VIBRATION-DAMPER

Abstract: Vibration isolator for supporting machines, for example machine tools, with an elastic vibration isolating body (32) arranged under a rigid plate shaped member (31) which forms or is incorporated in means for transferring the compressive load to the elastic body. For productional reasons and other reasons it has been found desirable to be able to mount the elastic body, usually a rubber body, without use of any particular means of attachment and after completion of the vulcanization of the rubber body. This has been made possible by providing the rubber body (32) with a preripherical flange portion (34) which terminates in a bead (35) adapted to cooperate with an edge portion of the compressive load transferring means (31, 33). Thus, the rubber body may be mounted and anchored by first providing for an elastic expansion thereof and thereafter a contraction.

Description: Vibration-damper. This invention relates to a vibration isolator for supporting machines, for example machine tools, and is of the type comprising an elastic vibration isolating body and cOmpressive load transferring means with at least a rigid plate shaped member which engages the up¬ per side of the elastic body. Various designs of such vibration isolators are pre¬ viously known. ' In a very common design practice the vi- bration isolating body, which most often consists of rub¬ ber, is bonded by vulcanization to the rigid plate mem¬ ber which transfers the load to the rubber body. An exam¬ ple of such a known design may be found in Norwegian Patent No. 136 221, which in principle is based upon a vibration isolating support element the rubber body of which is adapted to be directly in engagement with the base or floor. This way of using the* element is also of • particular interest in connection with the present inven¬ tion. Other known designs are based upon a more or less complete encapsulation of the rubber body in housings of steel or other metals. However, there are also exam- pels of the opposite, i.e. that the rigid steel or metal members are completely or in part encased by the rubber body or parts thereof. The published German Patent Application 2 309 950 shows such an embodiment, in which the rubber body or the rubber bodies have been attached to the metal parts by vulcanization. With vibration isolators of the type concerned here the load in practice will be substantially a pure compressive load and this implies that the rubber body will tend to bulge out laterally if precautions have not been taken to avoid this. In addition to a more or less complete encasing of the rubber body as mentioned above, reinforcement elements included into the rubber body may serve to prevent such bulging. It is common for vibration isolators for machines and the like to be provided with a possibility of height adjustment, and this has particular interest in connec- tion with the present invention, although the same is not exclusively restricted to height adjustable designs. In height adjustable vibration isolators, however, the design task exists to the effect that the mutually movable parts shall be held together before mounting the isolator under¬ neath a machine or the like. In earlier designs where this mutual anchoring has not been provided for by vulca¬ nization of the rubber body to the respective movable parts, there have been employed various mechanical means which have contributed to a more complicated and ex¬ pensive design. * In particular when there are several parts which shall be joined to the rubber body, vulcanization has the disadvantage that the rigid metal parts must be in¬ serted into the vulcanization mould and thereby make the vulcanizing procedure problematic. In the first, place the present invention is directed to an improved vibration isolator which makes possible a simpler and more rationalized manufacture, in which disadvantages as discussed above are avoided. Thereby ' it will also be possible to obtain a cheaper vibration isolator which involves flexibility both for the maπu- facturerer and for the dealer and possibly also the user. According to the invention this is obtained with a vibration isolator of the type referred to in the intro¬ ductory paragraph above, the novel and specific features of which consist therein that the elastic body, for example a. rubber body, is provided with an upwardly projecting peripherical flange- ortion having an upper- inwardly directed bead shaped for cooperation with a peripherical edge ' portion of the compressive load trans¬ ferring means, so that the body is anchored by elastic contraction of the bead. Thus, the solution stated here is based upon the principle that the rigid plate member or the compressive load -transferring means, respectively, is attached to the rubber body after the vulcanization thereof. In this way the vulcanization operation is much simplified-; This results in reduced manufacturing costs. Moreover, the assembly of the individual parts constituting the vibration isolator, may be carried out very simply and quickly without use of any expensive and complicated equipment. In practice