FR2511919A1 - PITCH FINISHING MACHINE - Google Patents

Abstract

THE INVENTION RELATES TO A SPINDLE TRIBOFINING MACHINE. AUTOMATIC TAT DEVICES ARE PROVIDED TO TRANSFER EACH PIN TO WHICH AT LEAST ONE PART TO BE FINISHED IS FIXED BETWEEN A LOADING OR UNLOADING STATION, SUCH AS C OR D, OUTSIDE TANK 1, AND AN IMMERSION POSITION OF THE TANK PART TO BE FINISHED IN THE ABRASIVE BED 2 CONTAINED IN THE TANK 1. THE INVENTION IS APPLICABLE TO AUTOMATE AND ACCELERATE THE CADENCE OF ALL SPINDLE TRIBOFINING MACHINES.

Description

The present invention relates to a machine

ribbon finning.

  Tribofinishing machines are known, each comprising a tank containing a bed of abrasive elements, pins to which the parts to be finished are removably attached, and means for creating relative movements between the elements of the machine.

  abrasive bed and the parts to be finished immersed therein.

  For the implementation of one of these known machines, tribofinition, it is necessary to fix one or more of the parts to be finished at each pin, then to lower the lower end of each pin, thus charged, in contact with the upper surface. the bed of abrasive elements, contained in the tank, for immersing said parts to be finished in the abrasive bed; when the treatment is finished, the maneuvers

inverses are necessary.

  Until now, in most of these tribofinishing machines, the loading of the pins with the parts to be finished, and the unloading of the finished parts, that is to say their separation of the corresponding pins, took place manually; This obviously resulted in a relatively low machine work rate and

high labor force.

  The main object of the present invention is to automate a pin-type finning machine of the type indicated, so as to considerably increase its operating speed and to considerably reduce the costs of the necessary labor.

to its exploitation.

  The pin-finning machine,

  according to the present invention, is of the type indicated

  cedemment, and it is characterized in that automated means are provided for transferring each pin, to which is fixed at least one piece to be finished, between at least one loading station and / or unloading said pin, outside the periphery of the tank, and a position of immersion of the piece

  fixed to said pin, in the abrasive bed.

  In a preferred embodiment of the tribofinishing machine according to the present invention, its vessel, with a circular base or in the form of a regular polygon, is equipped with N pins arranged along the radii or apothems of a regular polygon with N sides, and it is surrounded by a rotating annular plate, which carries loading stations and unloading stations of said pins, and that an engine can

  to rotate concentrically to said tank.

  On the other hand, the loading and unloading stations of the annular plate can be served by at least one conveyor Finally, preferably,

  means are provided to synchronize the advance not-to-

  the conveyor, the step-by-step rotation of the annular platen, and the operations of the spindle transfer devices and an auxiliary device, mounted at a stationary position, for transferring parts between said conveyor and said annular platen at each

synchronous stop of these.

  This preferred embodiment of the pin finning machine according to the present invention is particularly advantageous insofar as the annular plate has the parts to be finished, the different pins brought above their corresponding loading stations, then, when said pieces have been treated in the tank by tribofinishing, the same tray has empty unloading stations below the pins brought

  at their respective unloading posts, which may

  coincide with their loading stations, thanks to an appropriate rotation of the annular plate during the duration of the treatment of the parts; of course,

  all the spindles of the machine can be simultaneously

  loaded, then unloaded, and reloaded again,

  after a short downtime of the pins discharged

  s above the turntable, which allows the latter, by a rotation of appropriate amplitude, to present new parts to be finished below the pins to be recharged As furthermore the annular plate can be garnished with parts to be finished, and removed from the already finished parts, using the carrier and the device for transferring the parts to be finished of said carrier to the loading stations of the annular plate, and the parts already finished, of its unloading stations on the conveyor, and that the latter transfers can take place especially during the duration of the treatment of the various parts immersed in the abrasive bed, it is understood that this preferred embodiment of the invention eliminates virtually all downtime in the operation of the tribofinition machine, and therefore to give it a very high work rate and

fully automatic.

  By way of example, there is described below and diagrammatically illustrated in the accompanying drawing, a form of

  realization of the de-tribofinishing machine according to the pre-

this invention.

  Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating the function

  of this embodiment of the invention.

  Figures 2 and 3 are respectively an elevational view and a plan view of this form

embodiment of the invention.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating, in elevation, the operation of this form of

production.

