Patent Publication Number: US-9409268-B2

Title: Machine tool with lathe tool and milling cutter

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims all benefits accruing under 35U.S.C. §119from China Patent Application No. 201210554105.2, filed on Dec. 19, 2012, in the China Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The application is also related to co-pending applications entitled, “METHOD FOR MACHINING METALLIC MEMBER USING LATHING AND MILLING” (application Ser. No. 14/070,671); “METHOD FOR MACHINING METALLIC MEMBER USING LATHING AND MILLING” (application Ser. No. 14/070,681); “METHOD FOR MACHINING METALLIC MEMBER USING LATHING AND SCRAPING” ( application Ser. No. 14/070,688); “METHOD FOR MACHINING METALLIC MEMBER USING LATHING AND SCRAPING” (application Ser. No. 14/070,694); “METHOD FOR MACHINING METALLIC MEMBER USING LATHING AND SCRAPING” (application Ser. No. 14/070,699); “MACHINE TOOL WITH LATHE TOOL AND SCRAPING CUTTER” (application Ser. No. 14/070,717); “MACHINE CONTROL SYSTEM EMPLOYING LATHE TOOL AND MILLING CUTTER” (application Ser. No. 14/070,722), “MACHINE CONTROL SYSTEM EMPLOYING LATHE TOOL AND SCRAPING CUTTER” ( application Ser. No. 14/070,728), “MILLING METHOD FOR MACHINING METALLIC MEMBER” (application Ser. No. 14/070,736). 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure generally relates to a machine tool, and particularly, to a machine tool with a lathe tool and a milling cutter. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     An electronic device, such as a tabletop computer or a mobile phone, employs a metallic member as a housing. The metallic member includes a top portion and a peripheral sidewall extending from a peripheral edge of the top portion. The top portion has a greater surface area than that of the peripheral sidewall. The peripheral sidewall has four side surfaces arranged in order and four corners each connecting two adjacent surfaces. In related manufacturing fields, if a milling process is employed to machine the metallic member, some tracks may occur on the top portion that has been milled because of intermittent contact and interrupted milling of the milling cutter. Then a polishing process needs to be applied to achieve a better appearance. Thus the efficiency of the milling process is reduced. If a lathe process is adapted to machine the metallic member, it may be difficult to tool a surface which is not made for rotating. In addition, the lathe is not suitable to machine the peripheral sidewalls because of the four corners of the peripheral sidewall. Thus a number of additional machining processes must be added to machine the metallic member. 
     Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
       The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a first embodiment of a machine tool equipped with a lathe feeding mechanism and a milling feeding mechanism, and a worktable. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded, isometric view of the machine tool of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a partial, exploded, isometric view of the lathe feeding mechanism and the milling feeding mechanism of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded, isometric view of the lathe feeding mechanism of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is an isometric view of a metallic member to be machined. 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional view of the metallic member of  FIG. 5 , taken along line VI-VI of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic view of a second embodiment of the machine tool with a part thereof being removed. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  show a first embodiment of a machine tool  100  adapting a method for machining a metallic member  300  (see  FIG. 5 ). The machine tool  100  includes a machine support  10 , a worktable  20 , a moving device  30 , a lathe feeding mechanism  40 , a milling feeding mechanism  50 , and a controller  60 . The worktable  20  holds a workpiece in place and is supported by the machine support  10 . The moving device  30  is movably positioned on the machine support  10  above the worktable  20 . The lathe feeding mechanism  40  and the milling feeding mechanism  50  are arranged side by side and slidably mounted on the moving device  30 . The controller  60  is electrically connected to the worktable  20 , the moving device  30 , the lathe feeding mechanism  40 , and the milling feeding mechanism  50  for controlling the machine tool  100 . Under the control of the controller  60 , the moving device  30  can be driven to move with the lathe feeding mechanism  40  and the milling feeding mechanism  50 , such that the lathe feeding mechanism  40  and the milling feeding mechanism  50  can be driven three-dimensionally along Cartesian coordinates, that is, along the X, the Y, and the Z axes. 
