JPH07214351A - Automatic scheduling operation device of laser beam machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allot arbitrary product working program to plural piece materials loaded on one material loading pallet and to execute the working of various products by continuous unmanned operation while effectively utilizing the space of a material loading pallet and pallet stoker. CONSTITUTION:The storage means 15, which includes a product working program storage part and program alloting data storage part and multi sheet schedule data storage part, is provided. Then, the program alloting data is read out in accordance with the working sequence described in the multi-sheet schedule data, the product working program, which the program alloting data specifies, is sequentially called out from the product working program storage part, by referring to the working range data of each material described in the multi sheet schedule data, the program executing part 19 to sequentially execute the program working program 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 schedule operating apparatus for a laser processing apparatus, and more particularly to an automatic schedule operating apparatus for a laser processing apparatus of a type that uses a material placing pallet that is replaceably arranged on a work table. Is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a laser processing apparatus, a material placing pallet is replaceably arranged on a work table, material is carried in and out of the work table for each material placing pallet, and the material placing pallet arranged on the work table is placed. There is a type of laser processing for the material of the stationary pallet.

Further, for continuous automatic operation, a pallet stocker for storing a plurality of material loading pallets in and out of each shelf and a material loading pallet stored in the pallet stocker are taken out from the pallet stocker and stored. 2. Description of the Related Art A laser processing device having a pallet changer that exchangeably conveys to a work table as an auxiliary equipment is known.

Unlike the turret punch press, the laser processing apparatus does not use a processing program (sheet program) for each material in order to reduce the axial movement of the processing head, so that one product is laser processed. of,
That is, a product processing program that defines a processing trajectory of one product is used, and when processing a plurality of the same products on one material, one product processing program is repeatedly executed by the number of processed products. It is possible to use the individual machining program, and when processing multiple types of products on one material, assign a product processing program for each product to the material and use a multi-job program that sequentially executes each product processing program. Has been done.

[0005]

In the laser processing apparatus, it is physically possible to place a plurality of materials on one material placing pallet, however, it is possible to place one material placing pallet on one material placing pallet. When a plurality of materials are placed, the placement position of the second and subsequent materials is unknown, so conventionally, both the multi-piece picking program and the multi-job program
The product processing program can be developed only for one material positioned and arranged at one reference position for each material placement pallet.

For this reason, one material loading pallet has
Regardless of the size of the material, only one material is loaded and the pallet area is often not used effectively. In the pallet stocker, this significantly reduces the space availability of the pallet stocker.

When a plurality of materials are placed on one material placement pallet, the machining head can be axially moved to a machining start position defined in advance for each material when machining the second and subsequent materials. If it is done, it is possible to place multiple materials on one material placement pallet and process each material sequentially, but the coordinate value on the material placement pallet indicating the processing start position of each material Is unknown,
Since the axial movement of the machining head must depend on manual operation, it becomes impossible to perform continuous unmanned operation even for the material machining of one material placing pallet.

On the other hand, if the coordinate values indicating the processing start positions of the second and subsequent materials are acquired by actual measurement using a major, etc., and this information is programmed, one material will be irrespective of the number of materials placed. Continuous unmanned operation is possible for the mounting pallet, but in reality it is difficult to obtain accurate coordinate values by actual measurement using a major, etc.
Also, programs that place products on one material are usually
Since it is a multi-cavity program, a management program for further calling the multi-cavity program is required.

