In 1955, Chen Zhichao, a technician from the "Sino-Soviet Watch Materials Factory" in Suzhou, was invited by the Preparatory Department of the Shanghai Watch Factory to attend their meeting of engineers and technicians.
At the meeting, after studying the construction of the factory, we warmly discussed the problem of gem bearings. Because it is one of the most important parts of the inner shell of the watch, China cannot make its own and has to rely on imports.
At this time, an engineer with a cigar in his mouth stood up and chattered about the use of gemstone bearings, and listed the countries in the world that can make such precision parts, and finally sighed: Unfortunately, we can't make it yet.
Chen Zhichao listened, he wiped his hair back with one hand, looked at the people present, and said disapprehantly: "Can we try to make it!" As if he was afraid that the engineer would not hear clearly, he repeated it word for word.
After listening to him, the engineer laughed unconsciously, walked up to Chen Zhichao, and said leisurely: "Your spirit is very good!" Then he asked Chen Zhichao a series of technical questions.
At this time, the person in charge of the preparatory department, who had been paying attention to their conversation, expressed his opinion with a smile, expressed his support, and agreed to the trial production.
At the end of the meeting, on the first night of Chen Zhichao's return to Suzhou, the person in charge of the preparatory department had a short conversation with Chen Zhichao and encouraged him to start the experiment immediately.
Chen Zhichao received the support of the person in charge of the preparatory department, and his confidence was strengthened. After returning to Suzhou, he started the trial production of gemstone bearings on his own oil wire pendulum car.
On the first day, drilling was unsuccessful. He researched it again and again, and finally figured out that the reason why the stone was not drilled through was because the speed of the car was not fast, and the steel wire was too soft.
The next day, he began to use a speed of 10,000 revolutions per minute, gradually increasing to 30,000 revolutions. In the end, the jewel was worn, but because the speed was too fast, the machine could not support it, and the pendulum machine also broke down.
Although the test was temporarily suspended, this question has been haunting Chen Zhichao's heart, and at night he lay on the bed, turned over, and thought: how to design a drilling machine that can withstand 30,000 rpm without losing precision?
In order to solve this problem, he went to bookstores whenever he could, hoping to find data on the manufacture of gemstones from books published in Switzerland, Italy and other countries. As a result, nothing was found. Such precious material cannot be left out of the books published in the capitalist countries.
Once, Chen Zhichao found a book "Soviet Aviation Instrument Engineering" at his classmate's house, from which he found data about gemstone drilling machines. Although it was only one and a half pages, the number of words was not much, and the writing was simple, it attracted him. He looked at it over and over again.
Chen Zhichao was like a treasure, and with great joy, he borrowed this book back and studied it carefully. At a meeting of light industry in Suzhou, he told the director of the light industry bureau that he wanted to try to produce gem bearings.
The director listened to Chen Zhichao with great interest, took his hand, and said enthusiastically: This opinion is very good, our country with a population of 600 million should have its own gemstone bearings! Whatever you need, we will definitely support!
A few days later, Chen Zhichao received a notice from the Municipal Light Industry Bureau: It was decided to allocate 1,400 yuan for the test, and borrowed a relatively sophisticated old lathe from a certain pharmaceutical factory, and transferred it to two young assistants.
The lathe borrowed from the pharmaceutical factory was not empty during the day, and it could only be used for trial production at night. That night, Chen Zhichao took two young students, Yuan Ming and Du Zhenguo, to work in the pharmaceutical factory.
As soon as they walked into the workshop, they saw the old lathe in the corner. Yuan Ming said: "What, is this lathe?" She felt that the lathe was too old.
When Chen Zhichao heard Yuan Ming say this, he asked rhetorically: "Don't you have confidence?" At this time, Du Zhenguo, who was standing aside, rushed to say: "Yes! We will definitely be able to put the drilling mechanism on this old lathe successfully. Yuan Ming blushed and was silent.
They always enter the factory at 6 p.m. every day and leave the factory at 6 a.m. the next morning. After the two students left the factory, as soon as they entered the dormitory, they fell asleep. Chen Zhichao, on the other hand, always modifies the design drawings during the day, or processes the parts that he had made the night before, and sometimes goes to the university to consult with a professor in the physics department.
