Abrading – Abrading process – Roll – roller – shaft – ball – or piston abrading
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-02
2001-04-24
Banks, Derris H. (Department: 3722)
Abrading
Abrading process
Roll, roller, shaft, ball, or piston abrading
C451S051000, C451S242000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06220939
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for machining round parts. More particularly, the invention relates to methods and apparatus for grinding outside-diameter surfaces onto parts with an OD grinder, and which is especially useful in an automated or semi-automated grinding operation for continuously feeding parts to the grinder.
2. Description of Prior Art
Conventional methods for grinding an outer diameter surface onto a part are generally manual in nature, such as typically having a machine operator manually position a part on a guide or in a fixture associated with an OD or centerless grinder, and then grind the desired surface onto that part. The part is then removed from the grinder, and another part is inserted for grinding. This manual operation is carried out one piece at a time and is a relatively slow process.
For economic reasons, there is an ever-present need to increase productivity rate for grinding outside-diameter round surfaces onto parts. Thus, there is an ever-present need for improved methods for and apparatus to assist in grinding such round surfaces onto parts at a faster rate.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The general aim of the present invention is to provide new and improved methods and apparatus for grinding round, outside-diameter surfaces onto parts in a manner which increases productivity rates over conventional grinding methods, and thus reduce the associated cost of machining the parts.
A detailed objective is to achieve the foregoing by providing a fixture having a plurality of work piece holders in closely spaced relation, each holder being adapted to slidably receive and rotatably carry a work piece, the fixture being further adapted to parade the holders in continuous succession past a grinding wheel to carry the work pieces into rotating grinding engagement therewith for grinding the desired outside-diameter surfaces.
Another detailed objective of the invention is to automatically secure the work pieces in the fixture during engagement with the grinding wheel and to automatically release the finished part thereafter for ease of removal from the fixture.
These and other objectives and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Briefly, a machine includes a rotating circular fixture that is adapted to releasably carry work pieces, one at a time, into rotating machining engagement with an OD grinding wheel for machining the desired OD surface onto the part. In this instance, the fixture includes a generally round base that is mounted for continuous rotation about a first horizontal axis by, for example, an electric motor, the base being equipped with work piece holding mechanisms in relatively closely spaced relation on an outer diameter thereof. As the base rotates, work pieces are slidably inserted into each holding mechanism as they pass through a loading station area near the front of the machine proximate the machine operator. The work pieces are then carried in the holders in a circular path, as the base rotates, into rotating grinding engagement with the grinding wheel for grinding the desired surface. The fixture also includes a drive roller that is mounted for continuous rotation about a second horizontal axis, and is positioned to engage the work piece as it approaches and passes by the grinding wheel, for controlled rotation of the work piece about its center in the holder during and to maintain grinding engagement with the grinding wheel. Thereafter, the base rotates the part back toward the front of the machine where the finish ground part is removed and another part is installed into the vacated holder. Thus, work pieces are paraded in continuous succession through the grinding operation to achieve relatively high productivity rate.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3859756 (1975-01-01), Zerbola
patent: 4531327 (1985-07-01), Dzewaltowski et al.
patent: 5094037 (1992-03-01), Hakomori et al.
patent: 5161332 (1992-11-01), Koch
Banks Derris H.
Frantz Keith
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