Centering mechanisms for precision alignment of a component or ware
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorsAlejandro Aguilar, Kevin Eugene Elliott
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Centering apparatuses and methods for precision placement of a product or component, such as a ceramic honeycomb body, prior to a post-production processing steps are provided. In particular, after extrusion of a component or ware, the component or ware oftentimes requires one or more post-production processing steps in order to obtain a final product. The centering apparatuses and methods described herein provide for the precise and accurate centering of the product (or component) prior to performing these post-production processing steps, thereby obtaining repeatable, consistent, high-quality final products.
Claims14
A centering apparatus for centering a ware, the centering apparatus comprising:
- at least three moveable arms configured to be positioned around a central axis of an associated processing system, each moveable arm of the at least three moveable arms further configured to be actuated linearly along a path between the respective moveable arm and the central axis of the associated processing system;
- at least three rotatable supports, each rotatable support of the at least three rotatable supports secured to one of the at least three moveable arms, each rotatable support comprising a rotation axis and configured to rotate about the corresponding rotation axis;
- a plurality of followers, each follower of the plurality of followers mounted to one of the at least three rotatable supports, each follower comprising a spinning axis and configured to rotate about the corresponding spinning axis;
- and
- wherein the rotation axes for at least two rotatable supports of the at least three rotatable supports are parallel to the central axis of the associated processing system.
A method of processing a ware, the method comprising:
- centering the ware on a base of a mount using a centering apparatus, the centering apparatus comprising:
- at least three moveable arms positioned around a central axis of an associated processing system;
- at least three rotatable supports, each rotatable support of the at least three rotatable supports secured to one of the at least three moveable arms, each rotatable support comprising a rotation axis and rotatable about the corresponding rotation axis;
- a plurality of followers, each follower of the plurality of followers mounted to one of the at least three rotatable supports, each follower comprising a spinning axis and configured to rotate about the corresponding spinning axis;
- and
- edge beveling the centered ware.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.