US 4,539,778 A · Automatic dual compensation grinding wheel conditioner

Abstract

An improved method to surface condition a super-abrasive grinding wheel by intermittently moving the wheel to a stationary wheel conditioner unit mounted adjacent the grinding wheel with the conditioner unit having a consumable element engaged by the grinding wheel to condition the grinding wheel including a dual compensation method having the steps of grinding a predetermined number of workpieces to establish a first predetermined depth of super-abrasive wheel wear; periodically conditoning the wheel surface by consuming a second predetermined depth from a consumable reconditioning tool surface; and producing a first compensation of a grinding wheel by controlling the position of the super-abrasive wheel with respect to the workpiece to maintain an apparent wheel wear depth within the range of desired workpiece tolerance and producing a second compensation of a grinding wheel conditioner by contacting the wear surface of the super-abrasive wheel with the reconditioning tool surface and advancing it into and away from the tool surface a distance equal to the second predetermined depth each time that the wheel is reconditioned so as to assure that individual grains of the super-abrasive constituent of the wheel will extend beyond the bonding material constituent of the wheel to maintain cutting efficiency of the wheel following the reconditioning step.

Claims3

Dependent claims

A method of dual compensation for wear control and conditioning of the wear surface of a super-abrasive wheel having a super-abrasive constituent and a bonding material constituent such wheel being mounted on a drive spindle and relatively moveable to be engageable with a consumable reconditioning tool comprising:

fine truing the wheel by adjusting the position of the wheel in addition to normal feed movements between the wheel and the workpiece during a select number of workpiece grinding steps to compensate for incremental wear of the wheel to maintain apparent wheel wear within the tolerance range of the workpiece being ground;
terminating such fine truing at a predetermined depth of wheel wear produced by such wheel grinding steps;
and thereafter relatively positioning the wheel while on its drive spindle with respect to a consumable non-metallic reconditioning tool to cause the tool to be consumed by the wheel to a depth an order of magnitude greater than the predetermined depth of wheel wear so as to remove said bonding material so that individual grains of the super-abrasive constituent of the wheel will extend beyond the bonding material constituent of the wheel to re-establish cutting efficiency of the wheel following the select number of wheel grinding steps.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Automatic dual compensation grinding wheel conditioner

Life of this patent

Automatic dual compensation grinding wheel conditioner

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims3