BALL MAGAZINE FOR A DEVICE FOR LAPPING AND/OR GRINDING BALLS

Abstract

A ball magazine for a device for lapping and/or grinding balls includes a ball removal section configured to be connected to the device and receive balls from the device, a ball storage section connected to the ball removal section and configured to receive the balls from the ball removal section, and a ball feed section configured to guide the balls from the ball storage section back to the device. At least part of the ball storage section, which may be formed as a channel, is sloped.

Claims

1. A ball magazine for a device for lapping and/or grinding balls, the ball magazine comprising: a ball removal section configured to be connected to the device and receive balls from the device, a ball storage section connected to the ball removal section and configured to receive the balls from the ball removal section, and a ball feed section configured to guide the balls from the ball storage section back to the device, wherein at least part of the ball storage section is sloped.

2. The ball magazine according to claim 1, including a raising unit between the ball storage section and the ball feed section, the raising unit being configured to raise the balls from a lower level to a higher level relative to the device and to guide the balls to the ball feed section.

3. The ball magazine according to claim 2, wherein the raising unit comprises a conveying screw or a conveyor belt.

4. The ball magazine according to claim 2, wherein the raising unit comprises a conveying screw, and wherein a thread flight of the conveying screw is based on a ball diameter.

5. The ball magazine according to claim 2, wherein the raising unit is configured to guide a spacer associated with each of the balls.

6. The ball magazine according to claim 5, including an alignment section configured to align the spacer with a conveying axis of the raising unit.

7. The ball magazine according to claim 1, wherein the ball removal section slopes upwardly away from the device.

8. The ball magazine according to claim 1 including at least one ball guide.

9. The ball magazine according to claim 1, wherein the ball removal section, the ball storage section and/or the ball feed section a spacer guide element for guiding spacers associated with the balls.

10. The ball magazine according to claim 1 including securing means for preventing the balls from falling out of the ball storage section.

11. A system for lapping and/or grinding balls, comprising: a first device for lapping and/or grinding balls; a second device for lapping and/or grinding balls; and a ball magazine according to claim 1 arranged between the first device and the second device such that the ball removal section of the ball magazine receives the balls from the first device and the ball feed section guides the balls from the ball magazine to the second device.

12. A system for lapping and/or grinding balls, comprising: a device for lapping and/or grinding balls, and a ball magazine according to claim 1 connected to the device.

13. The ball magazine according to claim 1, wherein the ball storage section comprises a channel.

14. The ball magazine according to claim 1, including an elevator between the ball storage section and the ball feed section, the elevator being configured to raise the balls from a lower level to a higher level relative to the device and to guide the balls to the ball feed section.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] FIG. 1 is a perspective schematic view of a ball magazine according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0032] FIG. 2 is an enlarged version of detail A of FIG. 1.

[0033] FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a ball magazine according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0034] FIG. 4 is an enlarged version of detail B of FIG. 3.

[0035] FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a raising unit for a ball magazine according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the raising unit from FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] The disclosure will be described in more detail below on the basis of exemplary embodiments that are illustrated in the drawings. The exemplary embodiments and the combinations shown in the exemplary embodiments are merely examples and are not intended to specify the scope of protection of the disclosure. The scope of protection is defined solely by the appended claims. Below, identical or functionally equivalent elements are denoted by the same reference signs.

[0038] A ball magazine 1 for a device 2 for lapping and/or grinding balls 4 according to a first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The device 2 for lapping and/or grinding balls 4 has a first disc 8 and a second disc 10 which include at least one ball groove 6 for guiding the balls 4. The device 2 shown in FIG. 1 has three ball grooves 6. It is however also possible for the device 2 to have a greater or smaller number of ball grooves 6.

[0039] In particular, the first disc 8 may be static, and the second disc 10 may rotate relative to the first disc 8. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the discs 8, 10 may be arranged one above the other in the direction of gravitational force, such that the discs 8, 10 are oriented horizontally.

[0040] The balls 4 situated between the first and second discs 8, 10 can be set in motion by the rotation of the one disc 8. As the balls 4 roll on the surfaces of the ball groove or of the disc, a more or less pronounced sliding movement, the so-called lapping moment, can occur. The lapping moment, in conjunction with appropriate lapping and/or grinding agents that may be introduced together with the balls 4 into the device 2, can significantly contribute to a gradual reduction of the out-of-roundness of the balls 4 by material removal and/or to a reduction or even elimination of damage to the ball surface. The removal of the ball material means in particular that a ball diameter at the start of the processing operation is greater than the ball diameter at the end of the processing operation.

[0041] The ball magazine 1 furthermore comprises a ball removal section 12 that is configured to connect the ball magazine 1 to the device 2 and to remove the balls from the device 2. From the ball removal section 12, the balls 4 are guided onward to a storage section 14, in which the balls 4 can be stored. The storage section 14 guides the balls 4 to a ball feed section 16 that is configured to guide the balls 4 from the ball magazine 1 back to the device 2. The storage section may comprise a channel.

[0042] To reduce the risk of the balls 4 becoming stuck in the ball magazine 1, at least part of the storage section 14 has a slope or a gradient. By means of the gradient, it can be achieved that the balls reach a speed sufficient to reduce the risk of them becoming stuck in the storage section 14 for example due to the presence of entrained lapping and/or grinding agents.

