JPH1034471A - Tool identification device for numerically controlled machines - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] By automatically recognizing the type of machining tool mounted on a numerical control machine on the device side, parameter input by the machining tool manually is eliminated, and the number of operators is reduced, and the number of parameters is reduced. Eliminate machining defects due to input errors. SOLUTION: In a numerical control machine for processing a workpiece while sequentially exchanging a plurality of machining tools based on numerical information given in advance, a plurality of tool holding units 2a for holding a plurality of machining tools 1 are provided. A tool holding means 2 having the same, an identification mark 8 provided on the side of the machining tool 1 for each type and unique parameter of each machining tool, and an identification mark 8 when the machining tool 1 is held by the tool holder 2a. And a tool recognizing means 9 for recognizing the machining tool and identifying the processing tool held by the tool holding unit 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a numerical control machine for machining a workpiece while sequentially exchanging a plurality of machining tools based on numerical information given in advance, and more particularly to a type and a parameter of the plurality of machining tools. The present invention relates to a tool identification device of a numerical control machine capable of automatically recognizing a tool.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Machining centers and numerically controlled lathes (NC)
Numerical control machines represented by lathes have already become widespread because they can stably produce complex-shaped parts that are difficult to produce even by skilled workers in a short time. Some recent numerical control machines have several tens of processing tools detachably mounted on the main body side, and perform processing while automatically changing the mounted tools sequentially.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a three-axis control horizontal machining center. A tool magazine 2 on which a variety of processing tools 1 are removably mounted is provided on a side surface of a main body. The tool magazine 2 has a movable part rotatable with respect to the main body as shown in FIG. 2, and each machining tool 1 is inserted and mounted in a number of tool pots 2a formed on the movable part.

When machining by a specific machining tool mounted on the tool magazine 2 becomes necessary, the rotation of the tool magazine 2 is controlled by a controller of the machining center, and the necessary tool is moved to a position facing the automatic tool changer 3. Then, the tool is taken out by the automatic tool changer 3 and at the same time the tool used previously is returned to the tool magazine 2.

FIG. 3 shows a tool system in an NC lathe. A plurality of types of external cutting tools 5 and internal cutting tools 6 are mounted on a base holder 4 rotatably supported on a lathe main body. . The external cutting tool 5 is fixed in a groove 4 a extending radially in the radial direction of the base holder 4, and the internal cutting tool 6 is inserted and held in a tool pot 4 b formed on the front surface of the base holder 4. The base holder 4 rotates based on the NC program, and gives a necessary tool to a processing position.

[0006]

On the other hand, in recent numerical control machines, in order to realize machining of complicated shapes, various types of machining tools can be mounted on the tool magazine 2 or the base holder 4. I have. That is, a plurality of tools having different parameters such as a radius and a cutting edge nose R of a cutting tool are prepared in a processing tool for performing the same kind of processing, and it is possible to select an optimum tool for a target processing. .

Therefore, conventionally, when a machining tool is mounted on the tool magazine 2 of the machining center or the base holder 4 of the NC lathe, the type of the tool mounted by the operator, the radius of the tool, the nose radius R,
It was necessary to enter other parameters and correct the NC program. It is necessary to perform such data entry work by the operator while looking at the specification table of the tools to be mounted.As the number of tools increases, the work becomes more troublesome, and there is a danger that machining errors may occur in parts due to input errors. is there.

In view of the above, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems. By automatically recognizing a mounted tool on the apparatus side, the number of operators can be reduced, and processing errors due to input errors can be reduced. The purpose is to eliminate it.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tool identifying apparatus for a numerically controlled machine, wherein a plurality of working tools are sequentially exchanged based on numerical information given in advance. In the numerical control machine for performing the above-mentioned machining, a tool having a plurality of tool holding portions for holding the plurality of machining tools, while providing different identification marks on the machining tool side for each type and unique parameter of each machining tool. And a tool recognizing means for recognizing the identification mark when the tool is held by the tool holder and identifying the tool held by the tool holder.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the identification mark is an array of a plurality of pins that are different for each type and unique parameter of each processing tool, and the tool recognition means is a socket for receiving the plurality of pins. Wherein the processing tool is specified by the presence or absence of the pin inserted into the socket.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the identification mark is provided on a bottom surface of a holder for holding a processing tool.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 4 and 5 are views showing a first embodiment of the present invention in which the present invention is applied to a machining tool of a machining center. In the figure, reference numeral 2 denotes a part of a tool magazine on which a large number of machining tools 1 are mounted, and one of the tool pots 2a provided on the tool magazine 2 is shown.
The processing tool 1 is mounted in the tool pot 2a while being held by the holder 7. When the holder 7 is mounted on the tool pot 2a, the holder 7 is fixed by a lock mechanism (not shown), and the processing tool 1 is securely mounted on the tool magazine 2.

