Correctly balanced wheels result in superior surface finish and geometry – which is why all good grinders know the enemy of grinding is vibration. When a wheel is out of balance, the vibration is felt throughout the spindle assembly of the machine. In severe cases, wheel imbalance can be felt throughout the entire machine. This can lead to excessive wheel wear, inaccurate tools, and poor surface finish on the tool. If your grinding wheel is causing vibrations, there is no point in having a rigid grinding machine.
Keeping these pain points and challenges in mind, we looked to solve the problem by designing and developing a cost-effective balancing system. When balancing a rotating object there are only three options: add weight, shift weight, or remove weight. These fundamentals also apply to a grinding wheel and iBalance provides these choices to the operator.
iBalance is a unique ANCA software product which proactively alerts users to potential wheel vibrations and uses the technology already built into our range of machines. It has been designed to determine whether a wheel is out of balance, and then prompt and guide the operator through a series of steps to bring the wheel pack into balance.
iBalance can detect and measure the amount of vibration, and the direction of imbalance of the grinding wheel pack. To help our customers achieve superior surface finishes on their tools, the specially designed software uses sensors in the machine servo drives to detect wheel imbalance. Variations in electrical current from the motors are monitored and this data is used to determine and show the operator exactly where balancing weights need to be added to the spindle – like a tyre balancer, but on the machine.
The software user interface easily identifies where to add weight to the wheel and how much is required to correct any issues. The wheel packs are balanced by adding weights to the end of the wheel nut at the locations identified by the software assistant. iBalance is a beneficial option which increases productivity and is available for all ANCA grinding machines.
Several additional benefits include extending the wheel life and removing the need to purchase an expensive offline piece of balancing equipment. As there is no additional hardware to maintain, the iBalance system is as reliable as the machine itself. At ANCA, we understand the effects of an imbalanced wheel when grinding tools and our solution ensures that operators can achieve the right balance. Producing perfect tools on ANCA grinding machines using iBalance means you no longer need to conduct a balancing act.
This content was originally published on the ANCA website.