Further, there is a method of making a series of these operations into one program, but in this case, the program becomes long and the program editability for changing the specifications becomes poor.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to the above-mentioned problems, and even if a plurality of materials are placed on one material placement pallet, each material is arbitrarily selected by a multi-job method. This product processing program is allocated, the space of the material placement pallet and pallet stocker is effectively used, and a wide variety of products are processed by continuous unmanned operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide an auto-schedule operation device for a laser processing device which does not suffer from the above and has excellent program creatability and editability for the auto-schedule operation.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in the automatic schedule operation apparatus of the laser processing apparatus according to the present invention, the material placing pallet is arranged on the work table in a replaceable manner, and the material placing pallet is arranged on the work table. In the automatic schedule operation device of the laser processing device that performs laser processing on the material of the material placement pallet, the product processing program storage unit that stores multiple types of product processing programs for laser processing one product, and the product unit for each material The program allocation data storage unit that stores the program allocation data that specifies the product processing program to be allocated in step by step, the data indicating the processing range for each of the multiple materials placed on the material placement pallet, and the program allocation Multi-seat schedule in which data and data are assigned in processing order Multi-seat schedule data storage unit for storing data on a material loading pallet basis, and program allocation data is read in accordance with the processing order described in the multi-sheet schedule data, and the product processing program specified by the program allocation data is stored as described above. And a program execution unit for sequentially executing a product processing program by referring to the processing range data of each material described in the multi-sheet schedule data, which is sequentially called from the product processing program storage unit. .

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in the automatic schedule operation apparatus of the laser processing apparatus according to the present invention, the material loading pallet stored in each shelf of the pallet stocker so that it can be put in and taken out is replaced by the work table by the pallet changer. In the automatic schedule operation device of the laser processing device that laser-processes the material of the material placement pallet that is placed on the work table and is placed on the work table, take out the material placement pallet stored in each shelf of the pallet stocker to the work table. The pallet unloading order data storage unit that stores pallet unloading order data that specifies the order, the product processing program storage unit that stores multiple types of product processing programs for laser processing one product, and the pallet delivery order data storage unit Machining range for each of the multiple materials Data and the above-mentioned program allocation data are allocated in the order of machining, multi-sheet schedule data is stored in the material placement pallet unit, and a pallet unloading order data stored in the pallet unloading order data storage is stored. According to the pallet changer, the pallet changer control unit for controlling the unloading of the material pallet from the pallet stocker and the program allocation data according to the processing order described in the multi-sheet schedule data for the material pallet placed on the work table The product processing program specified by the program allocation data is sequentially called from the product processing program storage unit, and the processing range of each material described in the multi-sheet schedule data is read. Data referring to the is characterized in that it has a program execution unit for sequentially executing the product processing program.

Further, in addition to the above-mentioned structure, the automatic schedule operation apparatus of the laser processing apparatus according to the present invention is arranged such that the material arrangement coordinate values of the respective materials arranged on the material mounting pallet are set on the work table or the real axis of the laser processing head. You may have the teaching execution part acquired by movement.

Further, in addition to the above-mentioned structure, the automatic schedule operation apparatus of the laser processing apparatus according to the present invention sets processing conditions such as processing speed, laser output, and assist gas supply specification in accordance with the material of the material, plate thickness and the like. The product machining program has a machining condition file storage unit that stores a plurality of defined machining condition files, and the product machining program has a machining condition file specification line that specifies the machining condition file stored in the machining condition file storage unit. Another feature may be that the machining condition defined by the machining condition file designated by the product machining program is set.

[0015]

According to the above configuration, a plurality of types of product machining programs are stored in the product machining program storage unit, and the program allocation data for designating the product machining programs allocated to each product in the material is programmed as a file of each material. The multi-sheet schedule data, which is stored in the allocation data storage unit and in which the data indicating the processing range and the program allocation data are allocated in the processing order to each of the plurality of materials arranged on the material mounting pallet, is the material mounting pallet unit. Is stored in the multi-seat schedule data storage unit as a file of, and the program execution unit reads out the program allocation data according to the machining order described in the multi-sheet schedule data,
The product processing programs specified by this program allocation data are sequentially called from the product processing program storage section,
The product processing program is sequentially executed with reference to the processing range data of each material described in the multi-sheet schedule data.

Further, when the material loading pallets stored in the respective shelves of the pallet stocker are exchangeably arranged on the work table by the pallet changer, the pallet unloading order data storage unit stores the pallet unloading order data and controls the pallet changer. The unit controls the unloading of the material-placed pallet by the pallet changer from the pallet stocker according to the pallet unloading order data stored in the pallet unloading order data storage unit.

