K3X 8 Five:
Very high performance 5-axis machining centres

As the table on this new generation "8 Five" is inclined in a 55° plane (instead of 45°), negative machining angles of up to -20° can be reached. Consequently, the angle of the spindle axis in relation to the table ranges from 0 to 110° compared with 90° for the previous generation.

This range of very high performance machines is suited to roughing and finishing work in five simultaneous axes and on five faces and meets all the technical and economic challenges facing engineering companies in the Aeronautics, Automotive, Medical and Energy sectors with regard to reducing process times and cutting manufacturing costs. Performance levels in roughing, finishing and precision work enable thetoughest productivity targets to be met in terms of machining complex parts, such as injection moulds, aeronautical components or parts used in precision mechanics.

K3X 8 Five: Very high performance 5-axis machining centres.

The architecture of the K3X 8 Five high-speed 5-axis milling centre consists of a fixed gantry and bed and a 500 mm diameter table that rotates (C-axis, 360°) and tilts (A-axis, -30°/+180°) and can take up to 250 kg. It is therefore capable of machining in five continuous axes on five faces.

The combination of dynamics and precision on this machine results in the production of very high quality surface finishes.

With its standard spindle reaching a speed of 24,000 rpm with a torque of 40 Nm for 25 kW, it has a high maximum chip-forming capacity.

This milling centre also offers the advantage of great accessibility with good visibility of the work area. Heavy workpieces can easily be lowered from above the machine thanks to the generous openings in the enclosure.

For further information, e-mail: mlabeauvie@huron.fr

Gleason Titan® 1200H hobbing machine

The Gleason Titan® 1200H Hobbing Machine sets new standards for gear hobbing with respect to productivity, ease of operation and overall performance.

The Titan 1200H Hibbing Machine has been designed for optimum chip disposal during dry and wet cutting, and ergonomically optimized accessibility. Its composite steel machine bed provides maximum damping characteristics, which in conjunction with the new patent-pending guiding principle, presents a quantum leap forward in overall system stiffness. New operator interface and software is based on a Siemens 840D SolutionLine control system for maximum ease of use. Titan 1200H also provides energy efficiency advantages, thanks to the latest drive and motor technology and software capabilities to closely monitor and manage power consumption.

Gleason - The Total Gear Solutions Provider - in profile
Gleason Corporation´s mission is to be The Total Gear Solutions ProviderTM to its global customer base. Gleason is a world leader in the development, manufacture and sale of gear production machinery and related equipment. The Company´s products are used by customers in automotive, truck, aircraft, agriculture, mining, windpower, construction, power tool and marine industries and by a diverse set of customers serving various industrial equipment markets. Gleason has manufacturing operations in Rochester, New York; Rockford, Illinois; Dayton, Ohio; Munich and Ludwigsburg, Germany; Studen, Switzerland; Bangalore; India, and Suzhou, China and has sales and service offices throughout North and South America, Europe and in the Asia-Pacific region.

For further, view website: http://www.gleason.com or e-mail: afinegan@gleason.com

Tata Steel unveils upgraded
rail manufacturing plant in France

Tata Steel has officially opened its upgraded rail production facility in north-east France after a €35 million investment.

The investment in a range of new manufacturing equipment and expansion of the plant in Hayange, in the Lorraine region, means it can now produce longer 108-metre rails for the high-speed networks in France as well as other European railways. Previously, the plant could produce rails up to 80 metres long.

Henrik Adam, Tata Steel´s Chief Commercial Officer, said: "The project to upgrade the Hayange rail mill demonstrates Tata Steel´s commitment to being the European leader in the rail sector. Our two state-of-the-art rail production facilities in the UK and France now have world-class manufacturing capability and we will continue to support our customers by offering innovative products and services in growth markets."

The investment - the largest and most significant at Hayange for more than a decade - has boosted production capacity from 300,000 to 340,000 tonnes per year and has improved yield and quality at the facility. The investment has also secured employment at the plant.

Gérard Glas, Tata Steel´s Rail Sector Lead, said: "There has been a growth in demand in recent years for new high-speed rail lines in Europe. Our customers who are building these lines want to reduce their maintenance costs and give passengers a smoother ride. Using 108-metre long rails helps them to achieve this."

Earlier this month, Tata Steel announced it had secured a major order to supply railway lines for a new high-speed track between the French cities of Tours and Bordeaux. The order from construction consortium COSEA is for 84,000 tonnes of high quality rail for the 302km long (188 miles) South-Europe-Atlantique line. Gérard Glas said the contract was "an endorsement of our company strategy to invest in premium steel products".

In December 2009, French railway operator SNCF signed a €350 million contract with Tata Steel to buy rail for up to six years.

Paul Hodgson, manager of the Hayange plant, paid tribute to the team working on the expansion project. He said: "Everyone, from design and mechanical engineers to electricians and demolition experts, worked as one team on this project.

"We set ourselves the goal of completing this upgrade in 18 months which we have achieved. In fact, the project was not only on time, it was also on budget. All this took place without disrupting our ongoing manufacturing operations, and we have continued to supply high-quality rail to our existing customers throughout the upgrade."

In 2007, a TGV broke the world train speed record on rail track supplied from Tata Steel´s Hayange plant. The French train reached a speed of 574.8kph (357mph) between Paris and Strasbourg.

Tata Steel Europe in profile
Tata Steel Europe (formerly Corus) is Europe's second largest steel producer. With main steelmaking operations in the UK and the Netherlands, the company supplies steel and related services to the construction, automotive, packaging, material handling and other demanding markets worldwide. It is a subsidiary of Tata Steel, one of the world´s top ten steel producers. The combined Group has an aggregate crude steel capacity of more than 28 million tonnes and approximately 80,000 employees across four continents.

For further information, e-mail: Katharine.Hawkswell@tatasteel.com or view website: www.tatasteelrail.com

iX software-based HMI concept fills the gap between
proprietary HMI terminals and costly SCADA licence solutions

iX is a software-based HMI concept that fills the gap between proprietary HMI terminals and costly SCADA licence solutions. It consists of a development environment and a runtime environment and is available in several versions, including a complete Lauer HMI concept that can run on a panel PC or desktop PC platform as well as a runtime version for PCs from other suppliers. Thanks to support for the Microsoft .Net framework, iX enables a multitude of customer-specific adaptation options. With the ability to integrate externally available .Net controls (DLLs), there are practically no limits to your creative imagination in the generation of user-defined objects.

In combination with Microsoft´s Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) standard, users have unprecedented options for developing user interfaces. The use of vector-based graphics ensures that user interface environments are always rendered precisely, regardless of the scale factor. A large number of predefined graphic objects, such as switches, indicator instruments and technical pictograms, give even novice users rapid access and enable fast results. Additionally, iX supports the well-known Microsoft multifunction bars and thus frees designers and users from the shackles of nested menus. This means that suitable commands can be anchored to the desired locations. iX constitutes an open platform solution and supports the OPC standard. Users have the choice of using protocols from an extensive pool of drivers or a connection via a third-party OPC server. All data is stored in compliance with the SQL standard, which facilitates fast, easy data administration.

iX is a software-based HMI concept that fills the gap between proprietary HMI terminals and costly SCADA licence solutions.

As a special feature, iX is fully script programmable in C#. This allows users to use an object-oriented programming language to modify existing and yet to be defined objects as desired. There are no limits to individualisation. A large number of professional suggestions, and even open-source code examples, are available on the Internet.

For further information, view website: www.beijerelectronics.com  Refer to page 132