Automatic grinding apparatus to control uniform specimen thicknesses

Claim 1

A grinding apparatus for producing substantially flat platelet specimens possessing a substantially uniform thickness comprising: a. a movable grinding surface attached to a frame, b. a specimen holder attached to said frame opposite said grinding surface in a plane parallel to said grinding surface, said holder including a stainless steel cylindrical disk having parallel faces which contain multiple cylindrical holes equidistant from the center of said disk and equally spaced about the circumference of said disk, said multiple cylindrical holes containing planar specimen support surfaces at different depths thereby enabling simultaneous grinding of specimens to different uniform thicknesses, c. means attached to said frame for displacing said holder toward said grinding surface, and d. at least three means coupled to said holder for limiting displacement of said holder toward said grinding surface by a predetermined distance.