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US 5,997,010 AGranted
Collet for a machine-tool chuck
OwnerDon R. Lloydinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A collet is provided to grip a workpiece with a uniformly distributed gripping force. The collet includes a plurlity of circumferentally spaced-apart radial slots extending partly through the collet and at least one opening extending radially all the way through the collet and lying between the end surfaces of the collet. Shim slots are formed in the end surfaces and a shim is mounted in the two shim slots to extend across the opening to block debris from moving therethrough. Coil springs are provided to bias a pair of collet segments to engage an actuator member of a machine-tool chuck. Methods of making the collet are also disclosed.
Claims25
A collet for use in a tool-chuck, the collet comprising
- a flexible circular collet body having an outer circular periphery and an inner circular periphery, the flexible circular collet body being formed to include an opening extending between the outer and inner circular peripheries and bounded on either side by a pair of collet body ends having end surfaces, one of the circular peripheries being formed to include a workpiece grip surface and the other of the circular peripheres including a tapered cam surface adapted to be engaged to circularly flex the flexible circular collet body so that the workpiece grip surface moves into engagement with a workpiece to be held by the collet, and
- a shim, each end surface being formed to include a shim slot adapted to receive the shim, the shim being arranged to extend across the opening to block debris from moving radially through the opening during the use of the collet in the tool-chuck and to align the collet body ends in radially inward and outward directions.
A collet comprising
- a circular collet body having an outer circular periphery and an inner circular periphery, one of the circular peripheries being formed to include a workpiece grip surface and the other of the circular peripheries including a tapered cam surface adapted to be engaged so that the workpiece grip surface moves into engagement with a workpiece to be held by the collet, the tapered cam surface being formed to include a plurality of circumferentially spaced slots defined by a pair of side walls, each slot having an open end at one of the circular peripheries and each slot terminating at an inner end between the inner and outer circular peripheries, each side wall of the respective pair of side walls defining a plane that intersects with the other respective plane at a distance away from the collet body so each side wall is not parallel with the other.
A collet comprising
- a flexible circular collet body having an outer circular periphery and an inner circular periphery, the flexible circular collet body being formed to include a pair of openings extending between the outer and inner circular peripheries and separating the collet body into a pair of collet body halves, one of the circular peripheries being formed to include a workpiece grip surface and the other of the circular peripheries including a tapered cam surface adapted to be engaged to circularly flex the flexible circular collet body so that the workpiece grip surface moves into engagement with a workpiece to be held by the collet, the tapered cam surface being formed to include a plurality of circumferentially spaced slots, each slot having an open end at one of the circular peripheries and each slot terminating at an inner end between the inner and outer circular peripheries, each collet body half includes a pair of end portions and a center portion, each slot has a depth measured from the open end to the inner end, the length of the slots at the end portions of the pair of collet body halves are different than the length of the slots at the center portion of the pair of collet body halves.
A collet comprising
- a flexible circular collet body having an outer circular periphery and an inner circular periphery, the flexible circular collet body being formed to include a pair of openings extending between the outer and inner circular peripheries and separating the collet body into a pair of collet body halves, each opening being bounded on either side by a pair of collet body ends having end surfaces, one of the circular peripheries being formed to include a workpiece grip surface and the other of the circular peripheries including a tapered cam surface adapted to be engaged to circularly flex the flexible circular collet body so that the workpiece grip surface moves into engagement with a workpiece to be held by the collet and
- a pair of shims, each end surface being formed to include a shim slot adapted to receive one of the shims and each shim being arranged to extend across one of the openings to block debris from moving radially through the openings during the use of the collet and to align the collet body ends in radially inward and outward directions.
A chuck comprising
- an actuator member having a tapered surface and formed to include a slot,
- a collet including a flexible circular collet body having an outer circular periphery and an inner circular periphery, the flexible circular collet body being formed to include an opening extending between the outer and inner circular peripheries and bounded on either side by a pair of end surfaces, one of the circular peripheries being formed to include a workpiece grip surface and the other of the circular peripheries including a tapered cam surface adapted to be engaged by the tapered surface of the actuator member to circularly flex the flexible circular collet body so that the workpiece grip surface moves into engagement with a workpiece to be held by the collet,
- a spring positioned to lie in the slot of the actuator member, and
- a block member contacting the spring for engagement with the pair of end surfaces of the flexible circular collet body to block the opening of the flexible circular body.
