US2547518A - Full-floating holder - Google Patents

Description

April 3, 1951 M, BENJAMlN ETAL 2,547,518

FULL FLOATING HOLDER Filed NOV. 30, 1949 Patented Apr. 3, 1951 FULL-FLOATING HOLDER Milton L. Benjamin, Shaker Heights, and Franklyn E. Winnen, Cleveland, Ohio; said Winnen assigner to said Benjamin Application November 30, 1949, Serial No. 130,262

12 Claims.

The present invention relates generally as indicated to a full floating holder and has for one of its main objects the provision of a holder which utilizes an entirely new principle to compensate for both angular and parallel misalignment between the tool and the work spindles of machine tools, for example.

It is another object of this invention to provide a full floating holder in which the pressure required to hold the parts in adjusted position is applied through an elastic support sleeve made of rubber or rubber-like material.

Another object is to provide a holder of the character indicated in which accurate alignment between a tool adapted to be held in the holder and a workpiece to be operated upon by said' tool and carried by the work spindle can be eiTected in a most eiiicient manner to increase production and to reduce scrap and tool cost and wear to a minimum.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as the following description proceeds;

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fullyV described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawing setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawing:

Fig. 1 is an exploded View of a collet type holder, some of the parts being shown wholly or partly in cross-section;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section view on an enlarged scale of the parts in Fig. 1 in assembled relation;

Fig. 3 is a cross-section view of a oating holder shank of the straight bushing type as distinguished from the collet type illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a cross-section view of a floating holde shank of the taper shank type; and

Figs. 5 and 6 are cross-section views of modied support-sleeves. Y

Referring now more specifically to the drawing and rst more particularly to Fig. l, the rst part at the left-hand side is the main shank or housing I which is provided with an elongated shank portion 2 adapted to be secured to the tool spindle of a metal working machine. Said housing I is further provided with an enlarged tubular exteriorly threaded portion 3 within which is formed a conical seat 4. At diametrically opposite sides of said seat and extending axially 2 beyond the base of said seat 4 are a pair of cylindricalpins 5 press-fitted into said housing. Said pins 5 are also disposed within the enlarged portion 3 of said housing.

Next is a series of three members B, I0, and I5 insertible into housing I and respectively having a universally tiltable and driving connection with said housing and transversely movable and driving connections with each other along angularly disposed paths. v

The rst of said series of members is a drive plate or ring 6 which is formed with a spherical protuberance 'I adapted to engage in line contact with the conical seat 4Hand formed with a radially extending ange 8. Said ange 8 is formed with four equally spaced peripheral notches 9, two of which notches are adapted to loosely lit over the projecting ends of the pins 5 to enable driving engagement between housing I and saidring B and universal tilting of said ring while in engagement with seat 4.

The second or intermediate one of said series of members 6, IIJ, and I5 is a ballY retainer ring I D carrying a plurality of circularly arranged balls I I therein each of diameter slightly greater than the thickness of said ring I0 and extending beyond opposite faces of said ring. The balls II are held in place so as to lie in a common plane and so to be rotatable in said ring as by peening over the opposite faces of said ring I0.

Said retainer ring Itl is formed with diametrically opposedv and axially extending lugs I2 adapted to loosely fit within the other pair of notches 9 in said drive ring 6 to enable driving of said ball retainer ring I0 'through said drive ring and adjustment of the latter along a path transverse to its axis. Said ring I0 is further formed with another pair of similar diametrically opposed lugs I4 which extend axially in the opposite direction and out of phase with the lugs I2, as shown.

The third or last one of said series of members 6, I0, and I5 is a floating holder shank I5 of tubular form threaded at one end as shown and 'formed with a ii'ange I6 at the other end, such 'flange being formed with apair ofv dijaimetrically opposed notches I'I adapted to loosely fit over lugs I4 of said ball retainer ring I0 where'- by said holder shank I5 may also be adjusted transversely of its axis but along a path at right angles to the `path of transverse adjustment of the ball retainer ring III. The iit of the notches I 1 over the lugs I4 in additionprovidesa driving connection with ball retainer ring IIJ. c

'Said holder shank I5 is provided with a bore containing coaxial and axially spaced conical seats I8 and I9 comparable with the seats formed in the shank member disclosed for example in the Milton L. Benjamin et al. Patent No. 2,358,300 which issued on September 19, 1944.

