Taiwan's leader in electrical discharge machining

CHMER: Moving from Grade A to A+

MM Mechanical Technology Magazine 262 December Issue

Text/Yan Jiaying

With the orange English word CHMER as the main body and the totem shape of the "blue technology bird" spreading its wings, CHMER is marketed around the world with its own brand "CHMER". The company passed the year of "establishment" last year and entered its 31st year this year. The growth along the way is due to a persistent goal. Wang Wuxiong, chairman of CHMER, said: "Because CHMER adheres to the belief of 'quality first, leading technology', it is highly trusted and supported by the mold industry."

Innovation in the Mold Industry: The Rival of Electrical Discharge Machining - High-speed Engraving and Milling Machine

CHMER, which can be said to be Taiwan's leader in electric discharge machining machines and wire cutting machines, specializes in the production of equipment required for mold manufacturing, and was the first to introduce Taiwan's products to the European market. In recent years, it has also invested in the research and development of high-speed engraving and milling machines. Wang Wuxiong said: "Character-engraving electric discharge machines are slowly being replaced by high-speed engraving and milling machines. Therefore, CHMER invested in research and development 4 or 5 years ago. It has not only been commercialized, but has also been recognized in the market."

The advantage of electric discharge machining is that it can perform very fine processing in deep slits, and is suitable for processing hardened mold materials. However, high-speed engraving and milling machines that have been well-established in foreign countries cannot be used to engrave metal molds. Processing speed is 3 to 5 times faster than that of CNC electric discharge machines, and it can process 60-degree steel. The cutting speed is very fast, which poses a great threat to electric discharge machines. Wang Wuxiong pointed out: "Although Swiss Qiami (CHARMILLES) has already discovered this phenomenon, but high-speed engraving and milling machines are still a big innovation in the mold industry, and CHMER is growing together with the mold industry."

Slotted gantry structure design, easy to assemble

CHMER uses the PC-Based architecture on the controller, which was developed in cooperation with the Institute of Machinery of the Industrial Technology Research Institute 15 or 16 years ago. Wang Wuxiong said: "Using the PC-Based controller developed by ourselves, the price is "Excellent products come with high quality and low price," he emphasized: "Even if the hardness is the same, the software can meet the performance requirements of different products to develop different product applications."

In addition, CHMER's controller is equipped with a fully closed loop formed by a high-precision optical ruler to ensure accurate positioning. It also has a power-off reset function. When a power outage occurs, it can use the optical ruler's assistance to return to the original position after power is restored. The processing of the unfinished program continues at the break point.

As for the characteristics of the machine, it uses a square-shaped gantry structure design, which is easy to assemble, and has high rigidity and optimal control of thermal balance. The dense peak nest box base design, supplemented by a three-point support design, ensures the stability of the machine body. The non-interference design between the lower arm and the water tank improves processing accuracy and completely eliminates the possibility of general immersion water leakage and the replacement of leak-proof parts. concern.

Automatic threading in 6 seconds, nearly 100% successful

For the automatic function of WEDM wire breaking and threading, CHMER has developed a threading time of only 6 seconds, with a success rate close to 100%. Even for 200 mm thick workpieces, it can reach 90%. It can be executed without returning to the starting cutting point or draining water. Thread the thread directly at the break point, which is quite convenient.

Wang Wuxiong also pointed out that the high-response linear motor drive can overcome the backlash phenomenon caused by traditional transmission methods, achieve accurate and smooth axis movement without backlash, and achieve high-precision positioning and processing. He said: "The linear motors in precision discharge machines are developed and manufactured by related companies; the first linear motor used in electric discharge machines in the world is SODICK, and the second is CHMER. SODICK has been mass-produced, and CHMER Next year, it will also enter the market from the laboratory stage, and it will be positioned as equipment for mold workers."

In addition, for environmental protection and energy saving, CHMER has also developed an effective energy-saving design, which not only saves energy waste, but also reduces the temperature of the electric control box. For water temperature control, a high-precision machining fluid temperature control device is used, and the temperature difference is controlled at plus or minus 0.3 degrees to ensure that the workpiece is not affected by temperature changes and the accuracy is truly achieved in high-precision machining. Wang Wuxiong said: "In the past, it was just a constant temperature in the processing plant, to a constant temperature room for the entire machine. To process precision molds, the temperature of the machine is very important, and CHMER seals the entire machine so that the inside and outside of the machine have the same constant temperature." Control to keep the temperature in a stable indoor space.”

In terms of power boxes, air convection is traditionally used to produce a cooling effect, but this cannot prevent dust from entering the inside of the power box. The cooling effect is also limited, and it is impossible to truly protect the electronic parts inside. However, CHMER's dust-free water-cooled power box design provides electronic The parts are dust-free and equipped with high-efficiency water cooling methods to greatly extend the service life of electronic parts.

From general use to precision, replacing quantity with quality

Taiwan's booming 3C and IT industries require many high-precision molds. However, in the past, they mostly relied on imports from advanced countries. Wang Wuxiong believes that the market has changed, "Although many manufacturers in the past only bought wire-cutting machines from foreign brands. However, in the past 6 to 7 years, more than half of CHMER's performance has been wire cutting machines, with an annual output of about 600 units, which has become CHMER's main business product." Currently, CHMER adopts the method of replacing quantity with quality in production. The method has changed from the original general-purpose model to the precision model; we would rather reduce the output and replace it with a high-quality machine. He pointed out: "Although the world was dominated by imported brands in the early days, Taiwan's EDM industry as a whole has grown a lot in recent years and has certain processing technology capabilities."

