Modular Tubing Notcher System

Abstract

A machining assembly which allows for precise and repeatable machining operationsprimarily tube notchingto be carried out by an operator in various situations, and is specifically designed for hollow-form parting without use of a mandrel in prototyping and small-scale production. This system allows operators to cut copes in both typical and atypical materials, and offers the ability to produce double end-coped workpieces quickly. Additionally, the preferred embodiment can be equipped for use as a light-duty milling machine which incorporates portability with the benefits of traditional milling centers.

Claims

1. A machining system specializing in notching operations without use of a mandrel, comprising a cutting instrument structure, a workpiece retention structure, and a workpiece conveyance structure.

2. The cutting instrument structure of claim 1, comprising a cutting instrument, a chuck, a shaft, a source of rotational force, a Z-travel slide structure for regulating the alignment of the shaft with respect to the source of rotational force, a shaft support for the purpose of regulating the alignment of the shaft with respect to the cutting instrument, and a main body upon which the shaft support, shaft, chuck, Z-travel slide, and cutting instrument reside and along which the shaft, chuck, Z-travel slide, shaft support, and cutting agent may traverse when the cutting instrument structure is cycled.

3. The cutting instrument structure of claim 2, wherein an operator may move the shaft, chuck, Z-travel slide, shaft support, and cutting instrument along an axis while said shaft, chuck, and cutting instrument are rotating about the axis until the cutting instrument has traveled completely through a desired cutting path or until the cutting agent has reached a desired depth and the Z-travel slide contacts a Z-travel stop, before returning the shaft, chuck, Z-travel slide, shaft support, and cutting instrument to the initial location of said shaft, chuck, Z-travel slide, shaft support, and cutting instrument, thereby cycling the cutting instrument structure and allowing for the removal of material from a workpiece; said shaft support may be stationary or may traverse the main body with the shaft, chuck, and cutting instrument during cutting operations, and will provide rigidity throughout cutting actions without impeding traversal or rotation of the shaft, chuck, and cutting instrument.

4. The workpiece retention structure of claim 1, comprising an interchangeable main vise and a main vise mounting plate, as well as structures necessary for the inclusion of one or more optional vises, an optional guide rail, an optional work stop assembly, optional workpiece supports, and optional vise inserts.

5. The workpiece retention structure of claim 4, wherein the interchangeable main vise may be loosened from the main vise mounting plate, rotated upon said plate, and then tightened to said plate, thereby altering the rotational orientation of the workpiece retention structure.

6. The workpiece retention structure of claim 4, wherein the interchangeable main vise and the optional additional vise may be used to hold a workpiece on either side of a cutting path to facilitate tandem clamping throughout processing operations; said tandem clamping action securing both the finished workpieces as well as additional raw material yet to be processed.

7. The workpiece retention structure of claim 4, where a support arm may be attached to the main vise or the optional secondary vise for the purpose of supporting a workpiece outside the parameters of traditional vises; said support arm may rotate simultaneously with the rotation of the main vise, thereby supporting a workpiece throughout multiple cutting operations without requiring unclamping and reclamping.

8. The workpiece conveyance structure of claim 1, comprising a conveyance structure block, a main vise mounting plate receiver, an optional secondary vise receiver, one or more lead screws, one or more lead screw pillow blocks, and a riser block which attaches to a main body of the cutting instrument structure.

9. The workpiece conveyance structure of claim 8, wherein the conveyance structure may be moved in order to alter a cutting path of the cutting instrument structure upon a workpiece without needing to alter the cutting angle of the cutting path relative to the workpiece; this movement may occur before cutting operations, thereby bringing the cutting path to a desired location upon the workpiece, and such movement may occur during cutting operations, thereby allowing milling of the workpiece.

10. A work stop assembly providing a boundary for a workpiece to be machined, said assembly comprising a contact object, a tower structure, and a rail mount.

11. The contact object of claim 10, comprising a contact surface and a mounting surface opposite said contact surface; the contact surface comprising a three dimensional object which may present a flat, angled, rounded, or shaped surface that is capable of fitting into the negative space of the workpiece to be machinedi.e. a concave contact object for a convex workpiece, a convex contact object for a concave workpiece, an atypical contact object surface for an atypical workpiece surface, or a flat contact object surface for any number of workpiece surfaces.

