JPH0217301B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a workpiece feeding device for feeding a workpiece to be processed by a machine tool to a processing position.

(Prior art) A rotating main shaft and a grindstone arranged opposite to the main shaft are provided, and a cylindrical workpiece gripped by a chuck attached to the tip of the main shaft is rotated together with the main shaft, A grinding machine is known that grinds the inner surface, outer surface, end surface, etc. of the rotating workpiece by bringing a grindstone into contact with the rotating workpiece. In such a grinding machine, in order to automate the work of feeding the workpiece to the chuck and the work of discharging the processed workpiece from the chuck, for example, a swing arm or the like is installed near the main shaft. It is conceivable to supply and discharge the workpiece to and from the chuck by installing a chuck and gripping and moving the workpiece with its swing arm or the like.

However, when such a method is adopted, control is required to stop the swinging arm at an appropriate position relative to the chuck in order to position the workpiece relative to the chuck, and therefore the control system is Complications arise and the time required to feed and remove processed workpieces from the chuck, which involves starting and stopping the swinging arm, is relatively long.

Therefore, instead of adopting such a method, for example, as shown in FIG.
A chuck 92 is provided at one end of the chuck 92, and a workpiece conveyance passage 94 is formed passing through the chuck in the direction of the rotational axis, and inside the workpiece conveyance passage 94,
The push rod 96 is movable in the direction along the rotational axis of the main shaft 90, and the push rod 96 is inserted into the workpiece conveyance passage 94 from the end of the main shaft 90 opposite to the end where the chuck 92 is provided. It has been proposed that the input workpiece W is fed to the chuck 92 by being pressed by a push rod 96. In such a case, the chuck 92 is
The workpiece W that is supplied to the chuck 92 and gripped by the chuck 92 has its end face ground by, for example, a rotating grindstone 98, and then the workpiece W is held by the push rod 96.
It is further pressed by the chuck 92 and removed from the chuck 92.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, when grinding a workpiece with the configuration shown in FIG.
Since the workpiece is introduced into the workpiece conveyance passage 94 from the end opposite to the end where the workpiece 2 is provided and supplied to the chuck 92, the chuck 92 is There is a disadvantage that it takes a relatively long time to grasp the workpiece.

Furthermore, positioning of the workpiece with respect to the chuck 92 is performed by a push rod 96 that presses the workpiece.
Therefore, when the workpiece is fed to the chuck 92, it is required that the tip of the push rod 96 properly abuts the workpiece. For this reason, for example, when a workpiece is supplied to the chuck 92, a predetermined positioning member is brought into contact with the workpiece from the side to be ground, and the workpiece is pressed against the tip of the push rod 96. However, even when positioning the workpiece, a configuration and work time are required, which, together with the above-mentioned disadvantages, makes it difficult to grind the workpiece. There is a problem that the cycle time cannot be shortened.

In view of the above, the present invention allows the workpiece to be quickly fed to the chuck provided on the rotating main shaft while ensuring the positioning of the workpiece relative to the chuck. An object of the present invention is to provide a workpiece feeding device that can shorten the cycle time in processing work on the workpiece.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a workpiece feeding device according to the present invention is provided with an input opening through which the workpiece is inputted from the radial direction, A rotating main shaft in which a conveyance passage for the workpiece is formed in a direction along the rotation axis, a chuck member provided at the end of the rotating main shaft to grip the workpiece, and a chuck member that contacts the workpiece within the rotating main shaft. A pressing member having an abutment portion that comes into contact with the press member, and a discharge chute having a discharge passage portion through which the finished workpiece is discharged and disposed movably in a direction along the rotation axis of the rotation main shaft, The pressing member moves its abutting portion to abut the workpiece that has been input into the rotary spindle through the input opening of the rotary spindle, supplies the workpiece to the chuck member through the conveyance passage, and contacts the chuck member. The part positions the workpiece relative to the chuck member, and the discharge chute delivers the workpiece supplied to the chuck member by the pressing member to the chuck member through the already-processed workpiece. An elastic member that presses against the contact portion side is provided.

