Device for lapping balls in continuous operation

Claim 1

A ball lapping device for lapping an unlimited number of balls in continuous operation, said device comprising in combination: two rotary working discs and one stationary working disc, said two rotary discs and said stationary disc being mounted in fixed special relationship so as to define therebetween an elongate working gap and said stationary disc having in its side facing the rotary discs an elongate guide track for guiding balls to be lapped along the working gap; a rotary drive means and a transmission means for each of said movable working discs, each of said transmission means coupling the respective drive means to one of said working discs for driving said discs in opposite directions and at a selected differential speed, said opposite and differential rotations of the discs imparting to balls in said track a rotary movement and a movement along the track, the speeds of said movements being a function of the selected speed differential; speed regulating means coupled to at least one of said drive means for regulating the rotational speeds of the working discs independent of each other for selecting the relative speeds of the discs thereby correspondingly varying the travel time of balls between said inlet and said outlet; and ball inlet means communicating with said guide track for successively feeding balls to be lapped into the same and ball outlet means communicating with the track for successively discharging lapped balls from the guide track, said outlet means communicating with the guide track at a point spaced from the inlet means in the direction of movement of balls along the track.