Title of Invention	A METHOD FOR MACHINING THE BEARING SEATS OF A CRANK SHAFT
Abstract	In a method for machining the bearing seats (HL, PL) of shafts (1), especially crankshafts, the bearing seats (HL,PL) are subjected to the following machining operations after the shaft (1) has been initially formed by forging or casting: rough-shaping by chip-removing machining with specific cutters, hardening, passing through dressing rollers, rough rotary milling and finish rotary milling. Each of these rough rotary milling and finish rotary milling steps is applied substantially during one complete revolution of the shaft (1), without longitudinal feed and without tangential feed of the milling cutter (12).

Title of Invention

A METHOD FOR MACHINING THE BEARING SEATS OF A CRANK SHAFT

Abstract

In a method for machining the bearing seats (HL, PL) of shafts (1), especially crankshafts, the bearing seats (HL,PL) are subjected to the following machining operations after the shaft (1) has been initially formed by forging or casting: rough-shaping by chip-removing machining with specific cutters, hardening, passing through dressing rollers, rough rotary milling and finish rotary milling. Each of these rough rotary milling and finish rotary milling steps is applied substantially during one complete revolution of the shaft (1), without longitudinal feed and without tangential feed of the milling cutter (12).

Full Text	WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 1 Method for machining the bearing seats of shafts The invention relates to a method for machining the bearing seats of shafts, especially of crankshafts, wherein the bearing seats are subjected to a plurality of machining operations after a shaft has been initially formed by forging or casting. Conventionally, the bearing seats of shafts, such as the seats of the main bearings and of the thrust bearings of crankshafts, are machined by multi-stage chip-removing processes. According to a typical machining sequence in this regard, the forged or cast crankshaft is first rough-machined by turning, milling or turn broaching, then semifinish-machined by grinding and finally subjected to finish machining. In particular, now that it has become standard practice to harden the bearing seats, not least to protect them from damage in the course of further manufacture, the machining routinely includes rotary grinding after hardening, since for many years grinding was the only usable method for reducing bearings to their final dimensions after they had been hardened. Rotary milling of the bearing seats of shafts has also been proposed repeatedly, as has already been done in DE 212950 and AT 286067, for example. In such a case, a milling cutter turning around an axis of rotation disposed perpendicular to the axis of the bearing seat to be machined is moved with tangential feed along the rotating workpiece. More recently, such suggestions have reappeared, especially to avoid wet grinding and the expense associated with disposal of the waste products produced during grinding. WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 2 For example, WO 97/32680 Al (this document will be abbreviated as Dl hereinafter) proposes a method for machining bearing seats of crankshafts without wet grinding, wherein the crankshaft is rotated at approximately 20 to 100 rpm by means of a holding fixture in which it is clamped and mounted so as to be driven in rotation around its longitudinal axis, which coincides with the C axis of the machine, and is machined with a milling tool, which can be rotated around its A axis (which is parallel to the X direction of the machine) in a tool spindle, can be infed to the workpiece along its axis and can be fed perpendicular to its axis (in Y direction of the machine; tangentially relative to the workpiece). The corresponding machining takes place in two stages. According to the explanations in Dl (page 11, lines 11 to 25), in order to allow for the different stresses and strains on the cutting tool and the quality to be achieved by the machining operation, the tangential feed rate is controlled in such a way that the circumferential cutters of the milling tool have optimal cutting conditions during the rough-machining phase (roughing) and that the end blades can act on the entire running seat during finish-machining (smoothing) of the running seat. According to page 4, line 27 to page 5, line 9 of Dl, the high cutting speeds necessary for high-speed cutting can be achieved by appropriately high speeds of revolution of the rotary milling tool, while the crankshaft can nevertheless be rotated at the usual speed of up to approximately 100 rpm, as is also used during grinding in order to achieve high quality of the workpiece. Because of the high cutting speeds, the stresses and strains on the workpiece are supposedly small and very good three-dimensional geometry can WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 3 be achieved. With a tool matched to the contour of the bearing seat, the tangential feed of the rotary milling tool permits machining of the entire width of the bearing seat in one work cycle. The conventionally provided steps of rough machining and grinding machining of the bearing seats could be combined - in one machine and with one clamping of the crankshaft - in one working step, and so considerable streamlining could be achieved. On the milling tool, there are provided three cutting tips made of common types of cutting materials and equipped respectively with an end cutter and a circumferential cutter. The cutting tip geometry is adapted to the geometry of the bearing seat to be machined as regards transition radius, flat shoulders, etc. (see D1 page 6, line 33 to page 7, line 5). In view of the throw height of the crankshaft, the known rotary milling tool must be very elongated (protruding length) to ensure that it can undertake machining of the bearing seat (see Dl page 8, lines 18 to 20). In summary, there are proposed in Dl a method and a device that supposedly permit short cycle times and very good quality during machining of the (unhardened) bearing seats of crankshafts by using high-speed rotary milling, so that the machining step of grinding can be made completely unnecessary (see Dl page 15, lines 22 to 27). From EP 1030755 B1 (this document is abbreviated as D2 hereinafter) there is known the machining of crankshafts by the following sequence of machining steps: chip removal - hardening - chip removal - finishing. In this connection, it is explained WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 4 that the bearing faces are hardened in their near-surface zones, especially in the case of steel crankshafts. This serves the purpose of increasing the wear resistance of the bearing locations, preventing damage to these bearing faces during handling throughout the entire manufacturing process, and influencing the strength characteristics of the crankshaft (see D2 column 1, lines 23 to 30). The technical starting point of the ideas in D2 is the conventional machining of crankshafts in four steps: The first step is chip-removing machining with specific cutters; in this connection there is also mentioned rotary milling, and in particular high-speed milling. In the subsequent second machining step, the bearing face of the crankshaft is hardened. The third step relates to grinding by means of a hard, massive grinding tool, such as a grinding wheel. Finally, in the fourth step, finishing is achieved by a grinding belt or grindstone, which is usually stationary and is pressed against the outer circumference of the rotating bearing location of the crankshaft. The material allowance abraded during finishing ranges from 1 to 10 urn (see D2 column 2, line 32 to column 3, line 15) . In order to lower the costs of crankshaft machining, it is endeavored according to D2 to reduce the machining of the bearing locations from four to three different machining steps (see D2 column 3, lines 21 to 24). By omitting machining by grinding, the machining sequence is reduced from four to only three machining methods that are different in principle. Consequently, disposal problems for elimination of grinding sludge should cease to exist, investment costs for grinding machines and costs for tool consumption would no longer be incurred, and last but not least, a larger inventory of workpieces would no longer be needed to WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 5 compensate for the prolonged turnaround time of the workpieces caused by grinding. In contrast, disposal of the chips from chip- removing machining causes no problems, since either dry cutting will be possible (high-speed milling) or complete separation of chips and oil can be achieved because the specific surface of the chips is much smaller than that of grinding dust (see D2 column 4, lines 21 to 33). A further consideration relevant to the grinding of bearing locations that has been practiced heretofore is that the roundness deviations resulting from chip-removing rough-machining are usually reduced only in their absolute size but not in their nature by grinding. Thus grinding would not reduce long-period roundness deviations to short-period roundness deviations, but instead the number of undulations in the shaft would either remain the same or decrease, with the consequence that further improvement of the roundness deviations by finishing, considered as an improvement in the result per unit time, would actually become more difficult during finishing (see D2 column 7, line 49 to column 8, line 3). According to D2, hardening is followed by more material removal by chip-removing machining, especially the second chip-removing machining step (finish chip removal) of a two-stage metal-cutting operation (see D2 column 9, lines 20 to 24). What is common to the comments in D1 and D2, therefore, is that multi-stage rotary milling machining of the bearing seats by wet grinding should be avoided. In this way, as explained, the quality of manufacture could be increased and the costs incurred due to elimination of the grinding sludge could be lowered for both unhardened (see Dl) and hardened (see D2) bearing seats. WO 2006/056460 PCT7EP2005/012634 6 Because of this, the unanimous, known interpretation that multi- stage rotary milling machining should be integrated into rough- machining. This interpretation is not invalidated even by the fact that, as the possible combination of machining sequences up to the ready-to-use condition of a crankshaft, there is mentioned the following: chip removal - hardening - chip removal - finishing (see D2 column 4, lines 50 to 54). The present invention is based on the knowledge that, starting from the structural complexity of crankshafts and other shafts with bearing seats, especially with eccentric bearing seats, optimization of manufacturing costs and working result cannot be achieved with the known measures alone. Its object is to provide a method for machining the bearing seats of shafts in a