Grinding machine
First Claim
1. A grinding apparatus for grinding a workpiece mounted on a workpiece stock, the workpiece defining a fixed longitudinally extending axis, said apparatus comprising:
- grinding shaft stock means;
a grinding shaft, said grinding shaft defining a longitudinally extending shaft axis;
bearing means movably disposed on said stock means for rotatably supporting said grinding shaft for rotation about said shaft axis, said bearing means supporting said shaft relative to the workpiece such that said shaft axis is at least generally coplanar with the workpiece axis;
adjustment means for adjusting the orientation of said shaft relative to the workpiece, said adjustment means being movably disposed between at least a portion of said bearing means and said stock means and acting on said bearing means to move said shaft relative to said workpiece when a changing electrical potential is applied thereto, said adjustment means comprising at least a first piezoelectric actuator; and
means for selectively applying at least one electrical potential to said adjustment means whereby changes in said electrical potential induce movement of said piezoelectric actuator within the plane defined by said shaft axis and the workpiece axis.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A grinding machine comprises a grinding shaft which is rotatably mounted on the grinding shaft stock for rotation about a longitudinally extending shaft axis. The grinding machine includes at least one grinding disk fixedly mounted to the shaft and at least one bearing movably disposed between the grinding shaft and the grinding shaft stock for rotatably supporting the grinding shaft. Finally, the grinding machine includes an adjustment means with an adjustable piezoelectric actuator which is disposed between the bearing and the grinding shaft stock. The grinding machine can be used to grind selective regions of a workpiece which is mounted to a workpiece stock so as to define a fixed longitudinally extending workpiece axis. When a changing electrical potential is applied to the adjustment means, a piezoelectric element of the piezoelectric actuator experiences physical deformation thereby allowing the piezoelectric actuator to reposition the bearing until the grinding shaft axis is parallel to the workpiece axis.
13 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A grinding apparatus for grinding a workpiece mounted on a workpiece stock, the workpiece defining a fixed longitudinally extending axis, said apparatus comprising:
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grinding shaft stock means; a grinding shaft, said grinding shaft defining a longitudinally extending shaft axis; bearing means movably disposed on said stock means for rotatably supporting said grinding shaft for rotation about said shaft axis, said bearing means supporting said shaft relative to the workpiece such that said shaft axis is at least generally coplanar with the workpiece axis; adjustment means for adjusting the orientation of said shaft relative to the workpiece, said adjustment means being movably disposed between at least a portion of said bearing means and said stock means and acting on said bearing means to move said shaft relative to said workpiece when a changing electrical potential is applied thereto, said adjustment means comprising at least a first piezoelectric actuator; and means for selectively applying at least one electrical potential to said adjustment means whereby changes in said electrical potential induce movement of said piezoelectric actuator within the plane defined by said shaft axis and the workpiece axis. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification