JPH0724760A - Loader teaching method and teaching operation box - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a teaching method which does not cause an error in the specification of teaching points and can simplify teaching operation, and a teaching operation box by which a worker can teach without moving about. CONSTITUTION:It is a method which generates a new loader program by rewriting coordinate of teaching points of a basic loader program and includes the following processes. Allowance for reference value is set in advance with respect to each teaching point of basic loader program. A worker moves a loader to a desired teaching position (S1). The current coordinate of the loader at this time is compared with a coordinate in which allowance is added to the reference value to retrieve which teaching point the current coordinate of the loader corresponds to (S4). The current coordinate of the loader is stored as coordinate of the retrieved teaching point (S8). A teaching operation box is separated from a main operation panel and is portable, and is provided with a retrieval start switch and a switch for storing the current coordinate of the loader as coordinates of teaching points.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a loader teaching method and teaching operation box for teaching a moving position to a loader such as a gantry loader provided on a lathe or other machine tools.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a loader such as a lathe, even if a workpiece to be machined is changed, the same movement is often performed only by changing the coordinates of a moving position. In such a case, a basic loader program is created once, and its moving position is changed by a teaching operation to create a loader program for the target work. As a teaching method, a method in which the loader is jogged to a desired position and the coordinates of the current position are stored as the coordinates of a predetermined teaching point in the loader program is generally adopted. To determine which teaching point to store as coordinates, a method is employed in which the operator looks at a list of teaching points displayed on the screen of the operation panel and specifies it.

[0003]

However, when there are a large number of teaching points, the method of allowing the operator to view and specify the list of teaching points on the screen as described above makes the operator's judgment complicated and the teaching points. May be mistakenly specified to store the coordinates. Moreover, since the conventional teaching device generally issues each command on the main operation panel installed on the machine tool, the operator cannot visually check the loader position between the location and the main operation panel. However, it requires a lot of reciprocating movements, which makes teaching work troublesome. In a machine tool such as a two-axis lathe, the main operation panel is often separated from the work supply / discharge position and the spindle position, which are the teaching points of the loader, and runs back and forth between the main operation panel and the loader position. There are many things that must be done.

An object of the present invention is to provide a teaching method for a loader, which does not cause an error in the designation of teaching points and can simplify the teaching operation. It is an object of the invention of claim 2 to provide a teaching operation box of a loader that enables a teaching operation in a place where the position of the loader can be visually observed and does not require an operator to run around to the main operation panel.

[0005]

The teaching method of the present invention comprises:
A method of rewriting the coordinates of the teaching point of the basic loader program to create a new loader program, including the following steps. That is, an allowable value with respect to the reference value is set for each teaching point of the basic loader program. The operator moves the loader to the position to be taught. The current coordinates of the loader at this time are compared with the coordinates in which the allowable value is added to the reference value to search which teaching point the current loader coordinates correspond to. The current coordinates of the loader are stored as the coordinates of the retrieved teaching point.

The teaching operation box of the present invention is a portable teaching operation box used in the teaching method and is provided separately from the main operation panel of the loader. This teaching operation box is provided with a command switch for starting a search for which teaching point the current loader position corresponds to, and a command switch for storing the current coordinates of the loader as the teaching point coordinates.

[0007]

According to the method of the present invention, the current coordinates of the loader,
In order to find out which teaching point the current coordinate of the loader corresponds to by comparing the reference value at each teaching point of the basic loader program with the coordinate with the allowable value added,
Teaching points can be automatically searched. Therefore, there is no mistake in the designation of the teaching point, and the teaching operation by the operator is simplified. Further, since the search is not based on the absolute coordinates of the machine but based on the relative value in which the allowable value is added to the reference value, this teaching method can be used regardless of the reference value.

