A cutting apparatus for a noncircular cross section

Abstract: In a machine tool for cutting a non-circular cross section on a workpiece, sensing means are provided to detect the rotational angle of the main shaft which rotates the workpiece and the signals thus obtained are used to control the longitudinal displacement of a non-­ rotary tool shaft disposed perpendicularly to the main shaft and which can advance and retreat axially relatively to the main shaft axis but cannot be rotated. An armature on the tool shaft lies between a pair of electromagnets that are energized in accordance with the signals indicating the rotational angle of the main shaft and thereby the tool shaft is displaced longitudinally accordingly. The axial position and the speed of longitudinal displacement of the tool shaft are also sensed to obtain feedback for stabilizing the travel and positioning of the tool.

Description: The present invention relates to a cutting apparatus for producing a non-circular cross section when machining a workpiece such as a piston for an internal combustion engine, an outer circumferential surface of which has a non-circular cross section. Heretofore, in order to shape a workpiece having a non-circular cross section, a profiling machining process using a master cam has often been used. Such a profiling machining process has several disadvantages. For example, it is necessary to use a master cam, the manufacture of which requires much time and cost. Further, the configuration of the master cam which can be formed is restricted to a certain allowable extent because of problems in the making of the master cam, and therefore it may be impossible to form a workpiece to a desired configuration. Furthermore, since a follow-up characteristic of a profiling machining device is restricted, the workpiece is limited in the increase of its relating speed, and thus it is impossible to drive the device at high speed. Therefore, it is difficult to shorten the cycle-time for machining the workpiece. An alternative process using a hydraulic servo-system in place of the master cam has been tried. This process is possible at low speed, but impossible at high speed. Because, in a hydraulic servo-system, the response characteristic of a servo-valve is low and thus the response speed of a hydraulic cylinder cannot be increased. Further, the control of the oil temperature is difficult and thus the response characteristic of the cylinder may change owing to variation of the oil temperature. Also, in a system using a servo-motor, the servo-motor is frequently changed or reversed in its rotational direction, and thus the response characteristic of the servo-motor cannot be improved because of various factors such as inertia of the motor, elastic deformations of a ball screw and of a feed table. US Patent No. 4 653 360 describes an arrangement where an electric voice coil motor is used to control movement of the cutting tool. This enables the cutting operation to be completed quickly. However, one still requires an arrangement to hold the workpiece very accurately and non-rotatably relative the cutting tool. An arrangement comprising an axial spline and balls to allow axial but not rotational movement is not satisfactory because the balls wear over time. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide such a cutting apparatus. According to the invention therefore, there is provided a cutting apparatus for a non-circular cross section, the apparatus being provided with a tool advancing and retreating means which comprises: (a) a central shaft which is disposed perpendicularly to a main shaft to which a workpiece is adapted to be attached, a tool being adapted to be fixed to one end of the central shaft, (b) journal means for supporting the central shaft so that the central shaft can be displaced in its axial direction but cannot be rotated, the journal means comprising leaf springs central portions of which are secured to the central shaft, and outer peripheral portions of which are secured by way of a holder to a mount, (c) a movable plate fixed to the central shaft, (d) electromagnetic positioned opposite to each other so that the movable plate is interposed between them with a predetermined clearance therebetween, (e) means for detecting the rotational angle of the main shaft, (f) a displacement sensor for detecting a longitudinal displacement of the central shaft, (g) a speed sensor for detecting the speed of longitudinal displacement of the central shaft, and (h) means for controlling an electric current passing through the electromagnetic means on the basis of output signals from the means for detecting the rotational angle of the main shaft, from the displacement sensor and from the speed sensor. With apparatus according to the invention the problems of the prior apparatus can be eliminated and the workpiece can be rotated at a high speed, and be subject to a high speed cutting operation. Therefore the cycle-time of the