  In FIG. 1, 1 denotes the tank of a pin-finning machine according to the present invention; in this embodiment, it is formed in rotation about one of a circular vessel, vertical axis, the upper face is open, and contains a bed of abrasive elements, These are generally grains of a material harder than the parts to be finished, the shape and dimensions of these abrasive grains being

  themselves adapted to the corresponding characteristics

  parts to be finished 3 denotes an annular plate mounted concentrically rotatable to the vessel I; a motor, not shown, and a transmission shown schematically in FIG. 1 by the belt 4, make it possible to drive

  the plate 3 in rotation concentrically with the tank 1.

  means a carrier, for example a carpet

  linear carrier, which is arranged in a

  substantially tangential to the annular plate 3.

  Three loading stations, C 1 to CY, and three loading stations, D 1 to D 3, are arranged alternately on the plate 3, so that each station, for example D 1, is equidistant from the stations which, respectively, the following, 01, and the preceding, C 3, in the direction of rotation of the annular plate 3, which is indicated

by the arrow f 1.

  According to the present invention, automated means, which have been designated respectively by T 1, T 2 and T 3, which have been shown schematically in FIG. 1, each with two downward arrows in solid lines, the upper ends of which are joined by horizontal element, are provided for transferring each of the three pins (not shown) to

  which is fixed at least one piece to be finished (also

  not shown), between at least one loading station of said spindle, such as 01, or an unloading station, such as Dl, and an immersion position of the workpiece fixed to said spindle, in the abrasive bed 2 fact, the symbols T 2 and T 3 schematically represent the paths traveled, in the opposite direction% by each piece fixed to a brocheavant and after its treatment by tribofinition On the other hand, it is symbolized by two arrows descemimtene, solid line, connected by a semicircle designated by T, a device mounted at a fixed station for transferring parts between the conveyor 5 and the annular plate 3, in particular its loading stations, such as O let unloading,

such as D 1.

  To explain the mode of operation

  of the tribofinishing machine shown schematically

  Figure 1 shows the pieces to be finished, rough, with hatched triangles, and the

  pieces finished with hatched circles The conveyor belt

  carrier 5, which carries a queue of parts to finish in the direction f 2, is stopped automatically, by an automation of a known type, it is not necessary to describe in detail, when one of the parts to Finishing it arrives arrives at the level of the transfer device You at the same time, the automatism already mentioned Arr 9 te the rotation of the annular plate 3, in a position such that a loading station, for example C 1, is located at the level of the transfer device O; the situation evoked corresponds in particular to the stopping of the elements 3 and 5 which preceded the one illustrated in FIG. 1 The part to be finished is then transferred by the device T 0 of the conveyor belt 5 to the loading station, then empty, C 1 the annular plate 3; the mentioned automation then turns the plate 3 by an angle equal to 60 degrees in the direction

  of the arrow fi, so as to bring the

  Ci of the plate 3, then carrying a part to finish, facing the transfer device of a spindle, T 1 The device T 1 then transfers the part to be finished from the loading station C 1 in the vessel 1, o said piece is completely immersed in the abrasive bed 2 The relative movements between the abrasive elements and the part thus immersed begin immediately after the finishing work of said piece, in a manner known per se The automation, meanwhile, continues to advance , step-by-step, the annular plate 3 and the conveyor 5 so as to bring, at the end of each step, a part to be finished and one of the loading stations C 1 to Ci facing the transfer device T 0, which ensures the loading of said station, the piece thus loaded remaining, during the following steps, on the station where it was previously loaded At the end of the fifth step, it is the unloading station D 2, then empty, which is next to the transfer device T 1, which automatically extracts the part which had previously been immersed in the abrasive bed 2, and whose treatment with tribofinishing is finished, then brings it back to said unloading station D 2 When the annular plate 3 has turned again by five steps, the unloading station D 2 and the finished part which it carries, are found at the level of the transfer device T 0, which deposits it on the box of the conveyor belt which is arr Ate facing the device T 0, and which

