Abstract:
Machine components for use with automated machine tools such as base slides, thrusters, block slides and the like formed with mounting patterns of complementary holes comprising through bolt holes, tapped holes and dowel pin holes on the mounting surfaces thereof and arranged thereon in a predetermined manner whereby the respective base slides, thrusters, block slides and the like can be ganged in any of a multiple of different orientations to perform various machine operations by directly interconnecting them one to another without the need of individualized adapter plates or transition plates.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/958,847 filed Oct. 10, 1997, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/717,567 filed Sep. 23, 1996, which are both herein incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF INVENTION  
         [0002]    This invention relates generally to the automated machine tool art, and more specifically to the interconnection of various individual automation components for effecting linear motion such as base slides, lift tables, thruster slides, rotary motion devices and grippers or end effactor devices into various configurations for the purpose of performing test or assembly applications of a repetitive nature.  
         PRIOR ART  
         [0003]    Heretofore, industrial engineers and machine designers choose from the variety of basic individual available automation components and connected them together using adaptor plates to form the require configuration or combination for performing a particular machined function, which are generally of a repetitive nature in accordance with a predetermined program. Each such application or orientation heretofore was customized to suit the particular requirements of the work or machine operation to be performed by the use of adaptor plates. Currently, individual components such as slides, rotary actuators, and grippers are designed with mounting patterns that are specific to their basic shape, size or design; and no consideration is taken into account that they can or must be attached to other automation components to be useful. As a result, such components were utilized individually and comprised only a limited part of the overall use to which such components could otherwise be utilized. In the present state of the art, a machine designer or engineer had to either design or choose from a manufacturer&#39;s catalog of adaptor plates, a specific adaptor plate to connect together the desired components to effect the desired machine function or operation. Such adaptor plates have the capability of only interconnecting two components, and usually in only one orientation. Most manufacturers only offer such adaptor plates for effecting the interconnection of their more popular combinations. However, the number of possible combinations for such machine components is considerably larger than that contemplated by the individual manufacture. To effect those combinations which are not standard, the machine designer or engineer had to resort to designing and building a given adaptor plate not offered by the manufacturer. Thus, many manufacturers in the automatic tool machine art devote entire sections of their catalogs and/or have separate catalogs just for listing the available adaptor plate designs limited to the many standard combinations only.  
           [0004]    It has been known that a “t” nut and slot connection have been used to effect a connection between certain linear motion devices. There is also the NUMATE type of connection which connects a certain style component to another of the same style in a limited range of sizes. Otherwise, there are no other known means to directly interconnect various types of machine components, or various styles within a given product type, or various sizes between type and styles of machine components to form the various possible combinations to achieve the desired orientations without the need of the many varied and different adaptor plates to achieve the desired orientation.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    This invention is directed to machine components such as base slides, lift tables, thruster slides, rotary actuators and grippers or the like that utilize a simple set of matching and mating pattern of holes that include through bolt holes, tapped holes and dowel pin holes, the latter providing for locational accuracy, and not necessarily required for effecting the direct interconnection of adjacent components. The hole patterns can be of any size based on the size of the machine component, and the component may carry several hole patterns of different sizes to accommodate the direct interconnection of units of different sizes. The respective components each have a base pattern and an output pattern of holes. The base pattern allows the component to be attached to a machine base or to another component output pattern. The base pattern of any given component is the mounting pattern closest to the machine base in the assembly or combination of attached components.  
           [0006]    Essentially, the hole pattern is divided into two sexes, viz. male holes which form clearance through holes for receiving the interconnecting bolts or screws and female holes which are threaded or tapped holes. The holes of a given pattern are arranged in two basic hole configurations within the given pattern, viz. a square configuration and a rectangular configuration. A machine component may have more than one hole pattern for use in interconnecting components of varying sizes. Both configurations, i.e. the square and rectangular configurations making up the hole pattern are centered on the mounting surface of the components which allows for the square configuration to have four possible mounted orientations and two orientations for the rectangular configuration. The arrangement is such that two components can be directly interconnected by using the opposed complementary sex mounting configurations, e.g. male to female. There is also a logic as to what can be normally connected to what, as far as the component types are concerned. For reasons of accuracy, dowel pin holes may be included with the hole pattern.  
