Technological Partner

Breton supplies the aerospace industry with 70% of its machine tool production, covering a wide dimensional range. All machines share the 5 continuous axes configuration. Customer service is the essential ingredient ("Tecnologie Meccaniche", July 2017).

Lightweight airframe, maximum engine power, minimum weight and high safety levels are just a few of the key factors when serving the aerospace industry.

To accomplish these goals, designers need to distinguish between two macro areas: airframes and engines, both of which share the need for extreme weight reduction combined with maximised performance.

Requirements change also depending on whether the work is being performed for the civil segment, with its focus on the absolute safety of the aircraft, or the military segment, with its more performance-oriented agenda.

Airframe designers must therefore create a lightweight product, capable of accepting the maximum possible payload and sufficiently rugged to withstand the dynamic stresses generated in flight. 

Conversely, powerplant engineers need to concentrate on designing a system with the maximum possible efficiency, minimising weight and guaranteeing safe operation in all application conditions. Aerospace industry suppliers must also remember that technical excellence must be delivered at a reasonable and competitive construction cost, and hence market price. Aircraft construction costs can be broken down into the macro families of design, raw materials, transformation, and assembly.
Here, we focus more specifically on the stage in which the material is transformed into the finished part required for the subsequent assembly process, because it is in this area that cost-cutting efforts are generally concentrated.

Working area of the Ultrix Evo 1200

Because of the high technological expertise and certifications demanded by end customers, the number of companies making the most critical aerospace components is quite small. Transformation plants require continuous improvement to meet the binding, competitive market pricing. 

Chip removal remains the most widely employed method with respect to existing new machining technologies. In the vast world of machine tool manufacturers those that are able to supply aerospace market form a restricted elite group: a group of which Breton forms part.

Breton supplies the aerospace industry with 70% of its machine tool production, covering a wide dimensional range. Machines for the production of engine parts offer working volumes from 800mm diameter by 700mm height up to 5000mm diameter by 2000mm height.

Ultrix Evo working on an aerospace part

The range of machines for airframe parts offers gantry solutions with working strokes from 2000x2500x800mm to 20000x4500x2000mm.

All machines are configured with 5 continuous axes, and those dedicated to the machining of axially symmetrical parts offer combined turning and grinding functions.

One of the key strengths of Breton's turning solution is that it offers two machines in one, without the compromises typical of lathes converted into milling machines and vice versa. In fact, both the smaller mill/turn solutions, such as the Ultrix, and the large machines like the Maxima, handle lathe work with a dedicated turning bar or with automatic head changeover.

Through this solution, the system can guarantee the performance levels of a dedicated vertical lathe, allowing optimal access also to the inside of components and better control of machining stresses, while preserving valuable electrospindle bearings.

The bearings are another Breton hallmark, because despite their compact size they offer exceptional levels of performance gained through a painstaking co-design process working alongside the main electrospindle manufacturers.

Example of a part made on a Breton machine

All systems manufactured by Breton are designed to provide high speed machining, with limited material removal depths and high feed rates to ensure the maximum accuracy plus lower levels of residual internal stress in the workpiece. This feature is a perfect fit with the aerospace industry, with its reduced machining allowances and highly distortion-sensitive components.

One of the main features of Breton machines is the guaranteed accuracy of the machining processes. This property is based on careful research into the mechanical perfection of the components and the final assembly, with exclusively thermal expansion caused by ambient conditions being addressed with the use of electronic compensation systems.

And on account of its dynamic spirit, Breton can boast another important characteristic: all standard solutions can be tailored to match the customer's specific requirements without affecting reliability… and at costs that are significantly lower than those associated with ground-up re-engineering.

Heads magazine

Breton also offers a comprehensive range of automation options for both stand-alone machining centres or systems to be incorporated in an existing production line. The company  can supply modular tool changers (from 30 tools to more than 400), pallet changers, part handling automation systems, advanced measurement systems for components and tools, workpiece temperature probes for dimensional offsetting, and far more besides.

Rather than simply supplying a machine to the end customer, thanks to an in-house team of technologists skilled in all the materials used primarily in the aerospace industry, Breton builds a quasi-family relationship with its customers, accompanying them throughout the entire process: from the initial choice of the solution to construction and testing of the first machined parts. So, rather than approaching the market as a supplier, Breton works as a partner able to accompany customers throughout the entire life cycle of each product supplied.

For more information please write to mail@breton.it.

Thank you for the attention and best regards.
Bye-bye

Sergio Prior

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5-axis for aerospace, 5-axis gantry machine, breton Ultrix, Maxima

Machining materials that produce dust and fumes? We have just the solution for you!

A clear blue sky is over Breton machining centres. Protection is fundamental for the safety of the work environment:

but do you think this means doors? Wrong. 
Looking up can give us an idea of how chips, dust and fumes, some of which may be toxic, can be dispersed in the environment. That's why Breton mobile bridge machines like the Matrix, Flymill, Maxima and Eagle are fitted with full covers. 
The search for higher performance often pushes manufacturers to create rigid bridge machine-tools offering higher and higher performance, which at high speed can produce emissions. 

Let's take the Maxima as an example; it's one of the biggest machine-tools in the Breton range, and as a  consequence it has a large, light top cover that can be customized (in fact, the bellows constructions is modular), and it's always anchored to the bridge which follows its movements. 

The Matrix machining centre is often used to machine aluminium, titanium and steel, materials that can produce chips. 

While on the one hand customers want faster machines, on the other Breton has to make sure that in the upper covers, fast movements are silent and precise, instead of producing noise and vibrations. 
Thanks to the soundproofing material used to dampen the end-of-travel, the self-lubricating sliding blocks and polymer-coated metal rollers, there is no such risk. 

      

The Flymill is also used to machine resins, the dust of which can easily be sucked up by the bellows. To prevent this happening, all the covers installed on Breton machines have translucent fabric bellows (they look almost transparent and let light pass so you can see the machine working), with a very high resistance to abrasion, cutting, oils and high temperatures in general. 

Composite materials are also affected by these problems: in this case fumes and dust emissions. Without a doubt, the Eagle is the perfect machining centre for this type of process. 

The installation of the top bellows in this case prevents fine dust escaping, guaranteeing a controlled airflow so that the dust can be extracted.  

For info and requests write now to mail@breton.it.
We’ll get back to you promptly.
Well, that’s all for today, thanks for your attention.

Bye-bye

Sergio Prior

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aluminium, Breton machining centres, Composite materials, eagle, flymill, matrix, Maxima, steel, titanium

Manufacturing gears with the eyes of the designer

By Anna Bonanomi - Organi di Trasmissione
Gear production using 5-axis machine tools shows its full potential in the context of the increasingly small lots required, on the condition that the synergy achieved also includes a software environment and mechanical systems/hardware capable of optimal interpretation of the required specifications.

Manufacturing high quality gears with 5-axis machine tools calls for an essential and winning combination capable of balancing mechanical systems, software and process in order to meet designers' real needs. This is confirmed by Claudio Saurin, engineer and product development manager with Breton, a company based in Castello di Godego (Treviso - Italy) that has spent several years producing tailored machining centers featuring high technical specifications and evolved technology capable of delivering a highly competitive system in a market that is often faced with the need to produce increasingly small lots of parts. The reason lies in the fact that in this type of production (typical of medium/large size gears from 500mm to 3500mm) the tools required are frequently extremely expensive, hard to procure rapidly, etc.

Claudio Saurin continues «The ability for tooling machines capable of meeting the most stringent requirements in terms of accuracy and competitiveness expressed by gear designers and manufacturers calls for a high level of specialization. And it's essential to be able to offer the designer (especially the designer of bevel gear sets in the 400 to 1600mm range, which are perhaps still excessively reliant on tradition, ed.) a technically competent and convincing approach».

A conscious reflection, based on the experience that Claudio Saurin has accumulated during his work as a gear designer and that has been transformed into tangible innovation in the development of new solutions that touch on mechanical aspects and electronics, and that are especially focused on the process software. Just a few years ago an agreement was sealed between Breton and Kiss-Soft, a company with consolidated experience in the creation of specific software for gears and transmissions of all types, that has led to the implementation of programs, supplied on an exclusive basis (by Breton) and that allow the execution of machining processes that are impossible using conventional methods.

«Software – continues Claudio Saurin – that makes it possible, in bevel helical teeth for example, to machine the relief groove at the tooth root in the same way as it is created using hobbing cutters with protuberance on cylindrical teeth. Or to achieve refinements in the management of surface curvature in order to shift contact points by controlling the distortion of the surface in question rather than the settings on the machine. This involves making highly complex topological modifications».

At this point the transition to bring the surfaces generated by the afore-mentioned Kiss-soft software to the machine is managed by the Gear CAD and Gear CAM applications (developed by Breton using the Rhinoceros CAD engine and the RhinoNC CAM engine), which allow complete management of the process to create surfaces including chamfers, and of the associated machining operations.