(Function) In the workpiece feeding device according to the present invention configured as described above, the workpiece is charged into the rotating main shaft from the radial direction of the rotating main shaft through the charging opening formed therein. Thereafter, it is pressed by a pressing member and supplied to the chuck member through a conveying passage formed in the rotating main shaft. At this time, the workpiece that has already been processed, that is, the already processed workpiece, which is held by the chuck member, is pushed out from the chuck member by the workpiece that is pressed by the pressing member, and is placed in the discharge chute. The elastic member is brought into contact with the elastic member. In such a state, the workpiece is moved by the elastic member provided in the discharge chute.
It is brought into pressure contact with the abutting end of the pressing member through the pre-processed workpiece, and is therefore gripped by the chuck member while being properly positioned by the abutting end of the pressing member. After the workpiece is gripped by the chuck member, the ejection chute is moved in a direction along the rotational axis of the rotational main shaft so as to be separated from the rotational main shaft, thereby removing the workpiece gripped by the chuck member. The finished workpiece, which is held between the workpiece and the elastic member provided on the discharge chute, is discharged into the discharge passage of the discharge chute.

In this way, the workpiece is charged into the rotating main shaft from the radial direction of the rotating main shaft through the charging opening formed therein, and is supplied to the chuck member through the conveying passage along the rotational axis of the rotating main shaft. ,
The conveyance distance of the workpiece to the chuck member in the conveyance path section is extremely shortened, and the time from the introduction of the workpiece to the rotating main shaft to the gripping of the workpiece by the chuck member is significantly shortened. Further, in the process of discharging the finished workpiece from the chuck member, the workpiece is simultaneously positioned with respect to the chuck member, so that a special process for positioning the workpiece with respect to the chuck member is not required.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a workpiece feeding device according to the present invention in a state where it is applied to a grinding machine. In FIG. 1, a rotating main shaft 2 is rotatably supported by a main shaft support portion 4 fixed to a grinding machine base 3 via a plurality of bearings. A hollow support shaft 6 is disposed at the center of the rotating main shaft 2, and one end of this support shaft 6 is attached to a fixed support portion 8 fixed to the grinding machine base 3. A cylindrical workpiece conveyance passage 7 having a relatively large inner diameter is formed at the other end.

A belt 10 is hung at a predetermined position between the main shaft support part 4 and the fixed support part 8 on the rotating main shaft 2, and the rotating main shaft 2 is connected to a drive source such as a motor (not shown) via the belt 10. It is rotated around the support shaft 6 by the transmitted driving force. A push rod 1 having a length larger than the longitudinal dimension of the rotating main shaft 2 is provided in the hollow part of the support shaft 6.
2 is slidably inserted in the direction along the rotation axis of the rotating main shaft 2. One end of the push rod 12 protruding from the support shaft 6 is connected via a bracket 14 to a piston 18 of a workpiece conveying device 16 that is extendable and retractable in a direction along the rotation axis of the rotation main shaft 2.

A chucking portion 20 is provided at the end of the rotating main shaft 2 on the workpiece conveyance path portion 7 side.
The chucking section 20 includes a housing 21 that surrounds the workpiece conveyance passage 7 , a tightening member 22 having a tapered part disposed between the workpiece conveyance passage 7 and the housing 21 , and a clamping member 22 that faces the end of the support shaft 6 . The chuck member 23 includes a chuck member 23 having a tapered portion that engages with the tapered portion of the tightening member 22, which is disposed as shown in FIG.

A sleeve 24 is fitted to the outer periphery of the support shaft 6 so as to be slidable in a direction along the rotational axis of the main rotating shaft 2. One end of this sleeve 24 is connected to the tightening member 22.
is connected to one end of the In addition, the sleeve 24
A spool 26 is fixed to the other end of the chuck opening/closing cylinder 25 formed in the rotating main shaft 2, and oil passages 28a and 28b are opened in the chuck opening/closing cylinder 25. are doing. Therefore, the spool 26 is connected to the oil path 2
The sleeve 24 and the tightening member 2 connected to the sleeve 24 are moved within the chuck opening/closing cylinder 25 by the hydraulic oil supplied from 8a or 28b, and as the spool 26 moves, the sleeve 24 and the tightening member 2 connected to the sleeve 24 are moved.
2 is moved in a direction along the rotational axis of the rotational main shaft 2, and the chuck member 23 is opened and closed in the radial direction of the rotational main shaft 2.

As clearly shown in FIG. 2, the chucking part 20 provided on the rotating main shaft 2 includes a workpiece conveyance passage part 7 formed in the support shaft 6, a housing 21 constituting the chucking part 20, and a clamping part. Through holes 7a and 21a formed in each of the attachment members 22
and 22a, a workpiece input opening 30 is formed. That is, the workpiece input opening 30 is
The chucking portion 20 is an opening that passes through the rotating main shaft 2 in the radial direction.

