Workpiece table arrangement

A workpiece table arrangement for a milling and drilling machine comprising a rigid machine tool frame comprising two generally parallel side walls having inner sides and front end portions, and an upper crossbar attached to said side walls, a machining unit movable on said upper crossbar along at least two coordinate axes and including a rotationally driven work spindle configured to engage exchangeable tools, a front end comprising the front of said machine tool frame and having horizontal guide rails mounted on said front end, the workpiece table arrangement comprising:

• a bridge comprising a central bar and being pivotable about a horizontal axis;
• a plane table top coupled to said central bar and comprising clamping means for clamping workpieces thereto;
• the bridge further comprising a bearing leg connected to each end of said central bar of said bridge, said bearing legs being supported in a respective slide so as to be synchronously rotatable;
• and
• said two slides each comprising a portion of a drive unit for moving the respective slide and a guide shoe, wherein the respective portions of the drive units are primary parts of electrical linear drive motors, the primary parts being mounted on a vertical face of a respective slide.