Brought up-to-date: USB stick replaces floppy disk on a spring making machine.

Photo: Itaya

Currently customers are either buying modern machines or trying to get more efficient use from existing machinery.

Photo: Filì

Working hard on an interface

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For more than 30 years spring making machines have been equipped with computer control (CNC). In the meantime the functionality and quality of the manufactured parts has significantly improved. More-over the servomotors and micro-computers which are built into the machines have become smaller and more efficient. The significance of these changes is obvious, if you compare the Intel type 8080 processor from 1974 with 6000 transistors with the modern-day Core-2-Duo processor which has over 291,000,000 transistors, within 30 years the capacity of the processor has increased 50,000 fold. By contrast, the memory chips are now 4 million times bigger. In this respect manufacturers like Itaya have a challenging problem: if the old spring making machines are to be brought technologically up to date then the acquisition of the components will be even more difficult.

Certainly, the evolution of the CNC spring making machines is not open to direct comparison. The earlier one or two-axis machines have developed into systems with up to 18 or more axes. It’s just not possible to modernise all the older machines – some features can be retrofitted but others cannot. CNC machines exactly satisfy the demands of spring manufacture. By making simple adjustments to the programme, the spring shape can be modified or allowances for the wire can be made. Manufacturers also demand faster speeds and shorter set-up times and these were, for Itaya, the strongest motivating forces in their further development of the machines. The unstable economy has meant that firms are either buying modern, fully-equipped machines or are trying to use their existing plant more efficiently.
The demand for larger versions of the proven models is an example of the first strategy. At the Düsseldorf Wire exhibition Itaya will, for the first time, be showing a machine which works with wire with a diameter larger than 4mm. This is one way of meeting the demands of the springmaker. The second is a USB drive which can be retro-fitted onto existing technology. If we take a look back: The first CNC spring forming machine from 1977 had only one single axis. The models which were developed between 1990 and 1995 were already equipped with four or more axes. In addition, the digitally controlled servo-motors had got smaller and improvement in the overall specification meant that synchronisation of the axes was possible and, consequently, the production of multi-axis machines. These were equipped with components which were, at the time, state-of-the-art and competitive. Basically, they still are. Therefore, the industry would prefer to use the popular USB stick to save their programs nowadays instead of the old floppy disk. In reality, there are virtually no laptops on the market which are now supplied with a floppy disk drive. Although Itaya does not recommend any further investment in old machines they believe that the industry will be interested in retrofitting the USB interface.

If we compare the old multi-axis machines with their modern sucessors there are obviously technical limits which have to be overcome if they are to adopt new technology, say the Itaya developers. Thus they are currently working on connecting the machines via a network so that they can be monitored side by side with the modern machines. All CNC machines from this manufacturer use the same program commands so, in this respect, the user does not need to adapt. Under the same surface there are many different technologies which have been developed over the years. It is therefore quite a challenge to develop a system to revive the older machines through communication via USB stick. The company is currently working on just such a device. Initially only regarded as a replacement for the floppy disk, it will now enable communication from the old machines to a network. Indeed the setting up of a network like this would involve more work for the company but the advantage would be that the existing multi-axis machines would be able to work on the same level as the modern machines.