and eliminates the spread of dust generated mainly during the treatment of materials containing mineral fillers. The dust is absorbed and carried away on an ongoing basis by the water jets flowing from the many nozzles located around the working tool. The effect of water also improves the quality and appearance of the treated surface. Another system, used not only in the MT model, but also in the other machines discussed here, is the cooling and lubrication system in which the active agent is compressed air and / or oil mist. This system is used especially to create optimal processing conditions, e.g. aluminum.
The Lambda MT series machines work, among others in yacht shipyards and factories producing sinks from materials with a conglomerate structure.
A CNC giant for special tasks - Lambda VT
FANUM's production program includes a line of size-specific machines. These are machines marked as the Lambda VT series, built in three sizes: S, M and L. Lambdy VT are machining centers, which, especially in the largest version, often occupy the entire hall intended for this machine. We are talking about machines whose dimensions of the available working space are counted in meters: e.g. width up to 8 m, length over 30 m and the stroke of the vertical axis Z up to 4 m. holes in ready copies of the above-mentioned products. These machines can also be equipped with polishing heads, which is mainly used for finishing large-surface hulls of yachts and boats. The range of processed materials is very wide: from wood-based materials and various types of foams (model production) to carbon fiber composites and similar materials.
3-axis CNC machines - Trio VT
Next to 5-axis CNC controlled machining centers, FANUM also offers 3-axis CNC machines. These are milling machines and machining centers built under the name Trio. There are cases where, due to the less complicated structure and dimensions of finished products, it is not necessary to use full 3D machining in five axes. This is the case, for example, in the production of models in the process of preparing the production of various products in the sanitary ceramics industry. The Trio VT has a spatial structure with a bridge moving at the top of the machine - between the beams based on columns. Machines of this series are fully enclosed, thanks to which they ensure that the processing area is cut off from the environment, which has a great impact on maintaining cleanliness and health and safety conditions in the workplace. Depending on the type of material being processed and the applied method of cooling the processing site, the produced chips and dust remain inside the cabin and are removed after the work is finished from the containers located under the beam work table or transported on an ongoing basis to external tanks using scraper conveyors (optional).
Innovation and technology at the highest level
FANUM CNC machines are designed and built on the basis of the latest CAD / CAM methods and systems, as well as FEM load simulation systems. Keeping up with the current trends in the machine tool industry and in line with the Industry 4.0 concept, FANUM adapts its activities and constructed machines to the increasing requirements of its customers. For this purpose, continuous investments and appropriate modernization of production equipment as well as equipment and methods of conducting service activities are carried out. To do this, advanced tools and instruments were purchased for the initial setup and calibration of the machine tools.
To facilitate, if necessary, diagnosis and possible correction of parameters of working heads, two years ago FANUM developed and implemented an auto-calibration system for five-axis machines. This function allows the user of the machine to check and automatically correct geometric parameters in the setting of the working head in a very short time. This implementation was appreciated and awarded with the Gold Medal at one of the exhibitions of the Poznań International Fair.
All FANUM machines are compatible with the internet for remote diagnosis of the current state of the automation system. This helps the manufacturer's technicians to immediately assist the user in removing the cause of the fault. In the event that a visit to the user's site is indispensable, FANUM technicians, thanks to the teleservice, are able to quickly determine the needs for e.g. replacement of a specific component and, when leaving for intervention, they can properly prepare spare parts and tools needed to solve the problem.
Reliable in practice
The positive opinion of the users of FANUM machines, gained and established during the several years of this company's activity on the market, is based on the principles of close cooperation with customers adopted from the very beginning. All machine tools are built after a thorough analysis of the technical and performance requirements set for FANUM during the first contacts with a potential customer. The high-quality, fast and effective services of the FANUM service department are a complement to the production activities and at the same time being a normal element of a well-functioning company. High flexibility and experience of FANUM staff gained during many years of work in another company, run in parallel and also owned by Skorupski-Wójcik (which is the owner of FANUM), results in an increasing reference list of customers and their satisfaction with the results of the work of this brand's machines.
