United States Patent (19) 11) Patent Number: 4,790,545 Dzewaltowski Et Al
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United States Patent (19) 11) Patent Number: 4,790,545 Dzewaltowski et al. 45) Date of Patent: Dec. 13, 1988 (54) WORKPART CENTERING MECHANISM Assistant Examiner-Daniel W. Howell FOR A CHUCK Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Edward J. Timmer (75) Inventors: Victor F. Dzewaltowski; Walter C. 57 ABSTRACT Dodd, both of Springfield, Vt. A workpart chuck is provided with a centering member 73 Assignee: Bryant Grinder Corporation, that is movable toward the axis of rotation of the chuck Springfield, Vt. as the chuck rotates the workpart in an eccentric non centered position. As the centering member moves the 21 Appi. No.: 142,549 workpart, a sensing device senses the extent of changing (22 Filed: Jan. 11, 1988 eccentric movement of the workpart and generates an electrical signal that is indicative of the extent of such 51) Int. Cl." .............................................. B23B 15/00 eccentric movement. The workpart is moved toward 52 U.S. Cl. ...................................... 279/1 L; 33/550; the chuck axis until the signal reaches a predetermined 33/642; 33/644; 33/645; 82/45; 279/1 R value indicative that the workpart is rotating about its 58 Field of Search ............... 279/1 L, 1 M, 1 J, 1 R, axis; i.e., the workpart axis and chuck axis are substan 279/6, 11; 82/45, 2.5; 51/277; 33/550, 640, tially coaxial. The centering member is offset slightly 641, 642, 644, 645; 409/174 relative to the chuck axis of rotation to assure that ex (56) References Cited cessive movement of the centering member placing the workpart center beyond the chuck axis of rotation will U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS not result in the workpart being driven to an extremely 2,434,661 1/1948 Krueger ................................ 33/644 eccentric position and possibly even off the face of the 3,256,754 6/1966 Rivierie et al. ......................... 82/45 chuck. The sensing device will detect a sudden shift of 4,653,235 3/1987 Farmer ............. 5/165.87 the workpart position relative to the centering member indicative of such movement beyond center, where FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS upon the control system will cause the centering mem 1423566 10/1968 Fed. Rep. of Germany ........ 33/550 ber to retract a small distance and advance in a new 143106 7/1980 German Democratic Rep. ... 33/550 attempt to center the workpart. 146266 2/1981 German Democratic Rep. ... 82/45 Primary Examiner-Gil Weidenfeld 21 Claims, 3 Drawing Sheets U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 1988 Sheet 1 of 3 4,790,545 2 N. s 2 5 s U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 1988 Sheet 2 of 3 4,790,545 U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 1988 Sheet 3 of 3 4,790,545 O AEARa 7OAR STATION 4,790,545 1. 2 workpart can rotate freely about its axis. The centering WORKPART CENTERING MECHANISM FOR A member remains close enough to the workpart to pre CHUCK vent excessive movement of the workpart in the event of accidental application of grinding forces in excess of FIELD OF THE INVENTION the chucking and friction forces holding the workpart The invention relates to machine tools such as inter in position on the chuck. nal and external grinding machines and, in particular, to The sensing means may sense workpart position, a workpart centering mechanism for a workpart chuck velocity or acceleration as the workpart is rotated on for holding and rotating the workpart for machining on the chuck with its axis traveling in an eccentric path and a machine tool. O provides a cyclic signal whose amplitude is propor tional to the extent of such eccentric movement. Or, the BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION sensing means may sense the duty cycle of contact be In production type of machining operations, mag tween the workpart and centering member as the latter netic faceplate chucking is infrequently used since time is advanced toward the chuck axis to provide a signal is lost and skilled operator attention is required for cen 15 which the controller can combine with other informa tering each workpiece on the faceplate. A dial indicator tion, such as rate of centering member advance, to de and skillfully dealt hammer blows to the workpiece are termine the extent of such eccentric movement. required to center the workpiece. Of course, the object The invention contemplates a method for centering a for the operator is to center the workpiece on the face workpart on a rotating chuck including moving the plate with the geometrical axis of the workpiece sub workpart axis toward the chuck axis as the chuck ro stantially coaxial with the rotational axis of the face tates the workpart axis eccentrically sensing the extent plate that is attached on a rotatable spindle. of eccentric movement as the workpart moves and It is an object of the invention to provide a centering generating a signal that is indicative of the extent of mechanism for centering a workpiece on a magnetic or such eccentric movement. The workpart preferably is other chuck and which eliminates the time consuming 25 moved toward the chuck axis until the signal reaches a and labor intensive manual centering technique and is value indicative that the workpart is centered on the amenable for automatic control by a machine tool con chuck. trol unit. