JPS62264851A - Electric power source contained type touch sensor for machine tool - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the occurance of danger where incomplete circuits are used as well as to improve operability by providing a detection processing section making sure of the conductivity of a radio signal transfer means, a time accumulating section estimating the life of an electric power source contained in a probe and the like in a control side. CONSTITUTION:An electric power source contained type touch sensor circuit is composed of a CPU1, a display with a key board 2, an input/output board 2a, a tape reader 3b, a driving motor 4a, an amplifier 4b, an interporation unit 4c, NC working program, a memory 5, a measurement action program and memory 6, a radio signal transfer means 7, a touch probe Tp, a receiver head RH, a command affirmation setting section 11, a command detection processing section 12, an alarm setting section 13 estimating the life of a contained electric power source 8, a time accumulating section 14 and the like. Owing to this constitution, the validity of the internal electric power source and the conductivity of the circuits can be made sure of the touch probe Tp including an independent circuit before measurement thereby the accumulated life of the electric power source can be estimated after measurement.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a touch sensor for machine tools, and particularly to a touch sensor equipped with a probe with a built-in power supply.
.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, among the types of touch sensors used in machine tools that perform machining based on NC machining programs, the probe that detects contact has a built-in battery, and the contact signal is transmitted using a wireless signal transmission means (for example, an infrared photocoupler). There is something that is sent to the receiver on the control side.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing an example of such a touch sensor, in which a touch probe Tp is attached instead of a tool.
Move the stylus S at the tip of the stylus in the X and Z directions in the figure,
Each part of the workpiece W is contacted and the coordinate values of the contact positions are measured. The touch probe Tp has an internal power supply (
For example, the contact signal is transmitted to the control side receiver head RH by the infrared transmitter TQ, so it is independent in terms of electrical circuitry and does not require major improvements on the machine tool side, which is convenient. The receiver head Rh is
It is usually attached to a part of the machine tool that does not get in the way, and is connected to the interface IF via cable C so that information can be exchanged with an external NC device.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, the problem with conventional devices such as those mentioned above is that it is difficult to know the state of the probe's internal circuitry, and the battery life may run out unexpectedly or the infrared light may become disabled. This may cause problems with measurement.

The present invention was devised in view of these problems, and enables the control side to detect failures in probes and notify the life of the internal battery, and to start measurement after these checks. The purpose of this invention is to provide a touch sensor with a built-in power supply for machine tools that improves workability.

[Means for solving problems]

In the present invention, means for solving the above-mentioned problems is a touch sensor for a machine tool, which is operated by an NC machine program and a measurement operation program, and is equipped with a probe with a built-in power supply and has a wireless signal transmission means. A touch sensor with a built-in power supply for a machine tool is characterized in that it comprises a detection processing section for checking continuity of the wireless signal transmission means and a time integration section for estimating the lifespan of the probe's built-in power supply.

[Effect]

In a machine tool touch sensor equipped with a probe with a built-in power supply that has a wireless signal transmission means, there is usually a two-way transmission means: measurement commands sent from the control side to the probe, and contact signals sent from the probe to the control side. It is provided. Therefore, by setting a time limit on the time required for the signal to return from the probe to the control 111I (i!+1) after a command is sent from the control side to the probe, and by limiting the number of commands, the wireless signal transmission means can be Continuity can be checked.Also, the battery is not always on.
Total/11. Continuity means that the timer is turned on for a limited time after receiving the II command, so the limited time and total if(+1
By performing integration based on time, the battery life can be predicted.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to embodiments and drawings.
Explain.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a touch sensor circuit with a built-in power supply embodying the present invention. In the figure, the built-in power supply type touch sensor circuit includes a CPU 1 that also serves as the central processing unit of the host device, a display 2 with a keyboard, its input/output port 2a, and an NC processing data 3a connected to the doujin output capo 2a. Tape reader 3b and work vi
A touch probe TI is provided with a drive motor 4a for each axis of the machine, an amplifier 4b, an interpolator 4C, an NC 7] [1 nib program memory 5 and a measurement operation program memory 6, a wireless signal transmission means 7, and a built-in power supply 8. Estimating the lifespan of the receiver head R+ equipped with a command circuit 9 that can communicate, its interface IO, the command confirmation setting section 11 and command detection processing section 'L2 that confirm 4'i1 of the wireless signal transmission means, and the built-in power supply 8. Warning setting unit 13 and time integration unit 1
It consists of 4.

The touch probe Tρ and the receiver head RH are similar to those shown in the conventional example shown in FIG. Signal transmission is performed using the configuration shown in FIG.

In other words, in FIG. 2, a transmitter 21a and a receiver 21b are connected to a command circuit 9 on the receiver head R+ side, and the transmitter 21a emits a commanded signal with infrared rays. On the Tafti probe TI side, a flash-on resistor 22a that receives this infrared flash is connected to the light receiving circuit 22, and when a command is received, it activates the timer circuit 23 and switches the signal. When the switch unit 24 receives the signal, the switch unit 24 sends the signal to the electronic control unit 2.
5 and the internal power supply battery 26 are connected. Electronic control section 2
5 detects the contact signal of the squillous S while the power is being supplied, sends this to the light emitting circuit 27, and also sends an activation signal to the timer circuit 23. The timer circuit 23 is
The power supply connection time of the switch section 24 is set in advance, and when the set time has elapsed, a signal is sent to the switch section 24 to turn off the connection of the battery 26. Therefore, the electronic control unit 25 can detect the contact signal of the stylus S only within the set time of the timer circuit 23 after the signal is input from the light receiving circuit 22, but the measurement is performed within that time. When the timer circuit 23 is reset by the contact signal, the connection is further extended by the set time. On the other hand, the light emitting circuit 27 sends a contact signal from the infrared 1i LED 27a to the receiver 21b on the receiver head R- side.

