Patent Application
20170072517
The present disclosure generally relates to a method for remanufacturing a machine component.
Machines, such as those used in construction industries, include an engine to power various components of the machine. The engine is subjected to a variety of loads or stresses during operation of the machine. More specifically, the engine includes a cylinder head that experiences load or stresses from combustion events occurring within combustion chambers of the engine. These loads or stresses causes wear, which in turn causes erosions, surface imperfections, or abrasions on one or more surfaces of the cylinder head. Additionally, after certain amount of time in service, the wear on the cylinder head causes the engine to operate ineffectively.
The surfaces of the cylinder head are repaired or remanufactured using one or more machining processes to remove the erosions, abrasions, or surface imperfections, Typically, an iterative process is followed for remanufacturing of the cylinder head. In such a process, after detecting defects on the surfaces of the cylinder head, a machining process is performed to remove the defects and then the surface is evaluated visually by an operator. If the defects are still present, the cylinder head is further machined. However, this iterative process of machining and evaluating the surfaces has to be performed multiple times until the defects are removed, thereby increasing downtime associated with the engine of the machine, which is undesirable.
In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method of remanufacturing a surface of a machine component is provided. The method includes attaching the machine component to a support fixture. The method also includes moving a surface evaluating device relative to the surface of the machine component. The method further includes generating a set of data points using the surface evaluating device. The set of data points are indicative of dimensional characteristics of the surface of the machine component. The method includes communicating the set of data points generated by the surface evaluating device to a control module. The method also includes determining a depth of wear on the surface, based on the set of data points received by the control module. The method further includes determining an amount of material to be removed from the surface, based on the depth of wear. The method includes performing a machining operation on the surface for removing the determined amount of material.
Other features and aspects of this disclosure will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.
Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or the like parts. Also, corresponding or similar reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or corresponding parts.
Referring to
The engine including the machine component 12 experiences loads and stresses due to combustion events occurring within a number of combustion chambers (not shown) of the engine. More particularly, the machine component 12 experience loads and stresses due to vibrations, high temperatures and the like. Such loads and stresses result in erosions, surface imperfections, or abrasions on a surface 18 of the machine component 12. In the illustrated example, the surface 18 is embodied as a fire deck surface of the cylinder head. Alternatively, the surface 18 may embody other surfaces of the cylinder head including, but not limited to lateral surfaces, surfaces of one of the apertures 14 etc., without limiting the scope of the disclosure.
The present disclosure relates to a system 20 that is employed to remanufacture the surface 18 of the machine component 12. The system 20 used to remanufacture the surface 18 by determining wear of the surface 18 of the machine component 12 will now be described in detail with reference to
Referring to
The surface evaluating device 22 generates a set of data points defined on the surface 18 of the machine component 12. The set of data points correspond to various locations that are defined on the surface 18 of the machine component 12. More particularly, the ruby ball 24 of the surface evaluating device 22 slides on the surface 18 of the machine component 12 to generate the set of data points. The set of data points are indicative of dimensional characteristics of the surface 18 of the machine component 12. For example, the surface evaluating device 22 generates a first data point corresponding to a first location 31 defined on the surface 18. Further, the surface evaluating device 22 generates a second data point corresponding to a second location 33 defined on the surface 18. It should be noted that the set of data points are generated at various locations on the surface 18.
Referring to
The control module 32 controls and operates the surface evaluating device 22. Further, the control module 32 also receives and processes information generated by the surface evaluating device 22. More particularly, the control module 32 receives the set of data points from the surface evaluating device 22. Further, the control module 32 determines a first depth of wear “D1” at the first location 31 on the surface 18 of the machine component 12 relative to the reference plane “A”. Also, a second depth of wear “D2” at the second location 33 on the surface 18 of the machine component 12 relative to the reference plane “A”. It should be noted that the control module 32 generates the depth of wear at various locations on the surface 18.
Further, the control module 32 determines a maximum depth of wear “Dm” of the surface 18 based on the set of data points. For example, the control module 32 compares the first depth of wear “D1” at the first location 31 and the second depth of wear “D2” at the second location 33. If the second depth of wear “D2” at the second location 33 is greater than the first depth of wear “D1” at the first location 31, then the second depth of wear “D2” is considered as the maximum depth of wear “Dm”. The control module 32 compares the depth of wear of all the set of data points generated at various locations on the surface 18, and determines the maximum depth of wear “Dm” from the set of data points.
The control module 32 compares the maximum depth of wear “Dm” to a reference value “R”. The reference value “R” is stored in the memory or the database associated with the control module 32. In one example, the reference value “R” is a tolerance limit allowed for the surface 18 of the machine component 12, according to part specifications of the machine component 12. Alternatively, the reference value “R” may be entered manually using the user interface. The control module 32 determines an amount of material to be removed, based on the maximum depth of wear “Dm”. The amount of material to be removed is a value determined by historical data and analysis of the machine component 12 in various wear and machining conditions. It should be noted that the amount of material removed may be greater than the maximum depth of wear “Dm”.
The control module 32 communicates the amount of material to he removed to a machining unit 56 of the CNC machine 11. The machining unit 56 may include a milling tool, a cutting tool, a boring tool, a grinding tool, etc. based on system requirements. The machining unit 56 is in communication with the control module 32. Based on the communication, a machining operation such as milling, cutting etc., is performed by the machining unit 56 of the CNC machine 11 on the surface 18.
The present disclosure has applicability in inspection, remanufacture, or repair of the machine component 12 having the surface 18 which is subjected to surface imperfections due to various stresses and loads. Moreover, such tasks may be accomplished using the system 20 described herein. The present disclosure also enables determination of the wear of the surface 18 of the machine component 12.
The present disclosure relates to a method 40 for remanufacturing the surface 18 of the machine component 12.
At step 48, the generated set of data points are communicated by the surface evaluating device 22 to the control module 32. At step 50, the depth of wear on the surface 18 is determined, based on the set of data points received by the control module 32. At step 52, the amount of material to be removed from the surface 18 is determined, based on the depth of wear. At step 54, the machining operation on the surface 18 is performed in order to remove the determined amount of material.
The method 40 enables remanufacturing the surface 18 by implementing steps of the method 40. With such an implementation, an extent of the wear of the surface 18 may also be determined. It may also be contemplated that the system 20 and the method 40 may be used during manufacturing of any machine component for accurately detecting any manufacturing defect.
Moreover, the amount of material to be removed from the surface 18 may be also be determined based on the maximum depth of wear “Dm”. Therefore, multiple cycle times associated with repetitive inspection and machining may be minimized. For example, measuring an overall height of the surface 18 repeatedly, after each machining step, to determine if the height of the surface 18 is within the part specifications of the machine component 12 may be avoided.
The system 20 and the method 40 disclosed above, increases service life of the machine component 12 by removing optimal amount of material. Also, the present disclosure provides a cost effective system and method for remanufacturing the machine component 12.
While aspects of the present disclosure have been particularly shown and described with reference to the embodiments above, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various additional embodiments may be contemplated by the modification of the disclosed machines, systems and methods without departing from the spirit and scope of what is disclosed. Such embodiments should be understood to fall within the scope of the present disclosure as determined based upon the claims and any equivalents thereof.
