Adaptive drilling with piezo-electric feed oscillator

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017136552-A1
Application number	US-201614990135-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 7, 2016
Priority date	Nov 16, 2015
Publication date	May 18, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A positive feed tool may include a motor, a power supply operably coupled to the motor to power the motor, a gear head and a spindle. The gear head may be operably coupled to the motor to be operated responsive to powering of the motor. The gear head may include a drive assembly and a feed assembly. The spindle may be operably coupled to the gear head to enable the spindle to be selectively driven rotationally and fed axially based on operation of the drive assembly and the feed assembly, respectively. The feed assembly may include an electronically controlled variable feed rate oscillator.

First claim

That which is claimed:

1 . A positive feed tool comprising:
a motor; a power supply operably coupled to the motor to power the motor; a gear head operably coupled to the motor to be operated responsive to powering of the motor, the gear head comprising a drive assembly and a feed assembly; and a spindle operably coupled to the gear head to enable the spindle to be selectively driven rotationally and fed axially based on operation of the drive assembly and the feed assembly, respectively, wherein the feed assembly comprises an electronically controlled variable feed rate oscillator.

2 . The positive feed tool of claim 1 , wherein the variable feed rate oscillator comprises a piezo feed rate oscillator having at least one piezo electric ring stack.

3 . The positive feed tool of claim 2 , further comprising a controller configured to enable an amplitude or frequency of voltage applied to the piezo feed rate oscillator to be controlled by an operator.

4 . The positive feed tool of claim 2 , further comprising a controller configured to enable an amplitude or frequency of voltage applied to the piezo feed rate oscillator to be controlled automatically.

5 . The positive feed tool of claim 4 , wherein the controller interfaces with a second piezo electric ring stack configured as a sensor, the second piezo electric ring stack providing a real time indication of thrust load generated by the positive feed tool.

6 . The positive feed tool of claim 5 , wherein the controller adjusts the amplitude or frequency based on the thrust load.

7 . The positive feed tool of claim 1 , wherein the motor is a pneumatically driven motor.

8 . The positive feed tool of claim 7 , wherein the power supply comprises pressurized air.

9 . The positive feed tool of claim 1 , further comprising a controller configured to control the variable feed rate oscillator, the controller being configured to detect events including changes in material and tool break through and control operation of the gear head responsive to detection of one of the events.

10 . The positive feed tool of claim 9 , wherein the controller is further configured to monitor tool life based on monitoring thrust load.

11 . The positive feed tool of claim 1 , further comprising a controller configured to control the variable feed rate oscillator, the controller being configured to adjust an amplitude or frequency range of the variable feed rate oscillator to a plurality of non-discrete values between respective maximum and minimum values.

12 . A gear head for selectively driving and feeding a spindle of a positive feed tool, the gear head comprising:
a drive assembly configured to selectively drive the spindle rotationally; and a feed assembly configured to selectively feed the spindle axially, wherein the feed assembly comprises an electronically controlled variable feed rate oscillator.

13 . The gear head of claim 12 , wherein the variable feed rate oscillator comprises a piezo feed rate oscillator having at least one piezo electric ring stack.

14 . The gear head of claim 13 , wherein the feed assembly is configured to interface with a controller, the controller being configured to enable an amplitude or frequency of voltage applied to the piezo feed rate oscillator to be controlled by an operator.

15 . The gear head of claim 13 , wherein the feed assembly is configured to interface with a controller, the controller being configured to enable an amplitude or frequency of voltage applied to the piezo feed rate oscillator to be controlled automatically.

16 . The gear head of claim 15 , wherein the controller interfaces with a second piezo electric ring stack configured as a sensor, the second piezo electric ring stack providing a real time indication of thrust load generated by the positive feed tool.

17 . The gear head of claim 16 , wherein the controller adjusts the amplitude or frequency based on the thrust load.

18 . The gear head of claim 12 , wherein the feed assembly is configured to interface with a controller, the controller being configured to control the variable feed rate oscillator, the controller being configured to detect events including changes in material and tool break through and control operation of the gear head responsive to detection of one of the events.

19 . The gear head of claim 18 , wherein the controller is further configured to monitor tool life based on monitoring thrust load.

20 . The gear head of claim 12 , wherein the feed assembly is configured to interface with a controller, the controller being configured to control the variable feed rate oscillator, the controller being configured to adjust an amplitude or frequency range of the variable feed rate oscillator to a plurality of non-discrete values between respective maximum and minimum values.

Assignees

• Apex Brands Inc

Inventors

• Fairchild Adam Donald
• Deswardt Rolf Reitz
• Watford Jeremy Dean

Classifications

• B23Q5/326 Primary

  screw-operated · CPC title

• B23B2270/027

  Pneumatics · CPC title

• B23Q5/32

  Feeding working-spindles (feeding working-spindle supports B23Q5/34) · CPC title

• B23B2260/108

  Piezoelectric elements · CPC title

• B23Q17/0966

  by measuring a force on parts of the machine other than a motor · CPC title