Patent Publication Number: US-2022212305-A1

Title: Machine tool leveling adjustment device

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention relates to a machine tool and more particularly to a leveling adjustment device for a machine tool. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Accuracy of cutting applied to extremely tiny objects is easily affected by whether the machine tool is horizontal or not, so that the inclination of the machine tool must be kept in tolerance. A level gauge is usually put on the machine tool to show the extent of inclination, and thus supporting feet of the machine tool are adjusted accordingly to raise a lower side or to lower a higher side for a purpose of leveling. 
     A machine tool which is only adjusted manually, however, has a plurality of adjustable supporting feet located in different positions. After inclination of the machine tool is measured, it is still necessary to consider which supporting foot is going to be adjusted. Besides, the machine tool may incline in both a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction so that leveling adjustment must be repeated twice. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a machine tool leveling adjustment device that automatically measures and calculates how many distances each of the supporting feet of a machine tool has to be adjusted and then displays the value on a graphical operation interface for user to review and quickly adjust each of the supporting feet accordingly. 
     To achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a leveling adjustment device attached to a machine tool with a plurality of supporting foot portions being adjusted manually to change a height. The leveling adjustment device includes a sensing module and a microcontroller unit. The sensing module is used to sense the machine tool for one inclined extent in a longitudinal direction and another inclined extent in a lateral direction and then generate a sensed data. The microcontroller unit receives the sensed data and provides a graphical operation interface with a plurality of first blanks and a plurality of second blanks. The first blanks are used to fill with a data about a length and a width of a bottom of the machine tool while the second blanks are used to fill with a data about a quantity of the supporting foot portions and a data about a coordinate corresponding to each of the supporting foot portions. Based on the data in the second blanks, the graphical operation interface generates a plurality of third blanks within the frame pattern to represent a location of each of the supporting foot portions. A plurality of fourth blanks corresponding to the third blanks is also generated. The microcontroller unit calculates an adjustment sequence and an adjustment value corresponding to each of the supporting foot portions based on the data in the first and second blanks in conjunction with the sensed data and then displays in the fourth blanks. 
     The sensing module preferably includes a first electronic level set along the longitudinal direction and a second electronic level set along the lateral direction. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a plan view of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  shows the graphical operation interface of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , the leveling adjustment device  1  is attached to a machine tool  2  with a plurality of supporting foot portions  21  being adjusted manually to change a height. Machine tool that is adjusted automatically by automatic machine is excluded. The supporting foot portions  21  abovementioned can be adjusted in any known manners. 
     The leveling adjustment device  1  includes a sensing module  11  having a first electronic level (not shown in the Figures) set along a longitudinal direction of the machine tool  2  and a second electronic level (not shown in the Figures) set along a lateral direction of the machine tool  2 . The first electronic level is configured to sense an extent of inclination of the machine tool  2  in the longitudinal direction while the second electronic level is configured to sense an extent of inclination of the machine tool  2  in the lateral direction. Therefore, the sensing module  11  generates a sensed data. 
     The leveling adjustment device  1  further includes a microcontroller unit  12 , or MCU, that is a microcomputer integrating a central processing unit, memory, timer/counter, various input and output interfaces, etc. on an integrated circuit chip. The microcontroller unit  12  is electrically connected with the sensing module  11  to receive the sensed data. 
     The microcontroller unit  12  provides a graphical operation interface  13  as shown in  FIG. 3 . The graphical operation interface  13  has a frame pattern  31  representing an outline of a bottom of the machine tool  2  with a coordinate system. Each of the two sides of the frame pattern  31  is provided with a first blank  32  to be filled with a data about a length and a width of the bottom of the machine tool  2 . The graphical operation interface  13  is further provided with a plurality of second blanks  33  to be filled with a data about a quantity of the supporting foot portions  21  and a data about a coordinate corresponding to each of the supporting foot portions  21 . 
     After keying the data into the first and second blanks  32 ,  33 , the graphical operation interface  13  generates a sized frame pattern  31  and a plurality of third blanks  34  within the frame pattern  31  to represent locations of each of the supporting foot portions  21 . A plurality of fourth blanks  35  corresponding to the third blanks  34  is also generated. Each of the fourth blanks  35  is located below the corresponding third blanks  34 . 
     Based on the sensed data obtained by the sensing module  11  (which includes inclination data in both the longitudinal and lateral directions) along with the data filled in the first blanks  32  and the second blanks  33  (which includes the size of the machine tool  2  and the positions of the supporting foot portions  21 ), the microcontroller unit  12  calculates an adjustment sequence and an adjustment value corresponding to each of the supporting foot portions  21  for reaching level and then displays in the fourth blanks  35 . 
     The present invention is advantageous in that leveling adjustment is quickly and easily done by putting the leveling adjustment device  1  on the machine tool  2  and adjusting the supporting foot portions  21  according to the adjustment sequence and the adjustment value displayed in the fourth blanks  35 .