ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TEXTURING MACHINE WITH CONTROL OF THE SPEED AND POWER OF ELECTRODES

摘要

A method and apparatus for controlling the position and power of electrodes (20) in an electric-discharge texturing (EDT) machine (10) for texturing a roll (12) includes an actuator (22) for moving an electrode (20) away from and towards a roll (12) to be textured to maintain a desired spacing between the electrode (20) and the roll (12). The actuator (22) is controlled with a different gain depending upon whether the electrode (20) is to be moved towards or away from the roll (12). A power source (36) applies a voltage to the electrode (20) for promoting a spark between the electrode (20) and the roll (12) to remove particles from the roll (12). The power source (36) is controlled to apply the voltage to the electrode (20) until a spark is initiated and then maintains the voltage for a selected time duration after spark initiation to provide a spark having the selected time duration. The power source (36) is further controlled such that voltages applied to a plurality of electrodes (20) are sequenced in a selected fashion.