MXPA01000802A - Apparatus for chip removal - Google Patents

Abstract

Apparatus for removing chips from the machining chamber of a machine tool (2) comprising primary (24) and secondary (34) chip removal ports with the primary chip port (24)being positioned in the stream of chips emanating from the workpiece (22) being cut and the secondary chip port (34) being located in a trough (36) at or near the bottom of the machining chamber for collecting chips not entering the primary chip port. A source of vacuum (26) is applied to both ports either simultaneously or, preferably, in an alternating manner and chips are conveyed through respective conduits (28, 30, 38) to a chip collection container (46).

Description

APPARATUS FOR THE REMOVAL OF REBABAS FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to machine tools and the manner in which metal burrs from machining processes are removed from them. Specifically, the present invention is directed to machines for the production of straight and helical denture gears and an apparatus thereof for directing burrs away from the machining area.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Traditionally, the machining of metal parts to produce desired articles, such as carving processes to produce helical and straight gear gears, shafts, grooves, and the like have been made in the presence of a cooling medium supplied to the gear point of a tool and the work piece. Apart from the obvious cooling function of the tool and the piece of REF. : 126299 work, the coolant also reduces the deterioration and serves for cleaning the metal burrs, which arise from a machined workpiece, away from the gear area of the tool and the work piece and remove them from the machine. Once cleaned away from the tool and the workpiece, the burrs can be separated from the refrigerant by filtration means or by magnetic separator as is well known in the art. While the refrigerant certainly has some advantages, it also has its disadvantages. Refrigerant is expensive to acquire, and in some cases the pricing is just as expensive. The smoke of refrigerant vapor and refrigerant oil are considered to be environmentally hazardous. Therefore, machines should include a steam / smoke collector as a means to remove such contaminants transported by air from the atmosphere inside the machine enclosure. Circulating the refrigerant in a machine tool requires a pump and hoses to supply the refrigerant to the machining area, and a burr separator to remove metal burrs from the coolant. Such separators are a bit more complicated than the simple dust lines used to transport dry burrs. In some cases, the filters may be needed to remove other debris from the refrigerant, or a refrigerant cooler may be required to control both the equilibrium temperature of the machine and that of the refrigerant. Recently, dry machining processes such as dry cutting of cylindrical and cut or dry-cut gears of conical denture gears have attracted attention as an alternative for processes using refrigerant (wet machining processes). See, for example, Philips, "New Innovations in Hobbing - Part II," Gear Technology, Novi e b re / Di c i emb re 1994, p. 26-30, and, Stadtfeld, "Gleason POWER-DRY-CUTT ING ™ of Bevel and Hypoid Gears," The Gleason Works, Rochester, New York, May 1997. It can be seen that dry machining has the potential to overcome many serious and expensive disadvantages associated with the use of a liquid refrigerant. Also, dry burrs are usually more valuable as a recyclable material than burrs which are resilient and moistened by a process fluid. The cut or cut parts without refrigerant do not need washing, prior to further processing such as heat treatment. However, the heat generated in the dry machining processes is a contributor to the wear of the tool and can also have detrimental effects on the machine itself, causing the differential increase of the components such as bolts, bearings, or the structure of the machine. machine. Much of the process heat in dry machining is removed by the burrs that must be removed from the machine as quickly as possible-and in a manner by which they do not come in contact with the machine structure for some time. extended period of time. One way to remove dry burrs is to allow hot burrs to fall by gravity to a burr conveyor built at the base of a carving machine. Such a burr removal system is shown in Ophey, "Gear Hobbing Without Coolant", Gear Technology, No Vi embr e / Di c i embr e 1994, p. 20-24. Another method for removing burrs from a carving machine capable of dry and wet carving is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,848 from Suwjin where the burrs are discharged at the base of the machine where a reversible transfer mechanism is taken to the respective dry or wet exits.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to an apparatus for removing burrs from the machining chamber of a machine tool. The apparatus comprises primary and secondary burr removal holes with the primary burr hole being positioned in the burr flow emerging from the workpiece being carved and the secondary burr hole being located in a channel in the lower part of the burr. the machining chamber for the collection of burrs that does not They entered the hole for primary burrs. A vacuum source is applied to both orifice either simultaneously, or, preferably, alternately and the burrs are transported through the respective conduits to a burr collection container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a carving machine having a burr removal apparatus in accordance with the present invention. Figure 2 is a view of the burr removal apparatus of the present invention, Figure 3 It is an isometric device of the inventive burr removal device that includes the vacuum system. Figure 4 is a view of the vacuum system of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITY The details of the present invention will now be discussed with reference to the companion drawings. The present invention is applicable to any machine tool where the burrs are directed to an outlet at the base of the machine for subsequent removal of the machine tool. A machine is known in U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,814 from Suwjin which is a carving machine for the production of direct and helical denture gears. A machine of this type is illustrated in Figure 1. The carving machine 2 comprises a base 4, tool column 6, tool head 8, tool holder 10 and tool size 12. The machine 2 additionally comprises a column of work 14 that has a front head 16 and a con t r a fits z a 1 18. A ca gga / de s ca rga mechanism is included for the administration and removal of work pieces 22 for machining.