apparatus can be substantially decreased, any configuration of the workpiece can be machined, a change of the configuration of the workpiece can easily be accommodated, and high accuracy of working can be maintained for a long time. The operation of the cutting apparatus for the non-circular cross section provided with the tool advancing and retreating means having the above-described structures according to the present invention is as follows: The rotation of the main shaft to which a workpiece is attached causes the rotating angle detecting means to synchronously rotate, the rotating angle detecting means detecting a rotation number and a rotating angle of the main shaft. Thus, an electric current passing through the electromagnets is controlled by way of the control means correspondingly to the rotation number and rotating angle. While this control of the electric current causes an attracting force exerted on the movable plate by means of the electromagnets to be controlled, the movable plate and the central shaft fixed thereto are longitudinally displaced. This displaced condition is detected by means of the displacement sensor and the speed sensor generates respective output signals on the basis of which a feed-back control is performed while the tool attached onto the central shaft is advanced or retreated relative the workpiece, as a result of which the workpiece can be cut or machined to provide it with a non-circular cross section. The invention will be described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a cutting apparatus for a non-circular cross section according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a partially broken away plan view of the tool advancing and retreating means included in the cutting apparatus shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side view of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of the journal means for supporting the central shaft of the tool advancing and retreating means; Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing a principle for controlling a position of the tool attached to the tool advancing and retreating means utilizing electromagnets and springs; Figure 6 is a schematic diagram showing a transfer characteristic of a control system when the springs are added to the journal means; Figure 7 is a graph showing a position of the movable plate; and Figure 8 is a graph showing the change of an electric current passing through the electromagnets. As shown in Figure 1, main shaft 1 provided with a workpiece holder for holding a workpiece W is rotatably supported by a headstock 2 and is adapted to drive by means of a servo-motor 3. Rotating angle detecting means 4 consisting of an encorder, etc. attached to the headstock 2 at its back portion is also adapted to be rotated synchronously with the workpiece W. A feed table 5 is slidably mounted on a bed 10 so that the feed table 5 can slide in a direction parallel to the main shaft 1 (i.e. X axial direction), that is, the feed table 5 is adapted to be controllably fed by means of a screw feeder mechanism to be driven by servo-motor 7. Further, another feed table 6 is mounted to a slide on the feed table 5 so that the feed table 6 can slide in a direction perpendicular to the said X axial direction (i.e. Y axial direction), that is, the feed table 6 is adapted to be controllably fed by means of another screw feeder mechanism to be driven by another servo-motor 8. A tool advancing and retreating means 9 is mounted on the feed table 6 in order to advance or retreat a tool 18 in the Y axial direction (i.e. a radial direction of workpiece W). In Figures 2 and 3, the tool advancing and retreating means 9 is shown in detail. Electromagnets 13a, 13a and 13b (for example four pieces) opposite to each other are attached to a mount 11, between which a movable plate 12 is interposed with a predetermined clearance therebetween. The movable plate 12 is securely attached to a central shaft 14. The central shaft 14 is axially movably but non-rotatably journalled. An electric current passing through the electromagnets 13a, 13a or 13b, 13b causes the movable plate 12 to be attracted towards the electromagnets 13a, 13a or 13b, 13b through which the electric current passes, and at the same time, the central shaft 14 is longitudinally moved together with the movable plate 12. The tool 18 is attached to the one end of the central shaft 14, and is adapted to move back and forth in a direction perpendicular to a rotating shaft, i.e. the main shaft 1 on which the workpiece W is secured, whereby the workpiece W can be machined so that its cross section perpendicular to the axis of the main shaft 1 has a desired non-circular configuration. In other words, the passing of an electric current through the electromagnets 13a, 13a or 13b, 13b is adapted to be effected by means of a control means (not shown) on the basis of an output signal from the means 4 for detecting a rotating angle of the main shaft 1 and