A vibratory finishing machine having a fixed frame and a floating support resiliently mounted thereon, a finishing chamber mounted on the floating support, a gyratory motion-producing assembly affixed to the support eccentrically mounted on a shaft and a motor operatively coupled thereto. The finishing chamber is divided into two parts, one part rotatively mounted and having at least an inner vertical wall, and a stationary portion affixed to the floating support. A second motor is mounted in fixed relationship with the floating support and operatively coupled to rotate the rotatably-mounted portion of the chamber. The rotational or centrifugal rotation of the rotatably-mounted portion of the chamber provides greatly improved finishing efficiency of the apparatus. Additionally, the gyrational motion of the chamber produced by the first motor and accompanying eccentric weights may be used to provide automatic discharge of the parts, and may also be used for finishing parts operated either by itself or in combination with the centrifugal rotation produced by rotating the rotatable portion of the chamber.
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1. A vibratory machine useful for finishing the surfaces of a part with finishing material comprising:
1. a gyratory motion-producing assembly comprising: a. a housing, b. eccentric weight means mounted for rotational movement about a vertical axis fixed with respect to said housing, and c. a motor mounted and operatively arranged to rotate said eccentric weight means, 2. means resiliently supporting said assembly for gyratory motion, 3. a substantially horizontally oriented curvilinear finishing chamber operatively mounted for gyration with said gyratory motion-producing assembly, comprising: a. a first annular member mounted with respect to said housing (1a), b. a second annular member coaxially mounted with respect to said first annular member, one of said first and second annular members arranged to rotate about a substantially vertical axis with respect to the other, and c. an annular sealing member mounted on one of said annular members and sealingly engaging the other of said annular members, and 4. a rotational motion-producing assembly fixedly mounted with respect to said housing (1a) comprising: a. rotatable support means mounted to rotate about a vertical axis, b. a motor mounted to rotate said rotatable support means, the rotatable one of said annular members being mounted on said rotatable support means, whereby said annular member may be rotated with respect to the other of said annular members, and 5. means for separating said part from said finishing material and discharging said part.
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20. A vibratory machine useful for finishing the surfaces of a part with finishing material comprising:
1. a gyratory motion-producing assembly comprising: a. a housing, b. eccentric weight means mounted for rotational movement about a vertical axis fixed with respect to said housing, and c. a motor mounted and operatively arranged to rotate said eccentric weight means, 2. means resiliently supporting said assembly for gyratory motion, 3. a substantially horizontally oriented curvilinear finishing chamber operatively mounted for gyration with said gyratory motion-producing assembly, comprising: a. a first annular member mounted with respect to said housing (1a), b. a second annular member coaxially mounted with respect to said first annular member, one of said first and second annular members arranged to rotate about a substantially vertical axis with respect to the other, and 4. a rotational motion-producing assembly fixedly mounted with respect to said housing (1a) comprising: a. rotatable support means mounted to rotate about a vertical axis, b. a motor mounted to rotate said rotatable support means, the rotatable one of said annular members being mounted on said rotatable support means, whereby said annular member may be rotated with respect to the other of said annular members, and 5. means for separating said part from said finishing material and discharging said part. 21. A vibratory machine according to
during rotation of said second annular member. 27. A vibratory machine according to claim 20, wherein said first and second annular members are substantially equal complementary members each having a vertical wall and a partial bottom, the edges of the bottoms of said annular members being in overlapping relationship. 28. A finishing machine according to claim 20, having retrieval means for retrieving parts from said finishing chamber. 29. A finishing machine according to claim 28, wherein said retrieval means is arranged to be inserted into said finishing chamber and comprises a ramp, a finishing material separating foraminous member, and a discharge chute.30. A finishing machine according to claim 28, wherein solenoid means is provided for inserting and retracting said retrieval means. 31. A finishing machine according to claim 30, wherein a portion of said ramp is formed of a resilient material to facilitate insertion into and withdrawal from said finishing chamber. 32. A finishing machine according to claim 28, wherein a hydraulic cylinder means is provided for inserting and retracting said retrieval means. 33. Apparatus of claim 1 wherein at least the inner annular member rotates. 34. Apparatus of claim 33 wherein the finishing chamber has a bottom, which bottom rotates. |
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1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a vibratory finishing machine having a curvilinear finishing chamber, and more particularly refers to such an apparatus having a vertically oriented gyratory motion-producing assembly and power driving means therefor.
2. Prior Art
Finishing machines and especially vibratory finishing machines are well known in the art. Such machines are used for various forms of finishing, such as burr removal, burnishing, and polishing. Such machines are disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. Nos. Re. 27,084, 3,400,495, 3,423,884, 3,435,564, 3,466,815, 3,606,702, and 3,633,321. Machines of the type described generally have a finishing chamber and a motor operatively mounted with respect to the chamber and arranged to cause eccentric weights to rotate or revolve, thereby producing vibratory motion of the finishing chamber. In one form disclosed in the prior art, a tub-type of finishing chamber, usually linear, has a motor with eccentric weights mounted on the shaft of the motor directly mounted to the tub, or a shaft with eccentric weights mounted to the tub and motor driven. In another type, the eccentric weights are mounted out of phase on a vertical shaft, causing the finishing chamber which is generally curvilinear to undergo gyratory motion. In either type, as a result of the vibratory movement, when materials such as parts and/or finishing materials are placed in the chamber, orbital motion is imparted to the contents so that they move upwardly at the peripheral portion of the chamber and downwardly at the inner portion of the chamber. This results in relative movement between the finishing material and parts, or at least interaction therebetween, causing the parts to be finished. Additionally, in the gyratory-type of finishing machine, by employment of a proper phase relationship between the eccentric or unbalance weights, varying degrees of precession or linear progression of the material and parts are caused circumferentially around the annular finishing chamber, as is well known in the art. Various forms of guides or vanes, including helical guides, have also been fixed internally of a finishing chamber to assist with such precession. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,071,900.
