Haas says the addition of a fully integrated, six-station pallet pool to its EC-400 HMC provides lights-out machining capability to small- and medium-sized manufacturers and production shops. Designed for high-volume production and unattended operation, the EC-400PP features a 20" × 20" × 20" work cube, 400-mm pallets and a high-precision, 1-degree pallet indexer.

Other features include a 70-pocket, side-mount toolchanger; a rapid traverse rate of 1,000 ipm; 300-psi through-spindle coolant; 1 MB of program memory; a USB port; a remote jog handle; and a high-volume coolant system. In addition, the machine includes an auger-fed, belt-type chip conveyor system for chip removal.

Each pallet has a load capacity of 1,000 lbs, or 660 lbs with a full fourth axis. The pallets can be scheduled individually according to priority and sequencing requirements. According to the company, this can allow high-priority parts to be machined first and/or staged more often. Completed pallets can be returned to the holding location or sequenced to a protected operator station for immediate unloading and reloading.

For added performance, the machine is available with an optional 12,000-rpm spindle powered by a 30-hp vector dual-drive system. To couple the motor to the spindle, it uses an inline, direct-drive system to provide quality surface finishes, thermal stability and quiet operation, the company says. In addition, on-the-fly, wye-delta switching provides low-end torque and a wide constant-horsepower band. Other options include a 1,000-psi through-spindle coolant system and a full fourth-axis rotary table for shops requiring simultaneous four-axis motion.