FR2618372A1 - Programmable automatic wood lathe - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention is of the field of wood lathes including copying means. A lathe of the invention comprises means 4, 5 for interacting for the purpose of supplying the blanks themselves comprising a sloping magazine 11 in which blanks 12 arranged side by side may descend by means of gravity as far as an exit from the magazine, a conveyor 15, 16 which is substantially horizontal, a cradle 18, 33 which can move vertically between four positions: a loading position 24 located substantially below one exit end of the conveyor, a high position 26 located substantially towards the turning axis, a stand-by position 27 located slightly below the previous one and a bottom position 29 located slightly below an ejection ramp. The invention also relates to the copying means. Application to the manufacture of various objects made from wood or a similar material.

Description

 The present invention has for object an automatic wood lathe.

 We know automatic wood lathes of the automatic type comprising. means, called first, ci supply of blanks, means, said second, for placing a blank between points and for removing 1 a turned part, such towers may include a plurality of tools s - and means, said third, to successively implement some of said tools and by way of example, a lathe of this kind disclosed by breven @R 2,299,130 which describes means of supplying lathes in blanks.

Wood lathes generally have copying means either on a template or on a workpiece; such copying devices have been very widely described in the patent literature and. we can refer for example to the publication
FR 2,156,669; it should be noted, however, that the variety of copying systems is especially important in the turning of materials and that it is rare to find automatic copying systems in woodworking. The patent Fr 1,477,847 (SIEWART-WARNER) describes an automatic programming device for a machine for following a template contour, applied to the profiling of wood; this dispositir, without stud due to its versatility, is compi Cxc.

 The object of the present invention is to provide a wood lathe of the kind - automatic supply and copying of profiles allowing an operator, woodturner, from templates composed simply by cutting, to produce in series from '' sketches a large number of parts with the required profile without manual intervention and with a maximum rate resulting from the optimization of the sequences of operations.

 According to a first aspect of the invention, a wood lathe of the aforementioned kind comprises as first and second means for cooperating with a view to supplying the blanks, a sloping magazine into which blanks stored side by side can descend by gravity to at a store outlet, a substantially horizontal conveyor, a cradle movable vertically between four positions: a loading position located substantially below an exit end of the conveyor, a high position located sensibl enent towards the axis cie turning a standby position slightly below the previous one and a low position located slightly below an ejection ramp.

 Thanks to this arrangement, the blanks are brought in regularly and the supply cycle being completely rational, it is carried out in a minimum of time.

 According to secondary, but advantageous cli spositions, the slope of the store is between 30 and 600; the cradle is constituted by a couple of forks mounted on an arm, one of the forks being movable along said arm; the arm supporting the forks is mounted at the end of a movable rod the @ong of it lies in order to bring the arm into one of said four cradle positions, this h @ as is pivotable around its axis and means for controlling the pivoting are arranged in the vicinity of the low position. In order to give more.

 great adaptability to the ongctor 1 of the blanks, i has a rod being a rod of jacks, 3 rd body, or cylinder of the latter is secured to a movable cart a along a rai] parallel to the axis of turning.

 According to a second aspect of the invention, a wood lathe of the aforementioned kind comprises as third means a barrel turret which can support a plurality of tools - and which, by its rotation, ensuring each tool in a working position, a system de :: ssières sulvant two orthogenic directions comprising a fixed g] issière pat ai lele 1 turning axis, uns "- movable slide mounted transversely sliding on the fixed slide, and a turret loss carriage mounted sliding on the movable slide, a first template, called @@ profile, one edge of which determines the position of the tool with respect to the turning axis, this first template cooperating with a copying finger connects to the turret carrier carriage, a second template, control, comprising a plurality of tracks which are each of which are eyelashes placed on the markers, each track cooperating with a feeler sensitive to said markers arranged along it, said feelers being connected to ladi te movable slide, said pins and probes determining a parameter of the group of parameters comprising the choice of a tool and the speed of movement of the tool in either of the orthogonal directions.