Directly below the workpiece input opening 30, a workpiece input device 34 for inputting a workpiece W into the chucking section 20 is installed. This work loading device 34 has a piston rod 38 that expands and contracts in a direction perpendicular to the rotational axis of the rotating main shaft 2. At the upper end of the piston rod 38, there is a workpiece mounting table 40 on which the workpiece W is placed. is provided. Further, as clearly shown in FIG. 2, a work chute 42 is installed to continuously supply the workpiece W to the workpiece input device 34, and the workpiece chute 42 rolls the workpiece W. and an inclined passage 44 that allows the
A stopper 46 is provided which operates in conjunction with the piston rod 38 of the workpiece loading device 34 in order to sequentially place the workpieces W on the workpiece mounting table 40 of the workpiece loading device 34.

The workpiece W is a valve lifter that supports a valve that opens and closes an intake passage and an exhaust passage of an engine, and has a cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG. 3, for example. The workpiece W is gripped by the chuck member 23 and has a surface S to be ground, which is positioned at the tip of the chucking part 20, and a reference surface O, which is brought into contact with the tip of the push rod 12. The grinding accuracy of the surface to be ground S is set by the distance t from the reference surface O.

Furthermore, a work discharge chute 50 is disposed at a position opposite to the tip of the chucking portion 20, through which a workpiece that has been subjected to a grinding process, that is, a finished workpiece W' is discharged. The work discharge chute 50 is supported by a chute moving device 52 having a piston rod 54 that expands and contracts in a direction along the rotational axis of the rotational main shaft 2, and selectively takes a position close to and a position away from the chuck member 23. Being able to do that. The work discharge chute 50 includes an inclined passage 56 for rolling the finished work W' discharged from the chucking section 20, and a finished work discharged into the inclined passage 56, as shown in FIG. The guide plate 58 has a guide plate 58 against which the end edge of the push rod 12 is brought into contact, and a grinding process for the workpiece W gripped by the chuck member 23 is provided at a position opposite to the tip of the push rod 12 on the guide plate 58. A through hole 62 is formed through which a grindstone 60 for performing the grinding is inserted. In addition, the guide plate 58
A through hole 62 is provided on the surface of the chuck member 23 side.
A concave portion 64 is formed which is coaxial with the through hole 62 and has a larger diameter than the through hole 62, and a disc spring 66 having a through hole corresponding to the through hole 62 is locked in the concave portion 64. This disc spring 66
The inner diameter end portion of the guide plate 58 projects toward the chuck member 23 with a predetermined projecting length.

Next, based on the configuration as described above, the workpiece W
supply to the chucking section 20 and the finished products
The operation of removing W' from the chucking section 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5A, B, and C.

First, before a new workpiece W is supplied to the chucking section 20, as shown in FIG. 5A, a grinding process is performed on the workpiece W already gripped by the chuck member 23 in the chucking section 20. . In that case, the chuck member 23
With respect to the surface S to be ground of the workpiece W gripped by the grinder 60, the grindstone 60 is inserted into the through hole 62 formed in the guide plate 58 of the workpiece discharge chute 50 and the disc spring 66, as shown by the dashed line. In this state, the rotating main shaft 2 and the grindstone 60 are rotated, and the surface S of the workpiece W to be ground is ground. When the grinding process on the workpiece W is completed, the grindstone 60 is retreated to the position shown by the solid line.

In this way, after the grinding process on the workpiece W held by the chuck member 23 in the chucking section 20 is completed, the piston rod 38 of the workpiece loading device 34 is loaded from the workpiece chute 42 onto the workpiece mounting table section 40. The new workpiece W is raised together with the placed new workpiece W, and the new workpiece W passes through the workpiece input opening 30 formed in the chucking part 20 into the workpiece conveyance passage part 7 formed in the support shaft 6. will be transported to.

When the workpiece W is positioned in the workpiece conveyance passage 7, the sleeve 24 fitted to the support shaft 6 is moved to engage the tapered portion of the tightening member 22 and the chuck, as shown in FIG. 5B. The engagement state of the member 23 with the tapered portion is released. Thereafter, the workpiece W positioned within the workpiece conveyance passage section 7 is
The tip of the push rod 12 is brought into contact with the reference surface O, and is pressed by the push rod 12 to transport the chuck member 2 from the workpiece conveyance passage 7.
It is conveyed to the position where it is gripped by 3. Along with this, the workpiece W', which had been at the position where it was held by the chuck member 23, is pressed by the workpiece W conveyed by the push rod 12, and is moved to the position where it is held by the chuck member 23. The liquid is then discharged to the outside of the chucking section 20.