The teaching execution unit acquires the material arrangement coordinate value of each material arranged on the material placing pallet by moving the work table or the laser machining head along the real axis,
This acquired data is taken into the material condition data storage unit.

Further, a plurality of processing condition files defining processing conditions such as processing speed, laser output, and assist gas supply specifications are stored in the processing condition file storage section in accordance with the material quality, plate thickness, etc. The processing conditions defined by the processing condition file specified in the processing condition file specification line are set.

[0019]

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

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a laser processing apparatus including an automatic schedule operation apparatus according to the present invention.
The laser processing apparatus 1 includes a movable work table (pallet support frame) 3 on which a material placement pallet P is placed in an exchangeable manner and which is moved by a servo system (not shown) in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction of the machine coordinate system. , Z-axis direction (vertical direction)
The movable work table 3 is provided with a movable working table 5, and a laser beam is applied to the working head 5 from a laser oscillator (not shown) to adjust the height by moving the working head 5 in the Z-axis direction. By moving in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction based on the processing program, laser processing is performed on the material (sheet material) W placed on the material placement pallet P on the movable work table 3 with a designated tool locus, For example, laser cutting processing is performed.

A pallet stocker 7 and a pallet changer 9 are installed on one side of the laser processing apparatus 1. The pallet stocker 7 has a plurality of upper and lower shelves 11, and the material placement pallets P are stored in the respective shelves 11 so that they can be taken in and out. The pallet changer 9 is a designated shelf 1
Loading conveyance for taking out the material placement pallet P stored in 1 and transporting it onto the movable work table 3, and unloading transport for returning the material placement pallet P on the movable work table 3 to the original shelf 11. I do.

The NC device 13 includes a storage means 15 and a PCM.
17 and an executor 19.

As shown in FIG. 2, the storage means 15 stores a product processing program storage unit 21 for storing a plurality of types of product processing programs based on NC statements for laser processing one product, and a product W as a product. A program allocation data storage unit 23 that stores program allocation data that specifies a product machining program to be allocated in units as a file for each material W, and a plurality of materials W (see FIG. 3) arranged on the material placement pallet P. On the other hand, the multi-sheet schedule data storage unit 25 for storing the data indicating the machining range and the multi-sheet schedule data in which the program allocation data is allocated in the machining order as a file for each material placement pallet P, and the pallet stocker 7.
And a pallet unloading order data storage unit 27 that stores pallet unloading order data that specifies the unloading order of the material placing pallets P stored in each of the shelves 11 with respect to the movable work table 3.

The product machining programs may be allocated in the program allocation data creation by designating the program numbers unique to the product machining programs stored in the product machining program storage unit 21 by interactive input. Then, a file of material W of program allocation data is called a job file, and this file is called by a job number.

If it is necessary to explain the details of the program allocation for each material unit, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2956/1990 can be used.
See Japanese Patent Publication No. 84.

A plurality of product processing programs are created in advance by an automatic programming device or the like, and are stored in the product processing program storage unit 21 so that each program can be called. The allocation of this product processing program is one material W. It is possible to allocate a plurality of the same product processing programs to the, or a plurality of different product processing programs.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the format of the multi-seat schedule data stored in the multi-seat schedule data storage unit 25.
It has each data field of material, plate thickness, processing range, and job number that specifies program allocation data,
These are described in the processing order for each material W.

The processing range of each material W in this multi-seat schedule data is indicated by the material arrangement coordinate values of each material W, and the processing range is shown in FIG. 5 on the assumption that all materials W are rectangular. As described above, the coordinate values of two corner points on one diagonal of the material W are designated.

The data table of the multi-seat schedule data storage unit 25 shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the screen in the illustrated table format, and the material W (1) at the origin position is arranged.
When the coordinate value of each of the two corner points is known from the material size, as in (a),
The cursor is sequentially moved to each of (d) and the coordinate values are keyed in interactively.