synchronously with the rotation of the main shaft 1, so that the tool 18 can be advanced or retreated a small distance in a direction perpendicular to the main shaft 1 at a predetermined angular position during one rotation of the workpiece. Thus, the workpiece W can be machined so as to have a non-circular cross section perpendicular to the axis of the main shaft 1. Further, on one end of the central shaft 14, a displacement measuring plate 15 is secured, the amount of displacement of which is adapted to be detected by the displacement sensor 16 attached to a supporting base 21 (Figure 3). On the other end of the central shaft 14, a speed sensor 17 is attached, which is adapted to detect a displacement speed of the movable plate 14. The values measured respectively by the displacement sensor 16 and the speed sensor 17 as feed-back data are inputted into a numerical control device (not shown) and are utilized to control the attracting force and frequency response characteristics of the electromagnets 13a, 13a and 13b, 13b. Thus, while the workpiece W is machined so as to have a non-circular cross section perpendicular to the central shaft 14, servo-motors 7 and 8 are simultaneously controlled to thereby feed-control simultaneously the feed tables 5 and 6, whereby a generatrix of the outer circumferential surface of the workpiece W can be changed along its axial direction. When the axial movement of the central shaft 14 is controlled only by means of the electromagnets, as described below, an excess electric current has to pass through the electromagnets in order to stabilize the axial movement. As a result, the response characteristic of the electromagnets will be lowered and the electric power is used wastefully. Journal means 24 for the central shaft 14 for eliminating this problem are shown in Figure 2 and in more detail in Figure 4. In the journal means 24, the central shaft 14 is secured to a holder 23 by way of a laminated product made by laminating many flexible thin leaf springs 22 of a cross configuration. The leaf springs 22 are secured to the central shaft 14 at central bores of the springs, and to the holder 23 at outer end portions of the leg portions extending outwardly from the central bores, respectively. The holders 23 of the journal means 24 are secured to the mount 11 by screw means etc. Accordingly, when the movable plate 12 is attracted by the electromagnets 13a, 13a or 13b, 13b to thereby move together with the central shaft 14 in the axial direction thereof, the flexible leaf springs 22 are bent to allow this axial movement or displacement of the central shaft 14, but the rotation of the central shaft 14 is prevented by the springs 22 secured to the holders 23 whereby the central shaft 14 can sufficiently support a cutting reaction force exerted by the tool 18 which is cutting the workpiece W. The steel plate is therefore used, but when it is attracted by the electromagnets an eddy current may be generated therein, thus lowering the frequency response characteristic. Therefore, in order to avoid the eddy current loss, slits may be formed on the plate. When the movable plate 12 and thus the tool 18 are controllably positioned using the attracting force of the electromagnets, this force is proportional to the displacement of the movable plate 12 within a range capable of being linear-approximated. Such attracting force is similar to a force by a spring having a negative spring constant, and a system subject to such force would be unstable. Such problems are overcome by use of the springs 22 having the general positive spring constant to thereby cancel or offset the negative spring constant by the positive spring constant. First, problems concerning the control of the electro-magnetic attracting force will be considered. It is assumed that there is an interrelationship represented by the following formula 1: F = K · I 2 d 2 where, F is an electromagnetic attracting force acting to a body to be attracted by the electromagnets, I is an electric current passing through the electromagnets, d is a distance between the electromagnets and said body, and K is a constant dependent upon or determined by the electromagnets. First, a control system as shown in Fig. 5 will be considered. In this control system, if there are no springs 25 or 26, the motion equation of the movable plate 12 can be represented by the following formula 2 obtained from the formula 1, where, m is mass of the movable plate 12, x is a displacement of the movable plate 12 from a datum point at which the movable plate 12 is positioned in an equal distance do from both electromagnets 13z and 13b, the direction of x from the movable plate 12 towards the electromagnet 13z being represented by positive sign (+), and i is a control electric current. In Fig. 5, reference numeral 27 denotes a control circuit, and reference numerals 28 and 29 denote constant-current amplifiers, respectively. In the formula 2, it is assumed that do=x and io=i. When