manner than can contribute to manufacture of shafts satisfying stringent quality requirements at comparatively low costs. This object is achieved according to the invention by a method for machining the bearing seats of shafts, wherein the bearing seats are subjected to the following machining operations after a shaft has been initially formed by forging or casting: - rough-shaping by chip-removing machining with specific cutters, - hardening, - passing through dressing rollers, - rough rotary milling and - finish rotary milling, wherein the rough rotary milling and the finish rotary milling are respectively applied substantially during one complete revolution of the shaft, without longitudinal feed and without tangential feed of the milling cutter. According to the invention, therefore, hardening of the bearing seats is followed WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 7 by a multi-stage process of chip-removing machining with specific cutters, wherein rotary milling takes place in rough-cutting and finish-cutting steps, and the position of the milling cutter does not change relative to the axis of the bearing to be machined during the respective revolution in question of the shaft, or in other words between the lead-in cut and the exit of the milling cutter. By virtue of the hardness of the material to be removed and the multi-stage nature of the rotary milling machining, only relatively small, stress-annealed chips are produced, and they can be disposed of in dry condition and without problems. By the fact that the crankshaft or other shaft is rotated, in terms of order of magnitude, only by approximately one complete revolution during rough rotary milling and also during finish-rotary milling respectively, which includes rotation of the shaft by approximately one and one half complete revolutions, as will be explained in more detail hereinafter, the rotary milling machining can be accomplished within a minimal time. During rotary milling machining, the axis of the rotary milling tool is offset relative to the axis of the bearing seat to be machined by an eccentricity, which is retained or in other words is constant during the corresponding machining stage, preferably including the phases of immersion and retraction of the tool. By the fact that a feed movement of the milling cutter transverse to its longitudinal axis, or in other words in Y direction or tangentially relative to the workpiece, does not occur during rotary milling machining, the machining speed (relative feed) is guided alone by the circumferential velocity of the shaft and the radius of the bearing seat to be machined. In this connection, for example, the following machining speeds are achieved: Relative feed between approximately 200 mm/min and 9000 mm/min, preferably between approximately 600 mm/min and 1500 mm/min; WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 8 cutting speed approximately between 60 m/min and 600 m/min, preferably between approximately 80 m/min and 120 m/min. The offset of the axis of the milling cutter relative to the axis of the bearing seat to be machined depends on the bearing geometry and corresponds preferably to 0.1 to 0.25 times the value, particularly preferably 0.15 to 0.2 times the value of the diameter of the milling cutter. Because of the eccentricity of the milling cutter, the end cutters can embrace the complete bearing seat. The eccentricity can be optimized to reduce the vibration behavior. The shaft can be rotated in the direction of the eccentricity or in the opposite direction during rotary milling machining. According to a special aspect of the present invention, the workpiece is gauged after rough rotary milling and the infeed of the milling head for finish rotary milling is determined as a function of the result of this measurement. This gauging of the bearing seats after rough rotary milling is performed on the clamped shaft, so that rough rotary milling, gauging and finish rotary milling take place in a direct sequence. Depending on the individual conditions, an equally large or a different machining allowance of the machining face can be removed during the individual steps of rotary milling machining of the bearing seats. The second of these options is regularly particularly favorable, specifically when organized such that preferably approximately 60 to 80% and particularly preferably approximately 65 to 75% of the machining allowance remaining after hardening, is removed during rough rotary milling and the rest is removed during finish rotary milling. Depending on the requirements of surface quality as well as on other boundary conditions, rotary milling may or may not be followed by finishing of the bearing seats. From cost viewpoints, WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 9 a procedure without finishing is particularly preferred. This is also feasible in principle, since the surface irregularities still present after finish rotary machining, because of the nature of the method, run transverse and not parallel relative to the direction of movement in the bearing. Thus they are evened out more rapidly during operation, and the danger that the lubricant film will break away from them locally is smaller than in the case of marks running along the direction of movement in the bearing. According to another preferred improvement of the invention, the infeed of the milling cutter during immersion at the beginning of rough rotary milling and at the beginning of finish rotary milling respectively has only an axial component relative to the axis of the milling cutter. In other words, in each case the milling cutter is infed along its longitudinal axis and bears radially on the workpiece, while the shaft is being rotated by a certain amount (see hereinafter). This is advantageous in preventing the production of a "dent" in the material to be removed during immersion of the milling cutter. Because such denting can be avoided in this way, the machining allowance existing before rotary milling can be correspondingly small (for example, only 0.35 mm), which is favorable for the economy of multi-stage rotary milling machining. It has proved particularly favorable when immersion of the milling cutter in the material to be removed, at its position that is critical for rough rotary milling, extends over an angle of rotation of approximately 3 to 15°, particularly preferably approximately 5° in the crankshaft or other shaft. An analogous condition applies for immersion of the milling cutter during finish rotary milling. Another preferred improvement of the invention is characterized WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 10 in that the diameter of the milling cutter used for rotary milling is larger than the width of the bearing seat to be machined. Particularly preferably, the diameter of the milling cutter used for rotary milling is approximately 1.15 to 1.35 times the amount of the width of the bearing seat to be machined. In this case, a relief groove in which the milling cutter can run out during rotary milling machining is expediently made during rough-shaping on both sides of the bearing seat to be produced. Taking these parameters into consideration, the profile of the irregularities remaining on the surface of the bearing seats after rotary milling machining is favorable for maintaining a lubricant film. If the present invention is used for machining the bearing seats of a crankshaft, it is advantageous for the crankshaft to be clamped for multi-stage rotary milling machining at its flange end in a first rotatable chuck and at its journal end in a second rotatable chuck. Particularly preferably, these two chucks can be driven synchronously and rotated with a speed of revolution of between 1 and 100 rpm. The bearing seats of the individual main bearings of a crankshaft are expediently machined successively with a single rotary milling tool, while the crankshaft preferably is braced simultaneously in radial direction by one or by two steadies on at least one adjacent main bearing. By bracing with steadies, it is ensured that the crankshaft will not bow under the machining forces and therefore that the machining result will not be impaired. WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 11 In analogous manner, the bearing seats of the individual thrust bearings are expediently machined successively with a single rotary milling cutter, while the crankshaft is braced simultaneously in radial direction by a steady on at least one main bearing adjacent to the thrust bearing being machined. Alternatively, a plurality of main or thrust bearings may each be machined simultaneously with a plurality of rotary milling tools. An appropriate plurality of rotary milling tools is provided for this purpose. It is especially advantageous for multi-stage rotary milling machining if each bearing seat has its own individual NC control program running. A prerequisite for such individual control is the existence of measuring devices and measuring programs, with which the individual machining result of rough milling machining is recorded directly and used in the NC program of the machine for machining the bearing seat in question during finish rotary milling machining. Preferably, as explained, the measurements are made after the rough cutting step of multi-stage rotary milling machining, and then infeed is undertaken for the finish-cutting step. By virtue of recent developments, such complex NC control of the machining machine is now possible without difficulty. The invention also relates to a machine tool for performing the method. The machine tool possesses: - a main spindle with an axis of rotation (C axis) in Z direction, corresponding to the main axis of rotation of a shaft to be machined, - a chuck that can be driven in rotation around the C axis, WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 12 at least one tool spindle that can be rotated around the A axis, which runs parallel to the X direction, and that can be displaced in the Y direction and in the Z direction, at least one steady that can be displaced along the Z direction and that has at least one bracing point for the shaft at one of its bearings, a tailstock with a lathe center or a second chuck. During machining of the bearings of a crankshaft in a machine with two chucks that can be driven in rotation, the first chuck holds the crankshaft at its flange end and the second chuck holds the crankshaft at its journal. In each case, the crankshaft is clamped with its axis of rotation along the C axis (in Z direction) of the machine tool. The axis of rotation (A axis) of the tool spindle containing the rotary milling tool runs parallel to the X direction of the machine, which in turn runs orthogonally relative to the Z direction. The tool spindle for the rotary milling tool is also provided with a device in order to make the tool spindle adjustable for adjusting the eccentricity (the offset) between the axis of the bearing to be machined