On the other hand, for the materials W (2) to (4) having unknown coordinate values, the material mounting pallet P on which the materials W are actually mounted is mounted on the movable work table 3. The movable work table 3 is manually fed in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, and the corner point of the material W is positioned at the Z-axis line position of the processing head 5 using the visible light guide from the processing head 5.
By pressing the teach key prepared as a soft key, the coordinate values under the actual axis movement are directly taken into (e) to (p) specified by Casole. This is called the teaching function, and is the executor 19 of the NC device 13.
By the teaching execution unit 29.

The storage means 15 further includes a processing condition file storage unit 31. Processing condition file storage unit 31
Stores a plurality of processing condition files that define processing conditions such as processing speed, laser output, assist gas supply specifications, etc. according to the material of the material W, plate thickness, etc. It is read individually and edited by the interactive input method so that each file can be changed.

In this case, the product machining program does not include a command line indicating each item of the machining condition, and as illustrated in FIG. 6, a machining condition file designation line (FIG. Then, only the first and second lines are rewritable.

In this example, the processing condition file has a plurality of pages and a plurality of processing condition data for each page. In the product processing program, the file page call and the number of the condition to be used are specified. .

The PCM 17 controls the operations of the laser processing apparatus 1 and the pallet changer 9. The PCM 17 operates as a pallet changer control unit, and controls the pallet changer 9 from the pallet stocker 7 of the material loading pallet P according to the pallet unloading order data stored in the pallet unloading order data storage unit 27.

The executor 19 is a program executing means by a microcomputer, and reads out the multi-sheet schedule data of the material placement pallet P arranged on the work table 3 from the multi-sheet schedule data storage unit 25, and stores it in the multi-sheet schedule data. The program allocation data (job file) is read from the program allocation data storage unit 23 according to the described processing order, and the product processing programs specified by the program allocation data are sequentially called from the product processing program storage unit 21 and described in the multi-sheet schedule data. The product processing program is sequentially executed with reference to the processing range data of each material.

As a result, the automatic schedule operation is executed.

FIG. 7 shows a schedule operation data creation flow. In this flow, first, an arbitrary material placement pallet P stored in the shelf 11 of the pallet stocker 7 is laser-processed by the pallet changer 9 by the laser processing apparatus 1.
The work W is taken out to the movable work table 3 and the material W is set on the material placement pallet P (step 10).

As long as the material placing pallet P allows space, this material setting may be performed without being limited by the number of arranged materials, the material, or the plate thickness, as shown in FIG. In addition, a plurality of materials W having various materials and plate thicknesses may be mixedly arranged in one material placement pallet P.

When this material arrangement is completed, the processing range data of each material W is input in the processing order (step 20). As described above, if the coordinate values of each of the two corner points are known from the material size, as in the case of the material W (1) at the origin position, this machining range data can be input by keying in the coordinate values. For materials with unknown coordinate values, such as materials W (2) to W (4), the teaching execution unit 21 performs teaching.

Further, the material and plate thickness of each material W are input (step 30).

As a result, the material condition data including the processing range of each material W placed on the material placement pallet P is stored in the multi-sheet schedule data storage unit 25 as a data file for each material placement pallet P.

Next, a job file (program allocation data) created in advance for the material placement pallet P is allocated and designated for each material W by the job number (step 40).

This completes the data input for the scheduled operation of one material loading pallet P.

As described above, since the material placing pallet P is called on the movable work table 3 of the laser processing apparatus 1 and data is input, the material W and the program set on the material placing pallet P of the shelf 11 are stored. It is not necessary to perform the regular material arrangement on each material placement pallet P in order to match the above.

When the scheduled operation is continuously performed using the other material placing pallets P (Yes at Step 50), the material placing pallet P whose data has been input to the movable work table 3 is moved to the original shelf 11 by the pallet changer 9. (Step 60), returns to step 10, and returns to step 10
Repeat ~ 40.

At this time, the pallet changer 9 moves the material loading pallets P into and out of the predetermined shelves 11 so that the material loading pallets P stored in the shelves 11 can be taken out from the movable work table 3 in a pallet unloading order. The data is written in the pallet unloading order data storage unit 27.

