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Haas Expands Horizontal Line

Haas Automationís new generation of horizontal machining centers - the EC Series - is designed to meet the needs of todayís customers right out of the box - without requiring them to invest in a lot of expensive options. The performance is built into the machine.

The latest addition to the Haas EC Series is the EC-500. It features a 32" x 20" x 28" work cube, a dual pallet changer with 500 mm pallets and a built-in, high-precision pallet indexer. The machine comes standard with an 8,000-rpm, 40-taper spindle powered by a 20-hp vector dual drive system. Also standard are a 40-pocket side-mount tool changer, 1000-ipm rapids, a floppy disk drive, 1 MB of program memory and a high-volume coolant system. To eliminate downtime associated with manual chip removal, the EC-500 is equipped with a triple-auger chip conveyor system that removes chips from the enclosure quickly and efficiently. A belt-style chip conveyor is also available.

For added performance, a 12,000-rpm spindle powered by a 30-hp vector dual drive system is available as an option. This spindle provides additional horsepower for heavy cuts, as well as 50% more speed for high-speed machining operations. Both spindles feature a unique inline, direct-drive system that couples the motor directly to the spindle rather than using belts. This results in better surface finishes, extreme thermal stability and quiet operation. On-the-fly wye-delta switching provides plenty of low-end torque and a wide constant-horsepower band, without having to stop the spindle to change windings.

The EC-500 comes standard with a high-precision, face-gear pallet indexer that provides 1-degree indexing. The machineís enclosure allows a maximum part swing of 29.5" on the indexer, with a maximum swing of 71" for the pallet changer. A full 4th-axis is also available.

The servo-driven pallet changer on the EC-500 swaps pallets in just 9 seconds, and each 500 mm pallet has a load capacity of 1,000 lb (660 lb with full 4th axis). A separate load station allows the operator to safely load/unload parts or change fixtures on one pallet while parts are being machined on the other, keeping spindle run time at a maximum.

The standard 40-pocket side-mount tool changer on the EC-500 features a quick-change double-arm gripper that swaps tools in just 1.6 seconds. For added tool capacity, a 70-pocket side-mount tool changer is available.