JP2009522125A - Workpiece polishing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

  The present invention provides an apparatus for polishing a work piece, the apparatus including a hopper for receiving and discharging at least one work piece, each work piece having at least a first and a second. It has an end, rotates at a predetermined angular velocity, has a plurality of recesses on its outer peripheral surface, and each recess is sized to receive one work piece to transport the work piece to the polishing position. A first rotating means that rotates, a conveyor that is disposed between the hopper and the first rotating means and that disposes and conveys each work piece in each recess; and a first and second speed that rotates at a second predetermined speed The first rotating means extends over a part of the first rotating means so as to contact the surface of each conveyed work piece in order to hold each rotating workpiece piece in an appropriate position in each recess. Two-turn hand If, for polishing the ends of the work piece, and a second rotating polishing means for polishing the first rotating polishing means for polishing the first end of the work piece, and a second end.

Description

  The present invention relates to a novel apparatus for polishing workpieces.

  Current polishing machines can only polish one end of a work piece, such as a shaft or micro shaft. Thus, if both ends of the shaft must be polished, the shaft is first machined (first pass) to polish one end, removed, rotated 180 degrees, and then polished to the other end It is put on the machine again (second pass). Since handling the shaft by hand is a task that requires more concentration, this is an extremely tedious and time consuming task. This is especially difficult for small diameter work pieces.

  Also, in the prior art, work pieces and shafts are first collected in a V-shaped holder before being transported to a carrier disk for subsequent polishing. Prior to setting in a V-shaped holder, the individual work pieces must first be arranged by hand.

  Thus, if it is necessary to polish both ends in order to obtain the desired surface shape, the individual work pieces must be arranged by hand twice. This is a very tedious and time consuming process.

  In the prior art, the shaft is rotated by the interaction of a timing disk and a rotating disk located inside the carrier disk. The slot is not cut on the carrier disk itself, but is provided as a separate function and screwed to the carrier disk. The slot accommodates each shaft therein so that the shaft is always in contact with the rotating disk and the timing belt so that the shaft rotates.

  The rotating disk is arranged inside the carrier disk itself and rotates the shaft together with the timing belt. In wet polishing, since the friction between the shaft and the timing belt is not sufficient to rotate the shaft, a rotating disk is incorporated to ensure that the shaft rotates within the slot. The smaller the workpiece, the smaller the slot size must be. Due to this limitation, it is considered extremely difficult to manufacture this attachment for small diameter workpieces.

  Positioning the work piece prior to polishing is extremely important because it affects subsequent polishing processes. However, in the prior art, this positioning is done by an end stop to prevent the workpiece from being excessively stretched. This approach is less desirable because the work piece still has room to move and becomes very unstable.

  The object of the present invention is to solve or at least mitigate the above-mentioned problems of one or more prior art.

  The above description of any prior art is not an admission that this is general knowledge well known to those skilled in the art.

  The present invention provides an apparatus for polishing workpieces, the apparatus including a hopper that houses and discharges at least one workpiece, each workpiece being at least a first and a second. It has an end, rotates at a predetermined angular velocity, has a plurality of recesses on its outer peripheral surface, and each recess is sized to receive one work piece, so as to transport the work piece to a polishing position. A first rotating means that rotates at a second predetermined speed, a conveyor that is disposed between the hopper and the first rotating means and that disposes and conveys each work piece in each of the recesses, and rotates at a second predetermined speed. Extending over a portion of the first rotating means to contact the surface of each conveyed work piece to hold each rotating work piece in response to the speed difference in a proper position within each recess. Second time A means, a second rotating polishing means for polishing the first rotating polishing means for polishing the first end of the work piece, and a second end portion for polishing the ends of the work piece.

  The second rotating means preferably extends at least to a position where the first and second rotating polishing means polish the first and second ends of the work piece.

  In a preferred embodiment, the conveyor further comprises ribs along the conveyor for linearly arranging each work piece for transport to the first rotating means.

  In another preferred embodiment, vibration means are further provided for moving the stored work piece onto the conveyor by vibration.

  The first and second rotating means preferably further have a speed adjusting means in order to control the rotation speed.

  In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus further comprises a discharge system to remove residues resulting from the polishing of the work piece.

