It’s no surprise that a common application of centerless grinding is for manufacturing engine and transmission components such as needle rollers, injector plungers, camshafts and input shafts. These precision components are manufactured to tight tolerances and must be produced at high levels to fuel the demand for millions of new vehicles that are sold every year. This high demand for precision components gives the centerless grinding machine a key role in keeping the wheels turning in our society.
But, centerless grinding is not limited to automotive applications. Centerless grinding is also used in the manufacture of components for several other industries, such as information technology, industrial, medical, agricultural and durables, such as appliances. Thus, centerless grinding applications can be found throughout our society, such as in the computers we use, in our appliances, in the equipment that harvests our food and so forth.
The centerless grinding machine utilizes three main components to accomplish its work, a grinding wheel, a regulating wheel and a work blade. Over the years, this general grinding concept has remained the same. The regulating wheel determines the rotational speed and linear travel of the part in throughfeed applications. For infeed applications, the regulating wheel controls the rotational speed of the part and pushes the part against the stop. The work blade supports the part as the grinding wheel removes part material. While the general concept has remained the same for the last 40 to 50 years, technological advancements along the way have improved the centerless grinding process. Among the benefits of these improvements in centerless grinding technology are greater ease of operation and maintenance, increased productivity and the capability of holding extremely tight tolerances.
Koyo aspires to stay on the cutting edge of technology to produce grinding machines that bring these benefits to the shop floor. Through research and development processes that embrace innovation, Koyo grinders are designed with many precision and productivity-enabling characteristics. Koyo spindles utilize Koyo high-precision double-row cylindrical bearings, which facilitates heavy-duty and high-accuracy grinding for superior results.
This inherent strength and stability of Koyo grinders enables the use of superabrasives such as Cubic Boron Nitride (CBN) and polycrystalline diamond. This is a huge advantage when grinding very hard materials, because CBN wheels are twice as hard as conventional wheels and have much higher thermal conductivity. This thermal conductivity produces a more stable wheel temperature and allows for higher speed, ultra-precise grinding. Other benefits are less dress time and wheel life is exponentially higher than with a conventional wheel.
Besides the capability of grinding with superabrasives, Koyo grinders offer many other benefits. For example, certain Koyo models are capable of using electric discharge truing (E-DT), a non-contact truing method. Furthermore, over the years Koyo grinders have offered design improvements that offer a reduced footprint and greater ease of use when performing change-overs and maintenance.
Koyo’s commitment to ever-improving technological improvements has and continues to be a main focus of our commitment to providing superior products and services.