With its new TS 444 infrared workpiece touch probe, HEIDENHAIN is presenting an innovative and elegant alternative to battery-operated touch probes. Unlike the conventional devices, the TS 444 does not need any batteries or charging units, so that handling, storage and disposal of batteries become entirely unnecessary.
Using changes in magnetic fields, an integrated air turbine generator provides the required electrical energy, which is buffered in high-energy capacitors. Because HEIDENHAIN touch probes feature an integrated blower, the compressed air for the probing point cleaning process can serve to drive the generator. The subsequently discharged air then is used to clean the probing point. The charging time varies depending on the pressure: The higher the pressure, the shorter is the charging time. With a recommended supply pressure of 5.5 bar, a touch probe is charged after about 3 seconds, allowing a probing time of 2 minutes.
Touch probes are ideal for quick and exact workpiece alignment as well as for automated workpiece measurement on the machine. Most CNC controls— particularly the TNC controls from HEIDENHAIN—offer numerous measuring cycles to automatically locate and measure common geometries such as bores, rectangular pockets, circular pockets, slots, studs, bolt hole circles and planes.
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