U.S. patent number 3,869,947 [Application Number 05/389,483] was granted by the patent office on 1975-03-11 for piston turning machine.
This patent grant is currently assigned to La Salle Machine Tool, Inc.. Invention is credited to John Vandenkieboom.
United States Patent |
3,869,947 |
Vandenkieboom |
March 11, 1975 |
Piston turning machine
Abstract
A piston turning machine comprising an elongated shaft structure
for rotating a pistong having a skirt which is to be machined to a
non-circular shape wherein a cylindrical cam corresponding in
cross-sectional shape to the shape desired for the piston skirt is
interposed in the shaft structure at a position spaced sufficiently
from the piston so that metal removed from the skirt does not
encumber the cam. A cam follower and a turning tool are mounted on
a reciprocable tool bar so that movement of the follower on the cam
is translated into movement of the tool toward and away from the
skirt in a manner such that for each increment of follower movement
a reduced increment of tool movement is obtained to thereby
minimize the effect of dimensional tolerance variations in the cam
on the final shape of the piston skirt.
Inventors: |
Vandenkieboom; John (St. Clair
Shores, MI) |
Assignee: |
La Salle Machine Tool, Inc.
(Warren, MI)
|
Family
ID: |
25769131 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/389,483 |
Filed: |
August 20, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
82/19 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B23Q
35/20 (20130101); B23Q 35/109 (20130101); Y10T
82/135 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
B23Q
35/10 (20060101); B23Q 35/00 (20060101); B23Q
35/20 (20060101); B23b 003/28 () |
Field of
Search: |
;82/19,18
;51/1R,15R |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1,169,756 |
|
Jan 1959 |
|
FR |
|
483,759 |
|
Aug 1953 |
|
IT |
|
311,900 |
|
Dec 1955 |
|
IT |
|
Primary Examiner: Juhasz; Andrew R.
Assistant Examiner: Briggs; W. R.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Olsen and Stephenson
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. Apparatus for machining piston skirts to a predetermined
cross-sectional shape comprising:
a. an elongated rotatable shaft having an axis,
b. means for supporting a piston having a skirt to be machined on
one end of said shaft so that the axis of said skirt is
substantially coincident with said shaft axis,
c. cam means intermediate the ends of said shaft corresponding in
cross-sectional shape to said predetermined cross-sectional shape,
said cam means having a diameter not substantially greater than the
diameter of the piston, said cam means having an external surface
and an axis substantially coincident with said shaft axis,
d. a support bar having a longitudinal axis spaced from said shaft
axis, said support bar being mounted for movement substantially
parallel to said shaft axis,
e. a turning tool secured to said bar and extending toward said
shaft axis for engagement with the skirt of a piston on said
support means, and
f. cam follower means secured to said bar and engaged with said cam
means, said cam follower means engaging said cam means at a point
which is a certain distance from a line extending between said
support bar axis and said shaft axis, and said turning tool
engaging said piston at a point which is a distance from said line
less than said certain distance, and bearing means supporting said
shaft at a position spaced from said cam means, said bearing means
being movable transversely of said shaft for deflecting said cam
means.
2. Apparatus according to claim 1 further including spring means
urging said bar in a direction to maintain said cam follower means
in engagement with said cam means.
Description
This invention relates generally to piston turning machines and
more particularly to an improved machine of this type which
utilizes a cam in line with the piston being machined to control
the machined shape of the piston thereby enabling machining of the
piston to a wide variety of shapes.
Pistons for internal combustion engines are made of metal which is
non-uniformly distributed about the axis of the piston thereby
resulting in irregular thermal expansion of the piston when
subjected to the high temperature conditions in a modern engine. It
is necessary for efficient operation of the engine, therefore, that
the cold piston have an irregular shape so that the hot piston will
take a shape that will achieve the most favorable wear, sealing and
friction conditions during engine operation. Pistons with
elliptical cross sections are commonly used today to compensate for
irregular expansion of the piston skirt which occurs, at least in
part, because of the extra metal in the skirt at the wrist pin
openings. U.S. Pat. No. 2,720,806 shows a machine for turning
pistons so as to provide the skirts with an elliptical cross
section. In addition to cutting the piston skirt in the form of an
ellipse, it may also be desirable in the case of some pistons to
taper the skirt in an axial direction or otherwise vary the cross
sectional shape of the piston in an axial direction. The machine
shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,720,806 is capable of tapering the skirt.
However, a machine such as disclosed in the aforementioned patent
is limited in use to forming only certain piston shapes.
In accordance with the present invention, an elongated shaft
structure is provided for rotating a piston which is releasably
clamped on one end of the shaft structure so that the axis of the
piston skirt is coincident with the axis of the shaft structure. A
cam, corresponding in cross sectional shape to the shape desired
for the piston skirt, is interposed in the shaft structure at a
position remote from the piston so that the metal chips and the
like removed from the skirt during machining cannot be deposited on
the cam. A reciprocable tool bar is rotably mounted alongside the
shaft structure and a cam follower and a turning tool are mounted
on the tool bar. A spring associated with the tool bar maintains
the cam follower in continuous engagement with the cam during
movement of the tool bar to advance the turning tool along the
length of the piston skirt. This results in machining of the piston
skirt to a shape conforming to the shape of the cam which is
generally cylindrical so that it is readily initially formed to
whatever complex shape may be desired for the piston skirt.