this may be effected by inser¬ ting the respective metal parts into the rubber body at the same time as this is expanded in order to remove the mould part or core which is necessary in order to form the cavity in the rubber body. An additional ad- vantage consists therein that the rigid metal part or parts may be painted or. surface treated in other ways without having the rubber body mounted thereon. The encasing by the rubber body resulting from the solution stated here, gives a favourable outer appearance of the vibration isolator since the isolator will present a com¬ paratively closed continuous surface in the lateral direction. This closing or encasing with rubber prevents dirt and corrosive liquids from entering the vibration isolator, which has particular importance when the height adjustable embodiment is concerned. Additional advantages as well as other novel and specific features of a vibration isolator according to the invention, will appear from the following description with reference to the drawings in which: Figure 1 is a cross section through a simple height adjustable embbdiment of the vibration isolator according to the invention. Figure 2 is a cross section of a simplified ' vibra¬ tion isolator module which can either be used alone or as a component in a height adjustable embodiment. Figure 3 shows a preferred embodiment of the vibra¬ tion isolator according to the invention. Figure 4 ' shows a modified embodiment, and Figure 5 shows another modified embodiment. In Figure 1 there is shown a vibration isolator having a rigid plate shaped member 11 which transfers the compressive load to an elastic body 12. which can for example consist-of a suitable rubber composition. The load is transferred from the machine foot being shown only in part, through a screw ' bolt 17 the lower end of which rests in a bore or bearing 16 on the upper side of plate member 11. Height adjustment can take place * in a known way by means of the screw bolt 17 and the nuts shown thereon. Around the circumference of the rubber body 12 there is formed a flange, portion 14 which terminates in, an in¬ wardly directed bead 15 being shaped for cooperation with an edge portion 11a of the plate member ' 11. The bead 15 is inverted approximately 180 in relation to the flange portion 14, and the edge portion 11a of the plate member 11 -includes a recess lib which is adapted to accomodate the inverted bead 15. With this complementary shape of the cooperating portions of the rubber body and the me¬ tal plate member 11, respectively, there is obtained a very good and secure anchoring of the rubber body 12 on the plate member after assembly of the parts. This assemb¬ ly is quite ^ simply carried out by expanding the vulcanized rubber body and " in particular the flange portion 14 with the bead 15 thereon so that the diameter thereof will be enlarged and thereby form an opening for inserting the plate member 11. Then the rubber is allowed to contract so that it will engage around the plate member and the bead will snap into the recess lib. Although the embodiment of Figure 1 has been shown somewhat simplified and schematically, it is seen that the underside of plate member 11 has a concave curvature and * that the rubber body 12 has an increasing thickness from the periphery inwardly to the central portion of the isolator. This curved shape has particular significance in connection with the various embodiments of the present invention. With the design of the rubber body and the attachment thereof as stated here, it is important to -pre- vent lateral bulging out of the rubber when the vibration isolator is subjected to a load. The concave shape men¬ tioned will contribute to keeping such bulging under control. It also appears from Figure 1 that the upper surface OM of the bead 15 is somewhat above the upper surface of pla member 11. In practical applications where the machine foot is in direct engagement with this upper side (i.e. without height adjustment) the bead 15 will be somewhat pressed down by the machine foot and this contributes to an additional securing of the anchoring of the rubber body to the plate member 11. In the embodiment of Figure 2 there is shown a form of rigid plate shaped member 21 being more suitable in practice, since this member is manufactured by pressing of a steel sheet material which preferably has radial ribs (not shown) . With a design as shown there is ob¬ tained sufficient stiffness and strength in this plate member 21, which inter alia is related to the curved concave shape which has also been explained above with reference to Figure 1. Thus, also in the embodiment of Figure 2 there is a rubber body 22 being generally thicker at its central portion than outwardly towards the peri¬ phery. The " plate member 21 has a central depression 26 corresponding to the bearing 16 in the embodiment of Figure 1, intended for supporting the load" through a screw bolt or .the like, not being shown here. Plate member 21 has an upwardly projecting, edge por¬ tion 21a which is enclosed by a flange portion 24 with an associated bead 25 on the rubber body 22. Also with