High‑Precision Automated Turning Cell for Oil Couplings

The company and its Partners in Thinc collaborators offer an automated cell for producing 4" to 7" API and premium couplings for the oil drilling industry. The cell consists of the company’s LOC 500 Oil Country Lathe, two 2SP-V60R vertical lathes and a Fanuc R-R0000iB-165F robot. The LOC 500 offers the same precision as its sister machine, the LOC 650, but on a smaller scale. The company’s oil field Threading Suite is designed to combine variable-speed threading and harmonic spindle control that delivers an exact match between infeed patterns and cutting increments. This enables threading functions with 0.1-µ precision and speed. To ensure thread quality, users can monitor machine performance via Absolute Scale technology and pitch error compensation. Additionally, the machine features a programmable tailstock and an automatic door to reduce operator intervention and improve part-transfer efficiency. The 2SP-V60 twin-spindle, four-axis vertical lathe is equipped with a rigid, box-shaped column to allow deep cuts at high rpm. Wide, square-shaped saddle and cross slideways are said to ensure precision under virtually all cutting conditions for various parts. For flexibility, one control operates two independent spindles, with live tooling options available on one or both sides. Measuring 35 × 20 ft, the cell is designed to decrease the footprint and number of operators and machines required to manufacture oil couplings. In addition to the robot, which eliminates the need for additional setups, the cell improves chip evacuation and insert breakage issues that often keep operators busy throughout the cutting process, the company says.