The cam follower and the turning tool are arranged relative to each
other and relative to the cam and the piston such that for each
increment of movement of the cam follower, a much smaller increment
of movement of the tool is obtained. Importantly, this arrangement
enhances the precision machining of the piston because any
variations from allowable tolerances in the cam are automatically
reduced to smaller variations in the piston. This is accomplished
by arranging the cam follower so that it engages the cam at an
incident angle measured with respect to the radius of the cam,
which is greater than the incident angle, measured with respect to
the radius of the piston, at which the tool contacts the piston.
This arrangement also involves arranging the cam follower so that
the distance between the tool bar axis and the cam follower is
greater than the distance from the tool bar axis to the point of
engagement of the turning tool with the piston skirt. This
arrangement enables the use of a cam which is not unduly large,
namely, does not substantially exceed the diameter of the piston
skirt while also obtaining the advantage of requiring large
movement of the cam follower to obtain small movement of the
turning tool. Thus, this invention provides improved piston turning
apparatus which is capable of efficiently machining piston skirts
to complex shapes within precision tolerance limits.
Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will
become apparent from a consideration of the following description,
the appended claims, and the accompanying drawing in which:
FIG. 1A is a side elevational view of the upper portion of the
piston turning machine of this invention, with some parts broken
away and other parts shown in section for the purpose of clarity,
illustrating the turning tool in retracted position for commencing
the machining of a piston skirt in solid lines, and in an advanced
position in broken lines;
FIG. 1B is a side elevational view which is a continuation of FIG.
1A and shows the lower portion of the machine of this invention,
the broken line at the top of FIG. 1B matching the broken line at
the bottom of FIG. 1A;
FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view showing the arrangement of the
semi-finish and finish tool elements in the machine of this
invention;
FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view of a portion of the machine
of this invention as seen from substantially the line 3--3 in FIG.
1A;
FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the relative positions
of the turning tool and cam follower in the machine of this
invention; and
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the adjustable bearing structure in
the machine of this invention, as seen from the line 5--5, in FIG.
1A.
With reference to the drawing, the piston turning machine of this
invention, indicated generally at 10, is illustrated in FIGS. 1A
and 1B as consisting of a main frame 12 on which an elongated shaft
structure 14 is mounted for rotation about an axis 16 so as to
rotate a piston 18 about its axis 20. The shaft structure 14
includes a chuck 22 which releasably holds the piston 18 on one end
of the shaft structure 14. Any suitable drive mechanism can be
utilized to rotate the shaft structure 14, a rotary drive motor 23
being illustrated as driving a belt 25 which in turn drives shaft
pulley 26. Interposed in the shaft structure 14, between the ends
thereof, is a hollow cylindrical cam 24 having an external surface
28. The surface 28, or some portion thereof, is configured to
correspond to the final shape desired for the piston 18.
The shaft structure 14, at a position between the cam 24 and the
drive pulley 26 is supported in an adjustable bearing assembly 29.
Set screws 31, carried by the supporting frame 33 for the bearing
assembly 29, are engageable with the bearing assembly 29 to shift
it along a line 35 to in turn shift the shaft structure 14 along
the same line and tilt the cam 24. To adjust the bearing assembly
29 within the frame 33 in order to tilt the cam 24, one set screw
is first loosed, the other set screw is then tightened against the
bearing assembly until it engages with the first set screw. As can
readily be seen from FIG. 1A, a clearance between the bearing
assembly 29 and the frame 33 exists thus enabling such
adjustment.
Slidably mounted on the main frame 12 at a position parallel to the
axis 16 is a reciprocable tool bar 30. A turning tool assembly 32
for machining the piston 18 is mounted on one end of the tool bar
30 and the opposite end of the tool bar 30 is secured to a bar 34
which is in turn mounted on the piston rod 36 for a fluid actuated
cylinder assembly 38 that has its cylinder 40 mounted on the frame
12. When the piston and cylinder assembly 38 is actuated so as to
retract the rod 36, the tool bar 30 is moved to the position shown
in solid lines in FIG. 1B in which the turning tool 32 is retracted
relative to the piston 18. When the assembly 38 is actuated to
extend the piston rod 36, the tool 32 is advanced along the skirt
portion 42 of the piston 18 to the final advanced position shown in
broken lines. During such movement, a torsion spring 44 which
extends between the mounting bar and an adjustable nut 46 on the
tool bar 30 urges the tool bar 30 in a counterclockwise direction
as viewed in FIG. 3 so as to maintain a cam follower 48 in
engagement with the cam surface 28. The follower 48 is mounted on a
support arm 50 carried by the tool bar 30, as shown in FIG. 3. The
follower 48 is adjustable so that the diameter of the piston 18 can
be varied or any wear of the turning tool 32 can be compensated for
by adjusting the follower.
