Centerless grinding machine

Claim 2

A centerless bar grinding machine comprising a base, a grinding head fixedly mounted on said base and having a rotatable power driven generally cylindrical grinding element having an axis of rotation, a diameter and a periphery, a slide mounted on said base for movement toward and from the axis of said grinding element, a bar rest mounted on said slide, a regulating wheel assembly mounted on said slide for movement independently thereof toward and from the axis of rotation of said grinding element to accommodate generally cylindrical bars of different diameters, each having an axis of rotatioN, means mounting said rest on said slide intermediate said head and regulating wheel assembly for adjustment toward and from the axis of rotation of the bar being ground, an in-feed roll structure including a frame mounted on said base for movement toward and from the axis of said grinding element, a linear series of feed roll assemblies mounted on said frame for adjustment to accommodate bars of different diameters, gauging means mounted in juxtaposition to the periphery of said grinding element, said gauging means being operable to continuously sense the diameter of said grinding element and transmit a signal indicative thereof, servo mechanism operable upon receipt of a signal from said gauging means indicative of a reduction of diameter of said grinding element to effect proportional movement of said frame and said slide toward the axis of said grinding element.

Claim 3

A centerless bar grinding machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein said servo mechanism is operable upon receipt of said signal from said gauging means to effect simultaneous proportional movement of said frame and said slide.

Claim 4

A centerless bar grinding machine comprising a base, a grinding head fixedly mounted on said base and having a rotatable power driven generally cylindrical grinding element having an axis of rotation, a diameter and a periphery, a slide mounted on said base for movement toward and from the axis of said grinding element, a bar rest mounted on said slide, a regulating wheel assembly mounted on said slide for movement independently thereof toward and from the axis of rotation of said grinding element to accommodate generally cylindrical bars of different diameters each having an axis of rotation, said rest being disposed intermediate said head and regulating wheel assembly and being adjustable toward and from the axis of rotation of the bar being ground, an in-feed roll structure including a first frame mounted on said base for movement toward and from the axis of said grinding element, a linear series of feed roll assemblies mounted on said first frame and being adjustable to accommodate bars of different diameters, a second frame mounted on said base for movement toward and from the axis of said grinding element, a bar supply rack carried by said second frame, a bar loading mechanism mounted on said second frame and operable to transfer bars successively from said supply rack to said feed roll assemblies, gauging means fixedly mounted in juxtaposition to the periphery of said grinding element, said gauging means being operable to continuously sense the diameter of said grinding element and transmit a signal indicative thereof, servo mechanism operable upon receipt of a signal from said gauging means indicative of a reduction of diameter of said grinding element to effect proportional movement of said first frame, said second frame and said slide toward the axis of said grinding element.

Claim 5

A centerless bar grinding machine comprising a base, a grinding head fixedly mounted on said base and having a rotatable power driven generally cylindrical grinding element having an axis of rotation, a diameter and a periphery, a slide mounted on said base for movement toward and from the axis of said grinding element, a bar rest mounted on said slide, a regulating wheel assembly mounted on said slide for movement independently thereof toward and from the axis of rotation of said grinding element to accommodate generally cylindrical bars of different diameters each having an axis of rotation, said rest being disposed intermediate said head and regulating wheel assembly and being adjustable toward and from the axis of rotation of the bar being ground, an in-feed roll structure including a first frame mounted on said base for movement toward and from the axis of said grinding element, a linear series of feed roll assemblies mounted on said first frame and being adjustable to accommodate bars of different diameters, a second frame mounted on said base for movement toward and from the axis of said grinding element, a bar supply rack carried by said second frame, a bar loading mechanism mounted on said second frame and operable to transfer bars successively from said supply rack to said feed roll assemblies, gauging means fixedly mounted in juxtaposition to the periphery of said grinding element, said gauging means being operable to continuously sense the diameter of said grinding element and transmit a signal indicative thereof, servo mechanism operable upon receipt of a signal from said gauging means indicative of a reduction of diameter of said grinding element to effect proportional movement of said first frame, said second frame and said slide toward the axis of said grinding element.

Claim 6

A centerless bar grinding machine as set forth in claim 3, wherein said second frame is mounted on said base at the opposite side of the axis of said grinding element on which said first frame is mounted.

Claim 7

A centerless bar grinding machine comprising a base, a grinding head mounted on said base and having a rotatable power driven generally cylindrical grinding element having an axis of rotation, a diameter and a periphery, a slide mounted on said base for movement toward and away from the axis of said grinding element, a bar rest mounted on said slide, a regulating wheel assembly mounted on said slide for holding generally cylindrical bars against the grinding element, each bar having an axis of rotation, an in-feed roll structure including a first frame mounted on said base at one side of the axis of a bar in work position for movement toward and away from the axis of rotation of the grinding element and a linear series of feed roll assemblies mounted on said frame for advancing bars toward the grinding wheel, a second frame mounted on said base at the opposite side of the axis of rotation oF a bar in work position for movement toward and away from the axis of said grinding element, including a bar supply mechanism associated with the feed roll assemblies, gauging means mounted adjacent the periphery of the grinding element to continuously sense the diameter of the grinding element and transmit a signal indicative thereof, and servo mechanism operable upon receipt of a signal from said gauging means indicative of a reduction of the diameter of said grinding element to effect compensating adjustment of said slide, said first frame and said second frame relative to the axis of said grinding element.

Claim 8

A centerless bar grinding machine comprising a base, a grinding head mounted on said base and having a rotatable power driven generally cylindrical grinding element having an axis of rotation, a diameter and a periphery, a slide mounted on said base for movement toward and away from the axis of said grinding element, a bar rest mounted on said slide, a regulating wheel assembly mounted on said slide for holding generally cylindrical bars against the grinding element, each bar having an axis of rotation, an in-feed roll structure including a first frame mounted on said base at one side of the axis of a bar in work position for movement toward and away from the axis of rotation of the grinding element and a linear series of feed roll assemblies mounted on said frame for advancing bars toward the grinding wheel, a second frame mounted on said base at the opposite side of the axis of rotation oF a bar in work position for movement toward and away from the axis of said grinding element, including a bar supply mechanism associated with the feed roll assemblies, gauging means mounted adjacent the periphery of the grinding element to continuously sense the diameter of the grinding element and transmit a signal indicative thereof, and servo mechanism operable upon receipt of a signal from said gauging means indicative of a reduction of the diameter of said grinding element to effect compensating adjustment of said slide, said first frame and said second frame relative to the axis of said grinding element.

Claim 9

A centerless bar grinding machine as defined in claim 5 wherein said second frame includes a bar supply rack and a bar loading mechanism operable to transfer bars successively from said bar supply rack to said feed roll assemblies.

Claim 10

A centerless bar grinding machine as defined in claim 5 including means mounting said bar rest on said slide intermediate said head and regulating wheel assembly for adjustment toward and away from the axis of rotation of a bar in work position, means mounting said regulating wheel assembly on said slide for movement independently thereof toward and away from the axis of said grinding element to accommodate bars of different diameters, and means mounting said feed roll assemblies on said first frame for adjustment toward and away from the axis of a bar in work position to accommodate bars of different diameters.