For dozens of days, Chen Zhichao slept only four or five hours a day. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, because his eyes are astringent, he rubs his eyelids vigorously, or goes to the tap and flushes his head with cold water to lift his spirits.
In recent days, the Director has often visited them late at night. Once, when they were flushing their heads with cold water again, the director came. The director held Chen Zhichao's hand and asked them about the trial production with concern, while asking them to pay attention to their bodies and beware of catching a cold.
Chen Zhichao led the director into the workshop and reported to the director: because the precision of the drilling machine parts is very high, there are sometimes rework.
When the director left, he encouraged them to do their best and raise any difficulties at any time. Finally, it is particularly pointed out that in order to be stronger, scientific experiments must not be afraid of difficulties.
The attention of the leadership gave Chen Zhichao incomparable strength. On the sixty-third night, the automatic drilling machine was finally installed. They were delighted to be confronted with this unique machine made by their own hands, and from time to time they stroked the parts that had been gathered from all over the place.
Chen Zhichao carefully checked the drilling machine, connected the power supply, and flicked the button, and the wheels of the machine spun up.
The speed of the car turned very normal, and in less than fifty seconds, Chen Zhichao suddenly pressed the button, and the car stopped. The two students couldn't figure out what the reason was, and the two froze. Chen Zhichao hurriedly explained: "I can't drill anymore, because the wire swings very hard and gets bigger and bigger, so the drill hole will not be accurate, and it will be scrapped." ”
After a pause, Chen Zhichao asked the two students to go back to rest first. After the trainee left, he stared at the machine and pondered: How to solve the problem of wire swinging? Can we really build it, as the engineer said? No! Don't believe it!
At this time, the workers of the pharmaceutical factory came to work. Chen Zhichao moved the small drilling machine to a small room next to the workshop.
Chen Zhichao looked at the pattern he designed for a while, felt his head swell, and walked out of the room. As he walked through the repair workshop, he saw a middle-aged worker hammering iron sheets with a small hammer.
With a hammer, the iron sheet jumped. The worker took an iron plate, pressed it on the iron sheet, and hammered it, and the iron sheet stopped jumping. Chen Zhichao watched from the side for a while, and unconsciously moved in his heart, thinking of his swaying tightrope.
Chen Zhichao immediately returned to the small room, stared at the steel wire with his eyes, and said to himself: Using two iron plates, clamping it up, isn't it equivalent to installing a good locator? Yes, give it a try! He brought two steel plates and filed them on the workbench with a sneer.
In the evening, Du and Yuan came to work, and when they saw that Chen Zhichao was still working, they couldn't help but be surprised: Why don't you want to rest at all! Chen Zhichao happily picked up the freshly filed steel plate, shook it and said, "It's for this thing, it can solve the swing of the wire." The two of them were very happy to hear it.
The three of them put it together. At one o'clock in the evening, the locator was installed and the test drive began. Their eyes watched the machine turn without blinking, twenty thousand revolutions, thirty thousand revolutions, one minute, two minutes...
Ten minutes passed. Chen Zhichao pressed the button, turned off the car, and said happily: "Okay, try to drill the first gem tomorrow!" The two students also jumped for joy.
The next day, Chen Zhichao and the two trainees carefully re-inspected every part of the machine, even the smallest screw. It was the sixty-fifth night, the night of the official test of the first gemstone. They were both excited and a little scared.
Chen Zhichao carefully sat down on the workbench, carefully picked up the small glittering gem that was much smaller than a sesame seed with small tweezers, and put it into the groove of the machine.
Du Zhenguo and Yuan Ming sat next to them silently, only to see Chen Zhichao press the button, and the speed of the car gradually increased. 10,000, 20,000, 30,000... The indicator light on the machine suddenly turned on. "Wear! "Wear! The two students couldn't help but cheer. Chen Zhichao looked at his watch: "Huh! It only took seven minutes to drill. ”
Chen Zhichao asked Yuan Ming to take a centimeter card: the diameter of the drill hole is five wires, which is completely in line with the standard. They couldn't suppress the joy in their hearts and shouted in unison: "This time, our country has its own jewel bearing!" ”
Sixty-five nights, sixty-five sleepless nights, the first jewel bearing made by our country was born. The news reached the Suzhou Light Industry Bureau, and the director personally led the congratulatory team to congratulate them on their victory.