US 4,392,042 AGranted

Method of and apparatus for electroerosively wire-cutting a conductive workpiece

AssigneeInoue-Japax Research Incorporated

InventorKiyoshi Inoue

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Abstract

An electroerosive contouring wire-cutting apparatus using a distilled or deionized water machining medium of a specific resistivity controlled to be in a range between 10.sup.2 and 10.sup.5 ohm-cm, and having abrasive particles of TiC, TiN, B.sub.4 C, BN, SiC, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 and/or SiO.sub.2 of for example a particle size in the order of microns for delivery by the medium to the machining gap. A high-frequency vibration of a frequency of 1 kHz to 1 MHz is imparted to the wire electrode traveling through the workpiece in a direction transverse to the wire axis to enhance the combined electroerosive and abrasive actions at the machining gap. The machining medium is delivered by a nozzle, retrieved at a collector, and separated into its liquid and solid components in a separator. After deionizing the liquid and extracting the machining products, the abrasive particles and deionized water are mixed and recirculated through the nozzle.

In an apparatus for electroerosively wire-cutting an electrically conductive workpiece to form a desired contour therein, including supply means for continuously supplying a water machining medium into a machining gap defined between the workpiece and a wire electrode supported under tension across supply and takeup sides and axially displaced continuously to travel between a pair of machining guide members while traversing the workpiece, power supply means for applying a succession of electrical pulses across the machining gap flushed with the water medium between the workpiece and the wire electrode to produce time-spaced electrical discharges through the water medium, thereby electroerosively removing material from the workpiece and contouring feed means for displacing the workpiece relative to the traveling wire electrode transversely to the axis thereof along a predetermined path to form the desired contour in the workpiece, the improvement comprising:

ion-exchanger means for controlling the specific resistivity of the water medium delivered by said supply means to the machining gap to be in a range between 10.sup.2 and 10.sup.5 ohm-cm
means for introducing abrasive particles into said resistivity-controlled water medium for delivery in suspension therein to said machining gap;
collecting means for receiving the mixture of said water medium and said abrasive particles leaving said machining gap;
first separator means for separating said collected mixture into a liquid component and a solid component;
second separator means for separating said solid component into machining products from said machining gap and abrasive particles;
means for guiding said liquid component to said ion-exchanger means for processing thereby to yield said water medium of said specific resistivity;
mixing means for introducing said abrasive particles yielded from said second separator means into said water medium yielded from said ion-exchanger means;
and
conduit means for guiding the mixture of said water medium and said abrasive particles from said mixing means to said supply means.

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Abstract

Claims4