the formula 2 is linear-approximated assuming that x=0 and i=0 represent an equilibrium point, the formula 2 can be represented by the following formula 3: The first item of the right side of the formula 3 is an unstability factor owing to the negative spring constant. When the goal motion at which the movable plate 12 aims is provided by the formula, x = a.sin wt, an amplitude ia of the control electric current i can be represented by the following formula 4. i a = ad 0 2 4Ki 0 · m ω 2 + a d 0 · i 0 The first item of the right side of the formula 4 is an electric current for obtaining an external force necessary for moving the movable plate 12, and the second item is an electric current necessary for cancelling the unstable force resulting from the negative spring constant. In other words, because of the existence of the unstability factor represented by the first item of the right side of the formula 3, the control electric current is required which is larger than that necessary for moving the movable plate. Particularly, when the value of the electric current represented by the first item of the right side of the formula 4 is relatively large and has to be controlled near the allowable maximum frequency for the electromagnets, the values of the electric current represented by the second item and of the amplitude ia are also increased, and in addition the movable plate is required to have larger rigidity. In other words, since the control system represented by the formula 3 is unstable, it is required to feed-back the displacement signal of the movable plate 12 to thereby stabilize this system. In this case, the static rigidity of the movable plate is determined by the feed-back gain f1 of the position, using the following formula 5: f x = 4Ki 0 d 0 3 (f 1 d 0 - i 0 ) In view of the formula 5, an excess gain is required which is sufficient to offset or cancel the negative rigidity (negative spring constant) of the electromagnets, passed through the electromagnets. In this manner, when the control system using the electromagnetic attracting force is tried to be stabilized by the feed-back, the excess electric current has to be passed through the electromagnets, whereby the performance of the system is lowered. Further, since the construction of the stable control system has to be settled beforehand, the design of the control system is restricted by the above condition. In Fig. 5, when there are springs 25, 26, the motions equation of the movable plate 12 can be represented by the following formula 6: When the formula 6 is linear-approximated, the following formula 7 can be obtained: In this case, the amplitude ia of the control electric current i can be represented by the following formula 8: i a = ad 0 2 4Ki 0 · m ω 2 + ad 0 2 4Ki 0 ( 4Ki 0 2 d 0 3 - k) In the formula 8, if the spring constant k is determined so that the second item of the right side of this formula 8 is zero, the amplitude ia may be only that corresponding to the electric current necessary for moving the movable plate 12, and thus the required electric current can be decreased. And also, the static rigidity is represented by the following formula 9: f x = 4Ki 0 d 0 2 · f 1 Accordingly, it is most required to provide the excess gain. In order to visualize the effects of the added springs, each parameter is substituted by concrete values, and the simulation on the basis of a non-linear model is effected, the results of which are shown in Figures 7 and 8. The control system is constructed as shown in Fig. 6 and the goal input r(t) is represented by r(t) = 0.25 sin 200 t (mm). In addition, K in Fig. 6 represents the ratio between the displacement of the movable plate and the electric current passing through the electromagnets, i.e., "gain". It was assumed that the characteristic of the constant electric current amplifier included in this element can ideally act on this system in this simulation. The values of the parameters in Fig. 6 are as follows: K = 23000, k = 5.5 x 10 -4 Nm 2 /A 2 m = 10 kg, do = 1.5 mm, io = 2.0 A The results of the simulation are shown in Figures 7 and 8. Fig. 7 is a graph showing a relation between the positioning or displacement (mm) of the movable plate 12 and time (sec). Fig. 8 is a graph showing a relation between the electric current (A) passing through the electromagnets and time (sec). In both Figures 7 and 8, (1) represents a result of the case in which no springs are not provided, and (2) represents a result of the case in which the springs having the spring constant determined by the formula 8 are provided, respectively. The goal input is r(t) = 0.25 sin 200 t (mm). The values of the parameters are as follows: In the case of (1) : k1 = 0.8, k2 = 0.005, k = 0 (N/m), In the case of (2) : K1 = 1, K2 = 0.01, k = 2.6 x 10 6 It is obviously recognized from both Figures 7 and 8 that if gain k1 and gain k2 are appropriately determined, the positioning of the movable plate can be performed at similar accuracy in both cases (1) and (2), but the electric current necessary for the positioning in the case of (2) is smaller about 40% than that in the case of (1). This is the effect of the springs. In this manner, if the negative spring constant existing in the control system is offset or canceled by adding stable springs to the positioning mechanism utilizing the electromagnetic attracting force by the electromagnets as a driving force, the electric current passing through the electromagnets can be restrained and thus the control characteristic can be improved. The use of the leaf sprungs 22 provide this effect. In addition to this effect restraining the required electric current, this method enables a stable and approximately linear system to be constructed, and thus the linear control can easily be applied, and the improvement of the accuracy of the positioning of the movable plate 12 is also possible. Further, when the positioning of the movable plate has to be performed using this mechanism while the movable plate is subject to an external force such as a working force, if the pressurization force which can resist the external force is imparted to the movable plate, the control of the electric current can be performed without being influenced by any external disturbance. Further, there is a vibration-proof effect in use of the springs. When the work-piece is rotated in the apparatus, mechanical vibrations are generated resulting from various elements such as a motor, belts, and bearings; as a result, such mechanical vibrations will lower the accuracy of the workpiece to be machined. In the present mechanism, as the springs are used to support the tool, the generated vibrations may be damped or absorbed, resulting in an advantageous effect on the precise-working. Since the present invention is constructed as described above, according to the present invention, the problem of the follow-up characteristic as in the conventional profiling machining device can be eliminated, the response speed is high because of a simple mechanism utilizing the attracting force by the electromagnets, the workpiece can be rotated at a high speed to be subject to a high speed cutting operation, the cycle-time of the machine can be substantially decreased, any configuration of the workpiece can be formed, the change of the configuration of the workpiece can easily be accommodated by the present apparatus, and the high working accuracy can be maintained for a long time.

Claims: A cutting apparatus for a non-circular cross section, the apparatus being provided with a tool advancing and retreating means (9) which comprises: (a) a central shaft (14) which is disposed perpendicularly to a main shaft (10) to which a workpiece is adapted to be attached, a tool being adapted to be fixed to one end of the central shaft (14), (b) journal means for supporting the central shaft (14) so that the central shaft can be displaced in its axial direction but cannot be rotated, comprising leaf springs (22), central portions of which are secured to the central shaft (14), and outer peripheral portions of which are secured by way of a holder (23) to a mount (11), (c) a movable plate (12) fixed to the central shaft (14), and (d) electromagnetic (13a), 13b) positioned opposite to each other so that the movable plate (12) is interposed between them with a predetermined clearance therebetween, (e) means (4) for detecting the rotational angle of the main shaft (10), (f) a displacement sensor (16) for detecting a longitudinal displacement of the central shaft, (g) a speed sensor (17) for detecting the speed of longitudinal displacement of the central shaft, and (h) means for controlling an electric current passing through the electromagnetic means on the basis of output signals from the means (4) for detecting the rotational angle of the main shaft (10), from the displacement sensor (16) and from the speed sensor (17). A cutting apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, in which the leaf springs (22) are cross-shaped. A cutting apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, in which the journal means comprises many flexible thin leaf springs laminated together. A cutting apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the journal means comprises a first set of leaf springs (22), central portions of which are secured to the central shaft (14) near one end thereof, and outer peripheral portions of which are secured by way of a further holder (23) to a mount (11), and a second set of leaf springs (22), central portions of which are secured to the central shaft (14) near the other end thereof, and outer peripheral portions of which are secured by way of a second holder (23) to the mount (11).

Inventors: HIGUCHI TOSHIRO, IZUMI HAJIME, TANAKA MINORU, HIGUCHI, TOSHIRO, IZUMI, HAJIME, TANAKA, MINORU, HIGUCHI, TOSHIRO 509 FUJIGAOKA MANSION
Applicants: IZUMI KOGYO CO LTD, IZUMI INDUSTRIES, LTD.
Application year: 1989
Main classification: G05B19
IPC codes: G05B19, B23B5