Description:METHOD AND MEANS FOR GLASS LAMINATE COMPONENTS MANUFACTURING USED IN TURBOGENERATORS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[001] The present invention relates to machining of glass laminate components. More particularly the present invention is related to the machining of glass textolite laminated components as used in electrical machines and other fields like aerospace etc. with improved quality.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[002] Background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
[003] Glass fiber filled plastic materials are often the trickiest at shop machines. These include nylon extruded with reinforcing glass fibers and thermoset laminates such as G2 glass textolite composites that combine layers of glass fabric with resin binder. These materials offer excellent electrical insulating properties, dimensional stability and mechanical strength, high specific stiffness and strength, high damping, good corrosive resistance and low thermal expansion and are commonly used for electrical housing components in large size turbo generators and other electrical machines. For their use in turbo generator, there is requirement of high accuracy in dimension of such glass fiber composites required for their use as fastening means during assembly of the turbo generator.
[004] For example, in stator of the large rating turbo generators user in power plants, the high amperage current carrying stator windings are rigidly held in their slots during the generator operation using glass textolite based fastening means such as the studs, clamps, rounds nuts etc.
[005] Although they are attractive from a designer’s perspective, the studs and round nuts can be tough to machine. There are a number of reasons why this is. The most important being that these materials have a high strength longitudinally along the grains, however they are poor in their strength in shear. Thus any machining done of stud & round nuts is meant to get destroyed when held in vices or the likes.
[006] Different high speed machining (HSM) processes are widely applied to glass textolite materials studs and round nuts; nevertheless, the damage induced by this operation may reduce drastically the component performance and the productivity in manufacturing companies. While utilising HSM, delamination is a major problem associated with machining fibre reinforced glass textolite materials and, in addition to reducing the structural integrity of the material, it also leads to poor assembly tolerances and has the potential for long-term performance deterioration. Two delamination mechanisms associated with machining glass textolite materials are known as peel-up at the cutter entrance and push-out at the cutter exit.
[007] Hitherto, several techniques have been employed to reduce delamination and improve productivity using HSM technique however these are limited by the unavailability of the means to hold these studs and round nuts materials and protect the already machined profiles on these studs and round nuts.
[008] Thus there exists a need for a fixture that can not only hold the glass textolite components such as studs and round nuts rigidly during the HSM process but also protect the already made threads and other surfaces and profiles on the studs.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[009] In view of the foregoing, the present invention provides method and means for glass laminate components manufacturing used in turbo generators that can not only hold the glass textolite components such as studs and round nuts rigidly during the HSM process but also protect the already made threads and other surfaces and profiles on the studs.
[0010] Primary object of the present invention is to provide a method and fixture for glass laminate components manufacturing used in turbo generators such that the high speed machining (HSM) does not result in delamination of the glass textolite components while retaining the structural integrity of the material.
[0011] Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and fixture for glass laminate components manufacturing used in turbo generators, which obviates shortcomings of the prior art(s).
[0012] Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method and fixture for glass laminate components manufacturing used in turbo generators, which serves the purpose effectively.
[0013] The present invention further advantageously provides a method and fixture for glass laminate components manufacturing used in turbo generators such that even after incorporating HSM the surface finish of the finish material is free from peel-up cutter entrance and push-out cutter exit marks and manufacturing is done with less variation from standard dimensions.
[0014] These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which a preferred form of the present invention is illustrated.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
[0015] One or more drawbacks of conventional systems and process are overcome, and additional advantages are provided through the apparatus/composition and a method as claimed in the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages are realized through the technicalities of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered to be part of the claimed disclosure.
[0016] According to the invention, there is provided a method for glass laminate components manufacturing used in turbo generators, the said method comprising steps of:
? securing fixture base 10 on machine bed by clamping T-nuts 11,
? coaxially placing stud clamp 30 atop protrusion 20,
? placing stud rest 32 to receive stud rest 33 and placing at the base of cutout length 34 at least one cushion element 33,
? placing stud job S over the cushion element and covering the same from above using at least one cushion element 33 and stud rest,
? configuring a plurality of spring elements 22 and spring bolts 24 coaxially in stud clamp 30 and protrusion 20,
? tightening the said spring nuts over nut seating plate 25 and securely holding the job through central bolt 26 which compresses the stud rest upon tightening,
? performing machining operation on the stud job,
? securing round nut job R followed by machining the job R.
