Workpiece feed mechanism

Claim 2

In a machine tool wherein a workpiece to be operated upon is to be clamped into the tool in a predetermined position and orientation, the improved feed mechanism for conveying a workpiece to the clamping position in the desired position and orientation comprising: a workpiece transporting carrier mounted on the tool for movement between a loading position, where a workpiece is loaded into said carrier, and a clamping position, where a workpiece is clamped into the machine tool; workpiece retaining means forming a portion of said carrier for releasably retaining a workpiece in a predetermined position and orientation, said retaining means comprising a workpiecereceiving recess contoured to engage a portion of the workpiece sufficient to fix the workpiece in the desired position and orientation, one side of said recess being bounded by a retractable slide normally biased to enclose said one side of said recess to support and position a workpiece, said slide being movable to a retracted position in response to engagement with a portion of the machine as the carrier approaches the clamping position to expose said one side of said recess to expose the workpiece to a portion of the clamping mechanism of the machine tool.

Claim 3

The feed mechanism of claim 1 which further comprises: a workpiece-holding magazine fixed to the tool for storing a stack of workpieces and including a workpiece biasing means for exerting a force on said stack toward a workpiece loading end, said loading end of said magazine being positioned adjacent said workpiece-receiving recess of said carrier when said carrier is in its loading position, and said magazine lying on the opposite side of said recess from said retractable slide so that said slide functions as a seat against which a workpiece bottoms as it is forced into said recess from said magazine by said biasIng means; and carrier actuating means mounted on the tool for causing said carrier to move between its loading and clamping positions on predetermined signals.

Claim 4

In a machine tool wherein opposed faces of a workpiece to be operated upon are clamped between a pair of axially aligned rotatable spindles, one of which is longitudinally movable between an advanced workpiece-clamping position and a retracted workpiece-releasing position, the improved feeding mechanism for automatically feeding workpieces into a predetermined radial and angular orientation with the axis of the spindles, comprising: a workpiece transporting carrier slidably mounted on the tool for reciprocation along an axis perpendicular to the spindle axis between a loading position, where a workpiece is loaded into said carrier, and a clamping position, where a workpiece is engaged and clamped between the machine tool spindles; carrier reciprocating means mounted on the tool and connected to said carrier for reciprocating said carrier between said loading and clamping positions upon predetermined signals; workpiece retaining means forming a portion of said carrier for releasably retaining a workpiece in the predetermined angular orientation as it is carried from said loading position to the desired clamping position relative to the spindle axis; said workpiece retaining means portion of said carrier comprising a workpiece-receiving recess which is fully open on a first side located on the same side of said carrier as said longitudinally movable spindle, said recess being normally closed on the opposite side by a retractable slide, said retractable slide being slidably mounted on said carrier in a direction parallel to the path of movement of said carrier and biased toward the recess-closing position, said retractable slide serving as a seat against which a workpiece bottoms as it is loaded into said recess, said recess having edges contoured to engage a portion of the circumferential edges of a workpiece to maintain the desired angular orientation of the workpiece; advance of said carrier towards said spindles causing said retractable slide to engage the stationary spindle and to retract into said carrier upon continued advance of said carrier to expose said opposite side of said recess, whereby the opposite faces of the workpiece become sufficiently exposed to permit clamping engagement between the spindles upon advance of said movable spindle to its workpiece clamping position.

Claim 5

In a machine tool wherein opposed faces of a workpiece to be operated upon are clamped between a pair of axially aligned rotatable spindles, one of which is longitudinally movable between an advanced workpiece-clamping position and a retracted workpiece-releasing position, the improved feeding mechanism for automatically feeding workpieces into a predetermined radial and angular orientation with the axis of the spindles, comprising: a workpiece transporting carrier slidably mounted on the tool for reciprocation along an axis perpendicular to the spindle axis between a loading position, where a workpiece is loaded into said carrier, and a clamping position, where a workpiece is engaged and clamped between the machine tool spindles; carrier reciprocating means mounted on the tool and connected to said carrier for reciprocating said carrier between said loading and clamping positions upon predetermined signals; workpiece retaining means forming a portion of said carrier for releasably retaining a workpiece in the predetermined angular orientation as it is carried from said loading position to the desired clamping position relative to the spindle axis; said workpiece retaining means portion of said carrier comprising a workpiece-receiving recess which is fully open on a first side located on the same side of said carrier as said longitudinally movable spindle, said recess being normally closed on the opposite side by a retractable slide, said retractable slide being slidably mounted on said carrier in a direction parallel to the path of movement of said carrier and biased toward the recess-closing position, said retractable slide serving as a seat against which a workpiece bottoms as it is loaded into said recess, said recess having edges contoured to engage a portion of the circumferential edges of a workpiece to maintain the desired angular orientation of the workpiece; advance of said carrier towards said spindles causing said retractable slide to engage the stationary spindle and to retract into said carrier upon continued advance of said carrier to expose said opposite side of said recess, whereby the opposite faces of the workpiece become sufficiently exposed to permit clamping engagement between the spindles upon advance of said movable spindle to its workpiece clamping position.

Claim 6

The feeding mechanism of claim 3 which further comprises: a workpiece-holding magazine fixed to the tool for storing a plurality of workpieces in face to face relationship in a stack whose axis is parallel to but displaced from the axis of the machine tool spindles, said magazine including means for maintaining the workpieces in a predetermined angular orientation relative to the spindles, said magazine being positioned on the same side of a workpiece clamped between the spindles as is the longitudinally movable spindle, the magazine including biasing means for biasing said stack toward a workpiece loading end; said fully open first side of said recess facing said magazine, and said carrier being positioned in its loading position to place said recess immediately adjacent said workpiece loading end of said magazine stack so that said magazine biasing means will cause the endmost workpiece of the stack to be loaded into said recess when said carrier reaches its loading position.

Claim 7

The feeding mechanism of claim 3 wherein said carrier is further provided with a yieldable workpiece locking member normally biased toward a position to firmly engage the edge of a workpiece which faces forwardly toward the spindle axis, which edge is otherwise unretained by said recess, said locking member being maintained in its workpiece engaging position until after the workpiece is clamped between the spindles, and lock releasing means for causing said lock to release a workpiece upon initial witHdrawal of said carrier from its clamping position and to shift out of its locking position when said carrier is in its loading position.

Claim 8

The machine tool of claim 3 wherein spindle locking means are provided for causing the angular position of the other of the two spindles to always be in the predetermined orientation during the workpiece loading and clamping operation.

Claim 9

In a machine tool wherein opposed faces of a workpiece to be operated upon are clamped between a pair of axially aligned rotatable spindles, one of which is longitudinally movable between an advanced workpiece-clamping position and a retracted workpiece-releasing position, the improved feeding mechanism for automatically feeding workpieces into a predetermined radial and angular orientation with the axis of the spindles, comprising: a workpiece-holding magazine fixed to the tool for storing a plurality of workpieces in face to face relationship in a stack whose axis is parallel to but displaced from the axis of the machine tool spindles, said magazine including means for maintaining the workpieces in a predetermined angular orientation relative to the spindles, said magazine being positioned on the same side of a workpiece clamped between the spindles as is the longitudinally movable spindle, the magazine including biasing means for biasing said stack toward a workpiece loading end; a workpiece transporting carrier slidably mounted on the tool for reciprocation along an axis perpendicular to the spindle axis between a loading position, where a workpiece is loaded from said magazine into said carrier, and a clamping position, where a workpiece is engaged and clamped between the machine tool spindles; carrier reciprocating means mounted on the tool and connected to said carrier for reciprocating said carrier between said loading and clamping positions upon predetermined signals; workpiece retaining means forming a portion of said carrier for releasably retaining a workpiece in said predetermined angular orientation as it is carried from said magazine to said spindles, said retaining means being aligned with and positioned immediately adjacent to said loading end of said magazine stack when said carrier is in said loading position to receive the endmost workpiece of the stack, and said carrier being thereafter movable by said reciprocating means to said clamping position wherein said workpiece retaining means portion of said carrier lies in the desired position relative to the spindle axis; said workpiece retaining means portion of said carrier comprising a workpiece-receiving recess facing said magazine and having edges contoured to engage a portion of the circumferential edges of a workpiece to maintain the desired angular orientation of the workpiece, said recess being fully open on a first side facing said magazine and being normally closed on the opposite side by a retractable slide, said retractable slide being slidably mounted on said carrier in a direction parallel to the path of movement of said carrier and biased toward the recess-closing position, said retractable slide serving as a seat against which a workpiece bottoms as it is loaded into said recess from said magazine; advance of said carrier towards said spindles causing said retractable slide to engage the stationary spindle and to retract into said carrier upon continued advance of said carrier to expose said opposite side of said recess, whereby the opposite faces of the workpiece become sufficiently exposed to permit clamping engagement between the spindles upon advance of said movable spindle to its workpiece clamping position.

