Charmilles Technologies S.a.

Agie Charmilles Sa

Jean-Claude Diot

Claudio Tricarico

Claude Rollet

Willi Zaugg

Roger Girardin

Roger Delpretti

Jean-Paul Briffod

Fabrice Jaques

G&eacute;rald Naville

Georg Wälder

The invention relates to electrical discharge milling machines using tool electrodes subject to longitudinal wear. The inventive discharge milling machine is equipped with a numerical controller executing at least one control cycle for compensating the wear considering the following steps:

Electrical discharge milling machine

A method and machine to allow for the spark-erosion machining of parts, in particular their finishing, using cylindrical or tubular tools by successive layers.

Method and machine for machining parts using spark-erosion milling

Electrode tools for electroerosion (EDM) where a cavity or a relief is machined by hollowing out the part at great speed and in successive layers or slices by means of a rotating electrode tool of a simple shape which is independent of the cavity to be eroded, called &ldquo;EDM slices milling&rdquo;.

Rotative tool-electrodes of simple shapes for 3D electroerosive machining

An EDM device for machining by electro-erosion a three-dimensional cavity by compensating for tool-electrode wear, which device includes a mechanism for rotating a tool electrode whose diameter is small in comparison to the dimensions of the cavity being eroded, a numerical control unit of known type, which controls relative three-dimensional movement between the tool electrode and the workpiece, apparatus for controlling volumetric wear rate, and computational apparatus equipped for storing the volumic shape of the cavity to be eroded in the form of virtual fine parallel layers superimposed on one another, for simulating a tool path so that the tool tip sweeps groove by groove across said successive layers, and for transmitting a corresponding signal to the three-dimensional control unit, characterized by a simulator that is programmed to calculate prior to machining the longitudinal wear of the rotating tool or a value intended for additional axial feed of the tool electrode and continuously compensating for said longitudinal wear, this calculation being made from preexisting, known technological data and parameters characterizing the geometry of the electrodes, and designed to transmit to the three-dimensional control unit a corresponding signal continuously compensating for this wear.

Device and process for electrical-discharge machining of a

A device for machining by electroerosion has a tool electrode driven in a rotary motion controlled by a servomotor and showing the shape of a solid of revolution around its axis of rotation. A measuring circuit continuously evaluates the degree of contamination of the machining dielectric liquid in relation to a reference value. The measurement is made by a transducer for the instantaneous voltage U.sub.i of each spark and by comparing it to a predetermined value U.sub.b, thus determining the proportion of so-called low-level sparks for which U.sub.i .ltoreq.U.sub.b, a signal being delivered when this proportion surpasses a predetermined threshold, or by a current transductor working during the waiting time preceding the striking of each spark, a signal being delivered when a predetermined current threshold is attained. A servo circuit modulates the rotation speed of the tool electrode as a function of this signal. The detector makes it possible to detect and remedy the appearance of ejected sparks.

Growing community of inventors

Entremont, France

Jean-Claude Diot