US3783707A - Crosstable for positioning articles - Google Patents

Abstract

A crosstable for positioning articles, comprising a frame and a table which is movable relative thereto. An adjusting lever is connected by a diaphragm to the frame and to the table. The table is connected by a first pair of leaf springs, to an intermediate member which in turn is connected, by a second pair of leaf springs to the frame. The direction of support of the first pair of leaf springs being transverse to that of the second pair.

Description

llnited States Patent [191 Foederer et al.

[ Jan. 8, 1974 CROSSTABLE FOR POSITIONING ARTICLES Inventors: Antonius Franciscus lFoederer;

Andrianus .lacobus Jozef Franken; Jacobus Andrianus Johannes Maria Van Noord, all of Emmasingel, Eindhoven, Netherlands Assign'ee: U.S. Philips Corporation, New

' York, NY.

Filed: June 5, 1972 .Appl. No.: 259,912

Foreign Application Priority Data June 16, l97l Netherlands 7108235 U.S. C1 74/470, 74/479, 74/491 Int. Cl G05g 11/00 Field of- Search 74/491, 471 XY, 470,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,504,566 4/1970 Zurcher 74/469 3,628,394 l2/l97l Keatinge 74/471 Y X Primary Examiner-Allan D. Herrmann Attorney-Frank R. Trifari et al.

[57] ABSTRACT A crosstable for positioning articles, comprising a frame and a table which is movable relative thereto. An adjusting lever-is connected by a diaphragm to the frame and to the table. The table is connected by a first pair of leaf springs, to an intermediate member which in turn isconnected, by a second pair of leaf springs to the frame. The direction of support of the first pair of leaf springs being transverse to that of the second pair.

4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures swm CROSSTAIBLE FOR POSITIONING ARTICLES The invention relates to a crosstable for the very accurate positioning of articles which comprises a frame and a table movable relative thereto, and having an adjusting lever which is connected to the frame and the table.

Crosstables of the above-described type are known and serve to manipulate articles into a desirable position. It is often required that a movement over a distance of a few millimetres can be carried out with an accuracy smaller than I micrometre. It is furthermore required that the permissible load-change is a few kilograms in which the stability of the assembly must satisfy high requirements.

In the known crosstables, the table is often movable over guides in the frame, the lever with which the table can be moved being journalled both in the frame and in the table. The play in the bearing and guide, the deformation of component parts and the so-called stickslip effect on the frictional surfaces often cause the accurate adjustment to be difficult.

Furthermore, the desirable stability requirements in the known crosstables can only satisfied by using very heavy and bulky constructionsL It is the object of the invention to provide a crosstable of a simple construction having a permissible weight load of a few kilograms and good stability. 7 Inorder to achieve the end in view, the cross-table according to the invention is characterized in that each of the said connections between the lever and the table and the lever and the frame, respectively, is by a diaphragm the lever being secured in the center thereof, and whose outer circumference is secured to the table and the frame respectively. The table is connected, through a first pair of parallel leaf springs, to an intermediate member which in turn is connected, through a second pair of parallel leaf springs, to the frame, the direction of springing of the first pair of leaf springs enclosing a right angle with that of the second pair of leaf springs.

In a further favourable embodiment, one or more columns are secured to thetable by a diaphragm. The columns are admissible on at least one side from outside the frame and are supported, by a grease lubrication, in the direction of the load against a surface of the frame.

By using diaphragms and leaf springs'as connection members, a crosstable is obtained which very readily satisfiesthe requirements imposed upon stability, admissible load, and accuracy.

In a further favourable embodiment of the crosstable according to the invention, the end of the lever remote from the diaphragms bears in a recess of a ball in such manner that the point of contact of lever and ball lies slightly out of the centre of the ball, and in which a further lever, of the fine adjustment, is connected to the ball and the ball is incorporated in a cup which forms part of an adjusting knob of the coarseadjustment, said knob having a ring with a pherical surface which is pressed against a spherical cup connected to the frame by a spring.

In this manner, a very accurate adjusting possibility is obtained by using a double adjusting lever mechanism, in which in each position of the first lever the full range of the fine adjustment can be used.

The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the drawing in which FIGS, 1 and 2 show diagrammatically a crosstable in two mutually perpendicular cross-sectional views.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a frame consisting of a base plate 2 and a superstructure 3. At the area 7, an adjusting lever 41 is clamped in the centre of a diaphragm 5 whichis secured to the base plate 2 at its edge by means ofa clamping member 6. At the area 8, the lever 41 is clamped in the centre of a second diaphragm 9 which is connected with its edge to a movable table 11 by means of a clamping member 10.

The table 11 is connected to an intermediate member 14 by means of'a first pair of parallel leaf springs l2, 13. The intermediate member 14 in turn is connected to the base plate 2 by means of a second pair of parallel leaf springs 15, 16. In this manner the table obtains a possibility of movement which is free from play in two mutually perpendicular directions relative to the frame.

The upper end of the lever 4 is coupled to a knob 19 for the coarse adjustment via a ball 18, a structural part 20 is connected to the knob 19 and has a spherical ring 21 turned on it. Said ring co-operates with a spherical cup 22 secured to the frame. The contact between the ring 21 and the spherical cup 22 is maintained by a leaf spring 23 which presses on the lower side of the lever 4. This frictional contact also ensures the blocking of the coarse adjustment. By a small manual pressure, the friction between the ring 21 and the cup 22 is removed. The extent of pressure can be adjusted by the said leaf spring 23.

