JPS6236821B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a workpiece transfer device in a transfer machine of a metal working tool.

In transfer machines, there are two methods for transporting workpieces: a direct mounting method in which the workpiece is directly sent and mounted, and a method in which the workpiece is fixed to a pallet and then transported and mounted. Conventionally, in pallet conveyance, workpieces are stored in L-shaped or box-shaped pallets and conveyed automatically, but the structure of the pallet tends to be complicated, it is difficult to ensure accuracy, and the conveyance device is prone to chips. It falls and is not desirable.

In the invention disclosed in JP-A-50-27178, grooves are provided on both end surfaces of a roughly plate-shaped pallet, and the grooves are engaged between the belts of two sets of parallel belt drive devices. This has the serious drawback that chips must be formed between the belt and pallet grooves. In the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 145985/1985, wheels are attached to a generally plate-shaped pallet, and a return path for the pallet is provided below the workpiece conveyance path, but it cannot be used for metal machine tools because it cannot handle chips. I can't.

Furthermore, recently there has been a growing demand for a variety of workpieces to be processed on one processing line, and in such cases, pallets with complex structures are not appropriate considering the increase in the number of types of workpieces. Furthermore, the attachment of the workpieces to the pallet generally tends to be complicated, and the return of the workpieces also requires considerable manpower and equipment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a workpiece pallet conveying apparatus that does not have the drawbacks of the conventional examples, has a simple pallet structure, is easy to prepare for a wide variety of products, and is easy to convey.

The first aspect of this invention is to arrange machines in a straight line and include a pallet mounting jig for attaching and detaching pallets to each machine.
In a pallet conveying device that includes a device that attaches a workpiece to a pallet and keeps the pallet in the same position throughout the entire journey, or rotates the pallet around its direction of travel, or rotates the pallet around an axis perpendicular to its direction of travel, Regarding at least two machines, a feed table should be provided immediately upstream of the machine in the first process and immediately downstream of the machine in the last process, and a pallet should be installed on each machine, with regard to the machine machines of each machine and the flow of workpieces. A jig is provided, and pallet guides are installed above and below through the pallet mounting jig and the feeding table, and the pallet mounting jig and the feeding table are arranged alternately at equal pitches, and each pallet is made into a plate-like rectangular shape. A pallet is placed on the mounting jig and feed stand, and is placed on the pallet mounting jig on the machine platform to carry the workpiece after machining. This is a pallet conveying device equipped with a feeding device on the upper part of the pallet mounting jig that feeds a set of pallets on a feeding platform between platforms one pitch in the direction in which the workpiece flows.

The second aspect of this invention is to arrange the machines in a straight line and include a pallet mounting jig for attaching and detaching pallets to each machine.
In a pallet conveying device that includes a device that attaches a workpiece to a pallet and keeps the pallet in the same position throughout the entire journey, or rotates the pallet around its direction of travel, or rotates the pallet around an axis perpendicular to its direction of travel, Regarding at least two machines, a feed table should be provided immediately upstream of the machine in the first process and immediately downstream of the machine in the last process, and a pallet should be installed on each machine, with regard to the machine machines of each machine and the flow of workpieces. A jig is provided, and pallet guides are installed above and below through the pallet mounting jig and the feeding table, and the pallet mounting jig and the feeding table are arranged alternately at equal pitches, and each pallet is made into a plate-like rectangular shape. A pallet is placed on the mounting jig and feed stand, and is placed on the pallet mounting jig on the machine platform to carry the workpiece after machining. The main part is a pallet conveying device equipped with a feeding device on the upper part of the pallet mounting jig that feeds one set of pallets on the feed platform between the tables one pitch in the direction in which the workpiece flows, and a pallet returning device is provided. The return device consists of an ascending lift that raises the pallet on the workpiece delivery side of the final process machine, and a pallet transfer device that receives the workpiece from the ascending lift and transfers it vertically upward in parallel to the workpiece movement direction in the opposite direction to the workpiece movement direction. and a lowering lift for lowering the pallet to the work feed side of the machine for the first process on the delivery side of the pallet transfer device.