1 more element
A chuck comprising
- an actuator member having a tapered surface and formed to include a bore,
- a collet including a flexible circular collet body having an outer circular periphery and an inner circular periphery, the flexible circular collet body being formed to include an opening extending between the outer and inner circular peripheries, one of the circular peripheries being formed to include a workpiece grip surface and the other of the circular peripheries including a tapered cam surface adapted to be engaged by the tapered surface of the actuator member to circularly flex the flexible circular collet body so that the workpiece grip surface moves into engagement with a workpiece to be held by the collet, and the flexible circular collet body being formed to include a bore, and
- a spring having a pair of free ends, at least one of the actuator member and the flexible circular collet body being formed to include a pocket, the spring being positioned to lie in the pocket, and one of the flee. ends of the spring being positioned to lie in the bore of the actuator member and the other free end of the spring being positioned to lie in the bore of the flexible circular collet body so that the spring radially biases the flexible circular collet body against the actuator member.
A collet comprising
- a flexible circular collet body having an outer circular periphery and an inner circular periphery, the flexible circular collet body being formed to include four openings extending between the outer and inner circular penpheries and separating the collet body into four collet body segments, each opening being bounded on either side by a pair of collet body ends having end surfaces, one of the circular peripheries being formed to include a workpiece grip surface and the other of the circular peripheries including a tapered cam surface adapted to be engaged to circularly flex the flexible circular collet body so that the workpiece grip surface moves into engagement with a workpiece to be held by the collet and
- four shims, each end surface being formed to include a shim slot adapted to receive one of the shims, each shim being arranged to extend across one of the openings to block debris from moving radially through the openings during the use of the collet and to align the collet body ends in the radially inward and outward directions.
A chuck comprising
- an actuator member having a tapered surface,
- a flexible circular collet body having an outer circular periphery and an inner circular periphery, the flexible circular collet body being formed to include four openings extending between the outer and inner circular peripheries and separating the collet body into four collet body segments, each opening being bounded on either side by a pair of end surfaces, one of the circular peripheries being formed to include a workpiece grip surface and the other of the circular peripheries including a tapered cam surface adapted to be engaged to circularly flex the flexible circular collet body so that the workpiece grip surface moves into engagement with a workpiece to be held by the collet and
- a means for biasing the four collet body segments to an unactuated position in relation to the actuator member.
A chuck comprising
- an actuator member having a tapered surface and formed to include a bore,
- a flexible circular collet body having an outer circular periphery and an inner circular periphery, the flexible circular collet body being formed to include four openings extending between the outer and inner circular peripheries and separating the collet body into four collet body segments, one of the circular peripheries being formed to include a workpiece grip surface and the other of the circular peripheries including a tapered cam surface adapted to be engaged to circularly flex the flexible circular collet body so that the workpiece grip surface moves into engagement with a workpiece to be held by the collet, and each of the four collet body segments being formed to include a pair of bores, and
- a plurality of springs having a pair of free ends, at least one of the actuator member and the four collet body segments being formed to include a plurality of pockets, the springs being positioned to lie in the pockets, and one of the free ends of the springs being positioned to lie in the bores of the actuator member and the other free end of the springs being positioned to lie in the respective bores of the four collet body segments so that the springs radially bias the four collet body segments against the actuator member.
A collet comprising
- a flexible circular collet body having all outer circular periphery and an inner circular periphery, the flexible circular collet body being formed to include an opening extending between the outer and inner circular peripheries and bounded on either side by a pair of end surfaces, one of the circular peripheries being formed to include a workpiece grip surface and the other of the circular peripheries including a tapered cam surface adapted to be engaged to circularly flex the flexible circular collet body so that the workpiece grip surface moves into engagement with a workpiece to be held by the collet, and
- a spring, at least one of the pair of end surfaces being formed to include a pocket, the spring being positioned to lie in the pocket to bias the flexible circular collet body.
A method for making a collet and an actuator member for a tool-chuck, the method including the steps of
- providing a collet blank including an outer circular periphery and an inner circular periphery, one of the circular peripheries being formed to include a tapered surface, the other circular periphery being formed to include a workpiece grip surface, an actuator blank including a circular periphery formed to include a tapered surface, and a chuck body,
- assembling the collet blank, actuator blank, and chuck body so that chuck body advances the actuator blank against the chuck blank so that the tapered surface of the actuator blank engages the tapered surface of the collet blank;
- and
- machining the workpiece grip surface while the tapered surfaces are engaged.
1 more element
A method for making a collet and an actuator member for a tool-chuck, the method including the steps of
- providing a plurality of collet blanks including an outer circular periphery and an inner circular periphery, one of the circular peripheries being formed to include a tapered surface, the other circular periphery being formed to include a workpiece grip surface and a plurality of actuator blanks including a circular periphery formed to include a tapered surface,
- selectively matching one of the plurality of collet blanks with one of the plurality of actuator blanks,
- marking the selected collet blank and the selected actuator blank as a matched pair, and
- machining the selected collet blank and actuator blank.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.