I recently attended the International Manufacturers Trade Show (IMTS) 2006, held at McCormick Place in Chicago Sept 6 - 13. The two days I was there didn't give nearly enough time to see the countless technologies and innovations that packed the exhibition halls. There were large crowds checking out the wide variety of machine tools, lasers, waterjets, robots, metrology equipment, associated components, and CAD and CAM software products. Attending IMTS made me feel as if manufacturing is definitely alive and well, especially anything to do with medical. Exhibitors included companies from Japan, Spain, and Italy, and the U.S.



Innovation ranged from the bread-and-butter variety up to cutting-edge ways to automate production. Ideas were everywhere. One I particularly liked because it seemed a perfect example of building the proverbial better mousetrap: DE-STA-CO targets clamps for holding workpieces, such as components that are to be welded together. The company has patented an improvement in the clamping action of one device, an improvement so simple one wonders why no one thought of it years ago. The new clamp is two to three times smaller than previous ones and can produce up to 600 lb of clamping force. What lets it do this is the design involving how the clamp locks. Basically, its pivot point is lower down so when the clamp arm swings, it lowers in a straight line. The older clamps, on the other hand, had a slight pull-back motion due to the different pivot position.



Another seemingly basic yet clever idea comes from Rego-Fix, a toolholder builder that has invented a new toolholding system involving mechanical forces holding the cutting tools and built-in stops. Tool and holder seat easily and exactly with runouts of 0.0001 in. This supports such applications as an extremely long holder nose that can reach into the nooks and crannies of complex parts such as molds.



And Omax waterjets let users import CAD models directly in DWG, IGES, or DWF formats and select the part lines, surface finishes, material type and thickness, and operating parameters. The software then generates the correct toolpaths. This is not quite like generating the toolpaths of rigid tools because the jet of abrasive slurry and water deflects backwards as it enters the material. A company engineer, Dr. Olsen, invented algorithms for the software that takes this effect into account. Waterjets can cut material as thick as 12 in. and are also good for parts that require no HAZ.

Also, FARO Technologies showed its interesting scanner that sends a laser into a spinning mirror, generating 120,000 points/sec to get a 3D point cloud. The device can scan in a whole room, for example, and a ‘walk-through’ element in the software then lets users walk through a virtual environment in an uncannily realistic fashion. One interesting application is scanning crime scenes. All details are captured and can be measured and analyzed later. The software even computes such details as blood spatter.