  is empty Figure 1 illustrates the situation, at the

  as already mentioned, where it is on the other hand a finished part which will be transferred, by the device To of the unloading station D 1, on an empty space of the conveyor 5. The situation represented in FIG. an instant of operation of the machine, sufficiently posterior to the beginning of its operation, so that, at the instant considered, all the boxes of the conveyor 5 situated upstream with respect to its direction of transport indicated by the arrow f 2 of its box empty, o will be transferred the contents of the unloading station Dl, are occupied by parts to finish, while all its boxes, downstream of said empty box, are occupied by finished parts; at the same time, parts to be finished occupy the loading stations C 1, C 2 and CD, and will be able to be transferred, during the temporary stop of the machine, in the tank 1 to undergo the tribofinishing treatment, while the other unloading stations, D 2 and D 3, are occupied by parts already finished, which will be unloaded on the conveyor 5 by the transfer device TO, as and when they pass thereagainst during subsequent rotations of the

  ring tray 3 Of course, the operating mode

  It is assumed that the machine according to the present invention comprises means for synchronizing the step-by-step advance of the conveyor 5, the rotation

  step-by-step of the annular plate 3, as well as the functions

  arrangements of the pin transfer devices, T 1 to T 5, and the auxiliary transfer device T O; according to the present invention, this synchronization preferably takes place, as previously described, as follows: the auxiliary device TO is actuated so as to transfer, at each synchronous stop of even or odd order, moving elements 3 and 5, a part to be finished in one of the two directions indicated by the two arrows of the symbol T 0, and at each odd or even order stop, a finished part in the direction indicated by the other arrow of the symbol T 0, while the spindle transfer devices, T 1 to T Y are actuated at one of 2 N successive synchronous stops, so as to simultaneously transfer the finished parts to the unloading stations, in the direction of one of the two arrows of each of the symbols T 1 to T 5, then, at the next synchronous stop, so as to simultaneously transfer pieces to be finished, from the loading stations C 1 to OC, in the direction of the other

  arrow of each of the symbols T 1 to T 3.

  In FIGS. 2 to 4, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1 denote the components of the machine which have already been

  listed in the description of said FIG.

  It is not necessary to return to the

  description of these components Figures 2 and 3

  show however in detail one possible embodiment of the three transfer devices of the pins, T 1 to T 3, assumed to be identical to one another and regularly distributed, at a distance of one hundred and twenty degrees, above the circular tank 1,

  while the explanatory diagram in Figure 4 cor-

  only one of the three devices

  transfer of the spindles, in particular T 1.

  As can be seen in FIGS. 2 to 4, each of the transfer devices T 1 to T 5 of the machine according to the present invention comprises a first horizontal slide 6 whose direction is parallel to one of the spokes. 1, of the circular vessel 1, and along which can slide a first slide, 7; this first slider 7 carries a second vertical slider 8, along which can be moved a second slider, 9; this second slider 9 is traversed by the spindle 10, which, in this embodiment, is mounted loosely rotating in two bearings 11a and 11b. The second slider 9 also supports a geared motor of a known type. 12, which is coupled to the upper end of the spindle 10, so that it successively presents all the faees of the part to be finished, plau -ob de gr ain abaifsj A verim rmet de dep lacer the second slider 9

  and the pin 10 that he wears, as well as the motorcycle

  gearbox 12, along the vertical slide, 8, at will upwardly or downwardly, as indicated by the arrow V; another cylinder makes it possible to move the assembly formed by the first slider 7, and all the parts that it supports (8, 9, 10, 11 a, 11 b, 12) along the first horizontal slide, 6, of way to bring said pin 10 is above

  the tank 1, ie outside its periphery, the whole

  being arranged so that this horizontal translational movement takes place substantially along the corresponding radius r I of the vessel 1, as indicated by the double arrow H in FIG. 4. In this FIG. 4, the transfer device has been represented in its position for which the part to be finished 21, which is fixed in any suitable manner to the lower end of the pin 10 for example by screwing, mechanical clamping, use of a vise,

  an expanding mandrel or jaw etc e -

  is completely immersed in the abrasive bed 2 that contains the tank 1 The tribofinishing treatment results, in the exemplary embodiment illustrated, the centrifugation of the abrasive grains due to the rotation of the tank 1 about a vertical axis, the parts to be finished, such as P 1, successively presenting all their faces to the flow of abrasive grains as a result of the rotation P that the geared motor 12 communicates with the spindle 10 r At the end of

  treatment, the automation already mentioned stops the motorcycle

  gear 12 and actuates the aforementioned cylinders, so that the part carried by the lower end of the spindle, describes in space the path shown in dashed lines in Figure 4, and designated by t: in the course of the first part of this path, the part is transported by the lower end of the spindle, from the P 1 position, of immersion in the abrasive bed 2, to a position P 2 located at a level higher than that of the edge

