Less than one thousandth of a millimetre

Kyoei Engineering K.K. is famous for its expertise in manufacturing high quality moulding tools, prototypes and precision components.

Its customers are mainly from:

• The optical industry (with its nano-machining of moulding tools and parts for light plates and lenses).
• The aerospace industry (with its milling of “difficult” materials such as titanium and Inconel).
• The automotive industry.

The end customers’ extremely high demands in respect of precision have led to Kyoei Engineering having a long collaboration with System 3R. To guarantee Kyoei Engineering’s capacity to produce the required precision, a wide spectrum of pallet systems (Macro, MacroMagnum, Delphin and GPS240) with and without vibration damping have been supplied.

One example of Kyoei Engineering’s operations is the manufacture of moulding tools for Fresnel lenses. This is certainly not run-of-the-mill production. A Fresnel lens has “saw-tooth” microgrooves that refract the light in, for example, solar energy collectors.

MatrixNano – groundbreaking precision
The insert for the moulding tool for solar energy collectors is machined in a Toshiba machining centre that can switch between turning and milling. Turning uses a diamond and milling uses a small, ball nose, cemented carbide cutter.

Switching between milling and turning is not entirely straightforward when, between operations, the workpiece must also be checked in a measuring machine. This is especially the case when it is a question of nano-machining. We are here talking about precision to less than one thousandth of a millimetre!

Having to set-up the workpiece a number of times cannot be avoided and manual alignment is practically impossible. The time required for such a procedure would be crushing for productivity. This is where System 3R’s new MatrixNano pallet system has a decisive impact on the precision and profitability of work. Nonetheless, the mounting of the workpiece it is not the only consideration. To avoid a so-called “centre artefact” that would result in the workpiece having to be scrapped, the diamond cutter must be exactly positioned in the turning operation’s X and Y axes.

Toshiba machine is broadly as follows:

• The diamond cutter is mounted in the machine (which is in turning mode).
• A test piece is mounted on a pallet and, for the purpose of “test turning”, set-up in the chuck on the machine table.
• To ensure that the “centre artefact” phenomenon has not occurred, the test piece is measured in the measuring machine.
• The insert (on its pallet) is mounted in the chuck on the machine table and the turning phase of Fresnel lens manufacture is carried out.
• The machine is reset from turning to milling and the turning cutter is replaced with a ball nose milling cutter.
• A test piece (on its pallet) is set up in the table chuck. Test milling.
• Measuring and any adjustment.
• The turned insert (on its pallet) is mounted and milling concludes the machining of the lens array.

The future...
Kyoei Engineering states that System 3R’s MatrixNano has met, if not exceeded, all its high expectations – precision engineering and economic alike. These can be summarised as: rapid and exact set-ups in the machine; rapid and precise changes between the machining and measuring processes; massive time savings with the palletisation of workpieces; and, markedly increased productivity.

Results have been so good that the company is now planning to implement MatrixNano in more of its production processes. This upgrading will increase the company’s market competitiveness. Or, not to put too fine a point on it, will allow Kyoei to focus on the machining operations that it alone is able to carry out.