this embodiment it will apparently be very simple to mount the rubber body on the load transferring plate mem¬ ber 21. The embodiment of Figure 2. is suitably based upon a circular ' fundamental shape, but it is obvious that this and other of the embodiments shown may have a basic shape different from the circular shape, for example a square or rectangular basic shape. In principle, however, the way of attaching the rubber body as stated here, assumab- ly is most suitable with circular vibration isolators. Figure 3 shows a preferred and more advanced height adjustable embodiment of the vibration isolator accor¬ ding to the invention. In Figure 3 the isolator is shown in its completely lowered height position. One of the main parts in the arrangement of Figure 3 is a rigid plate shaped member 31 which possibly may be quite identical to plate member 21 in the embodiment of Figure 2. The means for transferring the compressive load also in Figure 3 comprises a rigid upper part 33 ■ which in a similar way is generally plate shaped and which has a central hole 38 for a screw bolt. Qn the underside of the upper part- 33 and in connection vith the hole 38 there is cast-in a common nut . 39 so that in a simple and inexpensive way there i's provided a thread for the screw bolt the lower end of which is adapted to 'engage a bearing centrally on the plate mem¬ ber 31, in analogy with the bearing 26.in Figure 2. When turning the screw bolt height adjustment may be effected, as the upper part 33 is brought to be removed from the plate member 31. The narrow gap between the ' se two parts shown in Figure 3, may then increase within the permitted range of height adjustment. Figure, 3 illustrates rubber body 32 having an up- wardly projecting peripherical flange portion 34 the is upper part of which comprises a bulge 37 which^adapted . to be tens'ioned as height adjustment is effected with increasing height levels. This is an advantageous arrange¬ ment which makes it possible to avoid undue strains in the rubber under certain conditions. However, such bulging is not always necessary, since the flange portion of the rubber body may have such dimensions in relation to the height adjustment range that the natural stretch- ability of the rubber- is able to accommodate the height adjustment concerned. The edge portion 33a on upper part -33 has an associa¬ ted recess 33b inwardly thereof ' and for example in the form of a continuous groove, in which the bead 35- of the rubber body fits in. As in the embodiment of Figure 1 also in Figure 3 the upper side of the bead is somewhat elevated with respect to the surface of the upper part 33, so that a machine foot resting thereon will contribute to urging the bead 35 into a secure anchoring in the recess 33b. It is not necessary with specific means oJ ' attachment of any kind, for example an adhesive, either . for the attachment of the bead 35 on the upper part 33 or for the anchoring .of the rubber body to the plate member 31. During storage and handling of the vibration 5 isolator before the mounting thereof underneath a machine or the like, the rubber body 32 with its encasing design as she will in a safe way keep the parts 31 and 33 together so that no problems arise even though these in principle are loose and movable in relation to each other. 10 The same assembly of the parts and members as according to Figure 3 are incorporated in the vibration isolator, can also here take place in a simple and quick way with minimal possibilities of erroneous mounting. This implies that these parts and members may possibly be 15 sold and shipped as individual parts intended for assemb¬ ly on or near the place of use, for example in special assembly plants abroad. This flexibility in manufacture and assembly also involves that standard parts or com¬ ponents may be common to various embodiments, as also 20 mentioned above in connection with the embodiments of Figures 2 and 3. * Finally Figures 4 and 5 show two modified embodiments of details regarding the cooperation between the bead and the edge portion of the adjacent plate member or up- 25. per part. Thus, in Figure 4 there is shown a plate mem¬ ber 41 with a rubber body 42 the flange portion 44 of which is terminated in a bead 45 which cooperates with an edge portion 43a of an upper part 43. The edge portion 43a is provided at the outermost edge of the plate shaped 0 upper part 43 and the bead 45 is snapped over the edge 43a. As a particular reinforcement of the bead 45 there is provided a ring 49 made for example of spring steel and having a split (a so-called seeger-ring) . In certain cases such a reinforcement ring may also contribute to 5 a better anchoring and durability of the rubber body. In Figure 5 there is shown another modification which - it is right - to some degree will make the design more expensive, which may be considered useful in specific applications. Of the rubber body there is here shq. only a flange portion 54 with an inwardly directed bead 55 terminating in a plug with a head 56. This plug is passed through a hole 53b in plate member 53 the peri¬ pherical edge portion of