FIG. 8 shows an automatic schedule operation flow based on the schedule operation data created as described above.

When the start command of the schedule operation is keyed in (step 100), first, the material loading pallet P is transferred from the predetermined shelf 11 to the pallet changer in accordance with the pallet unloading sequence data written in the pallet unloading sequence data storage unit 27. It is taken out to the movable work table 3 by 9 (step 110).

Next, the multi-sheet schedule data of the material placing pallet P taken out is read out from the multi-sheet schedule data storage unit 25, and the material W to be processed according to the processing order is described in the multi-sheet schedule data. The job file to be processed is read from the program allocation data storage unit 23, the product processing program specified by this job file is retrieved from the product processing program storage unit 21 and called on the executor 19 (step 120).

Next, the processing condition file is read from the processing condition file storage unit 31 according to the file number written in the product processing program (step 13).
0). As a result, the processing conditions specified by the processing condition file are set.

Next, a product processing program is executed by the executor 19, the laser processing apparatus 1 is operated under the set processing conditions according to the execution program, and the material on the material placement pallet P taken out to the work table 3 is operated. For W, laser processing according to the tool locus defined by the product processing program being executed is performed for each product (step 140).

When the laser processing of one product is completed, the presence / absence of another processing on the same material W is determined from the program allocation data (step 150).

If there is another process in this determination, the process returns to step 130 and steps 130 and 140 are repeated.

On the other hand, if there is no other machining, then the presence or absence of another unmachined material in the same material placement pallet P is determined from the program allocation data and the material condition data (step 160).

If there is another material in this determination, the process returns to step 120, the material condition data corresponding to the material W to be processed next is called from the material condition data storage unit 23 to set the processing condition, and thereafter, Repeat steps 130 and 140.

On the other hand, when there is no other processing, it means that the laser processing for each material W on the material mounting pallet P is completed, and in this case, the material mounting pallet for the next scheduled operation. Whether or not P exists in the pallet stocker 7 is determined from the pallet unloading order data (step 170).

If there is a material pallet P to be subjected to the next scheduled operation in this determination, the process returns to step 110, and the material pallet P on which the machining is completed on the movable work table 3 is moved to the original shelf 11 by the pallet changer 9. Then, the material placement pallet P for the next scheduled operation is taken out from the predetermined shelf 11 to the movable work table 3 by the pallet changer 9 in accordance with the pallet unloading order data, and thereafter steps 120 to 160 are repeatedly executed.

On the other hand, if there is no next material placing pallet P for the scheduled operation, the scheduled operation is completed and the operation is ended.

The automatic schedule operating device of the laser processing apparatus according to the present invention has a fixed work table,
The same applies to a laser processing apparatus in which a laser processing head moves three-dimensionally.

In the above, the present invention has been described in detail with respect to a specific embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various embodiments are possible within the scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0061]

As can be understood from the above description, according to the automatic schedule operation apparatus of the laser processing apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of materials are placed on one material placing pallet, and each material is multi-layered. It is possible to assign an arbitrary product processing program by the job method, that is, as many materials as possible on the material placement pallet can be set in a mixed manner as long as the space allows, and various materials can be set for each material. It becomes possible to process products according to the product processing program. From these facts, it is possible to process a wide variety of products by continuous unmanned operation while effectively using the space of the material loading pallet and pallet stocker. become.

Further, since the allocation of the product processing program to each material is indicated by the program allocation data (job file), it is not necessary to write this in the NC statement, and it is necessary to edit the NC statement every time the product processing program is allocated. Since only the product processing program can be registered in the program memory of the NC device, there is no restriction on the memory capacity.

Further, the material placement coordinate value of each material placed on the material placement pallet by teaching is obtained by moving the work table or the real axis of the laser processing head, and this obtained data is taken into the material condition data storage section. This eliminates the need for setup such as the measurement of the material placement position using a measure, and the accurate material placement coordinate values can be obtained, so that machining with high position accuracy is performed.