According to the teaching operation box of the present invention, it is possible to carry it separately from the main operation panel, and the search start switch and the load command storing command switch for the current coordinates of the loader are provided. Teaching operations can be performed where possible. Therefore, it is not necessary for the worker to run around to the position of the main operation panel.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of a loader and a machine tool to which the loader teaching method of this embodiment is applied. The lathe 1 is a parallel biaxial turret lathe equipped with two spindle chucks 3 and 4 and two turrets 5 and 6, and a front / back reversing device 9 is installed on the upper surface of a headstock 10. The front / back reversing device 9 receives the work received by one of the reversing chucks (E chuck) 7 by the reversing chuck (F chuck) 8 on the revolving side pivoting around the support shaft 9a and returning to the original position. Is turned over.
On both the left and right sides of the lathe 1, there are provided a material work carry-in table 11 and a product work carry-out table 12, respectively.

The loader 2 is of a gantry type, and a traveling base 14 traveling along an erection rail 13 above the lathe 1.
In addition, an elevating rod 16 is provided via the front-rear moving table 15, and a loader head 17 is provided at the lower end of the rod.
The loader head 17 can be moved in three-dimensional directions by moving the traveling platform 14 left and right (X axis direction), moving the forward and backward moving platform 15 forward and backward (Z axis direction), and moving up and down the rod 15 (Y axis direction). is there. The loader head 17 has two loader chucks 18, 18 facing downward and
It is a swivel type with both chuck positions interchangeable.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the lathe 1 and the loader 2. The lathe 1 is housed in a machine body cover 20, an NC device 21 is provided at the rear part thereof, and a pendant type main operation panel 22 is provided at the front part. The NC device 21 is a computer-controlled type that controls the lathe 1 and the loader 2, and is capable of performing a program operation and a manual operation by operating the main operation panel 22. The NC device 21 includes a lathe 1
In addition to the automatic operation program for the loader 2, a teaching program for teaching the loader program is provided. The main operation panel 22 is provided with various switches, a CRT display device, lamps and the like.
2, a teaching operation box 23 according to the embodiment of the present invention is connected via a cord 24. The teaching operation box 23 has a size such that an operator can carry it with one hand.

As shown in FIG. 8, the teaching operation box 23 is provided with push button type search start switches PB1 and coordinate storing switches PB2 on both sides, respectively, and a front and rear rotary drive switch SW1 and a mode setting switch. Rotary switch SW2, and push button type full stop switch PB3,
Various display lamps R1 to R4 are provided. In addition, characters are displayed corresponding to each switch and button. The rotary switch SW2 is used not only for setting the teaching mode, but also by setting the forward / backward drive switch SW1 to the forward side or the backward side with the pointer aligned with the position of the character display of the desired operation, to jog feed or open / close the chuck. The function that enables the operation of.

In the case of double-sided processing, the lathe 1 and the loader 2 in FIG. 5 repeat the following operations, for example.
The lathe 1 inverts a workpiece, which has been machined on one side by one of the spindle chucks 3, by the front and back reversing device 9, and then is gripped by the other spindle chuck 4, and processes the remaining one side. Loader 2
Will deliver the work during this period.

That is, the loader 2 receives the unworked work on the supply table 11 by the loader chuck 18 facing downward, travels to a position above the left spindle chuck 3, and then the left index position P1 (which faces the left spindle chuck 3). 7), it advances to the left unload position P2, and the forward loader chuck 18 receives the one-side processed workpiece W of the left spindle chuck 3. Thereafter, the positions of the loader chucks 18, 18 facing downward and reversing to the left index position P1 are exchanged, and the left load position (left unload position P2
To the left spindle chuck 3 by advancing to the left spindle chuck 3.

Then, after retreating, the work is raised to the position of the reversing chuck (E chuck) 7 and moved forward, and the one-side processed work is transferred to the reversing chuck (E chuck) 8. After that, it moves to the F chuck position to receive the reversed work, descends to the right index position and replaces the positions of both loader chucks 18, and then advances to the right unload position to perform the double-side processed work on the right spindle chuck 4. To receive. Then, the work is moved back to the right index position, the loader chuck position is exchanged, and the work is moved to the right load position to pass the one-side processed workpiece to the right spindle chuck 4. After that, the work is moved to the carry-out table 12, the work having both sides processed is discharged, and the work is returned to the carry-in table 11. Such an operation is repeated.

