US 3,942,287 AGranted

Contour grinders

AssigneeCitizen Watch Co., Ltd.

InventorsYoshio Tokunaga, Keizo Shinano

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Abstract

A contour grinder having a grinding wheel that forms a workpiece into a desired contour by directly controlling the movement of the grinding wheel with a motor operated by numerical control. The grinding wheel has an arched shaped surface on the periphery thereof. The grinder also includes a vertical shaft about which the grinding wheel is rotatable and a support arm which carries a horizontal shaft to which the grinding wheel is fixed. The support arm is rotatably connected to a portion of the vertical shaft and connects the horizontal shaft at a right angle thereto so that the center of the arched surface on the periphery of the grinding wheel is aligned with the center of the vertical shaft. The vertical shaft is rotatable about its axis and movable longitudinally and laterally and the grinding wheel is movable with the vertical shaft. The vertical shaft is hollow and a microscope, marked with reference lines for inspecting the shape of the periphery of the grinding wheel and the position of the workpiece to be ground by the grinding wheel, is mounted in the hollow shaft.

Claims11

Dependent claims

A contour grinder for grinding the contour of a workpiece into a desired shape with a grinding wheel having an arched surface on the periphery thereof, said grinder comprising:

a rotatable substantially horizontally extending shaft,
a grinding wheel having an arched surface on the periphery thereof, said grinding wheel being fixed to said shaft,
a substantially vertically extending shaft,
means for rotating said substantially vertically extending shaft on its substantially vertically extending axis, said means comprising a motor driven and controlled by numerical control means,
means for moving said substantially vertically extending shaft longitudinally and laterally, said moving means comprising motors driven and controlled by numerical control means,
means connecting said substantially horizontally extending shaft to said substantially vertically extending shaft at a substantially right angle thereto for aligning the center of the arched surface on the periphery of the grinding wheel with the center of the substantially vertically extending shaft,
a substantially vertically slidable member on which a workpiece to be ground by the grinding wheel is mounted, and
means for substantially vertically reciporcatingly moving said vertically slidable member.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.