New Breton Matrix 1000

Renewed in form and substance, Matrix 1000 of Breton is designed for the needs of mold makers and presents some innovative solutions designed precisely for the specific needs of this sector.

Matrix 1000 is not a new name in the Breton panorama : born for the mold makers market, in the past it has achieved great success. Today, in light of technological improvements and renewed market demands, it has been updated to obtain even greater feedback.

It has been completely redesigned : it has kept the name and target (the mold makers) of the original, but otherwise it includes many innovations that also wink at different sectors such as aeronautics precisely for its characteristics of sturdiness, precision and volume available. Every detail has been re-evaluated and verified.

Some of the ideas that contributed to the success of the previous Matrix 1000 have “held up” the years, while others have been revised and updated.

Despite being designed for mold makers, in fact, it has also met with significant success in the aeronautical world .

The latter, however, generally requires a wider field of work (think of some structural components). Some of the solutions designed for modularity had an impact on costs: in the new version the design concept was revised, maintaining the good things done in the previous version, simplifying where possible and ensuring interchangeability of accessories to ensure the use of the machine even in the aerospace world (just like the different milling heads).

Listen to users

Who better than the user knows what is needed in a specific sector? And so Breton went from a top-down approach, with the company offering solutions and features to the market, to a bottom-up one, where market demands drive the development of the new models.

Matrix 1000 was therefore born from the demands of the mold makers market, who provided needs, feedback and suggestions. The approach is simple: the largest piece that is generally machined in the mold industry, such as car bumper or dashboard, was thought of, and racing was established from that.

We then started with the simplest things, apparently trivial but which are required in all workshops (such as being able to access the work field without tripping over the steps, or even being able to easily clean the work field when necessary without the chips ending up in interstices. then difficult to reach), going up to the more complex ones (such as greater structural rigidity for more important removals or less thermal expansion) in a real user experience.

Another request from users is a lapidary “it must cost less and work more”: difficult to obtain, but not impossible. Indeed, Breton designers have been able to combine greater performance with a limited purchase cost.

Designed for the world of molds

Among the other innovations introduced in this version, Breton has thought of a single-sided head particularly appreciated by mold makers. Compared to fork heads, in fact, it allows you to work closer to the piece (therefore with shorter tools) or to reach points otherwise inaccessible with a fork head. It is a model made with peculiar characteristics, such as direct drive, safety brakes, reading encoders and with a body with a structure resistant to bending and twisting as much as the fork.

Obviously in the aeronautical world the unilateral is not an acceptable solution, therefore the fork head remains available: this is one of the characteristics that see the new Matrix 1000 suitable for application sectors as diverse as that of molds and aeronautics.

Matrix 1000 is offered by default with the Heidenhain iTNC 640 numerical control, well known in the world of mold makers, but is also available with the Siemens 840D SL model.

Redesigned from top to bottom

As mentioned, an excellent job has been done from the point of view of development and engineering of the machine: it costs less than the previous one, but at the same time has superior characteristics from the point of view of precision, performance and productivity.
In fact, it has a reduced footprint compared to the previous model, despite the travels of the axes are greater (300 mm more in Y). In the world of molds, workshops often have space problems and sometimes this represents the discriminating factor between choosing one model over another.

The modularity remains: for the Z and Y axes only one size is available, while in X the possibility of choosing strokes from 2,500 to 4,000 mm is guaranteed. In any case, the focus remains on the mold maker.
Speaking of the work area, the Breton designers have provided a cover with stainless steel sheets for the internal compartment: this is a solution that avoids the classic “paint stripping” effect found on other machines. Being able to count on a material that is by definition resistant to the chemical aggression of fluids and mechanics of swarf is an added value much appreciated by users.
Chip evacuation is another feature strongly felt by users. If with steel this need is not so evident, when processing aluminum the volume of chips produced is considerable: milling rotational aluminum molds means starting from large blocks by removing a quantity of material that reaches 80/90% of the total. In this case, being able to count on an efficient evacuator means keeping the working field clean and preventing the accumulation from creating problems for the machine itself. For this Breton has provided a front belt conveyor that allows you to easily open the doors and two lateral screw conveyors that bring the remaining chips towards the front one. The rear wall is also attached to the table in order to avoid the accumulation of material.
The same stainless steel walls also protect the shoulders and the bellows, which thus remain cleaner and easier to wash if part of the chips should accumulate.

Details that matter

That of the installation timing is a peculiarity deeply felt by the end users. For this reason Breton has foreseen a series of improvements also from this point of view which allows to reduce the duration of the commissioning by about 20%.

For example, the basic proposal envisages the access step to the work area; in this way it is possible to install it on a good quality industrial floor or foundation, without having to carry out special masonry work. The machine is anchored and is immediately operational. An advantage also in anticipation of a future movement of the machine (not remote possibility in workshops with limited spaces, perhaps to bring in a new model with a different footprint). There is no need to dig for the conveyor, plus all cables run inside the machine.

For those who prefer a solution at the same level between the worktop and the floor (for example to enter directly with the forklift) it is possible to carry out an excavation to embed the work table flush with the floor.
The evacuator is positioned in front, with exit from the magazine side (on the right or left of your choice): on the front of the machine the operator has the numerical control, the tool magazine and the chip box, without having to move to the rear.

On one side there is an access for the expansion of the tool magazine, which basically ensures 30 places but which can double on request. These are values perfectly in line with the demands of the world of molds, where large numbers are not needed.
From the point of view of usability, it is important to remember that electrical panels require a safety distance from other machines to be opened. They are now positioned on the rear of the Matrix 1000, which in this way can be installed up to 1 meter from the wall without encountering critical issues related to safety of use and maintenance.

More stock removal on each material

The greater removal capacity was also obtained thanks to the structure designed and built to support higher cutting forces . The previous spindle reached 100 Nm of torque, while the versions designed for this evolution are 160 Nm on the 18,000 rpm spindle. Alternatively, you can choose different models with 100 Nm and 18,000 rpm or 64 Nm and 28,000 rpm.

The structural stiffness of shoulders, beam and quill is higher than that of the previous model. This quality goes hand in hand with the new electrospindle with a continuous torque of 160 Nm, which allows greater stock removal even on tough materials. In addition to its robustness (certified by the FEM analysis of the structure), the new Matrix 1000 features a patented solution that makes it less sensitive to temperature variations. This, combined with the thermo-symmetrical structure, increases the overall accuracy in all operating conditions.

Another request coming from the world of molds is that of more robust tool cones both to accommodate the greater removal capacity of the machines, and to improve the operating conditions of the tools (which in this way suffer less effects from vibrations). For this Breton has provided both the classic HSK63 attack, and the more solid HSK100.
The axis strokes are equal to 1,000 mm in Z, 2,500 mm in Y and from 2,500 to 4,000 in X.
The motorization is of the gantry type with 4 motors on the master / slave X axis and backlash recovery; Y is moved by a recirculating ball screw with clearance recovery, while Z has two recirculating ball screws without balancing, useful for increasing reactivity during the work phase.

A quill with hydrostatic guides is also available on request: a solution that dampens vibrations even more effectively.
If the use of torque motors with encoders is envisaged for the rotary axes, on the linear ones the company has preferred to stay on a more “traditional” solution, which still ensures high-level performance: the screws and racks ensure up to 5 m / s2 and 50 m / min, but without the typical problems of using linear motors (consumption, design complexity of the cooling system, etc.). Insensitive to heat

This result was not achieved with the use of a large number of temperature probes.

Breton, on the other hand, has foreseen a particular management of the temperature variation: the machine – within obvious limits – can be hot, and it must remain so. The important thing is that this temperature variation occurs in a gradual and controlled way, so that the thermo-symmetrical structure adapts. To obtain this result, a particular insulation of the structure has been provided: if there should be a sudden temperature variation outside, for example of the order of 5 ° C, the machine will resist this variation and will take much longer to heat up and therefore to expand. It is an idea already well known in construction for the efficiency of buildings, where a “thermal coat” keeps temperatures unchanged as far as possible with respect to the outside.

The sheets themselves that make up the machine have a temperature difference of 0.2 ° C between them: a very low value and perfectly manageable by the passive compensation systems (the “thermal coat”) and active (the electronics) present in the Matrix 1000.

In addition to the temperature sensors in the main bodies of the machine, those for monitoring vibrations have been inserted on the head. Basically this is sufficient to intervene in case of need and stop the processing before damage occurs (such as in the presence of an unexpected excess stock), but on request it is possible to have the adaptive package, which varies the working parameters based on to the reactions recorded in the machine (power absorption, vibrations, etc.).

In any case, the spindle is of the cartridge type : it can be disassembled simply by the user by acting on a few screws and through a quick wiring system. By doing so, in case of need (such as a collision or the request for different performances) the user can intervene quickly and restart after a centering cycle. On request, Breton can also supply an automatic device for changing the cartridge.