Centrifugal barrel finishing machine

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6666757
  • Patent Number
    6,666,757
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, July 10, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, December 23, 2003
    21 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Nguyen; George
    Agents
    • Mathews, Collins, Shepherd & McKay, P.A.
Abstract
The present invention is directed to a centrifugal barrel finishing machine. The present invention is contemplated to provide the centrifugal barrel finishing machine, which has means for driving each barrel separately from a turret so as to correct a pose of a barrel to be horizontal and thus perform inserting and discharging of work parts effectively, and simultaneously has means for opening and closing a lid of the barrel by a power driven manner using a cylinder or a sliding manner so as to increase convenience and safety with regard to opening and closing of the barrel.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to a centrifugal barrel finishing machine, more specifically the centrifugal barrel finishing machine, which has means for driving each barrel separately so as to correct a pose of a barrel to be horizontal and thus perform charging and discharging of work parts effectively, and has means for opening and closing a lid of the barrel by a power driven manner using a cylinder or a sliding manner so as to increase convenience and safety with regard to opening and closing of the barrel.




2. Background of the Related Art




Generally, a centrifugal barrel finishing machine is to generate a strong cutting force or to polish/polish work parts, while work parts and media collide with each other by centrifugal force during a rotation of a barrel, after charging media and work parts into the barrel.




FIG.


1


-

FIG. 3

illustrate the centrifugal barrel finishing machine according to the prior art.




As shown in

FIG. 1

, the centrifugal barrel finishing machine of the prior art comprises a plurality of barrels


10


which are disposed along a circumferential direction and both ends of their center shafts are coupled by unit bearing so as to rotate by itself, a turret


11


which supports the center shaft of each barrel and rotates in one direction, timing gears 12/timing belts


13


which induce a rotation of the barrel


10


by using the rotating force of the turret


11


, a frame


14


which supports both ends of shaft of the turret


11


, and motor


15


for driving the turret


11


.




A reference numeral


16


indicates idle gears for the tension of the timing belts and a reference numeral


17


indicates a center gear, which is fixed to a turret shaft and serves as a center member for power transmission of each timing belt.




Therefore, when the turret


21


rotates by the operation of the motor


15


, the timing belts


13


connected to the timing gears


12


of each barrel


10


proceed in one direction while the timing belts rotate together and teeth thereof are engaged with the fixed center gear


17


, and the barrel


10




s


are rotated by itself in an opposite direction with regard to the turret


11


so that work parts in the barrels could be grinded or polished




As shown in

FIG. 2

, the barrel


10


is a can-shaped weighted object having the stiffness against a collision of media and work parts therein, both ends of a center shaft is supported in the turret


11


to enable the barrels to rotate, and a lid


19


of the barrel


10


maintains locking status by a locking device the both ends thereof being supported to holder


18


which is attached to a barrel body.




The locking device of the lid


19


includes eccentric pins


21


that are inserted movably into cylindrical guides


20




a


welded on both sides in an upper surface of the lid


19


and simultaneously are inserted into grooves


18




a


formed at upper ends of holders


18


, levers


22


connected to the eccentric pins


21


for handling, fixing pins


23


which are inserted into holes


22




a


of the levers


22


so as to maintain the locking position of the levers


22


, and guides


20




b


for fixing pins


23


. As shown in

FIG. 3

, when levers


22


are pulled upwardly with releasing of fixing pins


23


and then eccentric pins


21


are pulled out of grooves


18




a


, the lid


19


could be released.




A reference numeral


24


not described indicates adjustment bolts for adjusting the locking force of eccentric pin


21


which are inserted and locked up in holes


18




a


of holders


18


.




However, such centrifugal barrel finishing machine of the prior art has various disadvantages as below.




1) When the turret is stopped with stopping of the motor after polishing, the pose of the barrel is inclined instead of being horizontal, or sometimes inverted, so that there is inconvenience in taking work parts out of the barrel or inserting work parts into the barrel again. In addition, although user may stop the finishing machine with maintaining the pose of barrel to be horizontal, this could be cumbersome.




2) Also, as mentioned above, since the lid of the barrel is considerably heavy, the user usually has a trouble in lifting the lid using a handle attached thereto, and occasionally may drop the lid. Therefore, the centrifugal barrel finishing machine of the prior art is unsatisfactory in aspect of the convenience and safety of the user.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention is contemplated to solve the aforementioned problem, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a centrifugal barrel finishing machine, which has means for driving each barrel separately so as to correct a pose of a barrel to be horizontal and thus perform charging and discharging of work parts effectively.




