"CENTERLESS GRINDER" Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a centerless grinder, which is a considerable technological improvement, where the axes that move the dressing diamonds against the wheels were eliminated, thus allowing the wheels' headstocks to move independently from the dressers, which will be mounted rigidly on the machine base, ensuring various technical, functional and economic advantages, making the machine cheaper, faster and easier to be built, benefits which will be transferred to the machine users.

Description of the prior art

Centerless grinders are machines that grind cylindrical parts leaving their diameter dimensions within the expected tolerances. The grinding of the parts is done through an abrasive process, with the use of a grinding wheel, which effectively removes the stock material from the cylindrical part, and a regulating wheel whose function is to make the cylindrical part rotate.

After a certain amount of grinding cycles, both wheels wear off and need to be sharpened (dressed). The dressing of the wheels is performed through diamond tools fixed on sliding tables, namely dressing slides. These dressing slides are mounted on the wheel headstocks and move across them.

The traditional centerless grinders have six axes: two axes that move the grinding and regulating wheels against the cylindrical part to be ground, two axes that move the dressing diamonds against the wheels and two axes that move the dressing slides longitudinally across the wheels for the dressing process.

Summary of the invention

The innovation here proposed consists of the elimination of the two axes that move the dressing diamonds against the wheels.

Instead of having the dressing slides mounted in such a way that they run over the wheel headstocks, the present invention proposes that the dressing slides are mounted rigidly on the machine base.

By doing that, it is possible to move the headstocks through the axes that move them towards the cylindrical part without moving the dressing slides, which will be mounted on the machine base.

Therefore it will be possible to use the same axes that move the wheels against the cylindrical part to move the wheels against the dressing diamonds, thus eliminating the two axes that move the dressing diamonds against the wheels.

Brief description of the drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention are better clarified below by the detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 represents a partial view in perspective of the traditional centerless grinder.

FIGURES 2 and 3 represent side and top views, respectively, of the traditional centerless grinder.

FIGURE 4 represents a partial view in perspective of the centerless grinder, as proposed by the present invention.

FIGURES 5 and 6 represent side and top views, respectively, of the centerless grinder, as proposed by the present invention.

Detailed description of the invention

Figures 1 , 2 and 3 show, as an illustration, a traditional centerless grinder, which has six axes, being two axes (11 ) and (12) that move the grinding wheel (13) and regulating wheel (14) against the cylindrical part (15) to be grounded, two axes that move the dressing diamonds (18) against the wheels, and two axes (16) and (17) that move

the dressing slides (21 ) that are mounted on top of the headstocks (22) longitudinally across the wheels for the dressing process.

Figures 4, 5 and 6 show a centerless grinder according to the present invention, that is, with the technological improvements herein introduced.

In the present invention, the dressing slides (1 ) are mounted rigidly on the machine base (2) and not on top of the wheel headstocks, and therefore the axes that conventionally move the dressing diamonds against the grinding wheel (3) and regulating wheel (4) are eliminated.

The wheel headstocks (5) are moved through axes (6) and (7), without the need of moving the dressers (1 ), which are rigidly mounted on the machine base (2), in such a way that the wheels are moved towards the dressing diamonds (8) in order to perform the dressing process, while axes (9) and (10) move the dressing slides (8) longitudinally along the wheels (3) and (4) to dress them.