CN112828686A

CN112828686A - Metal workpiece machining equipment

Info

Publication number: CN112828686A
Application number: CN202110166613.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王理栋; 熊朝阳; 周董; 王理磊
Original assignee: Shenzhen Changying Hydrogen Power Technology Co ltd; Shenzhen Everwin Precision Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Ningde Changying New Energy Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2021-02-04
Filing date: 2021-02-04
Publication date: 2021-05-25
Anticipated expiration: 2041-02-04
Also published as: CN112828686B

Abstract

A metal workpiece processing device comprises a workpiece processing table, and a loading and unloading assembly and a processing machine table which are respectively arranged on the two transverse sides of the workpiece processing table, wherein the workpiece processing table comprises a base, a rotating mechanism and a fixed beam, the upper surface of the base is provided with a table top, the rotating mechanism is fixed at the two longitudinal ends of the table top, the two ends of the fixed beam are fixed on the rotating mechanism and are positioned above the table top, the fixed beam comprises four stations which are uniformly distributed, the stations where metal workpieces are positioned are switched by rotating the fixed beam for 90 degrees every time, the table top is sunken downwards to form a drainage groove, a plurality of pressure spraying assemblies are arranged on the two transverse sides of the drainage groove, and the pressure spraying assemblies spray liquid and/or gas to clean the metal workpieces positioned on the fourth station. This application machining efficiency is high and the precision is good.

Description

Metal workpiece machining equipment

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of metal processing, in particular to metal workpiece processing equipment.

Background

Referring to fig. 1, a metal workpiece 10 to be processed is shown, the metal workpiece 10 is a strip-shaped structure, and includes a strip-shaped body 11 and a protruding strip 14 protruding upward from the strip-shaped body 11, where CNC processing is required to be performed on an upper surface 13 and a lateral side 12 of the strip-shaped body 11 and the protruding strip 14, that is, three surfaces of the metal workpiece 10 are required to be processed. The traditional machining mode needs to process several surfaces respectively or needs to adopt multi-axis machining equipment with high cost, so that a plurality of times of clamping of workpieces are needed to replace the machined surfaces, and during the process, CNC machining equipment needs to be stopped, more time is wasted, the equipment efficiency is low, or higher cost needs to be paid out, and the multi-axis machining equipment still has the problem of precision in the machining of large parts, so that the equipment with low cost and improved machining efficiency is needed to be developed.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a metal workpiece processing device which is continuous and does not stop and has high processing precision.

In order to solve the technical problem, the application provides a metal workpiece processing device, which comprises a workpiece processing table, a loading and unloading assembly and a processing machine table which are respectively arranged on the two transverse sides of the workpiece processing table, wherein the workpiece processing table comprises a base, a rotating mechanism and two ends, the upper surface of the base is provided with a table top, the rotating mechanism is fixed at the two longitudinal ends of the table top, the two ends of the rotating mechanism are fixed on the fixed beam, the fixed beam is positioned above the table top, the fixed beam comprises four uniformly distributed stations, a first station is arranged near one side of the loading and unloading assembly, the upper side of the loading and unloading assembly is a second station, a third station is arranged near the processing machine table, the lower side of the fixed beam is a fourth station, the first transverse side of a metal workpiece on the second station, the upper surface of the metal workpiece on the third station and the second transverse side of the metal workpiece on, the fixed beam rotates 90 degrees at each time to switch the station where the metal workpiece is located, the table top is sunken downwards to form a drainage groove, a plurality of pressure spraying assemblies are mounted on the two transverse sides of the drainage groove, and the pressure spraying assemblies spray liquid and/or gas to clean the metal workpiece on the fourth station.

Preferably, the first station is used for the material taking and placing operation of the metal workpiece, and the fixed beam rotates four 90 degrees to enable the metal workpiece initially positioned on the first station to respectively pass through the second station, the third station and the fourth station in sequence and then return to the first station.

Preferably, the tool of the processing machine platform is used for continuously processing different metal workpieces on the second station, the third station and the fourth station from one lateral side, and the processed surfaces of the metal workpieces on the second station, the third station and the fourth station face the tool.

