TWI901244B - Ball grinding apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A ball grinding apparatus is adapted to perform a multi-stage grinding operation on at least one elastic ball, so that the at least one elastic ball has a target size. The ball grinding apparatus includes a grinding device and a control host. The ball grinding apparatus includes a grinding roller, a pressing roller, a first driver, and a second driver. The grinding roller is opposite to the pressing roller. The first driver is connected to the grinding roller, so as to drive the grinding roller to rotate at a working speed. The second driver is connected to the pressing roller, so as to drive the pressing roller to move closer to or away from the grinding roller. The control host is electrically connected to the second driver, so as to control the second driver to adjust a distance between the grinding roller and the pressing roller. Therefore, the accuracy of grinding the at least one elastic ball can be improved.

Description

Ball grinding equipment

The present invention relates to a ball grinding device, and in particular to a ball grinding device capable of multi-stage grinding.

In the golf ball production process, a rough ball (such as a rubber blank) is first placed in a mold and hot-pressed into a flexible sphere, called the core. The core is then ground to remove surface imperfections, achieve the required dimensions, and improve roundness.

Existing grinding equipment grinds the center of the ball to the target size in a single grinding operation. However, this operation has low grinding accuracy for elastic balls and is difficult to control the roundness of the elastic ball, which can ultimately affect the performance of the finished golf ball. While secondary grinding can be used to correct this, it significantly reduces production efficiency.

Therefore, how to overcome the above-mentioned defects by improving the structural design has become one of the important issues to be solved in the field of the present invention.

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a ball grinding device suitable for performing multiple grinding operations on at least one elastic ball in the same grinding process in order to address the shortcomings of the existing technology.

To address the aforementioned technical issues, one of the technical solutions employed by the present invention is to provide a ball grinding apparatus suitable for performing multiple grinding operations on at least one elastic ball, thereby achieving a target size for the at least one elastic ball. The ball grinding apparatus includes a grinding device and a control host. The grinding device comprises a grinding roller, a pressure roller, a first drive, and a second drive. The grinding roller is disposed opposite the pressure roller. The first drive is configured to rotate the pressure roller at an operating speed, and the second drive is configured to move the pressure roller toward or away from the grinding roller. The control host is electrically connected to the second driver to control the second driver to adjust the distance between the pressure roller and the grinding roller. In addition, the multi-stage grinding operation includes a first grinding operation, a second grinding operation, and a third grinding operation in sequence; in the first grinding operation, the pressure roller and the grinding roller are separated by a first distance to grind at least one of the elastic balls from an initial size to a first size; in the second grinding operation, the pressure roller and the grinding roller are separated by a second distance to grind at least one of the elastic balls from the first size to a second size, and the second distance is The distance between the second dimension and the target dimension is smaller than the first distance, and the reduction ratio of the second dimension relative to the target dimension is smaller than the reduction ratio of the first dimension relative to the target dimension. In the third grinding operation, the pressure roller and the grinding roller are separated by a third distance to grind at least one of the elastic spheres from the second dimension to a third dimension, the third distance being smaller than the second distance, and the reduction ratio of the third dimension relative to the target dimension is smaller than the reduction ratio of the second dimension relative to the target dimension.

In one preferred or feasible embodiment of the present invention, the grinding device includes a grinding chamber, the pressure roller and the grinding roller are arranged in the grinding chamber, and the first drive and the second drive are arranged outside the grinding chamber.

In one preferred or feasible embodiment of the present invention, the grinding roller has a plurality of grinding grooves spaced apart along the axial direction.

In one preferred or feasible embodiment of the present invention, the grinding device includes a support seat disposed in the grinding chamber, the support seat is located between the pressure roller and the grinding roller and has a plurality of oblique guide grooves, and the plurality of oblique guide grooves correspond to the positions of the plurality of grinding grooves.

In one preferred or feasible embodiment of the present invention, the ball grinding apparatus further includes a ball feeding device comprising a conveyor track and a plurality of ball-feeding tubes connected to the conveyor track, wherein the plurality of ball-feeding tubes are disposed within the grinding chamber. Furthermore, the plurality of ball-feeding tubes are positioned above the support seat and correspond to the plurality of the inclined guide grooves.

In one preferred or feasible embodiment of the present invention, the ball grinding apparatus further comprises a ball washing device, and the ball washing device is configured to clean at least one of the elastic balls after grinding.

In one preferred or feasible embodiment of the present invention, the ball washing device includes a guide component and a cleaning tank, and the cleaning tank receives at least one of the ground elastic balls from the grinding chamber through the guide component.

In one preferred or feasible embodiment of the present invention, the ball washing device includes a sprayer disposed above the cleaning tank.

