Metal rolling machine with opposing banks of jaw units for working a centered workpiece and method of rolling annular fillets of workpieces

A machine for fatigue strengthening a ductile iron crankshaft for an internal combustion engine by simultaneously mechanically working the substrate of adjacent and facing annular fillets of cylindrical crank pin journals of the crankshaft having central axes offset from one another and parallel to the rotational axis of said crankshaft comprising support means, first and second swing arm means, pivot means operatively connecting said swing arm means to said support means, first and second clamping jaw sets disposed respectively on opposite sides of said crankshaft, each jaw set having a lower jaw and an upper jaw and pivot means for pivotally connecting said lower jaw and said upper jaw to one another, additional pivot means for connecting said upper jaw of said first jaw set to said first swing arm means, and for connecting said upper jaw of said second jaw set to said second swing arm means, each of said jaw sets having a pair of jaws defining tool holding means, tooling means operatively mounted in said tool holding means for simultaneously working the substrate of adjacent and facing fillets of said crank pin journals by the powered rotation of said crank about said axis of rotation causing each of said swing arm means to move in an arc and the jaws of each of said jaw sets to orbit about said axis while said tooling means circumscribes said pin journals and fully works said substrate of said annular fillets.

A machine for simultaneously working the fillets of pairs of directly connected axially and arcuately spaced annular journals of an elongated crankshaft having an axis of rotation and in response to the powered rotation of said crankshaft comprising:

• a plurality of pairs of floating tool holders and being formed from upper and lower lever arms,
• a first support means for supporting a first of said pairs on one side of said crankshaft and second support means for operatively supporting a second of said pairs on the opposite side of said crankshaft,
• first and second actuator means for moving said tool holders toward and away from one another,
• each of said lever arms having discrete forward and terminal end portions,
• pivot means pivotally connecting an upper lever arm to a lower lever arm of each pair of lever arms between the forward and terminal end portions thereof,
• said upper and lower lever arms of each pair of lever arms having force receiving ends near the terminal end portions thereof and force apply jaws at forward ends thereof;
• opening and closing force generating means operatively connected to said terminal end portions of each of said pairs of lever arms and operable to open and close said force apply jaws, and
• tool means connected to said force apply jaws to work the fillets of said workpiece as tool holders are moved to points adjacent to one another and into operative engagement with adjacent fillets when said workpiece is rotatably driven about said central axis and said force generating means is operated to effect the application of a work load to said tool means through said closing force generating means applied to said jaw means.

A method of simultaneously rolling the fillets of a plurality of pairs of juxta-positioned pin journals of an elongated internal combustion engine crankshaft having an axis of rotation comprising the steps of:

• a. mounting one end of the crankshaft in the headstock of a motor driven crankshaft rotating machine and the other end in a support in the machine so that the crankshaft can be driven by said machine about its axis of rotation,
• b. positioning left and right side fillet rolling units at first stations on the left and right sides respectively of said crankshaft, each said units having a plurality of pairs of elongated and pivotally connected lever arms, each pair of lever arms having fillet rolling tooling operatively mounted therein, each pair of lever arms extending generally transversely to said axis of rotation of said crankshaft and said crankshaft, loading said crankshaft into said crankshaft rotating machine,
• c. moving said left and right side fillet rolling units from said first stations toward said crankshaft to second stations in which the fillet tooling carried of the end of said lever arms contacts said fillets of said pairs of journals,
• d. applying a load to said pin journals through said lever arms and said tooling,
• e. powering said machine to rotate said crankshaft so that said tooling rolls and simultaneously works the fillets of said plurality of pairs of pin journals,
• f. opening said lever arms and removing said rolled crankshaft from said machine.

A method of simultaneously rolling the fillets of a plurality of journals of an elongated crankshaft having an axis of rotation for an internal combustion engine including a plurality of pairs of juxta-positioned crank pin journals having fillets comprising the steps of:

• a. providing a drive motor for turning the crankshaft about its axis of rotation,
• b. providing left and right side fillet rolling mechanisms each of which has a plurality of elongated fillet rolling arm members on opposite sides of said axis of rotation so that the rolling arms of said mechanism generally extend toward one another and toward the axis of rotation,
• c. moving said left and right side fillet rolling mechanisms apart from one another so that a crankshaft can be loaded into said drive tool,
• d. loading a crankshaft into said drive tool so that said tool can be rotatably driven,
• e. moving said fillet rolling mechanisms to a rolling position to roll said fillets in which said fillets are operatively contacted by said rolling mechanisms, and
• f. rolling the fillets in response to the turning of said crankshaft by said drive motor.

A machine for rolling the annular fillets of pairs of cylindrical crank pins of an internal combustion engine crankshaft arcuately offset, said pins of each pair being directly connected to one another with a first of said pins of each pair providing a journal for an associated piston connecting rod and with a second of said pins of each pair providing a journal for another associated piston connecting rod, said machine comprising a crankshaft holding and turning device for releasably holding and selectively turning said crankshaft about a centralized axis of rotation, a first set of fillet rolling tools operatively positioned on one side of said crankshaft and the central axis thereof for rolling said fillets of said first crank pins of each said pair, a second set of fillet rolling tools operatively positioned on another side of said crankshaft and the central axis thereof for rolling said fillets of said second crank pins of each said pair, and mechanisms for moving said first and second sets of fillet rolling tools between (1) an open position and away from said crankshaft holding and turning device so that a crankshaft with rolled pin fillets can be removed from said crankshaft holding and turning device and a crankshaft with unrolled pin fillets can be loaded into said crankshaft holding and turning device, and (2) a closed position in which said fillet rolling tools of both of said sets operatively engage said fillets of said pairs of pins at the same time so they can be rolled and strengthened.