New Barfeeds From Hydrafeed at MACH 2014

24 January 2014

AT MACH 2014 Hydrafeed will be raising the bar in technology and quality with the launch of its new MSV80 short magazine barfeed system. Receiving its exhibition debut at MACH 2014 on Stand 5030 in Hall 5, the new MSV80 is a full servo-driven barfeed system that eliminates the need for compressed air and by utilising servo technology is unrivalled for performance and accuracy.

The new MSV80 barfeed will be accompanied by the new MSV65 as well as established and proven technologies such as the MV65 barfeed, the MX1B, the Extract and RotaRack units. The new MSV80 from Hydrafeed incorporates a wealth of technology as standard that can only be found as optional extras with alternate systems. As standard, the MSV80 offers complete servo control on all axes with precision ground servo driven ball screws. These precision ground ball screws utilise the same technology that is incorporated into high-end machine tools, ensuring that Hydrafeed's new system can guarantee a bar positional accuracy of 0.1mm, far beyond anything else available on the market.

The introduction of the MSV80 has a standard bar diameter range of 5 to 80mm with the capacity for bar lengths from 200 to 1550mm with bespoke solutions available to suit the individual customer. Additional standard features on the MSV80 include bar length measurement with the ability to accept random bar lengths, a barfeed or shaft loading system, a push-rod backstop facility and a user friendly HMI screen to display the 100 part program storage system.

The new bar loading mechanism ensures the bars are 'soft' loaded from the storage magazine onto the rollers to provide minimum friction as well as the ability to load irregularly shaped bars or bars with a rough surface finish. This mechanism prolongs the service life of the MSV80 whilst giving the end user greater flexibility in the type of bars that are loaded. Working in conjunction with this, is the bar storage magazine that has a standard depth of 0.6m with a simple gradient adjustment that allows it to be ergonomically fitted to the front or rear of the barfeed.

The new barfeed is operated via the HMI screen that accepts all values and stores production information, so changeover times are literally a case of keying in alternative bar diameters. This intuitive system has been designed with the end user in mind, delivering ease of use and simplifying and reducing the time of the changeover and set-up processes. Further simplifying the set-up process, the MSV80 is fixed to a floor mounted sliding rail. Once the MSV80 has been moved from the home position, the turning centre can be accessed safely, efficiently and quickly thereby further reducing the set-up times for the end user.

The 600mm magazine capacity MSV80 has a height range of between 860 to 1300mm with an overall weight of 550kg, which demonstrates its robust and rigid build quality. The compact overall length of 2180mm with a depth of 1250mm enables the MSV80 to fit into the most compact of machine shop environments to deliver a robust and extremely accurate barfeeding solution that will enable the end users to improve the quality and surface finishes of their components by eliminating vibration and bar movement.

As well as offering a multitude of barfeeding and automation solutions for the turned parts industry, the Milton Keynes manufacturer will be keen to promote its ability to manufacture bespoke barfeed and automation systems to suit the increasingly diverse demands of the marketplace.

As Hydrafeed's Managing Director, Mr Martyn Page comments: "We have worked tirelessly to develop the business over the last couple of years and the fruition of this is now starting to bare with our technical team developing solutions in conjunction with machine tool manufacturers to meet the varied demands of the market. As well as now offering a barfeed for bar up to 102mm diameter, we are creating bespoke units for manufacturers of turned parts way above the 100mm diameter spectrum. We will be looking forward to promoting these services and products at MACH 2014."