US2731774A

US2731774A - Centerless grinding machine with work rotating and feeding work support

Info

Publication number: US2731774A
Application number: US439524A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jr Edward J Sieber; Wallace L Davis
Original assignee: Cincinnati Milling Machine Co
Current assignee: Milacron Inc
Priority date: 1954-06-28
Filing date: 1954-06-28
Publication date: 1956-01-24
Anticipated expiration: 1973-01-24

Description

Jan. 24. 1956 E. J. SIEBER, JR.. ETAL 2,731,774

CENTERLESS GRINDING MACHINE WITH WORK ROTATING AND FEEDING WORK SUPPORT 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 28, 1954 N5 Q2 8% %mw fim l 44 444 4 s a m9 mw Qm E mmmvpm 0 mm mm m? m X 9m WW 1'1 w l v [\M 1 m .IIH 1 9w Jan. 24. 1956 E. J. SIEBER, JR., ETAL 2,731,774

CENTERLESS GRINDING MACHINE WITH WORK ROTATING AND FEEDING WORK SUPPORT Filed June 28, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTbRS. 0 WARD J. SIEBEE; JR.

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Jan- 24. 195!) E. J. SIEBER, JR.. ETAL 2,731,774

CENTERLESS GRINDING MACHINE WITH WORK ROTATING AND FEEDING WORK SUPPORT Filed June 28, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 F i g 8 7 82 INVENTORS. 44 55 ED WARD J. S/EBER, JR.

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CENTERLESS GRINDING MACHWE WlTH WURK RQTATiNG AND FEEDENG WQRK SUPPURT Edward 5. Sieber, 3n, and Wallace L. Davis, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignors to The Cincinnati Milling iv'i'achine o., (Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application June 28, 1954, Serial No. 439,524

7 Claims. ((Jl. 51-103) This invention relates to axle grinding machines and mechanism and more particularly to improvements for eificiently grinding the journals of car axles. It is recognized that better results can be obtained with respect to roundness if a journal can be ground by a centerless grinding method, but the problem is properly supporting an axle which is long and heavy so that it will properly respond to centerless grinding.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a centerless grinding machine with an improved mechanism for supporting and rotating a car wheel axle while a journal thereof is being ground by the centerless grinding method.

Another object of this invention is to provide improved outboard means for supporting and rotating a workpiece in a centerless grinder in such a manner that it may be also fed toward the grinding wheel while maintaining the axis of rotation of the work parallel to the face of the grinding wheel.

A further object of this invention is to provide an outboard supporting mechanism for a centerless grinder for supporting long and heavy workpieces which contains mechanism for assisting rotation of the work as well as being automatically synchronized with the regulating wheel slide to maintain the axis of the work parallel to the axis of rotation of the grinding wheel during infeeding of the slide.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention should be readily apparent by reference to the following specification, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, and it is to be understood that any modifications may be made in the exact structural details there shown and described, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from or exceeding the spirit of the invention.

Referring to the drawings in which like reference numerals indicate like or similar parts:

Figure l is a plan view of a mechanism principles of this invention.

Figure 2 is an elevational view of the mechanism shown in Figure l as viewed on the line 2-2 of that figure.

Figure 3 is a detail section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a detail section in elevation on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view of a hydraulic control circuit.

Figure 6 is an end view of the mechanism viewed on the line 6-6 of Figure 2.

Figure 7 is a view on the line 77 of Figure 2.

Figure 8 is a sectional view on the line 8-8 of Figure 6.