Next after said series of members is a spacer ring and a support sleeve 2| both having a loose fit over the threaded portion of the holder shank I5, said spacer ring 20 being disposed to engage the side of the fiange I'I which is opposite to said ball retainer ring Iil. Said support sleeve 2| is of rubber or rubber-like material and, as will hereinafter appear, pressure is adapted to be applied through said sleeve to clamp the drive ring 5, the ball retainer ring Il?, and the holder shank I5 in desired tilted and transverse adjusted positions Within said Vhousing I.

Next in Fig. l is a contractible collet '272 lor a form such as that disclosed in the aforesaid Benjamin et al. patent provided with conical faces 23 and 2li engageable with the conical seats I8 and I9 respectively in said holder shank I5. As apparent, endwise movement of said collet 22 into said holder shank I5 will eiiect contraction of said collet so as to vgrip a tool or the like therein.

Next, is an internally threaded adjusting nut 25 which is adapted to be threaded into the portion 3 of housing I, said nut being formed with an inturned `flange 25 having a loose iit'over the threaded portion of holder shank I5. As apparent, tightening of said nut 25 ontoY housing I will effect clamping of the previously described series of .members 5, I0, and I5 in a desired adjusted position by pressure applied through the elastic support sleeve 2|` Next, is a nose ring 2'| and a nose-piece 28, the latter being threadably engageable with the holder shank I5 whereby the nose ring 21 Will engage the outer end of collet 22 to eiect the desired endwise movement and contraction of said collet to grip a tool therein.

The afore-described parts are shown in assembled position in Fig. 2 with a reamer R gripped in collet 22. For sake of illustration, `housing 'I in Fig. 2 is shown in both angular and parallel misalignment with a work spindle 29, the axes of said housing I and said spindle 25 being represented by the lines and 3| respectively and the axis of said drive ring 5 being represented by the line 32 to show the angular and parallel misalignment.

With the adjusting nut 25 tightened by hand or with light wrench pressure, the tool lR may readily be shifted `angularly and transversely to bring its axis into perfect alignment with the axis `3| of the work spindle 29, as shown, such shifting being made .possible by the drive ring 6 being universally tiltable when in engagement with conical seat 4 in housing I and by the ball retainer ring I0 and the holder shank I5 being transversely movable with respect to their axes along angularly disposed paths. In this -partly assembled position the balls II `are engaged between the flanges' and I5 of said drive ring 5 and said holder shank I5 .to facilitate transverse movement ofthe retainer ring and 'holder shank and to function more `or less as a thrust bear- Withthe tool R in proper alignment as aforesaid, nut V25 may then be tightened to the 'tool R in such properly adjusted position.

The tightening of nut 25 as aforesaid exerts pressure on elastic support sleeve 2| which 4 by the usual wedge pin (not shown).

4 through the pressure thus applied on spacer ring 2i), flange I5 of holder shank I5, and balls II of ball retainer ring ID on said drive ring 6 effects firm seating in line contact of spherical surface I with cone seat 4.

Although the pressure around support sleeve 2| may vary somewhat due to the angular misalignment, but, for the most part, the pressure is more or less equalized or balanced due to the behavior of the rubber or rubber-like material from which said support sleeve is made in a manner similar to pressure applied upon a confined fluid. In this way, the frictional resistance to movement of the drive ring 6 relative to housing I is greater Ithan the tendency of said support ysleeve to return to its normal undistorted shape, this being attributed to the higher unit pressure of the line contact between said housing I and said drive ring 6 than that applied on said support sleeve. With regard to parallel movement, the tool R may yet resiliently rpartake of a limited amount of such movement as permitted by the transverse clearance between support sleeve 2| and holder shank I5.

It is to be understood that the reamer Ris herein shown for illustrative purposes only and therefore other tools such as taps and the like may be similarly .gripped in collet 2v2 as well as Workpieces which it is desired to align with tools or other parts of the machine. Obviously other forms of gripping devices may be used.

