A bowl-type vibratory finishing machine is disclosed which employs an extremely simple yet highly effective arrangement of components enabling a relatively low-energy-input drive system to efficiently impart an extraordinarily aggressive finishing action to a mixture of workpieces and finishing media contained within an annular, trough-like finishing chamber defined by a movably supported bowl. The finishing chamber extends substantially horizontally about a substantially vertical center axis. An eccentrically weighted drive shaft extends along the center axis and is journaled by bearings which are connected to the bowl so that, when the drive shaft is rotated, vibrations generated by the unbalanced nature of the drive shaft are transmitted to the bowl and cause the bowl to vibrate generally about a nodal point located along the central axis. A feature of the invention lies in the proper selection of a nodal point location which maximizes the efficiency of the vibratory impulses that are imparted to the contents of the bowl, and which permits a truly aggressive finishing action to be effected utilizing a relatively low- energy-input drive. A further feature of the invention lies in the provision of a relatively flexible drive shaft restraint which assists in assuring that the bowl tends to gyrate substantially about a selected nodal point location so that the desired type of aggressive finishing action is achieved with efficiency of operation. Still another feature lies in the simplification which the present invention brings to the art of designing bowl-type vibratory finishing machines.
展开▼
