JPH07112341A - Automatic tool changer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (Correction) [Objective] To provide an automatic tool changer which encloses a tool storage magazine and a tool with a cover to prevent deposits from adhering to the tool. [Structure] A tool storage magazine 21 for indexing to store a plurality of tools, which is provided so as to be movable back and forth between a tool exchange position P ₁ with a spindle 5 of a machine tool and a standby position P ₂ near the spindle, and a spindle. And a magazine cover 26 having an opening formed at a position opposed to. The magazine cover is provided so as to be openable and closable, and when the tool storage magazine 21 moves to the standby position, the opening of the magazine cover 26 is shielded, and when the tool storage magazine 21 moves to the tool exchange position with the spindle, the magazine cover for tool exchange. Opening / closing cover 2 that opens the opening of 26
7 is provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic tool changing device for a machine tool, and more particularly to an automatic tool changing machine tool for an armless automatic tool changing system in which a tool storage magazine is arranged in a processing area surrounded by a splash cover or the like. Regarding switching equipment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automatic tool changer (hereinafter referred to as ATC) for a machine tool such as a machining center is a tool storage magazine (hereinafter referred to as a tool magazine) that stores a large number of tools.
Is equipped with. An automatic tool change operation is performed between the standby position of the tool magazine and the position of the spindle positioned at the tool change position.

A work (workpiece) is machined by rotating a spindle equipped with a tool. During this machining work,
Coolant (cutting fluid) and chips are scattered in the processing area. Therefore, the processing area is surrounded by a splash cover etc. to prevent the environment around the machine tool from being contaminated, and
We try to ensure the safety of workers. Machine tool A
The TC has a tool magazine on the outside of the splash cover and uses a twin arm or single arm replacement arm for tool exchange, and a tool magazine is provided in the processing area without the exchange arm and used as a tool magazine. There is an armless type in which tools are directly exchanged with the spindle.

[0004]

In the former ATC, the opening for passing the exchange arm is formed in the splash cover, and the opening is covered by the lid member which can be opened and closed. In this ATC, since the standby position of the exchange arm is outside the splash cover, there is no risk that scattered material will adhere to the tool during the working operation. However, during automatic tool replacement, the replacement arm moves between the standby position outside the splash cover and the tool replacement position between the standby position and the spindle that is separated from the standby position, and during the movement operation of the replacement arm, the lid member moves. Since it has to be opened and closed, it takes a long time to perform the automatic tool change operation which is a non-cutting time, which causes a problem of reducing the production efficiency of the machine tool.

On the other hand, in the latter method, that is, the armless method ATC, the tool magazine is located in the vicinity of the main axis of the machining area (inside the splash cover),
The automatic tool change time can be shortened. However, since the tool magazine stands by in the processing area, there has been a problem that scattered materials such as coolant and cutting chips adhere to the tool held in the tool magazine. In particular, if the scattered matter adheres to the tool shank portion for mounting on the spindle, the mounting accuracy of the tool on the spindle, that is, the deflection accuracy of the tool tip cutting edge portion, is reduced, and the machining accuracy of the workpiece is reduced. Further, if the tool clamping operation is performed with the scattered matter sandwiched between the spindle and the tool shank portion, the tool mounting portion of the spindle may be damaged. Further, when the tool mounting portion is scratched, regardless of the presence or absence of adhered scattered matter, the precision of the tool blade tip is reduced and the scratch is transferred to another tool shank portion.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems and achieves the following objects. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic tool changer for a machine tool in an armless type automatic tool changer, which encloses a tool storage magazine and a tool with a cover to prevent deposits from adhering to the tool.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an automatic tool changer of the present invention is a tool changer base arranged in a machining area of a machine tool and at the base of the machine tool. The tool changer base is provided so as to move back and forth between a tool exchange position with the spindle of the machine tool and a standby position near the spindle, and stores a plurality of tools and a predetermined tool at a predetermined position. A tool storage magazine for indexing to a tool replacement indexing position is provided so as to surround the tool storage magazine and the tools stored in the tool storage magazine in a sealed state, and an opening is formed at a position facing the spindle. And an opening of the magazine cover that can be opened and closed, and shields the opening of the magazine cover when the tool storage magazine moves to the standby position, An opening / closing cover that opens the opening of the magazine cover for tool replacement when the tool storage magazine moves to a tool replacement position with the spindle, the opening of the magazine cover is shielded by the opening / closing cover, and is in a sealed state. When the tool storage magazine at the standby position is moved to the tool exchange position, the opening / closing cover is opened during the movement to enable the tool exchange operation with the spindle.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the tool storage magazine is moved to the standby position side in the processing area while the spindle on which the tool is mounted is rotating to process the workpiece. At this time, the tools stored in the tool storage magazine are surrounded by the cover device whose opening is shielded by the opening / closing cover, so even if the coolant or cutting chips are scattered during the processing work, the scattered objects will remain inside the cover device. It does not adhere to tools.

