facade construction
Innovative Facade Construction in the World
The Swiss company Schmidlin AG Fassadentechnologie is one of the world's leading manufacturers of high-tech facades in aluminum-glass and steel-glass construction.
Schmidlin AG has created prestigious projects by the most important architects such as Renzo Piano, Sir Norman Foster, Murphy Jahn, Jean Nouvel, Richard Meier and Herzog & De Meuron. Well-known projects such as the only 7-star hotel in the world, the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, the City Hall and the Swiss Re Tower in London and the Highlight Towers in Munich were only possible thanks to the complete digitization of the construction and manufacturing process. Each building is a unique work of art in itself, but due to the complicated building shapes, 'every single' facade element is also unique due to the wide variety of dimensions and therefore had to be manufactured individually.
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The challenge
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To meet the requirement of a highly productive manufacturing solution, the machine manufacturer MAKA has supplied three high-performance CNC mobile portal machines with gantry drive from the PA 37 series. MAKA has decades of experience in the use of five-axis technology for the high-speed machining of solid profiles. This technology makes it possible to machine a profile bar from five sides or, using an angle head, all six sides in a single setup.
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All CNC machining centers are equipped with special waste conveyor belts and the highest level of safety standards in the surrounding area. The CNC special machines are characterized by an extremely innovative concept. The practical two-station operation expands the use of the machine considerably, because it allows two different profiles to be machined alternately on the center; while milling is taking place on one side of the machine, the machined part can be removed on the other side and a new profile can be clamped.
What is particularly unusual about this machine concept is the table and clamping solution, which allows Schmidlin to react flexibly and thus highly productively. The 'Schmidlin principle' of the support rollers allows the operator to easily insert and clamp long profiles, thus saving him the difficult task of 'threading' the heavy profiles.
When converting to the different profile dimensions, the support rollers are completely replaced, including the shafts; this allows pre-setting outside the machine. To adjust the width (profile width), the clamping jaw is set manually and in a matter of seconds using a quick-release lever according to the scale. Each clamping device is equipped with a "pre-tension / release / emergency stop" button. This has the advantage that even longer and warped profiles can be inserted and aligned by just one operator.
The basic clamping device is designed with a hydraulic clamp. The installation of the counter profile clamping jaws using a clamp connection means that the jaws can be changed in just a few minutes. With a suitable jaw design, different profiles can be processed while maintaining the same roll diameter. The pneumatically operated longitudinal stop also enables the operator to quickly position the workpiece in the longitudinal direction. The positioning of the clamping bars before loading takes place automatically as specified by the CNC program. After the component has been inserted and the work program has been started, the profile bars are either completely processed or, if necessary, separated into two or more parts, moved apart again and further processed.
Due to these two different requirements, it is necessary that the clamps can be moved completely independently of each other, i.e. during the machining phase, the clamping bars on the profile bar can be moved individually or in pairs with the clamping jaws open to other positions in order to then be in the position suitable for machining.
An application example
A seven-meter-long bar is placed between the clamping jaws. The operator first checks whether the workpiece is resting on the stable side stop. The profile is clamped with pre-pressure by pressing the button. This is repeated on other beams if necessary. After the program starts, the clamping jaws that are still open, as well as those with pre-pressure, are closed with full pressure. The intelligent programming and control concept of the clamping elements makes it possible to divide the bar into several parts by sawing after processing and to carry out further processing by moving the traverses on the front sides of the individual pieces.