  The first rotating means is preferably a carrier disk.

  Furthermore, the second rotating means is preferably a timing belt.

  In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus further comprises a selective chute for placing asymmetric workpieces on the conveyor.

  The conveyor is preferably a linear track in order to linearly arrange the work pieces conveyed to the carrier disk.

  The first and second rotary polishing means are preferably first and second polishing wheels.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. Specific examples are as shown in the accompanying drawings. The preferred embodiments of the present invention are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to these embodiments. The present invention includes alternatives, modifications and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims. In addition, numerous specific details in the following detailed description of the embodiments are intended to assist in understanding the embodiments of the present invention.

  The present invention relates to an apparatus 100 for polishing a first end 11 and a second end 12 of a work piece 10 to a desired end shape. In the following drawings, the work piece 10 is shown as being cylindrical.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus 100 includes a container 20 for storing a plurality of work pieces 10. The containers 20 are discharged onto the conveyor 30 in order to convey each work piece 10 to the rotating means 90. The rotating means 90 rotates each work piece 10 toward the polishing mechanism 40 for polishing the first end portion 11 and the second end portion 12 to a desired shape.

  Each mechanism of the present invention will be described in turn.

(container)
FIG. 2A shows a container 20 as a hopper 21 having an opening 22 at one end, from which each work piece is discharged by gravity for polishing. In another embodiment shown in FIG. 2B, the container 20 is adapted to discharge each work piece from an opening at its upper end. In this embodiment, the container 20 can further include a motion transmission means to assist the discharge of each work piece from the hopper 21. In one embodiment, the motion transmission means is vibration means (not shown), whereby vibration force is transmitted to the hopper 21, and each work piece 10 is discharged from the opening 22 of the hopper 21.

(Conveyor)
As shown in FIG. 3, the work piece 10 is discharged onto the conveyor 30. The conveyor 30 is a linear track 31 and is conveyed to the polishing mechanism 40 in order to polish each work piece 10 into a desired end shape.

  The linear track 31 is arranged between the hopper 21 and the polishing mechanism 40 and conveys the work piece 10 discharged from the hopper 21 to the polishing mechanism 40.

  The straight track 31 further has a straight protrusion, so that when the work piece 10 is discharged onto the straight track, it is inevitably along a straight rib provided on the conveyor 30. Placed in. In this way, each work piece is automatically conveyed to the polishing mechanism 40 in a state of being directed in an appropriate direction. However, when the shaft is symmetrical, it is not necessary to provide a linear protrusion along the linear track.

(Rotating means)
The rotating unit 90 includes a first rotating unit 50 and a second rotating unit 60, and each rotates at different rotational speeds. The first rotating means 50 is a carrier disk 51. The carrier disk 51 has a plurality of recesses or slots 52 on its outer periphery so that a work piece can be received therein. The linear track 31 delivers each work piece 10 discharged from the hopper 21 to each recess or slot 52 of the carrier disk 51. Each work piece 10 is automatically oriented in the proper direction to be received in each slot 52, eliminating the need to manually place the work piece, reducing production time and improving production costs. Please note that. The carrier disk 51 conveys each work piece by rotation for polishing by first and second polishing means described later.

  The second rotating means 60 is a timing belt 61 and is in contact with the surface of each work piece that contacts the belt 61. The rotation of the work piece 10 in each slot 52 is determined by the difference in speed between the carrier disk 51 and the timing belt 61.

  FIG. 4 shows the rotation of the timing belt 61 and the carrier disk 51, and the work piece 10 is rotated by rotating the timing belt 61 and the carrier disk 51, respectively.

  As will be appreciated, the rotational speed of each work piece can be varied by varying the speed of either the timing belt 61 or the carrier disk 51, or both. This is made possible by providing speed adjusting means by means of a built-in inverter or other conventional means.

  In order to be able to polish both ends of the work piece 10 in a single pass, the positional relationship between the work piece 10 and the first and second rotary polishing means is fixed so that the work piece 10 The positional relationship with respect to the first and second rotating means 90 must be stable. This also fixes the polishing means and thus has the advantageous effect that it is not necessary to readjust the polishing means in order to obtain a uniform desired end shape.

  Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 4, the timing belt 61 extends over the carrier disk 51 to a position where the work piece contacts the first and second polishing means.

  The work piece is polished by the first rotary polishing means 70 and the second rotary polishing means 80, which are provided adjacent to the first end 11 and the second end 12 of the work piece, respectively. .

  As shown in FIG. 4, the polishing means are polishing wheels 71 and 81. By changing the positions of the carrier disk 51 and the first and second grinding wheels 71, 81, different surface shapes can be obtained for each end of the work piece. The movement of the first and second grinding wheels and the associated position are independent of each other. Thus, it will be understood that each work piece can have a different surface shape if desired.

  In the present invention, the carrier disk 51 can move vertically along the y-axis and back and forth along the x-axis. The first and second grinding wheels 71, 81 can be moved along all three axes, thereby allowing the work piece to have a desired surface shape. In an embodiment, the first grinding wheel can move along all three axes and the second grinding wheel can move only along the z-axis.

  When the grinding wheels 71, 81 come into contact with the first and second ends of the work piece 10, the rotating work piece comes into contact with the grinding surface of the grinding wheel to create friction and the surface is polished. Polishing is performed until the desired end shape is obtained, which is determined by the positional relationship between the polishing wheel and the end of the work piece. For example, when grinding small work pieces such as micro shafts, the length of each work piece is very short, so when grinding both ends of the shaft at the same time, the two grinding wheels touch each other It will be. Therefore, in the present invention, in order to polish the second end portion, each work piece is removed by hand, and the first end portion is polished first, without requiring the work of arranging, and then the second end portion is polished. It is polished.

  If necessary, the apparatus can be used in combination with a feedback control loop, in which case the desired end of the work piece is automatically reconditioned after the first cut is made. Shape or cut depth can be obtained.

  Further, in order to maintain the cleanliness and hygiene of the work area at a certain level, the apparatus can be further equipped with a discharge system for removing residues generated in the polishing process.

  Since both ends of the work piece must extend outside the timing belt 61 and the carrier disk 51 in order to contact the grinding wheel, the length of the work piece suitable for the present invention is the timing belt 61. And has a direct relationship with the width of the carrier disk 51.

  The above embodiment is merely an example, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention defined by the claims.

1 is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the apparatus. The figure of the container for storing a work piece in the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram of a conveyor for transporting work pieces from a container to a polishing mechanism. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating rotation of a timing belt and a carrier disk that rotate a work piece.

Claims (11)

An apparatus for polishing a workpiece, the apparatus comprising:
A hopper for receiving and discharging at least one work piece, each work piece having at least first and second ends;
Rotates at a predetermined angular velocity and has a plurality of recesses over its outer peripheral surface, each recess being sized to accept one work piece, to transport each work piece to the polishing position First rotating means for rotating;
A conveyor that is arranged between the hopper and the first rotating means, and arranges and conveys each work piece in each recess;
In order to hold each work piece that rotates at a second predetermined speed and rotates in accordance with the speed difference between the first and second speeds at an appropriate position in each recess, the surface of each conveyed work piece; Second rotating means extending over a portion of the first rotating means so as to contact;
In order to polish both ends of the work piece, a first rotary polishing means for polishing the first end of the work piece, and a second rotary polishing means for polishing the second end,
apparatus.   The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second rotating means extends to a position where at least the first and second rotating polishing means polish the first and second ends of the work piece.   The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the conveyor further comprises ribs along the conveyor for linearly arranging the work pieces for transport to the first rotating means.   The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the hopper further includes vibration means for moving the housed work piece onto the conveyor by vibration.   The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first and second rotating means further include speed adjusting means for controlling the rotational speed thereof.   6. The apparatus of any of claims 1-5, further comprising a discharge system for removing residues resulting from polishing of the work piece.   Apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first rotating means is a carrier disk.   8. A device according to claim 1, wherein the second rotating means is a timing belt.   The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising a selective chute for mounting the asymmetric work piece on the conveyor.   10. Apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the conveyor is a linear track so as to linearly arrange the work pieces to be conveyed to the carrier disk.   The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the first and second rotary polishing means are first and second polishing wheels.

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