Patent Publication Number: US-6666757-B1

Title: Centrifugal barrel finishing machine

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a centrifugal barrel finishing machine, more specifically the centrifugal barrel finishing machine, which has means for driving each barrel separately so as to correct a pose of a barrel to be horizontal and thus perform charging and discharging of work parts effectively, and has means for opening and closing a lid of the barrel by a power driven manner using a cylinder or a sliding manner so as to increase convenience and safety with regard to opening and closing of the barrel. 
     2. Background of the Related Art 
     Generally, a centrifugal barrel finishing machine is to generate a strong cutting force or to polish/polish work parts, while work parts and media collide with each other by centrifugal force during a rotation of a barrel, after charging media and work parts into the barrel. 
     FIG.  1 -FIG. 3 illustrate the centrifugal barrel finishing machine according to the prior art. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the centrifugal barrel finishing machine of the prior art comprises a plurality of barrels  10  which are disposed along a circumferential direction and both ends of their center shafts are coupled by unit bearing so as to rotate by itself, a turret  11  which supports the center shaft of each barrel and rotates in one direction, timing gears 12/timing belts  13  which induce a rotation of the barrel  10  by using the rotating force of the turret  11 , a frame  14  which supports both ends of shaft of the turret  11 , and motor  15  for driving the turret  11 . 
     A reference numeral  16  indicates idle gears for the tension of the timing belts and a reference numeral  17  indicates a center gear, which is fixed to a turret shaft and serves as a center member for power transmission of each timing belt. 
     Therefore, when the turret  21  rotates by the operation of the motor  15 , the timing belts  13  connected to the timing gears  12  of each barrel  10  proceed in one direction while the timing belts rotate together and teeth thereof are engaged with the fixed center gear  17 , and the barrel  10   s  are rotated by itself in an opposite direction with regard to the turret  11  so that work parts in the barrels could be grinded or polished 
     As shown in FIG. 2, the barrel  10  is a can-shaped weighted object having the stiffness against a collision of media and work parts therein, both ends of a center shaft is supported in the turret  11  to enable the barrels to rotate, and a lid  19  of the barrel  10  maintains locking status by a locking device the both ends thereof being supported to holder  18  which is attached to a barrel body. 
     The locking device of the lid  19  includes eccentric pins  21  that are inserted movably into cylindrical guides  20   a  welded on both sides in an upper surface of the lid  19  and simultaneously are inserted into grooves  18   a  formed at upper ends of holders  18 , levers  22  connected to the eccentric pins  21  for handling, fixing pins  23  which are inserted into holes  22   a  of the levers  22  so as to maintain the locking position of the levers  22 , and guides  20   b  for fixing pins  23 . As shown in FIG. 3, when levers  22  are pulled upwardly with releasing of fixing pins  23  and then eccentric pins  21  are pulled out of grooves  18   a , the lid  19  could be released. 
     A reference numeral  24  not described indicates adjustment bolts for adjusting the locking force of eccentric pin  21  which are inserted and locked up in holes  18   a  of holders  18 . 
     However, such centrifugal barrel finishing machine of the prior art has various disadvantages as below. 
     1) When the turret is stopped with stopping of the motor after polishing, the pose of the barrel is inclined instead of being horizontal, or sometimes inverted, so that there is inconvenience in taking work parts out of the barrel or inserting work parts into the barrel again. In addition, although user may stop the finishing machine with maintaining the pose of barrel to be horizontal, this could be cumbersome. 
     2) Also, as mentioned above, since the lid of the barrel is considerably heavy, the user usually has a trouble in lifting the lid using a handle attached thereto, and occasionally may drop the lid. Therefore, the centrifugal barrel finishing machine of the prior art is unsatisfactory in aspect of the convenience and safety of the user. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is contemplated to solve the aforementioned problem, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a centrifugal barrel finishing machine, which has means for driving each barrel separately so as to correct a pose of a barrel to be horizontal and thus perform charging and discharging of work parts effectively. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a centrifugal barrel finishing machine which has means for opening and closing a lid of the barrel by a power driven manner using a cylinder or a sliding manner so as to increase convenience and safety with regard to opening and closing of the barrel. 
     To accomplish the above object, the present invention provide a centrifugal barrel finishing machine comprising: a plurality of barrels having lids which is able to be opened and closed through an operation of a locking device, the barrels being disposed along a circumferential direction and the both ends of their center shafts are coupled by unit bearing so as to rotate by itself; a turret for supporting the center shaft of each barrel and rotating in one direction; timing gears and a timing belts for inducing a rotation of the barrels by using rotating force of the turret; a frame for supporting both ends of a shaft of the turret; a motor for driving the turret; an idle gear for tension of the timing belts; a center gear being mounted to the turret shaft and serves as a center member for a power transmission of each timing belt; and a device for driving each barrel separately from the turret including; an auxiliary center gear being mounted integrally with the center gear, an auxiliary reduction motor being installed to a lower part of the frame and proving the power to the auxiliary center gear, a driving gear being mounted to a shaft of the auxiliary reduction gear, an auxiliary timing belt for transmitting the power between the auxiliary center gear and the driving gear, and an auxiliary idle gear for adjusting a tension of the auxiliary timing belt. 
     Preferably, the lid is opened and closed by a power driven type opening/closing device or a slide type opening/closing device. 
     More specifically, the power driven type opening/closing device includes; a cylinder being hinged vertically in the rear of the barrel, at least three leads being mounted in the rear of an upper surface of the lid, one of the leads being connected to the cylinder, a hinge shaft penetrating through the leads, hinge brackets being fixed to a rear surface of the barrel and supporting both ends of the hinge shaft, and a shock absorber being installed to connect between the barrel and lid and assisting the lid in opening and closing. 
     Additionally the slide type opening/closing device includes; lid guide bars being mounted vertically at both side of a rear surface of the barrel and having sliding grooves along an entire length thereof, a part of the lid guide bar extending horizontally over an upper surface of the lid, and guide pins being formed to be projected and formed integrally with both sides of the lid, the guide pins being inserted into the sliding grooves so as to slide therein. 
     It is featured that magnets attachable to lid guide bars are installed at positions in both side surfaces of the lids, at a certain distance from the guide pin. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The features and advantages of the present invention will be more described specifically in the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a front view showing a centrifugal barrel finishing machine according to the prior art; 
     FIG. 2 is a partially separated perspective view showing a barrel of a centrifugal barrel finishing machine according to the prior art; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a status, which a lid is opened in a centrifugal barrel finishing machine according to the prior art; 
     FIG. 4 is a front view showing a centrifugal barrel finishing machine according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 5 is a side view showing a centrifugal barrel finishing machine according to the present invention; 
     FIG.  6  and FIG. 7 are front views showing status, which a pose of barrel is corrected in a centrifugal barrel finishing machine of the present invention; 
     FIG. 8 is a front view showing an embodiment of barrel in a centrifugal barrel finishing machine of the present invention; 
     FIG. 9 is a side view of FIG. 8; 
     FIG. 10 is a side view showing a status, when the lid is opened in FIG. 9; 
     FIG. 11 is a side view showing another embodiment of barrel in a centrifugal barrel finishing machine of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 12 is a side view showing the opened status of FIG.  9 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the first and second embodiment of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In explaining the present invention, the same names and reference numerals will be given to the same components, and explanations in the same will be omitted. 
     A centrifugal barrel finishing machine of the present invention, as shown in FIG.  4  and FIG. 5, includes at least four barrels  10  which are disposed along a circumferential direction of a turret  11  with rotating by itself and receive media and work parts therein, the turret  11  which is connected to a motor  15  by a belt and the like and rotates in one direction together with each barrel  10 , timing gears 12/timing belts  13  which are intermediated members for gearing by itself using the rotating force of the turret  11  and rotating the barrels  10 , a plurality of idle gears  16  which maintain the tension of the timing belt  13 , and a frame  14  which supports various elements set forth above. When the turret  11  rotates by the operation of the motor  15 , the timing belts  13  connected to the timing gears  12  of each barrel  10  rotate together with the turret  11  and proceed in one direction while teeth of the timing belts are engaged serially with the fixed center gear  17  by being associated with an auxiliary motor  26  and auxiliary center gear  25  described later, and thus the barrels  10  are rotated by itself in an opposite direction with regard to the turret  11  by the centrifugal force. 
     In this manner, the centrifugal barrel finishing machine could polish or grind work parts in the barrels  10  by using the rotation of the turret  11  and the self rotation of the barrels  10 . 
     Additionally, both ends of the barrel  10  are supported rotatably in the turret  11  by using a center shaft formed at the center of gravity of the barrels  10 , and a lid  19  of the barrel  10  is locked by a locking device which is configured to be supported at both ends thereof by holders  18  attached to a body  10   a.    
     The locking device may be the same device applied to the centrifugal barrel finishing device of the prior art. 
     Especially, the present invention could make it easy to charge or discharge media and work parts into or from the barrels  10  by providing an additional barrel rotating device. 
     For this, as shown in FIG. 5, the auxiliary center gear  25  that could operate together with the center gear  17  is mounted at the center gear  17  mounted to a center shaft of the turret  11 . 
     The auxiliary center gear  25  mounted like this is disposed parallel to each timing gear  12  which is belong to the center gear  17  and is rotated selectively with the center gear  17 . 
     Also, the center gear  17  including the auxiliary center gear  25  is mounted to the center shaft of the turret  11  with an interposed bearing, so that it could rotate as needed. 
     An auxiliary reduction motor  26  is provided as means for driving the auxiliary center gear  25  and center gear  17 . 
     The auxiliary reduction motor  26  is installed on the frame  14  below the auxiliary center gear  25  and center gear  17 . 
     A driving gear  27  is mounted to a shaft of the auxiliary reduction motor  26  and the driving gear  27  is connected to the auxiliary center gear  25  by an auxiliary timing belt  28 , so that the auxiliary center gear  25  and center gear  17  could rotate according to the operation of the auxiliary motor  26 . 
     An auxiliary idle gear  29  is installed on the frame at predetermined position of the auxiliary timing belt  28 , in order to maintain the tension of the auxiliary timing belt  28 . 
     Thus, the auxiliary center gear  25  and center gear  17  are able to rotate only when the auxiliary reduction motor  26  operates, and are unable to rotate due to the interference with the driving gear  27  through the auxiliary timing belt  28  when the auxiliary reduction motor  26  stops. 
     Accordingly, When the turret  11  rotates by the operation of the motor  15 , the timing belt  13  connected to the timing gear  12  of each barrel  10  rotates together with the turret  11  since teeth of the timing belt are engaged serially with the fixed center gear  17 , and at the same time rotates the barrel  10  in an opposite direction with regard to the turret  11  direction. 
     At this moment, since the driving gear  27  fixed by stopping of the auxiliary reduction motor  26  holds the auxiliary center gear  25  through the auxiliary timing belt  28 , the center gear  25  could maintain the fixed status, and thereby the self rotation of the barrel  10  according to the rotation of the turret  11  is achieved naturally. 
     After the polishing, the motor  15  is stopped in order to take the work parts out of the barrel  10 , the turret  11  and barrel  10  are stopped together. As shown in FIG. 6, if one of the four barrels  10  has a pose unsuitable to taking out work parts, the pose of the barrel  10  is corrected by operating the auxiliary reduction motor  26 . 
     That is, as shown in FIG. 7, when the auxiliary reduction motor  26  is operated, the auxiliary center gear  25  and center gear  17  rotate by the power transmitted through the auxiliary timing belt  28  and thus only each barrel  10  is able to rotate. Therefore, when the pose of the barrel  10  in position for taking out work parts becomes horizontal correctly, the operation of the auxiliary motor  26  is stopped and then polished work parts could be taken out of the barrel  10 . 
     Meanwhile, the present invention provides an opening/closing device which is able to open and close the lid  19  of the barrel  10  by a power driven manner using a cylinder or a sliding manner so that user could open and close the heavy lid easily and the danger of accident is also prevented. 
     As shown in FIG.  8  and FIG. 9, in a power driven type opening/closing device as one embodiment of the lid opening and closing device, a vertical cylinder(substantially pneumatic cylinder)  31  is hinged on a cylinder bracket  40  in the rear of the barrel  10 , at least three leads  32  and a hinge shaft  33  penetrating though the leads  32  are mounted in the rear of an upper surface of the lid  19  and a center lead  32  is connected to the cylinder  31 , and hinge brackets  34  are installed on both ends of a rear surface of the barrel body so as to support both ends of the hinge shaft  33  rotatably. 
     Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 10, the lid  19  is opened and closed, by rotating the hinge shaft  33  as a pivot supported by the hinge bracket  34 . 
     Especially, a shock absorber  35  is installed at both sides to connect between the barrel  10  and lid  19 , so that a sudden opening or closing of the lid  19  could be prevented. 
     As shown in FIG.  11  and FIG. 12, in a slide type opening/closing device as another embodiment of the lid opening and closing device, lid guide bars  37  having sliding grooves  36  are mounted vertically at both side of the rear surface of the barrel  10 , and the lid  19  is inserted into the guide bars  37  by using guide pins  38  formed integrally with both sides of the lid so as to be supported to slide therein. 
     Since the lid guide bars  37  have a length extending from the rear surface of the barrel  10  to a part of the upper surface of the lid  19 , it allows the easy opening and closing by sliding. Especially, the sliding groove  36  includes a horizontal portion permitting the lid  19  to be pulled backwardly and an almost vertically inclined portion maintaining the lid  19  to be pulled back completely, so that the convenience and safety in opening and closing the lid  19  are guaranteed. 
     Additionally, magnets  39  are installed at positions on both side of lid at a predetermined distance from the guide pins  38 , and when the lid  19  is opened and pulled back completely, the magnets  39  is attached to the lid guide bar  37  so that the closing of the lid  19  is prevented. 
     Since this slide type opening and closing device is operated directly by the user, it is somewhat inconvenient compared with the power driven type device. However, since the lid  19  is opened and closed moving along the guide bar  37 , the slide type opening and closing device is more convenient and safer than conventional device. 
     The advantages of the present invention are summarized as follows. 
     The present invention provides the centrifugal barrel finishing machine, which includes means for driving each barrel separately from the turret and means for opening and closing the lid of the barrel by the power driven manner using the cylinder or the sliding manner, so that the pose of the barrel could be corrected to be horizontal and thus perform charging and discharging of work parts effectively, and the convenience and safety with regard to opening and closing of the barrel are increased. 
     Although a number of embodiment have described in the above specification, it should be apparent that the present invention could be embodied in many other specific mode included within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the present embodiments should be considered as illustrative, and the present invention could be modified within the scope of claims and the equivalent thereof. 
     That is, in the above embodiments, although the centrifugal barrel finishing machine in which the barrel is driven by the timing belt is described, this timing belt could be substituted by a chain.