BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a computer numerically controlled (CNC) pin grinder gauging system for insuring that a plurality of crankshafts, camshafts or similar shafts and workpieces are properly ground. 2. Description of the Prior Art

The control of the workpiece size which have been ground by grinding machines has traditionally been accomplished by the accurate control of the axis position of the grinding wheel, an in-process gauging system or feedback from a post process gauge. Of these three methods, in-process gauging to control the grinding wheelfeed motion has traditionally been the most accurate, since it directly measures the dimensions of the workpiece being ground and eliminates the need for the machine control to compensate for thermal changes, wheel wear, machine geometry errors, and other process variables.

U.S. Patent 4,637,144 issued to Schemel is typical of these in-process gauging tools. This patent monitors the diameters of crankpins during treatment in grinding machines and includes a guide 6 having a detector 4 and two sensors 3. These sensors are in the form of elongated arms or fingers with edges 5 which must be maintained in continuous contact with the peripheral surface IB of a crankpin 1 while the axis 1A orbits or circulates along a path P. However, with the advent of precision grinding processes for parts which are not round, such as cams, and for round parts which are ground while being rotated on an axis other than their geometric center, new problems are introduced for accurately controlling the workpiece size.

The present invention describes a process and apparatus which would combine the elements of post-process gauging and in- process gauging to control the workpiece size to the degree necessary for the production of automotive crankshafts and camshafts .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The problems inherent in the prior art are addressed by the present invention which is directed to a CNC grinding process for accurately machining crankshafts having a number of crankpins which entails generating the crankpin geometry by motion of a grinding wheel in-feed axis, while the crankshaft is being rotated about or near its bearing axis . In-process gauging of the workpiece during grinding would require the gauge head to follow the crankpin through its rotation as shown in the Schemel patent. The present invention utilizes a gauge head mounted on the grinding machine which is able to measure the size of crankpins on the workpiece being ground at various points in the machine cycle. Movement of the grinding wheel, the rotation of the workpiece and the movement of the gauge head are controlled by a microprocessor provided in the machine. The micro¬ processor contains a memory which includes the geometry and tolerances for the various parts of the workpiece which are ground. Based upon the actual measured size of at least a portion of the workpiece, the movement of the grinding wheel is automatically controlled.

These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims next to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better under- standing of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects obtained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which it was illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective drawing of a grinding machine operating under the process of the present invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are flow diagrams of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the control system for the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 illustrates a typical grinding machine 10 used to grind a crankshaft 22 or other workpiece having a plurality of crankpins or other grindable parts. A standard rotating grinding wheel 12 that can be advanced to or retracted from the crankshaft or workpiece is utilized. Similarly, the workpiece is affixed to the grinding machine in such a manner to allow it to rotate, as well as to be advanced or retracted in the Z-axis direction to allow various surfaces to be ground by the grinding wheel 12. Various clamps 24 and 26 are used to clamp the workpiece in its proper position.

A gauge 18 is attached to a moveable support 28 which will allow the gauge to contact a surface, such as a crankpin which has been subjected to the grinding action of the grind wheel 12. Lateral supports 14 and 16 are used to provide various connections used to move the support 28 to the crankpin. It is noted that the carriage traverse moves the work along the Z axis to position the portion of the workpiece to be ground in front of the grinding wheel 12 or gauge 18. The gauge does not move along the lateral X-axis or the vertical Y-axis. The gauge 18 is provided with two moveable jaws 20 which would allow the gauge to accurately measure the size of a particular crankpin or other machined piece.

FIG.4 illustrates a typical micro processor control 30 used to control the operation of the grinding machine 10. This control would include a controllable memory 34 such as an EPROM, EEPROM or similar memory, which would include various algorithms for operating the grinding machine as well as various parameters such as the size of each of the machined crankpins as well as tolerances for each of these pins. The memory 34 is connected to a control device 32 which would control the operation of the gauge 18, the grinding wheel 12 as well the rotation of the crankshaft during the grinding operation. Based upon the sensed measurement of one or more crankpins, the distance that the grinding wheel 12 would travel to grind the measured crankpin or a subsequent crankpin will be altered.

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrates the operation of the grinding process according to the present invention. Initially, the memory 34 provided in the microprocessor control 30 is loaded with the specific size of each crankpin to be machined as well as tolerances for each of these crankpins. Furthermore, an algorithm is included in the memory 34 which would alter the in- feed distance of the grinding wheel 12 based upon measured values of one or more crankpins. Once this information is provided in the memory, the grinding machine is cleared to accept a new workpiece, such as a crankshaft having a number of crankpins which must be machined. A left hand pusher would be advanced to secure the crankpin against a right-handed stop. Obviously, a right-handed pusher could be utilized which would advance against a left-handed stop with the crankshaft therebetween. Once the crankshaft is secured in place, an angular locator would rotate the crankshaft so that it is in the proper location for the first pin to be ground and subsequently measured by the gauge 18. Proximity switches are included in the grinding machine to insure that the crankshaft is in its proper position, and whether the proper crankshaft or the workpiece has been inserted into the machine. If the crankshaft is not properly positioned, or if the improper crankshaft has been inserted into the grinding machine, the automatic cycle of the grinding machine would be interrupted to force operator intervention. Once the problem has been alleviated, the cycle would be reinitiated. The clamps securing the crankshaft to the grinding machine would then close and the rotation of the crankshaft would be in the torque/slave mode. At this point, the angular locator would be retracted and the proper dimension of the first crankpin would be accessed from the memory 34. The grinding wheel 12 would be moved to its proper position to grind the first crankpin and a coolant for cooling the grinding machine would be engaged.

If the grinding machine is in the cold-start mode, meaning that it has been dormant for a period of time, the grinding wheel will grind the crankpin to a programmed size slightly larger than the projected finished size of the crankpin. The grinding wheel is then retracted from its grinding position

and the gauge 18 is moved into position to measure the size of this first crankpin The actual size of this crankpin is then compared to the projected size of the pin and the wheel feed is synchronized accordingly. This new wheel feed distance would be inputted into the memory 34 of the microprocessor 30 to subse¬ quently control the movement of the grinding wheel 12 The gauge 18 is then retracted and the grinding wheel 12 is advanced to grind the first crankpin to size. The grinding wheel 12 is then retracted and the crankshaft 22 is moved to its next position for grinding the second crankpin The pin adjustment data which was obtained by comparing the projected size of the first crankpin to its measured size in the cold-start mode, would be used to advance the grinding wheel 12 for a distance to grind the second crankpin to its proper size It is noted that no measurement of the second crankpin is made The grinding wheel is then retracted and the third crankpin is moved into position to be ground by the grinding wheel 12. All subsequent crankpins are ground in this manner. At this point, this first crankshaft is removed and a second crankshaft is inserted into its place and the machining of this crankshaft is continued in the cold-start mode as outlined hereinabove. This cold-start mode would continue for a predetermined amount of time or a predetermined number of crankshafts, such as five. It is noted that in the cold-start mode, only the first of the crankpins of any crank- shaft is measured.

Once a predetermined number of crankshafts have been machined, or a predetermined time has elapsed, the grinding machine will begin to operate in the normal mode When the grinding machine is operating in the normal mode, the first crankpin of the crankshaft would be machined based upon the measurement made with respect to the last measured crankpin. In this mode, the first crankpin of each of the crankshafts is machined without any measurement. Once the last crankpin of the crankshaft is machined by the grinding wheel 12 operating in the normal mode, the size of this crankpin is measured and compared to the projected size of that crankpin. If the measured size equals the projected size, the crankshaft is removed from the

machine and a new crankshaft to be machined is inserted into the grinding machine. If the measured size does not equal the projected size, but is within a particular tolerance, the distance of the grinding wheel in-feed is adjusted by a predeter- mined percentage of the size error of this pin. It is noted that this last measured crankpin would not be reground. However, the distance of the grinding wheel in-feed would be changed accord¬ ingly. However, if the difference between the projected size of the crankpin and the actual measured size of the crankpin falls beyond this tolerance, the grinding machine will be faulted and the production would be stopped until a correction is made to the machine. It is noted that when the grinding machine is operating in the normal mode, a measurement is made only to the last crankpin of a particular crankshaft. Alternatively, when the machine is operating in the normal mode, it might not be necessary to measure each of the last crankpins of any crankshaft if the machine is sensed to be operating very close to the projected values of the crankpins. In this instance, measure¬ ments could be made to every second or third or fourth crank- shaft, etc.

It is important to note that the teachings of the present invention need not be utilized only when machining or grinding a workpiece have a number of successive grindable surfaces which will be ground to the same dimension, but could be employed if the workpiece includes only a single surface to be ground.

It is understood that the invention is not confined to the particular construction and arrangement herein and illustrat¬ ed and described but embraces such modified forms thereof as come within the scope of the following claims.