IP Library Granted Patent US 12691517
Granted Patent B2
US 12691517 · App. 18/014,024 · Granted Jul 28, 2026

Sealing device and wire electrical discharge machine

Inventors: Ryuunosuke Tomioka (Yamanashi-ken, JP); Hisanori Kouda (Yamanashi-ken, JP)
Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
B23H7/105B23H2500/00
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12691517
App. No.
18/014,024
Granted
Jul 28, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A sealing device and a wire electrical discharge machine that may reduce sludge deposition, include a seal base, a seal plate, a bellows member, a flow passage, and a guide rail member. The guide rail member is open on the inward direction side thereof to cause sludge generated by machining of an object to be machined to flow into a machining tank along with a machining liquid supplied between the bellows member and the seal plate.

Claims (19)

1 . A sealing device configured to seal a window portion formed in a side wall of a work pan that stores a working fluid in which a workpiece is immersed, wherein a lower arm that supports a wire electrode configured to machine the workpiece is inserted through the window portion and the window portion is formed so as to allow the work pan to move in an intersecting direction that intersects an extending direction of the inserted lower arm, the sealing device comprising:

a seal base fixed to an outer surface of the work pan and including a through hole communicating with the window portion;

a seal plate configured to close the through hole from an outer surface side of the seal base and provided so as to be movable relative to the seal base;

a bellows member disposed on a side of an inward direction relative to the seal plate, so as to cover the window portion, the inward direction being a direction that extends from an outer side to an inner side of the window portion along the extending direction, the bellows member being configured to expand and contract along the intersecting direction;

a flow path configured to allow the working fluid having a pressure higher than a pressure inside the work pan, to be supplied between the bellows member and the seal plate; and

a guide rail member that is disposed on a lower side of the bellows member, extends in the intersecting direction, and is configured to guide expansion and contraction of the bellows member; wherein in the guide rail member,

a side of the inward direction of the guide rail member comprises at least one of openings that is opened toward the inward direction or a downward direction in a manner so that sludge generated by machining of the workpiece flows out through the opening and flows into the work pan together with the working fluid supplied between the bellows member and the seal plate.

2 . The sealing device according to claim 1 , wherein the guide rail member includes: a bottom portion that is disposed below a lower portion of the bellows member and extends in the intersecting direction; and a side portion that is disposed on the side of the inward direction relative to the lower portion of the bellows member, extends in the intersecting direction, and is connected to the bottom portion, wherein an opening through which the sludge flows is formed in at least one of the side portion or the bottom portion.

3 . The sealing device according to claim 2 , wherein

the opening comprises a plurality of openings that are formed at intervals in the intersecting direction.

4 . The sealing device according to claim 2 , wherein

the bottom portion is inclined so as to gradually separate away from a lower end of the bellows member as the bottom portion extends in the inward direction.

5 . The sealing device according to claim 1 , wherein the guide rail member includes: a bottom portion disposed below a lower portion of the bellows member and extending in the intersecting direction; and a side portion extending in the intersecting direction and disposed on the side of the inward direction relative to the lower portion of the bellows member so as to be spaced apart from the bottom portion in order to allow the sludge to flow.

6 . A wire electrical discharge machine comprising: a work pan configured to store a working fluid in which a workpiece is immersed; and a sealing device configured to seal a window portion formed in a side wall of the work pan, wherein the sealing device comprises: a seal base fixed to an outer surface of the work pan and including a through hole communicating with the window portion; a seal plate configured to close the through hole from an outer surface side of the seal base and provided so as to be movable relative to the seal base;

a bellows member disposed on a side of an inward direction relative to the seal plate, so as to cover the window portion, the inward direction being a direction that extends from an outer side to an inner side of the window portion along an extending direction of an arm that is inserted through the window portion, the bellows member being configured to expand and contract along an intersecting direction that intersects the extending direction of the arm;

a flow path configured to allow the working fluid having a pressure higher than a pressure inside the work pan, to be supplied between the bellows member and the seal plate; and

a guide rail member that is disposed on a lower side of the bellows member, extends in the intersecting direction, and is configured to guide expansion and contraction of the bellows member, and

wherein in the guide rail member,

a side of the inward direction of the guide rail member comprises at least one of openings that is opened toward the inward direction or a downward direction in a manner so that sludge generated by machining of the workpiece flows out through the opening and flows into the work pan together with the working fluid supplied between the bellows member and the seal plate.