In recent years, the Mexican tire market has experienced significant growth, which has been fueled by a significant increase in automotive industry manufacturing throughout the country. As a result of this expansion, extensive tool manufacturing, such as moldmaking, has benefited. Molrio, an Aguascalientes-based machine shop specializing in the manufacture and repair of tire molds, has reaped the benefits of this expansion.

However, there was a snag: the shop's five-axis machines could only be used on two or three axes at a time. Then Molrio came across hyperMILL, a computer-aided manufacturing software solution developed by Open Mind Technologies, which has its headquarters in Needham, Massachusetts, and an office in Mexico City, among other locations worldwide. The shop employs hyperMILL to improve the efficiency of its machining process, reduce scrap, save time, and increase Molrio's throughput overall.

Among the items Molrio receives are the damaged tire molds, 3D CAD models of the parts that are produced by the mold, and information on how the tooling has been damaged. According to López, "after inspecting the damage and disassembling a mold, we repair the mold using a variety of processes, depending on the requirements."Mold interiors with segment holders, segments, and sidewalls (the faces of the tire legends) can be welded, milled, and polished, and mold engraving for letters and numbers can be done on the inside of the mold as well as the outside.

This resulted in issues such as tool crashes, toolholder malfunctions, workpiece damage, and downtime."We were dissatisfied with the limitations imposed by only using 3+2 machining techniques."When we first started, we were perplexed as to why we had a five-axis system," López remarked.

The postprocessor of the company's CAM software was the primary cause of the problems, it was discovered after a more in-depth investigation. The five-axis problems Molrio was dealing with were discussed with López, who agreed to meet with Molina and demonstrate hyperMILL to the company's employees. During a question and answer session with Molina, López shared his goals for his five-axis equipment. "I want to see the machine fully operational as soon as possible," López responded. A part on a Haas UMC 750 five-axis CNC was then offered to López by Molina, who offered to program, postprocess and machine it. Molina programmed and machined the part in minutes, with no crashes or problems, and then postprocessed and confirmed the results in less than ten minutes. López, who was holding the perfect part in his hand, was impressed with how hyperMILL enabled the machine to mill the part in full five-axis, and he simply stated, "Great technology."And after that, what happens?"

The only thing that could save him was hyperMILL, as López soon discovered. The CAD system Solid Works, which is compatible with hyperMILL, is also familiar to Molrio. Molrio's CNC Swiss Machining operation is performing at peak levels following the purchase of the standard hyperMILL five-axis package. According to López, "the software is dependable."Before running a new part routine, we always run it through the graphics simulation feature, which allows us to visualize toolpaths and ensure that tools do not collide with one another. Because it's simple to use—it's plug and play—we are confident that the machine will run flawlessly, using all five axes while saving time and money on tooling costs, among other benefits. Using hyperMILL, we were able to save more than 80% on tooling costs alone, and what used to take four days to repair a damaged mold can now be completed in one day.

A modular and flexible computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) solution for two-, three-, and five-axis milling and turning, Open Mind Technologies' hyperMILL software has all of its components integrated into a single interface, including one postprocessor. Using the most up-to-date operating concepts, this complete integration allows for quick and simple five-axis programming, reduced machining times and tool wear, increased process reliability, and accurate, high-quality surface finishes. The use of hyperMILL's intelligent algorithms ensures that tool collision detection and avoidance are performed automatically.

In order to better serve the tire industry, Open Mind has developed a software package specifically for tire module development. Several tire functions, such as sipe (tire tread channel) and stone ejector, are executed by a repeat arrangement of identical tire sections that are typically defined with a tire clock, necessitating only a single piece of programming. It is true that Molrio's specific type of tire mold repair work does not require the Open Mind tire module at this time, but that does not rule out using it in the future—especially since hyperMILL has been a key enabler in Molrio's ability to utilize five-axis machining technology in the past.

Comprehensive Analysis on 5-Axis CNC Machining Centers ...

Albia machining, fabricating facility expanding into Ottumwa

machining and fabrication supplier us machine tool privately acquired

CNC Milling Machine Capabilities: Compared

Moving toward portable, digitized composite part repair

Artificial intelligence optimizes CNC milling of carbon fiber-reinforced composites

Salamanca High School awarded CNC machine in national ...

How precision machining is affecting the future state of medical devices

Duncan STEM program visits DMP for National Manufacturing ...

What is a BILLET ENGINE, and when should you get one? vs cast 2JZ: Bullet Race Engineering Tour.