US Patent 7402011 Work piece centering device and method of broaching

A device for centering a work piece with respect to a centerline of a tool includes a radially-stationary component rigidly secured with respect to the tool such that the radially-stationary component and the tool are concentric. A biasing mechanism is biased away from the radially-stationary component to apply substantially equally-distributed radial force at a periphery of the work piece to thereby center the work piece with respect to the tool. A method of broaching a work piece having an inner and an outer diameter includes machining the outer diameter and then applying circumferentially-distributed radial force to the inner diameter or the outer diameter to thereby center the work piece with respect to a broach tool. After the applying step, the method includes broaching the inner diameter of the work piece using the broach tool.