At this time, the end surface of the workpiece W' on the grindstone 60 side comes into contact with the disc spring 66 that is engaged with the guide plate 58 of the work discharge chute 50, thereby compressing the disc spring 66. Therefore, the disc spring 66 presses the workpiece W against the tip of the push rod 12 via the workpiece W' due to its elasticity. Due to the action of the disc spring 66, the state in which the tip of the push rod 12 properly contacts the reference surface O of the workpiece W is maintained, and therefore the workpiece W is properly positioned with respect to the chuck member 23. You will be killed.

When the workpiece W is moved to an appropriate position relative to the chuck member 23, the sleeve 24 is fitted onto the support shaft 6 and moved, as shown in FIG. and the tapered portion of the chuck member 23 are engaged with each other, whereby the workpiece W is gripped by the chuck member 23. After the workpiece W is gripped by the chuck member 23, the workpiece ejection chute 50 assumes a position away from the chuck member 23, thereby discharging the workpiece W gripped by the chuck member 23. The finished workpiece W', which has been held between the workpiece W and the disc spring 66 locked to the guide plate 58 of the workpiece discharge chute 50, is dropped into the inclined passage 56 of the workpiece discharge chute 50. At the same time, the piston rod 38 of the workpiece loading device 34 is lowered, and in conjunction with the lowering movement of the piston rod 38, the stopper 46 of the workpiece chute 42 shown in FIG. 2 is lowered, and the next workpiece is loaded. W is placed on a workpiece mounting table 40 provided on the piston rod 38.

In this manner, after the workpiece W' is discharged from the chucking section 20, the workpiece discharge chute 50 assumes a position close to the chuck member 23, as shown in FIG. 5A. is,
Thereafter, the grindstone 60 is again placed in the position shown by the dashed line in FIG. Grinding is performed on the workpiece W.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, according to the workpiece feeding device according to the present invention, the workpiece is charged into the charging opening formed in the rotating main shaft from the radial direction of the rotating main shaft. The workpiece is positioned in the conveyance passage along the rotation axis of the main shaft, and is then pressed by the pressing member and supplied from the conveyance passage to the chuck member. The transfer distance by the pressing member is extremely shortened, and the time from loading the workpiece onto the rotating main shaft to gripping the workpiece by the chuck member is significantly shortened. Furthermore, when the workpiece is supplied to the chuck member, the workpiece is ejected from the chuck member and comes into contact with the abutting end of the pressing member via the already processed workpiece that comes into contact with the elastic member provided on the discharge chute. Since the chuck member is brought into pressure contact with the chuck member, the workpiece can be properly positioned with respect to the chuck member. Moreover, in the process of discharging the finished workpiece from the chuck member, the workpiece is positioned with respect to the chuck member at the same time, so there is no need for a special process for positioning the workpiece with respect to the chuck member. be done.

Therefore, when machining the workpiece, it is possible to automatically and reliably obtain a state in which the workpiece is properly gripped by the chuck member, and the cycle time for machining the workpiece can be reduced. This means that the time can be shortened.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a workpiece supply device according to the present invention together with a part of a grinding machine to which it is applied, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the - line in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an example of a workpiece to be ground by the grinding machine shown in FIG.
The figure is a side view of the grinding machine shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 5 A, B, and C are partial sectional views for explaining the operation of the example shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 6 is a conventional workpiece. FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view for explaining the supply device of FIG. In the figure, 2 is the rotating main shaft, 7 is the workpiece conveyance passage,
12 is the pushing rod, 20 is the coaching part,
23 is a chuck member, 30 is a workpiece input opening,
34 is a work input device, 42 is a work shoot,
50 is a chute for discharging a workpiece, 52 is a chute moving device, and 66 is a disc spring.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An input opening through which the workpiece is introduced from the radial direction is formed, and a rotational main shaft is formed in a direction along the rotational axis, and a conveyance passage for the workpiece is provided at an end of the rotational main shaft. a chuck member that grips the workpiece by being inserted into the shaft; and a contact portion that abuts the workpiece within the rotational spindle, and the workpiece is loaded into the rotational spindle through the input opening through the contact portion. a pressing member that is moved in contact with the chuck member, supplies the workpiece to the chuck member through the conveyance passage portion, and positions the workpiece relative to the chuck member by the contact portion; The chuck is disposed so as to be movable in the direction along the rotational axis of the rotating main shaft, and has a discharge passage through which the workpiece is discharged, and the workpiece supplied to the chuck member by the pressing member is and a discharge chute provided with an elastic member that presses the workpiece toward the abutting portion through the object.