Prior art finishing machines, e.g., tumbling machines and vibratory finishing machines, such as described above, generally function well. However, in the interest of advancing the state of the art, it would be highly desirable to improve or increase the efficiency of operation of the apparatus, particularly in such times when the need to conserve energy becomes critical. Finishing machines having greater efficiency have been disclosed in one form utilizing a chamber which rotates and rotatable rotatably engaged with the shaft by means of a key 171. The turntable 170 is supported on the bearing mounting plate 164 by means of a ball bearing assembly 172.
A finishing chamber 173 comprises a rotating chamber member 174 having a vertical wall 175 affixed to the turntable 170 and a partial arcuate bottom 176. A fixed chamber member 177 comprises a vertical wall 178 affixed to the outer finishing chamber support 125 and a partial arcuate bottom 179. A flexible annular sealing member 180, of a material such as rubber or neoprene or any other type of elastic material, is affixed to the arcuate bottom 176 and provides wiping or sealing action against the arcuate bottom 179 to prevent finishing material from passing therebetween. A flexible annular sealing member 181 of a similar material is affixed to the partial arcuate bottom 179 and provides wiping or sealing action against the surface of the partial bottom 176. The two sealing members cooperate to prevent any parts or finishing material from leaving the finishing chamber during rotation of the chamber.
Operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 is very similar to that of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1-3. Actuation of the motor 162 causes the rotating chamber member 174 to rotate and to impart centrifugal force to the contents within the chamber causing the contents including the parts and finishing material to move outwardly to the outer portion of the finishing chamber which is stationary. This causes the parts and finishing material to lose linear velocity caused by their revolution about the axis of the turntable, thereby permitting them to return to the bottom of the trough which is stationary, and then onto the portion which is rotating, thereby initiating another cycle of revolutionary movement and cessation of revolutionary movement. In effect, the path of the parts and finishing material will be somewhat sinusoidal, alternating between the fixed and moving portions of the finishing chamber. This results in extremely efficient finishing of the parts. If desired, the motor 149 may be turned on at the same time that the motor 162 is operating to provide simultaneous and combined rotational movement of the finishing chamber together with gyrational movement. This results in the parts and finishing material following a very complicated pattern which is the resultant of the two superimposed motions. For certain purposes this can result in improved efficiency in finishing the parts.
The parts may be separated from the finishing material and removed from the apparatus in much the same way as shown and described in conjunction with the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3. To accomplish this process, the rotational motion-producing motor 162 is stopped and the gyrational motion-producing motor 149 turned on. This causes the parts and finishing material to undergo a combination of orbital motion and linear precession. When the parts and finishing material encounter a conventional ramp and screen assembly, such as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the parts and finishing material ride up the ramp 91 as a result of the precessional motion, the finishing material passes through the screen 93 and returns to the finishing chamber, and the parts ride up the screen 93 and are discharged from the discharge chute or trough 94.
As in the case of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3, the rotational and gyrational portions of the finishing process may be used sequentially, alternatively, or simultaneously.
The finishing apparatus of the present invention has a number of advantages over finishing machines known in the prior art. The finishing produced by the rotational portion of the finishing cycle is extremely efficient as a result of the continually rising and falling parts and finishing material, in some cases being more efficient than finishing apparatus having means only for producing gyrational motion. The apparatus has advantages over rotational finishing machines disclosed in the art in that it provides for automatic discharge of parts after the finishing process is complete, whereas in previously-disclosed machines, the parts must be removed by hand. Further, the present apparatus enables both the rotational finishing motion and gyrational finishing motion to be utilized simultaneously, in some cases providing finishing efficiency even exceeding that of the rotational types when used alone. Additionally, the apparatus is compact and requires no more space than that required by conventional gyrational motion-producing finishing machines. Also, facilities for producing both types of motion may be relatively inexpensively provided.
It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the exact details of operation or structure shown and described, as obvious modifications and equivalents will be apparent to one skilled in the art.
| Patent | Priority | Assignee | Title |
| 4884372, | Oct 06 1987 | ROTO-FINISH COMPANY, INC | Centrifugal finishing apparatus embodying improved seal and method |
| Patent | Priority | Assignee | Title |
| 3435567, | |||
| 3464674, | |||
| 3606702, |
| Executed on | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance | Frame | Reel | Doc |
| Mar 28 1977 | Roto-Finish Company | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / | |||
| Jan 15 1988 | ROTO - FINISH COMPANY, INC | ROTO-FINISH COMPANY, INC | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST | 004866 | /0833 |
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