Steady rest with internal centerline adjustment.

摘要

A centering and supporting apparatus is disclosed for use as a steady rest for rotatably supporting a cylindrical workpiece during a machining or grinding operation. The apparatus has an internal centerline adjustment mechanism for adjusting the steady rest so as to support the workpiece at its dynamic working centerline. At least one, or a pair of support arms are slidably mounted on an operator body in a housing. Each support arm carries a side workpiece contact member and the operator body carries a center workpiece contact member engagable with the perimeter of the workpiece. The support arms are urged to support the workpiece by the action of cam followers carried by the support arms, and which cam followers are engaged with a corresponding pair of camming contours. The camming contours are disposed in a pair of guide plates that are displaceable within the housing by the internal centerline adjustment mechanism. The internal centerline adjustment mechanism allows either one or both of the guide plates to be shifted within the steady rest to accommodate any deviation which the dynamic working centerline imposes from the static centerline originally established prior to a machining or grinding operation.