     The machine support  10  includes a base  11  and a pair of support bodies  13  positioned on the base  11 . The pair of support bodies  13  is parallel to each other and arranged apart from each other. Each support body  13  includes a first sliding rail  131  on a surface away from the base  11 . In the illustrated embodiment, the first sliding rail  131  extends substantially parallel to the X-axis (a first direction). 
     The worktable  20  is rotatably positioned on the base  11  between the two support bodies  13 . The worktable  20  includes a pair of mounting bases  21 , a first rotating member  23 , a rotating shaft  25 , and a second rotating member  27 . The pair of mounting bases  21  is located in the middle portion of the base  11 , in parallel. The pair of mounting bases  21  is located between the two support bodies  13 . The first rotating member  23  is mounted on one mounting base  21 . The rotating shaft  25  interconnects the first rotating member  23  and the other one mounting base  21 . The first rotating member  23  is capable of rotating the rotating shaft  25  around an α axis. The α axis is parallel to the Y-axis but not co-linear (a second direction). The second rotating member  27  is positioned on a middle portion of the rotating shaft  25 , and capable of rotating the metallic member  300  placed thereupon around an β axis. The β axis is parallel to the Z-axis (a third direction) but not co-linear. The first rotating member  23  and the second rotating member  27  are electrically connected to the controller  60 . In the illustrated embodiment, the first rotating member  23  and the second rotating member  27  are direct drive motors. 
     The moving device  30  is slidably mounted on the pair of support bodies  13  and located above the worktable  20 . The moving device  30  includes a cross beam  31 , a pair of sliding bases  33 , a pair of first driving mechanisms  35 , and a second driving mechanism  37 . The extending direction of the cross beam  31  is substantially parallel to the Y-axis. Opposite ends of the cross beam  31  are slidably positioned on the support bodies  13 . The cross beam  31  includes a pair of second sliding rails  311  positioned on a side surface thereof and extending substantially parallel to the Y-axis. The pair of sliding bases  33  is installed on the opposite ends of the cross beam  31  to slidably connect with the first sliding rail  131 . The first driving mechanism  35  is mounted on a surface of the sliding base  33  away from the cross beam  31  and located adjacent to an end of the first sliding rail  131 . The pair of first driving mechanisms  35  is employed to drive the cross beam  31  to move along the X-axis direction. 
     The second driving mechanism  37  is mounted on the cross beams  31  to drive the lathe feeding mechanism  40  and the milling feeding mechanism  50  to move along the second sliding rails  311 . The first driving mechanism  35  and the second driving mechanism  37  are electrically connected to the controller  60 . In the illustrated embodiment, the first driving mechanisms  35  and the second driving mechanism  37  are linear motors with wonderful performance. In other embodiments, the first driving mechanisms  35  and the second driving mechanism  37  may be other drivers, such as hydraulic cylinders or rams. The number of the first driving mechanisms  35 , and the second driving mechanism  37  may be set according to the application. 
       FIGS. 3 to 4  show the lathe feeding mechanism  40  slidably positioned on the cross beams  31 . The lathe feeding mechanism  40  includes a sliding saddle  41  (see  FIG. 2 ), a mounting seat  43 , a tool holder  45 , a feeding assembly  47 , and a lathe tool  49 . The sliding saddle  41  is assembled to the cross beams  31  and movably engages with the pair of second sliding rails  311 . The second driving mechanism  37  slides along the Y-axis direction together with the lathe feeding mechanism  40  and the milling feeding mechanism  50  to drive the sliding saddle  41 . The sliding saddle  41  is equipped with four guiding rails  413  extending along the Z-axis direction. The four guiding rails  413  are divided in two sets spaced from each other by two-two type. The sliding saddle  41  further includes a mounting block  415  adjacent to the base  11 . The mounting block  415  is located between the two sets of guiding rails  413 . The mounting seat  43  is assembled to the sliding saddle  41  and spaced from the four guiding rails  413 . 
