Claims
- 1. A lathe assembly comprising:
a guide having a passageway for movement of a piece of bar stock, with a leading end and a trailing end, in a substantially straight path between a feeding position and a working position; and a sensor assembly capable of detecting the position of the trailing end of a piece of bar stock within the guide passageway to thereby allow a user to determine if a piece of bar stock in the guide passageway has a length sufficient to perform a desired operation thereon.
- 2. The lathe assembly according to claim 1 further comprising a spindle for releasably holding a piece of bar stock in the working position.
- 3. The lathe assembly according to claim 1 wherein the sensor assembly comprises a generator for a signal indicative that a piece of bar stock in the guide passageway has less than a predetermined length.
- 4. The lathe assembly according to claim 1 further comprising a tool assembly to perform an operation on a piece of bar stock in the working position.
- 5. The lathe assembly according to claim 4 wherein the sensor assembly comprises a generator for a stop signal indicative that a piece of bar stock in the guide passageway has less than a predetermined length and the lathe assembly further comprises a control to receive the stop signal and in response thereto prevent performance of an operation by the tool assembly on a piece of bar stock in the passageway.
- 6. The lathe assembly according to claim 1 wherein the sensor assembly comprises an elongate element that can be directed into the guide passageway to against the trailing end of a piece of bar stock in the passageway to thereby determine whether a piece of bar stock in the guide passageway is less than or greater than a predetermined length.
- 7. The lathe assembly according to claim 1 wherein the sensor assembly comprises a generator for a beam to be directed against the trailing end of a piece of bar stock in the guide passageway and reflected therefrom and a receiver for the reflected beam.
- 8. The lathe assembly according to claim 1 in combination with a piece of bar stock in the guide passageway.
- 9. The lathe assembly according to claim 1 further comprising a drive to rotate a piece of bar stock in the working position in the guide passageway.
- 10. The lathe assembly according to claim 4 wherein the tool assembly comprises a tool element which acts against a piece of bar stock in the working position and the tool assembly further comprises a turret with a plurality of interchangeable tool elements.
- 11. The lathe assembly according to claim 8 wherein the spindle has an axis and first axially spaced input and output ends and the piece of bar stock in the working position projects from both the input and output ends of the spindle.
- 12. The lathe assembly according to claim 7 wherein the generator is a laser beam generator.
- 13. The lathe assembly according to claim 2 wherein the passageway has a center axis and axially spaced first and second ends, the spindle is at the first axially spaced end and the second axially spaced end is open to allow introduction of a piece of bar stock into the guide passageway.
- 14. A method of operating a lathe assembly comprising a guide having a passageway with a central axis and axially spaced first and second ends, a spindle, and a tool assembly for performing an operation on a piece of bar stock having a length and leading and trailing ends, said method comprising the steps of:
directing the piece of bar stock axially through the guide passageway in a first direction from a feeding position into a working position; and directing an element into the guide passageway to detect the position of the trailing end of the piece of bar stock and thereby determine if the piece of bar stock in the guide passageway is less than or greater than a predetermined length.
- 15. The method of operating a lathe assembly according to claim 14 further comprising the step of performing an operation on the piece of bar stock with the tool assembly if it is determined that the piece of bar stock has at least the predetermined length.
- 16. The method of operating a lathe assembly according to claim 15 including the step of advancing the piece of bar stock in the first direction after performing the operation and again directing the element into the guide passageway to detect the position of the trailing end of the piece of bar stock to again determine if the piece of bar stock in the guide passageway is less than or greater than the predetermined length.
- 17. The method of operating a lathe assembly according to claim 14 wherein the step of directing an element into the guide passageway comprises the step of directing a laser beam into the guide passageway.
- 18. The method of operating a lathe assembly according to claim 14 wherein the step of directing an element into the guide passageway comprises the step of directing an elongate element into the guide passageway.
- 19. The method of operating a lathe assembly according to claim 14 further comprising the steps of providing a sensor assembly, generating a stop signal from the sensor assembly indicative that the piece of bar stock has a length less than the predetermined length, and processing the stop signal so that no operation is performed by the tool assembly on the piece of bar stock in the guide passageway.
- 20. A lathe assembly comprising:
a guide having a passageway with a central axis for movement of a piece of bar stock with a leading end and a trailing end in a substantially straight path substantially parallel to the central axis of the passageway between a feeding position and a working position; and a spindle for releasably holding a piece of bar stock in the working position and having a through opening with a central axis, an input end and an output end, the guide oriented so that the central axis of the passageway is not parallel to a horizontal support surface for the lathe assembly, the passageway and through opening being aligned so that the leading end of a piece of bar stock can move through the passageway to and through the through opening from the input end to the output end to project from the output end with a piece of bar stock in the working position.
- 21. The lathe assembly according to claim 20 wherein the central axes of the passageway and through opening are substantially parallel to each other and extend substantially orthogonally to a horizontal support surface for the lathe assembly.
