英文原文TheLathesAndTurningProcessing1.LathesLathesaremachinetoolsdesignedprimarilytodoturning,facingandboring,Verylittleturningisdoneonothertypesofmachinetools,andnonecandoitwithequalfacility.Becauselathesalsocandodrillingandreaming,theirversatilitypermitsseveraloperationstobedonewithasinglesetupoftheworkpiece.Consequently,morelathesofvarioustypesareusedinmanufacturingthananyothermachinetool.Theessentialcomponentsofalathearethebed,headstockassembly,tailstockassembly,andtheleadscrewandfeedrod.Thebedisthebackboneofalathe.Itusuallyismadeofwellnormalizedoragedgrayornodularcastironandprovidessheavy,rigidframeonwhichalltheotherbasiccomponentsaremounted.Twosetsofparallel,longitudinalways,innerandouter,arecontainedonthebed,usuallyontheupperside.SomemakersuseaninvertedV-shapeforallfourways,whereasothersutilizeoneinvertedVandoneflatwayinoneorbothsets,Theyareprecision-machinedtoassureaccuracyofalignment.Onmostmodernlathesthewayaresurface-hardenedtoresistwearandabrasion,butprecautionshouldbetakeninoperatingalathetoassurethatthewaysarenotdamaged.Anyinaccuracyinthemusuallymeansthattheaccuracyoftheentirelatheisdestroyed.Theheadstockismountedinafoxedpositionontheinnerways,usuallyattheleftendofthebed.Itprovidesapoweredmeansofrotatingthewordatvariousspeeds.Essentially,itconsistsofahollowspindle,mountedinaccuratebearings,andasetoftransmissiongears-similartoatrucktransmissionthroughwhichthespindlecanberotatedatanumberofspeeds.Mostlathesprovidefrom8to18speeds,usuallyinageometricratio,andonmodernlathesallthespeedscanbeobtainedmerelybymovingfromtwotofourlevers.Anincreasingtrendistoprovideacontinuouslyvariablespeedrangethroughelectricalormechanicaldrives.Becausetheaccuracyofalatheisgreatlydependentonthespindle,itisofheavyconstructionandmountedinheavybearings,usuallypreloadedtaperedrollerorballtypes.Thespindlehasaholeextendingthroughitslength,throughwhichlongbarstockcanbefed.Thesizeofmaximumsizeofbarstockthatcanbemachinedwhenthematerialmustbefedthroughspindle.Thetailsticdassemblyconsists,essentially,ofthreeparts.Alowercastingfitsontheinnerwaysofthebedandcanslidelongitudinallythereon,withameansforclampingtheentireassemblyinanydesiredlocation,Anuppercastingfitsontheloweroneandcanbemovedtransverselyuponit,onsometypeofkeyedways,topermitaligningtheassemblyisthetailstockquill.Thisisahollowsteelcylinder,usuallyabout51to76mm(2to3inches)indiameter,thatcanbemovedseveralincheslongitudinallyinandoutoftheuppercastingbymeansofahandwheelandscrew.Thesizeofalatheisdesignatedbytwodimensions.Thefirstisknownastheswing.Thisisthemaximumdiameterofworkthatcanberotatedonalathe.Itisapproximatelytwicethedistancebetweenthelineconnectingthelathecentersandthenearestpointontheways,Thesecondsizedimensionisthemaximumdistancebetweencenters.Theswingthusindicatesthemaximumworkpiecediameterthatcanbeturnedinthelathe,whilethedistancebetweencentersindicatesthemaximumlengthofworkpiecethatcanbemountedbetweencenters.Enginelathesarethetypemostfrequentlyusedinmanufacturing.Theyareheavy-dutymachinetoolswithallthecomponentsdescribedpreviouslyandhavepowerdriveforalltoolmovementsexceptonthecompoundrest.Theycommonlyrangeinsizefrom305to610mm(12to24inches)swingandfrom610to1219mm(24to48inches)centerdistances,butswingsupto1270mm(50inches)andcenterdistancesupto3658mm(12feet)arenotuncommon.Mosthavechippansandabuilt-incoolantcirculatingsystem.Smallerenginelathes-withswingsusuallynotover330mm(13inches)alsoareavailableinbenchtype,designedforthebedtobemountedonabenchonabenchorcabinet.Althoughenginelathesareversatileandveryuseful,becauseofthetimerequiredforchangingandsettingtoolsandformakingmeasurementsontheworkpiece,thyarenotsuitableforquantityproduction.Oftentheactualchip-productiontineislessthan30%ofthetotalcycletime.Inaddition,askilledmachinistisrequiredforalltheoperations,andsuchpersonsarecostlyandofteninshortsupply.However,muchoftheoperatorstimeisconsumedbysimple,repetitiousadjustmentsandinwatchingchipsbeingmade.Consequently,toreduceoreliminatetheamountofskilledlaborthatisrequired,turretlathes,screwmachines,andothertypesofsemiautomaticandautomaticlatheshavebeenhighlydevelopedandarewidelyusedinmanufacturing.2.NumericalControlOneofthemostfundamentalconceptsintheareaofadvancedmanufacturingtechnologiesisnumericalcontrol(NC).PriortotheadventofNC,allmachinetoolseremanuallyoperatedandcontrolled.Amongthemanylimitationsassociatedwithmanualcontrolmachinetools,perhapsnoneismoreprominentthanthelimitationofoperatorskills.Withmanualcontrol,thequalityoftheproductisdirectlyrelatedtoandlimitedtotheskillsoftheoperator.Numericalcontrolrepresentsthefirstmajorstepawayfromhumancontrolofmachinetools.Numericalcontrolmeansthecontrolofmachinetoolsandothermanufacturingsystemsthroughtheuseofprerecorded,writtensymbolicinstructions.Ratherthanoperatingamachinetool,anNCtechnicianwritesaprogramthatissuesoperationalinstructionstothemachinetool.Foramachinetooltobenumericallycontrolled,itmustbeinterfacedwithadeviceforacceptinganddecodingtheprogrammedinstructions,knownasareader.Numericalcontrolwasdevelopedtoovercomethelimitationofhumanoperators,andithasdoneso.Numericalcontrolmachinesaremoreaccuratethanmanuallyoperatedmachines,theycanproducepartsmoreuniformly,theyarefaster,andthelong-runtoolingcostsarelower.ThedevelopmentofNCledtothedevelopmentofseveralotherinnovationsinmanufacturingtechnology:Electricaldischargemachining,Lasercutting,Electronbeamwelding.Numericalcontrolhasalsomademachinetoolsmoreversatilethantheirmanuallyoperatedpredecessors.AnNCmachinetoolcanautomaticallyproduceawideofparts,eachinvolvinganassortmentofwidelyvariedandcomplexmachiningprocesses.Numericalcontrolhasallowedmanufacturerstoundertaketheproductionofproductsthatwouldnothavebeenfeasiblefromaneconomicperspectiveusingmanuallycontrolledmachinetollsandprocesses.Likesomanyadvancedtechnologies,NCwasborninthelaboratoriesoftheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology.TheconceptofNCwasdevelopedintheearly1950swithfundingprovidedbytheU.S.AirForce.Initsearlieststages,NCmachineswereabletomadestraightcutsefficientlyandeffectively.However,curvedpathswereaproblembecausethemachinetoolhadtobeprogrammedtoundertakeaseriesofhorizontalandverticalstepstoproduceacurve.Theshorterthestraightlinesmakingupthesteps,thesmootheristhecurve,Eachlinesegmentinthestepshadtobecalculated.Thisproblemledtothedevelopmentin1959oftheAutomaticallyProgrammedTools(APT)language.ThisisaspecialprogramminglanguageforNCthatusesstatementssimilartoEnglishlanguagetodefinethepartgeometry,describethecuttingtoolconfiguration,andspecifythenecessarymotions.ThedevelopmentoftheAPTlanguagewasamajorstepforwardinthefurtherdevelopmentfromthoseusedtoday.Themachineshadhardwiredlogiccircuits.Theinstructionalprogramswerewrittenonpunchedpaper,whichwaslatertobereplacedbymagneticplastictape.Atapereaderwasusedtointerprettheinstructionswrittenonthetapeforthemachine.Together,allofthisrepresentedagiantstepforwardinthecontrolofmachinetools.However,therewereanumberofproblemswithNCatthispointinitsdevelopment.Amajorproblemwasthefragilityofthepunchedpapertapemedium.Itwascommonforthepapertapecontainingtheprogrammedinstructionstobreakortearduringamachiningprocess.Thisproblemwasexacerbatedbythefactthateachsuccessivetimeapartwasproducedonamachinetool,thepapertapecarryingtheprogrammedinstructionshadtobererunthroughthereader.Ifitwasnecessarytoproduce100copiesofagivenpart,itwasalsonecessarytorunthepapertapethroughthereader100separatetines.Fragilepapertapessimplycouldnotwithstandtherigorsofashopfloorenvironmentandthiskindofrepeateduse.Thisledtothedevelopmentofaspecialmagneticplastictape.Whereasthepapercarriedtheprogrammedinstructionsasaseriesofholespunchedinthetape,theplastictapecarriedtheinstructionsasaseriesofmagneticdots.Theplastictapewasmuchstrongerthanthepapertape,whichsolvedtheproblemoffrequenttearingandbreakage.However,itstilllefttwootherproblems.Themostimportantofthesewasthatitwasdifficultorimpossibletochangetheinstructionsenteredonthetape.Tomadeeventhemostminoradjustmentsinaprogramofinstructions,itwasnecessarytointerruptmachiningoperationsandmakeanewtape.Itwasalsostillnecessarytorunthetapethroughthereaderasmanytimesastherewerepartstobeproduced.Fortunately,computertechnologybecamearealityandsoonsolvedtheproblemsofNCassociatedwithpunchedpaperandplastictape.Thedevelopmentofaconceptknownasdirectnumericalcontrol(DNC)solvedthepaperandplastictapeproblemsassociatedwithnumericalcontrolbysimplyeliminatingtapeasthemediumforcarryingtheprogrammedinstructions.Indirectnumericalcontrol,machinetoolsaretied,viaadatatransmissionlink,toahostcomputer.Programsforoperatingthemachinetoolsarestoredinthehostcomputerandfedtothemachinetoolanneededviathedatatransmissionlinkage.Directnumericalcontrolrepresentedamajorstepforwardoverpunchedtapeandplastictape.However,itissubjecttothesamelimitationsasalltechnologiesthatdependonahostcomputer.Whenthehostcomputergoesdown,themachinetoolsalsoexperiencedowntime.Thisproblemledtothedevelopmentofcomputernumericalcontrol.3.TurningTheenginelathe,oneoftheoldestmetalremovalmachines,hasanumberofusefulandhighlydesirableattributes.Todaytheselathesareusedprimarilyinsmallshopswheresmallerquantitiesratherthanlargeproductionrunsareencountered.Theenginelathehasbeenreplacedintodaysproductionshopsbyawidevarietyofautomaticlathessuchasautomaticofsingle-pointtoolingformaximummetalremoval,andtheuseofformtoolsforfinishonaparwiththefastestprocessingequipmentonthescenetoday.Tolerancesfortheenginelathedependprimarilyontheskilloftheoperator.Thedesignengineermustbecarefulinusingtolerancesofanexperimentalpartthathasbeenproducedontheenginelathebyaskilledoperator.Inredesigninganexperimentalpartforproduction,economicaltolerancesshouldbeused.TurretLathesProductionmachiningequipmentmustbeevaluatednow,morethaneverbefore,thiscriterionforestablishingtheproductionqualificationofaspecificmethod,theturretlathemeritsahighrating.Indesigningforlowquantitiessuchas100or200parts,itismosteconomicaltousetheturretlathe.Inachievingtheoptimumtolerancespossibleontheturretslathe,thedesignershouldstriveforaminimumofoperations.AutomaticScrewMach