In the above embodiment, infrared flashing means was used as the wireless signal transmission means, but there is no particular limitation as long as the transmitting section and the receiving section are independent in terms of circuits and are wireless. Further, in this embodiment, a lithium battery is used as an internal power source, but this is not particularly limited either.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operating procedure of the above device. Hereinafter, the above device will be explained in detail according to the operating procedure.

When measurement is instructed in the NC program, the measurement program is read block by block from the measurement operation program memory 6 as the 0th stage of the flow. Figure 4 (a
1 is a diagram showing an example of measurement work 9. For example, when centering hole machining, the touch probe Tp is used at points (kl to 1) in the diagram.
The (4) contact points are sequentially measured, and the measurement program is as shown in the output sample diagram in Figure 4 (b). It also includes a processing command (M2S) and a battery warning processing command (M74). The read block is M2
If S, flush processing is executed as the 0th stage of the flow; if the read block is M74, a notice processing is executed as the 0th stage of the flow; otherwise, the flush processing is executed as the 0th stage of the flow. Execute the block as stage 0. Then, in the 0th stage of the flow, it is determined whether or not the program has ended, and if it has not ended, the next program is read and the above flow is repeated.

When “M2S” is read in the program, and
A command is given to the command confirmation setting section 11 via the gate 101 and the OR gate 102, and the flash setting process (2) is performed. That is, after setting the square counter N=1 cent and the flash allowable time T for command confirmation, and initializing the command circuit 9 of the receiver head RH, a flash on command is issued, and the setting section 11 is The confirmation timer tF is started.

The flash-on command activates the internal circuit of the touch probe Tp shown in FIG. 2, and causes the electronic control unit 25 to respond with a confirmation signal before the stylus S makes contact, and the flash confirmation signal is the command. The information is input to the flash confirmation processing section L2a of the detection processing section 12, and flash confirmation processing (2) is performed. First, if the confirmation timer TF exceeds the flash allowable time T, while adding N in the counter 12b by 1, the comparator 12C determines that N<
3, while checking the inverter 103 and OR gate 1.
02, the flash-on is repeated, and if no response is returned even after three repetitions, a continuity error signal is generated.

If a confirmation signal is obtained within the allowable flash time TL, an integration timer start signal is sent to the warning setting section 13, and battery warning processing (2) is started.

The battery warning setting section 13a of the warning setting section 13 is already activated by the power-on signal and has a usage time t=Q set therein, and when the integration timer start signal from the flash confirmation processing section 12a is input thereto. , the integration timer 13b starts. When the M74 signal is input through the AND gate 104 at the end of the measurement, the integration timer 13b stops and the elapsed time tJs becomes the battery effective time L9. The time calculation unit 14 along with the warning setting time tw
sent to. If the elapsed time ts remains O, an abnormality signal from the integration timer 13b is output.

Note that the battery effective time t= is the time value set in the timer circuit 23 inside the touch probe Tp in the explanation of FIG.
For example, the lifespan of lithium batteries used in
Adopt %.

The time aggregation unit 14 performs the time integration process (2). First, the first adder 14a calculates the elapsed times t, s and the battery effective time, with the sum of days as the usage time. is added to the cumulative usage time Tn-1 up to that point by the second adder 14b to calculate the cumulative usage time Tn up to this time. The comparator 14d compares the cumulative usage time Tn with the warning setting time W, and if the cumulative usage time Tn reaches the warning setting time difference tw, a warning signal is issued; if not, the inverter 105 invert the signal,
Issues a command to read the next block of the measurement program.

As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, for the touch probe Tρ having an independent circuit, it is possible to check the validity of the internal power supply and the conduction state of the circuit before measurement, and further check the accumulated life of the battery after measurement. can be estimated, thereby preventing the risk of using the probe Tρ with a circuit defect, protecting the touch sensor, and avoiding unnecessary work.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to detect failures on the probe side and warn about the lifespan of the internal battery on the control side, and to start measurement after these confirmations, thereby ensuring safety and improving work efficiency. It is possible to provide an improved touch sensor with built-in power supply for machine tools.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the in-power supply type touch sensor circuit according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a touch probe circuit used in the above device, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the above embodiment. Flowchart of the operating procedure, Figure 4 shows the memory
An explanatory diagram of the data, FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a touch probe with a built-in power supply. 11cPU (central processing unit), 2; display with keyboard, 5, NC program memory, 6; measurement operation program memory, 7; infrared flash (wireless signal transmission means), 8; battery (internal power supply), 9; Command circuit, 11; Command confirmation setting section, 12; Command detection processing section, 13; Warning setting section, 14; Time integration section, Tρ; Touch probe, Rs. Fig. 2 ′ (RH) (TP) Fig. 4 (Q) (b)

Claims (1)

[Claims] A touch sensor for a machine tool, which is operated by an NC machining program and a measurement operation program and is equipped with a probe with a built-in power supply and has a wireless signal transmission means, the control side having a detection processing unit for checking continuity of the wireless signal transmission means; A touch sensor with a built-in power supply for a machine tool, characterized by comprising a time integration section for estimating the life of a power supply with a built-in probe.