and the tool axis in the Y direction of the machine. Finally, the tool spindle can also be displaced and immobilized in the Z direction of the machine tool, in order that the individual bearing seats can be machined in succession. Particularly preferably, the machine controller makes it possible, instead of the above-explained infeed movement of the milling cutter alone in its longitudinal direction, also to execute an infeed movement of the rotary milling tool comprising both an axial component (in X direction) and a radial component WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 13 (in Y direction) during immersion in the bearing location to be machined at the beginning of rough rotary milling and of finish rotary milling. This makes it possible to react flexibly to special circumstances of the individual case, by an infeed movement that is particularly suitable for the specific application. For machining of seat faces of thrust bearings, the tool spindle is provided with a device allowing it to oscillate in coordinated manner in the direction of the X axis and of the Y axis, so that it can follow the circular movements of the thrust bearing during rotation of the crankshaft around its main axis. The tool spindle is preferably equipped to hold a milling finger, whose shank has a length-to-diameter ratio ranging between 10:1.5 and 10:3. Such slenderness of the milling finger is the prerequisite for all bearing faces (generated faces) to be machinable with the tool while the crankshaft is rotating. Another prerequisite for slenderness, however, is that the shank of the milling finger has high flexural strength. It is advantageous for the shank of the milling finger to be made of hard metal - or other materials with high flexural strength. The milling finger is preferably clamped in a shrink-fit chuck. To achieve steady and uniform cutting, preferably at least three end cutters comprising CBN (cubic boron nitride) cutting tips fixed by solder or other suitable means or comprising one cutting tip made of a suitable other cutting material are provided on the finger cutter. The CBN or other cutting tips each preferably have a chamfer, so WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 14 that the height of the cutting edges above a normal plane decreases by a small amount from the outside circumference of the milling finger to its axis. By such a chamfer it is possible to achieve a convex (crowned) form of the bearing faces, which is favorable in particular for crankshafts. This chamfer of the end tool cutters, produced by surface grinding, can be in particular approximately 0.04 to 0.1 mm. Preferably the ratio of the speeds of the chuck or chucks to the speed of the tool spindle can range from 1:400 to 1:2000. The cutting speeds are preferably on the order of magnitude of between 80 and 600 m/min. If necessary, the tool can be cooled internally. Bracing of the respective bearing seats not currently being machined is preferably to be provided by a steady (see above). It is expediently achieved on a main bearing, at three points, one of which lies in the X direction (relative to the rotary milling tool). In order to preclude disturbances of bracing by the necessary oil bores in the main and thrust bearings, the bracing faces of the steady are preferably designed as sliding blocks, which in the region of the oil bores of the main-bearing seats each have a recess in the form of a groove. In addition, the sliding blocks can be adapted to the surface contour of the generating line of the bearing, especially via hollow grinding matched to the bearing diameter. This prevents ingress of chips in the region of the bracing of the shaft on the sliding block or steady in question, and in this way it prevents damage to the bearing used for bracing the shaft. As mentioned hereinabove, the special advantages of the present invention are evident in particular for crankshafts and other shafts whose bearing seats are hardened. However, if hardening of WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 15 the bearing seats is not necessary either in regard to protecting them during further handling or in regard to the desired wear resistance, it is conceivable that the inventive procedure can be used without hardening of the bearing seats. In this case, less stringent requirements would be imposed on the cutters of the rotary milling tool. In addition, the machining allowance for rotary milling machining could be smaller than for hardened bearing seats, since the shrinkage that occurs regularly during hardening would not be a factor, and this is favorable from viewpoints of manufacturing economy. To this extent, the Applicant reserves the right to claim separate protection for such a procedure via a divisional application. The invention will be described in more detail hereinafter with reference to a practical example. In the drawing, which is not to scale and in some cases is greatly simplified, Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a four-cylinder crankshaft, Fig. 2 shows a side view, on a smaller scale, of a rotary milling tool that can be used for the inventive machining of the bearing seats of the crankshaft according to Fig. 1, Fig. 3 shows an overhead view, in the direction of arrow A of Fig. 2 and on a larger scale, of the rotary milling tool of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 shows a side view, on a larger scale, of the axial end of the rotary milling tool, Fig. 5 shows a cross section of the machining of a main WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 16 bearing of the crankshaft according to Fig. 1., Fig. 5a shows a vector diagram of the relative feed during various phases of rotary milling machining, Fig. 6 shows a cross section of the bracing of another main bearing, and Fig. 7 shows the overhead view of a sliding block of the steady. Crankshaft 1 - rough-shaped by chip removal, hardened and passed through dressing rollers - is clamped to rotate around its main axis of rotation 2 in the machine tool (not illustrated), in which its main and thrust bearing seats will be machined. Beginning at journal 3, the main bearings are designated successively as HL 1 to HL 5. The numbering of the thrust bearings is similar. Beginning at journal 3, they are designated successively as PL 1 to PL 4 in the drawing. The end of crankshaft 1 opposite journal 3 is flange 4. In the present example, crankshaft 1 is clamped at flange 4 by a chuck, two jaws 5 of which are illustrated. As shown by the direction of arrows 6, the clamping forces act in radial direction on flange 4. Axis of rotation 2 of crankshaft 1 is also the C axis of the machine tool running in Z direction. Beginning at flange 4, main bearings HL 5 to HL 1 of crankshaft 1 are machined successively according to arrow 9. During machining in the direction of arrow 9, which is the X direction of the machine tool, crankshaft 1 is braced in the direction of arrow 10, which is opposite to the machining direction. Bracing in the direction of arrow 10 is accomplished by one or two steadies (not illustrated) of the machine tool. This machining of HL 5 takes place with bracing at WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 17 HL 4, machining of HL 4 takes place with bracing at HL 3, machining of HL 3 takes place with bracing at HL 4 and/or HL 2, machining of HL 2 takes place with bracing at HL 3 and machining of HL 1 takes place with bracing at HL 2. Bracing during machining of thrust bearings PL 1 to PL 4 is provided in similar manner. During machining of PL 1, for example in machining direction 11, bracing is provided at HL 1 and/or HL 2. Machining of PL 2 in turn takes place with bracing at HL 2 and/or HL 3, machining of PL 3 takes place with bracing at HL 3 and/or HL 4, and finally machining of PL 4 takes place with bracing at HL 4 or HL 5. For simplicity, it is assumed that machining direction 11 corresponds to machining direction 9 and therefore to the X direction of the machine tool. A milling finger 12 as illustrated in Fig. 2 is provided for machining of bearing seats HL and PL. In the present practical example, diameter 13 of the milling finger is 24 mm, whereas the width of main bearing seats HL and of thrust bearing seats PL is 19 mm. Accordingly, a relief groove of 2.5 mm, in which the milling cutter can run out, has been made on both sides of each of the bearing seats during rough machining of the crankshaft. Relative to its diameter 13, shank 15 of milling finger 12 has a great length 14. The great length 14 of shank 15 makes it possible that, for example, thrust bearing faces PL 1 or PL 4 can be machined from directions 9 and 11 even if - after approximately one half revolution of the crankshaft - they are located in the lower position, in which the two inner thrust bearings are illustrated in Fig. 1. For this purpose, shank 15 of milling finger 12 has high flexural strength. Shank 15 is inserted into a standard tool holder 16 of the tool spindle (not WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 18 illustrated) of the machine tool. Axis of rotation 17 of milling finger 12 is also parallel to the X direction of the machine tool. Viewed from the direction of arrow A (Fig. 3), milling finger 12 is provided with three cutting tips 18, which are distributed uniformly over the circumference. Cutting tips 18 are made of cubic boron nitride, abbreviated as CBN. Each of cutting tips 18 has a slight chamfer 19 toward axis of rotation 17. Fig. 5 shows a section through an arbitrary main bearing HL of crankshaft 1. The C axis of the machine tool lies in the same direction as axis of rotation 2; the Z axis, which coincides with the C axis, therefore runs perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. The X axis extends orthogonally relative thereto, and in turn the Y axis extends orthogonally relative to the X axis and to the Z axis. Relative to the X axis, axis of rotation 17 of milling finger 12 is offset in Y direction by eccentricity e, which in the present practical example amounts to approximately 4 to 5 mm. The direction of rotation of crankshaft 1 is indicated by curved arrow 20, and the direction of rotation of milling finger 12 is indicated by curved arrow 21. Machining allowance 22 (for example, 0.35 mm) is provided for multi-stage rotary milling machining of main bearing HL. During rough cutting, in which crankshaft 1 performs approximately one complete revolution in direction 20, an outer layer 23 with a predetermined thickness (rough machining allowance, for example 0.25 mm) is removed from main bearing HL. Immediately thereafter, or in other words without reclamping of the shaft, once the bearing has been gauged after rough cutting, inner layer 24 (finish machining allowance, for example 0.1 mm) is removed by WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 19 precision cutting, during which crankshaft 1 is rotated once again in direction of rotation 20 and milling finger 12 is rotated in direction of rotation 