Title of Invention

MACHINE FOR INSITU SURFACE GRINDING OF CYLINDRICAL SHAFTS

Abstract

Machine for in-situ surface grinding of cylindrical shafts without removing the cylindrical shaft/job from the object/machine to which it is attached to/part of. The machine comprises drive unit for driving the grinding assembly comprising motor (34), inner bush (1), bearing (2) and outer bush (7), wherein the motor is adapted to rotate the outer bush on bearing provided between the inner and outer bush while the inner bush is mounted on the outer surface of shaft to be ground; arm with long travel mechanism mounted on the outer bush comprising beam assembly (11), lead screw (12) and long travel slide (18) and is adapted to provide longitudinal feed to the grinding assembly (28) and; cross travel mechanism mounted on long travel slide comprising cross travel screw (20) and cross travel assembly (25) and is adapted to provide cross feed to the grinding assembly; and grinder assembly mounted on cross slide assembly and adapted to grind shaft. The machine can grind cylindrical shafts to a great amount of accuracy.

Full Text

MACHINE FOR IN-SITU SURFACE GRINDING OF CYLINDRICAL SHAFTS Field of invention The present invention relates to a machine for in-situ surface grinding of cylindrical shafts. The machine is particularly suited for such conditions where a cylindrical shaft/job needs to be ground in-situ without being removed from the object/machine to which it is attached/part of. Background of the invention Machines for surface grinding of cylindrical shafts are known in the art. However, their application is limited to grinding of shafts/jobs less than 400 mm in diameter. Often such job/shafts have large diameters much higher than 400 mm (1000 -1500 mm) and dismantling such large diameter shafts from the machine is not desirable as it would require making special arrangement for providing support to the heavy machine to which the shaft/job is attached. Such dismantling also leads to longer down time for the production unit/machine. Thus, there is significant loss in production. There are also chances of the shaft getting damaged during such dismantling operation. Thus there is a need of a machine for surface grinding of large shafts in-situ i.e. grinding without dismantling the shaft from the machine it is attached to. Objects of the invention The object of the invention is to provide a machine for in-situ surface grinding of shafts, those having diameter in the range of 400-1500 mm and especially those having diameter in the range of 1210-1420 mm. Another object of the invention is to provide a machine for in-situ grinding of shafts which can grind cylindrical surfaces to a great degree of accuracy. 2 Summary of the invention Thus according to the present invention there is provided a machine for in-situ grinding of shafts comprising: drive unit for driving the grinding assembly comprising motor, inner bush, bearing and outer bush, wherein the motor is adapted to rotate the outer bush on bearing provided between the inner and outer bush while the inner bush is mounted on the outer surface of said shaft to be ground; arm with long travel mechanism mounted on the said outer bush comprising beam assembly, lead screw and long travel slide and is adapted to provide longitudinal feed to the grinding assembly and; cross travel mechanism mounted on said long travel slide comprising cross travel screw and cross travel assembly and is adapted to provide cross feed to the grinding assembly; and grinder assembly mounted on said cross slide assembly and adapted to grind said shaft. Detailed description The machine comprises the following major sub-units: Drive unit: The drive unit comprises of a motor, inner bush, outer bush and bearing between the inner and outer bush. While in operation the inner bush is mounted on the outer portion of the shaft to be ground. The drive unit causes rotation of the outer bush which rotates around the inner bush. Arm with long travel mechanism: The arm with long travel mechanism comprises a beam assembly, a lead screw for long travel and long travel slide. The beam assembly is bolted to the outer bush. The lead screw is assembled with the beam 3 assembly for giving longitudinal movement of long travel slide and in turn provides longitudinal feed to the grinding assembly. Cross travel mechanism: The cross travel mechanism consists of cross slide assembly and cross travel screw assembly. The cross travel assembly is mounted on the long travel slide. The cross travel assembly can be moved up and down by the help of the cross travel screw. This in turn gives cross feed to the grinder. Grinder assembly: The grinder assembly is mounted on the cross-slide assembly. The grinder is given long travel by long travel slide and cross travel by cross travel slide. The shafts subjected to grinding under the present invention have diameters in the range of 400 to 1500 mm, especially those in the range of 1210 to 1420 mm. For grinding of shafts beyond the specific range the features of the machine will need to be adapted suitably. Description of preferred embodiment The invention will now be described with reference to non-limiting embodiments illustrated by figures. Figure 1 shows the assembly of grinding machine in unmounted condition. Figure 2 shows the assembly of the grinding machine during operation. Referring to the figures, the drive unit comprises a motor (34), V-pulley and belt (35), worm reduction gear box (33), pinion module (32), girth gear module (3), inner bush (1), outer bush (7) and bearing (2) between the inner and outer bush. The motor (34) is of 5.5 kW power at 1450 rpm. The worm reduction gear box (33) reduces the rotation speed by a ratio of 1:40. While in operation the inner bush (1) is mounted on the outer portion of the shaft to be ground. The drive unit causes