Next, the teaching method will be described. In this method, as shown in FIG. 4, an original loader program (hereinafter referred to as "basic loader program") is created (R1), and this basic loader program is copied (R1).
2) With respect to the copied loader program, the coordinates of the moving position are changed by a teaching method described later to create a loader program for the target work (R3).

The basic loader program is a loader automatic operation program for causing the loader 2 to perform a predetermined operation for a predetermined work, and in this example, a program for performing the above-described repeated double-sided processing operation is used. In this basic loader program, as shown in FIG. 2 with the names of the teaching points, 12 teaching points at moving positions are provided.
In addition, the operation order and operation commands for opening and closing the chuck are set. For teaching the coordinates at each teaching point when creating the basic loader program, a conventional general teaching method, such as the teaching method described in the section of the prior art of this specification, is adopted.

In the teaching method of this embodiment, for each teaching point of the basic loader program, an allowable value used for searching what teaching point the loader current position is at the time of teaching operation is preset. Keep it. This allowable value is set as a parameter in a predetermined storage area of the NC device 21 so as to be changeable, or set as a fixed value in a ROM or the like. FIG. 2 shows a setting example of each axis allowable value for each teaching point. Each allowable value is set for each axis using the coordinates already taught in the basic loader program as a reference value. “150” in the figure indicates a range of ± 150 mm from the reference value. “Small” indicates a predetermined small range of, for example, about ± 10 mm from the reference value. For each teaching point, if necessary, specify conditions other than the position data for determining the teaching point, such as the open / close state of the spindle chuck, as shown in the "Other" column in the chart of FIG. Set it.

According to the setting example of FIG. 2, in the case of the left index position P1 as shown in FIG. 7, the allowable value Ya is the position P.
The range 1 is within ± 150 mm from the Y coordinate reference value, and the allowable value Za is within ± 10 mm from the position P1 Z coordinate reference value.

Next, the teaching procedure when the target work is changed will be described. After copying the basic loader program as described above, teaching is performed in the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG.
First, the operator manually moves (jog feeds) the loader head 17 to a position where he / she wants to teach (S1). When the position is determined, the rotary switch SW2 of the teaching operation box 23 (FIG. 8)
Is set to the teaching mode (S2), and the search start switch PB1 is turned on (S3).

In response to this ON operation, the NC device 21 performs a search operation (S4). In this search, each axis coordinate of the current loader 2 is compared with coordinates in which the allowable value is added to the reference value of each teaching point to search which teaching point the current loader coordinate corresponds to. For example, if the current X coordinate of the loader 2 is Xp, and the X coordinate serving as the reference value of any teaching point is X ₁ , and the allowable value thereof is ± Xa, the following formula X ₁ −Xa ≦ Xp ≦ X ₁ If + Xa ... Is satisfied, it may correspond to the teaching point, and therefore it is left as a search target. Teaching points that are not satisfied are excluded from the search target. Note that the allowable value Xa may be set to different values on the + side and the − side, but even in that case, the above formula can be used. In this way, as shown in FIG.
From the two teaching points, the teaching points that may possibly correspond to the X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis are narrowed down, and finally one teaching point is left. Since the load position and the unload position have substantially the same coordinates, the current spindle chucks 3, 4
It is narrowed down whether the open / closed state of is satisfied with the set condition. Whether it is the left side or the right side can be determined by the coordinate of the X axis. Since it is not possible to determine the unloading or loading on the left side by narrowing down the coordinates, the open / closed state of the chuck 3 is set as the setting condition at this time. In the case of the right, the chuck 4 is used.

When the search is performed in this manner and the search result is narrowed down to one, the teaching state is set, and the teaching point name is displayed on the CRT screen of the main operation panel 22 so that the teaching point can be known. The cursor is moved (S5, S6). At the same time, the effective display lamp R3 of the teaching operation box 23 is in a blinking state. The current position of the loader is displayed on the screen together with the reference value of each teaching point. When the number of teaching points cannot be narrowed down to one, or when the number of teaching points is zero, the buzzer is sounded to inform the operator that there is no corresponding teaching point (S5, S10).

