Polishing and brushing techniques for cylindrical and contoured surfaces

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016256931-A1
Application number	US-201514856496-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 16, 2015
Priority date	Mar 8, 2015
Publication date	Sep 8, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Material removal processes of a structure are disclosed. These processes can define several features. For example, metal structure can include an interior recess surrounded by a sidewall. The structure can further include a base portion integrally formed with the sidewall. The sidewall can include an opening extending through the sidewall and into the interior recess. The sidewall can undergo a material removal process to include multiple curved regions. The sidewall, the first curved region, and the second curved region can be polished to include a reflectivity different than a reflectivity of an exterior region of the base portion. A single multi-axes lathe having multiple spindles performs several material removal processes under a continuous machine cutting process. The spindles may include clamping features that allow a first spindle to perform a first operation then pass the metal structure to a second spindle. Additional processes include lapping, polishing, and linear brushing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A cutting and machining method operable by a multi-axis lathe tool having multiple spindles, each of which is configured to secure a substrate, the cutting and machining method comprising:
performing a cutting operation at a cutting surface of the substrate secured with a first spindle to define an interior recess, the cutting operation comprising a contact cycle between the cutting surface and a cutting tool, the contact cycle including:
engaging the substrate at the cutting surface with the cutting tool to remove material from the substrate, and
disengaging the cutting surface from the cutting tool to allow dissipation of at least some heat generated from removing material from the substrate.

2 . The cutting and machining method of claim 1 , wherein performing the cutting operation on the substrate at the first spindle to define the interior recess of the substrate comprises:
transitioning the substrate from the first spindle to a second spindle; securing the substrate with the second spindle at the interior recess; and performing a second cutting operation with a second cutting tool engaging the substrate secured with the second spindle to define an exterior region of the substrate.

3 . The cutting and machining method of claim 2 , wherein performing the second cutting operation on the substrate at the second spindle to define the exterior region of the substrate comprises:
forming a sidewall extending around the interior recess; and forming a curved region extending from the sidewall.

4 . The cutting and machining method of claim 3 , further comprising:
receiving a first material removal operation at the sidewall and the curved region to define a first reflectivity of the sidewall and the curved region; and receiving a second material removal operation at the exterior region to define a second reflectivity of the sidewall and the curved region, the second reflectivity different from the first reflectivity.

5 . The cutting and machining method of claim 3 , further comprising performing a third cutting operation at the sidewall to define an opening in the sidewall.

6 . The cutting and machining method of claim 5 , wherein performing the third cutting operation at the sidewall to define the opening comprises forming a chamfered region around the opening.

7 . The cutting and machining method of claim 1 , wherein the disengaging the cutting surface from the cutting tool to allow the dissipation of at least some of the heat comprises reducing a temperature gradient across the cutting surface.

8 . A cutting apparatus suitable for cutting a substrate used to form an enclosure feature used with an inductive charging station having an inductive coil, the cutting apparatus comprising:
a first cutting tool that performs a first cutting operation in which the first cutting tool further engages the substrate to cut material away from the substrate and disengages the substrate to allow at least some heat, created by the cutting away of the material, to leave the substrate; and a second cutting tool that performs a second cutting operation different from the first cutting operation, wherein the first cutting tool cuts away the material from the substrate to define an interior recess capable of receiving the inductive coil.

9 . The cutting apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the second cutting tool cuts an exterior of the substrate to define an exterior region of the enclosure feature.

10 . The cutting apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the second cutting tool cuts away the enclosure feature from the substrate.

11 . The cutting apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the first cutting tool cuts away the material from the substrate to define a sidewall and a base portion.

12 . The cutting apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising a third cutting cool that performs a third cutting operation to the sidewall to define an opening.

13 . The cutting apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the third cutting tool forms a chamfered region around the opening.

14 . The cutting apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising a fourth cutting tool that cuts material at the base portion such that the base portion is flat.

15 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to implement a method for cutting and machining a substrate, the method comprising:
performing a first cutting operation at a cutting surface of the substrate secured with a first spindle to define an interior recess, the first cutting operation comprising a contact cycle between the cutting surface and a first cutting tool, the contact cycle including 1) engaging the substrate at the cutting surface with the first cutting tool to remove material from the substrate, and 2) disengaging the cutting surface from the first cutting tool to allow dissipation of at least some heat generated from the engaging the cutting surface with the first cutting tool; transitioning the substrate from the first spindle to a second spindle; securing the substrate with the second spindle at the interior recess; and performing a second cutting operation with a second cutting tool engaging the substrate secured with the second spindle to define an exterior region of the substrate.

16 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein engaging the substrate at the cutting surface with the first cutting tool to remove material from the substrate comprises defining an interior recess.

17 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein engaging the substrate at the cutting surface with the first cutting tool to remove material from the substrate to define the interior recess comprises forming a sidewall and forming a base portion.

18 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein engaging the substrate at the cutting surface with the first cutting tool to remove material from the substrate to define the sidewall and the base portion comprises forming a curved region between the sidewall and the base portion.

19 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , further comprising forming an opening in the sidewall.

20 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein engaging the substrate at the cutting surface with the first cutting tool to remove material from the substrate to define the sidewall and the base portion comprises forming a support feature in the interior recess.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Karanikos Demetrios B
• Cowan Wayne H
• Thompson Paul J
• Ho Cheuk Nang

Classifications

• G05B2219/37428

  Temperature of tool · CPC title

• B23B2220/04

  Chamferring (B23B2220/28 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G05B19/404

  characterised by control arrangements for compensation, e.g. for backlash, overshoot, tool offset, tool wear, temperature, machine construction errors, load, inertia (G05B19/19, G05B19/41 take precedence) · CPC title

• B23B3/30 Primary

  Turning-machines with two or more working-spindles, e.g. in fixed arrangement · CPC title

• B24B37/04

  designed for working plane surfaces · CPC title