Claim 10

In a machine tool wherein opposed faces of a workpiece to be operated upon are clamped between a pair of axially aligned rotatable spindles, one of which is longitudinally movable between an advanced workpiece-clamping position and a retracted workpiece-releasing position, the improved feeding mechanism for automatically feeding workpieces into a predetermined radial and angular orientation with the axis of the spindles, comprising: a workpiece-holding magazine fixed to the tool for storing a plurality of workpieces in face to face relationship in a stack whose axis is parallel to but displaced from the axis of the machine tool spindles, said magazine including means for maintaining the workpieces in a predetermined angular orientation relative to the spindles, said magazine being positioned on the same side of a workpiece clamped between the spindles as is the longitudinally movable spindle, the magazine including biasing means for biasing said stack toward a workpiece loading end; a workpiece transporting carrier slidably mounted on the tool for reciprocation along an axis perpendicular to the spindle axis between a loading position, where a workpiece is loaded from said magazine into said carrier, and a clamping position, where a workpiece is engaged and clamped between the machine tool spindles; carrier reciprocating means mounted on the tool and connected to said carrier for reciprocating said carrier between said loading and clamping positions upon predetermined signals; workpiece retaining means forming a portion of said carrier for releasably retaining a workpiece in said predetermined angular orientation as it is carried from said magazine to said spindles, said retaining means being aligned with and positioned immediately adjacent to said loading end of said magazine stack when said carrier is in said loading position to receive the endmost workpiece of the stack, and said carrier being thereafter movable by said reciprocating means to said clamping position wherein said workpiece retaining means portion of said carrier lies in the desired position relative to the spindle axis; said workpiece retaining means portion of said carrier comprising a workpiece-receiving recess facing said magazine and having edges contoured to engage a portion of the circumferential edges of a workpiece to maintain the desired angular orientation of the workpiece, said recess being fully open on a first side facing said magazine and being normally closed on the opposite side by a retractable slide, said retractable slide being slidably mounted on said carrier in a direction parallel to the path of movement of said carrier and biased toward the recess-closing position, said retractable slide serving as a seat against which a workpiece bottoms as it is loaded into said recess from said magazine; advance of said carrier towards said spindles causing said retractable slide to engage the stationary spindle and to retract into said carrier upon continued advance of said carrier to expose said opposite side of said recess, whereby the opposite faces of the workpiece become sufficiently exposed to permit clamping engagement between the spindles upon advance of said movable spindle to its workpiece clamping position.

Claim 11

The feeding mechanism of claim 7 wherein said carrier is further provided with a yieldable workpiece locking member normally biased toward a position to firmly engage the edge of a workpiece which faces forwardly toward the spindle axis, which edge is otherwise unretained by said recess, said locking member being maintained in its workpiece engaging position untiL after the workpiece is clamped between the spindles, and lock releasing means for causing said lock to release a workpiece upon initial withdrawal of said carrier from its clamping position and to shift out of its locking position when said carrier is in its loading position.

Claim 12

The Machine tool of claim 7 wherein spindle locking means are provided for causing the angular position of the other of the two spindles to always be in the predetermined orientation during the workpiece loading and clamping operation.