Keywords
Citation
(2000), "Ensuring passenger comfort", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 72 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2000.12772fab.005
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2000, MCB UP Limited
Ensuring passenger comfort
Ensuring passenger comfort
Keywords: Chiron, Virgin, Vertical machining
We understand that a Chiron FZ12W Magnum vertical machining centre supplied by Chiron Werke UK is helping Richard Branson to maintain his high levels of airline customer comfort by machining components for the new range of tables fitted to the Upper Class seats of the Virgin fleet.
Installed at precision aerospace sub-contractor, Ceewrite Engineering of Portland, Dorset, UK, the Chiron Magnum is being used for the volume production of several parts in aluminium, some of which are quite complex.
The investment in the Magnum for this high-profile application was justified on a number of counts, according to Ceewrite director and general manager, Paul Shepherd.
"In winning this contract we recognised that we had to 'step up a league' and install a machine that could not only cope with the high volumes required but at the same time offer the necessary high levels of accuracy and speed. The Chiron FZ12W Magnum satisfied all our requirements".
The Chiron Magnum has X, Y and Z axis travels of 550mm by 300mm by 425mm, and 190 mm to 615mm between spindle taper and table.
It is capable of milling at 250cm3/min, drilling 36mm diameter and M24 tapping, and boasts spindle speeds up to 20,000 revs/min as standard from a 45kW motor. Tool change time is stated to be 0.9 sec with chip-to-chip achieved within 2.4 sec.
Having witnessed the machine's capabilities during the Chiron 98 Customer Study Tour of the German manufacturer's Tuttlingen site, Paul Shepherd and his team then selected the Magnum from a shortlist of four other machines.
Ceewrite's choice of the FZ12W version with workpiece changer, as opposed to fixed table – is also playing a key role in the company's volume throughput demands, as Paul Shepherd confirms. "The indexing table enables us to load and unload during a machining cycle, which of course makes a tremendous difference to downtime. The key has been maximising cutting time".
Details available from Chiron Wetke UK Ltd. Tel: 01926 818418; E-mail: cfrancioni@chironuk.co.uk; Web site: www.chironuk. co.uk