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Automated Diamond Turning Lathe for the Production of Copper Accelerator Cells--DAC Vision, Inc., 6390 Rose Lane, Carpinteria, CA 93013; 805-684-8307
Mr. James W. Drain, Principal Investigator
Mr. James W. Drain, Business Official
DOE Grant No. DE-FG03-99ER82774
Amount: $100,000
Copper accelerator cells, as well as sub-micron tolerance metal parts, are now manually produced on research quality, single-point, diamond-turning lathes, largely of foreign manufacture. The process is costly and finished part quality is inconsistent due to human intervention. A production floor, diamond-turning lathe for single-point, diamond- turning metal parts based upon an existing product line will be built. It will feature automated part loading and unloading, and be optimized for the manufacture of copper accelerator cells. Phase I will investigate rotary cutting of parts, potential problems with automation and contamination, and the practicality of cutting both sides of a part on one machine. In addition, specifications for an automated lathe will be developed.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: By improving part quality and consistency, the automated turning lathe should find application in the manufacture of sub-micron tolerance metal production parts. This tool should also be valuable to industries that produce metal parts for precision motion control, such as the disk and tape drive industries, and metal optics industries.