Preferably, the fixed beam is located above the drainage groove, the drainage groove comprises a first end and a second end in the longitudinal direction, the horizontal position of the second end is lower than that of the first end so that liquid flows to the second end, and the second end is connected with a drainage port so as to lead waste liquid out of the drainage groove.

Preferably, the first end portion has a transverse width greater than a transverse width of the second end portion at which waste fluid collects and exits through the drainage port.

Preferably, the mesa is located the horizontal both sides of drainage groove are equipped with the side fixed part, press spout the subassembly install in on the side fixed part, press spout the subassembly just to wash the air-dry to the metal work piece on the fourth station, press to spout the subassembly and include a plurality of liquid nozzles and a plurality of air nozzle, spray earlier metal work piece liquid on the fourth station and wash and air-dry to its air spray.

Preferably, the processing machine platform comprises a fixed platform fixed with the base into an integral structure, a longitudinal sliding block moving on the fixed platform along the longitudinal direction, a transverse sliding block moving on the longitudinal sliding block along the transverse direction, and a cutter assembly moving on the longitudinal side surface of the transverse sliding block along the vertical direction, a first sliding rail for the longitudinal sliding block to slide is arranged on the fixed platform, a second sliding rail for the transverse sliding block to slide is arranged on the longitudinal sliding block, and a third sliding rail for the cutter assembly to slide is arranged on the transverse sliding block.

Preferably, the cutter assembly comprises a driving mechanism, a cutter handle clamping part located on one side of the driving mechanism and a cutter clamped in the cutter handle clamping part, and the cutter is located on one side of the fixed beam in the transverse direction.

Preferably, the loading and unloading assembly comprises a manipulator fixing seat arranged on one lateral side of the workpiece processing table, and a loading table and an unloading table respectively arranged on two longitudinal sides of the manipulator fixing seat, the manipulator grabs the metal workpiece from the loading table and clamps the metal workpiece on the first station, and the manipulator grabs the processed metal workpiece from the first station and moves the metal workpiece to the unloading table.

Preferably, the loading platform and the unloading platform respectively comprise a support and a loading area formed above the support, the surface of the loading area is an inclined surface and comprises a higher high area and a lower low area, the low area of the loading platform is close to the manipulator, and the high area of the unloading platform is close to the manipulator.

This application metal workpiece processing equipment is through setting up rotatable fixed beam at the work piece processing bench, four sides of fixed beam set up the anchor clamps of clamping metal work piece respectively and constitute four stations, make at every turn the fixed beam rotates 90 degrees, through arranging in the cutter of the horizontal one side of work piece processing bench is processed three metal work piece's different machined surfaces respectively in succession on three station to under the circumstances of not shutting down, accomplish the processing of three faces of metal work piece has promoted efficiency greatly, need not to trade the clamping simultaneously, has promoted the machining precision.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a metal workpiece to be machined according to the present application;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a metal workpiece after machining is completed according to the present application;

FIG. 3 is a perspective assembly view of the metal workpiece machining apparatus of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another angle of the apparatus for machining a metal workpiece of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a workpiece processing table of the metal workpiece processing apparatus of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 3;

fig. 7 is a partially enlarged view of the dotted circle shown in fig. 6.

The attached drawings are as follows:

metal workpiece-10; a bar-11; lateral side-12; upper surface-13; a convex strip-14; processing structure-15; a workpiece processing table-20; a base-21; a seat body-211; a table-top-215; drainage groove-212; a first end-2121; a second end-2122; a drainage opening-213; a side fixing portion-214; a pressure spray component-22; liquid nozzle-221; a gas nozzle-222; a rotating mechanism-23; a clamping plate-231; a rotating wheel-232; a fixed beam-233; clamp-234; waste liquid tank-24; a drainage opening-25; a processing machine-30; a fixed table-31; a first slide-rail-311; a longitudinal slide-32; a second slide rail-321; a transverse slide block-33; a third slide-331; a cutter assembly-34; drive mechanism-341; a shank holder-342; knife-343; a loading and unloading assembly-40; a manipulator fixing seat-41; a feeding table-42; a stent-421; a loading area-422; high order region-423; low order region-424; a discharge table-43; a robot-44; a jaw-45; a first station-L1; a second station-L2; a third station-L3; fourth station-L4.

