Patent ID: 7103441

Claim:
A method for the calibration of a grinding machine or an erosion machine, or a combined grinding and erosion machine, comprising the step of: providing a machine including a spindle carrier, a working spindle carried by the spindle carrier for receiving a grinding tool or an erosion tool, a workpiece carrier including a receiver element for receiving a workpiece, a control mechanism for producing relative movement between the spindle carrier and the workpiece carrier, to position the spindle carrier and the workpiece carrier in different relative orientations, the control mechanism including a memory unit for storing calibration values, wherein the method further comprises the steps of: A) performing an initial calibration by: A 1 ) providing the working spindle and the receiver element with a reference body and a reference tracer, respectively, A 2 ) tracing the reference body with the reference tracer a plurality of times, with the spindle and the workpiece carrier positioned in different relative orientations for the respective tracings by actuation of the control mechanism, and A 3 ) storing in the memory unit, the measured values resulting from the tracings of step A 2 ; B) performing a grinding test by: B 1 ) providing the working spindle and the receiver element with a grinding tool and a body, respectively, and lightly grinding the body from different directions to create respective ground sections on the body, B 2 ) establishing correction values based upon a comparison of differences between the ground sections, and B 3 ) adjusting the measured values of step A 3 in accordance with the correction values of step B 2 ; and thereafter C) performing a re-calibration of the machine by: C 1 ) tracing a test piece disposed on one of the spindle carrier and the workpiece carrier by a machine tracer disposed on the other of the spindle carrier and the workpiece carrier to calibrate the machine tracer, and C 2 ) storing the calibration of the machine tracer in the memory.