JPH0585299B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a machine tool equipped with an automatic tool changer and a tool magazine, and particularly to space-saving magazine arrangement and high-place maintenance suitable for vertical machining centers. The present invention relates to an improved automatic tool changer that allows tools to be changed through a space provided between the magazine and the automatic tool changer.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a machine tool such as a machining center equipped with an automatic tool changer has a tool magazine for supplying tools to the automatic tool changer and a magazine attached to the side or top of the machine tool. The side-mounting method was easy to work with, and the top-mounting method had the advantage of requiring less space on the machine. Also, in an automatic tool changer that allows tools to be changed through a space provided between the magazine and the automatic tool changer, when gripping a tool for the next process with an arm, etc., the tool can be gripped with one touch using only a swinging motion. There was no automatic tool changer available.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in conventional machining centers, the magazine mounted on the top is superior in terms of space utilization, but it is difficult for operators to perform maintenance work such as when replacing worn tools in the magazine. Although the difficulty of maintenance work was somewhat alleviated when it was attached to the side, there were still problems with maintenance when it was attached to the upper side. In addition, there was a drawback that the exclusive area was expanded due to the covering at the rear of the sides.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned drawbacks and problems, and provides a tool changing device that can particularly shorten the time required for tool changing, improve the workability of the tool changing work, and improve worker safety. The purpose is to provide.

[Means and actions for solving problems]

As a means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a machine tool having a spindle on which a tool can be detachably mounted and which is movable to a tool changing position of the machine tool by forming an axis line in the vertical direction. A magazine cover body is provided near the spindle axis on the side surface of the base of the machine tool, and is formed with an inner cylinder part centered on an axis perpendicular to the spindle axis, and a rotation indexer is provided in the inner cylinder part of the magazine cover body. A plurality of tool holders are provided on a cylindrical periphery to accommodate the tools in a direction parallel to the central axis of the magazine cover body, and a space is formed in the center of the inner cylinder. a magazine body with a center position upper part of the magazine body set as a tool exchange position; a first driving body provided on the magazine cover body for rotationally driving the magazine body; and a first drive body provided on the base and a tool exchange position of the magazine body. a swing shaft located near the axis of the tool indexed by the tool and having an axis in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the spindle and the central axis of the magazine cover; Extending in orthogonal directions, the swing shaft passes through the space of the magazine body and swings between the axial direction of the spindle and the axial direction of the tool indexed to the tool exchange position using the swing shaft as a fulcrum. a second drive body that is provided on the base and swings the tool changer main body; and a second drive body that is provided on the tool changer main body so as to be pivotable and movable forward and backward, and that grips a tool at both ends. A gripping portion is formed, and an arm is arranged such that the center of the gripping portion rotated toward the magazine body is perpendicular to the axis of the swing shaft, and is divided into a tool exchange position of the magazine body. Tool exchange characterized in that the gripping portion of the arm, which has swung from below the tool, can directly insert the taken-out tool into the gripped portion of the tool by only oscillating movement about the oscillating shaft as a fulcrum. It was used as a device.

According to the present invention, it has become possible to exchange tools using the automatic tool exchanger using the space provided in the center of the magazine. the result,
The magazine can be placed near the main shaft, making it possible to save space and improve workability.

Further, by using the automatic tool changer as described above, the time required for tool change can be shortened, and the work efficiency of manually changing tools held in the magazine body has been improved.

〔Example〕

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

FIG. 1 is a front view showing one embodiment of a tool changing device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view thereof, which is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view, taken along arrow B in FIG. 4 is a front sectional view of the magazine 10 taken along line CC in FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged sectional view of FIG. 4 showing the tool pot 12 and part of its rotation mechanism.

