HELIOS: Lightweight and Light on your Wallet
Helios is the latest, comprehensive lineup of workholding products from Orange Vise Company, characterized by aluminum construction and simplicity.
Why Aluminum?
At Orange Vise, we’ve built our reputation on the strength of cast iron and stainless steel. With the Helios lineup, we’ve taken a bold step in a new direction: aluminum. Why the departure? The answer lies in our patent-pending designs, which unlock a new level of performance and versatility. Here’s why aluminum made the cut:
- We Figured Out a Way: Out-of-the-box thinking encapsulated in multiple pending patents have allowed us to close the performance and durability gap between aluminum and traditional ferrous materials. We didn’t just take an existing steel design and remake it in aluminum; we engineered Helios specifically to optimize the strengths of aluminum. Without these innovations, aluminum wouldn’t have moved beyond the drawing board. But with Helios, we’ve proven that lightweight doesn’t have to mean less capable.
- Lighter Weight: The demand for reduced workholding weight is growing rapidly with the rise of cobots and high-density pallet pools. This trend is set to accelerate with the imminent release of humanoid robots designed to transform the pallet pool market. Helios is engineered to support this new wave of automation, with a total payload capacity (workholding + workpiece) of around 20kg—ideal for the emerging class of robotic systems.
- Lower Cost: Unlike other companies, our pricing model reflects the true cost of production. Aluminum offers significant production efficiencies over cast iron and stainless steel, and we pass those savings directly on to our customers. Traditionally, workholding costs were minimal compared to machinery and labor, but automation requires dozens, even hundreds, of setups per automated cell. Helios pricing is designed to scale with the evolving needs of modern manufacturing.
- Color Coding: It’s not just for looks. Our color-coded system helps teams quickly and accurately identify components, simplifying work instructions and boosting efficiency.
Simplicity
A great technical design can be outmatched by a simpler design that achieves similar results. If the competition is the Panzer tank, Helios is the Sherman tank, and we all know how that played out. Helios is the simpler design.
The Helios Zero Point System (HZPS) utilizes our patent-pending 5-post design.
The 5-post design is simpler by decoupling locating and hold-down for easier installation and removal. The set screws can be actuated by an impact driver with no risk of damage. And, because each fixture only requires a single pull stud rather than four, cost is significantly decreased, especially when scaling.
All Helios vises and fixtures are compatible with HZPS, our legacy Ball Couper and Delta Zero systems, and 96mm 4-post designs offered by other brands. We also offer quick and low cost customization for compatibility with additional ZPS systems. Check out our other article, "Universal Cross-Platform Compatibility".
Preloadable Jaw Carriers
Helios vises feature a patent-pending preloading mechanism that eliminates jaw carrier slop. Working similarly to adjustable gibs on a milling machine, the carriers are completely constrained within a specially designed tapered T-slot, while the jaws float above the bed of the vise. The result is high accuracy, exceptional rigidity, and easy wear compensation over time. This design also allows for unique setups that aren't possible with other systems, such as extra-tall jaws. Detailed examples coming soon...
Rotary Setups
More coming soon...
Sneak Peak
Read this far? Here’s a sneak peek at how we’ve integrated Helios technology into the evolution of our other products. Introducing the BVNG (Bench Vise Next Generation):