12. The tower structure of claim 10, comprising a contact object receiver, a head block, and a main body: said contact object receiver allows said contact object to pivot about a point within said receiver and then may clamp said contact object at a desired angle relative to the workpiece; said head block allows said contact object receiver to rotate axially and then may clamp said contact object receiver at a desired orientation relative to the workpiece; said main body, comprising: a) a post upon which the head block may be clamped to secure the assembly at a relative height; b) a rail mount assembly, of which some portion may fit within a guide rail, upon which the post may be affixed and within which a T-nut screw may be rotated to exert force on the main body and a T-nut to clamp said main body and T-nut onto the guide rail.

13. The rail mount of claim 10, comprising a T-nut, a drilled and tapped aperture in the main body of the tower structure, and a T-nut screw which may be tightened to exert clamping force onto a guide rail or loosened to allow the entire assembly to move within the guide rail.

14. A method for producing doubly-machined workpieces from a length of material without use of a mandrel, comprising the steps of: aligning a machining system comprising a cutting instrument structure, a workpiece retention structure, and a workpiece conveyance structure to establish a desired cutting path of the cutting instrument structure on material to be machined relative to the workpiece retention structure, aligning a work stop at a specific angle relative to the cutting path of the cutting instrument structure so as to accommodate the negative space created upon the cycling of the machining system, inserting a piece of material and securing this workpiece at an acceptable position within the workpiece retention structure of the machining system, cycling the cutting instrument structure of the machining system through the cutting path to cut into the workpiece, releasing the workpiece from the workpiece retention structure, moving and twisting the workpiece as necessary to abut the firstly cut surface against the work stop, securing the workpiece within the workpiece retention structure, cycling the cutting instrument structure of the machining system through the cutting path to cut the workpiece a second timethereby producing one double-machined workpiece and making a first cut in the remaining material to be machinedand repeating those aforementioned steps necessary to continue producing double-machined workpieces until a desired number of double-machined workpieces is produced or the length of material to be machined is exhausted.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the diameter of a cutting agent is large enough, relative to the size of the workpiece, that the cycling of said cutting instrument through said workpiece may sever a finished workpiece from the remaining material yet to be machined.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein said workpiece retention structure may include one or more vises as well as additional workpiece support arms and workpiece catching structures so as to secure and support a workpiece at both the infeed and outfeed of the system; when utilizing more than one vise to secure a workpiece, the workpiece may be supported on either side of each intended cutting path so as to provide rigidity throughout drilling, tapping, grinding, and other shaping activities, and all components of the workpiece retention structure may be moved simultaneously through the workpiece conveyance structure to allow operators the capability of milling workpieces.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the cutting path locations and angles may be precisely altered without loosening the workpiece from the workpiece retention structure, even after vises, work stops, and workpiece supports are in place, thereby allowing for separate machining operations to hold relative precision upon a single workpiece.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] FIG. 1 is an overhead isometric view (top-front-right perspective) of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, equipped with a drill chuck as a cutting instrument [97] and a rectangular workpiece [50] abutted against a work-stop [55] and secured within a primary vise [37] and a secondary vise [38]. This view of the preferred embodiment shows a leveling stand [36] with a storage compartment for tooling and other accessories as well as protective shielding [103] that may be used during operation.

[0023] FIG. 2 is an opposite isometric view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, angled 90 from FIG. 1 to better show the work-stop [55], the cutoff support vise [38], and the extension of the support rail [56].

[0024] FIG. 3 is an isometric view from below, opposite FIG. 1, to more clearly show the workpiece conveyance assembly: the main body [18] of the cutting instrument module, the X-body [25] and the Y-body [26] of the workpiece conveyance module, and the vise base [35] of the workpiece retention module.

[0025] FIG. 4 is a frontal view to show the interaction of the X-lead screw [30] and the Y-lead screw [27] and how the actuation of these lead screws will move the vise [37] and support vise [38] in a direction orthogonal to the cutting instrument [97].

[0026] FIGS. 5A and 5B show a sidelong view of the quill module in two stages of operation, with FIG. 5A being a representation of the assembly in the fully retracted position and 5B being a representation of the assembly in an active, cutting position. A cutting cycle is accomplished by moving the feed handle [5] forward and backward in order to exert pressure from the feed bars [3] and move the shaft [11] through the cutting path. The fulcrum of the feed bars [3], the feed adjuster [17], can be moved closer to or farther from a workpiece [50] upon the main body [18], thereby providing the correct amount of travel and force for intended operations. This view also best shows the use of the feed return dampener [20] and the threaded stop rod [60]; the return dampener [20] is especially useful for vertical machining operations where gravity would result in dangerous false-feeding, and the threaded stop rod [60] works in all orientations to limit the Z-dimension travel of the cutting instrument [97].