rotation of the outer bush which rotates around the inner bush over the bearing (2). The RPM of the outer bush is 3.17. The arm with long travel mechanism 4 consists of beam (11) which is bolted with the outer bush (7). A counter weight (29) is bolted with the outer bush (7) diametrically opposite to the beam assembly for balancing. A lead screw (12) is assembled with the beam assembly (11) for giving longitudinal movement to the long travel slide (18). The long travel slide (18) can slide on the beam assembly (11) with the operation of the lead screw (12). The total travel of the long travel slide is 600 mm. The cross travel mechanism consists of cross slide assembly (25) and the cross travel screw assembly (20). The cross travel assembly is mounted on the long travel slide (18). The cross travel assembly can be moved up and down with the help of the cross travel screw assembly (20). The total movement of cross travel is 100 mm and is used for giving cross feed to the grinder. The grinder assembly (28) is mounted on cross slide assembly by bolts and nuts. The RPM of grinder is 1500 and the grinder wheel diameter is 430 mm. The grinder is given long travel by long travel slide (18) and cross travel by cross slide (25) assembly. The machine can grind cylindrical surfaces to the accuracy of 0.06 to 0.10 mm ovality. 5 We claim: 1. Machine for in-situ grinding of cylindrical shafts comprising: drive unit for driving the grinding assembly comprising motor (34), inner bush (1), bearing (2) and outer bush (7), wherein the motor is adapted to rotate the outer bush on bearing provided between the inner and outer bush while the inner bush is mounted on the outer surface of said shaft to be ground; arm with long travel mechanism mounted on the said outer bush comprising beam assembly (11), lead screw (12) and long travel slide (18) and is adapted to provide longitudinal feed to the grinding assembly (28) and; cross travel mechanism mounted on said long travel slide comprising cross travel screw (20) and cross travel assembly (25) and is adapted to provide cross feed to the grinding assembly (28); and grinder assembly (28) mounted on said cross slide assembly (25) and adapted to grind said shaft. wherein the machine rotates and the shaft remains fixed while grinding. 2. Machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said drive unit comprises V-pulley and belt (35), worm reduction gear box (33), pinion module (32) and girth gear module (3) and are adapted to transfer the drive from said motor to said outer bush. 3. Machine as claimed in claims 1 or 2, wherein said motor is a 5.5 kW, 1450 rpm motor. 4. Machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein said worm reduction gear box is adapted to reduce rotation by a ratio of 1:40. 5. Machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said beam assembly is bolted with the outer bush. 5. 6 5. Machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said beam assembly is bolted with the outer bush. 6. Machine as claimed in any of the preceding claims, comprising a counter weight bolted to said outer bush diametrically opposite to said beam assembly for balancing the weight of the said beam assembly. 7. Machine as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein said long travel slide is adapted to slide on said beam assembly with operation of said lead screw. 8. Machine as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein said long travel slide has total travel of 600 mm. 9. Machine as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein said cross travel assembly is adapted to move up and down by the operation of said cross travel screw. 10. Machine as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein said grinder assembly comprises grinder wheel. 11 .Machine as claimed in claim 10, wherein the grinding wheel has diameter of 430 mm. Dated this 17th day of March 2003 Dr. Sanchita Ganguli Of S. MAJUMDAR & CO. Applicants' Agent Machine for in-situ surface grinding of cylindrical shafts without removing the cylindrical shaft/job from the object/machine to which it is attached to/part of. The machine comprises drive unit for driving the grinding assembly comprising motor (34), inner bush (1), bearing (2) and outer bush (7), wherein the motor is adapted to rotate the outer bush on bearing provided between the inner and outer bush while the inner bush is mounted on the outer surface of shaft to be ground; arm with long travel mechanism mounted on the outer bush comprising beam assembly (11), lead screw (12) and long travel slide (18) and is adapted to provide longitudinal feed to the grinding assembly (28) and; cross travel mechanism mounted on long travel slide comprising cross travel screw (20) and cross travel assembly (25) and is adapted to provide cross feed to the grinding assembly; and grinder assembly mounted on cross slide assembly and adapted to grind shaft. The machine can grind cylindrical shafts to a great amount of accuracy.

Documents:

00166-kol-2003-abstract.pdf

00166-kol-2003-claims.pdf

00166-kol-2003-correspondence.pdf

00166-kol-2003-description(complete).pdf

00166-kol-2003-drawings.pdf

00166-kol-2003-form-1.pdf

00166-kol-2003-form-18.pdf

00166-kol-2003-form-2.pdf

00166-kol-2003-form-3.pdf

00166-kol-2003-p.a.pdf

166-KOL-2003-(01-02-2012)-FORM-27.pdf

166-kol-2003-granted-abstract.pdf

166-kol-2003-granted-claims.pdf

166-kol-2003-granted-correspondence.pdf

166-kol-2003-granted-description (complete).pdf

166-kol-2003-granted-drawings.pdf

166-kol-2003-granted-examination report.pdf

166-kol-2003-granted-form 1.pdf

166-kol-2003-granted-form 18.pdf

166-kol-2003-granted-form 2.pdf

166-kol-2003-granted-form 3.pdf

166-kol-2003-granted-letter patent.pdf

166-kol-2003-granted-pa.pdf

166-kol-2003-granted-reply to examination report.pdf

166-kol-2003-granted-specification.pdf