Out-rigger grinding fixture   

Abstract: An outrigger grinding fixture to support a workpiece on a manual surface grinder having a worktable and a grinding wheel. The outrigger grinding fixture comprises a base member maintained on the worktable. A slide member has a V-shaped slot formed on an upper edge. A mechanism is for horizontally adjusting the slide member on the base member. Another mechanism is for preventing vibration of the workpiece when the grinding wheel engages with the workpiece.

This application claims the benefit of Provisional Patent Application No. 613/63,298, filed on Jul. 12, 2010, In the United States Patent & Trademark Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a manual surface grinder attachment, and more particularly, an outrigger grinding fixture.

The outrigger grinding fixture is designed to provide support for a workpiece being a small part while machining. This ensures that the workpiece does not vibrate and break off. By supporting the end of the workpiece, it can be altered in size and shape without chatter or damage. The present invention can be used to support the workpiece in a manual surface grinder in any machine shop.

2. Description of the Prior Art

When grinding a workpiece being a small part, there is a possibility that excessive heat will cause the workpiece to flex and become warped. When the workpiece is not held securely, it can begin to vibrate, or chatter, and even break apart. This results in a loss of materials and valuable time. A more efficient method is needed.

Numerous innovations for workpiece supports have been provided in the prior art that will be described. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they differ from the present invention.

A FIRST EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,599, Issued on Mar. 27, 1984, to Kamman et al. teaches a work contact shoe that floats in an elastomeric mount within a shoe holder, and the shoe holder is mounted by bracket means to a machine base. A preload mechanism is employed for forcing the work contact shoe into a slight preload against a workpiece so that as the workpiece is machined and vibrations are generated, the vibrations will be attenuated by shearing of the elastomer.

A SECOND EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,269, Issued on Feb. 27, 1996, to McCalmont teaches a workpiece that is clamped to a machine table while being machined, but a cantilevered portion of the workpiece is subject to vibrations. The cap of a vibration damping unit is supported on the machine base and spring-loaded upwardly against the workpiece. A support spring acting on a seat forces a damping element against the cap which, in turn, is impressed against the cantilevered workpiece. Vibrations are suppressed by horizontal shearing motion of the ring damping element. The entire damping assembly comprising the cap, ring damping element, seat and spring are retracted from the workpiece by means of a central rod connected to a manually actuated toggle clamp.

A THIRD EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,768, Issued on Nov. 16, 1999, to Tolley teaches a fixture for retaining mold pin workpieces for separate cut-off and precision grinding operations, facilitating the efficient machining of quantities of mold pins to close tolerances, when employed in combination with a machine such as a manual surface grinder, or other machining tool. The grinding fixture includes a base pate, with a vertically upstanding cylindrical post secured to the base plate. A head assembly is slidably mounted on the post for both vertical position adjustment and rotational (angular) adjustment. A vertically-extending graticule line on the post and a graduated degree scale on the head assembly cooperate to facilitate rotational adjustment of the head assembly to particular angles. In addition, the base plate has primary side and secondary positioning reference edges oriented at precise angles. The head assembly has a pin-clamping portion extending horizontally from the post to a distal end generally along ahead assembly axis perpendicular to the post. A first stationary jaw is located on a side of the pin-clamping portion adjacent to the distal end and has a horizontally-oriented V-groove facing away from the head assembly axis for orienting a workpiece pin parallel to the head assembly axis during a cut-off operation. A second stationary jaw is located at the distal end and has a vertically-oriented V-groove facing away from the post for orienting a workpiece pin perpendicular to the head assembly axis during a precision grinding operation.

A FOURTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Publication No. 2006/0105688, published on May 18, 2006, to Okanda teaches a workpiece support device for use in machining a workpiece including: a securing support unit; and a following support unit. The securing support unit has a securing abutment member releasably positioned and secured at a desired position, and the securing abutment member abuts against the workpiece at a portion near a portion to be machined to prevent the portion to be machined from moving against the secured securing abutment member. The following support unit has a following abutment member, and the following abutment member abuts against the workpiece at a portion near the portion to be machined on the same side as the securing abutment member, is movable following a movement of the workpiece, and applies a pressure to the workpiece during the movement.

A FIFTH EXAMPLE, U. S . Pat. No. 7,462,093, issued on Dec. 9, 2008, to Okanda teaches a workpiece support device for use in machining a workpiece including: a securing support unit; and a following support unit. The securing support unit has a securing abutment member releasably positioned and secured at a desired position, and the securing abutment member abuts against the workpiece at a portion near a portion to be machined to prevent the portion to be machined from moving against the secured securing abutment member. The following support unit has a following abutment member, and the following abutment member abuts against the workpiece at a portion near the portion to be machined on the same side as the securing abutment member, is movable following a movement of the workpiece, and applies a pressure to the workpiece during the movement.

A SIXTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Publication No. 2009/0016835, published on Jan. 15, 2009, to Wang et al. teaches a mechanism for suppressing grinding-cutting vibration comprises a C-shaped base, a fixed support seat, a clamp device and a vibration absorber. Based on vibration absorbing principle of the vibration theory, the clamp device is connected to the movable cutting machine, so as to move along with the cutting machine during the machining operation, and the clamp force applied to clamp the workpiece is adjustable. By such arrangements, the vibration energy produced at the time of cutting the workpiece can be transferred to the vibration absorber through the clamp device, and then a part of the vibration energy will be absorbed by the vibration absorber, thus achieving the objective of reducing vibration of the cut position.

A SEVENTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Publication No. 2011/0034114, published on Feb. 10, 2011, to Eggar teaches a support collar plate for vibration-free holding of workpiece, i.e., pilgrim mandrel, clamped at both ends and to be processed between its ends by means of a grinding wheel, comprised of a base, arranged fixed in place in respect to the workpiece, and a clamp, which extends around the workpiece on at least two oppositely located sides. The workpiece can be clamped by a clamping force, wherein the clamp extends around the workpiece so that it is possible to perform processing in the area of the clamp on the side facing the grinding wheel, and wherein the clamp is floatingly seated in at least one direction perpendicularly in respect to a longitudinal axis of the workpiece, so that the clamp is self-centering in respect to the workpiece. By means of the floatingly seated clamp, the workpiece is maintained independent of exterior forces which change the spatial position of the workpiece.

It is apparent now that numerous innovations for workpiece supports have been provided in the prior art that are adequate for various purposes. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, accordingly, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.

SUMMARY

AN OBJECT of the present invention is to provide an outrigger grinding fixture that avoids the disadvantages of the prior art.

ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide an outrigger grinding fixture that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

STILL ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide an outrigger grinding fixture that is simple to use.

BRIEFLY STATED, STILL YET ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide an outrigger grinding fixture to support a workpiece on a manual surface grinder having a worktable and a grinding wheel. The outrigger grinding fixture comprises a base member maintained on the worktable. A slide member has a V-shaped slot formed on an upper edge. A mechanism is for horizontally adjusting the slide member on the base member. Another mechanism is for preventing vibration of the workpiece when the grinding wheel engages with the workpiece.

The novel features which are considered characteristic of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of the specific embodiments when read and understood in connection with the accompanying drawing.

The figures of the drawings are briefly described as follows:

FIG. 1 is a partial exploded perspective view of the present invention showing the various components thereof;

FIG. 2 is a further exploded perspective view of the present invention, showing the various components in greater detail; and

FIG. 3 is a further exploded perspective view of the present invention, showing the slide member snaps vertically into a base.

