Centering mechanisms for precision alignment of a component or ware
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorsAlejandro Aguilar, Kevin Eugene Elliot
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.
Claims20
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;
- at least three rotatable supports, each rotatable support being secured to one of the at least three moveable arms, wherein each rotatable support has a rotation axis and is configured to rotate about the corresponding rotation axis;
- and
- a plurality of followers, each follower being mounted to one of the at least three rotatable supports, wherein each follower of the plurality of followers has a spinning axis and is configured to rotate about the corresponding spinning axis;
- wherein the rotation axes for at least two of the 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 configured to be positioned around a central axis of an associated processing system;
- at least three rotatable supports, each rotatable support being secured to one of the at least three moveable arms, wherein each rotatable support has a rotation axis and is configured to rotate about the corresponding rotation axis;
- and
- a plurality of followers, each follower being mounted to one of the at least three rotatable supports, wherein each follower of the plurality of followers has a spinning axis and is configured to rotate about the corresponding spinning axis;
- and
- performing, using at least the associated processing system, one or more manufacturing processes on the centered ware.
A method of centering a ware in a processing system, the method comprising:
- placing the ware on a base of the processing system, the base having a planar surface for supporting the ware;
- actuating a centering apparatus to position at least three moveable arms of the centering apparatus around a central axis of the processing system;
- engaging, by a first set of followers, a first surface portion of the ware, wherein the first set of followers are mounted to a first rotatable support that is secured to a first moveable arm of the at least three moveable arms;
- engaging, by a second set of followers, a second surface portion of the ware, wherein the second set of followers are mounted to a second rototable support that is secured to a second moveable arm of the at least three moveable arms;
- engaging, by a third set of followers, a third surface portion of the ware, wherein the third set of followers are mounted to a third rotatable support that is secured to a third moveable arm of the at least three moveable arms;
- and
- actuating the at least three moveable arms and the first, second, and third sets of followers to align a ware axis with the central axis of the processing system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.