  the top of the tank 1, as a result of an upward

  corresponding dant of the second slide 9 along the vertical slide 8; the piece P 2 is then

  brought into position P 3, above the annular plateau

  3, as a result of a movement of the first slide 7 along the horizontal slide 6, from the right to the left of FIG. 4, during which the finished piece passes over the upper edge 1a of the tank 1 e Finally, a downward movement of the second slider 9 along the vertical slide 8 brings the finished part into the position P 4, on the unloading station D 1 carried by the annular plate 3 't Of course, when this annular plate 3 stops a loading station, such as 101, opposite the transfer device T 1, the part to be finished which is on this unloading station is transferred from the position P 4 to the position P 11 of immersion in the abrasive bed 2, along the path t, traveled in the opposite direction, that is to say through the intermediate position PI, then by the intermediate position P The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above It encompasses all its variants means of

  loading and unloading of transmission devices

  spindles are optional materials Instead of a single conveyor belt 5, which brings the parts to finish and carries the finished parts, we could

  provide, for these two functions, two conveyor belts

  Separate carriers, cooperating respectively with the rotary annular plate 3, via two separate transfer devices, each of which is transferable to TO. This transfer device TO is itself capable of many different, well-known, embodiments that it can not. is not necessary to describe in detail; it is possible to use for this purpose any manipulator or robot stationary of a known type Of course, it would also be possible to have a worker carry out the transfers between the rotary annular plate 3 and

  the rectilinear conveyor belt (s) such as 5.

  The circular plate 3 and the conveyor belts which serve it could also be replaced by conveyor belts in a number equal to or double that of the transfer devices such as T to T 3, whose loading and unloading operations would then be ensured. , for each device

  transfer, by one or two linear carriers.

  Of course, the movements of the different

  Linear sensors should then be synchronized to ensure synchronous loading and unloading of the transfer devices such as T 3 The number of these transfer devices It is optional material; It could also have an N 2 value or an N 7 value. In all cases, the transfer devices are arranged to carry out the transfers of the pins and the parts fixed thereto respectively in planes substantially perpendicular to the wall. lateral of the tank, in particular radial planes in the case of a circular base tank In the case of a number N of pins, greater than 3, the tank may still have a circular or polygonal base The N-pins and their respective transfer devices may be arranged in planes passing through the radii of the circular or polygonal base of the vessel, or through the apothems of the polygonal base of the vessel. the tank Of course, the present invention is applicable to tanks of any form, for example rectangular It is however only in the case of a tank with a circular base

  or regular polygon that a rotating annular plate

  it can be mounted around the tank; in this case, N loading stations and N unloading stations can be arranged alternately on said circular plate, so that each station is equidistant from the stations which, respectively, follows and precedes it If, in this case, the tank, circular or polygonal base, is surrounded by a rotary annular plate such as 3, and linear carriers N N double number are arranged to serve at each stop of the annular plate, the N loading or unloading stations, which the transfer devices are not available, the automation mentioned above can be

  way that the motor rotates the annular plate

  An angle of 180 ° / N degrees during a stop time of each unloaded spindle above said turntable With this mode of operation of the machine according to the present invention, the annular platen is stopped during any the duration of the simultaneous treatment of N pieces by tribofinition, and these are the same positions of said annular plate, which was used to load the transfer devices, which, after the completion of the treatment, serve

  unloading them; Moreover, after

  the pins are maintained by the

  corresponding transfer rates, in their upper position (P 3 in Figure 4), for the time just sufficient for said plate 3 rotates an angle equal to 180 / N degrees; this rotation, of a

  on the other hand, bring the finished parts

  evacuation devices, and, on the other hand, brings next to transfer devices the parts to be finished which had been loaded on the corresponding items.

  plateau during the previous treatment period.

  Each of the transfer devices such as T to a is also capable of different embodiments of that previously described; instead of being driven so as to communicate to the parts to be finished, Pi, slow rotations, the pins can be entralnés so as to communicate other relative movements with respect to the abrasive grains; it may be for example any directional vibrations, or even translationsi The means described above for traversing each piece fixed to the lower end of a pin 10, the path tidans sense in the opposite direction, are susceptible of other embodiments, obvious to those skilled in the art It suffices that each transfer device comprises means for making travel through the lower end of the spindle, in one direction or the other, a trajectory bringing together a point located inside the abrasive bed 2 at a point 3 outside the periphery of the tank 1, this path passing over the edge of the tank 1 The motors to control these movements

  Guided tours are also optional subjects.