For example, the holder shank may comprise a straight bushing 33 as illustrated in Fig. 3 and provided with a 1set screw 34 for applying gripping pressure on the shank .of the tool or said holder shank may be of the taper shank type as shown in Fig. 4 comprising a shank 35 loosely extending through the bores in ball retainer ring IU and drive ring 6 to permit desired tilting and transverse movements and provided with a tapered bore 36 adapted to receive a correspondingly tapered shank of the tool or the like. The transverse opening 31 through the shank 35 enables convenient removal of the tool In such case, housing I will also be provided with a transverse opening in register with the opening 37 aforesaid. In both of the modications illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 the flanges I6 thereon correspond With the flanges I6 on holder shank I5 and the diametrically opposed notches I1 correspond with like notches formed in holder shank flange I6.

In the modication illustrated in Fig. 5, two spacer rings 20 are provided, one located on each side of support sleeve 2|, and as evident it may be desirable in some instances to omit both of these spacer rings whereby said support sleeve will directly engage flange I5 of holder shanks I5, 33 or 35 as the case may be.

In the modication illustrated in Fig. 6 spacers 38 are provided with axial flanges 39 to restrict distortion of support sleeve 49 therebetween and therearound only in a radially outward direction so as to always assure a transverse clearance with holder Shanks I5., 33, or 35. Here again, one or both of the spacers 38.may be omitted and if only one is provided, the -axial ange 39 thereof may be correspondingly longer.

In any event, the support sleeve 40 is arranged to have axial pressure applied thereon between the inturned ange 2G of adjusting nut 25 and flange I6 of holder shank I5, 33, or 35 whereby such pressure in turn is transmitted through the remaining parts II and 6 to eiect tight engagement of drive ring 6 with conical seat 4 in substantially line contact.

It should be borne in mind that conical seat 4 and spherical protuberance l may be reversed, that is, the spherical surface may be in the form of a protuberance in housing I and the conical surface may be in the nature of a flare mouth in drive ring 6, thus yet permitting the universal Vtilting of said drive ring with respect to housing i.

Likewise seat 4 may be of spherical form with said drive ring 6 terminating in a sharp edge engaging such seat in line contact and permitting universal tilting of said drive ring. Moreover, various modifications, too numerous to mention, may be made in the cavity in which the support sleeves 2| or 40 and spacers 2|l or 38 are disposed just so long as pressure applied on said support sleeves in turn exerts pressure to hold the drive ring 6 in a desired adjusted tilted position and to irictionally clamp the holder shank I5, 33, or 35 and ball retainer ring IB in desired adjusted transverse positions to cure both angular and parallel misalignment between housing i and work spindle 29 or the like.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the detailsI described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims, or the equivalent of such, be employed.

We therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as our invention:

1. In a floating holder for tools and the like, the combination of a housing, a series of at least three members respectively having a universally tiltable and driving connection with said housing and having transversely movable and driving connections with each other along angularly disposed paths, an elastic member adjacent the last of said series of members, and a clamping nut movable with respect to said housing for applying pressure on said elastic member and thus resiliently clamp said series of members in adjusted tilted and transverse positions with respect to said housing. l

2. In a oating holder for tools and the like,

the combination of a housing, a series of at least three members respectivelyhaving a universally tiltable and driving connection with said housing and having transversely movable and driving connections with each other along angularly disjusted tilted and transverse positions with respect to said housing, said housing and the first of said series of members being formed with interengaged conical and spherical seats forming such universally tiltable connection.

3. In a oating holder for tools and the like, the combination of a housing, a series of at least three members respectively having a universally tiltable and driving connection with said housing and having transversely movable and driving connections with each otherv along angularly disposed paths, an elastic member adjacent the last of said series of members, and a clamping nut movable with respect to said housing for applying pressure on said elastic member and thus resiliently clamp said series of members in adjusted tilted and transverse positions with respect to said housing, said housing and the iirst of said series o f members being formed With interengaged conical and spherical seats forming such universally .tiltable connection, such seats being engaged substantially in line contact whereby to eiectively retain said rst member in adjusted position upon clamping thereof through said elastic member as aforesaid.