     The mounting seat  43  includes a frame  431  and two mounting boards  433  assembled to opposite sides of the frame  431 . The frame  431  includes a first side wall  4311  and a second side wall  4313 . The first side wall  4311  and the second side wall  4313  are positioned substantially parallel to each other and cooperatively define a receiving space  4315 . The first side wall  4311  is connected with the sliding saddle  41 . Two separate guiding portions  4317  protrude from an inner surface of the first side wall  4311  facing the second side wall  4313  and extend substantially parallel to the Z-axis. A through groove  4318  is defined in the second side wall  4313  and extends along a direction substantially parallel to the Z-axis corresponding to the guiding portions  4317 . Two sliding portions  4319  protrude from an outer surface of the second side wall  4313  at two sides of the through groove  4318 . In the illustrated embodiment, the sliding portions  4319  are sliding rails, and the frame  431  is integrally formed. The two mounting boards  433  are installed on two opening sides of the frame  431 . Each mounting board  433  is connected substantially perpendicularly to the first side wall  4311  and the second side wall  4313  to close the two opening sides of the frame  431 . 
     The tool holder  45  slidably connects with the mounting seat  43 . The tool holder  45  is substantially “T” shaped, and includes a main body  451  and a sliding board  453  protruding substantially perpendicularly from the main body  451 . The main body  451  is a bar of material tapering at both ends, and positioned outside of the mounting seat  43 . Two distanced holding portions  4511  are positioned on a surface of the main body  451  facing the sliding board  453 . The two holding portions  4511  slidably engage with the pair of sliding portions  4319  of the mounting seat  43 . The sliding board  453  passes through the through groove  4318  and is slidably assembled to the two guiding portions  4317 , dividing the receiving space  4315  into two parts. 
     The feeding assembly  47  is mounted in the mounting seat  43 , and includes two drivers  471  electrically connected to the controller  60 . The two drivers  471  are capable of driving the tool holder  45  into a reciprocating motion at a high speed along the direction of the Z-axis, relative to the guiding portions  4317  and the sliding portions  4319 . The two drivers  471  are received in the receiving space  4315  and are positioned on two sides of the sliding board  453 . In the illustrated embodiment, the drivers  471  are linear motors. Each driver  471  includes a forcer  4711  and a stator  4713 . Each forcer  4711  is fixed to a surface of each of the mounting boards  433 . The sliding board  453  is positioned between the two forcers  4711 . The two stators  4713  are positioned on the opposite surfaces of the sliding board  453 . In other embodiments, the number of drivers  471  may be set according to application. For example, the two drivers  471  can replace a single driver with more power, or three or more drivers can be positioned to drive the tool holder  45  to maximize the available power, and the assembly of the drivers is simpler. 
     The lathe tool  49  is fastened to the main body  451  of the tool holder  45  adjacent to the base  11 . 
     The milling feeding mechanism  50  includes a linear driving assembly  53 , a linking board  54 , a rotatable driving member  55  and a milling cutter  57 . The linear driving assembly  53  includes a driving member  531 , a screw leading rod  533 , and a nut  535 . The driving member  531  is mounted on the sliding saddle  41  above the cross beam  31 . The screw leading rod  533  interconnects the driving member  531  and the mounting block  415 . The nut  535  is sleeved on the screw leading rod  533  and engages with the screw leading rod  533 . The linking board  54  is slidably assembled to the two sets of guiding rails  413  and fixed to the nut  535 . The rotatable driving member  55  is assembled to a side surface of the linking board  54  opposite to the screw leading rod  533 . The milling cutter  57  is mounted on an end of the rotatable driving member  55  adjacent to the base  11 . 
     The driving member  531  is capable of rotating the screw leading rod  533  and driving the linking board  54 , with the rotatable driving member  55 , and the milling cutter  57  to slide along Z-axis direction. The rotatable driving member  55  is capable of rotating the milling cutter  57  milling the metallic member  300 . The milling cutter  57  is driven by the cross beam  31  to move along the X-axis direction or the Y-axis direction, and driven by the linear driving assembly  53  to move along Z-axis direction. 
     In assembly, the worktable  20  is positioned between the two support bodies  13 . The cross beam  31  is installed on the two support bodies  13  via the pair of sliding bases  33 . The pair of first driving mechanisms  35 , and the second driving mechanism  37  are mounted on the base  11  and the cross beam  31 , respectively. The lathe feeding mechanism  40  and the milling feeding mechanism  50  are mounted to the cross beam  31  side by side. The worktable  20 , the moving device  30 , the lathe feeding mechanism  40 , and the milling feeding mechanism  50  are electrically connected to the controller  60 . 