By virtue of the rotatable mounting of the tool bar 30 on the frame
12, movement of the cam follower 48 on the cam surface 28 causes
movement of the turning tool 32 in a direction radially of the
piston 18. The particular arrangement of the cam follower 48 and
the tool 32 is best illustrated in FIG. 4 in which the axis of
rotation of the tool bar 30 is shown at 52 and an imaginary line
extending between the axis 52 and the axis 16 for the shaft
structure 14 is indicated at 54.
It is clear from FIG. 4, that the distance, represented by the line
56, between the line 54 and the point of engagement between the cam
surface 28 and the follower 48 is substantially greater than the
distance, indicated by the line 58, between the line 54 and the
point of engagement of the tool 32 with the piston skirt 42. This
arrangement contributes to the desired relationship between tool 32
and follower 48 which provides for a reduction in each increment of
radial movement of the follower 48 in radial movement of the tool
32.
It is also clear from FIG. 4 that by virtue of this arrangement,
the distance from the tool bar axis 52 to the point of engagement
between the cam follower 48 and the cam surface 28 is substantially
greater than the distance between the axis 52 and the point of
engagement between the tool 32 and the piston skirt 42. In
addition, the incident angle A at which the tool 32 contacts the
skirt 42, measured with respect to a radius of the piston 18 is
substantially less than the incident angle B at which the cam
follower 48 engages the cam surface 28 measured with respect to a
radius of the cam 24, where a maximum angle is 90.degree., also
contributes to the desired reduction in radial movement of tool 32
for each increment of movement of follower 48. As shown in FIG. 4,
in a preferred embodiment of applicant's invention, the angle B is
90.degree..
From the above description, it is seen that this invention provides
a piston turning machine 10 in which the cam 24 is on the same
center line as the piston 18 that is being machined. This
arrangement eliminates eccentricity problems, problems due to
changes in the rate of speed at which the shaft structure 14 is
rotated, surface feed variation problems and tolerance variation
problems. Furthermore, the remote location of the cam 24 relative
to the piston 18 positively precludes any danger of chips resulting
from machining of the piston 18 encumbering the surface of the cam
24. The cam 24 can be of any complex cross-sectional shape desired
for the piston skirt 42 and the cross-sectional shape of the cam 24
can be varied along the length of the cam to achieve a particular
skirt shape such as a barrel shape. Thus, a wide variety of piston
shapes can be achieved with the in-line cam and piston arrangement
of this invention.
Furthermore, by virtue of the mounting and relative positions of
the tool 32 and follower 48, each increment of radial movement of
the follower 48 results in a lesser increment, one third in a
preferreed embodiment of the invention, of radial movement of the
tool 32 with respect to skirt 42. This enables the achievement of
very accurately machined skirts 42. As shown in FIG. 4, the final
shape of the work does not correspond exactly to the shape of the
cam and the cam does not have to be larger in diameter than the
work. In fact, in the illustrated embodiment, the cam is smaller.
This is due to the non-radial movement of the tool 32 on the work.
The shape of the cam is calculated initially to produce the desired
shape of the piston skirt.
In the operation of the apparatus 10, the chuck 22 is operated to
grip a piston 18 to be machined while the tool 32 is in its
retracted position shown in FIG. 1B. In the event the cam 24 is to
be changed, the tool bar 30 can be rotated in a clockwise direction
as shown in FIG. 3 to move the follower 48 to a clearance position
shown in broken lines. After the cam change, the tool bar is
rotated in a reverse direction to engage the follower 48 with the
cam surface 28, the shaft structure 14 is rotated at high speed,
and the tool bar 30 is advanced to advance the tool 32 along the
piston skirt 42 to the final position shown in broken lines in FIG.
1B. During such advancing movement of the turning tool 32, the
piston skirt 42 is machined to a shape controlled by the
predetermined shape of the cam surface 28. The tool bar 30 is then
returned to its retracted position shown in FIG. 1B. This cycle can
then be repeated as many times as necessary. If it is desired that
the longitudinal profile of the piston 18 be changed, it can be
accomplished by adjusting the bearing assembly 29 and thereby
deflecting the shaft structure 14 along the line 16 in FIG. 4 which
corresponds to the line 35 in FIG. 5. This adjustment can also
compensate for misalignment of the cam 24 and piston 18 without
necessitating reworking of the cam 24. In the illustrated
embodiment of the invention, the tool assembly 32 has a semi-finish
tool element 63 (FIG. 2) and a finish tool element 64 angularly
spaced on the assembly from the element 62. The work is rotated in
the direction of the arrow 66 and, in FIG. 2, the element 62 is in
machining position. When it is desired to finish machine, the
assembly 32 is rotated to put the element 64 in machining position.
When machining has been completed, the chuck 22 is operated to
release the machined piston 18, and a spring pressed ejector
mechanism 60 operates to eject the machined piston 18. A second
piston 18 to be machined is then positioned in the chuck 22, as
shown in FIG. 1B, and the above cycle is repeated.
* * * * *