In one preferred or feasible embodiment of the present invention, the ball grinding apparatus further includes an optical ruler. Furthermore, the second actuator is a servo actuator comprising a drive rod, the free end of which is connected to the pressure roller. The optical ruler is disposed on one side of the drive rod to measure the distance traveled by the pressure roller relative to the grinding roller.

In general, the ball grinding device provided by the present invention can be realized by including the technical features of "the grinding roller and the pressure roller are arranged opposite to each other, the first driver is arranged to drive the pressure roller to rotate at a working speed, and the second driver is arranged to drive the pressure roller to move closer to or away from the grinding roller", "the control main motor is electrically connected to the second driver to control the second driver to adjust the distance between the pressure roller and the grinding roller ” and “the relative distance between the pressure roller and the grinding roller in the latter grinding operation is smaller than their relative distance in the former grinding operation, and the size reduction ratio of the sphere obtained in the latter grinding operation is also smaller than the size reduction ratio of the sphere obtained in the former grinding operation”, so as to improve the accuracy of the grinding process of the elastic sphere and improve the roundness of the ground elastic sphere.

To further understand the features and technical contents of the present invention, please refer to the following detailed description and drawings of the present invention. However, the drawings provided are only used for reference and description and are not used to limit the present invention.

The following describes the implementation of the "ball grinding apparatus" disclosed in the present invention through specific embodiments. Those skilled in the art can understand the advantages and effects of the present invention from the contents disclosed in this specification. The present invention can be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments, and the details in this specification can also be modified and changed based on different viewpoints and applications without departing from the concept of the present invention. In addition, the drawings of the present invention are only for simple schematic illustrations and are not depicted according to actual size. Please note that the following embodiments will further explain the relevant technical content of the present invention in detail, but the disclosed content is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention.

It should be understood that while terms such as "first," "second," and "third" may be used herein to describe various components or signals, these components or signals should not be limited by these terms. These terms are primarily used to distinguish one component from another, or one signal from another. Furthermore, the term "or" as used herein may include any one or more combinations of the associated listed items, as appropriate.

Please refer to Figure 1, which illustrates the main components of a ball grinding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, the ball grinding apparatus Z of the present invention comprises a grinding device 1 and a control host 2. The grinding device 1, under the control of the control host 2, can perform a multi-stage grinding operation on at least one elastic ball, i.e., grinding the at least one elastic ball to a target size in multiple stages within a single grinding operation. The elastic ball can be, for example, a rubber core for a golf ball, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

In the following, the technical details of the polishing device 1 and the control host 2 will be described in conjunction with Figures 2 to 7.

The polishing device 1 primarily comprises a polishing roller 11, a pressure roller 12, a first drive 13, and a second drive 14. The polishing roller 11 and the pressure roller 12 are disposed opposite each other. The first drive 13 is configured to drive the pressure roller 12 to rotate at an operating speed, and the second drive 14 is configured to move the pressure roller 12 toward or away from the polishing roller 11. The control host 2 is electrically connected to the second drive 14 to control the second drive 14 to adjust the distance between the pressure roller 12 and the polishing roller 11.

In one preferred or feasible embodiment of the present invention, the grinding roller 11 can be configured as a grinding wheel and has a plurality of grinding grooves 11R spaced axially, each of which acts on a resilient ball B. The pressure roller 12 can be connected to a first drive 13 via a drive shaft 131 and can rotate synchronously with the drive shaft 131 under the drive of the first drive 13. Furthermore, the pressure roller 12 can be mounted on a multi-axis motion mechanism 15, which is drivably connected to a second drive 14. Therefore, the pressure roller 12 can be driven by the second driver 14 to reciprocate in the radial direction, that is, to move closer to or farther away from the grinding roller 11. In addition, the pressure roller 12 can be driven by the multi-axis movement mechanism 15 to reciprocate in the axial direction to improve the roundness of the elastic ball B.

Furthermore, the multi-axis motion mechanism 15 can be configured as a combination of multiple linear slides and can include a power source 151 to provide power for its reciprocating motion, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

In practice, the grinding apparatus 1 includes a grinding chamber 100, wherein a grinding roller 11 and a pressure roller 12 are disposed within the grinding chamber 100, and a first drive 13 and a second drive 14 are disposed outside the grinding chamber 100. Furthermore, the grinding apparatus 1 includes a support 16 disposed within the grinding chamber 100. The support 16 is located between the grinding roller 11 and the pressure roller 12 and has a plurality of inclined guide grooves 16R. The plurality of inclined guide grooves 16R correspond to the plurality of grinding grooves 11R. Thus, each elastic ball B, after grinding, can be guided outward from the grinding chamber 100 by the inclined guide grooves 16R.

