Electric heating – Metal heating – Cutting or disintegrating
Patent
1989-11-27
1991-06-25
Evans, Geoffrey S.
Electric heating
Metal heating
Cutting or disintegrating
B23H 710
Patent
active
050269623
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a wire cutting electric discharge machine wherein an electric discharge is produced between a wire electrode and a workpiece, the workpiece is moved relative to the wire electrode and the discharge process is carried out, and, in particular, to a wire cutting electric discharge machine wherein both a normal diameter wire electrode and a fine wire electrode with a diameter smaller than normal can be interchangeably used in the process.
An upper wire guide device positioned on the upper part of a workpiece which is to be processed, and a lower wire guide device positioned on the upper part of the workpiece are provided in a wire cutting electric discharge machine. In the wire cutting electric discharge machine, a discharge is produced between the wire electrode, guided by the upper and lower wire guide devices, and the workpiece. The workpiece is moved in a two-dimensional manner relative to the wire electrode and the electric discharge process is carried out on the workpiece.
Conventionally, when the discharge process is performed on the workpiece by a wire cutting electric discharge machine, a wire electrode is used which has a normal diameter, for example, 0.1 mm or greater. The wire electrode with a diameter of 0.1 mm or greater, after passing through the process area of the workpiece, is guided a comparatively long distance by means of guide rollers or the like, to a take-up reel provided on the body of the processing machine, or to a wire recovery box, or to a wire cutter position, and then the wire is wound upon the take-up reel, or is recovered in the wire recovery box, or is cut into short pieces by the wire cutter and then recovered in the wire recovery box 1, respectively.
However, when a high precision discharge process is to be carried out, for example, in the case where a fine wire electrode with a diameter less than 0.1 mm is used, the take-up tension must be rather weak in comparison with a wire electrode of normal diameter, for example, 0.1 mm or greater. However, when the fine wire electrode is wound up by means of a take-up device which is used to take up a normal wire electrode, tension fluctuations occur in the fine wire electrode and the take-up force becomes greater than the tension in the fine wire electrode, giving rise to the problem of breakage and the like being produced in the fine wire electrode.
In addition, a take-up device which takes up the normal wire electrode is placed in a position far removed from the lower wire guide device. Therefore, when the wire travel route is long, a large fluctuation is produced in the tension in the fine wire electrode so there are many factors which have an adverse effect on the process, and even a tension fluctuation which causes no problem with a normal wire electrode will give rise to processing problems with a fine wire electrode.
In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide devices, a wire cutting electric discharge machine wherein, when a discharge process is being carried out with a fine wire electrode on a workpiece, the wire travel route is drastically shortened so that fluctuations in the tension on the fine wire electrode are suppressed, making it possible to take up in a fine wire electrode under the uniform tension.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This object of the present invention is achieved by the provision of a device in a wire cutting electric discharge machine which disposes the portion of the wire electrode used for the electric discharge process with respect to the workpiece, basically comprising a wire electrode disposal device for disposing a wire electrode of normal diameter and a wire electrode disposal device for disposing a fine wire electrode. Accordingly, a fine wire electrode can be disposed by the latter electrode disposal device.
Also, in the present invention, the electrode disposal device for a fine wire electrode comprises a wire take-up device which can be coupled to the wire electrode disposal device for disposing of a
REFERENCES:
patent: 4278157 (1981-07-01), King
patent: 4627523 (1986-12-01), Light
patent: 4697621 (1987-10-01), Diessner et al.
patent: 4803326 (1989-02-01), Kiyoshi
Morino Asami
Umetsu Masahito
Amada Company Limited
Amada Wasino Co., Ltd.
Evans Geoffrey S.
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