This invention relates to a cutting or grinding machine equipped with a ultrasonic transducer which is favorably employable for processing an article of rigid material such as inorganic glass, silicon, silicon nitride, or hard metal. The invention further relates to a cutting or grinding rod favorably employable for processing an article of rigid material.
The cutting or grinding machine equipped with a ultrasonic transducer, that is, a ultrasonic cutting or grinding machine, is well known.
(1) a rotatable cutting unit composed of:
a cutting rod 11 which is composed of a holder rod 11a and a grind stone 11b;
a horn 12 attached to the top of the holder rod 11a;
a booster 13 attached to the top of the horn 12;
a ultrasonic transducer (i.e., ultrasonic vibrator) 14 attached to the top of the booster 13; and
a slip ring 15 attached to the top of the ultrasonic transducer 14;
(2) a driving unit composed of:
an AC spindle motor 16 having a rotatable rod 16a and a servo unit 16b; and
(3) a housing composed of:
a cylindrical wall 17, a bearing unit 18 placed between the rotatable cutting unit and the cylindrical wall 17;
and
(4) a ultrasonic wave generator 19 equipped with a carbon brush 20 in which the combination of the slip ring 15 and the carbon brush 20 supplies a ultrasonic energy to the ultrasonic transducer 14.
The ultrasonic cutting machine 10 of
The AC spindle motor 16 is activated under control of the servo unit 16b to rotate the rotatable rod 16a. The cylindrical cutting unit rotates synchronously with the rotation of the rotatable rod 16a under the condition that the cylindrical cutting unit is enclosed and held with the bearing 18. Simultaneously, a ultrasonic generator 19 generates and transmits a ultrasonic wave to the ultrasonic transducer 14. The ultrasonic vibration produced in the ultrasonic transducer 14 is then transmitted to the grind stone 11b through the booster 13, horn 12, and a holder rod 11a.
The present inventor studied the known ultrasonic cutting machine and has found that the known ultrasonic cutting machine of
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a ultrasonic cutting or grinding machine that can utilize a generated ultrasonic energy efficiently.
It is another object of the invention to provide a ultrasonic cutting or grinding machine which can be constructed in a relative small size.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a ultrasonic cutting or grinding machine that is almost free from decrease of holding power provided by means for holding a cutting or grinding tool.
The present invention resides in a cutting or grinding machine comprising an exchangeable cutting or grinding rod, a chuck gripping the cutting or grinding rod by a middle portion or rear end thereof, a motor having a rotatable rod, and a transmission rod connecting the chuck and the rotatable rod of the motor, wherein the cutting or grinding rod has a ultrasonic transducer thereon in an area between a front end of the rod and a Portion in contact with the chuck.
The invention further resides in a cutting or grinding rod having a ultrasonic transducer thereon.
Each of
Preferred embodiments of the cutting or grinding rods employable for manufacturing the cutting or grinding machine of the invention are described below.
(1) The cutting or grinding rod has the ultrasonic transducer therearound in the form of a continuous or divided ring.
(2) The cutting or grinding rod has a flange on which the ultrasonic transducer in the form of a continuous or divided ring is arranged.
(3) The cutting or grinding rod is a rod having a grind stone at its front end.
(4) The cutting or grinding rod is a drill.
(5) The cutting or grinding rod is an end mill.
(6) The cutting or grinding rod comprises a holder rod and a throw-away tip attached to the holder rod.
(7) The cutting or grinding rod comprises a holder rod and a throw-away tip attached to the holder rod, and the ultrasonic transducer is placed on the throw-away tip.
The present invention is further described by referring to the figures shown in the attached drawings.
In
The cutting or grinding procedure can be carried out in the following manner using the cutting or grinding machine of
When the motor 23 is activated and a rotation energy is applied to the rotatable rod 24, the transmission rod 25 connected to the rotatable rod 24 rotates synchronously within the bearing 29. The chuck 22 provided to the bottom end (i.e., front end) of the transmission rod 25 also rotates synchronously together with the cutting or grinding rod 21 which is firmly gripped and held with the chuck 22. Simultaneously, the ultrasonic generator 31 is activated to generate and transmit a ultrasonic energy to the slip ring 30. The ultrasonic energy received by the slip ring 30 is then transmitted to the ultrasonic transducer 26. The ultrasonic transducer 26 generates ultrasonic vibration along the length of the cutting or grinding rod 21. The ultrasonic vibration generated in the ultrasonic transducer 26 is transmitted directly and almost predominantly to the front end (i.e., bottom end) of the rod 21. Only a small amount of the generated ultrasonic vibration is transmitted to the position 28 in contact with the chuck 22. Accordingly, the generated ultrasonic vibration is very efficiently utilized to vibrate the cutting or grinding rod 21. Further, since only a small amount of the ultrasonic vibration is transmitted to the chuck 22, the holding power provided to the cutting or grinding rod 21 by the chuck 22 hardly decreases. Furthermore, damage of the chuck due to the transmitted ultrasonic vibration hardly occurs.
The cutting rod 21 of
The cutting or grinding rod 41 of
In
The grinding rod 60 can be made of a rod portion 61b and a flange portion 61a, and one of these portion such as the flange portion 61a can has the ultrasonic transducer 66, as is shown in
The ultrasonic transducer can be in the form of a ring as shown in FIGS. 3 to 9. Otherwise, the ultrasonic transducer can be in the form of a divided ring, as is shown in
The electric power supply to the ultrasonic transducer on the cutting or grinding rod can be supplied by means of a rotary power transformer, as is shown in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2005-140338 | Apr 2005 | JP | national |
2005-185680 | May 2005 | JP | national |