Hainbuch has developed a jaw module that it says is small and flexible and can be quickly changed. It covers a large clamping range. Mandrels and clamping heads can be used in the basic unit.
The Hainbuch system consists of a chuck and a jaw module, and has nothing in common with the large, heavy, energy sapping big jaws that can be found in many machine shops, where their size is more of an obstacle than an advantage. These heavy chucks put load on the machine spindle and are slow to accelerate and decelerate, losing time and using energy. This takes longer for the part to be produced and hence makes it more expensive and also wears the machine bearings out more quickly. This is squandering of energy and piece rate time in its purest form. Hainbuch says these are costs that today no one can afford or want to pay. Let’s assume that someone purchases a lathe/milling machine with spindle taper DIN A2-6 65mm bar capacity, here the workpiece range is usually diameter of 10 to 200 mm. To cover that range, a machine with a 215 jaw chuck is purchased. However 80 per cent of the components are in a clamping range of 100mm and smaller. And here the dilemma arises that in practice you have to cope with daily: large clamping device and a small workpiece. It is difficult to get all of the tools in place, often the tools will not reach centre line and often special tools are required with longer reach, increasing vibration and losing accuracy. Also there is a high risk of collision.
Hainbuch’s modular solutions use a simple formula: small workpiece = small clamping solution. Using the new small jaw module, about 80 per cent of usual components are covered, and for larger components it can be easily changed over to a large jaw module within 30 seconds. The basic unit is a Spanntop chuck or Toplus chuck. Advantages include a simple modular system for fast clamping to a clamping range of 200 mm; availability in two sizes (144, with clamping range from 25–115 mm and 215, with clamping range from 25–200 mm); minimal interference contour; proven technology; optimal utilization of the jaws; flexible, fast and repeatable set-up on clamping head or mandrel clamping; rigid workpiece clamping through the use of clamping head or mandrel; full bar size passage when using the clamping head; suitability for sensitive clamp- ing and delicate components; option to be used as a pick-up chuck on sub spindles; ease of maintenance; resistance to contamination, thanks to a guideway seal, and suitability for stationary use.
