Press Releases

Renishaw to exhibit at MACH 2012

Renishaw will be exhibiting its range of precision engineering technologies at MACH 2012 from 16 – 20 April 2012 at the NEC, Birmingham, UK. This will include brand new products, such as Equator™ - the versatile gauge™, and the SLM250 selective laser melting machine for creating complex parts in a variety of metals, using an additive manufacturing process.

Equator™ gauging system
Equator™ is a radical new alternative to traditional dedicated gauging, filling a gap in the market never before addressed. Its patented low-cost design, unique in construction and method of operation, is capable of high-speed comparative gauging for inspection of high-volume manufactured parts. It has been developed and proven on the shop-floor in collaboration with industry-leading companies in multiple industries and applications.

Equator has been conceived and developed by working closely with automotive, aerospace and medical gauging users, alongside their manufacturing machines. The result is a lightweight, fast and highly repeatable gauge that operators can use with ‘push-button' simplicity. Equator can switch between parts in seconds, perfect for flexible manufacturing processes or accepting parts from multiple machines.

SLM250 - selective laser melting machine
Renishaw will highlight for the first time its range of additive manufacturing technologies. On show will be the SLM250 Selective Laser Melting (SLM) machine, which utilises a pioneering, additive manufacturing process capable of producing fully dense metal parts direct from 3D CAD, using a high-powered fibre laser. Parts are built from a range of fine metal powders that are fully melted in a tightly controlled atmosphere, in layer thicknesses ranging from 20 to 100 microns.

PH20 5-axis probe for CMMs
Visitors to MACH 2012 looking to improve measurement speeds on co-ordinate measuring machines will be able to see demonstrations of the PH20 five-axis touch-trigger system, which increases touch-trigger CMM throughput up to three times, using fast, infinite, rotary positioning and unique "head touch" capability for high-speed point capture with minimal CMM movement. The PH20 uses two-axes of head motion to minimise CMM movement and associated dynamic errors at higher measurement speeds. Its unique "inferred calibration" feature determines head orientation and probe position in a single operation, eliminating the need for calibration at each orientation.

CMM retrofits and software
Renishaw is now well established in the CMM retrofit market and visitors to MACH 2012 will see details of its certified coordinate measuring machine (CMM) retrofits which upgrade existing machines to state-of-the-art capabilities – including REVO® five-axis ultra-high-speed scanning. The comprehensive retrofit program applies to all brands of machines. The Renishaw Retrofit™ service enables manufacturers to raise CMM throughput by factors of four, five and more, increase measurement automation, collect more data points for form measurement, and utilise open source software and future probing technology developments.