When the machining process with the tool for the spindle is completed,
The rotation of the spindle and the supply of coolant are stopped, and the generation of chips is eliminated. In this state, the tool storage magazine moves from the standby position to the tool exchange position with the spindle, and the opening / closing cover rotates in the opening direction in conjunction with this movement. With this opening, the tool storage magazine can be moved to a tool exchange position with the spindle, and after the movement, the current tool is pulled out from the spindle, the next tool is attached to the spindle, and the tool returns to the standby position. In this standby position, the opening of the cover device is closed again, and the machining operation of the machining process using the next tool attached to the spindle can be started.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows an armless ATC according to the present invention.
2 is a side view of the armless ATC shown in FIG. 1. FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,
In this embodiment, a vertical machining center (hereinafter referred to as MC) 1 is used as a machine tool.

A column 3 is erected on a bed 2 as a base of the MC 1, and the column 3 has a Y-axis servomotor 3a,
It can be moved in the Y-axis direction (vertical direction in FIG. 1) by a ball screw (not shown). Spindle head 4 in column 3
Is movably supported by a Z-axis servomotor and a ball screw (not shown) along the Z-axis guide 4a in the Z-axis direction which is the axial direction of the main shaft 5. A spindle 5 is attached to the spindle head 4 and is rotated by a drive motor (not shown) with a tool attached. The spindle 5 has a known mechanism for clamping / unclamping the tool. The bed 2 is provided with a table 6 located below the main shaft 5 and capable of holding a work and moving in the X-axis direction orthogonal to the Y-axis and the Z-axis.

That is, coordinate axes X forming an orthogonal coordinate system,
Positioning control of the table 6, the column 3 and the spindle head 4 in the Y and Z axis directions by an NC device (not shown) allows the workpiece on the table 6 and the tool mounted on the spindle 5 to move relatively to move the workpiece. It is designed to be processed.

When the main shaft 5 rotates to machine a workpiece, a coolant having a predetermined pressure is supplied to the machined portion, so that the coolant and the cutting chips violently scatter around the machined portion. Surround the processing area 7 where such scattering occurs with a splash cover 8 or the like,
We are trying to prevent environmental pollution around MC1 and improve worker safety.

An opening / closing door 9 that can be opened or closed automatically or manually is provided on the front surface of the MC 1 to allow work replacement work from the opening. In the vicinity of the opening / closing door 9 of the splash cover 8, input means including a push button switch for inputting a command to the NC device, a keyboard, etc.
An operation panel 10 having a display means such as a CRT for displaying the output of the device or the like is provided.