[0017] The glass textolites components are held securely because of the specific provisions made in the said means and the method of manufacturing using the said means ensures that the high speed machining operations can be performed on these jobs without the cutter entry/exit marks to ensure necessary surface finish, wherein vibratory loads are absorbed through spring means and tightening mechanisms while eliminating the need of indexing the job and the work bed.
[0018] In an aspect of the invention, the nut seating plate 25 uniformly bifurcates a central tightening force coming through central bolt 26, wherein performing machining operation on the stud job, including threading, keyway cutting or the likes on one distal end of the job, loosening the entire threaded connections and repeating the same for performing machining operations at the other distal end of the stud job S.
[0019] In an aspect of the invention, the machining of job R comprises of erectly placing non-threaded distal end of holding means 40 in the slot 25A while the other threaded distal end 41 is exposed, fastening tightening means 28 in hole 29 to secure the base of the tightening means 28, securing nut job R by threadedly pairing internal thread of the round nut and threaded end 41, performing machining operation on the round nut job including face slotting on one first face of the job, loosening the threaded connections 28 and repeating machining operations on other faces of the round job R while eliminating the need of indexing the job and the work bed.
Further, inventive features/steps of the present invention have been indicated in the principal claims and subsidiary features/steps in the dependent claims.
[0020] Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.
[0021] It is to be understood that the aspects and embodiments of the disclosure described above may be used in any combination with each other. Several of the aspects and embodiments may be combined to form a further embodiment of the disclosure.

[0022] The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
[0023] The illustrated embodiments of the subject matter will be best understood by reference to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals throughout. The following description is intended only by way of example, and simply illustrates certain selected embodiments of devices, systems, and processes that are consistent with the subject matter as claimed herein, wherein:-
[0024] Some of the features, advantages, and benefits of the present invention having been stated, others will become apparent as the description proceeds when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
[0025] Figure 1, 2 shows: fixture for glass laminate components manufacturing used in turbo generators according to the present invention.
[0026] Figure 3 shows: front view of the fixture for glass laminate stud manufacturing as used in turbo generators according to the present invention.
[0027] Figure 4 shows: an insulating stud made of glass textolite (job) to be manufactured using the developed fixture as shown in figure 2 according to the present invention.
[0028] Figure 5 shows: different views of the fixture for glass laminate round nut manufacturing as used in turbo generators according to the present invention.
[0029] Figure 6 shows: different views of glass textolite (job) to be manufactured using the developed fixture as shown in figure 2 according to the present invention.
[0030] The figures depict embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
[0031] While the embodiments of the disclosure are subject to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiment thereof have been shown by way of example in the figures and will be described below. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the scope of the disclosure.
[0032] The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the illustrated embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these illustrated embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout, and prime and double prime notation if used indicate similar elements in alternative embodiments.
[0033] The present invention makes a disclosure regarding a technology pertaining to invention directing to a method and fixture for glass laminate components manufacturing used in turbo generators.
[0034] Referring now to figure 1 in details, wherein base unit 10 forms the base for the fixture means F. This parallelepiped base unit is meant to be clamped to base of a machine at works such as a milling machine bed. Such machine beds worldwide come with slots capable of receiving T-nuts for accurately and rigidly holding work bed of a fixture means F on the bed. Such a T-nut for accurately affixing fixture base 10 to the base of a machine using the plurality of clamping holes 12 provided on distal ends of the fixture base 10. The preferred nut for such a clamping job comprises a generally flat head having a shank that is integral with and extends upwardly from the head and a having furrow.
[0035] A protruded parallelepiped part 20 on the base 10 separates the clamping base from the actual work base so as to provide space for cutter approach and over runs while not accidentally or by flaw of design interacting with the plurality of clamping nut 11 that secures base 10 of the fixture means F. This protruded part 20 comprises at its corners a plurality of hole 21 each configured to receive elongated spring member 22 and threaded holes 23 configured to receive spring bolt means 24. The spring bolt means 24 connects to a nut seating plate 25 that uniformly bifurcates a central tightening force while also giving option to individually tighten spring bolt 24. A square slot 25A is also provided such that the center axis of the slot 25A and protruded part 20 collides.