Detailed Description

To facilitate an understanding of the invention, the invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in the drawings. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "secured to" another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may also be present.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention.

In the present application, the X direction shown in fig. 3 is the front-rear direction or the longitudinal direction, the Y direction is the right or lateral direction of the left-right direction, and the Z direction is the upper direction of the up-down direction.

Referring to fig. 1 and fig. 2, which are perspective views of a metal workpiece 10 before and after processing, the metal workpiece 10 is in a strip-shaped structure and includes a strip 11 and a protruding strip 14 protruding upward from an upper side of the strip 11. The upper side surfaces of the strip-shaped bodies 11 and the convex strips 14 are upper surfaces 13, the lateral outer sides of the strip-shaped bodies 11 and the convex strips 14 are lateral side surfaces 12, and the lateral side surfaces 12 include a first lateral side surface and a second lateral side surface (not numbered). Both the upper surface 13 and the lateral sides 12 require CNC machining to form a number of machined features 15. The conventional machining method usually machines the metal workpiece 10 from the upper side, and changes the machining surface by changing the jig or machines a different machining surface by using a multi-axis machining apparatus.

Referring to fig. 3 to 6, the metal workpiece processing apparatus of the present application includes a workpiece processing table 20, a loading and unloading assembly 40 disposed on a first lateral side of the workpiece processing table 20, and a processing machine 30 disposed on a second lateral side of the workpiece processing table 20.

The workpiece processing table 20 comprises a base 21, pressure spraying assemblies 22 erected on the two transverse sides of the base, a rotating mechanism 23 fixed at the two longitudinal ends of the base 21, a fixed beam 233 erected above the base 21 and having two ends fixed on the rotating mechanism 23, a drainage port 25 for conducting drainage outwards from one longitudinal side of the base 21, and a waste liquid tank 24 arranged below the drainage port 25.

The base 21 includes a base body 211, a table top 215 formed on the top of the base body 211, a drainage groove 212 formed by recessing downward from the table top 215, and side fixing portions 214 formed on both lateral sides of the drainage groove 212.

The drainage channel 212 includes a first end 2121 having a relatively wide transverse width and a second end 2122 having a relatively narrow transverse width. The drainage grooves 212 are recessed to prevent waste liquid from overflowing. The narrower second end 2122 is connected to a drainage port 25, only a waste liquid tank 24 is located below the drainage port 25, and waste water in the drainage groove 212 flows into the waste liquid tank 24 for collection and treatment.

The rotating mechanism 23 includes clamping plates 231 fixed to both ends of the table surface 215 in the longitudinal direction, a rotating wheel 232 fixed to the inner sides of the pair of clamping plates 231, a fixed beam 233 having both ends fixed to the rotating wheel 232, and clamps 234 disposed on the four surfaces of the fixed beam 233. The fixed beam 233 is in a cuboid shape and comprises four side faces, the four side faces are respectively fixed with a clamp 234, and the clamps 234 on the four side faces of the fixed beam 233 form a first station L2, a second station L2, a third station L3 and a fourth station L4. The rotating wheel 232 rotates 90 degrees at a time to fix the relative positions of the four stations. The fixed beam 233 is positioned above the drainage groove 212. The side of the four surfaces of the fixed beam 233, which is close to the loading and unloading assembly 40, is a first station L1, the side of the fixed beam 233, which is close to the processing machine 30, is a third station L3, and the upper surface and the lower surface of the fixed beam 233 correspond to a second station L2 and a fourth station L4, respectively.

A plurality of pressure spraying components 22 facing the fourth station L4 are mounted on the side fixing portions 214 on the two lateral sides of the table surface 215, each pressure spraying component 22 comprises a plurality of liquid nozzles 221 and a plurality of air nozzles 222, and the liquid nozzles 221 and the air nozzles 222 face the metal workpiece 10 on the fourth station L4 to clean and dry the processed metal workpiece 10, mainly to clean impurities such as metal chips.