Figure 9 is a detail sectional view on the line 9-9 of Figure 6.

in Figure l of the drawings the reference numeral 10 indicates generally a conventional centerless grinding machine having a grinding wheel 11 and a regulating wheel 12, which is typical of centerless grinding machines. The grinding Wheel 11 is journaled in a fixed support on the bed of the machine, while the regulating wheel 12 is journaled in a housing 13 which constitutes an upper slide that illustrating the ited States Patent e 2,731,774 Patented Jain. 24, 1956 is guided at 14 for movement toward and from the grinding wheel on a lower slide 15 which, in turn, is guided at E6 on the rear bed 17 of the machine. A hand wheel 13 is mounted on the side of the slide 13 and operatively connected through bevel gearing 19 having a nut portion 39' threaded on a feed screw 20 which is anchored in an upstanding bracket 21 attached to the bed 17. The upper slide 13 may be connected to the lower slide 15 by the locking member 22, whereby the upper and traverse slides may be moved jointly by the handwheel 18. By unclamping the upper slide by loosening member 22, and operating clamping member 23, shown in Figure 4, the lower slide may be clamped to the bed, whereby the upper slide may be moved severally upon operation of the handwheel 18, that is, relative to the lower slide to adjust the position of the regulating wheel. As shown in Figure 4, the space 24- between the wheels is known in centerless grinders as the grinding throat, and in this throat is mounted a work rest blade 25 carried by a suitable bracket 26 mounted on the end of the lower slide 15. Thus, the upper slide may be adjusted in the manner described by the handwheel 18 to position the regulating wheel relative to the work rest blade 25 in accordance with the size of the workpiece to be ground to hold and support the work on the blade. Then the slides are moved jointly to feed the work toward the grinding wheel.

in a centerless grinder, and referring to Figure 4, the workpiece, indicated by the reference letter W, is rotated by the regulating wheel 12. by friction between the workpiece and the wheel, which friction is created by the weight of the work and the angle top 27 of the work rest biade 25 which causes the work to slide toward the regulating wheel. Usually the regulating wheel rotates in the direction of arrow 28 while the grinding wheel rotates in the direction of arrow 29. With real heavy workpieces the driving friction is hardly sufiicient to cause rotation of the work due to the friction between the work and the top 27 of the workrest blade, and therefore additional means, such as will be described herein, are provided to assist in this rotation.

Referring to Figure 2, an outboard support, indicated generally by the reference numeral 36, is provided for supporting the outboard end of the workpiece W, and between the outboard support and the grinding machine there is provided an elevating or Work loading mechanism indicated generally by the reference numeral 31.

As shown in Figures 2 and 7, the elevating mechanism has ii-blocks 32 and 33 which are spaced apart to receive the workpiece W which may be placed therein by suitable overhead crane mechanism not shown. The V-blocks are mounted on the top of a crosswise moving slide 34 which is guided at 35 on the top of an elevator 36. The slide 34 is adjusted by conventional screw and nut mechanism operated by the hand wheel 37. By operating the hand wheel 37, the supports 32 and 33 may be adjusted crosswise to align the axis of the workpiece with the workrest blade 27 shown in Figure 4, when the work is loaded in the machine. in operation, the elevator may be raised by means of a cylinder 3'3 having a piston rod 39 suitably connected to the elevator 36, and, by means of the control valve 4%, compressed air may be admitted to the cylinder to raise and lower the elevator.

The outboard support, as shown in Figure 6, has a pair of work supporting rolls 4i and 42, and these rolls are carried by a first slide 43 which is adjustable longitudinally of the work by a conventional screw and nut mech'-- anism 43 operated by handwheel 44. The slide 43 is guided at 44 on a second slide 45 which is movable cross wise or laterally of the axis of the work W on the bed 99.

The supporting roll 42, as shown in Figure 8, has reduced ends 46 and 47 which are journaled in

anti-friction bearings

48 and 49 respectively in the ends of oscillatable 3 frames -and 51. Theserfrarnes are journaled at 52and 53 on opposite ends of a sleeve 54 which is mounted in a housing 55. The sleeve 54 is threaded at opposite ends to receive

caps

56 and 57 which are threaded thereon, thereby closing the, ends of the sleeve, and holding the members 50and S1 in position for oscillation. The members 50 and 51 carry clamping-

bolts

58 and 59, and these bolts slide in arcuateslots 60 and filformed in upstanding flanges 62 and 630i housing 55.

It will now be seen that the roll 42 may be arcuately adjusted about the axis of the sleeve 54, and then clamped in position by the locking bolts SS-and 59. In addition, the flange. portions 62. and63'carry backing-up screws such, as 64, shownin Figure. 6, which are adapted to engage the locking.

bolts

58 and 59; Thus, by means of this mechanism, the roll .42 may be raised or lowered, or moved laterallyot longitudinally to align the axis of the workpiece parallel to the face of the grinding wheel on the work rest blade25.

The other roll 41 is carried by the housing 55 in that the

flanges

62 and 63 areextended to form

tubular portions

65 and 65 as shown in Figure 9. Cylindrical sup porting members 67 and 68 are slidably mounted in the

housings

65 and 66, and have threaded connections to adjusting screws 69 and 70 which are anchored in the end of thehousings and provided with operating handles 71 and 72; Set screws '73 and74 engaging longitudinal slots 75 and 76 prevent rotation of the members 67 and 68 as they are longitudinally adjusted. The members 67 and 6S carry anti-friction bearings 75 and 76 in which the reduced ends 77 and 78 are journaled. Cap members '79 and 80 are suitably attached to the members 67 and 68 to keep dirt and extraneous material out of thebearings. It will now be seen that the roll 41 may be adjusted in an angular plane, and the roll adjusted toward and from the roll 41 to assist in locating the workpiece in suitable parallel relation in the throat of the grinding machine.

As previously stated, the additional means for assisting in impartingrotation to the work comprises an electric motor 81, Figure 8, which is connected by a sprocket chain-82 and suitable sprockets to a shaft 83 which is journaled in the housing 55, as shown in Figure 8, and provided with a worm wheel 84 which meshes with a suitable gear $5 mounted on a shaft 36 which is antifrictionally journaled within the sleeve 54. The end of the shaft 86 carries a sprocket wheel 87 which is connected by a chain 88 to a sprocket wheel 89 mounted on the reducedend 900i roll 42. Thus, by means of this drive mechanism actuated by the motor 81, the roll 42 may be positively driven and in timed relation to the rotation of the regulating wheel 12. Attention is invited to the fact that the housing 35 is also supported for lateral oscillation about the axis 83 in order to align the

rolls

41 and 42 parallelto the surface of the work to obtain frictional contact therewith throughout the length of the rolls. This adjustment is effected by two adjusting

screws

91 and 92 which are threaded in the top of the slide 43, and provided with lock nuts 93 and 94. The top of the screws engage flats 95 and 96 formed on the underside of the housing 55. Thus, by adjusting these screws, the roll 42 may be slightly adjusted to insure full contact with the workpiece.

The cross slide 45,- as shown in Figure 3, is moved by a piston 97 mounted in cylinder 98 formed integrally with the frame 99 and connected by a piston rod 100 to the slide 45. This cylinder has

ports

101 and 102 which are connected by

pipes

103 and 104 to ports 105 and 106 of a servo-control valve indicated generally by the reference numeral 107. This valve has a pressure port 108 which is connected by channel 109 to a pump 110 having an intake 111 connected to a reservoir 112. The pipelllhas a relief valve:113 which discharges through channel 114: back' to reservoir. The servo-valve also has drainports 115-.and'116which are connected by 4; channel 117b'ack" to reservoir. The valve also has a plunger 118 which is held by a spring 119 against a control crank 120. This crank, as shown in Figure 7, is attached to a rotatable shaft 121 which, as shown in Figure 2, has a second crank arm 122 which, as shown in Figure 4, engages the end of a set screw 12-3 threaded in a bracket 124 which depends from the workrest slide 15.

A spring 125 is provided to hold the crankarm against,

the set screw.

