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MAKINO A61 IDEAL FOR ORTHOPEDIC IMPLANT MANUFACTURING
Makino a61 Ideal for Orthopedic Implant Manufacturing
Horizontal machining centers have proven speed and accuracy in stainless steel, cobalt chrome
MASON, OH-September
2008- All manufacturers strive for precision, but the word takes on new
meaning for manufactured components of implantable medical devices. The
slightest machining error or deviation from the design can have severe
impacts, especially since errors in manufacturing medical components
may not become evident until the device fails in-vivo. This can result
in costly revision surgery or in the worst cases, public scrutiny and
even litigation.
That’s why many manufacturers are relying on the Makino a61 horizontal machining center for orthopedic implant manufacturing.
Field Proven
For McMurray,
Pennsylvania based FPD, a knee-implant made of cobalt
chromium-molybdenum alloy required time-consuming and expensive hand
finishing. The part was especially challenging due to tight tolerances,
sweeping geometries and a very fine surface finish. Previous
manufacturers of the part utilized grinding to complete the part, but
often struggled with the complex features. FPD felt the parts had to be
milled to be consistent.
After purchasing an
a61, FPD was able to eliminate finishing the part by hand, thanks to
the machine’s ability to easily machine complex geometries and tight
tolerances. With the a61, FPD was able to meet high production demands
from its customer in this difficult part.
Another example is
Huntsville, Alabama’s Brown Precision. Brown was an aerospace, 5-axis
part producer, but wanted to apply their skill to the medical industry,
where they knew a 5-axis with accuracy in harder materials, such as 316
forged stainless steel, would be needed. To achieve these goals, Brown
Precision decided to purchase a Makino a61.
Since installing the
a61, parts like the forged stainless steel bone plate, which once took
several setups to complete, can now be finished in single setup. With
the a61, Brown Precision saw a 40 percent decrease in cycle time for
the part. The company now owns several a61s, an a51, and many other
Makino machines for medical device and instrument manufacturing.
a61 Features and Benefits
The a61 has a work zone
size of 32 x 36 inches, and a pallet size of 19.7 inches. The rapid
traverse and the feedrate of the a61 are 1970 ipm (60 m/min.). A host
of tool monitoring capabilities, all equipped as standard features,
allows users to achieve extended machining hours with no labor costs.
The a61 comes with a
40-taper, 14,000-rpm spindle standard, that has exceptional
acceleration characteristics, minimal vibration and a high-powered
spindle option. It also has a ring-type 40-tool magazine standard, with
larger magazines from 60 to 313 tools optional.
Makino’s proprietary,
next generation Geometric Intelligence (GI) servo control with Radical
Mode is a standard feature on all 1-Series machines. GI with Radical
Mode helps provide the lowest cycle times achievable while maintaining
superior accuracy and meeting the customer’s Cpk requirements.
The a61 has an
automatic pallet changer with safety guards and two pallets, for a fast
pallet change time of 7 seconds. And, it offers a tool-to-tool change
time of 0.9 seconds with a chip-to-chip time of 2.5 seconds.
Other features include
a chip conveyor and filtration system, through spindle coolant (300
psi), a standard three-point support system, an ergonomic swing,
operator control panel, a safety-designed four-layer protective
operator door window and an overhead shower coolant.
Makino is a global
provider of advanced machining technology and application support,
where new thinking takes shape for the metalcutting and die/mold
industries. Makino manufacturing and service centers are located in the
United States, Japan, Germany, Singapore, Italy, France, Korea, Taiwan,
Turkey, China, Mexico, Brazil and India, and are supported by a
worldwide distributor network. For more information call
1.800.552.3288, or visit www.makino.com.
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Contact
Brandon
Rhoten
HSR
Business to Business
513.346.3588
makino@hsr.com
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