21. Reversal of directions of rotation 20 and 21 for precision cutting is not provided, but is entirely possible. During precision cutting, crankshaft 1 performs somewhat more than one complete revolution. Together with the range of angle of rotation for immersion of the tool at the beginning of the precision cutting stage of rotary milling machining, the tool is engaged here over an angular interval of approximately 420°. By means of a vector diagram, Fig. 5a illustrates the relative feed during immersion (dashed) of milling finger 12 in the material, or in other words during the lead-in cut, during rotation (solid) and during exit (dot-dash) of the milling finger. Because of the geometric relationships (eccentricity e, bearing diameter, diameter of the milling cutter, cutter geometry, etc.), no purely tangential relative feed takes place during rotation; instead, a radial component 36 - illustrated in exaggerated size - is superposed on tangential component 35, resulting in relative feed 37 illustrated in vector form during rotation. During the lead-in cut, infeed movement 38 of milling cutter 12 along its longitudinal axis (in X direction) is added thereto. The relative feed resulting from superposition with vector 37 during the lead-in cut is illustrated by the corresponding lead-in cut or immersion vector 39. During exit of the milling cutter after complete revolution of the shaft, infeed movement 40 - which takes place in X direction - of milling cutter 12 is added to relative feed 37. The relative feed resulting from superposition with vector 37 during exit of the milling cutter is illustrated by the corresponding exit vector WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 20 41. The respective size of infeed movements 38 and 40 is determined experimentally in advance. At that time, the direction of rotation of the shaft either in or opposite to the direction of offset of the milling cutter axis relative to the shaft axis must be taken into consideration. As reference point for determination of the order of magnitude of the infeed speed as a function of the other machining parameters as well as of the geometric relationships, there can be used the fact that the lead-in cut preferably extends over an angular interval of 3° to 15° of rotation of the shaft. As already mentioned, crankshaft 1 is braced by one or two steadies (not illustrated) of the machine tool during multi-stage rotary milling machining of a main bearing HL. Bracing is provided primarily in the X direction, which is illustrated in vertical direction in Fig. 6. A sliding block 25, which is movable in both directions 26 along the X axis, is used for bracing. In addition to bracing in the X direction by sliding block 25, additional bracing is provided by two further sliding blocks 27 and 28, which can be moved respectively in radial directions 29 toward and back away from main bearing seat HL of crankshaft 1. A mechanism (not illustrated) of the steady coordinates the three movements 26 and 29 in such a way that sliding blocks 27 and 28 move onto main bearing HL, while sliding block 25 moves downward in the direction of double arrow 26. Conversely, sliding blocks 27 and 28 move away from main bearing HL in the direction of double arrows 29, while sliding block 25 moves upward in the direction of double arrow 26. A mechanism that is known in itself and that does not have to be further described here provides for coordination of movements 26 and 29. WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 21 However, bearing seat 30 of main bearing HL is also interrupted by an oil bore 31. Disturbances can be caused by the rim of this oil bore 31, and they appear during rotation of crankshaft 1, while main bearing HL is being braced by sliding blocks 25, 27 and 28. To avoid such disturbances, sliding blocks 25, 27 and 28 are each provided with a groove 32. The effect of groove 32 is that the bracing portion 33 of the total supporting face of sliding blocks 25, 27 and 28 is smaller than their respective cross-sectional face turned toward main bearing HL during bracing. What is not illustrated in the drawing is the possible adaptation of the sliding blocks to the generating line of the bearing seat to be manufactured by means of hollow grinding (see hereinabove). WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 22 Claims 1. A method for machining the bearing seats of shafts, especially of crankshafts, wherein the bearing seats are subjected to the following machining operations after a shaft has been initially formed by forging or casting: - rough-shaping by chip-removing machining with specific cutters, - hardening, - passing through dressing rollers, - rough rotary milling and - finish rotary milling, wherein the rough rotary milling and the finish rotary milling are respectively applied substantially during one complete revolution of the shaft, without longitudinal feed and without tangential feed of the milling cutter. 2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that finish rotary milling is followed by finishing with an unspecific cutter. 3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the infeed of the milling cutter during immersion at the beginning of rough rotary milling and at the beginning of finish rotary milling respectively has only an axial component relative to the axis of the milling cutter. 4. A method according to claim 3, characterized in that the lead-in cut during immersion of the milling cutter extends over a shaft angle of rotation of 3° to 15°, preferably approximately 5°. WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 23 5. A method according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the diameter of the milling cutter used for rotary milling is approximately 1.15 to 1.35 times the amount of the width of the bearing seat to be machined. 6. A method according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that a relief groove is made during rough-shaping on both sides of the bearing seat to be produced. 7. A method according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that rotary milling takes place with an offset of the axis of the milling cutter relative to the axis of the bearing seat equal to approximately 0.15 to 0.2 times the value of the diameter of the milling cutter. 8. A method according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that there are machined the bearing seats of a crankshaft, which is clamped for rotary milling at its flange end in a first rotatable chuck and at its journal end in a second rotatable chuck. 9. A method according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the main bearing seats of a crankshaft are machined, wherein each individual bearing seat of the main bearings is semifinish-machined successively with a single rotary milling tool, while the crankshaft is braced simultaneously in radial direction by a steady on a respective adjacent main bearing. WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 24 10. A method according to one of claims 7 or 8, characterized in that the thrust bearing seats of a crankshaft are machined, wherein each individual bearing seat of the thrust bearings is semifinish-machined successively with a single rotary milling tool, while the crankshaft is braced simultaneously in radial direction by a steady on a respective adjacent main bearing. 11. A method according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the finish rotary milling embraces an angle of rotation of the shaft larger than 360°. 12. A method according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the beginning of metal cutting during rough rotary milling and/or during finish rotary milling takes place in the region of an oil bore. 13. A machine tool for performing the method according to one of claims 1 to 12, especially for crankshafts, characterized in that the machine tool is provided with - a main spindle with an axis of rotation (C axis) in Z direction, corresponding to the main axis of rotation (2) of a shaft to be machined, - a chuck for the shaft, which chuck can be driven in rotation around the C axis, - at least one tool spindle that can be rotated around the A axis, which runs parallel to the X direction, and that can be displaced in the Y direction and in the Z direction, - at least one steady that can be displaced along the Z direction and that has at least one bracing point for the WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 25 shaft at one of its bearings, and - a tailstock with a lathe center or a second chuck. 14. A machine tool according to claim 13, characterized in that the machine tool is provided with two chucks that can be driven in rotation, the first chuck of which holds a crankshaft (1) at its flange end (4) and the second chuck of which holds the crankshaft (1) at its journal (3) . 15. A machine tool according to claim 13 or claim 14, characterized in that the tool spindle can be adjusted by an amount e in Y direction. 16. A machine tool according to one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that the tool spindle is equipped to hold a milling finger (12), whose shank (15) has a length that is in a ratio of between 10:1.5 and 10:3 relative to its diameter (13). 17. A machine tool according to claim 16, characterized in that the milling finger (12) is provided with three end cutters comprising CBN cutting tips (18) connected by soldering. 18. A machine tool according to claim 17, characterized in that the CBN cutting tips (18) each have a chamfer (19), which decreases by a small amount (19) from the outside circumference of the milling finger (12) to its longitudinal axis (17) . WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634 26 19. A machine tool according to one of claims 13 to 18, characterized in that the ratio of the speeds of the chuck or chucks to the speed of the tool spindle ranges from 1:400 to 1:2000. 20. A machine tool according to one of claims 13 to 19, characterized in that bracing by a steady is achieved at three points on a main bearing (HL 1-5) of a crankshaft (1), one of which points lies in the X direction. 21. A machine tool according to claim 20, characterized in that the devices for bracing the crankshaft (1) by steadies are designed as sliding blocks (25, 27, 28), which in the region of the oil bore (31) of the main-bearing seat (30) each have a recess (32). In a method for machining the bearing seats (HL, PL) of shafts (1), especially crankshafts, the bearing seats (HL,PL) are subjected to the following machining operations after the shaft (1) has been initially formed by forging or casting: rough-shaping by chip-removing machining with specific cutters, hardening, passing through dressing rollers, rough rotary milling and finish rotary milling. Each of these rough rotary milling and finish rotary milling steps is applied substantially during one complete revolution of the shaft (1), without longitudinal feed and without tangential feed of the milling cutter (12).

