Wire EDM Series Features Design, Engineering Improvements

Available from MC Machinery Systems, Mitsibushi EDM’s MV series EDM line features design and engineering improvements, including non-contact cylindrical drive technology, an improved power supply, auto-threading, deeper submerged-wire threading capabilities and more.

The cylindrical drive technology is said to offer a simple, yet intelligent design concept using a linear shaft motor. Common EDMs built on a linear system feature a flat-plate design, which is said to limit the effective magnetic flux. The company’s round, magnetic shaft creates a non-contact design using the full 360 degrees of magnetic flux to prevent wear, cogging and backlash and improve energy-efficiency, accuracy and speed.

The EDM is built on a one-piece, T-shaped base casting. The X- and Y-axis ways and drives are directly mounted to provide a rigid and thermally stable platform, and drive the table and column independently. According to the company, this style of direct-axis mounting avoids squareness and accuracy problems common to stacked-table designs and provides higher rigidity and smoother motion.

The machines’ new servo-control system uses a fiber-optic drive system with increased communication speed for improved reaction time and accuracy. The Digital Matrix Sensor and V350 type-V generator specifically shapes the pulse to minimize electrode wear and decrease wire vibration. According to the company, this reduces wire consumption and maintains cutting quality and straightness.

The machine uses a redesigned auto-threader with upper rollers that travel with the Z-axis to create a constant distance to the upper guide. According to the company, this allows for nearly 14 inches of annealed wire length, thereby reducing wire curl ratio, improving threading reliability on tall parts, and enabling submerged rethreading through the gap in the event of a break.

The machine’s new head design features a flat-plate power feeder with a lever lock system to ease indexing during operation. This saves time by eliminating the need to open doors to rotate the carbides or realign wire, the company says.

Other design improvements that are said to reduce overall operating costs include less-expensive power fed design, larger wire drive rollers with more usable surface, reduced electrode wear for lower cost, optical drive plus LSM for reduced electrical consumption, and a “sleep mode” function that turns pumps off at night and restarts them in the morning to simultaneously save energy and prepare the machine for operation.