[0036] As also shown in figure 2, Stud clamp 30 rests on the top of the protruded part 20 such that axis of the corresponding hole 31, cushion pad 33 matches with holes 21, 23. The Stud clamp 30 is threadedly clamped with protruded part 20 and the fixture base F thereof using threaded means 23, 24. A central slot 32 is provided at the center configured to receive a stud rest 33 in which the glass textolite stud component (job) rests during the machining operation. Stud rest 33 is equally divided in two parts with a cutout length 34 on both the parts 33. The length of this cutout part 34 should be enough to accommodate all sizes of glass textolite stud component. Stud cushion or a foam element 35 is also provided between the laminated stud job 90 and Stud rest 33 and the elongated spring element and spring bolts means 24 shall soften or absorb the vibratory loads during machining.
[0037] Referring now to figure 3 in details wherein the assembly of the fixture means F is shown for rigidly and safely securing stud job S.
[0038] The method of machining stud job 90 comprises of rigidly securing fixture base 10 on machine bed using clamping T-nuts 11, coaxially placing stud clamp 30 atop the protrusion 20, placing stud rest 32 to receive one half of the stud rest 33, placing at the base of cutout length 34 at least one cushion element 33, placing the stud job S as shown in figure 4 over the cushion element and covering the same from above using at least one cushion element 33 and stud rest, configuring a plurality of spring elements 22 and spring bolts means 24 coaxially in stud clamp 30 and protrusion 20, tightening the said spring nuts over nut seating plate 25 and securely holding the job rigidly through central bolt item 26 which compresses the stud rest upon tightening, performing machining operation on the stud job like threading, keyway cutting or the likes on one distal end of the job, loosening the entire threaded connections and repeating the same for performing machining operations at the other distal end of the stud job S.
[0039] Referring now to figure 5 in detail, for using the same base 10 for being able to use for machining glass textolite material round nut job R, a nut holding means 40 is to be erectly placed in the square slot 25A provided at the center of the protruded part 20 while the other threaded distal end 41 of holding means 40 is exposed to be utilized. At least one radius 27 is provided at each corner of the slot 25A for free insertion and exit of the holding means 40 for round nut. Tightening means 28 is provided for utilizing hole 29 to secure the base of the tightening means 28.
[0040] Referring to figure 6, side view of the secured holding means 40 is shown for visual reference. The internal thread of the round nut can now be utilized to threadedly mount the round nut job R. Upon securing the said job R, the slotting operation can be performed on one face and the job can be rotated for similar operations on other faces.
[0041] Referring now to figure 6 in details wherein the assembly of the fixture means F is shown for rigidly and safely securing round nut job R, the method of machining job R comprises of erectly placing non-threaded distal end of holding means 40 in the square slot 25 while the other threaded distal end 41 is exposed, fastening tightening means 28 in hole 29 to secure the base of the tightening means 28, securing round nut job R by threadedly pairing internal thread of the round nut and threaded end 41, performing machining operation on the round nut job like face slotting or the likes on a first face of the job, loosening the threaded connections 28 and repeating machining operations on other faces of the round job R while eliminating the need of indexing the job and the work bed.
[0042] From the above, working of invention can be understood particularly by a person skilled in the art.
ADVANTAGES
-Safe and clean method without spreading glass dust particles in surrounding;
-Less rejection rate and increases productivity;
-Multiple cutter can be used according to requirement of job;
-Job found more accurate by using newly developed fixture.
TEST RESULT
[0043] Job found more accurate by using newly developed fixture. In previous method there was manual process to cut key and step that’s why it was difficult to maintain required dimension. But after using newly developed fixture, it becomes easy to maintain dimensions within tolerance.
[0044] Each of the appended claims defines a separate invention, which for infringement purposes is recognized as including equivalents to the various elements or limitations specified in the claims. Depending on the context, all references below to the "invention" may in some cases refer to certain specific embodiments only. In other cases, it will be recognized that references to the "invention" will refer to subject matter recited in one or more, but not necessarily all, of the claims.
[0045] Groupings of alternative elements or embodiments of the invention disclosed herein are not to be construed as limitations. Each group member can be referred to and claimed individually or in any combination with other members of the group or other elements found herein. One or more members of a group can be included in, or deleted from, a group for reasons of convenience and/or patentability. When any such inclusion or deletion occurs, the specification is herein deemed to contain the group as modified thus fulfilling the written description of all groups used in the appended claims.

[0046] It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particulars claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogues to “at least one of A, B and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B”.
[0047] The above description does not provide specific details of manufacture or design of the various components. Those of skill in the art are familiar with such details, and unless departures from those techniques are set out, techniques, known, related art or later developed designs and materials should be employed. Those in the art are capable of choosing suitable manufacturing and design details.