In each of the above figures, the machine tool has a spindle 1, which is the main axis, in a spindle head 1a in the vertical direction.
The spindle head 1 is supported by a saddle 3 so as to be movable in the vertical direction, and the vertical direction is the main axis direction (Z-axis). The vertical movement of the spindle 1 is driven by a first motor 4 via a ball screw (not shown). The saddle 3 is supported by the column 2 so as to be movable in the left and right lateral directions (X-axis direction) in the front view.
Its horizontal movement is driven by a second motor 5 and a ball screw (not shown). The column 2 is fixed on the bed 7. Below the spindle 1, a table 8 on which a mounting jig with a workpiece clamped is placed is disposed on a bed 7 so as to be movable in the horizontal direction (Y-axis direction) perpendicular to the direction of movement of the saddle 3. and is driven by a third motor 9 and a ball screw (not shown). A magazine 10 for storing tools is fixed to the side of the machine tool, and the magazine 10 is of a type in which required tools are selectively indexed by rotary means equipped with an indexing mechanism, and an automatic tool changer is used. 11 is configured to transfer the spindle and the tool.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the magazine 10 is annular and has a space 10a in the center, and includes an annular ring member 10b, a guide member 10c concentrically attached to the outer circumference of the ring member 10b, and a ring gear 1.
0d, a magazine cover 10e that shields these from the outer periphery, and the guide member 1 supported by the magazine cover 10e.
Guide roller 10f that rotatably holds 0c
and a tool pot 12 attached to a ring member 10b for gripping tools, and a replacement tool 13 is removably housed in the tool pot 12.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, a tapered hole 12a is formed inside the tool pot 12 attached to the ring member 10b of the magazine, and a horizontal hole is provided in the through hole at the bottom of the tool pot 12, which is biased by a spring. A portion of the ball 12b bulges out from the horizontal hole, presses against the pull stud 13a at the insertion tip of the tool 13 inserted into the tapered hole 12a, and presses the pull stud 13a.
Hold it to the extent that it will not come out unless you pull it hard. A guide member 10c and a ring gear 10d are concentrically provided around the outer periphery of the ring member 10b, and the guide member 10c fits into the grooves of guide rollers 10f attached to multiple locations on the magazine cover 10e, and the ring Member 10b is rotatably supported within magazine cover 10e. A motor 14, which is a first driving body, is attached to the magazine cover 10e, and the ring gear 10d meshes with a gear 14a fixed to the motor shaft, and is driven by the motor 14 to rotate the ring member 10b. It is configured to rotate, and by controlling this rotation, a desired tool is indexed to a predetermined position B above the center position of the ring member 10b. Further, the machine tool may be any machine tool as long as the spindle can be moved to the tool exchange position.

Next, an automatic tool changer used in the present invention will be explained.

In FIG. 1, the automatic tool changer 11 includes a bracket 11b that is interposed between the spindle 1 and the magazine 10, and is rotatably supported around a swing shaft 11a attached to one end of the magazine.
Arm body 1 fixed to the bracket 11b
1c, and an arm 15 attached to an extendable pivot shaft 11d disposed on the arm body 11c perpendicular to the sliding direction thereof, and grips the tool 13 at both ends of the arm 15, Make an exchange. The arm 15 is fixed to the long tube 15b, and the pivot shaft 1
1d, and rotates around the axis 11d. Its rotation is controlled in 180° increments. Both ends of the arm 15 are formed into gripping parts having a notched circular cross section, and the tool 13
It is formed so as to engage with the gripping neck which is the gripped part of the gripper.

(See Japanese Patent Application No. 59-94998 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-238248). A bracket 16 connected to a drive source is fixed to the swing shaft 11a in order to swing the entire automatic tool changer 11. A cylinder rod 17 is engaged with the other end of the bracket 16 and communicates with a cylinder 18, which is a second driving body, and the cylinder 18 is fixed to the column 2.

Regarding the mounting positional relationship between the automatic tool changer 11 and the magazine 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the tool is placed on the center axis of the tool held by one end of the arm 15 of the automatic tool changer 11 and at the position to be replaced. Swing axis 1 is placed at the intersection with the center axis of the indexed tool.
1a is provided. The cylinder 18 is provided parallel to the axis of the automatic tool changer 11. Arm 15 is
The state in which the arm 15 is retracted, that is, the spindle 1
position to engage the gripping neck of the tool. This position is also a position where the gripping neck of the tool inserted into the tool pot 12 indexed on the magazine 10 is also engaged when the tool is moved 90 degrees toward the magazine side around the pivot shaft 11a.

