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US 7,891,917 B2Granted
Automatic brake shoe drilling machine and method
OwnerGregory Nulman, August Esklerinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Apparatus and method are provided for automatically drilling work pieces, including drilling of rivet holes in standard and heavy-duty brake shoe linings for the truck, bus, overhead crane, wheel drum and heavy machinery industries. Apparatus and method are customizable to accommodate various sizes of work pieces, and programmable for drilling of multiple holes and handling of multiple work pieces, as required by manufacturers.
Claims15
A drilling device comprising:
- a rotating wheel assembly for accommodating a work piece thereon, the work piece comprising a curved surface;
- a drilling unit movable relative to the work piece in a generally linear motion, and comprising a plurality of drilling spindles thereon;
- a controller for controlling the rotation of the wheel assembly and movement of the drilling unit to position the curved surface of the work piece with respect to the drilling spindles thereby facilitating drilling of the work piece through the curved surface by the drilling spindles at a plurality of locations on the work piece;
- and
- a stationary frame for accommodating the rotating wheel assembly and the drilling unit securely thereon,
- wherein:
- the rotating wheel assembly is not movable in the generally linear motion relative to the drilling unit and remains fixed with respect to the drilling unit at least during the drilling of the work piece,
- the rotating wheel assembly is a first wheel assembly removably attached to said stationary frame, said first wheel assembly accommodating a first work piece thereon;
- and
- said stationary frame interchangeably accommodates a second wheel assembly different from said first wheel assembly, said second wheel assembly accommodating a second work piece thereon different from said first work piece.
7 more elements
A method for drilling a work piece, the method comprising:
- positioning at least one work piece in a supporting assembly disposed with respect to a drilling unit comprising a plurality of drilling spindles, the at least one work piece comprising a curved surface;
- rotating the supporting assembly to position a portion of the curved surface of the at least one work piece with respect to the drilling spindles;
- linearly advancing the drilling unit toward the rotating support assembly;
- drilling the work piece when the spindles are positioned on the portion of the curved surface of the work piece through the curved surface;
- and
- removably attaching the supporting assembly to a stationary frame before positioning the at least one work piece on the supporting assembly,
- wherein the supporting assembly remains fixed with respect to the drilling unit at least during the drilling of the work piece, and
- the stationary frame interchangeably accommodates a plurality of different supporting assemblies for accommodating different work pieces thereon respectively.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.