DESC:FORM 2

THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENT RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and Rule 13)

Title of invention:
A DRILLING APPARATUS

Applicant:
Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited
A company Incorporated in India under the Companies Act, 1956
Under Ministry of Defence,
(A Govt. of India Undertaking)
Having address:
Dockyard Road, Mazagon,
Mumbai - 400010, Maharashtra, India

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND PRIORITY
[001] This patent application claims priority from provisional application having number 201821044045 filed on 22nd Nov, 2018.

TECHNICAL FIELD
[002] The present subject matter described herein, in general, relates to a drilling operation, more particularly to an alignment system for performing drilling operation.

BACKGROUND
[003] In a mechanical manufacturing domain, a drilling operation plays an important role. The drilling operation involves an alignment process of (a) a centre of a spindle and (b) a centre of a mark that requires drilling. The centre of the spindle indicates an imaginary longitudinal axis passing through the centre of the spindle, wherein the alignment of the spindle is vertical. The accuracy of drilling depends on the alignment process. The alignment process is performed for each mark that requires drilling. For each mark, the centre of the spindle and the centre of each mark is aligned.
SUMMARY
[004] Before the present system and method are described, it is to be understood that this application is not limited to the particular machine or an apparatus, and methodologies described, as there can be multiple possible embodiments that are not expressly illustrated in the present disclosures. It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing the particular versions or embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application. This summary is provided to introduce aspects related to a technology being implemented in a drilling apparatus. The aspects are further elaborated below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the proposed subject matter nor is it intended for use in determining or limiting the scope of the proposed subject matter.
[005] In one implementation, a method for drilling an object is disclosed. Initially, a tip of a drill needle may be engaged with an object. The drill needle may be coupled to a spindle. The object may be placed below the spindle. A laser beam may be projected on a point of engagement between the drill needle and the object. The laser beam that is projected on the point of engagement may be emitted from the laser source. After the laser beam is projected on the point of engagement, a centre of a mark may be matched with the laser beam. The mark may indicate an area etched on the object that is to be drilled. After matching the centre of the mark and the laser beam, the object may be drilled at the mark by the drill needle.
[006] In another implementation, a drilling apparatus for drilling an object is disclosed. The drilling apparatus may include a spindle, a drill needle and a laser source. The drill needle may be coupled to the spindle. Further, the drill needle may be configured for drilling the object at the mark. The mark may indicate an area etched on an object that is to be drilled. The laser source may be configured to emit a laser beam for aligning the (a) drill needle and (b) a centre of the mark. The laser beam may be projected on a point of engagement between the drill needle and the object. After projecting the laser beam on the point of engagement between the drill needle and the object, the centre of the mark may be matched with the laser beam. The laser beam may be incident on the object.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[007] The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the disclosure, there is shown in the present document example constructions of the disclosure, however, the disclosure is not limited to the specific methods and apparatus disclosed in the document and the drawings:
[008] The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figure. In the figure, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer like features and components.
[009] Figure 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of the apparatus drilling an object, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.
[0010] The figure depicts an embodiment of the present disclosure for purpose of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structure and method illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0011] Some embodiments of this disclosure, illustrating all its features, will now be discussed in detail. The words "comprising," "having," "containing," and "including," and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. Although any systems and methods similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the present disclosure, the exemplary, systems and methods are now described. The disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the disclosure, which may be embodied in various forms.
[0012] Various modifications to the embodiment will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments illustrated but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.
[0013] The present invention may be used to align a centre of the spindle and a centre of a mark that is to be drilled. The present invention may overcome the time taken by a dead centre to align the centre of the spindle and the centre of the mark. The dead centre may be required to be attached to the spindle for drilling each of the mark to be aligned with the centre of the spindle. Whereas in the present invention the alignment process may be performed only once for a first mark that is to be drilled.
[0014] To elaborate, the present invention uses a laser source that may enable the alignment of the centre of the spindle and the centre of the mark. The laser source emits a laser beam that is projected on a point of engagement of a drill needle and an object. The drill needle may be attached to the spindle. Further the object may bear the mark, wherein the mark is etched on a surface of the object. After projecting the laser beam at the point of contact of the object and the drill needle, a centre of the mark is matched with the laser beam. Based on matching the centre of the mark and the laser beam, the object is drilled at the mark. For a next mark, a centre of the next mark may be required to be matched with the laser beam. The present invention does away with the process of attaching and matching the dead centre for each mark that is to be drilled.
Figure 1:
[0015] Now referring to figure 1, the figure discloses a drilling apparatus 100 for drilling a mark on an object 102. The drilling apparatus comprises a spindle 106, a drill needle 104 and a laser beam 110 emitted from a laser source 108. The drill needle 104 may be coupled to one end of the spindle 106. The other end of the spindle 106 may be attached in a slot of a drill head (not shown in figure). The drill head may enable a motion of the spindle 106 in a longitudinal direction. Further, the object 102 may be placed below the spindle 106. The drill needle 104 may be engaged with the object 102. In one aspect, to engage the drill needle 104 with the object 102, the drill head may move the spindle 106 in the longitudinal direction. The movement of the spindle 106 in the longitudinal direction may bring the drill needle 104 in contact with the object 102 at a point.
[0016] The laser source 108 may be attached to an attachment (not shown in figure). The laser source 108 may project the laser beam 110 on the point of contact between the drill needle 104 and the object 102. In one implementation, a dead centre may be used instead of the drill needle 104. The dead centre is a fitting that may be attached to the spindle 106. One end of the dead centre may be attached to the spindle whereas another end of the dead centre may be engaged to the object. A tip of another end of the dead centre may coincide with a centre of the spindle, wherein the centre of the spindle indicates an imaginary longitudinal axis passing through the centre of the spindle.
[0017] After the laser beam 110 is projected on the point of contact between the drill needle 104 and the object 102, the laser source 108 is locked by a locking mechanism (not shown in figure). The locking mechanism may enable a restriction of relative motion between the drill head and the laser source 108. In one embodiment, the attachment may be operatively coupled to the drill head. In the embodiment, the drill head may be configured to move in a latitudinal plane. Further in the embodiment, during the motion of the drill head in the latitudinal plane, the attachment is configured to mirror the movement of the drill head. The mirroring of the movement of the drill head by the attachment may maintain a constant the relative distance between the laser beam 110 and the drill needle 104.
[0018] In another embodiment, the attachment may be configured to move independently with respect to the drill head. In the embodiment, the drilling apparatus 100 may be configured to restrict the motion of the drill head in the latitudinal plane. Due to restriction of motion in the latitudinal plane the drill head may be configured to move in the longitudinal direction.
[0019] After locking the position of the laser source 108 with respect to the drill head, the position of the laser beam 110 may remain stationary with respect to the drill needle 104. The object 102 below the spindle 106 may be displaced to match the centre of the mark 112 with the laser beam 110. Based on displacing the object 102, the centre of the mark 112 may be matched with the laser beam 110. Further during displacement of the object 102, the laser beam 110 may remain stationary with respect to the drill needle 104.
[0020] In one implementation, the dead centre may be used instead of drill needle 104. The laser beam 110 may be projected on the point of engagement of the tip of the dead centre and the object 102. Projecting the laser beam 110 on the tip of the dead centre may enable the laser beam 110 to be matched with the centre of the spindle. Further, after matching the centre of the spindle with the laser beam 110, the dead centre may be removed and replaced with the drill needle 104. Further after matching the centre of the spindle 106 with the laser beam 110, the centre of the mark 112 may be matched with the laser beam 110.
[0021] Once the centre of the mark 112 is matched with the laser beam 110, the drilling operation may be performed. The drilling operation may be performed by moving the drill head in the longitudinal direction. The movement may cause the drilling needle 104 to penetrate the mark 112 resulting in the mark 112 to be drilled.
[0022] Exemplary embodiments discussed above may provide certain advantages. Though not required to practice aspects of the disclosure, these advantages may include those provided by the following features.
[0023] Some embodiments of the drilling apparatus enable in reduction of time required for aligning of the centre of the spindle and the centre of the mark by removing the repetitive use of the dead centre for aligning each mark with the centre of the spindle.
[0024] Some embodiments of the drilling apparatus have laser source mounted outside the spindle and the object, thereby no modifications are required in a conventional drilling apparatus that includes the spindle, the drill head and the drill needle.
[0025] Some embodiments of the drilling apparatus enable alignment of the centre of the spindle and the centre of the mark using optical attachment, thereby the alignment is performed with coming in contact with parts that needs to be aligned.
[0026] Some embodiments of the drilling apparatus enable in improving the accuracy of the drilling operation by using laser based optical alignment system.
[0027] Although implementations for methods and systems for drilling an object have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methods, it is to be understood that the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as examples of implementations for drilling apparatus for drilling an object.
,CLAIMS:
1. A method for drilling an object (102), the method comprising:
engaging a tip of a drill needle (104) with an object (102), wherein the drill needle (104) is coupled to a spindle (106), and wherein the object (102) is placed below the spindle (106);
projecting a laser beam (110) on a point of engagement between the drill needle (104) and the object (102), wherein the laser beam (110) is emitted from the laser source (108);
matching a centre of a mark (112) and the laser beam (110) incident on the object (102), wherein the mark (112) indicates an area etched on the object (102) that is to be drilled; and
drilling the object (102) at the mark (112), wherein the drilling of the object (102) is enabled by the drill needle (104).