Full Text

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
1
Method for machining the bearing seats of shafts
The invention relates to a method for machining the bearing seats
of shafts, especially of crankshafts, wherein the bearing seats
are subjected to a plurality of machining operations after a
shaft has been initially formed by forging or casting.
Conventionally, the bearing seats of shafts, such as the seats of
the main bearings and of the thrust bearings of crankshafts, are
machined by multi-stage chip-removing processes. According to a
typical machining sequence in this regard, the forged or cast
crankshaft is first rough-machined by turning, milling or turn
broaching, then semifinish-machined by grinding and finally
subjected to finish machining. In particular, now that it has
become standard practice to harden the bearing seats, not least
to protect them from damage in the course of further manufacture,
the machining routinely includes rotary grinding after hardening,
since for many years grinding was the only usable method for
reducing bearings to their final dimensions after they had been
hardened.
Rotary milling of the bearing seats of shafts has also been
proposed repeatedly, as has already been done in DE 212950 and AT
286067, for example. In such a case, a milling cutter turning
around an axis of rotation disposed perpendicular to the axis of
the bearing seat to be machined is moved with tangential feed
along the rotating workpiece. More recently, such suggestions
have reappeared, especially to avoid wet grinding and the expense
associated with disposal of the waste products produced during
grinding.

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
2
For example, WO 97/32680 Al (this document will be abbreviated as
Dl hereinafter) proposes a method for machining bearing seats of
crankshafts without wet grinding, wherein the crankshaft is
rotated at approximately 20 to 100 rpm by means of a holding
fixture in which it is clamped and mounted so as to be driven in
rotation around its longitudinal axis, which coincides with the C
axis of the machine, and is machined with a milling tool, which
can be rotated around its A axis (which is parallel to the
X direction of the machine) in a tool spindle, can be infed to
the workpiece along its axis and can be fed perpendicular to its
axis (in Y direction of the machine; tangentially relative to the
workpiece). The corresponding machining takes place in two
stages.
According to the explanations in Dl (page 11, lines 11 to 25), in
order to allow for the different stresses and strains on the
cutting tool and the quality to be achieved by the machining
operation, the tangential feed rate is controlled in such a way
that the circumferential cutters of the milling tool have optimal
cutting conditions during the rough-machining phase (roughing)
and that the end blades can act on the entire running seat during
finish-machining (smoothing) of the running seat. According to
page 4, line 27 to page 5, line 9 of Dl, the high cutting speeds
necessary for high-speed cutting can be achieved by appropriately
high speeds of revolution of the rotary milling tool, while the
crankshaft can nevertheless be rotated at the usual speed of up
to approximately 100 rpm, as is also used during grinding in
order to achieve high quality of the workpiece. Because of the
high cutting speeds, the stresses and strains on the workpiece
are supposedly small and very good three-dimensional geometry can

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
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be achieved. With a tool matched to the contour of the bearing
seat, the tangential feed of the rotary milling tool permits
machining of the entire width of the bearing seat in one work
cycle. The conventionally provided steps of rough machining and
grinding machining of the bearing seats could be combined - in
one machine and with one clamping of the crankshaft - in one
working step, and so considerable streamlining could be achieved.
On the milling tool, there are provided three cutting tips made
of common types of cutting materials and equipped respectively
with an end cutter and a circumferential cutter. The cutting tip
geometry is adapted to the geometry of the bearing seat to be
machined as regards transition radius, flat shoulders, etc. (see
D1 page 6, line 33 to page 7, line 5).
In view of the throw height of the crankshaft, the known rotary
milling tool must be very elongated (protruding length) to ensure
that it can undertake machining of the bearing seat (see Dl page
8, lines 18 to 20).
In summary, there are proposed in Dl a method and a device that
supposedly permit short cycle times and very good quality during
machining of the (unhardened) bearing seats of crankshafts by
using high-speed rotary milling, so that the machining step of
grinding can be made completely unnecessary (see Dl page 15,
lines 22 to 27).
From EP 1030755 B1 (this document is abbreviated as D2
hereinafter) there is known the machining of crankshafts by the
following sequence of machining steps: chip removal - hardening -
chip removal - finishing. In this connection, it is explained

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
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that the bearing faces are hardened in their near-surface zones,
especially in the case of steel crankshafts. This serves the
purpose of increasing the wear resistance of the bearing
locations, preventing damage to these bearing faces during
handling throughout the entire manufacturing process, and
influencing the strength characteristics of the crankshaft (see
D2 column 1, lines 23 to 30). The technical starting point of the
ideas in D2 is the conventional machining of crankshafts in four
steps: The first step is chip-removing machining with specific
cutters; in this connection there is also mentioned rotary
milling, and in particular high-speed milling. In the subsequent
second machining step, the bearing face of the crankshaft is
hardened. The third step relates to grinding by means of a hard,
massive grinding tool, such as a grinding wheel. Finally, in the
fourth step, finishing is achieved by a grinding belt or
grindstone, which is usually stationary and is pressed against
the outer circumference of the rotating bearing location of the
crankshaft. The material allowance abraded during finishing
ranges from 1 to 10 urn (see D2 column 2, line 32 to column 3,
line 15) .
In order to lower the costs of crankshaft machining, it is
endeavored according to D2 to reduce the machining of the bearing
locations from four to three different machining steps (see D2
column 3, lines 21 to 24). By omitting machining by grinding, the
machining sequence is reduced from four to only three machining
methods that are different in principle. Consequently, disposal
problems for elimination of grinding sludge should cease to
exist, investment costs for grinding machines and costs for tool
consumption would no longer be incurred, and last but not least,
a larger inventory of workpieces would no longer be needed to

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
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compensate for the prolonged turnaround time of the workpieces
caused by grinding. In contrast, disposal of the chips from chip-
removing machining causes no problems, since either dry cutting
will be possible (high-speed milling) or complete separation of
chips and oil can be achieved because the specific surface of the
chips is much smaller than that of grinding dust (see D2 column
4, lines 21 to 33).
A further consideration relevant to the grinding of bearing
locations that has been practiced heretofore is that the
roundness deviations resulting from chip-removing rough-machining
are usually reduced only in their absolute size but not in their
nature by grinding. Thus grinding would not reduce long-period
roundness deviations to short-period roundness deviations, but
instead the number of undulations in the shaft would either
remain the same or decrease, with the consequence that further
improvement of the roundness deviations by finishing, considered
as an improvement in the result per unit time, would actually
become more difficult during finishing (see D2 column 7, line 49
to column 8, line 3).
According to D2, hardening is followed by more material removal
by chip-removing machining, especially the second chip-removing
machining step (finish chip removal) of a two-stage metal-cutting
operation (see D2 column 9, lines 20 to 24).
What is common to the comments in D1 and D2, therefore, is that
multi-stage rotary milling machining of the bearing seats by wet
grinding should be avoided. In this way, as explained, the
quality of manufacture could be increased and the costs incurred
due to elimination of the grinding sludge could be lowered for
both unhardened (see Dl) and hardened (see D2) bearing seats.

WO 2006/056460 PCT7EP2005/012634
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Because of this, the unanimous, known interpretation that multi-
stage rotary milling machining should be integrated into rough-
machining. This interpretation is not invalidated even by the
fact that, as the possible combination of machining sequences up
to the ready-to-use condition of a crankshaft, there is mentioned
the following: chip removal - hardening - chip removal -
finishing (see D2 column 4, lines 50 to 54).
The present invention is based on the knowledge that, starting
from the structural complexity of crankshafts and other shafts
with bearing seats, especially with eccentric bearing seats,
optimization of manufacturing costs and working result cannot be
achieved with the known measures alone. Its object is to provide
a method for machining the bearing seats of shafts in a manner
than can contribute to manufacture of shafts satisfying stringent
quality requirements at comparatively low costs.
This object is achieved according to the invention by a method
for machining the bearing seats of shafts, wherein the bearing
seats are subjected to the following machining operations after a
shaft has been initially formed by forging or casting:
- rough-shaping by chip-removing machining with specific
cutters,
- hardening,
- passing through dressing rollers,
- rough rotary milling and
- finish rotary milling,
wherein the rough rotary milling and the finish rotary milling
are respectively applied substantially during one complete
revolution of the shaft, without longitudinal feed and without
tangential feed of the milling cutter. According to the
invention, therefore, hardening of the bearing seats is followed

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
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by a multi-stage process of chip-removing machining with specific
cutters, wherein rotary milling takes place in rough-cutting and
finish-cutting steps, and the position of the milling cutter does
not change relative to the axis of the bearing to be machined
during the respective revolution in question of the shaft, or in
other words between the lead-in cut and the exit of the milling
cutter. By virtue of the hardness of the material to be removed
and the multi-stage nature of the rotary milling machining, only
relatively small, stress-annealed chips are produced, and they
can be disposed of in dry condition and without problems. By the
fact that the crankshaft or other shaft is rotated, in terms of
order of magnitude, only by approximately one complete revolution
during rough rotary milling and also during finish-rotary milling
respectively, which includes rotation of the shaft by
approximately one and one half complete revolutions, as will be
explained in more detail hereinafter, the rotary milling
machining can be accomplished within a minimal time.
During rotary milling machining, the axis of the rotary milling
tool is offset relative to the axis of the bearing seat to be
machined by an eccentricity, which is retained or in other words
is constant during the corresponding machining stage, preferably
including the phases of immersion and retraction of the tool. By
the fact that a feed movement of the milling cutter transverse to
its longitudinal axis, or in other words in Y direction or
tangentially relative to the workpiece, does not occur during
rotary milling machining, the machining speed (relative feed) is
guided alone by the circumferential velocity of the shaft and the
radius of the bearing seat to be machined. In this connection,
for example, the following machining speeds are achieved:
Relative feed between approximately 200 mm/min and 9000 mm/min,
preferably between approximately 600 mm/min and 1500 mm/min;

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
8
cutting speed approximately between 60 m/min and 600 m/min,
preferably between approximately 80 m/min and 120 m/min. The
offset of the axis of the milling cutter relative to the axis of
the bearing seat to be machined depends on the bearing geometry
and corresponds preferably to 0.1 to 0.25 times the value,
particularly preferably 0.15 to 0.2 times the value of the
diameter of the milling cutter. Because of the eccentricity of
the milling cutter, the end cutters can embrace the complete
bearing seat. The eccentricity can be optimized to reduce the
vibration behavior. The shaft can be rotated in the direction of
the eccentricity or in the opposite direction during rotary
milling machining.
According to a special aspect of the present invention, the
workpiece is gauged after rough rotary milling and the infeed of
the milling head for finish rotary milling is determined as a
function of the result of this measurement. This gauging of the
bearing seats after rough rotary milling is performed on the
clamped shaft, so that rough rotary milling, gauging and finish
rotary milling take place in a direct sequence. Depending on the
individual conditions, an equally large or a different machining
allowance of the machining face can be removed during the
individual steps of rotary milling machining of the bearing
seats. The second of these options is regularly particularly
favorable, specifically when organized such that preferably
approximately 60 to 80% and particularly preferably approximately
65 to 75% of the machining allowance remaining after hardening,
is removed during rough rotary milling and the rest is removed
during finish rotary milling.
Depending on the requirements of surface quality as well as on
other boundary conditions, rotary milling may or may not be
followed by finishing of the bearing seats. From cost viewpoints,