- 22. The lathe assembly according to claim 20 wherein the central axes of the passageway and through opening are substantially parallel to each other and are non-orthogonal to a horizontal support surface for the lathe assembly.
- 23. The lathe assembly according to claim 20 further comprising a tool assembly for performing an operation on a piece of bar stock in the working position.
- 24. The lathe assembly according to claim 20 wherein the passageway declines toward the spindle so that a piece of bar stock is urged under its own weight toward the working position.
- 25. A method of operating a lathe assembly comprising a guide having a passageway with a central axis and axially spaced first and second ends, a spindle with a through opening having a central axis, an input end and an output end, and a tool assembly for performing an operation on a piece of bar stock having a length, a leading end, and a trailing end, said method comprising the steps of:
orienting the guide so that the central axis of the passageway is inclined relative to a horizontal support surface for the lathe assembly so that the central axis of the passageway declines from the first end toward the second end of the passageway; directing the leading end of the piece of bar stock into and through the passageway in a first direction from the first end of the passageway toward the second end of the passageway; moving the leading end of the piece of bar stock in the first direction into and through the through opening to a working position wherein the leading end of the bar stock projects from the output end of the spindle; clamping the piece of bar stock in the working position in the spindle; and performing an operation on a portion of a piece of bar stock projecting from the output end of the through opening with a piece of bar stock in the working position.
- 26. The method of operating a lathe assembly according to claim 25 further comprising the steps of placing a plurality of pieces of bar stock, each having a length, in a storage position with the lengths of the plurality of pieces of bar stock being substantially parallel to each other and substantially parallel to a horizontal surface supporting the lathe assembly, removing the plurality of pieces of bar stock one-by-one from the storage position, and directing the plurality of pieces of bar stock one-by-one into the passageway.
- 27. The method of operating a lathe assembly according to claim 25 further comprising the steps of placing a plurality of pieces of bar stock, each having a length, in a storage position with the lengths of the plurality of pieces of bar stock being substantially parallel to each other and substantially non-parallel to a horizontal surface supporting the lathe assembly, removing the plurality of pieces of bar stock one-by-one from the storage position, and directing the plurality of pieces of bar stock one-by-one into the passageway.
- 28. A lathe assembly comprising:
a spindle for holding an elongate workpiece and having a central axis; a guide assembly having a body and a guide bushing on the body having a first opening with a central axis, the spindle and guide assembly being selectively repositionable between a) a first relative position wherein the central axis of the spindle extends through the first guide bushing opening so that an elongate workpiece held by the spindle can be projected into the first guide bushing opening so that the guide bushing limits flexing of an elongate workpiece held by the spindle and b) a second relative position wherein the central axis of the spindle does not extend through the first guide bushing opening; and a tool assembly for performing an operation on an elongate workpiece held by the spindle.
- 29. The lathe assembly according to claim 28 wherein with the spindle and guide assembly in the first relative position the central axis of the spindle is substantially coincident with the central axis of the first guide bushing opening.
- 30. The lathe assembly according to claim 28 wherein the guide bushing is rotatable relative to the guide assembly body around the central axis of the first guide bushing opening.
- 31. The lathe assembly according to claim 28 in combination with an elongate workpiece that is held by the spindle and projects into the first guide bushing opening with the spindle and guide assembly in the first relative position.
- 32. The lathe assembly according to claim 28 wherein the guide assembly comprises a second opening in the body with a central axis, and with the spindle and the guide assembly in the second relative position the central axis of the spindle extends through the second opening.
- 33. The lathe assembly according to claim 32 wherein the first guide bushing opening has a first diameter, the second opening has a second diameter, and the first diameter is different than the second diameter.
- 34. The lathe assembly according to claim 28 wherein the guide assembly is translatable relative to the spindle as the spindle and guide assembly are repositioned between the first relative position and the second relative position.
- 35. The lathe assembly according to claim 28 wherein the guide assembly is rotatable about an axis relative to the spindle as the spindle and guide assembly are repositioned between the first relative position and the second relative position.
- 36. The lathe assembly according to claim 28 wherein the spindle and guide assembly are movable, one relative to the other, along a line substantially parallel to the central axis of the spindle.
- 37. The lathe assembly according to claim 28 wherein the spindle is abuttable to the guide assembly to be supported by the guide assembly.
- 38. The lathe assembly according to claim 32 wherein with the spindle and the guide assembly in the second relative position the central axis of the spindle is substantially coincident with the central axis of the second opening.
CROSS-REFERENCE
[0001] This application is a division of co-pending application Ser. No. 09/378,645, filed Aug. 20, 1999, entitled “Lathe Assembly and Method of Using a Lathe Assembly”.
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09378645 |
Aug 1999 |
US |
Child |
10238054 |
Sep 2002 |
US |