Midaco’s retrofittable Automatic Flexible Pallet System adapts to 5-axis vertical machining centers, while the company’s M-RPC Manual Rotary Pallet System works on lathes as well as fourth and fifth-axis rotary milling tables.
For shops in the medical, energy, transportation, aerospace, and food industries, among others, looking to stimulate production efficiency, Midaco Corp. offers its fully automated rotary pallet system that adapts to smaller horizontal machining centers and four- or five-axis mills. The systems make for quick unattended exchanges of fixtures at the machine, and provide a retrofittable “pallet pool” capability for the just-in-time need of frequent job/part changeovers.
Midaco’s Automatic Flexible Pallet System adapts to most new and existing 5-axis vertical machining centers, including those with a built-in trunnion-type table. The standard system comes with four pallet stations, one rotating pallet set up station, a linear guided pallet-delivery system, touch screen system controller and 4-in. to 20-in.-diameter cast iron or aluminum pallets. The pallet receiver uses a patented mechanical clamping system and does not require air lines, power or hydraulics cables that can tangle or get in the way.
Shops can expand the system in 2-pallet increments, and additional machines can be integrated into the system at any time. Also, pallet interchangeability offers significant productivity advantages, while the system offers accuracies of +/- 0.0001 in. and 21,060 lb of pallet clamping force.
In addition to its automatic pallet systems, Midaco offers its M-RPC manual rotary pallet system for lathes, as well as fourth and fifth-axis rotary milling table. These pallets are available in three sizes — 8.5 in., 10 in. and 12 in. in diameter. A common receiver allows all three pallets to be quickly exchanged in seconds.
Like the automatic system, the M-RPC uses mechanical clamping that does not require any air or hydraulic or power lines, making it ideal for rotary or index table use. A clamp/unclamp handle, maximized for safety, cannot be removed unless the pallet is in the locked position.
Clamping force is rated at 6,500 lb, repeatability accuracy at +/- 0.0001 in. and overall height with pallet in clamped position measures 3.31 in. Low-cost additional pallets allow dedicated fixtures for repeat jobs to virtually eliminate set up time, and pallets easily interchange between machines for increased flexibility.