In the teaching enabled state, by turning on the coordinate storage switch PB2 of the teaching operation box 23 (S7), the current coordinate of each axis of the loader is stored in the retrieved teaching point data. Is completed (S8). When the teaching is completed, the valid display lamp R3 of the teaching operation box 23 changes from the blinking state to the lighting state (S9). When teaching another teaching point (S11), the process returns to step S1 and the above-described operations are repeated. In this way, when teaching of all required teaching points is completed, the loader program for the target work is completed.

According to this teaching method, the teaching points can be automatically searched in this way, so that there is no mistake in the designation of the teaching points and the teaching operation by the operator is simplified. Further, since the search is not based on the absolute coordinates of the machine but based on the relative value in which the allowable value is added to the reference value, this teaching method can be used regardless of the reference value.

In addition, the teaching operation box 23 is the main operation panel 2
Since it is small and separate from 2, and can be carried around, teaching operation can be performed in a place where the loader position can be visually observed. Therefore, it is not necessary for the worker to run around to the position of the main operation panel 22. Further, since the teaching operation box 23 is provided with the search start switch PB1 and the coordinate storing switch PB2 for the current coordinates of the loader, even if there are many teaching points, only these two switches PB1 and PB2 are sufficient. The teaching point can be operated, and the operation is easy and easy for the operator to understand.

Although the above embodiment has been described for the case of being applied to the loader 2 of the parallel twin-spindle lathe 1, the present invention is also applied to the teaching of the loader in the opposite twin-spindle lathe and various machine tools other than the lathe. be able to.

[0027]

According to the teaching method of the loader of the present invention, for each teaching point of the basic loader program, the allowable value with respect to the reference value is set in advance, and the current coordinates of the loader and the coordinates obtained by adding the allowable value to the reference value are set. The current coordinates of the loader are searched as to which teaching point the current coordinates of the loader correspond to, and the current coordinates of the loader are stored as the coordinates of the searched teaching points. As a result, an error does not occur in the designation of the teaching point, and the teaching operation can be simplified.

Further, since the teaching operation box of the present invention can be carried separately from the main operation panel and is provided with the search start switch and the load command storage command switch of the loader, the loader position can be improved. The teaching operation can be performed in a place where the operator can see, and it becomes unnecessary for the operator to run to the position of the main operation panel.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a teaching method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing setting contents of an allowable value of a teaching point.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a process of narrowing down teaching points.

FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart showing the teaching method and the preparation process thereof.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a loader and a lathe to which the teaching method is applied.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the loader and the lathe.

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory diagram of the same loader.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged front view of a teaching operation box.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Lathe, 2 ... Loader, 3, 4 ... Spindle chuck, 7, 8
… Reversal chuck, 11… Loading table, 12… Unloading table, 17…
Loader head, 18 ... Loader chuck, 21 ... NC device, 22 ... Main operation panel, 23 ... Teaching operation box, P1 ... Left index position, P2 ... Left unload position, PB1 ... Search start switch, PB2 ... Coordinate storage switch, Ya, Za
… Allowable value

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A process of setting an allowable value with respect to a reference value for each teaching point of a basic loader program that causes a loader to perform a predetermined operation, a process of moving the loader to a position to be taught, and a current coordinate of the loader. A step of searching the teaching point to which the loader current coordinate corresponds, by comparing the reference value with a coordinate obtained by adding an allowable value, and a step of storing the present coordinate of the loader as the coordinate of the retrieved teaching point. And a method for teaching a loader. 2. A portable teaching operation box used in the teaching method according to claim 1, which is provided separately from the main operation panel of the loader, and which teaching point the current loader coordinate corresponds to. The teaching operation box of the loader, which is provided with a switch for starting the search of the loader and a switch for storing the current coordinates of the loader as the coordinates of the teaching point.