B
SECTION B — PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  
SHAPING
 B23
MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR (punching, perforating, making articles by processing sheet metal, tubes, or profiles B21D; wire-working B21F; making pins, needles, or nails B21G; making chains B21L; grinding B24)
 B23

Note(s)

  1. This class covers:
    • operations not provided for in any other class;
    • combinations of operations covered by different subclasses of classes B21-B24, which combinations are covered by subclass B23P, with the exception of subsidiary operations performed in conjunction with main operations covered by a single subclass;
    • features, specific to machine tools, which relate to a requirement or problem of a nature which is not peculiar to a particular kind of machine tool, e.g. feeding work, which are covered by subclass B23Q, although the realisation of these features may differ according to the kind of machine tool concerned. The said subclass covers such features, in general, even if the feature or a specific function, in any particular case, is to some extent peculiar to, or is claimed only for, machine tools designed for one particular operation; only in exceptional cases are such features to be classified in the subclass for the machine tool concerned. Certain features of this general nature are, however, referred to subclasses relating to particular metal-working operations, especially B23B, in which case the subclasses in question are not restricted, in respect of those features, to the kind of machine tool with which they are primarily concerned.
  2. In this class, the following terms or expressions are used with the meanings indicated:
    • "metal-working" covers the working of other materials unless the context requires otherwise;
    • "kind of operations" and similar expressions relate to such metal-working operations as boring, drilling, milling and grinding;
    • "kind of machine" means a machine designed for a particular kind of metal-working operation (e.g. a lathe);
    • "form of machine" means a machine of a particular kind adapted or arranged for a particular way of working or for particular work, e.g. face-plate lathe, tailstock lathe, turret lathe;
    • "different machines" covers different forms of machines for performing the same type of metal-working operation, e.g. vertical and horizontal boring machines.
  3. If details, components, or accessories have no essential feature specific to machine tools, the more general class, e.g. F16, takes precedence.
 B23B
TURNING; BORING (arrangements for copying or controlling B23Q)

 B23C
MILLING (broaching B23D; broach-milling in making gears B23F; arrangements for copying or controlling B23Q)

 B23D
PLANING; SLOTTING; SHEARING; BROACHING; SAWING; FILING; SCRAPING; LIKE OPERATIONS FOR WORKING METAL BY REMOVING MATERIAL, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR (making toothed gears or the like B23F; cutting metal by applying heat locally B23K; arrangements for copying or controlling B23Q)
 B23D

Note(s)

This subclass covers machines for shearing sheet metal or other stock material except metal foils workable in a manner analogous to paper, which is covered by class B26[2]


 B23F
MAKING GEARS OR TOOTHED RACKS (by stamping B21D; by rolling B21H; by forging or pressing B21K; by casting B22; arrangements for copying or controlling B23Q; machines or devices for grinding or polishing, in general B24B)
 B23F

Note(s)

  1. This subclass covers:
    • the use of methods or apparatus specially designed to produce accurately the shapes of gear teeth which are essential for proper intermeshing of toothed gearing elements to ensure the required relative motions;
    • the use of similar methods or apparatus in the production of other articles of toothed or like form, e.g. dog clutches, splined shafts, milling cutters.
  2. This subclass does not cover the production of such other articles of toothed or like form using methods or apparatus other than those mentioned under Note (1) above.
  3. In this subclass, the following terms or expressions are used with the meanings indicated:
    • "gear teeth" covers the teeth or lobes of other accurately-intermeshing members having relative movement of a similar kind, such as rotors of rotary pumps and blowers;
    • "profile" may include the outline of both faces or only one face of a tooth, or the opposing faces of adjacent teeth;
    • "straight" means that a tooth as a whole (ignoring any curvature of the tooth-face alone, e.g. crowning) is straight in the direction of its length, for example as seen in the direction of a radius of a spur wheel. It accordingly includes the teeth of helical gears and of the normal type of bevel gear;
    • "broach-milling" means milling with a rotary cutter having a number of teeth of progressively increasing depth or width.

 B23G
THREAD CUTTING; WORKING OF SCREWS, BOLT HEADS, OR NUTS, IN CONJUNCTION THEREWITH (thread-forming by corrugating tubes B21D 15/04; by rolling B21H 3/02, by forging, pressing, or hammering B21K 1/56; making helical grooves by turning B23B 5/48, by milling B23C 3/32, by grinding B24B 19/02; arrangements for copying or controlling B23Q)
 B23G

Note(s)

In this subclass, the following expression is used with the meaning indicated:

  • "thread cutting" includes the use of tools similar both in form and in manner of use to thread-cutting tools, but without removing any material.


 B23H
WORKING OF METAL BY THE ACTION OF A HIGH CONCENTRATION OF ELECTRIC CURRENT ON A WORKPIECE USING AN ELECTRODE WHICH TAKES THE PLACE OF A TOOL; SUCH WORKING COMBINED WITH OTHER FORMS OF WORKING OF METAL (processes for the electrolytic or electrophoretic production of coatings, electroforming, or apparatus therefor C25D; processes for the electrolytic removal of material from objects C25F; manufacturing printed circuits using precipitation techniques to apply the conductive material to form the desired conductive pattern H05K 3/18)  [4]
 B23H

Note(s)

This subclass covers the working of metal described as "electroerosion". [4]


 B23K
SOLDERING; WELDING; CLADDING OR PLATING BY SOLDERING OR WELDING; CUTTING BY APPLYING HEAT LOCALLY, e.g. FLAME CUTTING; WORKING BY LASER BEAM (making metal-coated products by extruding metal B21C 23/22; building up linings or coverings by casting B22D 19/08; casting by dipping B22D 23/04; manufacture of composite layers by sintering metal powder B22F 7/00; arrangements on machine tools for copying or controlling B23Q; covering metals or covering materials with metals, not otherwise provided for C23C; burners F23D)
 B23K

Note(s)

This subclass covers also electric circuits specially adapted for the purposes covered by the title of the subclass.


 B23P
OTHER WORKING OF METAL; COMBINED OPERATIONS; UNIVERSAL MACHINE TOOLS (arrangements for copying or controlling B23Q)
 B23P

Note(s)

  1. This subclass does not cover non-mechanical operations on non-metallic materials unless such operations are specially mentioned in this subclass.
  2. In this subclass, the following expressions are used with the meanings indicated:
  3. Attention is drawn to the Notes following the title of class B23.

 B23Q
DETAILS, COMPONENTS, OR ACCESSORIES FOR MACHINE TOOLS, e.g. ARRANGEMENTS FOR COPYING OR CONTROLLING (tools of the kind used in lathes or boring machines B23B 27/00); MACHINE TOOLS IN GENERAL, CHARACTERISED BY THE CONSTRUCTION OF PARTICULAR DETAILS OR COMPONENTS; COMBINATIONS OR ASSOCIATIONS OF METAL-WORKING MACHINES, NOT DIRECTED TO A PARTICULAR RESULT
 B23Q

Note(s)

  1. In this subclass, groups designating parts of machine tools cover machine tools characterised by constructional features of such parts.
  2. In this subclass, the following terms or expressions are used with the meanings indicated:
    • "controlling" means influencing a variable in any way, e.g. changing its direction or its value (including changing it to or from zero), maintaining it constant, limiting its range of variation; [3]
    • "regulation" means maintaining a variable automatically at a desired value or within a desired range of values. The desired value or range may be fixed, or manually varied, or may vary with time according to a predetermined "programme" or according to variation of another variable. Regulation is a form of control; [3]
    • "automatic control" is often used in the art as a synonym for regulation. [3]
  3. Attention is drawn to the Notes following the title of class B23.