The material loading and unloading assembly 40 comprises a manipulator fixing seat 41 positioned on one lateral side of the workpiece processing table 20, a material loading table 42 and a material unloading table 43 respectively arranged on two longitudinal sides of the manipulator fixing seat 41, a manipulator 44 fixed on the manipulator fixing seat 41 and a clamping jaw 45 fixed on the manipulator 44.

The loading platform 42 and the unloading platform 43 respectively comprise a support 421 and a loading area 422 formed on the upper surface of the support 421. The loading area 422 is an inclined surface, and includes a higher high level area 423 and a lower low level area 424. The low region 424 is protruded upward from two lateral sides to form a closed structure, and the high region 423 is an open structure. The loading table 42 and the unloading table 43 are disposed at both sides of the robot 44 in the same orientation, wherein the low region 424 of the loading table 42 is adjacent to the robot 44, and the high region 423 of the unloading table 43 is adjacent to the robot 44. The clamping jaws 45 of the manipulator 44 clamp the metal workpiece 10 from the low area 424 of the feeding table 42 and mount the metal workpiece 10 on the first station L1, the metal workpiece 10 in the high area 423 automatically slides down to the low area 424 under the action of gravity, and the metal workpiece 10 is continuously placed in the high area 423 of the feeding table 42 through personnel or an automatic assembly line. After the machined metal workpiece 10 is removed from the first station L1 by the robot and placed in the high area 423 of the unloading table 43, the metal workpiece 10 automatically slides down from the high area 423 to the low area 424, and the machined metal workpiece 10 is removed in the low area 424.

The processing machine 30 is located at a second lateral side of the workpiece processing table 20, and the processing machine 30 includes a fixed table 31 fixed to the base 21, a longitudinal slide block 32 capable of longitudinally sliding on the fixed table 31, a transverse slide block 33 capable of transversely sliding on the longitudinal slide block 32, and a tool assembly 34 fixed to the transverse slide block 33 and capable of vertically sliding. The upper surface of the fixed table 31 is provided with a first slide rail 311, the upper surface of the longitudinal slide block 32 is provided with a second slide rail 321, and one longitudinal side surface of the transverse slide block 33 is provided with a third slide rail 331. The longitudinal slide block 32 slides longitudinally on the first slide rail 311, the transverse slide block 33 slides transversely on the second slide rail 321, and the cutter element 34 slides vertically on the third slide rail 331. The cutter assembly 34 includes a driving mechanism 341, a shank clamping portion 342 located at one end of the driving mechanism 341 in the transverse direction, and a cutter 343 clamped on the shank clamping portion 342. The tool 343 is directed toward the third station L3 of the workpiece processing station 20.

The application of the metal workpiece processing equipment processes the operation principle of the metal workpiece is as follows: first, the robot 44 picks an unprocessed metal workpiece 10 from the loading table 42 and fixes the metal workpiece to the first station L1 on the workpiece processing table 20, and then the rotating mechanism 23 rotates 90 degrees to rotate the first station L1 to the second station L2, at this time, the processing machine 30 starts to process the metal workpiece 10, at the same time, the robot 44 takes off the metal workpiece 10 that has been machined at the fourth station L4 and moved to the first station L1, and re-clamp a raw metal workpiece 10 to said first station L1, during which, the tool assembly simultaneously machines the metal workpiece 10 at the second, third and fourth stations L2, L3 and L4 at the first lateral side 12 of the metal workpiece 10 at the second station L2, the upper surface 13 of the metal workpiece 10 at the third station L3 and the second lateral side 12 of the metal workpiece 10 at the fourth station L4, respectively. Therefore, the processing of the three surfaces of the metal workpiece 10 is completed on the second station to the fourth station, the processing machine table 30 needs to be stopped for waiting, and can continuously process all the time according to a set program, so that the processing efficiency is greatly improved.

The machining path of the tool 343 is preferably from the second station L2 to the fourth station L2 for the first time, and from the fourth station L4 to the second station L2 for the second time, and such repeated cycles can reduce the position adjustment of the machining station 30. Meanwhile, the metal workpiece 10 at the fourth station L4 is cleaned by the pressure spraying assembly 22 through liquid and gas, and waste liquid and waste slag generated by cleaning fall into the drainage groove 212 and finally flow into the waste liquid tank 24.