Additional details of the operation of the carving machine are not believed to be necessary for a complete understanding of this invention. However, such details can be obtained by reference to the above patent. In dry cutting, hot burrs arising from the tool / workpiece are usually directed via a channel to an outlet at the base of the machine by gravidity and with the help of inclined surfaces on the components in the machining chamber . In some cases, surface covers with smooth materials such as stainless steel or aluminum are included to assist in the flow of burrs towards the outlet. It is also known to drive the burrs towards an outlet for the use of air jets directed towards the outlet. The inventor has found that an improved way to remove burrs from a chamber of the machine is to capture the burrs before they come into contact with any of the surfaces of the components of the machine. This is done with the best apparatus shown in Figures 1 and 2 wherein a primary burr hole 24 is shown in position to intercept the burrs when they arise from a work piece 22 that is machined by a tool 12. The primary burr hole 24 is connected to a vacuum source 26 (Figures 3 and 4) by means of conduits 28 and 30 which are connected to the outlet at the base of the machine. The burr hole 24 is positioned both angularly and vertically by an adjustable mounting means 32 which is secured to the machine tool in an appropriate location. In light of the fact that the burr orifice 24 is open, the duct 28 is preferably of the flexible type. For those burrs not captured by the primary burr hole 24, the secondary burr hole 34 is placed in an outlet of the burr collection channel 36 in the machine structure. Specifically, the secondary burr hole 34 is in the form of a groove located in the burr collection channel 36. The groove encloses the conduit 28 in the direction of the primary burr hole 24. The secondary burr hole 34 is also connected to the burr hole. a vacuum source 26 via conduit 38 and chamber 40.

As previously tested, the vacuum source 26, such as a centrifugal vacuum generator, provides vacuum to draw the burrs through conduits 28, 30 and 38. The vacuum can be applied to all conduits during machining, or preferably, a bypass valve 42 (Figure 3), pneumatically operated, for example, and controlled by either the machine operator or the machine controller, can be included for the cycle of vacuum operation between the burr hole primary 24 and secondary burr hole 34. Vacuum generator 26 is connected to a burr collection container 44 via conduit 46. In turn, burr collection container 46 is connected via conduit 48 to the diverter valve 42. If desired, a T-connection 50 can be included in the conduit 48 to provide an additional conduit 52 to which a flexible hose 54 is attached for use in the periodic manual cleaning of the hose. burrs from hard-to-touch areas of the machine's camera. The joints 56 for hose 54 are may include A manually operated valve 58 can be used to control the application of vacuum in the hose 54. In operation, during the cutting of a workpiece, the "diverter valve 42 is positioned to apply vacuum to the primary burr hole 24 although most of the burrs are captured by the burr hole 24. Periodically, either during cutting or between parts that are cut, the vacuum is diverted by the valve 42 to the secondary burr hole 34 to remove the burrs that fall into the channel 36. The burrs are carried through either their respective conduits to the burr container 44. With the present invention, the majority of the burrs are removed from the machining chamber without ever coming into contact with the surface of the components In the machining chamber, therefore, no heat is transferred to the components of the machine, while the invention has been described with reference to the Preferred dades are to be understood that the invention is not limited to what is determined by this. The present invention is interested to include modifications which may be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the subject is appropriate without deviating from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

It is noted that in relation to this date the best method known by the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is that which refers to the manufacture of the objects to which it refers. Having described the invention as above, the content of the following is claimed as property

Claims (12)

1. An apparatus for the removal of burrs from the machining chamber of a machine tool for the production of toothed workpieces, characterized in that said apparatus comprises: a primary burr removal hole being positionable to intercept a current of burrs that arise a piece of work that is machined, a secondary burr removal hole being located in or near the bottom of the machining chamber for the collection of burrs that did not enter the primary burr removal hole, a vacuum source applied to the burr secondary and primary burr removal hole either simultaneously or in an alternate manner, and, the burrs are transported in the direction of the machining chamber by means of the respective conduits connected to the primary and secondary burr removal holes.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the secondary burr removal hole is placed in a burr collection channel.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the secondary burr removal hole is located in the lower part of the machining chamber.

4. The apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the secondary burr removal hole and the burr collection channel are located in the lower part of the machining chamber.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the vacuum is applied continuously to the primary burr removal hole and the secondary burr removal hole.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the vacuum is applied alternately to the primary burr removal hole and the secondary burr removal hole.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that the vacuum alternation is effected by a pneumatically operated bypass valve connected to the respective conduits.

8. The apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that the alternation of the vacuum is controllable by an operator of the machine or by a computer controller of the machine.

9. The apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that the vacuum is applicable to the primary burr removal hole during the machining of a piece of work and where the vacuum is applied to the secondary burr removal hole during the intervals between the machining of the work pieces.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the vacuum is effected by a centrifugal vacuum generator.

11. The apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that the vacuum is alternatively applicable between the primary burr removal hole and the secondary burr removal hole during machining.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that it additionally includes a third hole for removing burrs in the form of a flexible hose connected to the vacuum source and which is operable and manually positionable to remove the burrs from inside the machining chamber.