Grinding machine having an adaptive control system

Claim 2

A grinding machine comprising: a bed; a wheel head slidably mounted on said bed and being provided with a rotatable grinding wheel; a table slidably mounted on said bed for supporting a workpiece thereon; power means for moving either said wheel head or said table to perform a grinding operation on the workpiece; resistance detecting means for detecting a grinding resistance exerted on the grinding wheel and for generating an output proportional to said grinding resistance; control means for providing necessary control information therefrom; measuring means for generating an output proportional to the number of grinding operations; a first operation circuit for calculating a current optimum grinding resistance on the basis of an objective grinding resistance provided by said control means and the output of said measuring means,said current optimum grinding resistance being decreased toward said objective grinding resistance as the output of said measuring means increases; and, feed control means for operating said power means in a manner such that the grinding resistance exerted on the grinding wheel may be maintained equal to said current optimum grinding resistance.

Claim 3

A grinding machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein is further included: a sizing device for continuously measuring the diameter of said workpiece; a second operation circuit for calculating the rotational frequency of the workpiece on the basis of a desired peripheral speed for the workpiece provided by said control means and the workpiece diameter measured by said sizing device; and, driving means for rotating the workpiece in accordance with the rotational frequency calculated by said second operation circUit.

Claim 4

A grinding machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein is further included: a sizing device for continuously measuring the diameter of said workpiece; a dressing device for dressing a periphery of the workpiece; a third operation circuit for calculating the volume of material removed from said workpiece on the basis of the workpiece diameter measured by said sizing device before a grinding operation, the desired diameter of the finished workpiece and the width of the part to be ground as provided by said control means; an accumulator for adding up the volume of the removed material; a dressing device; and, a comparator for generating a signal for causing the dressing device to dress the grinding wheel when the added volume stored in said accumulator becomes equal to a standard total volume.

Claim 5

A grinding machine comprising: a bed; a wheel head slidably mounted on said bed and being provided with a rotatable grinding wheel; a table slidably mounted on said bed for supporting a workpiece thereon; power means for moving either said wheel head or said table to perform a grinding operation on the workpiece; position indicating means for indicating the current distance between the grinding surface of the grinding wheel and the axis of the workpiece; resistance detecting means for detecting a grinding resistance exerted on the grinding wheel and for generating an output proportional to said grinding resistance; a sizing device for continuously measuring the diameter of said workpiece; a divider for calculating one-half of the workpiece diameter; control means for providing necessary control information therefrom; measuring means for calculating the difference between said current distance and the one-half of the workpiece diameter in order to measure the amount of grinding wheel wear; a first operation circuit for calculating a current optimum grinding resistance on the basis of an objective grinding resistance provided by said control means and the amount of grinding wheel wear, said current optimum grinding resistance being decreased toward said objective grinding resistance as the amount of grinding wheel wear increases; and, feed control means for operating said power means in a manner such that the grinding resistance exerted on the grinding wheel may be maintained equal to said current optimum grinding resistance.

Claim 6

A grinding machine comprising: a bed; a wheel head slidably mounted on said bed and being provided with a rotatable grinding wheel; a table slidably mounted on said bed for supporting a workpiece thereon; power means for moving either said wheel head or said table to perform a grinding operation on the workpiece; position indicating means for indicating the current distance between the grinding surface of the grinding wheel and the axis of the workpiece; resistance detecting means for detecting a grinding resistance exerted on the grinding wheel and for generating an output proportional to said grinding resistance; a sizing device for continuously measuring the diameter of said workpiece; a divider for calculating one-half of the workpiece diameter; control means for providing necessary control information therefrom; measuring means for calculating the difference between said current distance and the one-half of the workpiece diameter in order to measure the amount of grinding wheel wear; a first operation circuit for calculating a current optimum grinding resistance on the basis of an objective grinding resistance provided by said control means and the amount of grinding wheel wear, said current optimum grinding resistance being decreased toward said objective grinding resistance as the amount of grinding wheel wear increases; and, feed control means for operating said power means in a manner such that the grinding resistance exerted on the grinding wheel may be maintained equal to said current optimum grinding resistance.

Claim 7

A grinding machine comprising: a bed; a wheel head slidably mounted on said bed and being provided with a rotatable grinding wheel; a table slidably mounted on said bed for supporting a workpiece thereon; power means for moving either said wheel head or said table to perform a grinding operation on the workpiece; resistance detecting means for detecting a grinding resistance exerted on the grinding wheel and for generating an output proportional to said grinding resistance; control means for providing necessary control information therefrom; measuring means for generating an output proportional to the number of grinding operations; a first operation circuit for calculating a current optimum unit resistance on the basis of an objective unit resistance provided by said control means and the output of said measuring means,said current optimum unit resistance being decreased toward said objective unit resistance as the output of said measuring means increases; a second operation circuit for dividing said grinding resistance by the width of the part to be ground as provided by said control means in order to calculate the real unit resistance; and, feed control means for operating said power means in a manner such that said real unit resistance may be maintained equal to said current optimum unit resistance.

Claim 8

A grinding machine comprising: a bed; a wheel head slidably mounted on said bed and being provided with a rotatable grinding wheel; a table slidably mounted on said bed for supporting a workpiece thereon; power means for moving either said wheel head or said table to perform a grinding operation on the workpiece; resistance detecting means for detecting a grinding resistance exerted on the grinding wheel and for generating an output proportional to said grinding resistance; control means for providing necessary control information therefrom; measuring means for generating an output proportional to the number of grinding operations; a first operation circuit for calculating a current optimum unit resistance on the basis of an objective unit resistance provided by said control means and the output of said measuring means,said current optimum unit resistance being decreased toward said objective unit resistance as the output of said measuring means increases; a second operation circuit for dividing said grinding resistance by the width of the part to be ground as provided by said control means in order to calculate the real unit resistance; and, feed control means for operating said power means in a manner such that said real unit resistance may be maintained equal to said current optimum unit resistance.