Plural work-piece positioning apparatus

Claim 1

Apparatus for positioning a plurality of workpieces for spark machining thereof in an immersion bath, the apparatus comprising a stationary support for one of the workpieces and an adjustable support for another workpiece, the two workpiece supports being disposed in side by side relation, an electrode holder and a pair of electrodes overlying, respectively, the stationary and adjustable workpiece supports, the adjustable workpiece support including at least two rotatably mounted rollers with their outer surfaces arranged to act as abutments for a workpiece to be machined, the radial distance between the axis of rotation of each roller and its surface progressively increasing in a circumferential direction over at least a part of the surface to provide a positional adjustment of said workpiece on rotation of the rollers, the rollers having substantially cylindrical surfaces eccentrically related to the axis of rotation thereof, and frame means defining a chamber confining the rollers therein and a coverplate overlying said chamber and having openings therein receiving the outer surfaces of the rollers, wall means adjacent one end of each of the adjoining rollers and defining a gear wheel chamber sealed from said first mentioned chamber and free of the immersion bath, gear wheels in said gear wheel chamber and connected with the rollers for turning the rollers and raising and lowering the outer surfaces thereof relative to the coverplate and to the stationary workpiece support, whereby to facilitate simultaneous spark machining of multiple workpieces in accurate relation to each other.