       
    
    
     IN THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]    [0007]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a base slide machine component embodying the invention.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 2 is a top plan view of FIG. 1 illustrating only the outer hole pattern.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 3 is a top view of a thruster machine component.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 4 is a side view of a machine component of FIG. 3.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line  5 - 5  on FIG. 3.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line  6 - 6  on FIG. 2.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 7 is an end view of the end block of the thruster illustrated in FIG. 3.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 8 is a top view of FIG. 7.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating the direct interconnection of a thruster slide on a base slide illustrating one direction of orientation.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 10 is a view similar to that of FIG. 9, but illustrating another orientation.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 11 is a view similar to that of FIG. 10, but illustrating a further orientation.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 12 is a view similar to that of FIG. 11, but illustrating another orientation.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 13 is a perspective view illustrating another orientation of side mounting a thruster slide to a base slide.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 14 is a view similar to that of FIG. 13, illustrating another orientation.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 15 is a perspective view illustrating the end block of one thruster being connected to the side of a second thruster having the end block oriented in a particular direction.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 16 is a view similar to that of FIG. 15, but illustrating another orientation thereof.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 17 is a perspective view illustrating the direct interconnection of one machine component to another to achieve another orientation.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 18 is similar to that of FIG. 17 but illustrating a further orientation.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 19 is a perspective view illustrating various sized machine components interconnected in accordance with the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0026]    In accordance with this invention, a base slide is defined as an automation machine component used to carry other components in a linear movement from one point to another. The base slide includes two fixed end blocks supporting shafting upon which a carriage slides in a linear reciprocal motion between the fixed end blocks. It will be understood that such base slides can be made in a range of sizes or styles.  
         [0027]    A lift table is a machine component used to carry other components in a linear manner from one point to another in a vertical direction, and may be made in any of several sizes or styles. It comprises a main body slidably supporting shaftings upon which a tool plate is connected.  
         [0028]    A thruster machine component is used to carry other components from point to point in a straight line which consists of a body slidably supporting shafting having a tool plate connected thereto.  
         [0029]    A rotary actuator is a component used to rotate other attached components through a fixed rotation and back again which consists of a body and a connected output shaft or flange; and which can be made in varying sizes.  
         [0030]    A gripper is a component used to grasp a work piece or part to position the same as may be required.  
         [0031]    In accordance with this invention, the body portion of such machine components is provided with a mounting surface having a hole pattern to which the mounting surface of another machine component may be directly interconnected thereto in a simple, positive and effective manner.  
         [0032]    Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is illustrated a base slide  30  embodying the present invention. The base slide  30  comprises a pair of end blocks  31 - 31  which are adapted to be fixed to a machine base or frame. Supported between the fixed end blocks  31 - 31  are shafting  32 - 32  upon which the base slide body  33  is supported for reciprocal linear movement between the end blocks  31 - 31 . As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the base slide body  33  is provided with a mounting surface  34  upon which one or more hole patterns are formed to facilitate the direct interconnection of another machine component as will be hereinafter described.  
         [0033]    In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, two hole patterns are shown consisting of an outer hole pattern  35  and a smaller inner hole pattern  36  disposed within the larger outer hole pattern  35 . The outer hole pattern  35  comprises four outer corner tapped or threaded holes  37  disposed in a square configuration, and four rectangularly disposed through holes  38  disposed in alignment between the corner tapped holes  37  as shown. The through holes  38  are arranged to receive a bolt or screw  39  by which two components may be directly interconnected in face to face relationship in a plurality of different orientations. The hole pattern  35  described with respect to the base slide  30  may be defined as the female pattern as the tapped or threaded holes define the outer square corners of the pattern. Included within the hole pattern are two or more dowel pin holes  40 . As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, four such dowel pin holes  40  are illustrated as being disposed in a diamond configuration wherein each dowel pin hole  40  is disposed midway between adjacent outer or corner tapped holes  37 . The dowel pin holes  40  are provided to insure accuracy of orientation and are not necessarily required for effecting the interconnection. The tapped holes  37  may extend partly into the slide body  33  to a predetermined depth or may be machined through the slide body. The through bolt holes  38  may be counterbored on the back side of the slide body to define a seat or recess for the bolt head, as shown in FIG. 6.  
         [0034]    A companion component in the form of a thruster  41 , which may be directly interconnected to the base slide  30 , is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. As shown, the thruster  41  comprises a thruster body  42  supporting shafting  43  reciprocally mounted therein. Connected to the ends of the reciprocating shafts  43  is an end block  44  to which another machine component can be directly interconnected, as will be herein described. The thruster body  42  has a mounting face  45  which includes a male hole pattern  46 . As shown, the male hole pattern comprises four through bolt holes  47  which are disposed in a square configuration that form the corners of the male pattern  46 . Disposed between two of the through bolt corner holes  47  are four tapped or threaded holes  48  arranged in a rectangular configuration. Disposed midway between the through corner holes  47  and the tapped holes  48  is a dowel pin hole  49  for receiving a dowel pin  50 . As hereinbefore described, the tapped holes  48  may be machined to a predetermined depth, as shown, or machined through the depth of the thruster body  42 . Also, the back side of the through bolt holes  47  may be counterbored to form a seat  51  for the bolt head.  
         [0035]    The thruster body  42  may also be provided with a side mounting face  52  having a hole pattern  53  to which another machine component may be connected. The side mounting face hole pattern  53  comprises four tapped or threaded holes  54  disposed in a rectangular configuration with a dowel pin hole  55  disposed between the tapped holes  54 .  
