Based on the successful ASR1000 and ASR1100 direct drive rotary stages, the new ASR1200 takes the concept of a bolt-on solution for high-throughput precision machining of small diameter tubular components to new heights with the introduction of a fluid delivery system to further improve manufacturing quality.
The ASR1200 has been designed to fit directly on to the customers machine bed and has a pneumatically operated collet chuck with a clear aperture for product feed-through. Thanks to its direct drive brushless servomotor technology, the new unit has a maximum speed of 2000 rpm combined with a positioning resolution as fine as 0.63 arc sec when coupled with Aerotech's MXH series multipliers. This combination of high spindle speed and fine positioning resolution make the stage an ideal replacement for complicated multi axis positioning systems currently being used for medical stent manufacture and other complex, small diameter tubular components such as miniature waveguides, automotive fuel injectors, ink jet nozzles and many other high volume/high precision applications where low cost of ownership is of prime consideration.
The precision and quality required for medical stent production necessitates high integrity positioning and control systems and in order to meet and exceed such demands, the ASR1200 has been designed with the addition of a cutting fluid delivery system and a seal assembly to support wet cutting processes which are finding more frequent use with high powered laser machining techniques to help improve quality, enhance precision and increase production throughput.
The rear of the unit has a quick release fitting for cutting fluid feed input with an NPT pipe thread that allows the user to customise the length of a "water jacket" to suit the length of the machined tube material. Inside the unit, an O-ring assembly seals the tubing against the inner diameter of the rotating shaft. The seal assembly rotates with the tubing and eliminates troublesome torsion-induced errors that are present when working with exotic thin walled materials such as titanium, 316 stainless steel or extremely flexible materials such as Nitonol.
The ASR 1200's integral pneumatic chuck uses a maintenance free, frictionless rotary union and is configured in a fail safe mode where full clamping force is applied when no air pressure is present. Fitted with an industry standard ER16 collet which supports stock with outside diameter between 0.5 mm and 10 mm, it includes a clear aperture for automated product feed-through and a threaded retaining cap, enabling quick changeover to different tube or bar diameters. The combination of a low friction/low inertia shaft assembly and Aerotechs direct drive brushless servo motor provides high stiffness and peak acceleration performance to 35000 rad/s2 with a maximum speed of up to 2000 rpm. The integral 2048 cycles/rev encoder (optional 512 cycles/rev) provides position feedback resolution as low as 0.63 arc sec. Angular repeatability is +/- 3 arc sec and a calibrated angular accuracy is +/- 15 arc sec. Axial and radial runout specifications are 2.5 µm and 5.0 µm respectively.
The stainless steel, collet chuck is finished in Teflon® impregnated nickel plate and the stage body is aluminium with electroless nickel plating. The compact design has a footprint of approximately 115 mm width and 255 mm in length with an overall height of just 95mm. The integral design of the ASR1200 includes all mechanical, pneumatic and electrical interfacing and is an effective "bolt-on" solution for laser and other micro-machining applications.
Typical stent dimensions are 2mm diameter and 15mm length, with wall thickness of only 30 µm to 600 µm. The machined structure of a stent includes a complicated geometry of precision spiral and helical patterns allowing it to be collapsed to a much smaller diameter and placed over a balloon which is inserted into a damaged artery in a medical procedure called angioplasty which is used to re-open a narrowed heart artery by inflating a tiny balloon in the reduced and damaged segments. The earlier ASR series units have had considerable success in increasing production throughput over gear and belt driven mechanisms for such manufacturing processes with the added benefit of improved, more consistent quality and significantly reduced scrap rates. The new ASR1200 will further improve these successes and will enable an even lower cost of ownership for stent manufacturers and other demanding tube manipulation applications.
Aerotech continue to be at the forefront of manufacturing low cost of ownership solutions by combining high performance mechanical positioning systems and advanced motion control, drive and automation solutions. Complete engineered systems offer advantages such as specially adapted motion and hardware based machine control commands to coordinate laser operation and positioning to ensure that accuracy and quality are consistently achieved. Aerotechs engineered systems capability matches both the application requirements and available budget. Typical solutions always include motor and encoder feedback cables, all performance and calibration related documents and a CD with assembly and interconnection drawings included along with motor parameter set-up data for the software configuration file to suit the control and drive selected. In addition, Aerotech provide complete technical support and product training ensuring that system commissioning is straightforward, requiring little more than connecting cables and applying power before programming application software. All these factors combine to offer their customers a significant, low cost of ownership, application solution.
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