Polishing system based on the non-newton fluid and polishing method thereof

Abstract

A polishing system based on a non-Newtonian fluid and a polishing method thereof are provided. The polishing system includes a polishing device, a non-Newtonian fluid auxiliary device and a control device. The polishing device is able to move a work piece in a polishing container containing the non-Newtonian fluid with abrasives that cause the polishing action. The non-Newtonian fluid auxiliary device is able to manipulate the viscosity of the non-Newtonian fluid by varying the pressure, speed, vibration or ultrasonic frequency, which causes the abrasives to polish the work piece. The control device is used to optimize the polishing process by controlling how the polishing device moves the work piece inside the polishing container. In this way, by using the polishing method, the polishing system provided is able to polish a work piece with any three-dimensional shape.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims priority from Taiwan Patent Application No. 104126857, filed on Aug. 18, 2015 in the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to a polishing system and the polishing method thereof, especially a polishing system based on a non-Newtonian fluid and the polishing method thereof.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]As the manufacturing industry and technology progress, products in various shapes need to have their surfaces polished, and the demand for high quality polishing of surfaces continues to increase. At the same time, there is a requirement for higher standard in process efficiency, cost control, and waste management. In particular, for those consumer products that become obsolete rapidly, in their manufacture the aim is to pro...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0020]The polishing system based on a non-Newtonian fluid and the polishing method thereof of the present invention has one or more of the following advantages:

[0021](1) The polishing system based on a non-Newtonian fluid and the polishing method thereof of the present invention can polish work pieces of all kinds of materials and shapes, and is especially suited to polish work piece with any 3D surfaces, such as curved surfaces, or contoured surfaces. By incorporating digital control technology for the precise coordination of the polishing process, every surface of a 3D object is subjected to the same degree of surface removal and to the same surface treatment, resulting in a uniform surface finish.

[0022](2) The polishing system based on a non-Newtonian fluid and the polishing method thereof of the present invention may be applied to the precise polishing of optical lenses that require a high grade surface finish, as well as the rapid polishing of objects to mass produce a consistent surface finish and therefore appearance for the finished product, such as with mobile phones cases.

[0023](3) The polishing system based on a non-Newtonian fluid and the polishing method thereof of the present invention uses a kind of non-Newtonian fluid made of environmental-friendly and biodegradable material. The waste fluid may be biodegraded, and this method of disposal is better for the environmental, uses less energy, and costs less than other disposal methods.

[0024](4) The polishing system based on a non-Newtonian fluid and the polishing method thereof of the present invention makes use of the properties of non-Newtonian fluids. The use of a non-Newtonian fluid allows for a non-contact polishing method without the need to use grinding tools, such as abrasive disks and polishing pads. Polishing methods using such grinding tools are more costly and can cause defects, such as scratches and cuts on the work piece, when the grinding tool accidentally comes into contact with the work piece.

Problems solved by technology

Although the mechanical chemical polishing of prior art is efficient, the process is contact-type polishing which can not be applied to a work piece with 3-dimensional (3D) shape that is hard to reach, requiring instead a grinding tool (such as a polishing pad), which increases the cost.

Besides, the process involves more factors that affect the product quality, so the process is hard to control.

More importantly, a major limitation of this method of prior art is that vast amounts of waste fluid have to be processed.

However, in reality, these methods of prior art have the shortcomings of low efficiency and high cost, and can only be applied to a few materials.

Taking magnetorheological polishing as an example, the cost of magnetorheological polishing fluid is high and magnetorheological polishing is used mainly for optical lenses.

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