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
9
a procedure without finishing is particularly preferred. This is
also feasible in principle, since the surface irregularities
still present after finish rotary machining, because of the
nature of the method, run transverse and not parallel relative to
the direction of movement in the bearing. Thus they are evened
out more rapidly during operation, and the danger that the
lubricant film will break away from them locally is smaller than
in the case of marks running along the direction of movement in
the bearing.
According to another preferred improvement of the invention, the
infeed of the milling cutter during immersion at the beginning of
rough rotary milling and at the beginning of finish rotary
milling respectively has only an axial component relative to the
axis of the milling cutter. In other words, in each case the
milling cutter is infed along its longitudinal axis and bears
radially on the workpiece, while the shaft is being rotated by a
certain amount (see hereinafter). This is advantageous in
preventing the production of a "dent" in the material to be
removed during immersion of the milling cutter. Because such
denting can be avoided in this way, the machining allowance
existing before rotary milling can be correspondingly small (for
example, only 0.35 mm), which is favorable for the economy of
multi-stage rotary milling machining. It has proved particularly
favorable when immersion of the milling cutter in the material to
be removed, at its position that is critical for rough rotary
milling, extends over an angle of rotation of approximately 3 to
15°, particularly preferably approximately 5° in the crankshaft
or other shaft. An analogous condition applies for immersion of
the milling cutter during finish rotary milling.
Another preferred improvement of the invention is characterized

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
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in that the diameter of the milling cutter used for rotary
milling is larger than the width of the bearing seat to be
machined. Particularly preferably, the diameter of the milling
cutter used for rotary milling is approximately 1.15 to 1.35
times the amount of the width of the bearing seat to be machined.
In this case, a relief groove in which the milling cutter can run
out during rotary milling machining is expediently made during
rough-shaping on both sides of the bearing seat to be produced.
Taking these parameters into consideration, the profile of the
irregularities remaining on the surface of the bearing seats
after rotary milling machining is favorable for maintaining a
lubricant film.
If the present invention is used for machining the bearing seats
of a crankshaft, it is advantageous for the crankshaft to be
clamped for multi-stage rotary milling machining at its flange
end in a first rotatable chuck and at its journal end in a second
rotatable chuck. Particularly preferably, these two chucks can be
driven synchronously and rotated with a speed of revolution of
between 1 and 100 rpm.
The bearing seats of the individual main bearings of a crankshaft
are expediently machined successively with a single rotary
milling tool, while the crankshaft preferably is braced
simultaneously in radial direction by one or by two steadies on
at least one adjacent main bearing. By bracing with steadies, it
is ensured that the crankshaft will not bow under the machining
forces and therefore that the machining result will not be
impaired.

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
11
In analogous manner, the bearing seats of the individual thrust
bearings are expediently machined successively with a single
rotary milling cutter, while the crankshaft is braced
simultaneously in radial direction by a steady on at least one
main bearing adjacent to the thrust bearing being machined.
Alternatively, a plurality of main or thrust bearings may each be
machined simultaneously with a plurality of rotary milling tools.
An appropriate plurality of rotary milling tools is provided for
this purpose.
It is especially advantageous for multi-stage rotary milling
machining if each bearing seat has its own individual NC control
program running. A prerequisite for such individual control is
the existence of measuring devices and measuring programs, with
which the individual machining result of rough milling machining
is recorded directly and used in the NC program of the machine
for machining the bearing seat in question during finish rotary
milling machining. Preferably, as explained, the measurements are
made after the rough cutting step of multi-stage rotary milling
machining, and then infeed is undertaken for the finish-cutting
step. By virtue of recent developments, such complex NC control
of the machining machine is now possible without difficulty.
The invention also relates to a machine tool for performing the
method. The machine tool possesses:
- a main spindle with an axis of rotation (C axis) in Z
direction, corresponding to the main axis of rotation of a
shaft to be machined,
- a chuck that can be driven in rotation around the C axis,

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
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at least one tool spindle that can be rotated around the A
axis, which runs parallel to the X direction, and that can
be displaced in the Y direction and in the Z direction,
at least one steady that can be displaced along the Z
direction and that has at least one bracing point for the
shaft at one of its bearings,
a tailstock with a lathe center or a second chuck.
During machining of the bearings of a crankshaft in a machine
with two chucks that can be driven in rotation, the first chuck
holds the crankshaft at its flange end and the second chuck holds
the crankshaft at its journal. In each case, the crankshaft is
clamped with its axis of rotation along the C axis (in Z
direction) of the machine tool.
The axis of rotation (A axis) of the tool spindle containing the
rotary milling tool runs parallel to the X direction of the
machine, which in turn runs orthogonally relative to the Z
direction. The tool spindle for the rotary milling tool is also
provided with a device in order to make the tool spindle
adjustable for adjusting the eccentricity (the offset) between
the axis of the bearing to be machined and the tool axis in the Y
direction of the machine. Finally, the tool spindle can also be
displaced and immobilized in the Z direction of the machine tool,
in order that the individual bearing seats can be machined in
succession.
Particularly preferably, the machine controller makes it
possible, instead of the above-explained infeed movement of the
milling cutter alone in its longitudinal direction, also to
execute an infeed movement of the rotary milling tool comprising
both an axial component (in X direction) and a radial component

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
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(in Y direction) during immersion in the bearing location to be
machined at the beginning of rough rotary milling and of finish
rotary milling. This makes it possible to react flexibly to
special circumstances of the individual case, by an infeed
movement that is particularly suitable for the specific
application.
For machining of seat faces of thrust bearings, the tool spindle
is provided with a device allowing it to oscillate in coordinated
manner in the direction of the X axis and of the Y axis, so that
it can follow the circular movements of the thrust bearing during
rotation of the crankshaft around its main axis.
The tool spindle is preferably equipped to hold a milling finger,
whose shank has a length-to-diameter ratio ranging between 10:1.5
and 10:3. Such slenderness of the milling finger is the
prerequisite for all bearing faces (generated faces) to be
machinable with the tool while the crankshaft is rotating.
Another prerequisite for slenderness, however, is that the shank
of the milling finger has high flexural strength. It is
advantageous for the shank of the milling finger to be made of
hard metal - or other materials with high flexural strength. The
milling finger is preferably clamped in a shrink-fit chuck.
To achieve steady and uniform cutting, preferably at least three
end cutters comprising CBN (cubic boron nitride) cutting tips
fixed by solder or other suitable means or comprising one cutting
tip made of a suitable other cutting material are provided on the
finger cutter.
The CBN or other cutting tips each preferably have a chamfer, so

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
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that the height of the cutting edges above a normal plane
decreases by a small amount from the outside circumference of the
milling finger to its axis. By such a chamfer it is possible to
achieve a convex (crowned) form of the bearing faces, which is
favorable in particular for crankshafts. This chamfer of the end
tool cutters, produced by surface grinding, can be in particular
approximately 0.04 to 0.1 mm. Preferably the ratio of the speeds
of the chuck or chucks to the speed of the tool spindle can range
from 1:400 to 1:2000. The cutting speeds are preferably on the
order of magnitude of between 80 and 600 m/min. If necessary, the
tool can be cooled internally.
Bracing of the respective bearing seats not currently being
machined is preferably to be provided by a steady (see above). It
is expediently achieved on a main bearing, at three points, one
of which lies in the X direction (relative to the rotary milling
tool). In order to preclude disturbances of bracing by the
necessary oil bores in the main and thrust bearings, the bracing
faces of the steady are preferably designed as sliding blocks,
which in the region of the oil bores of the main-bearing seats
each have a recess in the form of a groove. In addition, the
sliding blocks can be adapted to the surface contour of the
generating line of the bearing, especially via hollow grinding
matched to the bearing diameter. This prevents ingress of chips
in the region of the bracing of the shaft on the sliding block or
steady in question, and in this way it prevents damage to the
bearing used for bracing the shaft.
As mentioned hereinabove, the special advantages of the present
invention are evident in particular for crankshafts and other
shafts whose bearing seats are hardened. However, if hardening of