The fine adjustment is obtained by a lever 24 which is secured to the said ball 18. The supporting point of the lever 4 in the ball 18 lies at a small distance from the center of the ball 18 so that a small movement of the lever 4 is obtained by moving the lever 24, which ultimately results in a movement of the table 11. The table 11 which is entirely within the superstructure 3 comprises a further diaphragm 25 which is connected to the table 11 at its edge by a clamping member 26.

In the center of the diaphragm 25 a hollow column 29 is secured by means of a plate 27. The column 29 is accessible from both the lower side and from the upper side of the super structure 3. Together with a fur- 'ther plate 30, the plate 27 forms an annular recess in which a grease plate 31 is provided.

The column 29 which is accessible from without will perform the same movements as the table 11. The the device to be manipulated can be placed on the column 29. By using the said grease plate 31, which is a flat, grease-lubricated plate, the weight load can be a few kilograms while the grease lubrication also ensures the damping of the manual movement.

The articles to be manipulated can be provided both on the upper'and lower side of the column 29. Since the column is hollow, the inner side can be used for the passage of light, electric connections and cooling water ducts, and so on.

It will be obvious that other column constructions may be used, if desirable.

The operation of the device should be apparent to a large extent from the above explanation. By manipulation with knob 19, a large adjustment of the lever 4 is obtained, which results in a comparatively coarse movement of the table l L-The fine adjustment is obtained by manipulation with lever 24.

In a practical construction, the movement with the coarse adjustment is 3 mm, the ratio of displacement (knob 19, table 11) being 1 1.0. The displacement with the fine adjustment is 0.5 mm with a movement ratio (lever 24, table 11) of l 200. The adjusting accuracy is better than 0.5 micrometer. The weight load may be approximately kg. Measured with 5 kg load, the dis placement is approximately 2 micrometers with a transverse force of 1 kg on the table, while after removing the transverse force, the table recoils approximately 1 micrometers. Since the table suspension is constructed with leaf springs and the lever bearing is constructed with diaphragms, plays and the stick-slip effect are not experienced. In this manner, an extremely accurate positioning instrument is obtained which can be used, for example, in optical measuring set ups, preparation p0- sitioning under a microscope, in the manufacture of integrated circuits in placing and welding the crystal on the substrate.

What is claimed is:

l. A crosstable for accurately positioning articles comprising a frame, a table movably mounted on said frame, an adjusting lever for causing movement of said table connected at a first point of connection thereon to said frame and at a second point of connection thereon to said table, a first diaphragm for connecting said lever to said frame, and a second diaphragm for connecting said lever to said table, the circumference of said first diaphragm being secured to said frame, the circumference of said second diaphragm being secured to said table, said lever being connected to said first diaphragm at the center thereof at said first point of connection, and to said second diaphragm at the center thereof at said second point of connection, an intermediate member connected between said table and said frame, a first pair of parallel leaf springs connecting said table to said intermediate member, and a second pair of parallel leaf springs connecting said intermediate member to said frame, the direction of support of said first pair of leaf springs being transverse to that of said second pair of leaf springs.

2. The crosstable according to claim 1 further comprising at least one column connected to said table by a diaphragm, at least one end of said column being accessible from outside said frame, and grease lubrication supporting said column in the direction of load against a surface of said frame.

3. The crosstable according to claim 1 further comprising a ball having a recess for receiving the end of said lever remote from said first and second diaphragms, said ball being carried in a cup forming parts of an adjusting knob for coarse adjustment, said knob having a ring with a spherical surface which is pressed against a spherical cup connected to the frame by a spring, and a fine adjustment lever connected to the ball.

4. The crosstable according to claim 3 wherein the point of contact between said lever and the recess of the ball lies slightly out of center of the ball.

Claims (4)

1. A crosstable for accurately positioning articles comprising a frame, a table movably mounted on said frame, an adjusting lever for causing movement of said table connected at a first point of connection thereon to said frame and at a second point of connection thereon to said table, a first diaphragm for connecting said lever to said frame, and a second diaphragm for connecting said lever to said table, the circumference of said first diaphragm being secured to said frame, the circumference of said second diaphragm being secured to said table, said lever being connected to said first diaphragm at the center thereof at said first point of connection, and to said second diaphragm at the center thereof at said second point of connection, an intermediate member connected between said table and said frame, a first pair of parallel leaf springs connecting said table to said intermediate member, and a second pair of parallel leaf springs connecting said intermediate member to said frame, the direction of support of said first pair of leaf springs being transverse to that of said second pair of leaf springs.

2. The crosstable according to claim 1 further comprising at least one column connected to said table by a diaphragm, at least one end of said column being accessible from outside said frame, and grease lubrication supporting said column in the direction of load against a surface of said frame.

3. The crosstable according to claim 1 further comprising a ball having a recess for receiving the end of said lever remote from said first and second diaphragms, said ball being carried in a cup forming parts of an adjusting knob for coarse adjustment, said knob having a ring with a spherical surface which is pressed against a spherical cup connected to the frame by a spring, and a fine adjustment lever connected to the ball.

4. The crosstable according to claim 3 wherein the point of contact between said lever and the recess of the ball lies slightly out of center of the ball.

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