JPH038882B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a remaining material detection device for an automatic bar material feeder.

The bar material automatic feeding machine is used in conjunction with the bar material automatic processing machine, and is used in conjunction with the bar material automatic processing machine (e.g. NC
The bar material is automatically supplied one by one to the lathe (lathe), and when the specified processing is completed for one bar material, the unprocessed end of the bar material (hereinafter referred to as "equipment") is taken home. The process of discarding this bar material, installing the next new bar material, and feeding it again to the bar material automatic processing machine is repeated and performed continuously.

In recent years, in order to improve production efficiency, automatic bar material processing machines have been operated continuously day and night, and as a result, automatic bar material feeding machines must also be operated continuously.

The automatic bar material feeder is equipped with a residual material detection device that detects when the residual material has been taken home and then discarded, and confirms that one cycle of the predetermined automatic bar material feeding operation has been completed. Only when this is confirmed, automatic bar material supply operation and automatic processing operation are performed continuously.

However, conventional residual material detection devices were able to accurately detect bar materials with a relatively large diameter (for example, approximately 2 mm φ or more) without malfunction, but they could detect bar materials with a diameter of 2 mm φ or less accurately. In such cases, the operation of the residual material detection device was often uncertain. Therefore, especially during continuous operation at night when no supervisor is present, the automatic bar processing operation is stopped due to the uncertain operation of the remaining material detection device, and the next morning, employees This resulted in a situation where the bar material was not processed at all for a long time until the discovery of the problem, which caused a significant drop in production efficiency.

Conventional residual material detection devices typically involve allowing the residual material to fall freely through a chute (guide trough), and causing the residual material to collide with a lever when a limit switch is activated near the discharge end of the chute. A balance plate is provided to reduce the operating force of the limit switch, and a balance plate is provided to reduce the operating force of the limit switch, and the limit switch is activated and detected by colliding with the remaining material that has fallen freely. There were three types: one that pressed a detection piece against the remaining material while it was being held by the mold gripping claws to confirm that the equipment had been taken home properly.

However, these residual material detection devices
If the diameter of the remaining material is relatively large, the inertial force during free fall is large, so reliable operation can be expected, but if the diameter is relatively small (especially about
In the case of ultra-thin bar material (about 0.3 mmφ), the inertia of the remaining material is small, and the remaining material may adhere to the chute due to cutting oil, vibrations in the factory, air blowing for air conditioning, etc. It was not possible to operate the limit switch reliably due to reasons such as erroneous operation of the limit switch. In addition, with the above model, when the diameter of the bar material is large, the bar material (i.e., the remaining material) will not be bent even by the biting type gripping piece, and even if the detection piece is pressed against it. Relatively reliable operation can be expected without bending the remaining material, but if the diameter of the bar material is small, the remaining material may bite and be easily bent by the gripping piece or the pressing detection piece. Therefore, reliable detection was not possible.

The bar material automatic feeder has a direct connection of bar material of approximately 0.3 mm.
A device that can automatically feed ultra-fine bar materials of about φ has been developed, but the remaining material detection devices used in automatic feeders for such ultra-fine bar materials are as follows:
It is impossible for any of the types mentioned above to operate reliably, and automatic feeding and processing operations often stop unnecessarily due to malfunctions, making them unsuitable for long-term unattended processing operations. It could not be used with confidence.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is that the diameter of the bar material is approximately 0.3
It is an object of the present invention to provide a residual material detection device that can easily and extremely reliably detect the presence or absence of residual material even in ultra-thin bar materials of the order of mm.

The main features solved by the present invention to achieve this objective are as follows.

The first feature is that a gripping claw of the type that closely supports the side portion of the bar material over a wide range is used instead of using a biting type as the gripping claw of the bar material. This prevents the bar material from being bent even when the ultra-thin bar material is brought home and gripped by the gripping claws, so the detection position of the bar material is always constant and reliable detection operation can be performed. It became like that.

The second feature is that we have adopted a method of detecting by pressing a detection piece against the bar material rather than using the impact force caused by the free falling of the bar material, but the pressing position is very close to the outside of the gripping claw. This is due to the location. As a result, even when the detection piece is pressed against the ultra-thin bar material, the bar material is hardly bent, making it possible to perform a reliable detection operation.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a residual material detection device 10 of the present invention.

The bar material automatic supply device is a well-known device, and a detailed explanation will be omitted, but in FIG.ゝThis shows the state in which the object was retreated in the direction of arrow A and brought back.
As shown in FIG. 1, at the moment when the remaining material 16 is positioned between a pair of opposing gripping claws 18, 18', the gripping claws 18, 18' move forward in the direction shown by arrow B, respectively.
The remaining material 16 can be gripped between the two. Even after the remaining material 16 is gripped, the chuck 1
4 continues to move in the direction of arrow A, so
The remaining material 16 will be pulled out of the chuck 14. The remaining material 16 is then dropped downward by opening the gripping claws 18, 18' and is stored in a predetermined remaining material storage box (not shown). The remaining material detection device 10 operates during a short period of time when the remaining material 16 is being held by both gripping claws 18, 18' to confirm the presence or absence of the remaining material 16.