It is another object of the present invention to provide a centrifugal barrel finishing machine which has means for opening and closing a lid of the barrel by a power driven manner using a cylinder or a sliding manner so as to increase convenience and safety with regard to opening and closing of the barrel.




To accomplish the above object, the present invention provide a centrifugal barrel finishing machine comprising: a plurality of barrels having lids which is able to be opened and closed through an operation of a locking device, the barrels being disposed along a circumferential direction and the both ends of their center shafts are coupled by unit bearing so as to rotate by itself; a turret for supporting the center shaft of each barrel and rotating in one direction; timing gears and a timing belts for inducing a rotation of the barrels by using rotating force of the turret; a frame for supporting both ends of a shaft of the turret; a motor for driving the turret; an idle gear for tension of the timing belts; a center gear being mounted to the turret shaft and serves as a center member for a power transmission of each timing belt; and a device for driving each barrel separately from the turret including; an auxiliary center gear being mounted integrally with the center gear, an auxiliary reduction motor being installed to a lower part of the frame and proving the power to the auxiliary center gear, a driving gear being mounted to a shaft of the auxiliary reduction gear, an auxiliary timing belt for transmitting the power between the auxiliary center gear and the driving gear, and an auxiliary idle gear for adjusting a tension of the auxiliary timing belt.




Preferably, the lid is opened and closed by a power driven type opening/closing device or a slide type opening/closing device.




More specifically, the power driven type opening/closing device includes; a cylinder being hinged vertically in the rear of the barrel, at least three leads being mounted in the rear of an upper surface of the lid, one of the leads being connected to the cylinder, a hinge shaft penetrating through the leads, hinge brackets being fixed to a rear surface of the barrel and supporting both ends of the hinge shaft, and a shock absorber being installed to connect between the barrel and lid and assisting the lid in opening and closing.




Additionally the slide type opening/closing device includes; lid guide bars being mounted vertically at both side of a rear surface of the barrel and having sliding grooves along an entire length thereof, a part of the lid guide bar extending horizontally over an upper surface of the lid, and guide pins being formed to be projected and formed integrally with both sides of the lid, the guide pins being inserted into the sliding grooves so as to slide therein.




It is featured that magnets attachable to lid guide bars are installed at positions in both side surfaces of the lids, at a certain distance from the guide pin.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The features and advantages of the present invention will be more described specifically in the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:





FIG. 1

is a front view showing a centrifugal barrel finishing machine according to the prior art;





FIG. 2

is a partially separated perspective view showing a barrel of a centrifugal barrel finishing machine according to the prior art;





FIG. 3

is a perspective view showing a status, which a lid is opened in a centrifugal barrel finishing machine according to the prior art;





FIG. 4

is a front view showing a centrifugal barrel finishing machine according to the present invention;





FIG. 5

is a side view showing a centrifugal barrel finishing machine according to the present invention;




FIG.


6


and

FIG. 7

are front views showing status, which a pose of barrel is corrected in a centrifugal barrel finishing machine of the present invention;





FIG. 8

is a front view showing an embodiment of barrel in a centrifugal barrel finishing machine of the present invention;





FIG. 9

is a side view of

FIG. 8

;





FIG. 10

is a side view showing a status, when the lid is opened in

FIG. 9

;





FIG. 11

is a side view showing another embodiment of barrel in a centrifugal barrel finishing machine of the present invention; and





FIG. 12

is a side view showing the opened status of FIG.


9


.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Reference will now be made in detail to the first and second embodiment of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In explaining the present invention, the same names and reference numerals will be given to the same components, and explanations in the same will be omitted.




A centrifugal barrel finishing machine of the present invention, as shown in FIG.


4


and

FIG. 5

, includes at least four barrels


10


which are disposed along a circumferential direction of a turret


11


with rotating by itself and receive media and work parts therein, the turret


11


which is connected to a motor


15


by a belt and the like and rotates in one direction together with each barrel


10


, timing gears 12/timing belts


13


which are intermediated members for gearing by itself using the rotating force of the turret


11


and rotating the barrels


10


, a plurality of idle gears


16


which maintain the tension of the timing belt


13


, and a frame


14


which supports various elements set forth above. When the turret


11


rotates by the operation of the motor


15


, the timing belts


13


connected to the timing gears


12


of each barrel


10


rotate together with the turret


11


and proceed in one direction while teeth of the timing belts are engaged serially with the fixed center gear


17


by being associated with an auxiliary motor


26


and auxiliary center gear


25


described later, and thus the barrels


10


are rotated by itself in an opposite direction with regard to the turret


11


by the centrifugal force.




In this manner, the centrifugal barrel finishing machine could polish or grind work parts in the barrels


10


by using the rotation of the turret


11


and the self rotation of the barrels


10


.




