POSITIONING MACHINE

• Main Authors: HAMLIN F,US, WELLS W,US
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 28.08.1973
• Subjects: COMBINATIONS OR ASSOCIATIONS OF METAL-WORKING MACHINES, NOTDIRECTED TO A PARTICULAR RESULT; DETAILS, COMPONENTS, OR ACCESSORIES FOR MACHINE TOOLS, e.g.ARRANGEMENTS FOR COPYING OR CONTROLLING; DRESSING OR CONDITIONING OF ABRADING SURFACES; FEEDING OF GRINDING, POLISHING, OR LAPPING AGENTS; GRINDING; MACHINE TOOLS; MACHINE TOOLS IN GENERAL CHARACTERISED BY THE CONSTRUCTION OFPARTICULAR DETAILS OR COMPONENTS; MACHINES, DEVICES, OR PROCESSES FOR GRINDING OR POLISHING; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; POLISHING; TRANSPORTING

A positioning machine has a rotatable spindle which carries objects to be positioned, and that spindle is journaled in a shiftable carriage which in turn is mounted on another shiftable carriage. The two carriages move in directions perpendicular to one another and each is shifted by a motor which may be an air cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder. Each carriage further has its own positioning turret for determining the distance it moves, and that turret is provided with a plurality of positioning rods. As the turret rotates, its positioning rods individually pass through a control position, and the rod in the control position at any given time forms a blockage between the carriage and the supporting structure for that carriage, so as to control the distance the carriage moves. The spindle is also operated by a motor which likewise may be an air or a hydraulic cylinder, and geared to the spindle is a rack, the movement of which is determined by still another turret. That turret has rods, the control position for which is in alignment with the end of the rack, so that the rod in the control position at any given time forms a blockage between the end of the rack and the carriage which supports the spindle, thus controlling movement of the rack and the angular position of the object. The three turrets are mechanically connected so that they rotate in unison and are indexed by a single indexing mechanism.