From its biggest ever stand at a MACH show, Aylesbury-based Thame Workholding (www.thame-eng.com) will display a number of products receiving their UK exhibition premiere (Hall 6 Stand 170).

For instance, RoboTrex is the first Lang automation equipment based on the small QuickPoint 52 system.

Suitable for retrofitting to the front or side of a machine tool, it can work with individual components weighing up to 12kg.

Customers can choose from up to four specially designed workpiece trolleys that serve as vice storage systems.

Furthermore, two new RoboTrex vices, with jaw widths of 46 and 77mm, can be mounted vertically for optimal use of space when being picked up by the robot.

Another MACH first on the Thame stand will be the Inoflex VL range — a weight-reduced series of self-centring four-jaw chucks that can be used on vertical turning centres; they offer a part-clamping capacity of 420-1,200mm.

Compensating features allow the clamping of round, cubic and geometrically irregular workpieces when milling or turning.

While conventional chucks operate with all jaws moving in the same direction, either towards or away from the centre of the chuck, the Inoflex chuck functions with the jaws moving together or apart on two parallel axes.

The associated reduction in weight improves clamping forces at higher machining speeds, while simultaneously reducing the stress and forces placed on the spindle when machining large workpieces.

Thame will also introduce its latest series of multi-face fixture systems for five-axis machining.

This three-faced fixture facilitates the clamping of three individual components on a single device.

According to the company, the fixture provides greater clearance and access to five-axis parts, especially when compared with standard four-face tombstone systems.