  Of course, the machine according to the present invention is applicable to all known methods of pin finning, regardless of the number of pieces fixed to each pin, the means for fixing said pieces, and the means for creating relative movements between the pins. parts attached to the pins and grains of the abrasive bed; these relative movements can be, in particular, produced by rotations and / or vibrations

  walls of the tank, by the action of forcescentri-

  fugessur the grains of the abrasive bed etc. Also,

  the automatism of which the machine, according to the present invention,

  It has to be provided, can be made with known means, electromechanical type, electiical, pneumatic, hydraulic etc. As for the means for fixing the parts to be finished, the ends of the pins, they are chosen so as to be able to ordered by

the automatism mentioned.

Claims (8)

  1 pin finning machine,   carrying a tank (1) containing a bed (2) of abrasive elements, pins (10) to which the parts to be finished (P 1) are removably attached, and means for creating relative movements between the bed members abrasive (2) and the parts to be finished (P1) immersed therein, characterized in that automated means (Tl, T 2, T 3) are provided for transferring each pin (10), to which is attached at least a part to be finished (P 1), between at least one loading and / or unloading station (C 1, D 1) of said spindle (10), outside the periphery of the vessel (1), and a position of immersion of the piece (P 1) i fixed   at said pin (10) in the abrasive bed (2).   2 Machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the transfer device (T 1, T 2 or T 3) of each pin (10) comprises a first slide (6), horizontal, whose direction is substantially perpendicular to the wall the first slider (7) carries a second vertical slider (8) along which a second slider (9), supporting the spindle (10), can move, and that engines, such as cylinders, are provided, one to move the first   slide (6) between the loading and unloading station   loading the spindle (10) and the immersion position of the workpiece (P 1) attached to said spindle (10) in the abrasive bed (2), the other motor, to move the second slider (9) between the level corresponding to the immersion of the piece (P 1) in the bed (2), a level allowing the passage of the pin (10) and the piece (P 1) attached thereto, above the edge   upper (la) of the tank (1), and possibly the ni-   calf of the loading and unloading station (C 1, D 1) of the spindle (10).   3 Machine according to any one of   claims 1 and 2, characterized in that each   pin (10) is rotatably mounted about its vertical axis   tical, its upper end being coupled to a geared motor (12) carried by the   sliding support (9) of the spindle (10).   4 Machine according to any one of the   1 to 3, characterized in that its vessel (1), with a circular base or in the form of a regular polygon with N c 8 tees, is equipped with N pins (10) arranged according to the radii or apothems of a regular polygon at N c 8 tees, and that is surrounded by a rotating annular plate (3), which carries loading stations and unloading stations (C to C, DD) of said   pins (10), and that a motor can cause rotation   concentrically to said tank (1).   Machine according to claim 4, characterized   the fact that the loading and unloading   (C 1 to C 3, D 1 to D 3) of the annular plate (3) are   served by at least one carrier (5), preferably   substantially tangential to said platen (3).   6 Machine according to any one of   Claims 4 and 5, characterized in that N positions   of loading (Ci to C 3) and N unloading stations (D 1 to D 3) are arranged alternately on the annular plate (3), so that each station (CI or D 1) is equidistant from the positions which, respectively , the   follow (y or C 1) and precede it (D 1 or C 3).   7 Machine according to claim 6, characterized in that the motor rotates the annular plate (3) by an angle equal to 180 / N degrees during   a stopping time of each unloaded spindle (10), above said turntable (3).   Machine according to any one of the   dications 5 to 7, characterized in that it comprises means for synchronizing the advance step by step of the conveyor (5), the rotation not-depas plateau I 11919   (3), as well as the functioning of the provisions   transfer devices (T 1 to T) of the pins (10) and an auxiliary device (To) mounted at a fixed station, for transferring the parts between said conveyor (5) and said annular plate (3) at each stop synchronous of these.   Machine according to claim 8, characterized   in that the auxiliary device (TO) is actuated so as to transfer to each synchronous stop of even or odd order a part to be finished in one direction, and, at each odd or even order stop, a finished part in the other direction, while the transfer devices (T 1 to T 3) of the pins (10) are actuated at one of 2 N successive synchronous stops so as to simultaneously transfer the finished parts to the   unloading stations (D 1 to D 3), and then, at the synchro-   immediately following, so as to transfer simul-   parts to be finished from loading (C 1 to C 3).