This application metal workpiece processing equipment is through setting up rotatable fixed beam 233 on work piece processing platform 20, four sides of fixed beam 233 set up the anchor clamps of clamping metal work piece 10 respectively and constitute four stations L1-L4, make at every turn fixed beam 233 rotates 90 degrees, through arranging in the cutter 343 of the horizontal one side of work piece processing platform 20 is processed the different machined surfaces of three metal work piece 10 respectively in succession on three station L2-L4 to under the circumstances of not shutting down, accomplish the processing of three faces of metal work piece 10 has promoted efficiency greatly, need not to change the clamping simultaneously, has promoted the machining precision.

The method for processing the metal workpiece 10 comprises the following steps:

s10, conveying the unprocessed metal workpiece 10 to the first station L1 of the workpiece processing station 20 by the robot 44;

this step further comprises removing the finished machined metal workpiece 10 from the first station L1 by the robot 44 and transferring the unmachined metal workpiece 10 to the station L1.

S20, the fixed beam 233 of the workpiece processing table 20 rotates 90 degrees, the metal workpiece at the first station L1 rotates to the second station L2, and so on, the metal workpiece 10 at the fourth station L4 rotates to the first station L1, and at the same time, the processing machine 30 is started to process different surfaces of the metal workpiece 10 at the second to fourth stations L2-L4;

in this step, a continuous full-rotation processing process is included, that is, the first step is that the machine is started, the manipulator 44 feeds the workpiece, the fixed beam 233 rotates 90 degrees, and the cutter 343 starts to process the first lateral side 12 of the metal workpiece 10 at the second station L2; secondly, after the first transverse side 12 of the metal workpiece 10 at the second station L2 is machined, the fixed beam 233 rotates 90 degrees again, and the manipulator feeds the metal workpiece, at this time, the tool 343 machines the first transverse side 12 of the metal workpiece 10 at the second station L2 and the upper surface 13 of the metal workpiece 10 at the third station L3; thirdly, the fixed beam 233 rotates 90 degrees again, the manipulator feeds materials, the cutter 343 processes the first lateral side 12 of the metal workpiece 10 at the second station L2, the upper surface of the metal workpiece 10 at the third station L3 and the second lateral side 12 of the metal workpiece 10 at the fourth station L4, after the processing is completed, the metal workpiece 10 at the fourth station L4 is already processed at the second station L2, the third station L3 and the fourth station L4, that is, at this time, the three sides of the metal workpiece 10 at the fourth station L4 are already processed, and meanwhile, the pressure spray assembly 22 cleans and dries the metal workpiece 10 at the fourth station L4; fourthly, the fixed beam 233 rotates 90 degrees again, the manipulator 4 takes down the metal workpiece 10 processed at the first station L1 and then loads the metal workpiece, and the tool 343 repeats the processing path in the third step and continues processing in a reciprocating manner.

The processing path of the tool 343 may be from the second station L2 to the fourth station L4, and then from the fourth station L4 to the second station L2; or the metal workpiece 10 at the fourth station L4 is always processed from the second station L2 to the fourth station L4, but the path may waste the time for moving the tool, which reduces the efficiency, or the time for moving the tool may be used to activate the pressure spraying component 22 to clean the metal workpiece 10 at the fourth station L4; or the metal workpiece 10 at the fourth station L4 is machined from the fourth station L4 to the second station L2 all the time, the metal workpiece 10 at the third and second stations L3 and L2 is machined, and the pressure spraying assembly 22 can be started to clean the metal workpiece 10 at the fourth station L4 by utilizing the time for machining the third and second stations L3 and L2.

The technical features of the above embodiments can be arbitrarily combined, and for the sake of brevity, all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are not described, but should be considered as the scope of the present specification as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of the technical features.