[0027] FIG. 6 is an isometric view similar to FIG. 1 that shows a tube being cut at a non-90 angle. In this view, one can see that the work-stop [55] may be angled so that angled work-pieces can be butted against it solidly.

[0028] FIG. 7A-7H shows several of the vise types and inserts that may be used by operators depending on the required operation and material to be machined. This includes a specialized vise for square tubing [7A], several options for rounded tubing [7B, 7C, 7D,] options for oversized clamping [7E, 7F] and options for vises that can allow operators to alter the center line of the workpiece relative to the assembly [7G and 7H]. Though not a comprehensive representation, FIG. 7B also shows several vise inserts, including a cylindrical reducer [40], a hexagonal reducer [41], a horizontally elliptical reducer [42], and a vertically elliptical reducer [43]. Operators may utilize these or other vises and inserts to accommodate those workpieces needing special clamping requirements. The pictured inserts have stabilizing pins, but the pins may be removed in order to allow the reducers to be rotated within the vise.

[0029] FIG. 8A is a vertical wire frame view of the preferred embodiment to show the internals of the assembly. FIG. 8B is an alternate vertical view, and shows how the present invention may be oriented upon a workpiece akin to a traditional drill press assembly; as seen in FIG. 14B, structures would allow the present invention to function in such a form.

[0030] FIG. 9 again shows the quill module in an isometric view as in FIG. 1, but does so without the leveling stand [36] in what may be referred to as the secondary mode of operation, where the assembly would support itself through clamping pressure upon a stationary workpiece.

[0031] FIG. 10 shows the work stop [55] of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, outfitted with a tubular contact object [110], contact object receiver, [111] a rotating housing [112], post clamp [113], post [114], and rail mount [115].

[0032] FIG. 11 shows an exploded view of the work stop [55] of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the separate adjustment points are more clearly differentiated than in FIG. 10.

[0033] FIG. 12 is another view of the workpiece conveyance module, this time without a workpiece, so the interaction of the primary vise [37] and secondary vise [38] with the rest of the workpiece retention module and the workpiece conveyance module is more clearly visible.

[0034] FIG. 13 shows an alternative embodiment of the present invention, with two tube notching assemblies placed in series. Though the figure shows such serialization with two assemblies on one side of the workpiece, assemblies may be placed on either side of the workpiece. Note that while there is no practical limit to the amount of assemblies usable in a given operation, some workpiece conveyance modules may need to be altered if the operator(s) cannot adjust the conveyance modules on all assemblies at the same time.

[0035] FIG. 14A-14C show alternative mounting options when the traditional leveling stand isn't optimal. As shown, the present invention may be mounted on stationary, mobile, or dynamic structures, including posts, trailers, and boom mounts, respectively, though the present invention may be mounted to nearly any surface. As seen in FIG. 14A, the present invention may be fitted with different drive motors and may be powered through hydraulic, pneumatic, gas-powered, electric, or mechanical means, depending on operational needs.

LABELS FOR SEVERAL KEY COMPONENTS

[0036]

TABLE-US-00002 Workpiece Retention Module Workpiece [50] Vise [37] Vise Base [35] (primary) Degree Ring [101] Vise [38] Work-stop [55] (support) Support Rail [56] Vise [40]-[46] X-Degree [34] Inserts Table Workpiece Conveyance Module X-body [25] Y-body [26] Y-riser [21] X-Lead Screw [30] Y-Lead [27] Lead Screw [28] Screw Handles X-nut [31] Y-Pillow [23] T-nuts [15] Block Quill Module Main Body [18] Cutting [97] Drive Motor [162] Instrument Leveling Stand [36] Protective [103] Drive Motor [2] Shielding Clamp Feed Bars [3] Feed Handle [5] Shaft [11] Shaft Guide [12] Shaft Guide [13] Shaft Guide [14] Spacer Mount Feed Adjuster [17] Threaded [60] Drive Motor [1] Stop Rod Clamp Base Slide Guides [7] Slide Block [6] Stand Mount [47]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0037] In reference to FIG. 1, the preferred embodiment of the present inventionreferred to as a tubing notcher, assembly, or machineis comprised of three main areas of operation: the workpiece retention module, the workpiece conveyance module, and the quill or cutting instrument module. The main body [18] acts as the intermediary between the workpiece modules and the quill module. In the primary mode of operation, a stand mount [47] is attached to the underside of the main body [18] which itself attaches to a stand [36] which rests securely upon the ground.