4. In a noating holder for tools and the like, the combination of a housing, a series of at least three members respectively having a universally tiltable and driving connection with said housing and having transversely movable and driving Connections with each other along angularly disposed paths, an elastic member adjacent the last of said series of members, and a clamping nut movable with respect to said housing for applying pressure on said elastic member and thus resiliently clamp said series of members in adjusted tilted and transverse positions with respect to said housing, an intermediate one of said series of members carrying a plurality of balls respectively engaged with the members on opposite sides whereby to facilitate transverse adjustments.

5. In a floating holder for tools and the like, the combination of a housing, a series of at least three members respectively having a universally tiltable and driving connection with said housing and having transversely movable and driving connections with each other along angularly disposed paths, an elastic member adjacent the last of said series of members, and a clamping nut movable with respect to said housing for applying pressure on said elastic member and thus resiliently clamp said series of member in adjusted tilted and transverse positions with respect to said housing, the last of said series of members including means for gripping a tool or the like whereby by tilting and transversely adjusting said series of members the toolmay .be positioned with its axis in a predetermined relation to said housing.

6. In a floating holder for tools and the like, the combination of a housing, a series of at least three members respectively having a universally tiltable and driving connection with said housing and having transversely movable and driving connections with each other along angularly disposed paths, an elastic member adjacent the last of said series of members, and a clamping nut movable with respect to said housing for applying pressure on said elastic member and thus resiliently clamp said series yof members in adjusted tilted and transverse positions With respect to said housing, the driving connection between the rst of said series of members and said housing comprising loosely intertting projections and notches which enable relative tilting movement of said housing and said rst member.

'7. In a oating holder for tools and the like, ,f the combination of a housing, a series of at least three members respectively having a universally tiltable and driving connection with said housing y and having transversely movable and driving consaid members and between the second and third of said members.

8. In a floating holder for tools and the like, the combination of a housing, a lseries of at least three members respectively having a universally tiltable and driving connection with said housing and having transversely movable and driving connections with each other along angularly disposed paths, an elastic member adjacent the last of said series `of members, and a clamping nut movable with respect to said housing for applying pressure on vsaid elastic member and thus resiliently clamp said series of members in adjusted tilted and transverse positions with respect to said housing, the last of said series of members extending through said elastic member and having transverse clearance therewith.

9. In a floating holder for tools and the like, the combination of a housing, a series of at least three members respectively having a universally tiltable and driving connection with said housing and having transversely movable and driving connections with each other along angularly disposed paths, an elastic member adjacent the last of said series of members, and a clamping nut movable with respect to said housing for applying pressure on said elastic member and thus resiliently clamp said series of members in adjusted tilted and transverse positions with respect to said housing, and a spacer member between said elastic member and the last of said series of members.

10. In a floating holder for tools and the like, the combination of a housing, a series of at least three members respectively having a universally tiltable and driving connection with said housing and having transversely movable and driving connections with each other along angularly disposed paths, an elastic member adjacent the last of said series of members, and a clamping nut movable with respect to'said housing for applying pressure on said elastic member and thus resiliently clamp said series of members in adjusted tilted and transverse positons with respect to said housing, the last of said series of members extending through said elastic member and having transverse clearance therewith, and a spacer member including an axial Iiange within said elastic member to preclude closing of such transverse clearance upon application of pressure to the latter by said clamping nut.

11. In a oating holder for tools and the like, the combination of a housing, a tool gripping assembly having a universally tiltable and transversely movable positive driving connection with said housing, a clamping nut having threaded engagement with said housing, and an elastic member engaged between said nut and assembly for resilientiy clamping said assembly in adjusted tilted and transverse position with respect to said housing.

12. In a floating holder for tools and the like, the combination of a housing, a tool gripping assembly having a universally tiltable and transversely movable positive driving connection with said housing, `a clamping nut having threaded engagement with said housing, and an elastic member engaged between said nut and assembly for resiliently clamping said assembly in adjusted tilted and transverse position with respect to said housing', said tool gripping assembly comprising a series of at least three members, one

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,222,466 Raulton Apr. 10, 1917 1,309,217 Rathram July 8, 1919 2,042,648 Ziegler June 2, 1936 2,392,039 Gideon Jan. l, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 99,133 Sweden June 11, 1940 122,174 Great Britain June 19, 1919

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