The above examples only express preferred embodiments of the present invention, and the description thereof is more specific and detailed, but not construed as limiting the scope of the invention. It should be noted that, for a person skilled in the art, several variations and modifications can be made without departing from the inventive concept, which falls within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present patent shall be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A metal workpiece processing device comprises a workpiece processing table, a loading and unloading assembly and a processing table which are respectively arranged at the two transverse sides of the workpiece processing table, and is characterized in that the workpiece processing table comprises a base, a rotating mechanism and a fixed beam, wherein the upper surface of the base is provided with a table top, the rotating mechanism is fixed at the two longitudinal ends of the table top, the two ends of the fixed beam are fixed on the rotating mechanism and are positioned above the table top, the fixed beam comprises four uniformly distributed stations, one side close to the loading and unloading assembly is a first station, the upper side of the fixed beam is a second station, one side close to the processing table is a third station, the lower side of the fixed beam is a fourth station, the first transverse side of a metal workpiece on the second station, the upper surface of the metal workpiece on the third station and the second transverse side of the metal workpiece on the fourth station are continuously processed by a cutter of the processing table, and the fixed beam rotates 90 degrees at each, the mesa is sunken downwards to be formed with the drainage groove, a plurality of pressure spray assembly are installed to the horizontal both sides in drainage groove, the pressure is spouted the subassembly and is sprayed liquid and/or gaseous metal work piece to being located the fourth station and clear up.

2. The metal workpiece processing equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first station is used for the material taking and placing operation of the metal workpiece, and the fixed beam rotates by four 90 degrees to enable the metal workpiece initially positioned on the first station to respectively pass through the second station, the third station and the fourth station and then return to the first station.

3. The metal workpiece machining apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the tool of the machining table performs successive machining of different metal workpieces at second, third, and fourth stations from one lateral side, and the machined surfaces of the metal workpieces at the second, third, and fourth stations face the tool.

4. The metal workpiece machining apparatus of claim 3, wherein the stationary beam is positioned above the drainage channel, the drainage channel comprising a first end and a second end in the longitudinal direction, the second end being at a lower level than the first end to allow liquid to flow to the second end, the second end having a drainage port connected thereto to direct waste liquid out of the drainage channel.

5. The metal workpiece processing apparatus of claim 4, wherein the first end portion has a transverse width greater than a transverse width of the second end portion, and wherein waste liquid collects at the second end portion and exits through the drain opening.

6. The metal workpiece machining equipment of claim 4, wherein the table top is provided with side fixing portions at two lateral sides of the drainage groove, the pressure spraying assembly is mounted on the side fixing portions, the pressure spraying assembly is used for cleaning and air-drying the metal workpiece on the fourth station, the pressure spraying assembly comprises a plurality of liquid nozzles and a plurality of air nozzles, and the metal workpiece on the fourth station is cleaned by liquid spraying and air-dried by air spraying.

7. The metal workpiece machining apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the machining machine includes a fixed table fixed to the base as a single body, a longitudinal slider moving in a longitudinal direction on the fixed table, a lateral slider moving in a lateral direction on the longitudinal slider, and a tool assembly moving in a vertical direction on a longitudinal side of the lateral slider, the fixed table is provided with a first slide rail on which the longitudinal slider slides, the longitudinal slider is provided with a second slide rail on which the lateral slider slides, and the lateral slider is provided with a third slide rail on which the tool assembly slides.

8. The metal workpiece machining apparatus of claim 7, wherein the tool assembly includes a drive mechanism, a shank clamping portion on a side of the drive mechanism, and a tool clamped in the shank clamping portion, the tool being located on a lateral side of the fixed beam.

9. The metal workpiece processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the loading and unloading assembly comprises a robot holder located on one lateral side of the workpiece processing table, a loading table and an unloading table respectively arranged on both longitudinal sides of the robot holder, the robot picks the metal workpiece from the loading table and clamps the metal workpiece on the first station, and the robot picks the metal workpiece that has been processed from the first station and moves the metal workpiece to the unloading table.

10. The metal workpiece processing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the loading and unloading stations each comprise a support and a loading area formed above the support, the loading area having an inclined surface comprising a higher elevated area and a lower elevated area, wherein the lower area of the loading station is adjacent to the robot and the upper area of the unloading station is adjacent to the robot.