As shown in Figures 1 and 3 , the ball grinding apparatus Z of the present invention may further include a ball feeding device 3 for continuously supplying elastic balls B to be ground into the grinding chamber 100. The ball feeding device 3 may include a conveyor track 31 and a plurality of ball inlet pipes 32 connected to the conveyor track 31. The plurality of ball inlet pipes 32 are disposed within the grinding chamber 100. Furthermore, the plurality of ball inlet pipes 32 are positioned above the support 16 and correspond to the plurality of inclined guide grooves 16R. Each ball inlet pipe 32 guides the elastic balls B into the grinding chamber 100 and places them into the corresponding inclined guide groove 16R.

As shown in FIG3 to FIG5, the multi-stage grinding operation of the ball grinding device Z of the present invention on the elastic ball B (such as the rubber ball core of a golf ball) can sequentially include a first grinding operation, a second grinding operation and a third grinding operation.

During the first grinding operation, the pressure roller 12 is spaced a first distance W1 from the grinding roller 11 to grind the at least one elastic sphere B from its initial size to the first size. During the second grinding operation, the pressure roller 12 is spaced a second distance W2 from the grinding roller 11 to grind the at least one elastic sphere B from the first size to the second size. The second distance W2 is smaller than the first distance W1, and the reduction ratio of the second size relative to the target size is smaller than the reduction ratio of the first size relative to the target size. During the third grinding operation, the pressure roller 12 is spaced a third distance W3 from the grinding roller 11 to grind at least one elastic sphere B from the second size to the third size. The third distance W3 is smaller than the second distance W2, and the reduction ratio of the third size relative to the target size is smaller than the reduction ratio of the second size relative to the target size. This improves both the grinding accuracy of the elastic sphere B and the roundness of the ground elastic sphere B.

As shown in Figure 2, the control host 2 includes a display interface 21, through which on-site operators can set operating parameters for each grinding stage, such as grinding time, grinding size, and the retraction and pause time of the pressure roller 12. This allows for real-time monitoring of each grinding stage. Furthermore, to avoid cumulative errors, the pressure roller 12 moves backwards and then forwards during each grinding stage. Specifically, the pressure roller 12 first retracts to its standby position and then, after a set dwell time, reenters its new working position.

It is worth noting that while the above description uses a three-stage grinding operation as an example to illustrate the features of the present invention, the spirit of the present invention can also be applied to grinding operations with more than three stages. For example, a five-stage grinding operation can be used for elastic spheres made of different materials, and the relative distance between the pressure roller 12 and the grinding roller 11 in the latter grinding operation is smaller than their relative distance in the former grinding operation. At the same time, the sphere size reduction ratio obtained in the latter grinding operation is also smaller than that obtained in the former grinding operation.

As shown in Figures 1 and 6 , the ball grinding apparatus Z of the present invention may also include an optical ruler 4 for measuring the travel distance of the pressure roller 12 relative to the grinding roller 11. Specifically, the second actuator 14 includes a drive rod 141, the free end of which is connected to the pressure roller 12. The optical ruler 4 is mounted on one side of the drive rod 141 and is electrically connected to the control host 2. Therefore, the optical ruler 4 can obtain actual displacement data of the drive rod 141's extension and contraction, and transmit this data to the control host 2 for interpretation and display.

Preferably, the second drive 14 is a servo drive that can drive the multi-axis motion mechanism 15 with the pressure roller 12 forward or backward a certain distance through the drive rod 141 according to the set drive parameters such as drive direction and drive displacement, so as to achieve a more precise grinding operation.

As shown in Figure 7 , the ball grinding apparatus Z of the present invention may further include a ball washing device 5 , which is configured to clean the at least one elastic ball B after grinding using a cleaning liquid, such as water. Specifically, the ball washing device 5 may include a guide member 51 and a cleaning trough 52 . The cleaning trough 52 receives the at least one elastic ball B after grinding from the grinding chamber 100 via the guide member 51 . The guide member 51 may be configured as a ball drop track, but the present invention is not limited thereto. If desired, the ball washing device 5 may further include a sprayer 53 disposed above the cleaning trough 52 .

[Beneficial Effects of the Embodiments]

The ball grinding device provided by the present invention can be realized by including the technical features of "a grinding roller and a pressure roller are arranged opposite to each other, a first driver is arranged to drive the pressure roller to rotate at a working speed, and a second driver is arranged to drive the pressure roller to move closer to or farther away from the grinding roller", "a control main motor is electrically connected to the second driver to control the second driver to adjust the distance between the pressure roller and the grinding roller" and The technical solution of "the relative distance between the pressure roller and the grinding roller in the latter grinding operation is smaller than their relative distance in the former grinding operation, and the sphere size reduction ratio obtained in the latter grinding operation is also smaller than that obtained in the former grinding operation" is used to improve the accuracy of the grinding process of the elastic sphere and improve the true roundness of the ground elastic sphere.

