| Founded
in
1955,
by
Dr.
Thomas,
at
the
request
of
the
United
States
Air
Force,
Department
of
Scientific
Research.
Designed
and
built
the
first
telemetering
and
beacon
antennas
for
re-entry
vehicles
withstanding
the
high
temperatures
of
re-entry.
Designed
the
antennas
for
the
large
military
transport
(C5A)
and
all
of
the
U.S.
attack
aircraft
of
Desert
Storm
(F111,
F14,
F15,
F16,
F17
&
F18).
The
NUFORM
System
for
CAM
was
initially
developed
to
allow
for
the
precision
manufacture
of
the
sculptured
surfaces
for
these
antennas.
Received
the
"Forty-one
for
Freedom"
award
from
the
Secretary
of
the
Navy
in
connection
with
its
work
on
the
Polaris
Missile
System.
Utilizing
the
NUFORM
System,
A.
S.
Thomas
has
advanced
the
state
of
manufacturing:
- 1967
-
Successfully
N/C
machined
the
precision
forging
dies
for
a
large
aircraft
engine
fan
blade.
- 1968
-
Swarfing
of
ruled
surface
impellers.
- 1969
-
5-axis
laser
drilling
of
aircraft
engine
blades.
- 1973
-
N/C
precision
checkering
of
contoured
rifle
gun
stocks.
- 1978
-
Off-line
programmed
swiss
style
screw
machines.
- 1979
-
Implemented
first
small
lot
size,
high
part
capability,
flexible
manufacturing
system
for
cylindrical
parts.
- 1985
-
Demonstrated
high
performance
6-axis
belt
grinding
of
turbine
blades.
- 1986
-
Machined
high
twist
turbine
blade
to
finish
in
one
pass
with
no
subsequent
polishing
operations
in
better
time
than
exisiting
roughing
operations.
- 1993
-
Thomas
Milling
patented.
Sculptured
surfaces
machined
to
"high"
finish
with
high
speed
/
high
volume
machining.
- 1994 - Turbine Blades machined to "ready to fly" condition in one operation
from raw forgings in time traditionally spent on roughing operation.
- 1997 - Established 5-axis manufacturing R&D facility providing new
manufacturing processes and small lot manufacturing.
- 1999 - Integrated blade manufacturing system driven from engineering design
systems.
- 2002 - Port of NUFORM System to Windows Platform.
- 2005 - Direct part and information import from Unigraphics NX 2.
A.
S.
Thomas,
Inc.
has
worked
with
hundreds
of
organizations
through-out
it's
history,
from
U.
S.
Government
Agencies,
Foreign
Governments,
Fortune
100
firms,
International
Corporations,
to
small
start-up
firms.
Clients
are
spread
through-out
the
United
States,
Canada,
Brazil,
Japan,
South
Korea,
Germany,
Italy,
etc.
To
obtain
further
information
on
A.
S.
Thomas,
Inc.
and
its
products
send
mail
now
or
contact:
Manager, Sales
A. S. Thomas, Inc.
355 Providence Hwy.
Westwood, MA 02090
(781)329-9200
(781)461-8431 (FAX)
sales@asthomas.com
|
