Union Tool Company

Yoshiharu Shinbo

Ichiro Katayama

Yoshinobu Watanabe

Yuichi Nakajima

A method and apparatus for automatically re-pointing twist drill bits includes a drill support mechanism including means for rotatably and axially translatably holding the shank of a drill bit, and a fluted portion receiver for supporting the fluted front cutting portion of the drill bit. The apparatus also includes an optical sensor unit which views the tip and blade part of the drill bit with the drill support mechanism in an off-line position, i.e., rotated away from a grinding wheel station. Responsive to error correction servo command signals received from a comparison of the actual orientation of drill bit cutting lips with a desired pre-determined template position, rotary and linear actuators in the drill support mechanism rotate the drill bit to the proper angular orientation, and advance the bit axially to a pre-determined protrusion length. Also, command signals to the fluted portion receiver elevate the drill bit point to a pre-determined elevation, whereupon a linear actuator cylinder linked via a pivot pin to the drill support mechanism rotates the latter to thereby place the properly oriented drill bit in contact with grinding wheels of a sharpening unit. After each of the grinding wheels has sequentially contacted the cutting edges and point of the drill bit and resurfaces the contacted areas to a desired sharpness, the linear actuator cylinder is used to rotate the drill support mechanism to the off-line position, whereupon a shank retainer is pivoted vertically away from the drill bit shank, allowing the re-conditioned bit to be removed and replaced with another bit to be re-pointed.

Automatic drill bit re-pointing apparatus and method

A drill case (,) includes a case box (,) having a longitudinally elongated rectangular cross-sectional shape closeable at one transverse end thereof by a lid (,). The case includes a slidably removable longitudinally elongated drill stand base (,) having in the upper surface thereof a plurality of longitudinally disposed, laterally spaced apart grooves (,) for receiving rectangular block-shaped drill stands (,) having longitudinally spaced apart vertical bores (,) for receiving drill bits (,). Stand base (,) has protruding outwardly from opposite lateral sides thereof a pair of parallel longitudinally disposed ribs (,) which are slidably receivable in a pair of upper or lower grooves (,) and (,) formed in the inner side walls of box (,), depending on whether short or long shank drill bits are contained in stands (,). Case (,) includes a shank retainer (,) for protecting the tips, including the cutting lips and points, of drill bits in drill stands (,), the retainer having through its thickness dimension a plurality of longitudinally and vertically disposed grooves (,) for receiving the tips of drill bits. Retainer (,) has a front end provided with a transversely disposed, front upper web (,F), and a rear end having a rear lower web (,R). Grooves (,) in retainer (,) have tapered lower entrance openings (,) for receiving the tapered transition section (,) between a drill bit shank (,) and tip (,), and cylindrical upper entrance openings (,) for receiving the shanks of drill bits. Two pairs of longitudinally disposed ribs (,) protruding from both upper and lower edges of retainer (,) are engageable with grooves (,) in box (,) with the retainer in either an upright or inverted position, thus configuring the case with tapered entrance openings facing downward to receive tapered transition sections of drill bits and thereby limit their movement, or with the cylindrical openings facing downward to receive the shanks of bits provided with insertion depth limiting rings.

Growing community of inventors

Nagaoka, Japan

Yoshiharu Shinbo