MACHINING & MACHINERY
THE UNE6-2I
UNISIG
Medical Shops Achieve Surgical Precision With Deep Hole Drilling Automation
Medically speaking , cutting people open is dangerous . Today , physicians get around this problem by using modern surgical instruments to perform minimally invasive procedures , which make major operations into simple outpatient appointments . But to accomplish these feats of surgical science , manufacturers in the medical industry have to drill small-diameter holes through the entire length of slightly larger instruments . Thin part walls , intricate features , high surface quality and concentricity requirements , and extreme depth-todiameter ( D : d ) ratios make these parts a challenge in production .
A typical laparoscopic surgical instrument is designed to direct tools , cameras and other devices into the body through the instrument using a guide wire . And to to ensure smooth , reliable and accurate performance during procedures , highly precise hole concentricity is required at D : d depth ratios well above 100:1 , a challenge even for dedicated deep hole drilling equipment .
With these challenges , it ’ s no surprise that many manufacturers try to skip the deep hole drilling process altogether by farming out the work , but going to outside suppliers brings its own problems . Pre-drilled blanks might solve the deep hole drilling problem , but they have to be fed into the machine one by one , defeating the whole purpose of using automation-ready Swiss-style machines . Meanwhile , cannulated bar stock allows shops to continue using their bar feeders , but it ’ s very expensive – and the hole quality and O . D ./ I . D . concentricity rarely meet the needs of medical manufacturers anyway .
To overcome these challenges , medical manufacturers are turning to dedicated deep hole drilling equipment to finish instruments started on the Swiss-style machines . With an experienced gundrill operator , careful setup and a bit of finesse , the hole quality can be excellent , and it allows the Swissstyle machines to remain fully automated . The only remaining problem is part handling and transfer which introduces significant risks when the accuracy requirements are so high , and if the part has to be flipped to drill a stepped bore , that introduces more setup operations and more risk of human error .
What medical manufacturers need is a truly end-to-end automated process that allows for an efficient single-piece workflow for surgical instruments – and some deep hole drilling OEMs , such as UNISIG , have engineered all the technology required to meet this goal . The result is a complete system that offers easily automatable , ondemand deep hole drilling processes for the most demanding surgical instrument applications : the UNE6-2i .
As a twin-spindle machine with two independent drilling axes , the UNE6- 2i inherently has the capabilities manufacturers expect from a highperformance deep hole drilling machine . Counter-rotation , specialized workholding and superior alignment and precision allow shops to confidently hold concentricity tolerances and minimize mismatches , even at the extreme D : d ratios common in the medical industry . In addition , the UNISIG Smart Control Interface simplifies operation , while an innovative flow-based coolant system automatically reacts to pressure changes for effective chip evacuation and high process security .
What allows the UNE6-2i to truly shine as a part of the surgical instrument production process , however , is the in-machine automation . After the front spindle drills the first hole , a robot takes it out of the spindle , puts the hole onto the second spindle , and loads another fresh blank into the first spindle . The robot ’ s perfect repeatability ensures the highest hole quality – and the only human labor required for the process is loading bar stock into the Swiss-style machines , preparing the blanks for the UNE6-2i ’ s robot , and sending the finished parts on for post-processing .
The UNE6-2i ’ s capabilities also give manufacturers significant production flexibility . Two holes with two different diameters could be simultaneously drilled in a single part , or two parts could be inprocess simultaneously to allow operators or robots to load and unload the machine without stopping . Alternately , this twinspindle configuration can be used to drill halfway through a part from one end with the first spindle and allow the second spindle to finish the hole from the opposite end .
Further information on all machines of the UNE series and the complete UNISIG machine program is available at : www . unisig . de
72 PECM Issue 54