We’ve upgraded many sub-systems on the HYBRID to meet our customer expectations of what a modern machine should be. For instance, the first thing people notice when they walk up to the HYBRID is that they can actually hear and see what is going on inside. Several changes to the drivetrain, increased gear quality, and enclosure modifications have reduced machine decibel level. It’s roughly the equivalent of going from standing next to a lawnmower, to eating inside a casual restaurant. To aid visibility, we replaced the single tube light with 4 banks of powerful LED’s, providing twice the illumination, and directed in a way that eliminates shadows in the work zone. Coolant levels and pressures are all monitored digitally, and all lube tanks, air filters, and fire suppression triggers have been relocated on a central “PM” panel near the operator.
This article will delve into some of the more specific machine upgrades we’ve implemented on the new Davenport HYBRID machine, on shave tools, chips, conveyors, and casting.
Shave Tools
“Do we have too many skilled set-up people?” This is a question you probably never hear at your shop. It’s a fact of life in this industry: highly-skilled set-up people are in short supply, and their time is too valuable to waste.
Shave Tools represent one of the most difficult tools to master. We estimate 30% or more of set-up skills and set-up time is dedicated to properly adjusting shave tools. Not having to put a shave tool in the machine just makes your set-ups easier and faster. It also makes your set-ups and your machines more productive in the long run. Opening the “shave” position allows the HYBRID to manufacture what may have been traditionally considered 6-spindle parts on a 5-spindle machine.
Chips
With the new HYBRID, our Davenport team put a lot of effort into improving the chip evacuation. Many of the newer alloys can be stringy, making it difficult to break the chip. To combat this problem, we eliminated the center drive and the tool post stops. Now you essentially have a digital version of the tool post stop in the offset page. This allows the chips to drop through the machine unimpeded.
Conveyor
The HYBRID boasts a 22” wide chip conveyor belt built into the base pan. The conveyor and pan have been designed as a 360° wash-down system. As chips fall onto the sloped pan surfaces, everything is washed down into the chip load zone of the conveyer by the oil. You’ll get more chips out of your machine without manual intervention, and those chips will be drier. This way, you don’t have to spin all that oil back out, and keep replenishing your sump.
Base
Speaking of the sump, the entire HYBRID machine base has been redesigned from the ground up. It has roughly three times the oil capacity of previous platforms, to help maintain thermal stability over long running jobs. The massive steel tubular bracing provides a super stable, vibration-dampening platform for the machine bed. The conveyor load area is capable of flowing 50 gallons of oil per minute, so you can run both low- and high-pressure coolant pumps flat out, and be assured you will not swamp the machine. The machine base is equipped with two huge cartridge-style pickups at the bottom of the sump, to make sure your tools never run dry.
Even with all this extra capability, the HYBRID base and enclosure has a similar footprint to our HP or Model-B platforms, and it takes up less than half the floor-space of most competitive multi-spindle machines.
Casting
We’ve strategically reinforced several areas of the main casting, allowing us to hold tighter tolerances. We’ve added significant amounts of material, in particular, around the 1st position slide. From a layout perspective, you’d like to do the most aggressive machining in the 1st-position. But on previous platforms, the cam bank mechanics really hindered our ability to provide a rock-solid casting in that area. On the HYBRID, however, the side cam bank is gone, and it’s allowed us to gusset the entire 1st position slide mount. Additionally, we’ve been able to eliminate the 2nd position linkage bar. The result is that the 1st position slide is now mounted on one of the heaviest parts of the casting, and can take tremendous cuts without vibration.
All these improvements make the new Davenport Hybrid an excellent value when compared to much larger and more expensive machines with similar capabilities.
Hybrid Design Machine Features Infographic
Next, check out Part 5 of the Hybrid Blog series, which covers “New Technologies & Targeted Parts.”