Next, the operation of the present invention configured as described above will be explained.

In Fig. 1, the operation is shown by solid lines, two-dot chain lines, and turning arrows, but for convenience of explanation, the movement of the bracket 11b into the magazine 10 side will be referred to as the magazine side, and the movement of the bracket 11b into the magazine 10 will be referred to as the magazine side, and when the bracket 11b is moved 90 degrees, it is gripped by the arm 15. The tool 13 to be used is formed in a position facing the tool pot 12. Also, bracket 11
The transfer of b to the spindle side is called the spindle side. The movement of the long cylinder 15b in the direction in which the pivot axis is extended is defined as forward movement, and the opposite movement is defined as backward movement.

The position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 1 is the origin position of the automatic tool changer and is also the position at which tools are exchanged. This position is also the standby position of the automatic tool changer, where the tool for the next process is held by the gripping portion at one end of the arm. Then, the saddle 3 moves in the X direction and is in a position close to the magazine 10.

The operation of picking up the tool indexed from this position to a predetermined position in the magazine 10 is explained as follows: (1) The bracket 16 connected to the cylinder rod 17 rotates 90 degrees around the swing shaft 11a. Operate the cylinder as follows.

(2) The arm at the point swings to the point on the magazine side and directly grasps the tool 13 in the tool pot 12 only by swinging motion.

(3) While gripped, move the long cylinder 15b forward in the horizontal direction and extract the tool from point to point.

(4) In order to swing the tool 13 90 degrees toward the main shaft around the swing shaft 11a, the cylinder 18 is operated to move the cylinder rod 17 backward.

(5) The arm holding the tool is swung to a point. At this stage, the tool held by the arm is on the magazine side.

At point (6), the arm 15 rotates 180 degrees around the rotation axis 11d of the automatic tool changer, and the tool is positioned on the spindle 1 side.

(7) At the stage (6), the spindle 1 is already in a predetermined position and waiting due to the movement of the saddle 3 in the X direction.

(8) By retracting the long cylinder 15b, the tool 1
3 is housed in the spindle 1.

(9) In this state, when the spindle 1 is moved to the side opposite to the magazine, the restraint between the arm 15 and the tool 13 is released.

Through the series of operations described above, the spindle with the tool mounted thereon processes the workpiece on the table while repeatedly moving along the X, Y, and Z axes.

After machining is completed, when an exchange command is issued, the spindle 1 starts moving backward toward a predetermined relative position for tool exchange. Until the spindle 1 reaches the predetermined relative position, the operations described below take place.

That is, one end of the arm on the magazine side is holding a tool for the next process, and one end of the arm on the spindle side is in a state where a machined tool should be held, that is, in an empty state, and the arm is at the point in Figure 1. It must be on standby, and actions are taken to do so.

The series of operations in which a tool for the next process is retrieved, extracted from the tool pot, and swung back is similar to the operations (1) to (5) described above.

Next, the arm that grips the next process tool at one end on the magazine side moves from point to point due to the retreat of the long tube 15b (10).

This point is the origin position of the automatic tool changer, the standby position, and the tool exchange position. In this state, spindle 1 is
is moved to a predetermined relative position. spindle 1
Next, (11) the machined tool mounted on the spindle 1 is moved to a predetermined position on the magazine side, and is brought into contact with the gripping portion of the arm 15 and is gripped.

(12) The long cylinder 15b is moved forward, and the previously machined tool is extracted from the spindle 1 and transferred from point to point.

(13) At this stage, the rotation axis 11 of the automatic tool changer
Rotate the arm 15 180° around d. By turning, the next process tool is located on the spindle 1 side, and the machined tool is located on the magazine 15 side.

(14) The next process tool is stored in the spindle 1 by retracting the long tube 15b.

(15) After that, the spindle shifts to the operation (9) described above.