Integrated process platform

«The technological synergy we have created – explains Claudio Saurin – allows the designer to develop the best material removal strategies and perform adequate simulations, allowing also the choice of the most suitable tool to create the tooth base until completing the workpiece after hardening. For example, to design a double helical gear the conventional approach is to design the left or right face and then make a specular design CAD, filleting and chamfering wherever necessary. In other words, our modus operandi is to fine tune the geometry as though we were the gear designer».

The greatest effort was therefore, on the one hand, that of creating an adequate design environment, and on the other hand to use machines that are able to optimize efficiency with high performance cutting processes.

«Not only – continues Claudio Saurin – but with the added value of a user-friendly and intuitive CAM system on board the machine. A process guided by a wizard that aids the operator in defining geometries and optimal tool paths. The decision is based on the fact that companies that manufacture exclusively gears and not the associated housings are generally unlikely to possess this kind of software».

In other words, the proposed solution is based on an integrated platform that includes a gear calculation code, a CAD application for generation of surfaces and a CAM application for the machining stage.

5 axes of quality for gears of various types

It is precisely to meet specific gear machining requirements that Breton has developed specific machining cycles to apply to its 5-axis machines, notably the Ultrix series model 1000 RT HD vertical machining center, which is particularly indicated for high speed machining of gears of diameters up to 1000mm.

«This is a high-speed machine featuring a high degree of automation – explains Claudio Saurin – designed and developed for milling, turning and grinding of workpieces of up to 1,200mm in diameter».

Equipped, in this version, with a powerful 75kW spindle with 300Nm of torque at 14,000 rpm and software for the production of helical bevel gears, this machining center can machine steel, aluminum, superalloys and composites. The machine features a monobloc structurewith gantry type travelling beam, with a 5-axis movement achieved by combining 3 linear axes with a rotary-tilting table. 

Gears can also be machined using various Breton machine models in the Maxima and Titan series (with large size gantry solutions and turning diameter). Systems that support an integrated process of turning, milling and hobbing pre- and post-heat treatment of medium and large size gears (up to 2,500mm for single piece parts).

«The know-how and experience acquired  – adds Claudio Saurin in conclusion – allow us to offer the designer a comprehensive set of tools construed in the broadest sense, including both software and process components. This makes it possible to use conventional 5-axis NC machines to design and produce a very large range of mechanical components rapidly and with superb quality results capable of guaranteeing a high level of competitiveness».

In other words, a new way of approaching the culture of gear manufacture. Not merely spur tooth and helical tooth gears, but also double helical cylindrical gears, spur tooth and spiral tooth bevel gear sets in accordance with the most common geometries, and also face gears for drive transmission between right-angle or non-parallel shafts.

To learn more, follow the considerations of Alessandro Verduci on market trends and future prospects:

For info and request about Breton machining centres and gear production using 5-axis machine tools write to mail@breton.it.
We’ll get back to you promptly.
Thanks again to Organi di Trasmissione.
Well, that’s all for today, thanks for your attention.
Bye-bye
Sergio Prior

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5-axis machine tools, 5-axis machines, Breton machining centres, Gear production, Maxima, titan, ultrix

Breton at GEAR FORUM & MECSPE - Parma

Good morning,
I wish to thank all those who attended GEAR FORUM and visited Breton stand at MECSPE in Parma.

I visited MECSPE last Thursday (March 21st) and I must admit that I didn’t expect to see so many people. Both the Pavilions 5 and 6 were crowded.

The vertical machining centre XCEEDER 900RT was exhibited at Breton stand while machining a bevel gear with helical teeth.

 GEAR FORUM took place on Wednesday and Thursday (March 20th and 21st) and was also visited by many people interested in the production of gears.
Mr. Corletto briefly introduced Breton, while Ms. Dotto explained the new Breton method for producing large-sized gears using CNC machines with 5 interpolated axes holding simple cutters available on the market.

Here you can find the complete presentation of  Breton GEARI I hope I gave you some useful information concerning our activity in the gear sector.
By-by
Sergio Prior

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bevel gears, breton machining centre, breton vertical machining centre, cylindrical gears, face gears, herringbone gears, Maxima, skew-axis gears, titan, ultrix

Thinking differently the gears manufacturing

Being able to cut high-precision tooth profiles is of primary importance in gear cutting. Traditional processes (using "gear hobbers") involve some fundamental limits, both in the design and prototype phase, as well as when cutting the gear.

These systems are competitive only for large production runs, but are unsuitable for the production of prototypes or for small scale production (often the case with big gears) as the tools are very expensive, with long supply lead times, and the geometric refinement of the toothing (done by applying geometric micro-deviations to the theoretical tooth profile) is usually an extremely time-consuming process.

5-axis machining centre aren't affected by these limits as they use standard (cylindrical, toric or spherical) tools, and the development/prototyping processing is done using very precise software of the latest generation.

Breton's experience with 5-axis machine tools, precision mechanics and in the aerospace industry, has helped the company make a name for itself in the gear-cutting sector as a reliable and decisive partner, offering professional and innovative services.

In partnership with KISSSOFT - a leader in mechanical engineering software - we've developed the Breton Gear Design, a third generation geometry tool, guaranteeing the greatest accuracy and reliability.

Breton also developed the Breton Gear Cam, a CAM tool, so you can use just the right tool and strategy for every machining process.

This has been the approach with the Ultrix (tilting turning bench), Maxima and Titan (gantry and large-size turning bench) numeric controls, for an integrated turning, milling and tooth-cutting process, with pre and post heat treatment of medium-large gears (up to 2500 mm for one-piece gears).

The solution developed by Breton makes it possible for gear designers to design and produce gears quickly, using traditional 5-axis numeric controls, with excellent results:
- cylindrical gears with straight-cut or helical-cut teeth
- herringbone gears
- bevel gears with straight-cut and spiral-cut teeth in the most common geometries
- face gears for orthogonal drive trains
- skew-axis gears

As in the past, Breton puts its know-how and experience at the customer's service, developing innovative solutions destined to leave their mark in time.

For more INFO write at mail@breton.it. 

We’ll get back to you promptly.
Thank you for the attention and best regards.

By-by

Sergio Prior

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bevel gears, breton machining centre, breton vertical machining centre, cylindrical gears, face gears, herringbone gears, Maxima, skew-axis gears, titan, ultrix

Breton Open House 2012

We perfectly know how important it is nowadays to be competitive, to make the most of the challenges the ever-demanding market throws down each day.

To do so, it's essential to use modern high-tech production systems, and keep constantly up-to-date with the latest technological developments.
It will therefore be an honour for me to welcome you on the 5th, 6th and 7th of July to show you some of the latest, interesting innovations in our works, with machining cells running specific applications for the aerospace, energy, automotive and transmission sectors. 16 installations, each with a high level of customization and the most innovative, efficient accessories.
For me, and the rest of the Breton staff, it will be a pleasure to welcome you.
Best regards
Luca Toncelli
President of Breton Spa

Don't miss:
Special materials such as carbon, resins, and fibres require specifically configured machines like the EAGLE range of machining centres, examples of which will be on show with fully-functional machines and detailed structural views.  

The XCEEDER 900RT 5-axis trochoidal machines also offer a solution for increasing productivity and reducing consumption.  

The reduction in setup times makes all the difference. You won’t believe how fast it is to change pallets on the FLYMILL gantries, the compact XCEEDER 900 RT, or how efficient it is to change the tool automatically on the ULTRIX 800 RT lathe-milling machine.

Not only is there a reduction in setup times, but also an exceptional increase in part accuracy and flexibility as on the MAXIMA 2000 K60, the big 5-axis turn-mill gantry.   

There have been new breakthroughs in the machining of gears and transmissions, thanks to the new Breton technological packages, which you'll be able to see at work on 2 ULTRIX 1000 RT machines.  

What's more, we'll be presenting the new version of our best seller, the MATRIX machine, a true evolution in design and performance.



Sergio Prior

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aerospace machining, automotive machining centre, breton vertical machining centre, change pallet, CNC turning and milling center, eagle, flymill, high speed cnc, matrix, Maxima, open house, ultrix, xceeder

Breton MAXIMA - Multitasking vertical machining centre (part 1)

Specifically designed and developed for demanding markets, Maxima performs to its best in terms of precision and productivity combining 5axis milling with turning. Thanks to a design that offers interesting possibilities to users, first of all pendulum machining while carrying out turning and milling operations.

Maxima is a machine developed from the experience gained by Breton with other models, from which it has taken the best that they could offer. Breton engineers have started from a heavy structure gantry machine, then adding a turning table and a head change system able to manage both the milling and the turning process at best.

It is really a machine with double possibilities because, besides relying on a modern milling machine, thanks to the head change it is possible to carry out also turning operations (even heavy) without stressing the components exclusively designed for milling.

Solid and stable

Starting from the structure, electrowelded steel,  coupling the steel with an optimized geometry it is possible to obtain the correct sizing of each component of Maxima.

But not only: the inside of each module is filled by an engineered granite patented by Breton, MetalQuartz, which offers interesting properties. First of all, it contributes in the vibration dampening, consequently increasing the stability and the quality of machined surfaces. Besides, this composite silicon-quartz material owns the same thermal expansion coefficient as the structure steel.

Milling and turning

Maxima is sold in different versions and configurations. The most evident element is the Y axis travel that, as above mentioned, can vary depending on the purchaser’s requirements simply adding other modules during its manufacturing.

Another value that characterizes each machine consists in the turning table diameter: we start from the smallest, with 1,200 mm diameter, up to 3,000 mm of Maxima 2500, passing through the 1,600 mm version.

The smallest tables are operated by direct drive, while with bigger diameters traditional motors in dual drive configuration are used. In this way it is possible to reach different speeds, torque and powers, suitable for specific uses.

The version with 3,000 mm diameter guarantees the maximum power of 100 kW, 116 kW in S6 at 40%, and a torque of 20,000 Nm (24,600 Nm in S6). With such characteristics, the 230 rpm that the motor/transmission group can offer is more than eough to machine with high peripheral speeds and heavy stock removals, like a real vertical lathe.

Besides, when it performs a turning operation the Gantry axis and the Z axis are kept in position by a set of hydraulic brakes, ideal for assuring the best statics of the structure without putting engines under strain.

 

Read more >>

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5 axis machining centers, aerospace machining, breton cnc 5 axis, CNC turning and milling center, high speed vertical machining centre, Maxima

Breton MAXIMA - multitasking vertical machining (part 2)

Heads and tools

The machine uses different tools for multitasking operations.

While the head used in turning is relatively simple, a model with Capto C8 taper, the milling one is certainly more complex.

The coupling with the ram is guaranteed  by a Hirth crown assuring the correct and constant positioning of heads and removing the risk that the efforts – especially in turning – are concentrated on the components dedicated to milling. Machines of this type are expected to machine for several years without needing extraordinary overhauls determined, for instance, by excessive stresses on parts not designed to bear them.

 

Maxima 2500 HD is characterized by the innovative head Tornado HD. This name hides a head with torque motor on the C axis that eliminates backlashes, permitting to achieve precisions in the volume of few hundreds on the five axes and enabling to reach 100 rpm. The flexibility is guaranteed by the fork-shaped configuration with non-coaxial spindle and big roughing power. Besides, the high-frequency electrospindle permits to operate effectively in milling (roughing and finishing) on steel, light alloys and alloys resistant to heat (used in some of the outlet application sectors of this machine, such as aerospace and military).

The change system provides for apposite niches in the structure where replacement heads are housed.

A further option offers the possibility of replacing the spindle cartridge only: in this way a single head can house, for instance, a motor suitable for roughing and a high-speed electrospindle for finishing.

Tornado HD 300/14 is the standard head proposed on Maxima: with a maximum power of 75 kW and a spindle torque of 300 Nm, it is proposed as solution able to meet successfully most requirements expressed by customers. It can reach in fact 14,000 rpm and house tools with HSK-100A taper.

 

Tools are housed in a wheel-type magazine that, in the change phase, is introduced into the machining field through an apposite panel. A variable number of tools, ranging from 20 to 30, can be housed, depending on their size. As an alternative, a rack with 60, 100 or 150 pockets can be installed, with a shuttle for the tool recovery and an arm that physically carries out the exchange. In both cases, the machining area is perfectly free and completely available for the piece positioning, allowing the movement of the head in the space without constraining it with the presence of tools or tool/head change equipment.

 

The secret of precision

Maxima has been conceived to satisfy very exacting demands in terms of productivity and precision. We have mentioned the capability of reaching a volumetric precision within 5 hundredths but it was not easy to attain these results.

 

The stable and stiff structure certainly contributes in essential way but it was necessary to do more: besides the air pressured optical scales, equipping both sides of the machine and the Z axis, and the encoders on rotary axes, the machine is provided with a balancing system for the compensation of the head and ram weight.

In this way, the only forces that affect the structures are the machining ones, widely within design parameters.

The “universal” mission of Maxima guarantees the possibility of machining a big number of materials, such as steel, aluminium, resins, titanium and carbon fibre. For the latter, in particular, they have studied suitable solutions for assuring the constant operation of the machine. First of all the upper part can be closed with bellows that do not limit the possibility of loading pieces with the crane but that, in presence of carbon fibre dust, isolate the machining area and do not allow the removed particles to go out. Moreover, all sliding and supporting surfaces are protected by a standard pressurization system.

Thanks to TM - Tecnologie Meccaniche

(Mr. Andrea Pagani)

Here you can read first part >> 
Click here for more INFO

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5 axis machining centers, aerospace machining, breton cnc 5 axis, CNC turning and milling center, high speed vertical machining centre, Maxima