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
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the bearing seats is not necessary either in regard to protecting
them during further handling or in regard to the desired wear
resistance, it is conceivable that the inventive procedure can be
used without hardening of the bearing seats. In this case, less
stringent requirements would be imposed on the cutters of the
rotary milling tool. In addition, the machining allowance for
rotary milling machining could be smaller than for hardened
bearing seats, since the shrinkage that occurs regularly during
hardening would not be a factor, and this is favorable from
viewpoints of manufacturing economy. To this extent, the
Applicant reserves the right to claim separate protection for
such a procedure via a divisional application.
The invention will be described in more detail hereinafter with
reference to a practical example.
In the drawing, which is not to scale and in some cases is
greatly simplified,
Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a four-cylinder
crankshaft,
Fig. 2 shows a side view, on a smaller scale, of a rotary
milling tool that can be used for the inventive
machining of the bearing seats of the crankshaft
according to Fig. 1,
Fig. 3 shows an overhead view, in the direction of arrow A of
Fig. 2 and on a larger scale, of the rotary milling
tool of Fig. 2,
Fig. 4 shows a side view, on a larger scale, of the axial end
of the rotary milling tool,
Fig. 5 shows a cross section of the machining of a main

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bearing of the crankshaft according to Fig. 1.,
Fig. 5a shows a vector diagram of the relative feed during
various phases of rotary milling machining,
Fig. 6 shows a cross section of the bracing of another main
bearing, and
Fig. 7 shows the overhead view of a sliding block of the
steady.
Crankshaft 1 - rough-shaped by chip removal, hardened and passed
through dressing rollers - is clamped to rotate around its main
axis of rotation 2 in the machine tool (not illustrated), in
which its main and thrust bearing seats will be machined.
Beginning at journal 3, the main bearings are designated
successively as HL 1 to HL 5. The numbering of the thrust
bearings is similar. Beginning at journal 3, they are designated
successively as PL 1 to PL 4 in the drawing. The end of
crankshaft 1 opposite journal 3 is flange 4. In the present
example, crankshaft 1 is clamped at flange 4 by a chuck, two jaws
5 of which are illustrated. As shown by the direction of arrows
6, the clamping forces act in radial direction on flange 4.
Axis of rotation 2 of crankshaft 1 is also the C axis of the
machine tool running in Z direction. Beginning at flange 4, main
bearings HL 5 to HL 1 of crankshaft 1 are machined successively
according to arrow 9. During machining in the direction of arrow
9, which is the X direction of the machine tool, crankshaft 1 is
braced in the direction of arrow 10, which is opposite to the
machining direction. Bracing in the direction of arrow 10 is
accomplished by one or two steadies (not illustrated) of the
machine tool. This machining of HL 5 takes place with bracing at

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
17
HL 4, machining of HL 4 takes place with bracing at HL 3,
machining of HL 3 takes place with bracing at HL 4 and/or HL 2,
machining of HL 2 takes place with bracing at HL 3 and machining
of HL 1 takes place with bracing at HL 2. Bracing during
machining of thrust bearings PL 1 to PL 4 is provided in similar
manner. During machining of PL 1, for example in machining
direction 11, bracing is provided at HL 1 and/or HL 2. Machining
of PL 2 in turn takes place with bracing at HL 2 and/or HL 3,
machining of PL 3 takes place with bracing at HL 3 and/or HL 4,
and finally machining of PL 4 takes place with bracing at HL 4 or
HL 5. For simplicity, it is assumed that machining direction 11
corresponds to machining direction 9 and therefore to the X
direction of the machine tool.
A milling finger 12 as illustrated in Fig. 2 is provided for
machining of bearing seats HL and PL. In the present practical
example, diameter 13 of the milling finger is 24 mm, whereas the
width of main bearing seats HL and of thrust bearing seats PL is
19 mm. Accordingly, a relief groove of 2.5 mm, in which the
milling cutter can run out, has been made on both sides of each
of the bearing seats during rough machining of the crankshaft.
Relative to its diameter 13, shank 15 of milling finger 12 has a
great length 14. The great length 14 of shank 15 makes it
possible that, for example, thrust bearing faces PL 1 or PL 4 can
be machined from directions 9 and 11 even if - after
approximately one half revolution of the crankshaft - they are
located in the lower position, in which the two inner thrust
bearings are illustrated in Fig. 1. For this purpose, shank 15 of
milling finger 12 has high flexural strength. Shank 15 is
inserted into a standard tool holder 16 of the tool spindle (not

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
18
illustrated) of the machine tool. Axis of rotation 17 of milling
finger 12 is also parallel to the X direction of the machine
tool.
Viewed from the direction of arrow A (Fig. 3), milling finger 12
is provided with three cutting tips 18, which are distributed
uniformly over the circumference. Cutting tips 18 are made of
cubic boron nitride, abbreviated as CBN. Each of cutting tips 18
has a slight chamfer 19 toward axis of rotation 17.
Fig. 5 shows a section through an arbitrary main bearing HL of
crankshaft 1. The C axis of the machine tool lies in the same
direction as axis of rotation 2; the Z axis, which coincides with
the C axis, therefore runs perpendicular to the plane of the
drawing. The X axis extends orthogonally relative thereto, and in
turn the Y axis extends orthogonally relative to the X axis and
to the Z axis. Relative to the X axis, axis of rotation 17 of
milling finger 12 is offset in Y direction by eccentricity e,
which in the present practical example amounts to approximately 4
to 5 mm. The direction of rotation of crankshaft 1 is indicated
by curved arrow 20, and the direction of rotation of milling
finger 12 is indicated by curved arrow 21.
Machining allowance 22 (for example, 0.35 mm) is provided for
multi-stage rotary milling machining of main bearing HL. During
rough cutting, in which crankshaft 1 performs approximately one
complete revolution in direction 20, an outer layer 23 with a
predetermined thickness (rough machining allowance, for example
0.25 mm) is removed from main bearing HL. Immediately thereafter,
or in other words without reclamping of the shaft, once the
bearing has been gauged after rough cutting, inner layer 24
(finish machining allowance, for example 0.1 mm) is removed by

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
19
precision cutting, during which crankshaft 1 is rotated once
again in direction of rotation 20 and milling finger 12 is
rotated in direction of rotation 21. Reversal of directions of
rotation 20 and 21 for precision cutting is not provided, but is
entirely possible. During precision cutting, crankshaft 1
performs somewhat more than one complete revolution. Together
with the range of angle of rotation for immersion of the tool at
the beginning of the precision cutting stage of rotary milling
machining, the tool is engaged here over an angular interval of
approximately 420°.
By means of a vector diagram, Fig. 5a illustrates the relative
feed during immersion (dashed) of milling finger 12 in the
material, or in other words during the lead-in cut, during
rotation (solid) and during exit (dot-dash) of the milling
finger. Because of the geometric relationships (eccentricity e,
bearing diameter, diameter of the milling cutter, cutter
geometry, etc.), no purely tangential relative feed takes place
during rotation; instead, a radial component 36 - illustrated in
exaggerated size - is superposed on tangential component 35,
resulting in relative feed 37 illustrated in vector form during
rotation. During the lead-in cut, infeed movement 38 of milling
cutter 12 along its longitudinal axis (in X direction) is added
thereto. The relative feed resulting from superposition with
vector 37 during the lead-in cut is illustrated by the
corresponding lead-in cut or immersion vector 39. During exit of
the milling cutter after complete revolution of the shaft, infeed
movement 40 - which takes place in X direction - of milling
cutter 12 is added to relative feed 37. The relative feed
resulting from superposition with vector 37 during exit of the
milling cutter is illustrated by the corresponding exit vector

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
20
41. The respective size of infeed movements 38 and 40 is
determined experimentally in advance. At that time, the direction
of rotation of the shaft either in or opposite to the direction
of offset of the milling cutter axis relative to the shaft axis
must be taken into consideration. As reference point for
determination of the order of magnitude of the infeed speed as a
function of the other machining parameters as well as of the
geometric relationships, there can be used the fact that the
lead-in cut preferably extends over an angular interval of 3° to
15° of rotation of the shaft.
As already mentioned, crankshaft 1 is braced by one or two
steadies (not illustrated) of the machine tool during multi-stage
rotary milling machining of a main bearing HL. Bracing is
provided primarily in the X direction, which is illustrated in
vertical direction in Fig. 6. A sliding block 25, which is
movable in both directions 26 along the X axis, is used for
bracing. In addition to bracing in the X direction by sliding
block 25, additional bracing is provided by two further sliding
blocks 27 and 28, which can be moved respectively in radial
directions 29 toward and back away from main bearing seat HL of
crankshaft 1. A mechanism (not illustrated) of the steady
coordinates the three movements 26 and 29 in such a way that
sliding blocks 27 and 28 move onto main bearing HL, while sliding
block 25 moves downward in the direction of double arrow 26.
Conversely, sliding blocks 27 and 28 move away from main bearing
HL in the direction of double arrows 29, while sliding block 25
moves upward in the direction of double arrow 26. A mechanism
that is known in itself and that does not have to be further
described here provides for coordination of movements 26 and 29.