Additionally, both ends of the barrel


10


are supported rotatably in the turret


11


by using a center shaft formed at the center of gravity of the barrels


10


, and a lid


19


of the barrel


10


is locked by a locking device which is configured to be supported at both ends thereof by holders


18


attached to a body


10




a.






The locking device may be the same device applied to the centrifugal barrel finishing device of the prior art.




Especially, the present invention could make it easy to charge or discharge media and work parts into or from the barrels


10


by providing an additional barrel rotating device.




For this, as shown in

FIG. 5

, the auxiliary center gear


25


that could operate together with the center gear


17


is mounted at the center gear


17


mounted to a center shaft of the turret


11


.




The auxiliary center gear


25


mounted like this is disposed parallel to each timing gear


12


which is belong to the center gear


17


and is rotated selectively with the center gear


17


.




Also, the center gear


17


including the auxiliary center gear


25


is mounted to the center shaft of the turret


11


with an interposed bearing, so that it could rotate as needed.




An auxiliary reduction motor


26


is provided as means for driving the auxiliary center gear


25


and center gear


17


.




The auxiliary reduction motor


26


is installed on the frame


14


below the auxiliary center gear


25


and center gear


17


.




A driving gear


27


is mounted to a shaft of the auxiliary reduction motor


26


and the driving gear


27


is connected to the auxiliary center gear


25


by an auxiliary timing belt


28


, so that the auxiliary center gear


25


and center gear


17


could rotate according to the operation of the auxiliary motor


26


.




An auxiliary idle gear


29


is installed on the frame at predetermined position of the auxiliary timing belt


28


, in order to maintain the tension of the auxiliary timing belt


28


.




Thus, the auxiliary center gear


25


and center gear


17


are able to rotate only when the auxiliary reduction motor


26


operates, and are unable to rotate due to the interference with the driving gear


27


through the auxiliary timing belt


28


when the auxiliary reduction motor


26


stops.




Accordingly, When the turret


11


rotates by the operation of the motor


15


, the timing belt


13


connected to the timing gear


12


of each barrel


10


rotates together with the turret


11


since teeth of the timing belt are engaged serially with the fixed center gear


17


, and at the same time rotates the barrel


10


in an opposite direction with regard to the turret


11


direction.




At this moment, since the driving gear


27


fixed by stopping of the auxiliary reduction motor


26


holds the auxiliary center gear


25


through the auxiliary timing belt


28


, the center gear


25


could maintain the fixed status, and thereby the self rotation of the barrel


10


according to the rotation of the turret


11


is achieved naturally.




After the polishing, the motor


15


is stopped in order to take the work parts out of the barrel


10


, the turret


11


and barrel


10


are stopped together. As shown in

FIG. 6

, if one of the four barrels


10


has a pose unsuitable to taking out work parts, the pose of the barrel


10


is corrected by operating the auxiliary reduction motor


26


.




That is, as shown in

FIG. 7

, when the auxiliary reduction motor


26


is operated, the auxiliary center gear


25


and center gear


17


rotate by the power transmitted through the auxiliary timing belt


28


and thus only each barrel


10


is able to rotate. Therefore, when the pose of the barrel


10


in position for taking out work parts becomes horizontal correctly, the operation of the auxiliary motor


26


is stopped and then polished work parts could be taken out of the barrel


10


.




Meanwhile, the present invention provides an opening/closing device which is able to open and close the lid


19


of the barrel


10


by a power driven manner using a cylinder or a sliding manner so that user could open and close the heavy lid easily and the danger of accident is also prevented.




As shown in FIG.


8


and

FIG. 9

, in a power driven type opening/closing device as one embodiment of the lid opening and closing device, a vertical cylinder(substantially pneumatic cylinder)


31


is hinged on a cylinder bracket


40


in the rear of the barrel


10


, at least three leads


32


and a hinge shaft


33


penetrating though the leads


32


are mounted in the rear of an upper surface of the lid


19


and a center lead


32


is connected to the cylinder


31


, and hinge brackets


34


are installed on both ends of a rear surface of the barrel body so as to support both ends of the hinge shaft


33


rotatably.




Accordingly, as shown in

FIG. 10

, the lid


19


is opened and closed, by rotating the hinge shaft


33


as a pivot supported by the hinge bracket


34


.




Especially, a shock absorber


35


is installed at both sides to connect between the barrel


10


and lid


19


, so that a sudden opening or closing of the lid


19


could be prevented.




As shown in FIG.