110 outrigger grinding fixture 112 workpiece 114 manual surface grinder 116 worktable of manual surface grinder 114 118 base member of outrigger grinding fixture 110 120 slide member of outrigger grinding fixture 110 122 V-shaped slot of slide member 120 124 upper edge of slide member 120 126 horizontally adjusting mechanism of outrigger grinding fixture 110 128 vibration preventing mechanism of outrigger grinding fixture 110 130 dovetail tenon of horizontally adjusting mechanism 126 132 top surface of base member 118 134 mortise in slide member 120 136 lower edge of slide member 120 138 setscrew of horizontally adjusting mechanism 126 140 side of slide member 120 142 adjustable support of vibration preventing mechanism 128 144 side of slide member 120 146 L-shaped clamping arm of vibration preventing mechanism 128 148 first leg of clamping arm 146 150 second leg of clamping arm 146 152 first upper corner of slide member 120 154 clamping roller of vibration preventing mechanism 128 156 elongated clamping screw of vibration preventing mechanism 128 158 pivot pin 160 second upper corner of slide member 120 162 threaded shaft of adjustable support 142 164 hardened dowel pin of adjustable support 142 166 adjustment nut of adjustable support 142

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the present invention is an outrigger grinding fixture 110 to support a workpiece 112 on a manual surface grinder 114 having a worktable 116 and a grinding wheel (not shown). The outrigger grinding fixture 110 comprises a base member 118 maintained on the worktable 116. A slide member 120 has a V-shaped slot 122 formed on an upper edge 124. A mechanism 126 is for horizontally adjusting the slide member 120 on the base member 118. Another mechanism 128 is for preventing vibration of the workpiece 112 when the grinding wheel engages with the workpiece 112.

The worktable 116 and the base member 118 are both magnetic so that the base member 118 can be held in position on the worktable 116. The horizontally adjusting mechanism 116 comprises a dovetail tenon 130 formed on a top surface 132 of the base member 118. The slide member 120 has a mortise 134 formed on a lower edge 136 which engages with the dovetail tenon 130 of the base member 118 to allow the slide member 120 to be manually adjusted along the dovetail tenon 130. A setscrew 138 extends through one side 140 of the slide member 120 and against one side of the dovetail tenon 130 to retain the slide member 120 in place on the base member 118.

The vibration preventing mechanism 128 comprises a pair of adjustable supports 142. Each support 142 extends into one side 140,144 of the slide member 120 and into the V-shaped slot 122. An L-shaped clamping arm 146 has a first leg 148 and a second leg 150. The first leg 140 is pivotally mounted to a first upper corner 152 of the slide member 120. A clamping roller 154 is pivotally mounted to the second leg 150 of the L-shaped clamping arm 146. An elongated clamping screw 156 threaded through a pivot pin 158 that is mounted to a second upper corner 160 of the slide member 120 which engages with the first leg 148 to adjust the L-shaped clamping arm 146, so that the clamping roller 154 will make proper contact with the workpiece 112.

Each adjustable support 142 comprises a threaded shaft 162 which threads into one side 140, 144 of the slide member 120. A hardened dowel pin 164 extends from a top end of the threaded shaft 162 to make proper contact with the workpiece 112. An adjustment 166 nut is at the top end of the threaded shaft 162 to maintain the threaded shaft 162 in position in the V-shaped slot 122 of the slide member 120.

In review, the outrigger grinding fixture 110 is an attachment for a manual surface grinder 114 configured to support a workpiece 112 so that it does not vibrate. The present invention consists of a base member 118 and a moveable slide member 120. It also includes adjustable supports 142 with a clamping roller 154 to control the workpiece 112 during rotation. The outrigger grinding fixture 110 may be made of steel or mostly steel. After the workpiece 112 is installed, the supports 142 are adjusted into place and the clamping arm 146 is pulled down. The workpiece 112 can then be altered in size and shape without vibration. The exact specifications may vary.

In FIG. 3, the slide member 120 snaps vertically to the base 118. A setscrew 138 (not shown) extends through one side 140 of the slide member 120 and against one side of the dovetail tenon 130 to retain the slide member 120 in place on the base member 118. An elongated clamping screw 156 threaded through a pivot pin 158 that is mounted to a second upper corner 160 of the slide member 120 which engages with the first leg 148 to adjust the L-shaped clamping arm 146, so that the clamping roller 154 will make proper contact with the workpiece 112.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodiments of a(n) outrigger grinding fixture, accordingly it is not limited to the details shown, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.