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US 8,011,996 B2Granted
Polishing head for a polishing machine
AssigneeCarl Zeiss Vision GmbH
InventorChristoph Kuebler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A polishing head for polishing machines, in particular for polishing optical surfaces, has a polishing plate that is connected to a rotationally drivable drive shaft. The polishing plate is articulated to, and rotates with, the drive shaft. A ball hexagonal socket joint provides the articulated connection. Rotating by means of the articulated connection, the polishing plate can follow the surface of the workpiece to be processed, so that the polishing covering on the polishing plate always rests on a maximally large area on the surface of the workpiece.
Claims31
A polishing machine, comprising:
- a polishing head comprising
- a rotationally drivable drive shaft at least partially disposed within a hollow cylinder;
- a roller bearing element disposed between the drive shaft and the hollow cylinder, wherein the roller bearing element is configured to rotationally fix the hollow cylinder relative to the drive shaft and to allow the drive shaft to move axially with respect to the hollow cylinder;
- a polishing plate having an articulated connection to the rotationally drivable drive shaft,
- a fluid pressure chamber;
- and
- a piston disposed within the fluid pressure chamber,
- wherein the polishing head and the fluid pressure chamber have a common longitudinal axis, the fluid pressure chamber and piston are arranged so that applying fluid pressure to the fluid pressure chamber moves the piston along the common longitudinal axis and causes translational motion of the polishing plate along the common longitudinal axis, the polishing plate has a substantially smaller diameter than a free-form optical surface to be polished by the polishing plate, and the polishing plate is connected to rotate with the rotationally drivable drive shaft and articulated for execution of tilting motions, and
- wherein the polishing machine is configured to rotate the polishing plate and the free-form optical surface in the same direction of rotation and to move the polishing head in a swiveling motion in a radial direction over the free-form optical surface during polishing of the free-form optical surface, and the polishing machine is configured to cause the polishing plate to apply a constant force to the free-form optical surface during polishing of the free-form optical surface.
6 more elements
A polishing machine, comprising:
- a polishing head comprising
- a rotationally drivable drive shaft at least partially disposed within a hollow cylinder;
- a roller bearing element disposed between the drive shaft and the hollow cylinder, wherein the roller bearing element is configured to rotationally fix the hollow cylinder relative to the drive shaft and to allow the drive shaft to move axially with respect to the hollow cylinder;
- a polishing plate having an articulated connection to the rotationally drivable drive shaft,
- a fluid pressure chamber;
- and
- a piston disposed within the fluid pressure chamber,
- wherein the fluid pressure chamber and piston are arranged so that applying fluid pressure to the fluid pressure chamber moves the piston and causes translational motion of the polishing plate, the polishing plate has a substantially smaller diameter than a free-form optical surface to be polished by the polishing plate, and the polishing plate is connected to rotate with the rotationally drivable drive shaft and articulated for execution of tilting motions, and
- wherein the polishing machine is configured to rotate the polishing plate and the free-form optical surface in the same direction of rotation and to move the polishing head in a swiveling motion in a radial direction over the free-form optical surface during polishing of the free-form optical surface, and the polishing machine is configured to cause the polishing plate to apply a constant force to the free-form optical surface during polishing of the free-form optical surface.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.