Once the remaining material 16 is gripped between the gripping claws 18, 18', a limit switch (not shown) is actuated to drive the solenoid 20 and push the rod 22 upward in the direction shown by arrow C. This results in
A bail crank 24 pivotally mounted to the main body 12 of the automatic bar material feeder is rotated in the direction shown by arrow D against the tensile force of a spring 26. Therefore, the end portion 28 of the bell crank 24 is
0 in the direction away from the abutment piece 32. The detection slide member 30 is connected to the main body 1 of the automatic bar material feeder.
The end portion 28 of the bell crank 24 is attached to the slide guide member 36 integrally formed with the bracket 34 fixed to the bell crank 24 so as to be able to reciprocate lightly while being guided by the slide guide member 36.
When the detection slide member 30 separates from the abutment piece 32 of the detection slide member 30, the tension of the spring 38 stretched between the bracket 34 and the abutment piece 32 causes the detection slide member 30 to move in the direction shown by the arrow E, that is, to move the remaining material. Move forward in the direction of 16. A detection piece 40 is provided at the tip of the detection slide member 30, and the tip 42 of the detection piece 40 is positioned very close to, if not in contact with, the outer part 44 of the gripping claw 18. Therefore, the remaining material 16 is pressed by the tip 42 of the detection piece 40 at a position very close to the outer part 44 of the gripping claw 18, so even if the remaining material is pressed against the detection piece 42, the remaining material will not be removed. The bending moment received is almost equal to 0, and only shear force is received. Therefore, even if the diameter of the bar material to be processed (therefore, the diameter of the remaining material) is an extremely thin bar material of about 0.3 mmφ, the remaining material will not be pressed and bent by the detection piece 40, so that the remaining material will not be bent. The presence or absence of the material 16 can be reliably detected. Of course, the spring 3
Since the spring force of No. 8 is selected to be a weak force of several tens of grams, even if the remaining material 16 is pressed by the detection piece 40, there is no risk of it being sheared. In this way, the gripping claw 18 adjusts the position of the tip 42 of the detection piece 40.
located in close proximity to the outer portion 44 of the
The fact that almost no bending moment acts on the remaining material 16 is the first feature of the present invention that enables reliable detection even with extremely thin bar material.

As mentioned above, the remaining material 16 is properly brought home,
When held between the gripping claws 18, 18', the detection piece 40 comes into contact with the remaining material 16, so the detection slide member 30 does not move further in the direction of arrow E. Therefore, the detection slide member 30
The detection slide member 30 stops with a certain distance left between the limit switch actuator 46 provided at the limit switch 46 and the actuation lever 50 of the limit switch 48 (the limit switch 48 is fixed to the bracket 34). Therefore, the limit switch 48 is never operated. As a result, the remaining material 16 was properly brought home (i.e.,
Since it has been detected that the automatic feeding and processing cycles have been carried out properly, the operations described below are performed in sequence, and the automatic feeding of bar material continues. That is, in this state,
The chuck 14 continues to move in the direction of arrow A, and operates a solenoid release limit switch (not shown) provided at a predetermined position to release the solenoid 20. When the solenoid 20 is released, the rod 22 retracts, and the tension of the spring 26 causes the bell crank 24 to pivot in the direction opposite to the arrow D, and the detection slide member 30 is also returned in the direction opposite to the arrow E. It will be done. At the same time, both gripping claws 1
8, 18' are opened, the remaining material 16 falls into the remaining material storage box, and the next new bar material is attached to the chuck 14.

However, if the remaining material 16 is
8 and 18', the detection piece 40 does not come into contact with the remaining material 16, so the detection slide member 30 continues to move forward in the direction of arrow E without being stopped at the proper position. This causes the limit switch actuator 46 to press the actuating lever 50 of the limit switch 48. This limit switch 48 is for detecting the occurrence of an abnormal situation, and the operation of the automatic bar material feeder and the automatic processing machine is stopped by the operation of the limit switch 48.

The operation of the residual material detection device according to the present invention has been explained above, and in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the gripping claws 18, 18' used in the present invention are compared with the conventional biting type gripping claws 52, 52'. I will explain.

FIG. 2B shows the conventional biting type gripping claws 52, 5.
2' holds a relatively large diameter residual material 54, and an extremely thin residual material 5 with a diameter of about 0.3 mmφ.
6 is shown gripped. In the case of the remaining material having a relatively large diameter, the degree to which the remaining material itself is bent by the gripping claws 52, 52' is small and the detection piece 5
8 and the outer part 60 of the gripping claw 52 is large, the remaining material will not be bent by the pressing force of the detection piece 58, so a relatively reliable detection operation can be performed. can. However, in the case of extremely thin residual material 56, the residual material itself is easily bent by the gripping claws 52, 52' as shown in the figure, so that it often does not hit the detection piece 58 accurately. .

