APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MACHINING VALVE SEATS IN AN ENGINE CYLINDER HEAD

摘要

The valve seat and guide machine comprises a base structure on which is pivotally supported a pantograph having a major arm on which is mounted a drive motor and minor arm which moves slidably with respect to the major arm. Pivotally attached to each arm of the pantograph is a head portion with a support frame which retains a spherical head and a plurality of sphere seats for supporting the spherical head so that it can pivot around its centerpoint at the center of the sphere. A stepper motor is disposed at the top of the spherical head and a spindle disposed with the spherical head retains a cutting bit and a pilot which extend from the bottom of the spherical head. Small z-axis displacement and spindle feed/retraction along the z-(vertical) axis is provided by the stepper motor. The drive motor rotates a transmission linkage which, in turn, rotates the spindle using cone-shaped pinions to cause the cutting bit, typically carbide, to cut the valve seat. Small x,y displacements are enabled by moving the entire spherical housing and its supporting sphere seats with respect to the support frame. The pantograph swings up and down on the base to provide large z-axis displacement to remove the spindle from the cutting position and to provide clearance for movement to another machine site. A system controller receives feedback from system monitors to control a spindle rotations and feed/retraction.