JPH06144510A - Pallet transporting device of laser beam machining system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a laser beam machining system unmanned by placing plate- shaped workpieces on a pallet in a stacked state to automate conveyance from a multistoried warehouse to a machining station. CONSTITUTION:Plate-shaped workpieces 25 are stacked on a pallet 20 and stored in the rack of a multistoried warehouse 10. A stacker crane 30 pulls out the workpieces 25 in the warehouse 10 with the pallet 20, and conveys them onto the loading station 40 of a prescribed laser beam machining cell. The workpieces 25 which are conveyed to the loading station 40 are supplied to the laser beam machine 70 by a workpiece conveyance device 60. The workpieces 25 for which the laser beam required machining being 70 performed are conveyed onto the fist unloading station 50 or the second unloading station 80 by the workpiece transporting device 60. A series of operation of these devices are controlled by a line controller 90.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for conveying a pallet containing a work in a processing system including a laser processing machine and a work conveying apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A laser processing cell having a laser processing machine and an automatic work conveying device for improving productivity has been put into practical use. Since the material work for laser processing is generally a flat work, the work conveying device also has a lifter suitable for handling the flat work. By preparing plate-like work in a laminated state on the loading station for carrying the work into the laser processing cell, a rational work supply can be achieved. .

[0003]

In order to load and unload plate-like work into and from the processing cell in a stacked state, it is convenient to place the work on a pallet and handle it. The property is also improved. The structure of the pallet that accommodates the plate-like work is different from the structure of the pallet that accommodates the work of the lathe cell and machining center, and the structure of the pallet transport device is also different. There wasn't.
The present invention provides a pallet transfer device suitable for a laser processing cell.

[0004]

A laser processing system embodying the present invention is a loading station for mounting a laser processing machine and a work carried into the laser processing machine. When,
An unloader on which the work carried out from the laser processing machine is placed.
It is equipped with a feeding station and a work transfer device. And the work is stored in a pallet in a stacked state,
The pallet transfer device includes a three-dimensional warehouse for storing pallets and a stacker crane for transferring the pallet between the three-dimensional warehouse and the loading station or unloading station. It is provided with a pallet transfer device mounted on a free carriage, and a conveyor for movably supporting the pallet mounted on a trolley of a stacker crane.

[0005]

Operation: The stacker crane automatically loads the pallets containing the materials of the three-dimensional warehouse into the laser processing cell, and automatically transfers the pallets containing the products to the three-dimensional warehouse. The system will continue unattended processing for a long time.

[0006]

1 is a perspective view showing the outline of a laser processing system according to the present invention. This production system is a three-dimensional warehouse 10.
The stacker crane 30 has a pallet 20 stored in the three-dimensional warehouse 10, and is provided with a stacker crane 30 facing the three-dimensional warehouse 10. A plurality of laser processing cells are arranged on the front surface of the three-dimensional warehouse 10. In FIG. 1, two laser processings are shown. The laser processing is performed by the work loading station 40 and the first unloading station 50.
And a work transfer device 60, a laser processing machine 70, and a second unloading station 80. The work 25 to be laser-processed is a plate-shaped work and is stacked and stored on the pallet 20. Stacker crane 30
Takes out the work in the three-dimensional warehouse 10 together with the pallet and conveys it to the loading station 40 of a predetermined laser processing cell. The work carried on the loading station 40 is processed by the work carrying device 60 by the laser processing machine 7.
Supplied to zero. The work, which has been subjected to necessary processing by the laser processing machine 70, is carried to the first unloading station 50 or the second unloading station 80 by the work transfer device 60. The operation of these series of devices is controlled by the line controller 90.

2 and 3 show details of the work transfer device 60. The work transfer device 60 is the stacker crane 30.
The guide rail 600 is provided along an axis B1 that is orthogonal to the axis A1 that is the moving direction. Guide rail 60
0 connects the loading station 40 and the second unloading station 80, and is arranged at the top of the device. A traveling device 610 is attached to the guide rail 600. The traveling device 610 has a main body 613 guided by the guide rail 600, and is driven by a motor 612. A frame 614 is attached below the main body 613. A loader 620 and an unloader 640 are mounted on the frame 614. The loader 620 includes a work suction device 630, and the unloader 640 includes a work fork device 650.

For the frame 614, the loader 620
The support member 632 is guided by the guide 623 in the vertical direction of the axis C2. Axis C2 of support member 632.
The movement along is driven by the air cylinder 622. The support member 632 includes a number of vacuum pads 634. When the suction device 630 descends to the upper surface of the plate-shaped work and a vacuum is supplied to the vacuum pad 634, the suction device 630 vacuum-sucks the work. After that, by driving the air cylinder 622 and raising the suction device 630, it is possible to lift the uppermost work among the works stacked on the pallet.