The bottom surface of the working tool holder 7 is made smooth so as to come into contact with the bottom surface of the tool pot 2a when it is mounted, and a square recess 7a is formed at the center thereof.
A plurality of identification pins 8 are provided in the recess 7a. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the identification pin 8 has four rows and two columns,
It is provided at several of the eight pin locations.

On the other hand, the bottom of the tool pot 2a is provided with a socket 9 for receiving the identification pin 8 on the bottom when the holder 7 is mounted. The socket 9 has eight pin insertion portions 9a corresponding to the pin installation positions. The outer dimensions of the socket 9 are slightly smaller than the inner dimensions of the recess 7a, so that the socket 9 can fit therein. The socket 9 includes therein a switch circuit 10 including eight switches SW1 to SW8 as shown in FIG. 6, and an on / off signal of each switch is connected to a controller 12 via an interface circuit 11. Each of the switches SW1 to SW8 is a pin insertion portion 9 of the socket 9.
a, and is turned on when the identification pin 8 on the working tool side is inserted into the pin insertion portion 9a.

Therefore, as shown in FIG.
Switch (in this example, S
W1, 2, 3, 7 and 8) are turned on by the insertion of the identification pins, and the switches (SW4, 5 and 6) corresponding to the positions where the identification pins 8 are not formed remain off. The on / off signals from these switches are converted into 8-bit signals by the interface circuit 11 and sent to the control 12. Thus, the interface circuit 11 can transmit 2 ⁸ = 256 different 8-bit signals. Therefore, the machining tool 1 to be mounted
By changing the arrangement of the identification pins 8 according to the type of the tool, 256 types of machining tools can be identified. That is, one of the machining tools that can be mounted on the tool magazine
The identification numbers of up to 256 are allocated, and the pin arrangement is determined according to the identification numbers. In the example of FIG. 5, the pin arrangement of the 227th machining tool is shown, and an 8-bit signal of “1110011” is transmitted to the controller 12 by this pin arrangement. By further increasing the number of pins that can be installed, it is possible to identify more processing tools. For example, 16
By arranging the identification pins, 65535 types of machining tools can be identified.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of the tool identification device according to the present invention. The switch circuit 10 of the socket 9 provided in each tool pot 2 a of the tool magazine 2 is connected to the controller 12 via the interface circuit 11. The controller 12 is an NC
In response to a request for a processing tool correction variable in the program, an 8-bit signal is received from the switch circuit 10 of the target processing tool. The 8-bit signal indicates the identification number of the processing tool attached as described above, and the corresponding parameter data is obtained from the tool database 13. Tool database 13
In FIG. 8, various parameter data for each machining tool as shown in FIG. 8 are stored. The controller 12 acquires necessary parameters among the parameters of the designated machining tool, and gives the parameters to the NC program as correction variables.

An example of the operation will be described with reference to a control flow chart shown in FIG. 9. For example, when a request for a correction variable for a tool of a shell end mill is issued from an NC program (step 1), the controller 12 mounts the shell end mill. An 8-bit signal "1110011" is received from the socket 9 of the tool pot 2a (step 2). This 8-bit signal represents the identification number “227” of the shell end mill mounted on the tool magazine. Next, the identification number “2” is obtained from the tool database 13.
The parameters of the tool having 27 "are obtained (step 3). That is, in the table shown in FIG. 5, the cutter diameter = 45 mm, L = 75 mm, and D = 22 mm are obtained and returned to the program as correction variables (step 4). The position and the like of the machining tool at the time of machining are corrected based on the correction variables thus obtained.

Next, an embodiment in which the tool identification device of the present invention is applied to an NC lathe will be described. FIG. 10 is a front view of a base holder 4 of an NC lathe to which the present invention is applied, and FIGS. 11 and 12 are enlarged perspective views of a main part of the base holder before mounting a working tool. The base holder 4 shown in the figure can mount four external cutting tools 5 and four internal cutting tools 6, and the external cutting tools 5 are fixed in grooves 4a extending radially of the base holder 4 in the radial direction. The internal cutting tool 6 is inserted and held in a tool pot 4b formed on the front surface of the base holder 4.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, a socket 14 similar to the socket in the previous embodiment is arranged in a groove 4a for holding the external cutting tool 5. On the other hand, an identification pin 15 is provided on one side surface of the external cutting tool 5 corresponding to the position of the socket 14. Identification pin 15
Are arranged in a concave portion 5a formed on the side surface of the external cutting tool 5, and the concave portion 5a is configured so that the socket 14 is fitted.