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tip of drill needle (104) is contacted with the object (102) by longitudinally moving the spindle (106).

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a longitudinal axis of the spindle (106) is angularly displaced with respect to an angle of incidence of the laser beam (110) on the object (102), and wherein the angular displacement is less than ninety degrees.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising locking of the laser source (108) with respect to the spindle (106) by a locking mechanism after projecting the laser beam (110) on a point of contact between the drill needle (104) and the object (102).

5. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the longitudinal motion of the spindle (106) is enabled by a drill head, wherein the drill head comprises a slot to engage the spindle (106).

6. A drilling apparatus for drilling an object, the drilling apparatus comprising:
a spindle (106);
a drill needle (104) coupled to the spindle (106) configured for drilling the object (102) at a mark (112), wherein the mark (112) indicates an area etched on an object (102) that is to be drilled;
a laser source (108) configured to emit a laser beam (110) for aligning the (a) drill needle (104) and (b) a centre of the mark (112), wherein the aligning comprises:
projecting the laser beam (110) on a point of engagement between the drill needle (104) and the object (102); and
matching the centre of the mark (112) and the laser beam (110) incident on the object (102).

7. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the tip of drill needle (104) is contacted with the object (102) by longitudinally moving the spindle (106).

8. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein a longitudinal axis of the spindle (106) is angularly displaced with respect to an angle of incidence of the laser beam (110) on the object (102), and wherein the angular displacement is less than ninety degrees.

9. The system as claimed in claim 6, further comprising locking of the laser source (108) with respect to the spindle (106) by a locking mechanism after projecting the laser beam (110) on a point of contact between the drill needle (104) and the object (102).

10. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the longitudinal motion of the spindle (104) is enabled by a drill head, wherein the drill head comprises a slot to engage the spindle (106).