The unloader 640 has a fork device 650 guided by a guide 643 with respect to the frame 614.
Have. The movement of the fork device 650 along the axis C3 is
It is driven by the air cylinder 642. Fork device 6
50 has a sub-frame 652 and a fork 654 supported by the sub-frame 652. The forks 654 have a U-shaped cross section, and are mounted side by side on a plane at the same intervals. The upper surface of the fork 654 is inserted into the lower surface of the work to hold the work. A limit switch, for example, is arranged on the abutting surface 657 of the fork 654 bent in a U shape to detect the presence of the work. Therefore, the work transfer device 60 can adsorb the material work by the loader 620 and hold the processed work by the unloader 640. While the work is held, the traveling device 610 travels on the guide rail 600 to reach a predetermined position.
Transport the work.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the main part of the laser processing system. The stacker crane 30 traveling on the rails arranged along the axis A1 on the front surface of the three-dimensional warehouse 10 has a mast 300 and a carriage 310 that moves up and down along the mast 300. A pallet transfer device 320 is provided on the carriage 310. Pallet transfer device 32
Numeral 0 performs pallet loading / unloading with respect to the multi-level warehouse 10 and also pallet loading / unloading with respect to the loading station 40 and the like arranged on the opposite side of the multi-level warehouse 10. The pallet on which the material work is placed is loaded by the stacker crane 30 into the loading station 4.
Carried to zero. The loader 620 of the work transfer device 60 sucks the uppermost work of the material works stacked on the pallet and supplies the work to the table 72 of the laser processing machine 70.
The laser processing machine 70 performs necessary laser processing on the workpiece supplied on the table 72. The work that has been processed is unloaded from the table 72 of the laser processing machine 70 by the unloader 640 of the work transfer device 60.

The processed work is normally conveyed to the second unloading station 80 side. The second unloading station 80 has a large number of rollers 82 arranged in parallel and receives the work 25 from the unloader 640 of the work transfer device 60. The second unloading station 80 includes a chain conveyor in addition to the roller conveyor 82, and can transfer the work to the adjacent work station 84. The work 25 carried to the work station 84 is subjected to necessary processing by the operator, and is carried out from the laser processing system as a finished product. Depending on the type of work, it may be desirable to perform only part of the processing and return it to the three-dimensional warehouse in a semi-finished product state. In this system, a device for returning this semi-finished product to the side of the three-dimensional warehouse is added. The first unloading station 50 is a device for returning the semi-finished products to the stacker crane side. First unloading station 5
0 is a carrier 52, a traveling lifter 54, and a pallet stand 56.
And a work clamp 58. The carrier 52 is provided with a fork member supporting the work at its upper part, and moves on the rail along an axis A2 parallel to the axis A1 of the stacker crane 30. The work carried from the carrier 52 is gripped by the work clamp 58 and is stacked on the traveling lifter 54. The traveling lifter 54 is a moving axis B1 of the work transfer device.
It moves along an axis B2 which is parallel to and carries the pallet onto the pallet table 56. The pallet on the pallet table 56 is carried on the stacker crane by the pallet transfer device 320 of the stacker crane 30 and returned to a predetermined shelf in the three-dimensional warehouse.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the three-dimensional warehouse 10. The three-dimensional warehouse 10 includes columns 100 and girders 110 that connect the columns 100. Channel members 120 having an L-shaped cross section are attached to both sides of each pillar 100 in the vertical direction at regular intervals to form a shelf. A three-dimensional warehouse is formed by arranging a plurality of these shelves in the horizontal direction. The three-dimensional warehouse in FIG. 1 has nine shelves arranged in the horizontal direction. The capacity of the shelf is appropriately selected according to the size of the processing system. Channel material 120
A pallet 20 is supported on top.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the three-dimensional warehouse. Pillar 10
An upper rail 126 is attached by a support rod 125 to the uppermost part of the three-dimensional warehouse 10 constructed by 0s and girders 110, and a lower rail 127 is laid on the floor below the upper rail 126.
FIG. 7 shows the details of the channel material 120 constituting the shelf. The channel material 120 has a support portion 122 for supporting the load of the pallet and a guide portion 124 for guiding the pallet.

