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The Development History of CNC Machine
Read about the history of CNC machine tools and how they have changed over time in this article.
1、Introduction to CNC machine tools
CNC machine tools can be used in many different ways. When the object being processed changes, all that needs to be done is to change the input program instructions. The processing speed is better than that of most automatic machine tools, and it can process complex profiles accurately. So, it is good for processing small and medium batches, making changes often, and meeting high-precision needs. For pieces with complicated shapes, you can get good economic results.
As numerical control technology improves, more types of machine tools are being made that use numerical control systems. These include lathes, milling machines, boring machines, drilling machines, grinding machines, gear processing machines, and electric discharge machining machines. Also, there are machines like machining centers, turning centers, etc. that can change tools automatically and do multiple processes with one clamping.
2 Overview of the development stages of CNC machine tools
In the beginning, the speed of computers was not very fast. This didn’t affect scientific computers or data processing much, but it did mean that machine tools couldn’t be controlled in real time. People have to use digital logic circuits to “build” a special computer for machine tools to use as a numerical control system. This is called hardware-connected numerical control, or numerical control for short. With the development of parts, this stage has gone through three generations. The first generation was electronic tubes, which came out in 1952. The second generation was transistors, which came out in 1959, and the third generation was small scale integrated circuits, which came out in 1965.
In 1946, the world’s most advanced electronic computer was created. This shows that people have made tools that can help with and sometimes do the work of the mind. Compared to the tools that people in agricultural and industrial societies made, this one is just a way to make physical work easier. Compared to other things, it is a big change, and it has set the stage for people to join the information society in the future.
Six years later, in 1952, computer technology was added to machine tools. This led to the creation of front-end machine tools in the United States. Traditional machine tools have changed for the better since then. The CNC system has been getting better and better for almost 50 years, through two stages and six generations.
3 The development history of general numerical control
In 1948, the U.S. Air Force asked the Parsons Corporation of the United States to come up with processing equipment for airplane propeller blade outline samples. Due to the complicated and varied shapes of the templates and the need for high precision, it is hard for regular processing equipment to adapt, so computer-controlled machine tools were suggested. With the help of the Servo Mechanism Research Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the company started researching CNC machine tools in 1949. In 1952, a large vertical copy milling machine was turned into the world’s first three-coordinate CNC milling machine. Soon The real production will begin right away.
At that time, the numerical control device used electronic tube components, which were bulky and expensive. They were only used to process complex surface parts in a few departments with special needs, like the aviation industry. In 1959, transistor components and printed circuit boards were made, allowing the numerical control device to enter the mainstream. After 1960, relatively simple and inexpensive CNC drilling machines and CNC milling machines with linear control developed quickly. This made CNC machine tools more and more popular in different parts of the machinery manufacturing industry over time.
In 1965, the third-generation integrated circuit numerical control device came out. This device is small, uses little power, and is more reliable. It also lowers prices, which helps CNC machine tool types and output grow. At the end of the 1960s, a direct numerical control system (DNC) that controlled multiple machine tools directly came out. This system was also called a group control system. At the same time, a computer numerical control system (CNC) that was run by a small computer made the numerical control device enter the previous position. Minicomputers were a big part of the fourth generation.
In 1974, a microcomputer numerical control device (MNC for short) was created using a microprocessor and a semiconductor memory. This is the fifth generation of numerical control systems. Compared to the third generation, the fifth generation has doubled the functions of the numerical control device, while reducing its size to 1/20 of the original, cutting its price by 3/4, and making it much more reliable.
4 Computer numerical control stages
By 1970, the small computer industry had been found and mass-produced, so it was put at the center of the numerical control system and the stage of computer numerical control began. In 1971, INTEL Corporation of the United States was the first company in the world to combine the two most important parts of a computer—the arithmetic unit and the controller—onto a single chip using large-scale integrated circuit technology. This chip was called a microprocessor, or a microprocessor, and it was the first time that two of the most important parts of a computer were on the same chip. CPU is short for “central processing unit.”
The microprocessor was used in the numerical control system by 1974. This is because the small computer’s function is too strong, and controlling a machine tool is not as cost-effective and sensible as using a microprocessor. And then the structure of the small machine to solve. Since the microprocessor is the most important part of a computer that can be used for many different things, it is called computer numerical control.
By 1990, the PC, or personal computer, had reached a very high level of performance. This meant that it could meet the requirements of being the central part of a numerical control system. Since then, the numerical control system has also reached the point where it works like a basic PC.
The stage of computer numerical control has gone through three generations. The fourth
generation was the minicomputer, which came out in 1970. The fifth generation was the microprocessor, which came out in 1974, and the sixth generation was the PC, which came out in 1990. Also, it should be mentioned that even though other countries have already changed the name to computer numerical control, or CNC, our country still calls it numerical control, or NC. We talk about “numerical control” all the time, but what we really mean is “numerical control computer.”
In the middle of the 20th century, as electronic technology improved, automated information processing, data processing, and electronic computers came on the scene. These brought new ideas to automation technology, such as using digital signals to control the movement and processing of machine tools. This helped machine tools become more automated. And development.
5 Conclusion
After that, point-controlled CNC machine tools grew quickly after 1960. Because a point control numerical control system is much easier to use than a contour control numerical control system. CNC milling machines, punching machines, and coordinate boring machines have all changed a lot because of this. Statistics show that 85% of the about 6,000 CNC machine tools that were actually used in 1966 were point-controlled machines. Some countries with well-developed industries, like Germany and Japan, have developed, made, and used CNC machine tools in turn.
With the fast development of microelectronics, computers, and software, CNC machine tools tend to have control systems that are smaller and have more functions. They also tend to be more reliable, and the CNC system itself will usually be able to do automatic programming.
In the future, there will be more types of CNC machine tools for multi-process centralized processing. Laser processing and other technologies will be used on cutting processing machine tools, which will increase the number of multi-process concentrated processes. CNC machine tools will also become more automated. It has been made better and has more monitoring functions. This makes it easier to use as a flexible manufacturing unit in a highly automated flexible manufacturing system.
