Siemens SINUMERIK 840D sl Function Manual page 136

Several Operator Panels on Several NCUs, Distributed Systems (B3)
2.5 NCU link
The diagram shows the main components of a simple multi-spindle plant. Several spindles
are mounted mechanically on the drum, each of which can used to perform a different
machining operation. Together with the slide (X and Z axes), they form a machining station
which is assigned to one channel. A workpiece is rotated by one spindle.
The workpiece to be machined is loaded and unloaded only once. The tool is mounted on
the slide (e.g. X, Z axes). Various different tools can be loaded for each machining operation.
The tool is continuously assigned to the machining station. The workpiece-holding spindles
are moved from one machining station to the next.
The spindle can only be checked for the current machining process. The channel must be
able to address the slide axes and the current spindle at any given time. Every time a spindle
moves on to the next machining unit, however, the spindle addressed by the channel must
be a different machine axis. The "axis container" concept solves the variable imaging of
channel axes on machine axes. The machine axes might belong to another NCU connected
by means of the NCU link. An accessible machine axis belonging to another NCU is referred
to as a link axis (see "Link axes").
The following subjects are closely related to the NCU link function and are dealt with in
separate subsections.
● Link axes
● Axis container
● Cross-NCU user communication
● Configuration of the link grouping
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Function Manual, 01/2008, 6FC5397-1BP10-3BA0
Extended Functions