Mayekawa Manufacturing Company, the global industrial refrigeration specialist headquartered in Japan, has purchased one of Holroyd Precision’s highly acclaimed TG350E CNC rotor grinding machines. The machine is expected to more than halve screw rotor manufacturing time.

Mayekawa’s new Holroyd TG350E rotor grinder has been installed at the company’s Higashi-Hiroshima facility and will be used to precision-grind cast iron and stainless steel screw rotors of up to 350 mm in diameter. Mayekawa already operates a number of Holroyd machines across its Japanese manufacturing sites. The TG350E was chosen for its ability to provide high-speed rotor grinding, combined with uncompromising levels of accuracy.

“We are delighted to have built a TG350E rotor grinding machine for Mayekawa,” comments Holroyd regional sales director, Steven Benn. “Traditionally, Mayekawa has rough milled then finish milled its helical rotors, using cutters where the finished profile shape is ground using a Holroyd CS500E tool management centre. With an increasingly wide range of rotor types to manufacture, however, Mayekawa recognised the significant benefits that a TG350E CNC machine would bring to its production strategies.”

Manufacturing time reduced 

With a Holroyd TG350E rotor grinder at its Higashi-Hiroshima-based refrigeration compressor manufacturing site, Mayekawa is benefiting from the accuracy, speed and repeatability that Holroyd machines are renowned for – along with greater levels of automation and reduced set-up time. With Holroyd TG Series machines, a significant amount of production time is saved due to the fact that the diamond dressing wheels continuously dress during the cycle. By contrast, cutting tools require periodic re-grinding, depending on the materials and volumes being cut.

Setting the standard in rotor grinding

Holroyd’s TG Series of multi-purpose grinding machines has long set the standard for high levels of accuracy and efficient stock removal. Indeed, around 70 advanced Holroyd profile-grinding machines are being used by manufacturers globally.

Equally suited to prototyping, batch and volume production, TG Series machines are designed primarily for the finish grinding of helical screw components such as worm screws and rotors, after they have been milled to a rough or semi-finished state. TG models offer production rates and accuracies to suit precise manufacturing strategies. Fully automated on-machine probing provides closed loop feedback of corrections to the dresser wheel and does not require a high level of operator skill.

TG Series grinding machines, at-a-glance:

• Accelerated and simplified set-up
• Fully automated grinding wheel balancing system
• Powerful, menu-driven touch screen programming
• Unique on-board Holroyd 3D CMM component scanning probe
• High-power, high-speed grinding spindles
• Optional hollow spindle for longer components
• Advanced in-process dressing systems
• Large diameter grinding wheels, for maximum wheel life
• Optional Holroyd Profile Management System for profile development and control
• Maximum component diameter from 3 mm to 450 mm, depending on component profile
• Maximum component weight: 500 kg

PTG. The first name in precision

Incorporating the brands of Holroyd and Holroyd Precision Rotors, PTG has established itself at the forefront of high-precision machine tool design, build and supply for specialised applications. The Holroyd range includes advanced machine tools for the production of complex helical components such as compressor rotors, pump screws and high-accuracy gears, and machine tools for friction stir welding advanced alloys used in transport applications. With production facilities in the UK, USA and China, Holroyd Precision Rotors manufactures the special purpose, ultra-precision helical components used in a wide range of industries, including refrigeration, air-conditioning, gas and vacuum pumping, industrial air handling, aerospace, medical equipment, motion control, power transmission, power generation, oil & gas, fluid transfer and high-end automotive. PTG also provides advanced technical consulting services.

About Mayekawa Manufacturing Company

Founded in Tokyo in 1924, Mayekawa has grown to become one of the world’s leading specialists in freezing and compression technologies. Continuously evolving its products and services, Mayekawa creates cooperation based on trust with its customers to develop ‘Basho’ – the company’s unique concept of problem solving, where customers and Mayekawa engineers collaborate closely by sharing a common challenge and vision. Mayekawa is active in both the refrigeration and gas compressor markets, selling to customers globally. The business is also developing new robotic food processing technologies. Mayekawa has generated no fewer than 100 subsidiaries across Japan and a further 40 subsidiaries overseas. To better serve its global markets and better satisfy the challenges faced by its customers, however, the business has recently expanded its capability by combining R&D and manufacturing understanding to go beyond what its various subsidiaries could have dealt with alone.