Unova IP Corp.

Western Atlas Inc.

Michael D Panetta

Edward J Irvine

An engine block is located and clamped on a pallet and then brought into a boring station where the pallet is located and clamped on a shuttle. The shuttle moves solely along a straight horizontal path to move the engine block into the work station, locate the engine block during a machining operation, and then transfer the block out of the work station. First and second three-axis boring machines at respective opposite sides of the block locate crankshaft and camshaft boring bars for different engine blocks and then simultaneously back bore both the crankshaft and camshaft bores. A computer numerical control (CNC) positions the boring bars and the block and controls other machining parameters for different engine blocks. The CNC causes the shuttle to move to a location horizontally offset from a final machining location so that the boring bar axes are offset horizontally from the bearing bore axes and the boring bars are then inserted into the block. The shuttle is then shifted horizontally to the final machining position for the back boring operation.

Flexible boring machine and method

An arbor mill machine which performs multiple machining operations on a workpiece in one work station. A rotatable tool turret carries a plurality of arbor cutting tools each of which can be indexed into the work station for performing a machining operation on a workpiece carried by a slide which advances the workpiece into the arbor tool and retracts the workpiece from it. A single drive spindle carried by a slide is advanced to releasably engage and drive the arbor tool in the work station to machine the workpiece and is retracted to release and disengage the arbor tool so that it can be removed from the work station when the turret is indexed to advance another arbor tool into the work station to perform another machining operation on the workpiece. The turret is releasably locked to prevent it from rotating while an arbor tool is machining a workpiece and is released between machining operations to permit indexing of the turret to position another arbor tool in the work station. Preferably the machine is cycled and controlled by a programmable controller or a digital computer which may be programmed for machining a wide variety of different workpieces.

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Royal Oak, MI, United States of America

Michael D Panetta