Machine control: 200,000th NC control shipped, tool show

Schaumburg, IL--After 30 years in business, Heidenhain Corp. is celebrating the shipment of its 200,000th NC control.

By Control Engineering Staff August 3, 2007

Schaumburg, IL —After 30 years in business, Heidenhain Corp. is celebrating the shipment of its 200,000th NC control. The company reports that with more than 30,000 units, the current iTNC 530 has succeeded TNC 426 as the most successful of more than 50 models, with 10,000 expected to ship out from Traunreut, Germany, this year.

Features include plain-language, conversational programming and the smart.NC operating mode provides fillable forms, interactive graphics and additional user aids. The Heidenhain controls are suitable for machining centers and complex milling machines for 5-axis machining. iTNC 530 is implemented for short machining times, high contour accuracy, short block processing times and optimal path control. TNC 320 is used in machines with up to four controlled axes. The TNC 124 is a straight-cut control for simple machine tools.

The company will be among many displaying tools at the EMO Show, the world of machine tools (Sept. 17-22, Hannover, Germany). Heidenhain will be in Hall 25, Booth E18. Demonstration units and presentations will illustrate the difference between machining on machine tools equipped with linear encoders, which enable higher positioning precision and higher production efficiency. The company announces that it will connect control components using the purely digital real-time Ethernet bus HSC and that encoders will be connected with the EnDat 2.2 fully digital interface to make the system noise-proof, diagnosable, and, according to the company, more available. Two new controls will feature the interfaces — the TNC 620 in the mid-range processing power segment and the iTNC 530 control to address high-end applications. Manual plus 620 is the new control for lathes. The TS 740 is a high-accuracy infrared touch probe for demanding 3D measuring tasks on machine tools or on measuring machines, and the TS 444 is a battery-free infrared touch probe system.

—Edited by Barb Axelson , contributing editor
Control Engineering Weekly News
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