GB2389553A

GB2389553A - A lathe steady

Info

Publication number: GB2389553A
Application number: GB0213815A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andrew Deegan
Original assignee: P ENGINEERING Ltd SA
Current assignee: P ENGINEERING Ltd SA
Priority date: 2002-06-15
Filing date: 2002-06-15
Publication date: 2003-12-17
Anticipated expiration: 2022-06-15
Also published as: GB2389553B; GB0213815D0

Abstract

A lathe steady 3 comprises a body 5 adapted to be used with a lathe, and a plurality of work piece supports 15 accommodated in the body, wherein all the work piece supports are adjustable from one side of the lathe. At least one of the work piece supports may be provided with an adjustment mechanism 29 that straddles the longitudinal centre line of the lathe. The adjustment mechanism may include a drive shaft 31 journalled for rotation in one or more bearing blocks 33, and the adjustment mechanism may include a drive mechanism 35 by which drive is transferred from the drive shaft to said one work piece support.

Description

( Improvements in or relating to a lathe steady The present invention

relates to a lathe steady.

A lathe steady is used to support a long work piece in a lathe during machining. A typical steady comprises a body adapted to be mounted on the lathe bed and defining an aperture within the body to accommodate the world piece. The body may be in one piece or two pieces that are releasably securable together. The body accommodates a plurality of work piece supports that are set on intersecting axes. The end of the work piece support that contacts the work piece is usually made of PTFE. Usually three work piece supports are provided set 120 apart. Usually there will be one work piece support set to intersect the vertical centre line of the work piece and the other two will be set straddling the vertical center line at equal distances therefrom to support the work piece from below. The work piece supports are each individually adjustable on their respective aces. Usually they engage threadingly with the body of the steady.

They are provided with a non-circular formation (such as a hexagonal head) to permit adjustment either by hand or by the application of a suitable hand tool.

The supports are adjusted to ensure that the work piece runs true. It is frequently necessary to re-adjust the work piece supports during the machining operation, for example, to cater for expansion of the components in use and/or to cater for wear of the components e.g. the PTEE. Thus the upper work piece support and one of the other work piece supports are conveniently placed to permit adjustment from one side of the lathe. However, the other work piece support has to be accessed from the

( other side of the lathe or by leaning over the work piece. Neither of these two options is convenient and in the case of the latter can give rise to safety issues.

It is an aim of the present invention to address the above problems.

Accordingly the present invention provides a lathe steady comprising a body adapted to be used with a lathe, a plurality of work piece supports accommodated in the body and wherein all the work piece supports are adjustable from one side of the lathe.

At least one work piece support is provided with an adjustment mechanism that straddles the longitudinal center line of the lathe so as to present an adjuster to said one side of the lathe. The adjusting mechanism includes a drive shaft journalled for rotation in one or more bearing blocks. The adjusting mechanism conveniently comprises a drive mechanism which may be either a geared drive, a chain drive or a belt drive. In some applications a combination of different drive types may be used.

The drive shaft may incorporate one or more universal joints to ensure that the drive shaft clears the swing path of the work piece whilst positioning the end that is accessible to the operator at a convenient location.

In order to reduce the need for adjustment of the steady as a result of wear or heat build up the PTFE end of the work piece support is preferably replaced by a rolling element, e.g. a wheel or roller.

Accordingly another aspect of the present invention provides a lathe steady comprising a body adapted to be used with a lathe, a plurality of work piece supports

accommodated in the body and having an end that contacts the work piece in use, and wherein each end is provided by a rolling element.

The present invention will now be described further hereinafter, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings; in which: Figure I is a perspective view of a first embodiment of lathe steady according to the invention and showing, by way of example, part of a lathe bed on which it is mounted in use, and Figure 2 is a perspective view of another design of lathe steady according to the Invention. Referring firstly to figure 1. Part of a lathe bed is shown at I and mounted thereon is a lathe steady 3 embodying the present invention. The lathe steady comprises a body 5 which in the illustrated embodiment is made up of a lower part 7 and an upper part 9. The upper part is pivotally connected to the lower part. A pivot pin 11 is provided for this purpose. The upper part is secured in its connected position by swing bolt 13.