Therefore, in the case of the present invention, the gripping claws 18, 18' are configured as shown in FIG. In this way, the remaining material 16 is not bent when it is gripped by the gripping claws 18, 18'. This is the second feature that allows the residual material detection device of the present invention to always reliably detect the residual material of the ultra-fine bar material. As described above, the tip end 42 of the detection piece 40 and the outer side 44 of the gripping claw 18 are positioned very close to each other as shown in FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the remaining material detection device according to the present invention.

This second embodiment may be considered to be substantially the same as the first embodiment except that a photoelectric sensing device is used in place of the limit switch 48 used in the first embodiment. Gripping claws 18, 1 shown in FIG.
8' and the detection piece 40 are slightly different in shape from the gripping claws 18, 18' and the detection piece 40 shown in FIG. They are shown with numbers.

When the detection piece 40 moves forward in the direction shown by the arrow E at a position close to the outer part 44 of the gripping claw 18 and stops when the tip 42 of the detection piece 40 comes into contact with the remaining material 16, the photoelectric detection device is activated. Since the light beam from the light source 70 is blocked by the detection piece 40, it does not reach the light receiver 72, such as a phototube or photocell, so that it can be detected that the operation has been performed normally. Therefore, the subsequent automatic bar material supply operation and processing operation are performed continuously in the same manner as described above. However, if the remaining material 16 is not properly brought back by the chuck 14, the remaining material 16
Since the detection piece 40 does not exist, the detection piece 40 continues to move forward, and the notch hole 74 provided in the detection piece 40 allows the light beam from the light source 70 to pass toward the light receiver 72. Since this is an abnormal situation, the automatic bar feeder and the processing machine are configured to stop operating in response to an electric signal from the light receiver 72.

As described above in detail, the remaining material detection device of the present invention is configured such that the detection piece 40 passes through a position close to the outer side of the gripping claw 18;
Since the remaining material is held without being bent by the gripping claws, the diameter of the bar material to be processed is
Even if the material is extremely thin with a diameter of about 0.3 mm, it is possible to reliably detect the presence or absence of residual material.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a first embodiment of the residual material detection device of the present invention. Figure 2 A shows the first
FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view showing that the remaining material is not bent even when the extremely thin remaining material is gripped by the gripping claws shown in the embodiment. FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram showing that the conventional biting-type gripping claws bend when extremely thin residual material is gripped. FIG. 3 is a partial schematic diagram showing a second embodiment of the residual material detection device of the present invention. 10...Remaining material detection device, 18, 18' = gripping claw,
40...Detection piece, 48...Limit switch, 7
0... Light source, 72... Light receiver.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Gripping claws arranged in pairs so as to supply bar material to a bar material processing device and to cooperatively grasp remaining material of the bar material; In the remaining material detection device for an automatic bar material feeder, the detection device includes a detection piece that is pressed against the remaining material when the remaining material is gripped by the claw, wherein one of the gripping claws is configured to press the remaining material against the remaining material. The residual material has a flat surface that comes into contact with the entire portion along its longitudinal axis when the material is gripped, and the flat surface is arranged to face the tip of the sensing piece, and The detection device advances the detection piece close to the outer side of the gripping claw having the flat surface so as to approach the flat surface so as not to cause bending deformation of the remaining material, and to move the sensing piece forward so as to approach the flat surface and move away from the flat surface. and a limit switch that is activated when the detection piece is advanced beyond a predetermined position, and is configured to detect the occurrence of an abnormal situation by the operation of the limit switch. A residual material detection device in a bar material feeder, characterized in that: 2 Gripping claws arranged in pairs so as to supply bar material to a bar material processing device and to cooperatively grasp the remaining material of the bar material; In the remaining material detection device for an automatic bar material feeder, the detection device includes a detection piece that is pressed against the remaining material when the remaining material is gripped, wherein one of the gripping claws is configured to The remaining material has a flat surface that is in contact with the entire remaining material along its longitudinal axis, and the flat surface is arranged to face the tip of the sensing piece, and the sensing device is configured to detect the sensing piece. a slide mechanism that moves the piece forward toward the outer side of the gripping claw having the flat surface so as to approach the flat surface and retreat away from the flat surface so as not to cause bending deformation in the remaining material; , comprising a photoelectric detection device that is activated when the detection piece is advanced beyond a predetermined position, and is configured to detect the occurrence of an abnormal situation by the operation of the photoelectric detection device; A residual material detection device in a bar material feeder, characterized in that: