GB968064A - Improvements in or relating to machine tools - Google Patents

Abstract

968,064. Lapping; machine tool details. SPEEDLAP CORPORATION. April 11, 1963 [April 16, 1962], No. 14515/63. Headings B3B and B3D. [Also in Division F1] A device for feeding a freely flowing material to a machine tool comprises a container rotatably mounted on an inclined axis and adapted to receive said material, means for rotating said container, and a helically formed tube fixedly mounted in said container, the lower end of said tube being open to receive material from said container and the upper end of said tube opening outwardly of said container to feed material therefrom upon rotation of said container. A lapping machine comprises a box-like housing 6, preferably of sheet metal, having a top surface member 7 provided with a circular opening 8 accommodating a radially-grooved lap 9. Below the member 7 and attached thereto, e.g. by welding, at the periphery of the opening 8 is a combined drip pan and supporting member 10 having a circular opening 11 defined by a flange 12. Bolted to the underside of the member 10 in axial alignment with the opening 11 is a tubular support 13 carrying a worm drive gear box 14 and a drive motor 15. A hub 17 keyed to the output shaft of the gear box is journalled in the support 13 and projects through the opening 11 in the member 10. The lap 9 has a central circular opening 22 having an inwardly projecting flange 21 which is held against a flange 19 on the hub 17 by a disc 23 secured by a stem 24 threaded into the hub 17. The lap 9 can thus be reversed whereby either of the two lapping surfaces, which may be of the same or different surface finish, may be operative. Retaining and trueing rings 26, having external gear teeth 26a, rest on the lap 9 and receive workpieces 27 which are pressed against the lap surface by circular weights 28 having hand knobs 28<SP>1</SP>. The rings 26 are maintained in circumferentially spaced relation by a central roller spacer 29 carried by the stem 24 and by roller stops 30 mounted on the housing 6. When corrective treatment of the surface of the lap is required, a pinion 31 is placed on the end of the stem 24 to mesh with the gear teeth 26a whereby the rings 26 are driven reversely as in Specification 947,142; the pinion 31 is removed during lapping. A bracket 33 secured to the member 7 carries an electric motor 34 driving, through a reducing gear-box 34<SP>1</SP> giving, e.g., 18 r.p.m., a container 36 projecting through an opening 32 in the member 7. The container holds light oil with abrasive particles in suspension. An openended helically wound tube 38 is mounted in the container concentrically therewith by baffle plates 39, preferably of spring metal, secured to the tube. The suspension is thus fed on to the lap 9, the baffle plates agitating the mixture to keep the abrasive particles in suspension. Used abrasive mixture passes from the lap 9 to the member 10 and is swept by a wiper bar 42 threaded into the hub 17 towards a drain spout 41.