Grinding machines and other machine tools

HEIDENHAIN offers a variety of products for grinding machines. With their low probing forces and long service lives, HEIDENHAIN touch probes are ideal for the unique requirements of grinding. In many grinding applications, angle encoders and linear encoders ensure high-accuracy positioning of the workpiece and grinding wheel while enabling dynamic motion control.

In applications such as EDM, laser cutting, water-jet cutting, sheet metal bending, and 3D printing, linear encoders ensure accurate, dynamic, and reliable position measurement. This is especially important for the particularly demanding conditions of some of these machining operations.

Products for grinding machines

Touch probes for ground workpieces

HEIDENHAIN offers touch probes that are specially designed for grinding machine applications: the TS 750, with high-precision pressure sensors, and the TS 150, featuring an optical sensor. Thanks to its low radial probing force of just 0.2 N, the TS 750 enables exceptionally consistent probing accuracy over 360°. Due to this low probing force, the probing process itself has no effect on the measurement. Both touch probes exhibit a long service life of several million probing cycles even under the extreme grinding conditions.

Modular magnetic encoders

For position measurement and motion control in grinding machines, HEIDENHAIN offers a large range of alternatives to choose from:

ERM: modular angle encoders with magnetic scanning

ERA: incremental modular angle encoders with optical scanning

ECA: absolute modular angle encoders with optical scanning

RCN: absolute angle encoders with integral bearing and optical scanning

Sealed linear encoders

The LC sealed linear encoders are ideal for exact linear axis positioning in grinding machines. They are available in slimline or full-size scale housings for optimal integration into the machine, providing excellent protection from grinding dust and swarf.

The TS 750 touch probe for grinding machines: reliable and low-force workpiece inspection

Products for other machine tools

Electrode positioning for EDM

EDM is used on parts requiring exceptional accuracy and rigorous tolerances. Precise guidance and positioning of the electrode in sinker EDM and of the wire in wire EDM can be accomplished with the reliable data delivered by LC sealed linear encoders from HEIDENHAIN.

Robust linear measurement for water-jet cutting

Water-jet cutting has become an established method for creating fine contours in heat-sensitive materials. The accurate and dynamic position measurement required in an environment awash in cutting fluid is the expertise of the LC sealed linear encoders from HEIDENHAIN or of inductive solutions from AMO.

Precise motion control for laser cutting

Laser cutting is another option for creating fine contours in suitable materials. The accurate and dynamic position measurement required is the expertise of the LC sealed linear encoders from HEIDENHAIN and inductive solutions from AMO, which are specially designed for laser cutting.

Linear measurement for sheet metal bending

CNC-controlled machines for sheet metal bending or edge pressing require robust and reliable solutions for exact tool guidance and proper positioning, especially on complex workpieces requiring successive bending operations. The LS 1679 incremental linear encoder with an integrated roller guide was developed specifically for these applications. Verions of this encoder are available with a cable outlet to the right or left for perfect installation onto the typical C-columns. Inductive linear encoders from AMO are another excellent solution.

Compact linear encoders for 3D printers

Additive manufacturing processes such as 3D printing are entering ever new fields and meeting ever higher accuracy requirements. Small-profile encoders from HEIDENHAIN, as well as the MSA series from RSF, ensure precise position measurement and high-accurcy printing in typically compact 3D printers.