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

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a double-headed transfer line, in which workpieces are sent in the direction indicated by the arrow. In the pallet conveying apparatus according to the present invention, the workpiece moves in a substantially vertical plane in the direction of the arrow and the pallet is returned, but the figure shows the portion in which the workpiece is conveyed. Machines 1M to 4M are arranged in a straight line at equal intervals, and pallet mounting jigs 5 to 8 for attaching and detaching pallets are installed on the base of each of machines 1M to 4M, with a slight gap between them. ,
Regarding the flow of workpieces between the machines 1M to 4M and the arrows in the figure, there are pallet feed tables 9 to 13 immediately upstream of the first process machine 1M and immediately downstream of the last process machine 4M. Fixed to each machine of 4M, pallet mounting jigs 5 to 8
and feed tables 9 to 13 are arranged alternately at equal pitches.

In the embodiment, there are four consecutive applicable machines of the present invention, but there are cases where the transfer line consists of two machines, and where the transfer line includes at least two consecutive applicable machines, or there are five applicable machines.
It goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented in cases where the number of devices is larger than 1,000 yen, and various embodiments can be taken without changing the spirit of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the pallet 14 is made into a square plate shape, each side of which is accurately finished, and pins 23 and 24 are implanted at equal distances from both end faces on the upper plate surface on the side where the work is fixed. A hole 25 into which a dowel pin is inserted is bored on the vertical line of the back surface.
The mounting side of the workpiece is the side on which the pins 23 and 24 are located, and although not shown, processing for mounting the workpiece is added, and holes for processing are bored in the plate surface.

Figures 4 and 5 are views of pallet mounting jigs 5 to 8 and pallet feed tables 9 to 13. FIG. 5 is a diagram seen along the flow of the workpiece, and is a diagram seen from the left side of FIG. 4. The main body 26 of the pallet mounting jig is L-shaped and has presser plates 27 fixed above and below to form square groove guides so that the pallet 14 slides together, and at the processing position, the piston rod of the hydraulic cylinder 28 fixed to the main body 26 is pinned. 2
9, which slides through the main body 26 and fits into the hole 25 of the pallet 14 to position and fix the pallet 14. A feeding device for the pallet 14 is fixed to the upper part of the main body 26.

The feeding device for the pallet 14 is described below. The base of the shifter 30 is slidably fitted to a guide bar 31 having a rectangular cross section, for example, which is parallel to the feed direction of the workpiece, and the guide bar 31 and the shifter 30 are rigidly connected in terms of rotation. 3
0a and 30b are provided at the tip. shifter 30
Both ends of the guide bar 31 are pivotally connected to the main body 31a of the feeding device for the pallet 14 so that the shifter 30 can be swung.
can be rotated in a limited manner such that it takes a position in which it engages with the pins 23, 24 shown in solid lines and a position away from the pins 23, 24 shown in chain double-dashed lines.

Since the shifter 30 reciprocates along the guide bar 31, it is locked to, for example, a cable 30f of a cable cylinder 30e that is parallel to the workpiece feeding direction.

As shown in FIG. 4, the main body 32 of the pallet feeder
is similar to the main body 26 of the pallet mounting jigs 5 to 8, but it does not have the feeding device and cylinder 28 for the pallet 14, and has a presser plate 33 that is the same as the presser plate 27.
is fixed to form a square groove into which the pallet 14 slides.

Pallet mounting jigs 5 to 8 and feed tables 9 to 1
3 are arranged in a straight line, and guides for the pallet 14 are provided above and below through the pallet mounting jigs 5 to 8 and the feed tables 9 to 13.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a second invention in which the first invention is provided with a pallet return device, and includes the entire first invention and the second invention. Each of the devices shown in the figure is installed in a substantially vertical plane.

Swivel table 1 that rotates around the direction of movement of the workpiece
5, a pallet 14 is fed from a table 22a of a lift 22 by a pusher 16. pusher 16 is lift table 2
For example, a hydraulic cylinder having an intermediate stop position is used to transfer the pallet 14 on the rotating table 15 to the rotating table 15, and further transfer the pallet 14 on the rotating table 15 to the pallet feeding table 9.