In addition, Wang Wuxiong said that the general wire cutting machine has two action heads, one is the processing head and the other is wire cutting, but it can only be used as a water jet or wire cutting machine at the same time. He believes that this is not the best for the Taiwan market. Practical, "So CHMER divided it into two machines to make it, and the price was cheaper." He also said: "In the past, water jets and wire cutting seemed to be in different fields. The speed of wire cutting machines was very high, but compared with water cutting machines, they were The knife ratio is still at least 10 to 20 times different; CHMER’s water jet is even more precise than ordinary water jets, and it has a stainless steel tabletop that can be fixed.”

Promote Taiwanese machinery to the international market

The high-precision linear motor immersed wire cutting machine (P42SL) currently launched by CHMER won the second "Research and Development Innovation Product" Excellence Award. Judging from its characteristics, the software and hardware used are self-developed CNC PC-Based The controller can reduce costs, simplify maintenance technology, and has an easy-to-learn and easy-to-use human-machine interface. It also has functions such as processing graphics, trajectory display, and easy addition of new capabilities.

Regarding future performance, Wang Wuxiong hopes that "the overall performance next year will grow by at least 15 to 20%." Looking back on the past, CHMER founded "CHMER" in 1975 with a capital of 200,000, and launched Taiwan's first "all-transistor "Electrical discharge machining machine; in 2005, Taiwan's first precision linear motor wire cutting machine was launched. At the same time, it ranked 963rd in the "Top 1000 Manufacturing Industries" compiled by World Magazine. It was also the first company in Taiwan to win both the Ministry of Economic Affairs' "Panstone Award" and Manufacturer of the "Little Giant Award".

Along the way, CHMER has always been a good partner of the mold manufacturing industry and a model for Taiwan's machinery industry. In the future, if Taiwan's electrical discharge machining and wire cutting machines are to shine in the international market, CHMER will definitely be an important promoter.

CHMER Growth trajectory

1975 Founded "CHMER Industrial Co., Ltd." and launched the first domestically produced "all-electrical crystal type" electric discharge processing machine.

1977 Launched the electrical discharge machining machine with "discharge time and rest time can be controlled at will".

1980 Became the first to export domestically produced electric discharge machines to the European market.

1981 Launched the first domestically produced new electric discharge processing machine "P.W.M. DC servo motor drive".

1983 The first electric discharge machining machine factory in the country to win the "Golden Dragon Award".

1985

April: Launched the country's first CNC electric discharge processing machine "with shaking and expansion functions".

July: The country's first "U-SPARK ultra-fine and mirror processing device" electric discharge processing machine.

July 1986: Launched the country's first electrical discharge machine with "gapless feed device for X and Y axes".

April 1987: Launched "Wire Cutting Electrical Discharge Machining Machine (W-Cut EDM)" and won the Excellent Product Design Award from the Foreign Trade Association.

August 1988: Launched "deep hole electrical discharge machining machine" (H-EDM).

1989

March: Launched the "Gantry Column Type" national ultra-large electric discharge machining machine.

April: Launched a new CNC electrical discharge machine with programmable interface control that can modify processing conditions at any time during discharge.

1994

January: "Z-axis programmable - NC electrical discharge machining machine CM240Z+50NZ" won the Taiwan Excellence Award.

January: "CNC Electric Discharge Machining Machine CM240C+50N" won the Taiwan Excellence Award.

1995

January: The first electric discharge processing machine manufacturer in the country to be awarded ISO 9002 and certified by the Commodity Inspection Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

March: Chairman Wang was awarded the "First Outstanding Invention Entrepreneur Golden Talent Award of the Republic of China" by the Invention Association of the Republic of China for his Z-axis programmable electric discharge machining machine.

1996

February: "CM855C+75NC", "CM645C+75NC" and "CM380Z+50NZ" won the "Taiwan Excellence Award" again.

February: Wire cutting machine, CNC electric discharge machine, and Z-axis programmable electric discharge machine won the "International Golden Globe Award" again.



January 1997: "CW430F/W" and "CW530F/W" won the "Taiwan Excellence Award" again.

1998 The wire cutting machine "CW640" won the "Taiwan Excellence Award" again.

1999 Won the 8th National Rock Award and the 2nd Little Giant Award.

2001 Launched China’s first precision gantry type water-immersed wire cutting machine and powder CNC electric discharge machine.

January 2002: "CW432S" and "A53C+75N" won the "Taiwan Excellence Award" again.

2003

January: "CM434Z+50EZ" won the "Taiwan Excellence Award" again.

January: Z-axis programmable electrical discharge machining machine won the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund Innovation Research Award.

2005 Launched Taiwan's first precision linear motor wire cutting machine and won the Machine Tool Research and Development Innovation Product Award.

According to statistics from Tianxia Magazine, it ranks 963 among the "Top 1000 Manufacturing Industries".