The body accommodates three work piece supports 15. One 15a is disposed on a vertical axis 17 and the other two 15b, 15c are set 120 apart on respective axes 19,21. the axes are represented by chain dotted lines. In the illustrated embodiment the ends of the work piece supports is provided with a respective roller 23 to support the work piece. The upper work piece support is threadingly engaged with the upper body part 9, whilst the other two work piece supports are threadingly engaged with

( the lower body part 7. Work piece supports 1 5a and I Sb have hexagonal heads at their outer ends to facilitate adjustment of their axial position relative to the work piece (not illustrated) that is to be supported.

Figure I illustrates the steady from the side of the lathe at which the operator will stand. From this illustration it will be apparent that access to the outer end of work piece support 1 5c (hereinafter referred to as the remote work piece support) would be hindered, in use, by the presence of the work piece running through the aperture 17 defined within the lathe steady body. This is overcome by the present invention by providing an adjusting mechanism generally indicated at 29. The adjusting mechanism comprises a drive shaft 31 which is journalled in bearing blocks 33, and a transfer drive mechanism 35.

At this point reference is also made to figure 2 which illustrates a lathe steady that has the same design of adjusting mechanism as that of figure 1 and like reference numerals have been used to denote corresponding parts. It differs simply in the detail design of the lathe steady body and its work piece supports. However, figure 2 illustrates the steady from the side of the lathe remote from that at which the operator will stand. Thus it illustrates the connection of the adjusting mechanism with the work piece support 1 5c.

Work piece support 15c has its outer end modified to carry a chain sprocket 37. In the illustrated embodiment the drive shaft 31 comprises two parts 31 a and 31 b which are interconnected by a universal joint 39. Part 31 a is mounted for rotation in two bearing blocks 33a, 33b. Part 3 lb is jounalled in bearing block 33c. Part 3 lb carries

a chain sprocket 41 at the end remote from the universal joint 39. A chain 38 is entrained around sprockets 37 and 41. The end of the drive shaft 31 a carries an hexagonal head 43 for use in rotating the drive shaft.

From the illustrations and the foregoing it will be apparent that rotation of the drive shaft 31 a by way of head 43 enables the position of the remote work piece support to be adjusted from a more convenient location.

The number of universal joints used in the adjusting mechanism is determined by the route that the drive has to take from the outer end of the remote work piece support to the operator side of the lathe without encroaching on the swing path of the work piece. Other types of drive system may be used in place of the chain drive of the illustrated embodiment.

Claims

1 A lathe steady comprising a body adapted to be used with a lathe, a plurality of work piece supports accommodated in the body and wherein all the work piece supports are adjustable from one side of the lathe.

2 A lathe steady as claimed in claim 1 in which at least one work piece support is provided with an adjustment mechanism that straddles the longitudinal center line of the lathe so as to present an adjuster to said one side of the lathe.

3 A lathe steady as claimed in claim 2 in which the adjusting mechanism includes a drive shaft journalled for rotation in one or more bearing blocks.

4 A lathe steady as claimed in claim 3 in which the adjusting mechanism comprises a drive mechanism by which drive is transferred from the drive shaft to said one work piece support.

5 A lathe steady as claimed in claim4 in which the drive mechanism comprises a geared drive, a chain drive or a belt drive.

6 A lathe steady as claimed in claim 3, 4 or 5 in which the drive shaft comprises one or more universal.ioints.

7 A lathe steady as claimed in claim 3, 4, 5 or 6 in which the drive shaft is journalled in bearing blocks mounted to the body of the lathe steady.

8 A lathe steady as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the end of the work piece support that contacts the work piece is provided by a rolling element. 9 A lathe steady constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.