The processing area 7 has an armless type ATC.
(Hereinafter, referred to as armless ATC) 20 is provided, and a tool magazine 21 of the armless ATC 20 stores a plurality of (16 in this embodiment) tools and a tool exchange position P ₁ with the spindle 5 and a spindle. The tool is moved back and forth between the stand-by position P _{2 in the} vicinity of 5 and the automatic tool change operation is performed on the spindle 5.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the tool magazine 21 includes a support frame 22 which is vertically fixed to the bed 2.
And the horizontal frame 22 fixed to the support frame 22.
It is located above the table 6 supported by a tool changer base such as a. The tool magazine 21 is provided with a cover device 24 formed in a closed structure so as to surround the tools 23 stored in the tool magazine 21. The cover device 24 has an opening 25 (FIG. 6) during the automatic tool change operation.
When the tool cover 23 is mounted on the spindle 5, the opening / closing cover 27 covering the opening is opened in association with the tool exchange operation to prevent the front portion of the spindle head 4 and the cover device 24 from interfering with each other.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the armless ATC, FIG.
FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state in which a tool magazine of armless ATC has been moved to a tool exchange position with a spindle. FIG. 5 is FIG.
6 is a sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. 6, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the tool magazine 21 moves back and forth between the standby position P ₂ and the tool replacement position P ₁ (arrow B). Further, when the tool magazine 21 is at the tool exchange position P ₁ , the holder body 30a for holding the tool 23 is lifted up and down with respect to the main spindle 5 by raising and lowering the magazine body 30 provided at the outer peripheral portion at predetermined intervals. The tool 23 is also moved up and down to perform mounting and dismounting operations.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the horizontal frame 2
A pair of upper and lower parallel guide rails 31 are attached to the 2a in a direction parallel to the arrow B (FIGS. 1 and 5), and a pair of upper and lower slide members 32 provided in the tool magazine 21 are provided. It is movably engaged with the guide rail 31. The slide member 32 is used for the tool magazine 21.
It is fixed to a bracket 33 that forms the base of the.

As shown in FIG. 3, the bracket 33 includes:
A shaft 34 arranged in the vertical direction is fitted so as to be movable in the axial direction. The piston rod 35a of the lifting cylinder 35 provided on the upper portion of the bracket 33 is attached to the shaft 34
Is coupled to an upper end portion 34a of the magazine via an engaging member 35b, and the magazine body 30 and the tool 23 are vertically moved (Z-axis direction) via a shaft 34. Shaft 3
The shaft 70 is provided in a position parallel to the shaft 4, and restricts the shaft 34 from rotating around the axis.
Reference numerals 71a and 71b are detection members, and the lifting cylinder 3
Checking the up-and-down movement by 5.

A magazine main body 30 for holding a plurality of tools 23 is provided at a lower end 34b of the shaft 34 with a bearing 36.
It is rotatably attached via c. The magazine body 30 includes an indexing motor 3 mounted on a bracket 33.
6. By rotating the indexing mechanism 36a having the Geneva cam 36b by a required angle, the target tool 23 or the empty holder portion 30a is indexed to the magazine side tool exchange position M ₁ of the tool magazine 21.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the horizontal frame 2
An advancing / retreating cylinder 37 in which a piston rod 37a is connected to a bracket 33 via a connecting member 33a is attached to 2a in a direction parallel to the arrow B. The bracket 3 fixed to the slide member 32 guided by the guide rail 31 is operated by operating the advancing / retreating cylinder 37.
3. The tool magazine 21, such as the magazine body 30 and the cover device 24, moves back and forth in the direction of arrow B.

The magazine cover 26, which is a fixed portion of the cover device 24, is composed of a bottom plate 38 and a top plate 39 that are parallel to each other, and a polygonal side plate 40 integrally fixed to the bottom plate 38 and the top plate 39. The upper plate 39 is fixed to the lower surface side of the bracket 33. The magazine cover 26 is shaped so that the tool 23 can be sufficiently housed therein even when the tool 23 moves up and down together with the magazine body 30.

The opening 41 of the magazine cover 26 is provided with a partially cylindrical opening / closing cover 27 which is concentric with the center C (FIG. 4) of the shaft 34. The opening / closing cover 27 covers the opening 41 and seals it. The cover device 24 has a structure. The opening / closing cover 27 includes a bottom plate 44, an upper plate 46 parallel to the bottom plate 44 and having an inclined surface 45, and both plates 44, 46.
And a side plate 47 integrally fixed to the.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a link ball 50 is attached between the bottom plate 38 of the magazine cover 26 and the bottom plate 44 of the opening / closing cover 27. The opening / closing cover 27 is supported rotatably around the spherical portion of the link ball 50, that is, around the center C.

A stay 53 is provided on the upper plate 46 of the opening / closing cover 27.
The stay 53 is rotatably supported by the bracket 33 via a bearing 54. As a result, the upper portion of the opening / closing cover 27 is supported rotatably around the center C. In order to prevent the upper plate 39 of the magazine cover 26 and the upper plate 46 of the opening / closing cover 27 from coming into contact with each other, the upper plate 46 has a shoe 55 slidably contacting the lower surface of the upper plate 39.
Is installed.

A flange 56 is formed on one edge of the opening 41 of the magazine cover 26. On the other hand, the opening / closing cover 27 also has a flange 5 on the edge facing the flange 56.
7 are formed. This flange 56, flange 57
Prevents the chips on the upper plate 39 and the upper plate 46 from falling during the operation of the opening / closing cover 27.

Next, a mechanism for opening and closing the open / close cover 27 will be described. A plate-shaped cam 61 having a cam groove 60 formed on the lower surface side is fixed to the horizontal frame 22a,
The cam 61 is arranged directly above the upper plate 39 of the magazine cover 26 and in parallel with the upper plate 39. Upper plate 4 of the open / close cover 27
On the stay 53 fixed to 6, a cam follower 62 is provided so as to project upward.

The cam follower 62 is engaged with the cam groove 60, and the tool magazine 21 is in the standby position P _{2 as} shown in FIG.
When the tool magazine 21 moves from the standby position P ₂ to the tool replacement position P ₁ when the open / close cover 27 is closed, the cam follower fixed to the bracket 33 via the stay 53 and moving together with the bracket 33. The child 62 moves in the cam groove 60 of the cam 61 that is fixed to the horizontal frame 22a and does not move. As a result, the opening / closing cover 27 rotates in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 6 around the center C to open the opening 25. A tension spring 65 is stretched between the bracket 33 and the cam follower 62 and constantly urges the opening / closing cover 27 to move in a direction of blocking the opening 25.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
When the tool magazine 21 is at the standby position P ₂ , the opening / closing cover 27 is closed by the urging force of the tension spring 65, and the cover device 24 is closed. In this state, the spindle 5 to which the tool is attached is rotationally driven, and the table 6, the column 3 and the spindle head 4 are controlled to move relative to each other in the X, Y and Z axis directions by the NC device, so that the table 6 is moved. The mounted work is processed. At this time, coolant, cutting chips, etc. scatter and also scatter to the tool magazine 21 in the processing area 7, but since the cover device 24 is sealed, it scatters to the tool 23 in the cover device 24 and the tool magazine drive unit. No matter will adhere.

After the machining process is completed, if there is a machining process for the next process, an automatic tool changing operation is performed for another desired tool. After the spindle 5 is rotated and the coolant supply is stopped, the spindle orientation operation is performed to position the spindle 5 and the tool mounted on the spindle 5 at a predetermined angular position in the rotational direction.

At present, the magazine body 30 of the tool magazine 21 is moved by the indexing motor 36 in order to position the predetermined empty holder portion 30a for receiving and gripping the tool mounted on the spindle 5 at the tool exchange position M ₁ on the magazine side. Perform indexing operation. The advancing / retreating cylinder 37 is moved in the direction in which the piston rod 37a extends, and the tool magazine 21 including the bracket 33, the magazine body 30, the cover device 24, etc.
The tool is moved from the standby position P ₂ to the tool change position P ₁ . During this moving operation, the opening / closing cover 27 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 6 by the cam 61 and the cam follower 62, and the opening 2 is opened.
5 opens.

By virtue of this opening 25, it is possible to avoid interference between the front portion of the spindle head 4 and the cover device 24. Empty holder part 3
0a engages with the gripped part of the tool mounted on the spindle 5. The tool is clamped by the tool clamp / unclamp mechanism of the spindle 5, and the holder portion 30a is made to grip the tool. The elevating cylinder 35 lowers the magazine body 30 to pull out the tool from the tool mounting portion of the spindle 5. The holder unit 30a that holds the desired tool by indexing the magazine body 30 by the indexing motor 36.
To the tool change position M ₁ on the magazine side. The magazine body 30 is raised by the lifting cylinder 35, and the tool is inserted into the tool mounting portion of the spindle 5. The tool is clamped on the spindle 5 by the tool clamp / unclamp mechanism.