The servo-control valve 107 is mounted on the end of the slide 45 as shown in Figure 2. It will now be seen that when the regulatinglwheel 12.. and Workrest blade 25 are fed toward the grinding, wheel, as shown in Figure 4, that the bracket 124 will cause counterclockwise rotation of'the arm 122 and thereby through the shaft 121 cause counterclockwise; rotation of the arm shown in Figure 7, and movement of the valve plunger in the servo-valve 107. This will control the flow of pressure fluid tocylinden 98 andthereby movement. of the outboard supporting-

rollers

41, 42 in synch'ronism with the'movement of the workrest blade.

In the operation 'ofthisdevice, it will be understood that the outboard rollers are capable of adjustment in two directions in a plane and vertically with respect to the plane whereby the-supporting rollers may be adjusted to align the axis of the shaft parallel to the face of-the grinding wheel which is-necessary if the journal is to be ground concentric tothe axis of rotation of the shaft. it is to be remembered. that the journal is first supported on theworkrest blade and against the regulating wheel, and with clearance with respect to the grinding wheel as when the shaft is first placed in the machine. Thus, the shaft is first supported by the workrest and the outboard support with its axis parallel to the axis of the grinding wheel, assuming; the face of the grinding wheel is trued parallel to its axis of rotation. Once this condition is established, it is time to feed the work to the grinding wheel without disturbing this parallel relationship. It will be understood that the regulating wheel and the outboard rollers can both be rotating at the time that the Work is placed in the machine, and since the rate of rotation ofthe shaft is not fast, no harm will be done. On the other hand, if preferred, the regulating wheel and the outboard rollers may be stationary when the workpiece is placed in the machine. The peripheral speed of the-regulating- ,wheel and the outboard rollers should be the same to apply uniform rotation to both ends of the shaft and eliminate slipping. The drive motor may be-adjusted as to speed to accomplish this result.

It will now be obvious that if both ends of the work are rotated at thesameratewhile the work is being fed to the grinding wheel to effect the grinding operation, that parallelism will not be disturbed.- This is accomplished by utilizinga servo-valvemechanism to tie the outboard support to the lower slide of the grinding machine so that they move as a unit. By adjusting the set screw 123 the servo-valve may be centrally positioned in a stop positionand with the work parallel preparatory for grinding, After etlectingthe initial set-up, the outboard support will moveback and forth as a unit with the regulating wheel and work rest. Although manually operated means have been shown for advancing the regulating wheel, it will be understood that conventional power operated infeeding mechanisms may also be utilized. After the grinding operation has been completed, the work maybe withdrawn from the. grinding wheel and then removed. bymeans of the elevator mechanism or other equivalent work removing mechanism. The outboard support-slide is a self-contained unit having adjusting means for three directions of adjustment, as well as aligning adjustment, and has a self-contained power unit for driving the-rollers.

What is :claimed is:

1. Inamechanismfor grinding the journal portion on the end of heavy axles by the centerless infeed method, the combination with a centerless grinder having a grinding wheel, slide means having a workrest blade and a regulating wheel mounted thereon for engaging spaced points on the periphery of said journal portion for alignment parallel to the axis of the grinding wheel, of an outboard work support having means for engaging spaced points on the periphery of the work and aligned in cooperative relation with the workrest blade to support the axis of the work parallel to the axis of the grinding wheel, feeding means for said slide means, and power operated means operated and controlled by said slide means for feeding said outboard support means in synchronism with the rate of movement of said slide means to support and maintain the axis of the work parallel to the axis of the grinding wheel during the infeeding cycle.

2. In a mechanism for grinding axle journals by the centerless infeed method, the combination with a centerless grinder having a grinding wheel, slide means having a workrest blade and regulating wheel mounted thereon for engaging spaced points on the periphery of one journal to establish an axis of rotation of the work which will be parallel to the axis of the grinding wheel, of an outboard support having means engaging spaced points on the periphery of the other journal to establish an axis of rotation coaxial to the axis of rotation established by said first-named means whereby the axis of rotation of the work will be parallel to the axis of the grinding wheel, feeding means for operating said slide means, to feed the work to the grinding wheel, power operable means for feeding the outboard support in synchronism with the first-named slide means, and motion transmitting connections operated and controlled by said slide means for controlling the operation of said power operable means.

