Abstract: A probe, connectable to a machine tool, has an electric generator and a driving element. The electric generator supplies an electric or electronic circuit with electric power, and the driving element is capable of relative rotation with respect to the stator of the electric generator. The driving element is not connected to any external energy source and can be set in rotation simply by activating the rotary axis of the machine tool. The driving element is either rotatably mounted on the probe itself or fixed on the reference table of the machine tool. The probe requires no additional connections to the machine tool on which it is mounted, besides the connection to the rotary spindle, which can be realized with a conventional tool-holder with a standardized tapered shank. The probe is fully compatible with standard probes and can be mounted and used with standard tool-holders without any adaptation.

Abstract: A probe, connectable to a machine tool, having an electric generator (16), supplying an electric or electronic circuit (22) with electric power, and a driving element (28), capable of relative rotation with respect to the stator of the electric generator. The rotation axis of the driving element is preferably a symmetry axis of the probe itself. The driving element is not connected to any external energy source, and can be set in rotation simply by activating the rotary axis of the machine tool. Advantageously, the driving element of the present invention is not directly connected with any mobile element of the machine tool, but is either rotatably mounted on the probe itself, or fixed on the reference table of the machine tool. Importantly, the inventive probe requires no additional connections to the machine tool on which it is mounted, besides the connection to the rotary spindle, which can be realized with a conventional tool-holder with a standardised tapered shank.

Abstract: A deflection compensating assembly for deflection sensitive fabricating machine tools such as a press brake. In a press brake, for example, the deflection compensating assembly is mounted between the bed and the lower die or between the ram and the upper die. When mounted on the bed, the deflection compensating assembly, under load, will cause the lower die to become substantially parallel to the upper die. The deflection compensating assembly, under load, will cause the upper die to become substantially parallel to the lower die, when affixed to the ram. The deflection compensating assembly, is preferably a self-contained unit attachable to and detachable from the bed or ram and comprises a variable rate spring, the deflection of which, when under uniformly distributed full length load, is such that, when added to the combined bed and ram deflections, it yields a total deflection which is constant along the length of the bed and ram and will compensate for the bed and ram deflections.