FIG. 8 is a three-view drawing of the pallet 20. The pallet 20 has a frame 200 having a substantially rectangular planar shape. The frame 200 is composed of long sides 202 and short sides 204. One roller 210 is provided outside each of the short sides 204. This roller 210
Guides the pallet 20 by contacting the guide portion 124 of the channel material 120 of the three-dimensional warehouse. One wheel 230 is provided under each short side 204. This wheel 230
Rides on the support surface 122 of the channel material 120 and supports the pallet 20. A pair of bosses 220 is provided outside the long sides 202 of the frame 200. A hole 222 is provided at the center of the boss 220. The hole 222 of the boss 220 engages with the transfer device of the stacker crane.

FIG. 9 shows a three-dimensional warehouse 10 and a stacker crane 3.
The relationship between 0 and the loading station 40 is shown. Figure 1
0 is a front view of the stacker crane 30. FIG. 11 shows
It is a top view of a carriage. The three-dimensional warehouse 10 accommodates a pallet 20 in which works 25 are stacked on a shelf defined by each channel member 120. The stacker crane 30 has a frame 350 supported on the lower rail 127 via traveling wheels 352. A pair of masts 300 is erected on the frame 350, and the upper part of the mast 300 is connected by the upper frame 302. A pair of belt conveyors 370 are provided on the frame 350 via a base 360. The belt conveyors 370 are connected to each other by a shaft 371, and the shaft 731 is a sprocket 373.
It is driven by a motor 374 via a chain 372. The rotation amount of the motor 374 is measured by the encoder 376. Therefore, the moving distance of the belt conveyor 370 can be controlled. Carrage 3 on mast 300
The roller 10 is supported by the roller 312 so as to be vertically movable. A pallet transfer device 320 is installed below the carriage 310. The pallet transfer device 320 moves on the carriage by the chain conveyor 340 and the chain conveyor 342. It has a pallet towing device 342. The motor 341 provided on the carriage is the chain conveyor 34
0 is driven to move the pallet towing device 342.
The pallet towing device 342 has a protrusion 344, which is a hole 222 formed in the boss 220 of the pallet 20.
And the pallet 20 is pulled out from the shelf of the three-dimensional warehouse 10 onto the carriage. Carriage 31 with pallet 20
0 moves up and down to a predetermined position.

The carriage 3 is shown in FIGS. 12, 13 and 14.
10 shows a lifting mechanism of 10. A motor 330 and a speed reducer 332 are provided on the frame 350 of the stacker crane 30.
The speed reducer 332 driven by the motor 330 drives a shaft 335 provided in the frame 350. Two sprockets 334 are provided on the shaft 335, and each sprocket drives a chain 336. An upper portion of the chain 336 meshes with a sprocket 337 provided on the upper frame 302, and both ends of the chain 336 are connected to the carriage 310, respectively. Therefore,
When the chain 336 is driven, the carriage 310 moves up and down. For example, the height and position of the carriage 310 can be accurately controlled by detecting the number of rotations of the upper sprocket 337 with the rotary encoder 338 or the like. Stacker crane 3 with pallet 20
0 travels on the rail 127 and reaches the loading station 40.

15 and 16 show the stacker crane 3
0 shows the traveling device. The motor 354 mounted on the frame 350 is driven by one drive wheel 35 via a speed reducer 355.
Drive 2 Sprocket 356 mounted on drive shaft
Drives the other drive wheel 352 via the chain 357. The position of the stacker crane 30 on the rail 127 can be accurately detected by detecting the number of rotations of the drive wheels with a rotary encoder. When the stacker crane 30 reaches the position of the loading station 40, it cooperates with the belt conveyor 370 to load the pallet on the carriage 310 into the loading station 40.
Transport to.

17 and 18 show the operation of the pallet transfer device 320 of the stacker crane. FIG. 17 shows an operation of transferring the pallet 20 stored in the three-dimensional warehouse 10 onto the carriage of the stacker crane. The pallet transfer device 320 facing the front of the pallet to be carried out of the three-dimensional warehouse 10 is located slightly below the target pallet 20. With the pallet towing device 342 protruding, the entire carriage 310 is raised in the + A direction to engage the pallet towing device 342 with the hole 222 of the boss 220 of the pallet 20. In this state, the chain conveyor of the pallet transfer device 320 is operated to move the pallet towing device 342 to the + position.
Move in the B direction. As a result, the pallet 20 is pulled out from the shelf of the three-dimensional warehouse 10 and transferred to the pallet transfer device 320 of the carriage.