3. In a mechanism for grinding journals on the end of axles by the centerless infeed method, the combination With a centerless grinder having a grinding wheel, a slide having a workrest blade and a regulating wheel mounted thereon for engaging spaced points on the periphery of one journal for aligning the axis of the work parallel to the axis of the grinding wheel, of an outboard support having a slide, rollers carried by said slide with their axes parallel to said workrest blade, for engaging spaced points on the periphery of the other journal for cooperatively supporting the work parallel to the axis of the grinding wheel, feeding means for the first-named slide, power operable means for the second-named slide, and control means including a servo-valve operated by the first-named slide for synchronizing the movement of the secondnamed slide by said power operable means with the movement of the first slide.

4. In a mechanism for grinding the journal portions on the end of an axle by the centerless infeed method, the combination with a centerless grinder having a grinding wheel, a workrest blade, a slide supporting said blade for movement toward and from the grinding wheel, of an outboard support having a slide movable in parallel relation to said first-named slide, a pair of work supporting rollers mounted on said second slide for engaging spaced points on the periphery of the other journal to support the work parallel to the axis of the grinding wheel, fluid operable means for moving the second slide including a servovalve, means for feeding the first-named slide, and motion transmitting control connections from the first slide to said servo-valve to cause movement of the second slide in synchronism with the movement of the first-named slidel 5. In a mechanism for grinding the journal portions of axles by the centerless infeed method, the combination with a centerless grinder having a grinding wheel, a slide, a workrest blade and a regulating wheel supported on the slide, said blade and regulating wheel adapted to engage spaced points on the periphery of a journal to be ground for aligning its axis parallel to the axis of the grinding wheel, of an outboard support having a slide movable parallel to the first-named slide, an arm mounted on the second-named slide carrying a roller with its axis aligned parallel to the workrest blade, a second roller, supporting means for the second roller on said arm for adjusting the spacing of said rollers to engage spaced points on the periphery of a journal to align the axis of the work parallel to the axis of the grinding wheel, power operable means for moving the second slide including a servo-control mechanism operatively connected to the first slide for governing movement of the second slide in synchronism with movement of the first slide to maintain the axis of the work parallel to the axis of the grinding wheel throughout the feeding operation.

6. In a mechanism for grinding the journal portions on the ends of axles by the centerless infeed method, the combination with a centerless grinder having a grinding Wheel, a workrest blade and a regulating wheel for engaging spaced points on the periphery of the work for aligning the axis of the work parallel to the axis of the grinding wheel, said regulating wheel acting to impart rotation to the work, of an outboard work support having a slide, spaced rollers mounted on the slide with their axes parallel to the axis of said work rest blade, power operable means carried by said last-named slide for imparting rotation to said rollers in synchronism with the rotation of said regulating wheel, and servo-control mechanisms including aservo-valve operatively connected to said firstnamed slide for governing the rate of movement of the second slide in synchronism therewith, and means to effect feeding of said first-named slide.

7. In a mechanism for grinding axle journals by the centerless infeed method, the combination of a centerless grinder having support means for engaging one journal and imparting rotation thereto, an outboard support having means for engaging the other journal and imparting rotation thereto, an intermediate support having elevating means for lowering and raising an axle to position it for grinding, said grinder and said outboard support having slide means for feeding the work toward the grinding wheel, power operable means for moving the slide means on the outboard support including a servo-valve, and motion transmitting connections including a rotatable shaft supported by said intermediate support and operatively connected to said grinding machine for controlling operation of said servo-valve in accordance with the feeding movement of said firstnamed support, and means for im parting a feeding movement to said first-named support.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,141,065 Haas et al. Dec. 20, 1938 2,284,257 Bergstrom May 26, 1942 2,544,318 Horberg Mar. 6, 1951