11


and

FIG. 12

, in a slide type opening/closing device as another embodiment of the lid opening and closing device, lid guide bars


37


having sliding grooves


36


are mounted vertically at both side of the rear surface of the barrel


10


, and the lid


19


is inserted into the guide bars


37


by using guide pins


38


formed integrally with both sides of the lid so as to be supported to slide therein.




Since the lid guide bars


37


have a length extending from the rear surface of the barrel


10


to a part of the upper surface of the lid


19


, it allows the easy opening and closing by sliding. Especially, the sliding groove


36


includes a horizontal portion permitting the lid


19


to be pulled backwardly and an almost vertically inclined portion maintaining the lid


19


to be pulled back completely, so that the convenience and safety in opening and closing the lid


19


are guaranteed.




Additionally, magnets


39


are installed at positions on both side of lid at a predetermined distance from the guide pins


38


, and when the lid


19


is opened and pulled back completely, the magnets


39


is attached to the lid guide bar


37


so that the closing of the lid


19


is prevented.




Since this slide type opening and closing device is operated directly by the user, it is somewhat inconvenient compared with the power driven type device. However, since the lid


19


is opened and closed moving along the guide bar


37


, the slide type opening and closing device is more convenient and safer than conventional device.




The advantages of the present invention are summarized as follows.




The present invention provides the centrifugal barrel finishing machine, which includes means for driving each barrel separately from the turret and means for opening and closing the lid of the barrel by the power driven manner using the cylinder or the sliding manner, so that the pose of the barrel could be corrected to be horizontal and thus perform charging and discharging of work parts effectively, and the convenience and safety with regard to opening and closing of the barrel are increased.




Although a number of embodiment have described in the above specification, it should be apparent that the present invention could be embodied in many other specific mode included within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the present embodiments should be considered as illustrative, and the present invention could be modified within the scope of claims and the equivalent thereof.




That is, in the above embodiments, although the centrifugal barrel finishing machine in which the barrel is driven by the timing belt is described, this timing belt could be substituted by a chain.



Claims
  • 1. A centrifugal barrel finishing machine comprising:a plurality of barrels having lids which is able to be opened and closed through an operation of a locking device, the barrels being disposed along a circumferential direction and the both ends of their center shafts being coupled by unit bearing so as to rotate by itself; a turret for supporting the center shaft of each barrel and rotating in one direction; timing gears and a timing belts for inducing a rotation of the barrels by using rotating force of the turret; a frame for supporting both ends of a shaft of the turret; a motor for driving the turret; idle gears for tension of the timing belts; a center gear being mounted to the turret shaft and serves as a center member for a power transmission of each timing belt; and a device for driving each barrel separately from the turret including; an auxiliary center gear being mounted integrally with the center gear, an auxiliary reduction motor being installed to a lower part of the frame and proving power to the auxiliary center gear, a driving gear being mounted to a shaft of the auxiliary reduction gear, an auxiliary timing belt for transmitting the power between the auxiliary center gear and the driving gear, and an auxiliary idle gear for adjusting a tension of the auxiliary timing belt.
  • 2. The machine according to claim 1, wherein the lid is opened and closed by a power driven type opening/closing device or a slide type opening/closing device.
  • 3. The machine according to claim 2, wherein the power driven type opening/closing device includes;a cylinder being hinged vertically in the rear of the barrel, at least three leads being mounted in the rear of an upper surface of the lid, one of the leads being connected to the cylinder, a hinge shaft penetrating though the leads, hinge brackets being fixed to a rear surface of the barrel and supporting both ends of the hinge shaft, and a shock absorber being installed to connect between the barrel and lid and assisting the lid in opening and closing.
  • 4. The machine according to claim 2, wherein the slide type opening/closing device includes;lid guide bars being mounted vertically at both side of a rear surface of the barrel and having sliding grooves along an entire length thereof, a part of the lid guide bar extending horizontally over an upper surface of the lid, and guide pins being formed to be projected and formed integrally with both sides of the lid, the guide pins being inserted into the sliding grooves so as to slide therein.
  • 5. The machine according to claim 4, wherein magnets attachable to lid guide bars are installed at positions in both side surfaces of the lids, which space apart from the guide pins with a predetermined distance.
US Referenced Citations (9)
Number Name Date Kind
3078623 Stantley Feb 1963 A
3512604 Matsunaga et al. May 1970 A
4104831 Kobayashi Aug 1978 A
4505072 Kobayashi et al. Mar 1985 A
5454749 Ohno Oct 1995 A
5531637 Kimura Jul 1996 A
5672094 Nishimura et al. Sep 1997 A
5733172 Nishimura et al. Mar 1998 A
6350189 Tanaka Feb 2002 B1