       FIGS. 5 and 6  show that the metallic member  300  to be machined is a housing of a tablet computer or a mobile phone. The metallic member  300  is substantially rectangular, and includes a top portion  301  and a peripheral sidewall  303  extending from a peripheral edge of the top portion  301 . The top portion  301  has a non-symmetrical curved surface with a relatively greater surface area than that of the peripheral sidewall  303 . In the embodiment, the peripheral sidewall  303  has four side surfaces  3031  arranged in order and adjacent two of the four side surfaces  3031  are connected by a corner  3033 . The four side surfaces  3031  are substantially planar surfaces, each corner  3033  interconnects two adjacent side surfaces  3031 . 
     When in work, the metallic member  300  is placed and held on the worktable  20 . The worktable  20  drives the metallic member  300  to rotate. In the embodiment, the metallic member  300  is driven by the second rotating member  27  to rotate around the β axis. The lathe feeding mechanism  40  drives the lathe tool  49  to reciprocate the top portion  301  of the metallic member  300  at a high frequency. In detail, first, the pair of first driving mechanisms  35  drive the cross beam  31  to slide along the X-axis, and the second driving mechanism  37  drives the lathe feeding mechanism  40  to move along the Y-axis, until the lathe tool  49  arrives at an original position above the worktable  20  for machining In the embodiment, the original position is located above a middle portion of the metallic member  300 . Finally, the second rotating member  27  drives the metallic member  300  to rotate around the β axis, simultaneously, the feeding assembly  47  drives the lathe tool  49  to move backwards and forwards at a high speed along the Z-axis according to the depth of cutting required for each machining portion of the top portion  301  to machine the metallic member  300  circumferentially. The moving speed of the lathe tool  49  and the rotating speed of the second rotating member  27  is set according to an application. A track of the lathe tool  49  projected to a top of the metallic member  300  is a spiral curve. 
     The lathe tool  49  moves away from the metallic member  300 . The milling feeding mechanism  50  drives the milling cutter  57  to rotate and resist the peripheral sidewall  303  of the metallic member  300 . In detail, firstly, the pair of first driving mechanisms  35  drives the cross beam  31  to slide along the X-axis, and the second driving mechanism  37  drives the lathe feeding mechanism  40  to move along the Y-axis, such that the milling cutter  57  arrives at a position above an end of one side surface  3031  of the peripheral sidewall  303 . Second, the linear driving assembly  53  drives the milling cutter  57  to slide along the two sets of guiding rails  413  until the milling cutter  57  resists the peripheral sidewall  303  of the metallic member  300 . Finally, the rotatable driving member  55  drives the milling cutter  57  to rotate, thereby milling the side surface  3031  and the corner  3033 . The milling feeding mechanism  50  remains still, the worktable  200  rotates the metallic member  300  to enable the milling feeding mechanism  50  to mill the metallic member  300  along the predetermined path. The rotatable driving member  55  controls a feed of the milling cutter  57  relative to the metallic member  300  along the Z-axis direction. When finished, the moving device  30  returns to an original position, and the metallic member  300  is taken out. In another embodiment, the metallic member  300  is firmly fixed, the milling feeding mechanism  50  automatic mills the metallic member  300  along a predetermined path. In addition, when a particular portion of the metallic member  300  is to be machined, the rotating member  25  rotates the metallic member  30  along α axis, the second rotating member  27  rotates the metallic member  300  along the β axis, thereby positioning the metallic member  300  in a particular position for machining. 
     The lathe feeding mechanism  40  is capable of moving backwards and forwards along the Z-axis toward the metallic member  300  at a high speed, thereby a non-interrupted machining process is achieved, the finish of the top portion  301  is enhanced, additional surface processing to the top portion is omitted. The rotatable driving member  55  is capable of driving the milling cutter  57  to rotate, thereby milling the peripheral sidewall  303 . The metallic member  300  can be machined by the lathe tool  49  and the milling cutter  57  without disassembly/assembly to adapt to different machines, thereby enhancing a position accuracy, a machining efficiency and a yield of the metallic member  300 . Because the moving device  30  is capable of moving the lathe feeding mechanism  40  and the milling feeding mechanism  50  along the X/Y directions, the lathe tool  49  and the milling cutter  57  can be moved along Z direction, the worktable  200  is capable of driving the metallic member  300  to rotate along the .alpha. axis and the .beta. axis, such that the machining process is more convenient and the machining efficiency is enhanced. 