FIG. 18 shows the operation of transferring the pallet on the carriage onto the loading station 40.
The pallet transfer device 320 is lowered in the −A direction together with the carriage. A belt conveyor 370 is installed on the frame of the stacker crane 30, and the pallet transfer device 320 descends to support the pallet 20 on the belt conveyor 370 as shown in (2).
In this state, the pallet towing device 342 is removed from the pallet 20. Next, the pallet towing device 342 is moved in the -B direction. Next, the pallet transfer device 320 together with the carriage 310 is slightly raised in the + A direction to engage the pallet towing device 342 with the pallet 20. Further, the carriage is raised so that the upper surface of the pallet transfer device 320 is aligned with the upper surface of the loading station 40. In this state, the pallet 20 is moved to the pallet transfer device 32.
Supported on 0. Next, the pallet towing device 342 is +
The pallet 20 is moved to the B direction and pushed out to the loading station 40 side. The pallet transfer device 320 is slightly lowered in the −A direction together with the carriage. As a result, the pallet towing device 342 is removed from the pallet 20. The pallet 342 is returned in the -B direction to complete the transfer of the pallet to the loading station 40.
At this time, the roller conveyor 32 provided on the carriage
2 also contributes to the movement of the pallet. The process of returning the pallets on the loading station 40 to the side of the three-dimensional warehouse 10 takes the reverse order of the process described above. By repeating the above operation, the stacker crane can freely convey the pallet between the three-dimensional warehouse and the loading station or the unloading station of the laser processing cell.

[0020]

As described above, the present invention is provided with a three-dimensional warehouse for accommodating material works for laser processing and works completed by laser processing in a state of being stacked on a pallet. A stacker crane that runs on rails provided in the front of a three-dimensional warehouse has a pallet transfer device in a carriage that can be raised and lowered. On the lower frame of the stacker crane is provided a conveyor that supports the pallets when the carriage is lowered. The carriage pallet transfer device pulls out the pallets from the shelves of the three-dimensional warehouse and transfers them onto the carriage, and, in cooperation with the conveyor, transfers the pallets on the carriage to the loading station or the unloading station. In addition, the pallet on the loading station and the pallet on the unloading station are returned to the three-dimensional warehouse. With the above configuration, it is possible to transfer the material work prepared in advance to the three-dimensional warehouse to the laser processing cell as needed, or to automatically return the work completed by the laser processing cell to the three-dimensional warehouse side. With this configuration, unmanned processing can be continued for a long time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a laser processing system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a work transfer device.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a work transfer device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the relationship between a three-dimensional warehouse, a stacker crane, and a laser processing cell.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a three-dimensional warehouse.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a three-dimensional warehouse.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a main part of a three-dimensional warehouse.

FIG. 8 is a three-view drawing of a pallet.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing a relationship between a three-dimensional warehouse, a stacker crane, and a loading station.

FIG. 10 is a front view of the stacker crane.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of the stacker crane.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a carriage lifting mechanism of the stacker crane.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view showing a drive device of a carriage lifting device.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory view showing a drive device of a carriage lifting device.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory view showing a lifting device of a stacker crane.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of a main part showing a drive device of a traveling device of a stacker crane.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory view showing a work of pulling out a pallet of a three-dimensional warehouse with a stacker crane.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation of transferring a pallet on the stacker crane to a loading station.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 three-dimensional warehouse 20 pallet 25 work 30 stacker crane 40 loading station 50 first unloading station 60 work transfer device 70 laser processing machine 80 second unloading station 90 line controller 100 pillar of three-dimensional warehouse 110 transverse girder 120 L Channel 200 Frame 210 Roller 230 Wheel 300 Mast 310 Carriage 320 Pallet transfer device 340 Chain conveyor 342 Pallet towing device 350 Frame 370 Conveyor

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Koho Nakamura, Oguchi-machi, Niwa-gun, Aichi No. 1 small, large-scale boarding Yamazaki Mazak Co., Ltd. Headquarters factory

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A laser processing machine, a loading station for mounting a work carried into the laser processing machine, and a work carried out from the laser processing machine. A loading station equipped with an unloading station and a work carrier.
A pallet transfer device for accommodating the works in a stacked state in the processing system, the pallet being stored between the multi-storey and the multi-storey and a loading station or an unloading station. The stacker crane is equipped with a pallet transfer device mounted on a carriage that can be raised and lowered, and a conveyor that movably supports the pallet mounted on the lower frame of the stacker crane. Pallet transfer device for laser processing system. 2. The pallet is a frame whose plane shape is a quadrangle.
Frame, a guide roller provided on the side of the frame, and a frame
2. A pallet transfer device for a laser processing system according to claim 1, further comprising a wheel provided at the bottom of the frame and a pallet towing part. 3. The laser according to claim 1, wherein the pallet transfer device mounted on the carriage of the stacker crane has a hook that engages with the traction portion of the pallet and a drive means that drives the hook. Pallet transfer device for processing system.