Nsk Corporation

Hiroyuki Nojima

Katsuhisa Tonooka

Chuichi Sato

Yuichi Sumita

Masami Shinomoto

Tomita Suzuki

Shoji Jibu

Takeshi Kobayashi

Kunio Kawashima

A ball polishing method includes the steps of rotating one of two plates through use of a rotating mechanism while balls are sandwiched between the plates, pressing one of the two plates against the other plate via a guide slide mechanism for guiding one of the two plates to the other plate by means of a pressing mechanism, and polishing the balls while the pressing force is regulated through use of a pressing force control mechanism. The method is further provided with rotary support means for supporting the rotating mechanism and guide support means for supporting the guide slide mechanism, and at least one of them utilizes hydrostatics. By virtue of this method, a machining pressure can be controlled with a high degree of accuracy, and the accuracy of polishing of balls can be improved.

Method of forming annular grooves in a ball polishing apparatus

A sphere grinding apparatus (1) for grinding spheres by two discs consisting of a rotational disc (5) and a stationary disc (6), the sphere grinding apparatus (1) incorporating: a central shaft (3) slidable in an axial direction; and a housing (4) for rotatively supporting the central shaft (3), wherein the rotational disc (5) is joined to the central shaft (3) and the stationary disc (6) is joined to the housing (4). Accordingly, it is possible to provide a sphere grinding apparatus which is capable of improving a machining accuracy and which has a simple structure and the cost of which can be reduced.

Sphere grinding apparatus

A sphere polisher capable of making uniform conditions under which balls are polished is provided. The inner and outer polishing circuits are defined by the grooves 23 provided on the rotative disc 10 and the fixed disc 20. The storage conveyor 50 is provided with an outer ball guiding passage 55 and an inner ball guiding passage 56. The ball supply chute 57 is provided with the inner chute portion 57a connecting the inner polishing circuits with the outer ball guiding passage 55, and the outer chute portion 57b connecting the outer polishing circuits with the inner ball guiding passage 56. The ball discharge chute 58 is provided with the inner discharge chute portion 58a connecting the inner polishing circuits with the inner ball guiding passage 56, and the outer discharge chute portion 58b connecting the outer polishing circuits with the outer ball guiding passage 57.

Sphere polisher

In a sphere polishing machine, workpiece balls in a ball passageways which are formed by guide grooves 5 formed in a stationary board 2 and guide grooves 1a formed in a rotary board 1 are moved along the ball passageways while being rotated by the rotary board 1, whereby the portion of the workpiece ball which is brought into contact with the guide groove 1a of the stationary board 1 in accordance with the inclination of the axis of rotation of the workpiece ball, is polished. On each of the ball passageways, a plurality of predetermined positions are selected at predetermined intervals, and relief grooves 6a, 6b and 6c are formed in guide groove portions of the stationary board which correspond the predetermined positions so that, when each of the workpiece balls passes through each of the predetermined positions, the inclination of the axis of rotation thereof is changed.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Hiroyuki Nojima