[0038] Reference is now made to FIGS. 1 and 2 to explain the workpiece retention module of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. In this module, a workpiece [50] is held within a system-compatible primary vise [37] that is attached to the vise base [35], which is itself attached to the X-degree table [34] through a clamping action of the X-Axis Pivot Nut [33]. The X-nut [31] is intersected through a tapped aperture by the X-lead screw [30] of the workpiece conveyance module. If an operator wishes to alter the angle of the cutting path upon the workpiece [50], he or she may loosen the vise base [35] from the degree table [34] by loosening the clamping force between the X-degree table [34] and the X-Axis Pivot Nut [33], thereby allowing for rotation of the workpiece [50], vise [37], and vise base [35] about the Y-axis relative to the X-coordinate of the X-lead screw [30] and the Z-coordinate of the main body [18] and the cutting path of the cutting instrument [97].

[0039] Reference is now made to FIGS. 3 and 4 to explain the workpiece conveyance module. In this module, the X-lead screw [30] is held in place but is allowed to rotate by a support mount [24] acting as a pillow block for the spinning screw [30]. The rotation of the X-lead screw [30] by means of a lead-screw handle [28] conveys the entire workpiece retention module along the extension of the X-lead screw [30]: the relative X-axis of the machine. To lock the X-coordinate movement, the workpiece retention module may be clamped to the workpiece conveyance module by a bolt extending through the X-degree table [34] into T-nuts [15] within a channel of the Y-body [26], thereby clamping the X-degree table [34] in place. The Y-lead screw [27] is held in place but allowed to rotate by a Y-pillow block [23], and the rotation of the Y-lead screw [27] either raises or lowers the Y-body [26], thereby conveying the workpiece retention module as well as the rest of the workpiece conveyance module along the machine's relative Y-axis. The Y-pillow-block [23] is held in place by the Y-riser [21] which is fastened to the main body [18] of cutting instrument module.

[0040] Reference is now made to FIGS. 5A and 5B as well as FIG. 6 in order to explain the main body [18] as well as the rest of the quill or cutting instrument module. The main body [18] supports the quill module through two main structures. For the first structure, the drive motor support structure, a slide block [6] connects to the main body [18] through two slide guides [7]. A drive motor clamp base [1] resides within and travels along a channel in the slide block [6], and supports the drive motor clamp [2]. Finally, the drive motor clamp [2] attaches to the shaft [11] of the cutting instrument [97] near to the drive motor [162]. For the second structure, nearer the cutting instrument [97], at the opposite end from the drive motor [162], the shaft [11] is supported through the shaft guide [12], shaft guide spacer [13], and the shaft guide mount [14], which rests upon the main body [18]. The shaft guide [12] has apertures that can accommodate different job-specific accessories, such as safety shields [103]. These support structures hold the cutting instrument [97] within the cutting plane, even during cutting, drilling, and light machining actions. As for the quill, the rotational power of the drive motor [162] is imparted upon the cutting instrument [97] through the shaft [11]. In alternative embodiments, rotation can be applied directly to the shaft [11] in a number of ways, and the shaft may be shaped, scored, or otherwise equipped to accommodate these alternative power sources. In addition to rotation about the Z-axis, this shaft [11] can be moved along the Z-axis within these supports, thereby moving the cutting instrument [97] through the cutting path. A feed handle [5] attaches to two feed bars [3] which connect to the drive motor [162]. The feed bars [3] are attached to the main body [18] through the feed adjuster [17]. The feed adjuster [17] allows the operator to move the fulcrum of this lever to adjust his or her mechanical advantage and travel speed when cutting. In conjunction with the feed adjuster [17], a threaded stop rod [60] is housed within the main body [18] and may be rotated to bring it into place to act as a stop for the Z-coordinate cutting path of the cutting agent [97].

[0041] An alternative embodiment of the present invention involves using the assembly in the secondary mode of operation, where the stand mount [47] is removed from the main body [18] and the assembly, sans stand, is affixed to a stationary workpiece [50] as its manner of support. The assembly still comprises three modules in this alternative embodiment, but the rotation of the workpiece retention module and the movement of the workpiece conveyance module would move the cutting agent relative to the stationary workpiece, instead of vise versa.

[0042] In addition to the specifications of the preferred embodiment and alternative embodiments of the present invention included herein, I wish to include those obvious modifications that may appear to those skilled in the art under the protection of this patent application.