Flexibility for crank finishing. (WIP).

As a supplier of crankshafts to John Deere, Detroit Diesel, and Caterpillar, Krupp Gerlach (Danville, IL) is microfinishing its parts with a new machine From IMPCO Machine Tools (Lansing, MI), the Worldflex. It is using it to achieve circular geometry and surface finish on all main and pin journals at a rate of as many as 20 cranks per hour [depending on size).

In operation, parts (it can also handle camshafts) are located between a headstock and tailstock mounted on a servo-driven ballscrew slide that can position the part anywhere along the travel axis so as to present the bearing journals to the microfinishing tooling. The tooling is mounted on arms that are attached to slides, as well. This results in an ability to accommodate part size variations more quickly than is possible with microfinishing machines with fixed-position tooling. The amount of microfinishing performed is predicated on the amount of tooling applied to the workpieces.

To learn more about this process, write in 125 on the Reader Service Card.