Patent ID: 8277280

Claim:
A system for automatically honing a surface of a bore of a workpiece, comprising: a honing tool supported on a spindle for rotation about an axis through the tool and for axial stroking movement, the honing tool having at least one radially expandable honing element; a feed system in connection with the honing tool, including a movable feed element automatically controllably operable for applying a feed force against the honing tool for radially expanding the at least one honing element; a controller including an interface in connection with the feed system automatically operable for controlling operation of the feed system; a stroking system operable for axially stroking the honing tool along the axis; a drive for rotating the honing tool about the axis; a device configured and operable for generating information representative of an initial contact between the at least one honing element and the surface of the bore and outputting a signal representative thereof to the interface; the interface and the feed system being configured so as to automatically operate in a sequence including: moving the feed element at a first feed rate to radially expand the at least one honing element within the bore of the workpiece while rotating the honing tool and monitoring the signal from the device for presence of the information representative of the initial contact, and when the information representative of the initial contact is present; then immediately automatically reducing the feed rate to a second feed rate less than the first feed rate for honing the surface of the bore.