The rotating table 18 rotates around the direction of movement of the workpiece, and is adapted to receive the pallet 14 from the feed table 13. The pull-out device 17 uses, for example, a hydraulic cylinder having an intermediate stop position so as to transfer the pallet 14 on the feed table 13 to the rotating table 18 and from the rotating table 18 to the table 19a of the lift 19.

The lift 19 has a table 19a guided in the vertical direction by a vertical guide 19b.
9a is fixed to a cable 19d of an upright cable cylinder 19c, for example, and its table top 19a' is pivoted to a base 19a'' of a table 20a so as to tilt when it hits a fixed stopper 20.

The conveyor 21 is disposed vertically above the workpiece conveyance direction so as to convey the pallet 14 in the opposite direction to the workpiece conveyance direction.
The feeding side is located at a position where the pallet 14 that slides down due to the tilting of the pallet 9a' is received through the chute 21a.
On the delivery side, the pallet 14 is transferred to a table 22a of a lift 22 by a chute 21b.

The lift 22 is similar to the lift 19 except that the table 22a does not tilt; 22b is a vertical guide;
22c is a cable cylinder, and 22d is a cable.

Next, the operation of the embodiment having the above configuration will be explained. Each pallet mounting jig 5 to 8 and final process machine 4
Regarding the flow of workpieces M, a state will be described in which each of the pallet feeders 9 to 12, excluding the pallet feeder 13 immediately downstream, has a pallet 14 with a work attached to it. There are no workpieces on the swivel tables 15 and 18, which are horizontal. Incidentally, even if the machine is started without any of the above-mentioned pallets 14, the pallets 14 will continue to be produced like in a normal transfer machine, and each pallet 14 will have a workpiece.

The state in which the pallet 14 is attached to the pallet attachment jigs 5 to 8 is as shown in FIG. Fitted into the hole 25, the pallet 14 is immovably supported in alignment with pallet mounting jigs 5 to 8, as shown in FIG. The shifter 30 of the pallet feeding device on the upper part of the pallet mounting jigs 5 to 8 is connected to the pin 24 of the pallet 14 mounted on the pallet mounting jigs 5 to 8 on the upstream side with respect to the work flow of the pallet mounting bases 5 to 8. The pallet 1 located between the presser plate 33 of the pallet feed tables 9 to 12 and the main body 32
The groove 30a is engaged with the pin 23 of No.4.

Each machine 1M to 4M is processing a workpiece with a rotating base 15
Then, a workpiece is attached to the pallet 14, and the turning tables 15 and 18 both turn in the vertical direction with the workpiece advancing direction as an axis to change the posture vertically. Incidentally, depending on the workpiece, it may be attached on the feed table 9. Alternatively, a turning device may be attached to the feed table 9 and the turning table may be omitted. As long as the carriage 9 is empty, the pallets 14 in the vertical swivel carriage 15 are fed into the carriage 9 by a pusher 16 with an intermediate stop position. When machining of the workpiece mounted on the pallet mounting jig 5 via the pallet 14 in the machine 1M is completed, the hydraulic cylinder 28 of the pallet mounting jig 5 is energized, the pin 29 retreats, and the notch hole of the pallet 14 is inserted. Get out of 25. Subsequently, cable cylinder 30e is energized, and cable 30f
moves to send the shifter 30 one pitch downstream in the flow of the workpiece. The pallet 14 on the pallet mounting jig 5 and the pallet 14 on the pallet feed table 9
The pallets 14 on the pallet mounting jig 5 are fed to the pallet feeding table 10, and the pallets 14 on the pallet feeding table 9 are fed to the pallet mounting jig 5. Pallet 1 sent to the pallet mounting jig 5
4 is fixed by actuating the hydraulic cylinder 28 to project the pin 29 and fitting it into the notch hole 25, thereby machining the workpiece.

After the pallet 14 has been sent as described above, the pallet feeding device is energized by the drive device 31b of the guide bar, and swings the shifter 30 through the guide bar 31 to move the shifter 30 between the engaged pins 23 and 24. The engagement is released and the cable cylinder 30e is subsequently energized to return the shifter 30 to the upstream side with respect to the flow of the workpiece.
When it is confirmed that the pallet 14 is being fed into the feeding table 9 from the rotating table 15, the guide bar driving device 31b is energized in the opposite manner to the above, swinging the shifter 30, and moving the pallet 14 into the groove 30a. is fitted onto the pin 23 of the pallet 14 in the feed table 9, and the groove 30b is engaged with the pin 24 of the pallet 14 in the pallet mounting jig 5.

As is clear, the conveyance of the pallet 14 from the turning table 15 to the feed table 9 may be synchronized with the above-mentioned exchanging operation of the pallet 14 at the front of the machine 1M, or even while the machine 1M is machining the workpiece afterwards. good.

The above description relates to machine 1M, but also for machine 2M, one set of pallets 14 on pallet mounting jig 6 and pallet feed table 10 is simultaneously fed out one pitch at the same time as machine 1M or in advance of machine 1M. A workpiece received by the pallet mounting jig 6 and similarly mounted on the pallet mounting jig 6 via the pallet 14 is processed.
In this way, the pallet 14 is moved from the feeder 9 to the pallet 13 in one pitch between the pallet feeder and the pallet mounting jig.
13 pallet feed tables and pallet mounting jigs. This kind of action is related to the flow of workpieces, from machine 4M on the downstream side to machine 3M and machine 2.
You can also do it sequentially like M, all machines 1M to 4
M may be operated simultaneously. The pallet 14 sent onto the pallet feed table 13 is pulled by a pull-out device 17 having an intermediate stop position into a swivel table 18 that rotates around the work progress direction, and then becomes horizontal as the swivel table 18 rotates, and the work is placed outside. be done. The pallet 14 is further sent onto the table 19a of the lift 19 by the same pull-out device 17, raised by the lift 19, and placed at the stopper 20 on the table 19a.
The table top 19a' of 9a is tilted by applying the end thereof, and is slid by the chute 21a onto the conveyor 21, and is sent by the conveyor 21 over each machine 1M to 4M in the opposite direction to the workpiece conveyance direction, and then via the chute 21b. It is slid onto the table 22a of the lift 22, descends, confirms that there is no pallet 14 on the swivel base 15, and is sent onto the swivel base 15 by the pusher 16 having an intermediate stop position.

In the embodiment, each of the machines 1M to 4M stands up the pallet 14 for processing, but if any of the pallet feed tables is used, for example, if the pallet feed table 11 is equipped with a 90° rotation device, the rotation shown in FIG. The table 18 becomes unnecessary, and the pallet 14 flows with its plate surface horizontal in the subsequent process, and the rectangular grooves guided by the pallet butt and connect in the horizontal plane.

The first invention arranges machines in a straight line and includes a pallet mounting jig for attaching and detaching pallets to each machine, attaches a workpiece to the pallet, and rotates the pallet in the same posture throughout the entire stroke or rotates the pallet around the direction of movement of the pallet. Or, in a continuous processing device including a device that rotates a pallet around an axis perpendicular to its direction of movement, with respect to at least two consecutive machines, the first process machine A feed stand is provided immediately upstream of the machine and immediately downstream of the final process machine, and a pallet mounting jig is provided on each machine stand, and pallet guides are provided above and below through the pallet mounting jig and the feed stand. , pallet mounting jigs and feed tables are arranged alternately at equal pitches, pallets are arranged as plate-shaped rectangles on each pallet mounting jig and feed table, and machining is carried out on the pallet mounting jig on the machine stand. The pallet that carries the finished work and the pallet on the feed stand between the machine and the machine immediately upstream from the pallet in terms of the flow of the work are set as a set, and the pallet feed device is used to feed the work one pitch in the direction in which the work flows. Since the pallet conveying device is installed on the top of the mounting jig, the pallets are simple and easy to manufacture, and accuracy can be ensured easily.The pallets are inexpensive even for a wide variety of products, and because they are plate-shaped, they can be stored easily. It also requires less. Another feature is that it is easy to attach the workpiece. Furthermore, the pallet can be accurately positioned and fixed to the mounting jig.
Since the pallet is upright, chip flow is good and there are no chips on the pallet, so there is less influence from thermal deformation. Furthermore, since the pallet feeding device can be positioned above the flow of pallets, chips will not accumulate on the pallet feeding device and will not cause malfunction of the pallet feeding device. Further, it is possible to provide a space between the machine bases or between the machine bases so that chips can be discharged without accumulating. Since pallets are sent in pitches equal to half the distance between the machines, the pallet feeder only has to send this bit, so the pallet feeder can be made smaller to send adjacent pallets at the same time. can.

The second invention includes all of the first invention, and includes a lifting lift that raises a pallet on the workpiece sending side of a final process machine, and a lifting lift that receives a workpiece from the lifting lift and moves the pallet vertically upward parallel to the workpiece movement direction in the opposite direction to the workpiece movement direction. The pallet transfer device is characterized by having a pallet transfer device that transfers the pallet in the direction of the pallet transfer device, and a pallet return device that lowers the pallet to the work feed side of the machine for the first process on the delivery side of the pallet transfer device. In addition to the above-mentioned effects of the invention, there is an advantage that no floor space is required for the device for returning pallets, and since the pallets move upward in the direction of progress of the work, cutting chips do not fall onto the pallets.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and is a plan view of a transfer machine equipped with a pallet conveying device;
Fig. 2 is a side view showing the flow of the pallet in a vertical plane including the flow of the work, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the pallet, and Fig. 4 is a front view of the pallet mounting jig in a plane perpendicular to the flow of the work. FIG. 5 is a side view seen from the left side of FIG. 4. 1M to 4M... Machine, 5 to 8... Pallet mounting jig, 9 to 13... Feeding table, 14... Pallet, 15, 18... Turning table, 16... Pusher, 17... Pulling out device, 19 ,22...lift,
20...stopper, 21...conveyor, 23,2
4...pin, 25...notch hole, 29...pin,
30...Shifter.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1 Machines are arranged in a straight line, each machine is equipped with a pallet mounting jig for attaching and detaching pallets, and a workpiece is attached to the pallet and the pallet is kept in the same posture throughout the entire stroke or the pallet is set with its traveling direction as the axis. In a pallet conveying device including a device that rotates or rotates a pallet around an axis perpendicular to the direction of movement of the pallet, for at least two consecutive machines, the first A feed stand is provided immediately upstream of the machine for the process and immediately downstream of the machine for the final process, and a pallet mounting jig is provided on each machine stand, and the pallet is guided up and down through the pallet mounting jig and the feed stand. A guide is provided, pallet mounting jigs and feed tables are arranged alternately at equal pitches, the pallets are arranged as plate-like rectangles on each pallet mounting jig and feed stand, and pallet mounting jigs on the machine stand are arranged. The pallet that carries the workpiece after processing has been completed, and the pallet on the feed stand between the machine and the machine immediately upstream from the pallet in terms of the flow of the workpiece. A pallet conveying device with the device mounted on the top of the pallet mounting jig. 2. Machines are arranged in a straight line, each machine is equipped with a pallet mounting jig for attaching and detaching pallets, and a workpiece is attached to the pallet and the pallet is kept in the same posture throughout the entire process, or the pallet is rotated around the direction of movement of the pallet, or the pallet is In a pallet conveying device including a device that rotates around an axis perpendicular to the direction of movement of the pallet conveying device, for at least two consecutive machines, the machine immediately upstream of the machine in the first process with respect to the flow of workpieces and between the machines of each machine. A feed stand is provided immediately downstream of the machine for the final process and a pallet mounting jig is provided on each machine stand, and pallet guides are provided above and below through these on the pallet mounting jig and the feed stand, and the pallet is mounted. The jigs and feed tables are arranged alternately at equal pitches, and the pallets are placed in the form of rectangular plates on each pallet mounting jig and feed table. A pallet mounting jig is used to set up a pallet that carries a workpiece, and a feeding device that feeds the pallet one pitch in the direction in which the workpiece flows, with the pallet on the feeder stand between the machine and the machine immediately upstream of the pallet in terms of the flow of the workpiece. A lifting lift is provided on the upper part to raise the pallet on the workpiece delivery side of the final process machine, and a pallet transfer device receives the workpiece from the lifting lift and transfers it vertically upward in parallel to the workpiece movement direction in the opposite direction to the workpiece movement direction. and a descending lift for lowering the pallet on the delivery side of the pallet transfer device to the work feed side of the machine for the first process.