In this embodiment, as in the previous embodiment, the arrangement of the identification pins 15 is made different depending on the type of the external cutting tool 5. Therefore, each pin insertion portion 14
When the external cutting tool 5 is mounted on the base holder 4, the switch in the socket 14 provided for
Only those at the position where 5 is formed are turned on. The system configuration in this embodiment is the same as that of the previous embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the NC lathe, the internal cutting tool 6 is held by the tool holder 16 as shown in FIG. 12, and is held on the NC lathe side by inserting the tool holder 16 into the tool pot 4b of the base holder 4. Here, an identification pin 17 is provided on the back surface of the collar portion 16a of the tool holder 16. A socket 18 for receiving the identification pin 17 is arranged near the tool pot 4b on the surface of the base holder 4.

The identification pin 17 on the tool holder 16 side is arranged in a recess 16b to be fitted with the socket 18, as in the previous example. Here, the socket 18 and the recess 16b
Has a fan-shaped external shape, which is adapted to the shape of the flange of the tool holder 16 and is functionally the same as the socket shown earlier. The arrangement of the identification pins formed on the tool holder 16 is determined according to the type of the internal cutting tool 6 to be gripped, and represents the identification number of the internal cutting tool. Accordingly, the specific internal cutting tool 6 and the tool holder 16 having the identification number are always handled as one.

As in the case of the above embodiment, when a tool correction variable is requested from the NC program, the identification pin 1
The identification numbers of the external cutting tool 5 and the internal cutting tool 6 mounted on the base holder 4 are obtained by the arrangement of 5, 17. A parameter in the tool database is referred to based on the obtained identification number, and given as a correction variable. The position control of the NC lathe is corrected by this correction variable, and processing according to the tool mounted on the base holder 4 is realized.

Although the embodiment of the tool identification device of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the type of the installed tool is identified by a plurality of identification pins and mechanical switches. However, optical identification is achieved by a combination of an identification mark such as a bar code and an optical sensor that recognizes the identification mark. It is also possible to employ an identification means, or to employ a magnetic identification means by a combination of an identification mark which can be magnetically recognized and a magnetic sensor for recognizing the mark.

[0025]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the tool identification device for a numerical control machine is configured to automatically recognize the type and parameter of a machining tool mounted on a tool holding means, thereby enabling a correction variable in an NC program to be corrected. Does not need to be manually input by the operator, and the operability of the numerical control machine can be improved. In addition, there is an effect that the input error of the correction variable caused by the manual input is eliminated, and the processing yield is improved as compared with the related art.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first aspect, the tool identification device for a numerical control machine is configured to determine the type of a machining tool based on the arrangement of a plurality of pins provided on the machining tool. There is an effect that the present invention can be implemented by a simple configuration and by improving an existing numerical control machine.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first and second aspects, the tool identification device of the numerical control machine forms an identification mark on the bottom surface of the holder for holding the processing tool. There is no need to add, and therefore, there is an effect that molding of the identification mark is easy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a three-axis control horizontal machining center.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing the tool magazine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a tool system in the NC lathe.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a machining tool of a machining center.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a correspondence between an identification pin and a socket.

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram showing a connection relationship between a switch circuit provided in a socket and a controller.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a tool identification device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a table stored in a tool database.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing control of the system shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a front view of a base holder of the NC lathe to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of FIG. 10 before an external cutting tool is attached.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of FIG. 10 before an internal cutting tool is attached.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Processing tool 2 Tool magazine 2a Tool pot 3 Automatic tool changer 4 Base holder 4a Groove 4b Tool pot 5 External cutting tool 5a Depression 6 Internal cutting tool 7 Holder 7a Depression 8 Identification pin 9 Socket 9a Pin insertion section 10 Switch circuit 11 Interface Circuit 12 Controller 13 Tool database 14 Socket 14a Pin insertion part 15 Identification pin 16 Tool holder 16a Collar part 16b Recess 17 Identification pin 18 Socket SW1-SW8 Switch

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A numerical control machine for processing a workpiece while sequentially exchanging a plurality of processing tools based on numerical information given in advance. A different identification mark is provided, and a tool holding means having a plurality of tool holding portions for holding the plurality of processing tools, and the identification mark is recognized when the processing tool is held by the tool holding portion. And a tool recognizing means for specifying a processing tool held by the tool holding unit. 2. The identification mark is an arrangement of a plurality of pins that are different for each type and unique parameter of each processing tool, and the tool recognition means includes a socket for receiving the plurality of pins, and is inserted into the socket. 2. The tool identification device for a numerical control machine according to claim 1, wherein the processing tool is specified by the presence or absence of the pin. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the identification mark is provided on a bottom surface of a holder for holding a processing tool.
Tool for numerically controlled machines.