The contents disclosed above are merely preferred feasible embodiments of the present invention and do not limit the scope of the patent application of the present invention. Therefore, any equivalent technical changes made by using the contents of the description and drawings of the present invention are included in the scope of the patent application of the present invention.

Z: Ball Grinding Equipment 1: Grinding Device 100: Grinding Chamber 11: Grinding Roller 11R: Grinding Tank 12: Pressure Roller 13: First Drive 131: Drive Shaft 14: Second Drive 141: Drive Rod 15: Multi-Axis Motion Mechanism 151: Power Source 16: Support 16R: Inclined Guide 2: Control Unit 21: Display Interface 3: Ball Feeder 31: Conveyor Track 32: Ball Feeding Tube 4: Optical Scale 5: Ball Washer 51: Guide Component 52: Cleaning Tank 53: Sprayer B: Ball W1: First Distance W2: Second Distance W3: Third Distance

FIG1 is a partial three-dimensional schematic diagram of the ball grinding device of the present invention.

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the display interface of the control host of the ball grinding equipment of the present invention.

FIG3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the grinding device of the ball grinding apparatus of the present invention during one grinding stage.

FIG4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the grinding device of the ball grinding apparatus of the present invention during another grinding stage.

FIG5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the grinding device of the ball grinding apparatus of the present invention during another grinding stage.

FIG6 is a partial top view schematic diagram of the grinding device of the ball grinding apparatus of the present invention.

FIG7 is another partial three-dimensional schematic diagram of the ball grinding apparatus of the present invention.

Z: Ball grinding equipment

1: Grinding device

14: Second drive

141: Drive rod

15: Multi-axis motion mechanism

151: Power Source

2: Control host

3: Ball delivery device

31: Conveyor track

4: Optical ruler

Claims (9)

A ball grinding apparatus is suitable for performing a multi-stage grinding operation on at least one elastic ball to obtain a target size. The ball grinding apparatus comprises: a grinding device including a grinding roller, a pressure roller, a first driver, and a second driver, wherein the grinding roller and the pressure roller are arranged opposite each other, the first driver being configured to drive the pressure roller to rotate at a working speed, and the second driver being configured to drive the pressure roller to move closer to or farther from the grinding roller; and a control host electrically connected to the second driver to control the second driver to adjust the distance between the pressure roller and the grinding roller. The multi-stage grinding operation includes a first grinding operation, a second grinding operation and a third grinding operation in sequence; in the first grinding operation, the pressure roller and the grinding roller are separated by a first distance to grind at least one of the elastic spheres from an initial size to a first size; in the second grinding operation, the pressure roller and the grinding roller are separated by a second distance to grind at least one of the elastic spheres from the first size to a second size, and the second distance is The pressurizing roller is configured to return to a standby position during each of the multiple grinding operations, and after remaining in the standby position for a predetermined period of time, the pressurizing roller is moved back to a new working position. The ball grinding apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein the grinding device includes a grinding chamber, the pressure roller and the grinding roller are arranged in the grinding chamber, and the first drive and the second drive are arranged outside the grinding chamber. The ball grinding apparatus as described in claim 2, wherein the grinding roller has a plurality of grinding grooves arranged at intervals along the axial direction. The ball grinding apparatus as described in claim 3, wherein the grinding device includes a support seat arranged in the grinding chamber, the support seat is located between the pressure roller and the grinding roller and has a plurality of inclined guide grooves, and the plurality of inclined guide grooves correspond to the positions of the plurality of grinding grooves. The ball grinding equipment as described in claim 4 further includes a ball feeding device, which includes a conveying track and multiple ball-entering pipes connected to the conveying track, and multiple ball-entering pipes are arranged in the grinding chamber; wherein, multiple ball-entering pipes are located above the supporting seat and correspond to the positions of multiple inclined guide grooves. The ball grinding apparatus as described in claim 4 further comprises a ball washing device, and the ball washing device is configured to clean at least one of the elastic balls after grinding. The ball grinding apparatus as described in claim 6, wherein the ball washing device includes a guide component and a cleaning tank, and the cleaning tank receives at least one of the elastic balls after grinding from the grinding chamber through the guide component. The ball grinding equipment as described in claim 7, wherein the ball washing device includes a sprayer arranged above the cleaning tank. The ball grinding apparatus of claim 7 further comprises an optical ruler, wherein the second drive is a servo drive and includes a drive rod, the free end of which is connected to the pressure roller, and the optical ruler is disposed on one side of the drive rod to measure the movement distance of the pressure roller relative to the grinding roller.