Measuring the surface of grinding wheels can effectively control part size and grind-line on disc grinders.

• Specifications

• Thickness range:
• 2.3mm to 38mm
  .09" to 1.5"
• Thrufeed rate:
• 2.5 to 7.5 meters/minute
  100 to 300 inches/minute
• Diameter, height, weight:
• 25mm to 125mm, 1" to 5" for both

On disc grinders, direct in-process part measurement can sometimes be extremely difficult. Even if possible, grinding wheels wear at different rates, and may drift out of line with the tooling. Measuring the position of the surface of the grinding wheels has proven to be a realistic solution to both problems.

Control Gaging has used several wheel position gaging techniques successfully, holding part size or wheel location to tolerances within several microns. Using artificial diamonds and timed interval contact to minimize wear, these techniques can be effective tools in managing disc grinding processes.

The gaging system represented in the figures on this page controls both size and wheel position with two grind-line gages. Part size is calculated as the sum of the two gage readings, which is a measure of the gap between the wheels. As the wheels wear and the sum gets larger, the gage controller will initiate a compensation. However, it first checks the position of each wheel relative to its nominal position - the wheel farthest from nominal is the one that is moved. An alternate method prioritizes the wheel on the fixed-tooling side, maintaining its position relative to the guides and compensating the other wheel secondarily.

Dual wheel sensors are used with Control Gaging's D500 Gage Controller, which is configured for your application and includes field-proven software to help the machine perform to its best capability.

Wheel Position Measurement (PDF)

The D500 Gage Controller provides a range of software methods for trend-based size control. The advanced IPC option (Intelligent Process Control) significantly outperforms all other compensation techniques, and can control a machine to its best possible operating capability.