The advancing / retreating cylinder 37 is connected to the piston rod 37a.
Of the tool magazine 21 including the bracket 33, the magazine body 30, and the cover device 24.
Is moved from the tool exchange position P ₁ to the standby position P ₂ .
At the time of this moving operation, the opening / closing cover 27 is rotated in the clockwise direction in FIG. 6 by the cam 61 and the cam follower 62 to block the opening 25. At this time, the open / close cover 27 is constantly urged in the shielding direction by the tension spring 65. After the automatic tool change operation is completed, the next process is performed.

As described above, in this embodiment, the spindle 5
Armless ATC with tool magazine 21 placed near the
Therefore, the movement distance of the tool magazine 21 is shortened and the tool replacement time is shortened. Further, since the tool shank portion 23b of the tool 23 stored in the tool magazine 21 is kept in a clean state, it is possible to maintain the accuracy of mounting the tool on the spindle 5 with high accuracy.

Further, the tool 23 and the magazine drive section have a fully closed cover structure covered by the cover device 24, and the opening / closing cover 27 opens the necessary portions only during the automatic tool changing operation. The magazine drive is protected from coolant and cutting chips, and the reliability of the automatic tool change operation is significantly improved.

Although the working area 7 is covered with the splash cover 8 or the like in the above embodiment, the splash cover 8 may not be provided. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the opening / closing cover 27 is interlocked with the forward / backward movement of the tool magazine 21 by the cam 61, the cam follower 62, etc., but a driving member such as a motor is provided instead of the cam 61,
The opening / closing cover 27 may be independently opened / closed by controlling this driving body. In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

[0038]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, the tool shank portion can be maintained in a clean state without adhering cutting chips, coolant or the like to the tool, and the automatic tool changing operation can be performed in a short time. You can

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 6 are views showing an embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a machine tool equipped with an armless type automatic tool changer according to the present invention.

2 is a side view of the armless type automatic tool changing device shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the armless type automatic tool changing device shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view showing a state where the armless type automatic tool changing device shown in FIG. 2 has moved to a tool changing position with respect to a spindle.

5 is a sectional view taken along line VV of FIG.

6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Machining Center (Machine Tool) 2 Bed (Base) 5 Spindle 7 Machining Area 8 Splash Cover 20 Automatic Tool Changer (ATC) 21 Tool Storage Magazine 22 Support Frame (Tool Changer Base) 22a Horizontal Frame (Tool Changer Base) 23 Tool 24 Cover device 25 Opening 26 Magazine cover 27 Opening / closing cover 41 Opening P ₁ Tool replacement position P ₂ Standby position

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A tool exchanging device base body disposed in a machining area of a machine tool and at a base part of the machine tool, and a tool exchanging position of the tool exchanging device base body with a spindle of the machine tool and the tool exchanging device base body. A tool storage magazine that is provided to move back and forth between a standby position near the spindle and stores a plurality of tools and indexes a predetermined tool to a predetermined tool replacement indexing position, the tool storage magazine and the tool A magazine cover which is provided so as to enclose a tool stored in a storage magazine in a sealed state and has an opening formed at a position facing the spindle, and the opening of the magazine cover is provided so as to be opened and closed. When the storage magazine moves to the standby position, the opening of the magazine cover is shielded, and when the tool storage magazine moves to the tool exchange position with the spindle, the tool exchange is performed. An opening / closing cover that opens the opening of the magazine cover, the opening of the magazine cover is shielded by the opening / closing cover, and the tool storage magazine in the standby position in a sealed state is moved to the tool replacement position. At this time, the automatic tool changer is characterized in that the opening / closing cover is opened during movement to enable a tool changing operation with the spindle.