HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN OF CNC MACHINES

People have been making life easier for centuries with the help of machines. All inventions of mankind were born out of the need of the moment and, unfortunately, laziness. Machines were primarily intended to replace man's physical labor, to make it easier for him, to make it more pleasant.

To understand how complex the process of creating the first cnc machine tools Let's first trace the history of the inventions from which the cnc machine is built.

YEAR 1890 - data punch card system

The original data storage cards were developed as early as the 1804 r and were used to control weaving looms. Initially, they determined where different hooks could be activated or not, so that textile thread could be applied according to the desired pattern. The patterns could have been infinite in a variety of correlations, as these cards could be chained together at any length. This invention allowed further development of data storage W 1890 r engineer Herman Hollerith began experimenting with the methodology for reading these cards and the equipment necessary to do so. He developed his own card system for the 1890 U.S. census - at the same time becoming a forerunner in the science of data processing. Herman Hollerith founded his own company which sold the data storage card machines and technologies he invented. Later, his company became part of IBM - an invention that marked the beginning of computer data storage.

YEAR 1928 - Magnetic tape

German inventors pioneered the discovery of technology for recording, sending and storing data and techniques for recording magnetic signals on a conductive medium. W 1928 r  Fritz Pfleumer was the first to patent a magnetic tape. There are many spy stories associated with this invention. After the Allied victory over Germany in 1945, the Americans set their sights on seizing this technology. They succeeded in doing so successfully. The first CNC machines transferred large amounts of digital information just by using magnetic tape.

YEAR 1929 - the propeller pull

Not a necessary invention for the creation or operation of CNC machines, it nevertheless facilitated their operation, as it was the most reliable way to convert rotary motion into linear motion. The ball screw was invented in Texas in 1929 by Rudolph Boehm. Advantages of this solution in the first CNC machines - the screw provides low friction and high repeatability due to its mounting on a precision screw shaft.

 World War II - Servo motors

It is not possible to give an exact date for the emergence of servomotors, as they are a component of many earlier discoveries and technological advances, i.e. batteries, electrical conductivity , closed-loop backpressure systems. Undoubtedly, the development of servomotors was accelerated by World War II. At that time, servo motors helped direct the deployment of radars and anti-aircraft guns. The principle of servo motors is simple: they convert rotary motion into linear distance. The encoders of servo motors send electrical signals , which give accurate readings of their rotational position. When connected to the shaft of a screw in a CNC machine, this means that if the servo motor rotates by a fraction of a degree, the ball screw would move along one axis exactly a linear distance, and the encoder will display this as a reading. This is an essential interface in translating digital information into physical motion. All CNC machine tools rely on such motors to control their positions on each axis.

All the discoveries described above contributed as a component to the development of complete CNC systems. The first cnc machines  were related to the aerospace industry. Individual aircraft parts required reproducible and precise parts - human labor did not provide such parameters. The first development of numerically controlled systems began.

First routers  were developed right after World War II. The pioneer of the numerical control system was John T. Parsons. An inventor, he worked for his father's company in Traverse City, Michigan. In collaboration with an engineer he hired, Frank Stulen, they jointly developed a process using an IBM punch card reader to accurately calculate the curvature of helicopters needed by the newly formed US Air Force. Their work, which was revolutionary for the time, led to the creation of numerical control processes that served as a precursor to CNC machines. Beginning in 1949, Parson and Stullen, along with MIT's Servomechanisms Laboratory, designed a machine to produce precision machine parts based on digital control. The result of their research and work was the creation of a numerically controlled machine in 1952. The creation of the first design was skyrocketingly expensive - the cost was about $2 million in today's dollars - and due to the high cost, the Air Force halted applications to continue the research project.

At the same time, work on CNC machines began with a small CNC Machine Factory - Giddings & Lewis machine tool company. Its work was crowned with success. The engineers of this company succeeded in developing a machine using magnetic tape readers(instead of punch cards). The machine developed in 1957 by Giddings & Lewis was much cheaper to produce, in addition to improving the quality of the parts made and the efficiency of the machine.

Since then, numerical control machines have undergone continuous improvements. Today you can find modern 5-axis portal machine tools, cnc milling machines, milling plotters, cnc machine tools, cutters with diverse areas and purposes. CNC technology continues to develop to improve AND accelerate the manufacture of many items around us.

In the next article, we will introduce you to the further development of CNC.