Flexible boring machine and method

摘要

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.