Single machine serves as fully automated pipe cutting shop

HGG’s 3-D Tube Cutting Line (TCL) combines precision tube cutting with an automated and custom-designed infeed/outfeed logistics system to help increase production capacity.

The line offers the accuracy to serve as an alternative to laser machines, and its automation gives users the flexibility to adapt quickly to changing production volume and tight lead times, the company states. It combines a pipe and 3-D tube and pipe cutting machine with an automated fabrication line with multiple outfeed stations, resulting in a fully automated pipe cutting shop in a single machine.

The company’s 2.0 3-D pipe cutting eliminates operator interference with a new press-and-play technology. The chuck-style machine design keeps the torch in a fixed position while the cutting line moves material and finished parts automatically, and at different lengths, through designated outfeed stations.

According to the company, the line reduces welding and fitting part preparation time by more than 30 percent. In addition, parallel-executed logistics help reduce total throughput time by 32 percent. The closed cutting cell includes a fume-extracting system for safety.