         [0036]    The end block  44  of the thruster is also provided with a mounting face  44 A to which a machine component may be directly interconnected thereto. The mounting face  44 A of the end block  44  is also provided with a male hole pattern  57  comprising four through bolt holes  58  which are rectangularly disposed to mate with rectangularly disposed female hole patterns formed on the mounting face of another complementary component, e.g. the side mounting surface of a thruster similar to that herein described. It will be understood that the back side of the through holes  58  on the end block  44  of the thruster may be also counterbored to define a seat or recess for receiving the head of a mounting bolt or screw. Disposed between the vertically disposed corner through holes  58 , as seen in FIG. 7 of the thruster end block, are the dowel pin holes  59 .  
         [0037]    Block slides and lift tables may likewise be provided with complementary male and female hole patterns as hereinbefore described for interconnection to each other and/or to the base slides and thrusters herein described.  
         [0038]    With the construction disclosed, the various base slides, thruster, grippers and like components may be directly interconnected without the need of adaptor plates as heretofore required.  
         [0039]    Reference is made to FIGS.  9  to  12 , wherein there is illustrated various orientations of how a thruster  41 , as described herein, may be interconnected to a base slide  30 . As shown in FIG. 9, the mounting face  45  of the thruster  41  is interconnected to the mounting face  34  of the base slide body  33  by fastening bolts extended through the through holes  47  of the thruster  41  for threading into the corner tapped holes  37  of the base side body  33 . As shown in FIG. 9, the end block  44  of the thruster  41  is oriented to the left.  
         [0040]    In FIG. 10, the thruster  41  is interconnected to the slide body  33  in an orientation which is 90° counterclockwise to that illustrated in FIG. 9. FIG. 11 illustrates the thruster  41  oriented 180° relative to the orientation of FIG. 9, and in FIG. 12, the thruster  41  is oriented 270° counterclockwise from that of FIG. 9.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIGS. 13 and 14 illustrates another combination wherein the thruster  41  is interconnected directly to the mounting surface  34  of a slide body  33  with a side mounting. As shown, the side mounting surface  52  of the thruster  41  is directly connected to the mounting surface  34  of the slide block body  33  by extending the fastening bolts through the rectangularly disposed male hole  38  configuration of the slide body  31  to engage the rectangularly disposed female hole  54  configurations formed in the side mounting surface  52  of the thruster  41 . As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the thruster  41  can be oriented in two directions, 180° apart.  
         [0042]    It will be understood that another machine component, such as gripper, lift table, or another thruster can be directly mounted to the mounting face  44 A on the end block  44  of the thruster  41  by extending fastening bolts through the rectangular male hole pattern  57  on the end block  44  to engage complementary female hole pattern as hereinbefore described, formed in the machine component, e.g. a thruster  41 , for attachment to the end block  44 .  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 illustrate the end block  44  of one thruster  41  directly interconnected to the side mounting face  52  of a similarly constructed thruster  41 . This is achieved by the fastening bolts being extended through the male hole pattern  57  formed on the mounting face  44 A of the end block  44  and engaging the complementary rectangularly disposed female hole pattern  53  formed in the side mounting face  52  of the thruster body  42  as hereinbefore described with respect to FIG. 4. Thus, as seen in FIGS. 15 and 16, the thruster  41  can be oriented in two positions, 180° apart, on the end block  44  of a complimentary thruster  41 .  
         [0044]    [0044]FIGS. 17 and 18 illustrate additional combinations of direct interconnect machine components possible by the hole patterns described. In FIG. 17, the end block  44  of one thruster  41  is directly interconnected to the mounting face  45  of another complementary thruster  41  by extending fastening bolts through the male through hole  58  of the end block  44  to engage with the rectangularly disposed female hole configuration  48  formed in the mounting face  52  of a similar thruster body  42 . FIG. 18 illustrates a combination wherein the thruster  41  is oriented 180° from that shown in FIG. 17. The interconnection for achieving the various orientations described and those which are possible are accurately effected by the dowel pins located in the complementary dowel pin holes which are included in the described complementary hole patterns.  
         [0045]    [0045]FIG. 19 illustrates how various sized machine components can be directly interconnected. In the combination disclosed in FIG. 19, a smaller sized thruster  41  can be connected to the mounting surface  34  of the slider block  31  by fastening screws or bolts extending through the male through holes of the slider block to engage the rectangularly disposed female holes formed in the mounting face of the thruster body  41 .  
         [0046]    From the foregoing descriptions, it will be apparent that the machine components to which this invention relates can be directly interconnected in various combinations to achieve various orientations without the use of adaptor plates in a simple and expedient manner.  
         [0047]    While the present invention has been described with respect to several embodiments, variations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention.