Milling machine industry analysis: the market will gradually replace manual operations

A milling machine mainly refers to a machine tool that uses a milling cutter to process various surfaces of a workpiece. Usually, the milling cutter is dominated by rotational motion, and the movement of the workpiece and the milling cutter is the feed motion. It can process planes, grooves, various curved surfaces, gears, etc.


A milling machine is a machine tool that uses a milling cutter to mill a workpiece. In addition to milling planes, grooves, gear teeth, threads and spline shafts, milling machines can also process more complex profiles, with higher efficiency than planers, and are widely used in machinery manufacturing and repair departments.


A milling machine is a machine tool with a wide range of uses. It can process planes (horizontal planes, vertical planes), grooves (key slots, T-shaped slots, dovetail slots, etc.), toothed parts (gears, spline shafts, sprockets), Spiral surface (thread, spiral groove) and various curved surfaces. In addition, it can also be used to process the surface and inner hole of the rotating body and perform cutting work. When the milling machine is working, the workpiece is installed on the worktable or the accessories such as the indexing head. The main movement of the milling cutter is the rotation, supplemented by the feed movement of the worktable or the milling head, and the workpiece can obtain the required processing surface. Due to the multi-blade intermittent cutting, the productivity of the milling machine is high. Simply put, a milling machine is a machine tool that can mill, drill and bore a workpiece.


The first universal milling machine (Brown, 1862) After a period of silence, the milling machine became active again in the United States. In contrast, Whitney and Pratt can only be said to have laid the groundwork for the invention and application of milling machines. The credit for actually inventing milling machines that can be applied to various operations in factories should be attributed to American engineer Joseph Brown.


In 1862, Brown of the United States manufactured the world's first universal milling machine, which is an epoch-making innovation in terms of universal indexing disc and comprehensive milling cutter. The worktable of the universal milling machine can rotate at a certain angle in the horizontal direction, and has accessories such as end milling heads. When his "universal milling machine" was exhibited at the Paris Exposition in 1867, it was a great success. At the same time, Brown also designed a form milling cutter that would not be deformed after being ground, and then manufactured a grinding machine for grinding the milling cutter, making the milling machine reach the current level.


The milling machine was first created by the American E. Whitney in 1818 as a horizontal milling machine. In order to mill the spiral groove of the twist drill bit, American J.R. Brown created the first universal milling machine in 1862, which was the prototype of the lifting table milling machine. The gantry milling machine appeared around 1884. In the 1920s, a semi-automatic milling machine appeared, and the workbench used the stopper to complete the automatic conversion of feed-fast or fast-feed. After 1950, the control system of milling machines developed rapidly, and the application of digital control greatly improved the automation of milling machines. Especially after the 1970s, the digital control system of the microprocessor and the automatic tool change system were applied on the milling machine, which expanded the processing range of the milling machine and improved the processing accuracy and efficiency. With the intensification of the mechanization process, CNC programming has been widely used in machine tool operations, which has greatly released the labor force. CNC programming milling machines will gradually replace manual operations. The requirements for employees will also be higher and higher, and of course the efficiency will be higher and higher.

According to Hengzhou Bozhi, the British invented boring machines and planers for the needs of industrial revolutions such as steam engines, while Americans devoted themselves to the invention of milling machines in order to produce a large number of weapons. A milling machine is a machine with milling cutters of various shapes, which can cut workpieces of special shapes, such as spiral grooves, gear shapes, etc.


As early as 1664, the British scientist Hooke created a machine for cutting by means of a rotating circular cutter, which can be regarded as the original milling machine, but the society did not respond enthusiastically to it at that time. In the 1840s, Pratt designed the so-called Lincoln milling machine. Of course, it is American Whitney who really established the status of milling machines in machine manufacturing.