Drill bit pointing and dirt removal apparatus and method

An apparatus for processing twist drill bits comprising;

• a. a drill bit processing unit comprising;
• (i) a support structure,
• (ii) an index plate rotatably mounted on said support structure, said index plate having mounted thereon a plurality of drill bit holders located on a circle and spaced circumferentially apart from one another at equal central angles, each drill bit holder being able to hold therein an individual drill bit,
• (iii) a plurality of processing unit stations spaced apart from said index plate for performing various processing operations on drill bits in said drill bit holders, each of said processing stations being located at an index location located on a circle and spaced circumferentially apart from one another at equal central angles, said processing unit stations including a loading/unloading station for loading an unprocessed drill bit onto a drill bit holder and unloading a processed drill bit from said holder, and at least, a first processing station for performing a process on said drill bit, and
• (iv) means for rotating said index plate to thereby position an individual drill bit holder at a particular one of said plurality of processing unit stations at said index locations, and
• b. a drill bit loading unit comprising,
• (v) a support structure,
• (vi) a rotary pedestal rotatably mounted on said support structure, said rotary pedestal having mounted thereon a plurality of drill bit transfer arms located on a circle and spaced circumferentially apart from one another at equal angles, each transfer arm being so constructed as to be able to pick up a drill bit from a location exterior to said rotary pedestal, hold said drill bit at a predetermined orientation, and transfer said drill bit to a location exterior to said rotary pedestal,
• (vii) a plurality of operation stations for performing various operations on individual ones of said drill bits held by said transfer arms, each of said operation stations being located at a rotary pedestal index location located on a circle and spaced circumferentially apart from one another at equal central angles, said operation stations including an input/output station for loading onto an empty transfer arm a drill bit to transfer to said processing unit and for unloading from a transfer arm a drill bit which has been processed by said processing unit, and a load/unload operation station coextensive with said loading/unloading station of said processing unit for transferring a drill bit from a transfer arm on said rotary pedestal to a drill bit holder on said processing unit index plate, and from a drill bit holder to said transfer arm, and
• (viii) means for rotating said rotary pedestal synchronously with rotation of said index plate, thereby enabling synchronous transfer of drill bits between said rotary pedestal and said index plate.

A method for processing drill bits comprising the steps of;

• a. rotatably supporting on an index plate a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart drill bit holders,
• b. locating a plurality of processing unit stations spaced radially apart from said drill bit holders,
• c. rotating said index plate to thereby position a drill bit held in said holder at a particular one of said processing stations located at a first index location,
• d. automatically loading individual drill bits into individual ones of said drill bit holders,
• e. automatically and simultaneously performing separate processes on individual drill bits at said processing stations,
• f. rotating said index plate to position said drill bits at different index locations, and
• g. unloading individual ones of said drill bits from said holders.