Since the machining conditions are not written in the product machining program but are stored in the machining condition file storage section as a machining condition file separately from the product machining program,
This also shortens the product machining program, and the modification of the machining conditions can be done simply by changing the file of the machining condition file specified in the machining condition file specification line without requiring an NC program expert. Can be done.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a laser processing apparatus including an automatic schedule operation apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a map of a storage means in the automatic schedule operation device of the laser processing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of material arrangement on one material placing pallet.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a data table format example of material condition data.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a procedure for acquiring material arrangement coordinate values.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a product processing program used in the automatic schedule operation device of the laser processing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a schedule operation data creation flow in the automatic schedule operation apparatus of the laser processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an automatic schedule operation flow in the automatic schedule operation device of the laser processing apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Laser Processing Device 3 Movable Work Table 5 Processing Head 7 Pallet Stocker 9 Pallet Changer 11 Shelf P Material Placement Pallet 13 NC Device 15 Storage Means 17 PCM 19 Executor 21 Product Processing Program Storage 23 Program Allocation Data Storage 25 Multi-sheet Schedule Data storage unit 27 Pallet unloading sequence data storage unit 29 Teaching execution unit 31 Machining condition file storage unit P Material placement pallet W Material

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An auto-scheduling operation device of a laser processing apparatus, in which a material placing pallet is replaceably arranged on a work table, and laser processing is performed on the material of the material placing pallet arranged on the work table. The product processing program storage section that stores multiple types of product processing programs for laser processing, the program allocation data storage section that stores the program allocation data that specifies the product processing program to be assigned to each material in product units, and the material loading program A multi-sheet schedule data storage unit that stores, for each material placement pallet, data indicating a machining range for each of a plurality of materials arranged on the placement pallet and multi-sheet schedule data in which the program allocation data is assigned in the order of machining. And the multi-sheet sheet It reads the program allocation data according to a machining order described in Rudeta,
Program execution for sequentially calling the product processing program specified by the program allocation data from the product processing program storage unit and sequentially executing the product processing program by referring to the processing range data of each material described in the multi-sheet schedule data An auto-schedule operation device for a laser processing device, which comprises: 2. A material placing pallet stored in each shelf of the pallet stocker so that it can be put in and taken out is arranged so as to be replaceable on a work table by a pallet changer, and laser processing is performed on the material of the material placing pallet arranged on the work table. In the automatic schedule operation device of the laser processing equipment, the pallet unloading order data storage unit that stores the pallet unloading order data that specifies the unloading order for the work table of the material pallet stored in each shelf of the pallet stocker, and one A product processing program storage unit that stores multiple types of product processing programs for laser processing products, and a program allocation data storage unit that stores program allocation data that specifies the product processing program to be allocated to materials in product units Placed on the material placement pallet A multi-sheet schedule data storage unit for storing, in a material placement pallet unit, multi-sheet schedule data in which data indicating a machining range and the program allocation data are assigned to each of a plurality of processed materials in a machining order, and the pallet The pallet changer control unit that controls the unloading of the material placement pallet by the pallet changer from the pallet stocker according to the pallet delivery order data stored in the unloading order data storage unit, and the material placement pallet placed on the work table Read the program allocation data according to the machining order described in the sheet schedule data,
Program execution for sequentially calling the product processing program specified by the program allocation data from the product processing program storage unit and sequentially executing the product processing program by referring to the processing range data of each material described in the multi-sheet schedule data An auto-schedule operation device for a laser processing device, which comprises: 3. A teaching executor for acquiring the material arrangement coordinate values of the respective materials arranged on the material placing pallet by moving the work table or the real axis of the laser processing head. Alternatively, the automatic schedule operation device of the laser processing device described in 2. 4. A processing condition file storage section for storing a plurality of processing condition files that define processing conditions such as processing speed, laser output, assist gas supply specifications, etc. according to the material quality, plate thickness, etc. The product machining program has a machining condition file specification line for designating the machining condition file stored in the machining condition file storage unit, and sets the machining condition defined by the machining condition file designated by the product machining program. The automatic schedule operation device of the laser processing device according to claim 1, wherein