More powerful & more compact 4th axis rotary table series | Kitagawa
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Kitagawa

MK Series - A New Standard in Rotary Tables to upgrade your machine

                                            

The MK Series  is an intelligent design to meet the future requirements that the industry demands from a 4th axis rotary table. Kitagawa's focus has been to improve the standard of their rotary tables in three areas:

 

- Enhanced Performance

- Improved Mounting

- Wide Selection of Rotary Joints
 

Enhanced Performance

The clamping torque of the MK Series has improved by 40% to 570N.m from the older standard of 350N.m of the MR200 rotary table or 1000N.m for the MK250 compared to 600N.m for the MR250 Rotary Table. In addition, Kitagawa has made the depth of the rotary table 10% thinner than the previous MR Series Rotary tables. By incorporating friction-welding procedures into their manufacturing techniques and combining this skill with their design capabilities from many years of experience Kitagawa has delivered a performance balanced new standard of rotary table to the future market. Of course, it must be mentioned that Kitagawa has other stronger (GT Series) and more compact (CK Series) rotary tables in their product range but the MK Series is designed to meet 90% of customers needs and in most cases will be suitably strong enough to withstand various machine cutting conditions demanded of it.

After rigorous testing the MK Series adheres to the same standard of clamping torque test required of ALL Kitagawa rotary tables. For example, for the MK200 a 570N.m of clamping torque is determined as the force at which 30 microns displacement of the worm wheel diameter occurs. Kitagawa determines displacement above this to be a failure as the accuracy you demand from Kitagawa tables cannot be maintained. This is markedly different from many of our competitors who use the 'pull-out torque' or slipping torque figure to determine their maximum torque. Kitagawa view slipping torque as a catastrophic and dangerous failure if you have pushed a rotary table to this extreme. So you can rest assured that even if you do push your Kitagawa table to its limitations of the clamping torque indicated in the instruction manual then your Kitagawa table will maintain its accuracy where others fail. This increase to the standard clamp torque significantly increases the allowable cutting torque your machine is able to deliver to the workpiece, reducing takt time to increase your productivity. The MK Series also maintains the highest rotating/drive torque capability in its size and class of rotary tables due to a large worm wheel diameter design enabling you to produce complex workpieces with speed and accuracy.

                                                                                  Drive torque diagram 

You will notice that the MK Series rotary tables is supplied without a standard faceplate which will allow you to specify exactly what type of face plate you require - with t-slots or standard pre-drilled holes like the current MR Series rotary tables. The major advantage of this is that a chuck, trunnion bed or any workholding device can be mounted directly onto the rotary table's spindle, reducing the distance from the spindle bearing. This compact assembly reduces the loading to the spindle bearing therefore increasing the rotary tables rigidity and longevity.

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Improved Mounting

                                                 MK200 Mounting

The recessed bolt mounting design shown above is a considerable improvement to reduce the overall footprint of the MK Series compared to its predecessor the MR Series. We all know that space on a machine tool bed can be extremely competitive and adding a rotary table is a big consideration. Anything that can make a rotary table take up less space to allow for more or larger workpieces to be included in the overall workholding design is an important factor when selecting your rotary table.

                                                                                          MR200 with wide riser block

The recessed bolt mounting allows you to mount any riser block from the top instead of from underneath (as shown above on an MR200) maintaining the reduced foot print.

                         MK200 Footprint

Above shows the MK200's overall thinner design and recessed mounting gives up to a 40% reduction in footprint size. This design also reduces chip build up around the base of the rotary table, reducing time for any cleaning cycles and ensuring no workholding system interference caused by the build up of chips. This is a very important consideration for fully automated production cells.

Wide Selection of rotary joints

The MK Series can now accommodate 'Built-in' 6 +1 port rotary joints, compared to only 4 +1 rotary joints for the equivalent MR Series. This allows for more workholding on a trunnion bed arrangement to be actuated via the rotary joint housed within the large spindle bore of the rotary table. This avoids interference issues you can encounter with tubing and wear if you have to bring the workholding actuation forward of the rotary table face. The 6+1 rotary joint also includes a 12.5mm diameter multi-purpose hole through the centre for additional air or hydraulic services and it can also be used as a wiring duct for seating confirmation sensors, enabling you to enhance any workholding designs and further increasing your workholding capabilities. Kitagawa can now provide high pressure 25 MPa (4-port and 6-port) rotary joints upon request - shown below, this will enable you to further reduce fixtures sizes and to improve clamp speeds if your design requires it.

                                                                                         Rotary Joints

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