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
21
However, bearing seat 30 of main bearing HL is also interrupted
by an oil bore 31. Disturbances can be caused by the rim of this
oil bore 31, and they appear during rotation of crankshaft 1,
while main bearing HL is being braced by sliding blocks 25, 27
and 28. To avoid such disturbances, sliding blocks 25, 27 and 28
are each provided with a groove 32. The effect of groove 32 is
that the bracing portion 33 of the total supporting face of
sliding blocks 25, 27 and 28 is smaller than their respective
cross-sectional face turned toward main bearing HL during
bracing. What is not illustrated in the drawing is the possible
adaptation of the sliding blocks to the generating line of the
bearing seat to be manufactured by means of hollow grinding (see
hereinabove).

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
22
Claims
1. A method for machining the bearing seats of shafts,
especially of crankshafts, wherein the bearing seats are
subjected to the following machining operations after a
shaft has been initially formed by forging or casting:
- rough-shaping by chip-removing machining with specific
cutters,
- hardening,
- passing through dressing rollers,
- rough rotary milling and
- finish rotary milling,
wherein the rough rotary milling and the finish rotary
milling are respectively applied substantially during one
complete revolution of the shaft, without longitudinal feed
and without tangential feed of the milling cutter.
2. A method according to claim 1,
characterized in that
finish rotary milling is followed by finishing with an
unspecific cutter.
3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2,
characterized in that
the infeed of the milling cutter during immersion at the
beginning of rough rotary milling and at the beginning of
finish rotary milling respectively has only an axial
component relative to the axis of the milling cutter.
4. A method according to claim 3,
characterized in that
the lead-in cut during immersion of the milling cutter
extends over a shaft angle of rotation of 3° to 15°,
preferably approximately 5°.

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
23
5. A method according to one of claims 1 to 4,
characterized in that
the diameter of the milling cutter used for rotary milling
is approximately 1.15 to 1.35 times the amount of the width
of the bearing seat to be machined.
6. A method according to one of claims 1 to 5,
characterized in that
a relief groove is made during rough-shaping on both sides
of the bearing seat to be produced.
7. A method according to one of claims 1 to 6,
characterized in that
rotary milling takes place with an offset of the axis of the
milling cutter relative to the axis of the bearing seat
equal to approximately 0.15 to 0.2 times the value of the
diameter of the milling cutter.
8. A method according to one of claims 1 to 7,
characterized in that
there are machined the bearing seats of a crankshaft, which
is clamped for rotary milling at its flange end in a first
rotatable chuck and at its journal end in a second rotatable
chuck.
9. A method according to one of claims 1 to 8,
characterized in that
the main bearing seats of a crankshaft are machined, wherein
each individual bearing seat of the main bearings is
semifinish-machined successively with a single rotary
milling tool, while the crankshaft is braced simultaneously
in radial direction by a steady on a respective adjacent
main bearing.

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
24
10. A method according to one of claims 7 or 8,
characterized in that
the thrust bearing seats of a crankshaft are machined,
wherein each individual bearing seat of the thrust bearings
is semifinish-machined successively with a single rotary
milling tool, while the crankshaft is braced simultaneously
in radial direction by a steady on a respective adjacent
main bearing.
11. A method according to one of claims 1 to 10,
characterized in that
the finish rotary milling embraces an angle of rotation of
the shaft larger than 360°.
12. A method according to one of claims 1 to 11,
characterized in that
the beginning of metal cutting during rough rotary milling
and/or during finish rotary milling takes place in the
region of an oil bore.
13. A machine tool for performing the method according to one of
claims 1 to 12, especially for crankshafts,
characterized in that
the machine tool is provided with
- a main spindle with an axis of rotation (C axis) in Z
direction, corresponding to the main axis of rotation (2)
of a shaft to be machined,
- a chuck for the shaft, which chuck can be driven in
rotation around the C axis,
- at least one tool spindle that can be rotated around the A
axis, which runs parallel to the X direction, and that can
be displaced in the Y direction and in the Z direction,
- at least one steady that can be displaced along the Z
direction and that has at least one bracing point for the

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
25
shaft at one of its bearings, and
- a tailstock with a lathe center or a second chuck.
14. A machine tool according to claim 13,
characterized in that
the machine tool is provided with two chucks that can be
driven in rotation, the first chuck of which holds a
crankshaft (1) at its flange end (4) and the second chuck of
which holds the crankshaft (1) at its journal (3) .
15. A machine tool according to claim 13 or claim 14,
characterized in that
the tool spindle can be adjusted by an amount e in Y
direction.
16. A machine tool according to one of claims 13 to 15,
characterized in that
the tool spindle is equipped to hold a milling finger (12),
whose shank (15) has a length that is in a ratio of between
10:1.5 and 10:3 relative to its diameter (13).
17. A machine tool according to claim 16,
characterized in that
the milling finger (12) is provided with three end cutters
comprising CBN cutting tips (18) connected by soldering.
18. A machine tool according to claim 17,
characterized in that
the CBN cutting tips (18) each have a chamfer (19), which
decreases by a small amount (19) from the outside
circumference of the milling finger (12) to its longitudinal
axis (17) .

WO 2006/056460 PCT/EP2005/012634
26
19. A machine tool according to one of claims 13 to 18,
characterized in that
the ratio of the speeds of the chuck or chucks to the speed
of the tool spindle ranges from 1:400 to 1:2000.
20. A machine tool according to one of claims 13 to 19,
characterized in that
bracing by a steady is achieved at three points on a main
bearing (HL 1-5) of a crankshaft (1), one of which points
lies in the X direction.
21. A machine tool according to claim 20,
characterized in that
the devices for bracing the crankshaft (1) by steadies are
designed as sliding blocks (25, 27, 28), which in the region
of the oil bore (31) of the main-bearing seat (30) each have
a recess (32).

In a method for machining the bearing seats (HL, PL) of shafts (1), especially crankshafts, the
bearing seats (HL,PL) are subjected to the following machining operations after the shaft (1) has
been initially formed by forging or casting: rough-shaping by chip-removing machining with
specific cutters, hardening, passing through dressing rollers, rough rotary milling and finish rotary
milling. Each of these rough rotary milling and finish rotary milling steps is applied
substantially during one complete revolution of the shaft (1), without longitudinal feed and
without tangential feed of the milling cutter (12).

Documents:

01881-kolnp-2007-abstract.pdf

01881-kolnp-2007-claims.pdf

01881-kolnp-2007-correspondence others 1.1.pdf

01881-kolnp-2007-correspondence others 1.2.pdf

01881-kolnp-2007-correspondence others.pdf

01881-kolnp-2007-description complete.pdf

01881-kolnp-2007-drawings.pdf

01881-kolnp-2007-form 1.pdf

01881-kolnp-2007-form 2.pdf

01881-kolnp-2007-form 3.pdf

01881-kolnp-2007-form 5.pdf

01881-kolnp-2007-gpa.pdf

01881-kolnp-2007-international publication.pdf

01881-kolnp-2007-international search report.pdf

01881-kolnp-2007-pct request form.pdf

01881-kolnp-2007-priority document 1.1.pdf

01881-kolnp-2007-priority document.pdf

1881-KOLNP-2007-(26-09-2011)-CORRESPONDENCE.pdf

1881-KOLNP-2007-(26-09-2011)-FORM 1.pdf

1881-KOLNP-2007-(26-09-2011)-FORM 2.pdf

1881-KOLNP-2007-ABSTRACT.pdf

1881-KOLNP-2007-CLAIMS.pdf

1881-KOLNP-2007-DESCRIPTION (COMPLETE).pdf

1881-KOLNP-2007-DRAWINGS.pdf

1881-KOLNP-2007-FORM 1.pdf

1881-KOLNP-2007-FORM 2.pdf

1881-KOLNP-2007-FORM 3.pdf

1881-KOLNP-2007-FORM 5.pdf

1881-KOLNP-2007-FORM-27.pdf

1881-KOLNP-2007-OTHERS.pdf

1881-KOLNP-2007-PETITION UNDER RULE 137.pdf

1881-KOLNP-2007-REPLY TO EXAMINATION REPORT.pdf

abstract-01881-kolnp-2007.jpg

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Patent Number

250400

Indian Patent Application Number

1881/KOLNP/2007

PG Journal Number

01/2012

Publication Date

06-Jan-2012

Grant Date

02-Jan-2012

Date of Filing

25-May-2007

Name of Patentee

NILES-SIMMONS INDUSTRIEANLAGEN GMBH

Applicant Address

ZWICKAUER STR. 355, 09117 CHEMNITZ

Inventors:

#	Inventor's Name	Inventor's Address
1	NAUMANN, HANS J.	6 FOLMSBEE DRIVE, ALBANY, NY 12204
2	HERTEL, MATTHIAS	DURERSTR. 64, 09126 CHEMINTZ
3	GERHARD, WOLFGANG	STR. USTI NAD LABEM 57, 09119 CHEMINTZ
4	HABERKORN, JURGEN	TALSTR. 27A, 09117 CHEMINTZ

PCT International Classification Number

B23C 3/06,B23P 13/00

PCT International Application Number

PCT/EP2005/012634

PCT International Filing date

2005-11-25

PCT Conventions:

#	PCT Application Number	Date of Convention	Priority Country
1	10 2004 057 111.2	2004-11-26	Germany