Method and apparatus for electrical machining
AssigneeCarel Fouche Languepin
InventorAlfred Marie Aime Maillet
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Abstract
A source of intermittent unipolar voltage pulses is connected across an electrode and a workpiece to be machined, defining between them an erosion gap which is swept by a continuously moving, slightly electrolytic liquid. With suitable spacing of the pulses, the flow of the liquid removes excess ions and detritus from the erosion gap while its conductivity limits the voltage peak at the beginning of each discharge. To insure an even distribution of the flow, the liquid is admitted to the gap from above through one or more passages formed in the electrode, spreading symmetrically in opposite directions.
Claims21
A method of machining a metallic workpiece by electro-erosion, comprising the steps of:
- positioning an electrode adjacent said workpiece with an intervening gap;
- continuously passing a weakly conductive ionizable liquid through said gap;
- and
- periodically energizing said electrode and said workpiece with a unidirectional voltage sufficient to generate ionic discharge pulses with a cadence in a range of substantially 20 to 200 Hz within said liquid in said gap with a spacing sufficient to allow detritus to be swept off, thereby letting the current in said gap substantially decay before each new pulse.
An apparatus for machining a metallic workpiece by electro-erosion, comprising:
- an electrode spaced by a gap from a surface of a workpiece to be machined;
- a reservoir containing a weakly conductive ionizable liquid;
- pump means for continuously driving said liquid through said gap;
- and
- a source of intermittent unipolar voltage pulses with a cadence in a range of substantially 20 to 200 Hz connected across said electrode and said workpiece for periodically energizing said electrode and said workpiece to generate ionic discharge pulses within said liquid with a spacing sufficient to allow detritus to be swept off, thereby letting the current in said gap substantially decay before each new pulse.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.