(16) The machined tool held at one end of the arm on the magazine side moves from point to point as the long tube 15b moves forward.

(17) In this state, operate the cylinder 18 so that it rotates 90 degrees around the swing shaft 11a.

(18) The machined hole located at the point is accommodated in the tool pot 12 by the retreat of the long cylinder 15b, and the restraint between the arm 15 and the machined tool is released.

(19) From the same position, move arm 15 to swing axis 1.
The tool exchange is completed when the tool is swung toward the spindle 1 side around 1a and returned to the initial standby position.

Thereafter, a similar series of operations will be repeated until the workpiece is completely processed.

In the present application, the automatic tool changer is swung toward the magazine about the oscillation axis to retrieve and exchange tools, but the reverse is also possible. That is, the automatic tool changer 11 in the case of this figure is fixed in a standby position, and the tool pot itself containing the tool for the next process that has been indexed to be replaced is moved around the pivot axis. It swings toward the spindle to transfer and exchange tools.

In this case as well, a swing axis is provided at the intersection of the central axis of the tool indexed to the position to be replaced and the central axis of the gripping part at one end of the arm to be gripped. This becomes possible by providing a drive source that drives this swing shaft.

In this way, in this embodiment, the tool magazine 10
Since the automatic tool changer is operated within the central space 10a, the magazine 10 can be placed near the spindle 1, that is, in front of the machining center.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention provides a tool changer that can directly grip a tool by only swinging the arm from below, and a tool magazine that has a space and defines the tool change position above the center of the tool magazine. The tool magazine can be installed at the bottom near the front of the machining center, making it easier to perform tasks such as changing tools, and the installation location is secured as a work area.
It is possible to minimize the increase in occupied area and provide an excellent machine tool that achieves both workability and space saving effects. Furthermore, by using the automatic tool changer as described above, the time required for tool change can be further shortened, contributing to improved productivity.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of a machine tool according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view thereof.
It is a view taken along arrow A in the figure. FIG. 3 is a plan view, taken along arrow B in FIG. Figure 4 shows C-C in Figure 2.
FIG. 5 is a partial enlarged sectional view of FIG. 4 showing a part of the tool pot 12 and its rotation mechanism. 1... Spindle, 2... Column, 4, 5, 9
...Motor, 10...Magazine, 10a...Space, 11...Automatic tool changer, 11c...Arm body, 12...Tool pot, 12a...Tapered hole, 13...Tool, 15...Arm, 16...
...Bracket, 17...Cylinder rod, 18...
…Cylinder.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A machine tool having a spindle on which a tool is removably mounted and which forms an axis in the vertical direction and is movable to a tool changing position of the machine tool, comprising: a magazine cover body provided near the spindle axis and formed with an inner cylinder part centered on an axis perpendicular to the spindle axis line; A plurality of tool holders for storing the tools are disposed on a peripheral edge of the magazine cover body in a direction parallel to the central axis of the magazine cover body, and
a magazine body having a space formed in the center thereof and defining an upper center position of the inner cylinder portion as a tool exchange position; a first drive body provided on the magazine cover body and rotationally driving the magazine body; a rocking device provided at the base, located near the axis of the tool indexed to the tool exchange position of the magazine body, and having an axis in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the spindle and the central axis of the magazine cover body; a shaft, which extends from the swing shaft in a direction perpendicular to the swing shaft, passes through the space of the magazine body using the swing shaft as a fulcrum, and is indexed in the axial direction of the spindle and the tool exchange position; a tool changer main body that swings between the tool changer main body and the axial direction of the tool; a second driving body that is provided at the base and swings the tool changer main body; an arm that is movably provided, has gripping parts formed at both ends for gripping a tool, and is arranged such that the center of the gripping part is rotated toward the magazine main body and is perpendicular to the axis of the swing shaft; The gripping portion of the arm, which has been swinging from below the tool indexed to the tool exchange position of the magazine main body, picks up the tool by only swinging movement about the swing axis. A tool changer characterized by being able to be inserted directly into a gripping part.