System for tracking movement of workpiece during grinding

A system for tracking movement of a workpiece during machine grinding of the workpiece, the system comprising:

• a linear track positioned parallel to a longitudinal axis of movement of the workpiece, the track being equipped with an encoder system;
• a motorized carriage movably mounted on the track, the carriage being structured for forward movement and reverse movement on the track, a position of the carriage along the track being determined by the encoder system;
• an optical detector mounted on the carriage, the optical detector having a detection window and a sensor, the sensor being configured to detect an edge of the workpiece as the workpiece moves longitudinally along the axis of movement during grinding by a grinding system, the edge of the workpiece being detected by the sensor when an image of the edge of the workpiece enters the detection window;
• and
• a control system arranged to determine a grinding position of the workpiece relative to the edge of the workpiece based on position data of the carriage determined by the encoder system and edge data received from the optical detector, the position data corresponding to the position of the carriage along the track, and the edge data corresponding to a position of the image of the edge of the workpiece in the detection window,
• wherein the control system is configured to control the carriage to move in a forward direction or in a reverse direction to maintain the position of the image of the edge of the workpiece in the detection window, and
• wherein the control system is configured to transmit data on the grinding position of the workpiece to a servo controller of the grinding system, to enable the servo controller to adjust a wheel position of the grinding system.

A system for tracking movement of a workpiece during machine grinding of the workpiece by a grinding wheel, the system comprising:

• a linear track positioned parallel to a longitudinal axis of movement of the workpiece, the track being equipped with an encoder system;
• a motorized carriage movably mounted on the track, the carriage being structured for forward movement and reverse movement on the track, a position of the carriage along the track being determined by the encoder system;
• an optical detector mounted on the carriage, the optical detector having a detection window and a sensor, the sensor being configured to detect an edge of the workpiece as the workpiece moves longitudinally along the axis of movement during grinding by the grinding wheel, the edge of the workpiece being detected by the sensor when an image of the edge of the workpiece enters the detection window;
• and
• a controller arranged to control the grinding wheel and the carriage based on position data of the carriage determined by the encoder system and edge data received from the optical detector, the position data corresponding to the position of the carriage along the track, and the edge data corresponding to a position of the image of the edge of the workpiece in the detection window,
• wherein the controller is configured to control the carriage to move in a forward direction or in a reverse direction to maintain the position of the image of the edge of the workpiece in the detection window,
• wherein the controller is configured to control the grinding wheel to allow for adjustment of a lateral position of the grinding wheel based on the position of the carriage along the track, and
• wherein the encoder system is a micron encoder system that outputs position data having a resolution of less than 1 μm.