JPH0440089B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] 【Technical field】

The present invention relates to an automated device for a bending machine that performs bending on a metal plate.

[Background technology]

When it is necessary to perform many bending processes on a metal plate workpiece, such as when forming a reflector plate for a lighting device, conventionally, when automating this process, the number of bending processes required is This is accomplished by installing several bending machines, distributing each bending process to each bending machine, and providing equipment for transferring workpieces between bending machines and supplying and taking out workpieces to and from each bending machine. Ta. This kind of automation through line formation is suitable for products with small product types and the same number of bending processes.
It has a great effect. However, for products that require different numbers of bending processes, there may be an excess or deficiency in the number of bending machines on the line, making it inefficient to bend a wide variety of products. I was relying on it, but this is the current situation.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and its purpose is to provide an automation device for a bending machine that is suitable for high-mix, low-volume production and can reduce production costs and equipment costs. It is in.

[Disclosure of the invention]

Therefore, the present invention provides a bending machine that can automatically change upper and lower molds into multiple types, and a pair of bending machines that are arranged oppositely at both longitudinal ends of a workpiece and handle the workpiece by gripping both ends of the workpiece. The handling device consists of a handling device and a support device that holds the workpiece before and after bending.The handling device and support device are capable of multi-axis control, and the handling device has an upper jaw that is shorter than the lower jaw. It is characterized by being equipped with a handling chuck. The present invention will be described in detail below based on the illustrated embodiment. This automation device includes an NC (numerically controlled) die bending machine 1 that can automatically exchange an upper die 16 and a lower die 15 into a plurality of types. a support device 2,
It is constructed by installing a pair of handling devices 3, 3. The bending machine 1 shown here is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
As shown in the figure, a rotary lower mold 15 is installed on the bed 10 via a holder 11, and the bed 10
An upper die 16 is attached to the ram 12 located above the ram 12. As is clear from FIG. 3, the lower mold 15 has a square cross section, and
V-bending lower molds 15a, 15b, 15d and an inverted V-bending lower mold 15c are formed at each corner, and the rotation of the lower molds 15a to 15c to be used is
15d can be switched. Then, as the upper die 16, here, the upper die 16 for V bending is used.
Three kinds of molds are selectively set on the ram 12: a, 16c and an upper mold 16b for inverted V bending. In the figure, 14 is a back gauge. A support device 2 and a pair of handling devices 3 installed on the operator side of the bending machine 1,
3 will be explained next. These devices 2, 3,
3 is also one whose position and operation are controlled by numerical control, and the support device 2 installed at the center of the front of the bending machine 1 is equipped with X, as shown in FIG.
The three axes Y and Z are numerically controlled axes, and the rotation α around the Z axis is also numerically controlled, and a magnetic workpiece holder 20 is rotatably provided at the tip of the support unit 21. There is. The handling devices 3, 3 installed on both sides of the front of the bending machine 1 are numerically controlled for rotation around the Y axis in addition to the three axes of X, Y, and Z, and each handles the workpiece 5. It is equipped with a handling chuck 30 for grasping. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, this handling chuck 30 grips a workpiece 5 with an upper claw 31 and a lower claw 32, but the lower claw 32 is longer than the upper claw 31. Next, the operation will be explained. Each handling chuck 30, 3 of the left and right handling devices 3, 3
The workpiece 5 whose both ends are held by the lower die 1
After that, the workpiece 5 is placed on the back gauge 14, and then the upper mold 16 is lowered until the distance between it and the lower mold 15 becomes equal to the thickness of the workpiece 5, and the upper mold 16 and the lower mold are Temporary holding is performed by sandwiching the workpiece 5 between the mold 15 and the mold 15. Next, release the handling chuck 30, and then remove the upper mold 1.
6 is lowered again to perform the bending process. During this bending process, support unit 2
1 and the handling chuck 30 to follow the workpiece 5, and when the bending process is completed, the magnetic workpiece holding part 20 of the support unit 21 is activated to hold the workpiece 5, and the left and right handling chucks 30, 30 are made to follow the workpiece 5. After the workpiece 5 is chucked again and the upper mold 16 is raised, handling for the next bending process is performed by the handling devices 3 or by the support device 2.
During this time, in the bending machine 1, the upper die 16 and lower die 15 are set for the next bending process. The above operations are repeated until the entire bending process is completed. Connect the upper claw 31 of the handling chuck 30 to the lower claw 3.
The reason why the length is shorter than 2 is that during the above-mentioned tracking, that is, when the lower claw 32 of the handling chuck 30 is
When moving after the workpiece 5, the handling chuck 30 is moved once in the Y-axis direction to prevent interference between the end of the workpiece 5 and the upper claw 31, as shown in FIG. 5a. It's for a reason. When chucking, the workpiece 5 is chucked by placing the claws 31 and 32 at the positions shown in FIG. 5b. FIG. 6 shows an example of bending performed using three types of upper molds 16a to 16c and four types of lower molds 15a to 15d. In the figure, between B and C and between C and D, a small reversal is performed in which the workpiece 5 is rotated by θ around the Y axis. The reason why the upper die 16b and the lower die 15c for inverted V-shafting are provided is to avoid the need for a large reversal of rotating the workpiece 5 around the Z-axis at α. However, since a large reversal may be necessary depending on the product, the support device 2 is provided with this function as described above. When using the rotary lower mold 15, the lower molds 15a to 15d are provided at each corner of the workpiece 5.
This is because interference with the embossing near the bending position is reduced, and at the same time, by providing the tapered portion 18 on the holder 11, centering of the lower die 15 after rotation is set is ensured.

【Effect of the invention】

As described above, in the present invention, for a bending machine that can automatically change the upper mold and lower mold into multiple types, the workpiece is handled by a handling device capable of multi-axis control, and the workpiece is also handled by a handling device capable of multi-axis control. Since the workpiece is held before and after bending by a support device, multiple bending steps can be performed in sequence, and this requires changes in the content of bending and the number of bending steps. It is highly efficient in high-mix, low-volume production, and can flexibly respond to changes in production.
Not only does unmanned production reduce production costs, but equipment costs are also lower than automation through production lines.Moreover, a pair of handling devices are placed opposite each other at both ends of the workpiece in the longitudinal direction.
Since the workpiece is handled by gripping both ends of the workpiece, it is possible to handle long and thin workpieces without difficulty, and in fact, most of the handling except for large reversals can be done by the handling device. It can be performed at relatively high speed with a bending machine, and when combined with a bending machine, various bending processes can be performed automatically. Because it is equipped with a chuck, when the handling device moves to follow the work while the support device is supporting the work, the end of the work can be kept on the lower jaw. At the same time, it can prevent the upper jaw from interfering with the edge of the workpiece at this time, and it can smoothly grip the workpiece with the handling chuck when performing multiple bends in sequence. It is.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a cutaway perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic side view of the same as above, Fig. 3 is an end view of the rotary lower mold as above, and Figs. 4 and 5 a and b are as above. FIG. 6 is a front view of the handling chuck, FIG. 6 is an end view of a workpiece showing an example of the bending process, and FIG. 7 shows the processing order, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing the handling operation. 1 is a bending machine, 2 is a support device, 3 is a handling device, and 5 is a workpiece.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A bending machine that can automatically change upper and lower molds into multiple types; a pair of handling devices that are disposed opposite each other at both longitudinal ends of the workpiece and handle the workpiece by gripping both ends of the workpiece; It consists of a support device that holds the workpiece before and after bending, and the handling device and support device are capable of multi-axis control, and the handling device is equipped with a handling chuck whose upper jaw is shorter than the lower jaw. An automation device for bending machines characterized by: