Ficep Corporation produces the Type A and B models specifically for those heavy plate fabrication applications that typically must process plates up to 3" in thickness.  Both models combine the operation of hole generation either through drilling, punching or both, marking and burning.  The burning operation can be with either plasma, oxy/fuel or both to provide the most cost-effective process based upon what the application dictates.

A full range of options are available to customize the system's capabilities to the user's requirement.  This can include such additional capabilities as countersinking and tapping, for example.

Both the Type A and B plate processing centers include the following basic design criteria and features

Measuring 
The Type A and B systems feature a rack and pinion positioning and measuring carriage system to position the plate to the required location.  This system provides the best accuracy available in the industry today for heavy plate processing centers.  The accuracy of the Ficep carriage system is not influenced by material that contains rust, scale, ice, snow, or is just wet as these conditions will influence the accuracy of roller feed measuring systems.  The inaccuracy of a roller feed measuring system increases with the total cumulative length of the movements of the stock plate back and forth during the production of multiple parts from the stock plate.  This is not the case with a rack and pinion system where the repeatability is second to none.

The stock plate is securely clamped on the trailing edge throughout the CNC operation to provide positive accuracy without concern for the edge condition of the stock plate which is critical with plate processing systems that use a roller feed measuring system.  The material datum edge and the distance of the part in the nest from the datum edge dictate the accuracy of the finished part in plate systems that use a roller feed system.


Drill Spindles
The Ficep drill spindle design features a ball screw feed that is consistent with today's machining center designs.  This design permits the tool to advance through the material at a uniform feed rate that is coordinated and maintained by the CNC control with the rotational speed of the tool.  This eliminates the tendency for the drill bit to rapidly accelerate and actually punch through the material upon break through.  When you do not control both the feed and speed rates of the tool, this negatively effects tooling life and hole quality.  This is the same system that is used in all CNC machining centers today to achieve maximum metal removal and to be able to fully utilize today's high performance insert tooling to its maximum efficiency.

The spindle speed range of the Ficep drilling spindle is also designed to accommodate the RPM requirement of today's high performance insert tools.  The spindle speed range on the Ficep spindle is from 180 to 1500 RPM as standard.  This spindle speed range permits the user to take full advantage of the feed rates that today's tooling is capable of achieving on a productive basis.

The spindle rigidity of the Ficep spindle is second to none in the industry.  This is achieved since the entire drill head and spindle are advanced to the material as a single unit rather than just extending the spindle while the gearbox remains stationary.  The rigidity of the Ficep spindle enhances tooling life and does not require flat bottom tool geometry to attempt to minimize the spindle wobble that is possible with designs that do not feed the spindle and the drill head as a single unit.

Coolant is applied directly through the drill spindle to the cutting edges of the tool as part of the drilling cycle.  The Ficep system also provides external application of the coolant as standard which can be selected as part of the CNC part program and required for such operations as tapping.  Some of today's high performance tooling is required to be used totally dry.  In these cases, the application of any internal or external coolant is eliminated as part of the CNC part program.

By utilizing today's high performance spindle drives, it is not necessary to provide a gearbox with multiple gears and shafts to generate the required torque at the drilling spindle.  This modern technology is what is utilized today in CNC machining centers and also in the Ficep spindle design.  This gives you the full range of speed and torque regardless of what tool is utilized.  Systems that use multiple spindles to achieve the possibility of different hole sizes are limited to a different range of speeds at each spindle location.

Drill Tool Changer
The plate processing centers Type A and B can be furnished with an automatic tool changer as an option.  The eight-position tool changer permits a full complement of tools that can be utilized during the CNC program. 


The automatic tool changer system by Ficep gives the ability to automatically accommodate those applications that require more than one tool to complete the nested parts.  The Ficep software automatically adjusts the tooling parameters such as feeds, speeds, coolant requirement, and tool length as the tool is loaded into the drilling spindle.  The tooling life for each tool is monitored in the Ficep system so when it is time to change, for example from one 13/16" tool that is dull to a re-sharpened 13/16" tool, this decision and action is made automatically with the Ficep software and tool changer in concert.

The combination of the rigid fixed spindle design, ball screw spindle feed and the synchronization of the spindle feed and speed with the CNC control generates great spindle versatility.  In addition to drilling, such operations as countersinking and tapping can be automatically generated as part of the part program as the required tools will be changed automatically.


Punch Tool Changer
The Type B system features eight different punch tools as standard.  Each of the eight stations can accommodate tools for producing holes up to 1-3/4" in diameter.  The engineering of the punch holder makes sure that whenever any of the eight punch locations are selected, it is located directly under the punching ram.  This design eliminates any side loading on the cylinder that would exist if the tool that is used for punching was not always located directly in the middle of the hydraulic punching ram.

The eight different punching tools not only give the user eight different diameters, but since the punch and die holder are not mechanically tied together, it is possible to program different punch locations with different die positions.  The Type B system has great flexibility when processing different thickness of plates in the course of the production day.  In competitive systems, where the punch and die positions are tied together, it is necessary to change the die to achieve the required clearance when processing different material thicknesses. 

In the Ficep system you can have, for example, several different die clearances for a 13/16" punch and then by program command select the proper die clearance.  This is all accomplished automatically and without any operator intervention and loss of production time due to the requirement for additional machine set up time when changing material thicknesses.


Hard Stamp Marking
The different parts within the nest can be efficiently marked with either a plasma marker or a 36 position daisy wheel hydraulic marker.  The advantage of the hydraulic marker is its low operational cost and the fact that parts can be readily identified after painting or galvanizing.


Control 
The Ficep Type A and B plate processing centers feature a PC based CNC control with proprietary software to ideally match the application of the system with the CNC control.  The Ficep approach is not to take a standard CNC control with its generic features for machine tools and adapt it to a specific CNC fabrication system.  The utilization of a PC based control reduces service cost over the life of the line as an off-the-shelf PC can be used to replace the PC based control of a Ficep line in minutes rather than have to experience the cost and delay of having a service technician perform the troubleshooting and replacement task.

The Ficep PC based control is provided with the proprietary Ficep software that permits remote troubleshooting of the entire system with a phone connection through a modem.  This software not only permits checking of the software status, etc. but more importantly, the status of the machine and system hardware is checked and monitored.