[0048] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure. It will be appreciated that several of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be combined into other systems or applications. Various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations, or improvements therein may subsequently be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as encompassed by the following claims.
[0049] The claims, as originally presented and as they may be amended, encompass variations, alternatives, modifications, improvements, equivalents, and substantial equivalents of the embodiments and teachings disclosed herein, including those that are presently unforeseen or unappreciated, and that, for example, may arise from applicants/patentees and others.
[0050] While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.
, Claims:We Claim
1.Fixture for glass laminate components manufacturing used in turbo generators comprises of base unit 10 to be clamped to base of a machine bed and having a protruded part 20, wherein the protruded part 20 comprises at its corners a plurality of holes 21 each configured to receive elongated spring member 22 and threaded holes 23 configured to receive fastener 24; and
Stud cushion pad 33 rests on the protruded part 32 that rests into slot of the top fixture that axis of the corresponding hole 31 matches with hole 21.
2. The Fixture for glass laminate components manufacturing as claimed in claim 1, wherein the spring bolt 24 connects to a nut seating plate 25 that uniformly bifurcates a central tightening force and a rectilinear slot 25A is provided that the center axis of the slot 25A and protruded part 20 collides.
3. The Fixture for glass laminate components manufacturing as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the machine bed is having slots for receiving T-nuts for holding work bed of the fixture F on the bed, in which the T-nut 11 affixes work base to the base of a machine by a plurality of clamping holes 12 provided on distal ends of the work base 10, in which the nut for the clamping job comprises a flat head having a shank that is integral with and extends upwardly from the head and having furrow.
4. The Fixture for glass laminate components manufacturing as claimed in claims 1-3, wherein the protruded parallelepiped part 20 on the parallelepiped base 10 separates the clamping base from the actual work base so as to provide space for cutter approach and over runs while not accidentally/ by flaw of design interacting with the plurality of clamping nuts 11 that secures base 10 of the fixture F.
5. The Fixture for glass laminate components manufacturing as claimed in claims 1-4, wherein the Stud clamp 30 is threadedly clamped with protruded part 20 and the fixture base F thereof using threaded means 23, 24, in which a central slot 32 is provided at the center configured to receive a stud rest 33 in which the glass textolite stud component (job) rests during the machining operation.
6. The Fixture for glass laminate components manufacturing as claimed in claims 1-5, wherein said stud rest 33 is equally divided in two parts with a cutout length 34 on both the parts 33, in which the length of the cutout part 34 should be enough to accommodate all sizes of glass textolite stud component.
7. The Fixture for glass laminate components manufacturing as claimed in claims 1-6, wherein Stud cushion/a foam element 35 is provided between laminated stud job 90 and Stud rest 33 and the elongated spring element and spring bolts 24 soften/absorb the vibratory loads during machining.
8. A method for glass laminate components manufacturing used in turbo generators, the said method comprising steps of:
? securing fixture base 10 on machine bed by clamping T-nuts 11,
? coaxially placing stud clamp 30 atop protrusion 20,
? placing stud rest 32 to receive stud rest 33 and placing at the base of cutout length 34 at least one cushion element 33,
? placing stud job S over the cushion element and covering the same from above using at least one cushion element 33 and stud rest,
? configuring a plurality of spring elements 22 and spring bolts 24 coaxially in stud clamp 30 and protrusion 20,
? tightening the said spring nuts over nut seating plate 25 and securely holding the job through central bolt 26 which compresses the stud rest upon tightening,
? performing machining operation on the stud job,
? securing round nut job R followed by machining the job R.
9. The method for glass laminate components manufacturing as claimed in claim 8, wherein the nut seating plate 25 uniformly bifurcates a central tightening force coming through central bolt 26, wherein performing machining operation on the stud job, including threading, keyway cutting or the likes on one distal end of the job, loosening the entire threaded connections and repeating the same for performing machining operations at the other distal end of the stud job S.
10. The method for glass laminate components manufacturing as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein the machining of job R comprises of erectly placing non-threaded distal end of holding means 40 in the slot 25A while the other threaded distal end 41 is exposed, fastening tightening means 28 in hole 29 to secure the base of the tightening means 28, securing nut job R by threadedly pairing internal thread of the round nut and threaded end 41, performing machining operation on the round nut job including face slotting on one first face of the job, loosening the threaded connections 28 and repeating machining operations on other faces of the round job R.