Saving tool life quantities

Tool life, Tool life distance

When tool life quantities are recorded, a tool's intervention time (tool life) and the distance covered during intervention (tool life distance) are calculated.

Only travel by motion blocks is considered. Positioning by rapid traversing has no impact on the tool life quantities.

The tool ID, intervention time and intervention distance data is indicated by the interpolator after removal of the tool.

Saving tool life quantities 1:

The tool life is recorded in [ms], and the tool life distance in [mm].

Time of storage

With every tool change announced with the T command and when P-CHAN-00076 is set, the complete tool ID, the tool life and the tool life distance are sent automatically by the interpolator to the tool management and are stored there. All quantities are then set to zero and life quantity recording for the newly inserted tool is started again.

Weighting

The weighting of the tool quantities can be modified via the NC program. The modifiable factor serves to adjust tool life recording to the use of the tool.

Weighting factors

The following two decoder variables serve to program the weighting factors of the tool life and the tool life distance (access not in synchronism with real time):

Tool life weighting 

V.TLM.TIME_FACT

Tool life distance weighting 

V.TLM.DIST_FACT

The variables can be read and written. Both factors are 100% when the program is started. Both variables may be written in an NC block.

Example

A tool should be weighted with the factor 100% if it is always in contact. If material removal only takes place over half of the travel distance, however, you can calculate with a weighting factor of 0.5.

The default tool life and tool life distance weighting factors amount to 1.0.

Saving tool life quantities 2:

Conditions for recording

  • Rapid traversing blocks are ignored in tool life recording.
  • If the feed rate is zero, tool life recording is also idle.
  • All motion types except for rapid traversing interpolation are used for tool life recording, e.g. G01, G02, G03, spline interpolation and G63 are included.
  • The weighting factors are included in calculation.
  • In the case of axes involved in motion, no distinction is made between main and slave axes. The contouring feed rate is always taken for distance addition. In the case of slave axes programmed on their own in the block, the distance covered by the slave axis is added to the tool life distance. If this is not wished, the programmer can be intervened correctively by specifying the weighting factors V.TLM.TIME_FACT/ DIST_FACT = 0.
  • Active master and slave arrangements are not considered.
  • In the event of a reset or program aborting, the values that were last current are also included in the tool management database.
  • No data is sent if a tool is only inserted, i.e. no tool was previously in the spindle and the current T number is equal to zero.