Micro electro discharge machine with an inchworm type of micro feed mechanism

A micro electro discharge machine with an inchworm type of micro feed mechanism has been developed. The prototype of micro electro discharge machine is comprised of a wire electro discharge grinding unit, a rotating unit of electrode, RC circuitry for micro electro discharge generation and a subsystem detecting and controlling machining process, in addition to the inchworm mechanism. In the design of the inchworm mechanism, a novel clamp mechanism with force magnifying structure is devised to increase its thrust capability and a pair of guide sleeves together with the clamps are used to decrease yawing error. The inchworm mechanism prototype has 60 mm stroke only limited by the length of the shaft, less than 2 mum yawing error and reaches to 30N output thrust force. The machining experiments carried out on the micro EDM prototype are also described. The techniques to machine micro electrode, micro holes with high aspect ratio, micro structures on stainless steel and silicon materials are discussed. Micro electrode diameter as small as 25 mum and micro holes with minimum size of less than 50 mum are obtained. And the maximum aspect ratios of micro electrodes and micro holes exceed 20 and 10 respectively. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.