RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number 107142761, filed on Nov. 29, 2018, which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a shaft apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a multifunctional shaft apparatus having a laser heating function as well as an ultrasonic vibration function.

Description of Related Art

In a general cutting process, a cutting tool of a processing machine is used to cut a workpiece. When the workpiece is a high-strength or high-hardness material, such as a superalloy or a ceramic-based composite material, general cutting processing method is likely to cause a wear problem and a decrease of service life and cutting efficiency of the cutting tool, thus affecting the cutting quality.

Therefore, how to improve the cutting efficiency and the cutting quality of processing machines has become a goal for related industries.

SUMMARY

The invention provides a multifunctional shaft apparatus which can effectively improve a processing efficiency and a processing quality.

According to the aforementioned object, a multifunctional shaft apparatus is provided. The multifunctional shaft apparatus is suitable to be installed on a processing machine. The multifunctional shaft apparatus includes a shaft base, a spindle, a tool holder, an ultrasonic vibration assembly, a laser light source and a mirror assembly. The shaft base has an accommodating space. The spindle is disposed in the accommodating space, in which the spindle has a laser channel extending along an axis direction of the spindle. The tool holder is disposed on the spindle. The tool holder has a hollow passage, an inner space and a recessed portion, in which the hollow passage extends along the axis direction and is communicated with the laser channel, and an inner wall of the hollow passage is set with at least one through hole which is communicated with the inner space, and the recessed portion is disposed on a bottom surface of the tool holder which is away from the spindle, in which the bottom surface has a light outlet which is communicated with the inner space. The ultrasonic vibration assembly includes a vibration member disposed in the recessed portion of the tool holder. The laser light source is configured to generate a laser light beam. The mirror assembly is disposed in the tool holder, and the mirror assembly is configured to reflect the laser light beam, such that the laser light beam is emitted into the tool holder and is further emitted out from the light outlet.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the ultrasonic vibration assembly further includes a power supply disposed in the accommodating space and electrically connected to the vibration member.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the spindle and the tool holder are conductive bodies, and the power supply is electrically connected to the spindle and the tool holder so as to provide electric power to the vibration member.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the spindle and the tool holder are conductive bodies, and the power supply is electrically connected to the spindle and the tool holder so as to provide electric power to the vibration member.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the mirror assembly includes a first reflecting mirror and a second reflecting mirror. The first reflecting mirror is disposed in the hollow passage of the tool holder, in which the first reflecting mirror is configured to reflect the laser light beam to the inner space of the tool holder through the through hole. The second reflecting mirror is disposed in the inner space of the tool holder, in which the second reflecting mirror is configured to reflect the laser light beam which is emitted into the inner space out through the light outlet.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the mirror assembly includes a semi-transparent mirror, a first reflecting mirror, a second reflecting mirror and a third reflecting mirror. The semi-transparent mirror is disposed in the hollow passage of the tool holder. The semi-transparent mirror is configured to spit the laser light beam into a first light beam and a second light beam, in which the first light beam is reflected by the semi-transparent mirror into the inner space of the tool holder, and the second light beam travels along the hollow passage. The first reflecting mirror is disposed in the inner space of the tool holder, in which the first reflecting mirror is configured to reflect the first light beam which is emitted into the inner space out through the light outlet. The second reflecting mirror is disposed in the hollow passage of the tool holder, in which the second reflecting mirror is configured to reflect the second light beam into the inner space of the tool holder through the through hole. The third reflecting mirror is disposed in the inner space of the tool holder, in which the third reflecting mirror is configured to reflect the second light beam which is emitted into the inner space out through the light outlet.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the laser light source is a continuous wave laser light source.

According to the aforementioned embodiments of the present invention, the present invention mainly integrates a laser heating device and an ultrasonic vibration device on a single shaft base to make the shaft apparatus have functions of both laser heating and ultrasonic vibration. The laser heating device is configured to pre-heat the workpiece in a processing area to reduce the mechanical strength of the material of the workpiece, thereby reducing the cutting force, so that the shaft apparatus is suitable for cutting high-strength or high-hardness workpieces such as superalloys or ceramic-based composite materials. The function of the ultrasonic vibration can vibrate the cutting tool in high-frequency to prevent chips from being stuck on the cutting tool and can resolve the problem of high temperature of the cutting tool due to the heating of the workpiece, thereby increasing life of the cutting tool. In addition, when it is necessary to process materials which cannot resist high-temperature heat, such as carbon fiber composite materials, only the ultrasonic vibration function is turned on with the laser heating function turned off, so as to meet different processing requirements of different materials.