[0043] Furthermore, the ball removal section 12, the storage section 14 and the ball feed section 16 each have a channel 15 that has a width adapted to the ball diameter. The channel 15 may be designed as a ball-guiding element that guides the balls 4. The channel 15 may for example have a plurality of parallel rods 30 that guide the balls 4. For example, the channel 15 may be formed by at least one rod 30 arranged under the balls 4 and two rods 20 arranged laterally adjacent to the balls 4. The channel 15 may alternatively also be of some other form. For example, the channel 15 may also be in the form of a half-shell. Depending on a gradient, a securing element (not illustrated) may be provided, which secures the balls against falling out of the channel 15. The securing element may then for example be arranged above the channel 15 such that the balls 4 cannot fall out of the channel 15.

[0044] Furthermore, the ball removal section 12, the storage section 14 and/or the ball feed section 16 may have at least one guide element 34 for a spacer 32, which is configured to space two balls 4 apart from one another. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the spacer 32 is formed as a ring arranged around a ball 4, and the guide element 34 is a U-shaped profile that partially surrounds the spacer 32.

[0045] As can be seen in FIG. 1, the storage section 14 has a plurality of subsections 18, 20, 22, 24. The subsections 18, 20, 22, 24 may have different gradients. For example, one or more subsections 18, 20, 22, 24 may at least partially have a flat extent. Furthermore, the gradient in the subsections 18, 20, 22, 24 may vary or may be constant.

[0046] The length of the storage section 14 may also be dependent on a number of balls 4 that are to be accommodated in the storage section. The length of the storage section 14 is preferably selected such that there is a region in the storage section 14 in which the balls 4 can roll freely over a specified distance.

[0047] The disc 8 may furthermore have a recess into which the ball removal section 12 and the ball feed section 16 are partially inserted. The recess 12 may be sector-shaped, rectangular, oval or the like. Since the illustrated device 2 has more than one ball groove 6, a ball-directing means (without reference sign) is provided by which the balls 4, after passing through a first ball groove 6, are transferred into the second ball groove 6, such that the balls 4 pass through all of the ball grooves in succession. The ball magazine 1 may advantageously be coupled to such a ball-directing means. For example, the ball-directing means may be connected to the ball removal section 12 and to the ball feed section 16 such that the balls, after passing through the final ball groove, are transferred into the ball removal section 12 and, after passing through the ball magazine 1, are introduced from the ball feed section 16 into the first ball groove 6.

[0048] In order, at the end of the storage section 14, to raise the balls 4 back to the level of the device 2, a raising unit 26, sometimes referred to as an elevator, is provided between the storage section 14 and the ball feed section 16. In the ball magazine 1 according to the first embodiment, the raising unit 26 is designed as a conveying screw 28. Here, a height of a thread flight 38 of the raising unit 26 is adapted to a diameter of the spacer 32. Here, the ball 4 is situated together with the spacer 32 such that the spacer 32 lies at least against one thread flank 40. To orient the spacer 32 such that the spacer 32 is in contact with the thread flank, an alignment section 42 is provided upstream of the raising unit 26, which alignment section, with the aid of the guide element 34, aligns the spacer 32 with a conveying axis of the conveying screw 28. If no spacer 32 is provided, the height of a thread flight 38 may be adapted to a ball diameter.

[0049] A ball magazine 1 for a device 2 for lapping and/or grinding balls 4 according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. The ball magazine 1 according to the second embodiment differs from the ball magazine 1 of the first embodiment in that the ball removal section 12 has a gradient (slope) 42 that brings the balls 4 to a height level that lies above a height level of the device 2.

[0050] A raising unit 26 for a ball magazine 1 according to a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. The raising unit 26 of the ball magazine 1 according to the third embodiment differs from the raising unit 26 of the ball magazine 1 in the first embodiment in that the raising unit 26 comprises a conveyor belt 44. To orient the spacer 32 such that the spacer 32 does not come into contact with the conveyor belt 44 in front of the ball 4, an alignment section 42 is again provided upstream of the raising unit 26, which alignment section, with the aid of the guide element 34, aligns the spacer 32 with a conveying axis of the conveyor belt 44.

[0051] Representative, non-limiting examples of the present invention were described above in detail with reference to the attached drawings. This detailed description is merely intended to teach a person of skill in the art further details for practicing preferred aspects of the present teachings and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Furthermore, each of the additional features and teachings disclosed above may be utilized separately or in conjunction with other features and teachings to provide improved ball magazine for a device for lapping and/or grinding balls.

[0052] Moreover, combinations of features and steps disclosed in the above detailed description may not be necessary to practice the invention in the broadest sense, and are instead taught merely to particularly describe representative examples of the invention. Furthermore, various features of the above-described representative examples, as well as the various independent and dependent claims below, may be combined in ways that are not specifically and explicitly enumerated in order to provide additional useful embodiments of the present teachings.

[0053] All features disclosed in the description and/or the claims are intended to be disclosed separately and independently from each other for the purpose of original written disclosure, as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed subject matter, independent of the compositions of the features in the embodiments and/or the claims. In addition, all value ranges or indications of groups of entities are intended to disclose every possible intermediate value or intermediate entity for the purpose of original written disclosure, as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed subject matter.

List of Reference Signs

[0054] 1 Ball magazine [0055] 2 Device [0056] 4 Ball [0057] 6 Ball groove [0058] 8 Disc [0059] 10 Disc [0060] 12 Ball removal section [0061] 14 Storage section [0062] 15 Channel [0063] 16 Ball feed section [0064] 18 Subsection [0065] 20 Subsection [0066] 22 Subsection [0067] 24 Subsection [0068] 26 Raising unit [0069] 28 Conveying screw [0070] 30 Rod [0071] 32 Spacer [0072] 34 Guide element [0073] 38 Thread flight [0074] 40 Thread flank [0075] 42 Alignment section [0076] 44 Conveyor belt