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 30 The invention contemplates a workpart centering FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the magnetic workpart mechanism for a magnetic or other chuck wherein the chuck of the invention having a workpart centering centering mechanism is operable to center a workpart mechanism. from a position where the workpart axis of geometry is FIG. 2 is a partial front elevation of the chuck show offset from the axis of rotation of the chuck to a position 35 ing the workpart initially off-center on the chuck. where the axes are generally aligned. FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 2 with the workpart off-cen The workpart is positioned on the chuck initially ter and engaged by one of the centering shoes. with its (workpart) axis offset and thus moving in an FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 3 with the workpart substan eccentric path around the chuck axis as the chuck ro tially centered and the centering shoes slightly with tates. In a typical working embodiment, the workpart 40 drawn from the workpart. centering mechanism includes a movable centering FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 3 after the workpart has member preferably having a pair of shoes engageable been advanced too far past chuck axis R and has with the workpart for moving the workpart axis toward snapped to a position in engagement with both shoes of the chuck axis such that the eccentric path changes as the centering member. the workpart is moved and also includes means for 45 FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the control system for sensing the extent of eccentric movement of the work the centering mechanism. part and generating a signal that is indicative of the extent of such eccentric movement. The centering BEST MODE FOR PRACTICING THE mechanism includes means such as a servo motor or INVENTION other prime mover for moving the centering member SO FIGS. 1 through 4 illustrate a magnetic workpart toward the chuck axis until the signal from the sensing chuck 10 for an internal or external grinding machine, means reaches a predetermined level or value indicative although the invention is not limited to grinding ma that the workpart is rotating substantially about its own chines or to magnetic chucks. As is known, an annular axis and not eccentrically. workpart W is held on magnetic chuck faceplate 12 In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the cen 55 with the rotational axis of the workpart and faceplate 12 tering member includes spaced apart first and second substantially coaxial or aligned. The chuck faceplate is shoes for advancing the workpart toward the chuck axis attached on a rotatable spindle 14 in known fashion and with the workpart engaged on one shoe and with the spindle 14 is rotated by an electric motor 16 or other shoes offset relative to the chuck axis. If the workpart conventional and known means. The spindle 14 and axis is moved slightly past the chuck axis, the workpart 60 motor 16 may comprise separate components drivingly Snaps to a new position engaged on both the first and connected for example by a drive belt 17 or pulleys, second shoes of the centering member. This snap action gear train, etc., or the spindle and motor may be inte of the workpart can be employed as feedback to effect grated to provide a motorized spindle. automatic withdrawal of the centering member and A suitable faceplate for use in the invention is avail re-centering of the workpart. 65 able commercially as model no. AXM-8896 available In the preferred mode of operation of the invention, from O.S. Walker Inc., Worcester, Mass. the centering member is withdrawn slightly away from Known mechanical workpart clamps or chucks can the workpart after the workpart is centered so that the be used in the invention in lieu of the magnetic face 4,790,545 3 4. plate; e.g., roll clamping and air clamping where the such as roll clamping, air clamping and other workpart workpart is held by rollers or air pressure against a clamps or chucks. faceplate on a spindle can be used in lieu of the magnetic Referring to FIG. 1, the centering mechanism in faceplate 12 to be described below. cludes centering member 52 that is mounted on a ball Spindle 14 and electric motor 16 are typically slide 54 employing two cylindrical slide bars 54a.