Optics Manufacturing
Ultra-precision Single Point Diamond Turning
Ultra Precision Machining (UP, also Single Point Diamond Turning SPDT) is about producing parts with the highest requirements in terms of geometric accuracy and surface quality. Applications are found in optics for cell phone camera lenses, microscopes, lasers, fiber optics, displays, reflectors, etc.
Most UP machines rely on analog amplifiers to achieve the high surface qualities. Already in 2014, Fraunhofer IPT in Aachen, has achieved better results with Triamec's clocked, digital high-end amplifiers, with significantly lower energy consumption and at lower cost. This technology has been improved continuously and drives world-leading UP machines at Innolite and other customers.
Various multi-axis systems with air bearings, hydrostatic bearings, gantries and fast tool servos have been realized. Windows PCs with Beckhoff TwinCAT and the CNC extension from ISG are used as the control system, which enables the very specific production programs to be implemented efficiently. The Triamec Servo Drives are transparently embedded in the TwinCAT system via Tria-Link.
The CNC target data generation rate is currently 5kHz. The set values are interpolated to 10kHz in the TwinCAT system and sent to the servo drives as P,V,A triplets (position, speed and acceleration values, plus others depending on the available data). There they are further interpolated to 100kHz for position control.
Alternatively, with Triamec's proprietary Direct-Feed technology, pre-calculated target data with up to 50 kHz can be distributed synchronously to several axes.
Eyeglass manufacturing
Triamec supplies leading manufacturers of generators for the production of spectacle optics with high-precision servo drive systems. The generators are based on the same functional principle as the UP lathes: While the spindle rotates at 50-200 Hz, the Fast-Tool achieves frequencies many times higher, which are required to produce the asymmetrical free-form surfaces of progressive lenses. As a result, 80 to 120 free-form lenses can be produced per hour on one machine - with a shape deviation of less than 100 nm.