which is here designated 53a. 5 Thus, the edge portion has not here any particular shape except for it being provided with said holes 53b. For additionally securing the anchoring by means of plugs 56 these may be provided with an axial bore for accommo¬ dating a pin 59 which is inserted when the plug has been 10 passed through the hole 53b.. There may, be provided a larger or smaller number of such holes.around the peri- phery of a vibration isolator according to this modi¬ fied embodiment. In the above description there has been a reference 15 to rubber as the material for the elastic body, but it .is obvious that also other materials having- corresponding properties, for example plastic materials, may be em¬ ployed. In the ' metal parts incorporated in the vibration isolator steel has been mentioned, particularly for the 20 rigid plate shaped member which transfers the compressive load to the elastic body. The upper part 33 in Figure 3 may in particular be manufactured by injection moulded aluminum. It is obvious, however, that also these parts may be manufactured from other metals or suitable material 25 which have the necessary stiffness and strength. • With the solution described here advantage is taken of the material properties so that the vibration isola¬ ting body may be mounted and anchored by elastic expan¬ sion and subsequent contraction, without use of other 30. means of attachment or vulcanization. Thus, the elastic body is considered to be completely vulcanized before this assembly takes place. Attachment of the elastic body in this way means that the inwardly directed bead has a minimum diameter which is smaller than the outer 35 diameter of at least certain parts of the peripherical edge portion with which the bead shall cooperate. " It is obvious that if it is desired in certain instances, this anchoring by elastic contraction may be supplemented with other means of attachment, for example a partly or local adhesive joint.

Claims: CLAIMS: 1. Vibration isolator for supporting machines, for example machine tools, comprising an elastic vibration isolating body (12, 22, .32, 42) and compressive load transferring means with at least a rigid plate shaped member (11, 21, 31, 41) engaging the upper side of the elastic body, characterized therein that the body (12, 22, 32, 42) is provided with an upwardly -projecting peri¬ pherical flange ^ portion (14, 24, 34, 44, 54), having an upper inwardly directed bead (15, 25, 35, 45, 55) being shaped for cooperation with a peripherical edge portion (11a, 21a, 33a, 43a, 53a) of the compressive load trans¬ ferring means (11, 21, 31, 33, 43, 53) so that the body (12, 22, 32, 42) is anchored by elastic contraction of the bead (15, 25, 35, 45, 55). 2. Vibration isolator according to claim 1, characteriz.ed therein that the bead (15, 25, 35) 'is in¬ verted approximately 180 with respect to the flange portion (14, 24, 34) and that the peripher.ical edge por- tion is preferably provided with a complementary recess (lib, 33b) for accommodating the inverted bead. 3. Vibration isolator according to claim 1 -or 2, characterized therein that the upwardly facing surface of the bead (15, 35) is lying somewhat above the adjacent upwardly facing support surface for the machine foot or the like on the compressive load transferring means, so that this surface of the bead is adapted to be pressed down by the machine foot. 4. Vibration isolator according to claim 1, 2 of 3, characterized therein that the underside of the plate member (11, 21, 31, 41) has at least in part a concave curvature and that the thickness of the body (12, 22, 32, 42) along the periphery is reduced in relation to the thickness of more inwardly located parts of the body. 5. Vibration isolator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized therein that the plate member (21, 31) is a pressed steel plate having a central de- pression (26,. 36) adapted to accommodate the end of an anchoring or adjustment screw for the machine foot. 6. Vibration isolator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized -therein that the compressive load transferring means ' as known per se " consists of a rigid plate member (31) and a rigid upper part (33) having a corresponding basic shape, said upper part being provided ■ with said peripherical edge portion (33a) . 7. Vibration isolator according to claim 6, characterized therein that the peripherical flange por¬ tion has a bulge (37) which gives flexibility in the flange portion during height adjustment of the machine support. 8. Vibration isolator according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized therein that in the bead (45) there is encased by vulcanization a resilient ring (Figure 4) . 9. Vibration isolator according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized therein that the bead (55) is provided with a ' number of plugs (56) adapted to be- anchored in corresponding through-holes (53b) in the compression transferring means (53) (Figure 5) . OMPI

Inventors: BULL SCHAK
Applicants: BULL SCHAK, NOMAR AS
Application year: 1981
Main classification: F16F15
IPC codes: F16F1, F16M7