     The machine tool  100  may merely be employed to lathe or mill the metallic member  300 . The lathe tool  49  may not only machine the top portion  301 , but also machine workpiece in other shapes. The milling feeding mechanism  50  may not only mill the peripheral sidewall  303 , but also mill holes or grooves on the metallic member  300 . The outer surface of the metallic member  300  only needs to be machined by the milling feeding mechanism  50  to receive a finished surface. 
     The sliding saddle  41 , the mounting seat  43 , the tool holder  45  may be omitted. In other embodiments, the feeding assembly  47  may be substituted with other driving assemblies assembled to the pair of second guiding rails  311 . The driving assembly is capable of directly reciprocating the lathe tool  49  along the Z direction at a high speed. 
     The milling feeding mechanism  50  mills the peripheral sidewall  303  of the metallic member  300  before the lathe feeding mechanism  40  machines the top portion  301 . The milling feeding mechanism  50  may not be assembled to the sliding saddle  41 , but could be assembled to a sliding plate (not shown) slidably mounted on the pair of second guiding rails  311 , such that the lathe feeding mechanism  40  and the milling feeding mechanism  50  may be controlled independently. 
     The driving member  531 , the screw leading rod  533 , and the nut  535  may be substituted by other driving assembly, such as a linear cylinder. The linear cylinder is assembled to the pair of second guiding rails  311 , the rotatable driving member  55  is mounted on an output shaft of the linear cylinder. Accordingly, the linking board  54  of the milling feeding mechanism  50  may be omitted. 
     In some embodiments, the worktable  20  may only include the second rotating member  27 , the second rotating member  27  is assembled to the base  11 , and rotates around the β axis only. The worktable  20  may be a multi-axis worktable, capable of rotating the metallic member  300  along a plurality of axis to enable a multi-workstations machining process. 
       FIG. 7  shows a second embodiment of machine tool  200  for machining the metallic member  300 . The machine tool  200  is similar to the machine tool  100  in structure, a sliding saddle  41   a  is slidably assembled to a cross beam  31   a , and a second rotating member  27   a  is mounted on a rotating shaft  25   a , The metallic member  300  is placed and held on the second rotating member  27   a , The difference between the machine tool  100 / 200  is that, a mounting seat  43   a  of the machine tool  200  is slidably mounted on the sliding saddle  41  a and capable of sliding along the Z1-axis direction relative to the sliding saddle  41   a , and a lathe tool  49   a  is slidably mounted on the mounting seat  43   a.    
     When the lathe feeding mechanism  40  is to machine the top portion  301  of the metallic member  300 , the pair of first driving mechanisms  35  drives the cross beam  31  to slide along the X-axis, and the second driving mechanism  37  drives the lathe feeding mechanism  40  to move along the Y-axis, such that the lathe tool  49   a  arrives at an original position above the worktable  20  for machining Then the mounting seat  43   a  drives the lathe tool  49   a  to move downward along the Z1-axis to reach a preset position near the middle portion of the metallic member  300 . Finally, the feeding assembly  47  drives the lathe tool  49   a  to reciprocate, cutting at a high speed along the Z-axis according to the depth required for each portion of the top portion  301  machining the rotary metallic member  300  circumferentially. The mounting seat  43   a  can slide along the Z1-axis to place the lathe tool  49   a  at the preset position, allowing a reciprocation of the lathe tool  49  relative to the metallic member  300  to be reduced, thereby enhancing a reaction response of the lathe tool  49   a.    
     While the present disclosure has been described with reference to particular embodiments, the description is illustrative of the disclosure and is not to be construed as limiting the disclosure. Therefore, various modifications can be made to the embodiments by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the disclosure, as defined by the appended claims.