 Thanks to this separation of control orders, some, of analog type, being given by the first template, the others, of logical or digital type, being given by the second template, - the automation has been considerably simplified reproduction of the profile; in fact, in a non-automatic copying lathe, the advance of the tool along one or other of its axes of mobility is left to the discretion of the manipulator: the programming of this manipulation would be complex and expensive if it had to be deduced from the profile itself. By allowing the separate adjustment of the mobility parameters of the tool, which are adjusted zone by zone by the manipulator thanks to the experience of woodworking, the programming work is considerably simplified ; of course the areas of adjustment are and look at the different areas of the copying profile.

 According to an advantageous form of this embodiment, the aforementioned probes are electromagnetic sensors and the pins are pins of ferro-magnetic metal; advantageously each pin includes a threaded tail so1 idary of a parel lél epipècìiqtle head cie guide to a cap with upper face shaped in cedar, the position clu capen can be adjusted on. the head the probes could also be mechanical probes of the photocells, etc.

The present invention will be better understood and details will be apparent from the description which will be given in relation to the figures of the appended plates in which:
- fig. l is a perspective representation of the tour of the invention as a whole, making it possible to situate the organization thereof and its main means,
- Fig.2 is a schematic illustration of the means for supplying and removing the blanks from the lathe of the previous figure,
- Fig.3 is a schematic elation in an axial direction of a turret port e-eut it
- Fig.4 is a similar illustration of the same showing its relationship with the profi] and control templates,
- Fig.5 is a plan of the control template, 5a, 5b representing accessories of this template, and
- fig.6 is a plan u profile profile
In fig.1 an automatic wood lathe according to the invention consists essentially of a frame 1, a pair of spindles, or spikes, coaxial defining the axis cie turning 23, means 4,5 of supply of blanks and evacuation of turned parts and a tool holder assembly 6.

 In FIG. 2, the means for supplying the blanks comprise a sloping magazine 11 into which blanks such as 12 descend by gravity, a conveyor with pair of hatreds 15 and fingers lt, arranged below In outlet 13 of the magazine and a couple of ramps 17 on which the sliding axes are driven; these means also include a pair of forks such as 1 supported by a cylinder rod 19, the body 20 of which is supported by a carriage 21 movable along a rail 22.

 The loading-unloading cycle is as follows @ initially the forks are placed (Position 24) below the exit end of the conveyor constituted by the curved end of the ramps 17 the conveyor is then put into operation (arrow 25) until a blank falls into the cradle formed by the forks; a pal pal, photocell for example, detects the presence of the blank in the forks and stops the conveyor at the same time that an order is given to place the forks in, high position 26; the axis of the blank is then substantially coincident with the axis 23 of the turning; the tailstock 3 is then advanced along the axis to take hold on the end of the blank at the same time as J has tip 2; after a short delay, the forks 1 S are lowered slightly into a waiting position 27; turning then takes place by rotating the spindle 2 and the maneuver of the tool holder assembly 6; the turning being carried out, the tailstock 3 is ret ree at the same time as an ejector 28 detaches the part from the point 2; the coin falls into the forks in the waiting position; after that the rod is fully retracted to put the forks in the low position 20; at the same time as the forks arrive in a bundled position, the eyelashes are pivoted by a cam not shown in the figure, which causes the turned part 30 to tip over onto an ejection ramp 31; after a short delay the forks are returned to the loading position 24 and. the small cycle start again.

 Returning to fig.1, it appears that The forks 1 R are mounted on an arm 33; 1 'one (the forks, located in the extension of the rod 19 is fixed along the arm while 1 other is movable there, which allows to adjust the languor of the cradle formed by the couple of forks.

 In FIG. @, The tool holder assembly comprises a rotary turret 41 comprising four locations such as 42 for fixing the tool 43.

The tool 43 can be moved, as in most lathes in two perpendicular directions thanks to a system of slides comprising a fixed slide 44, a movable slide 45 which can traverse the fixed slide and a turret carriage 46 mounted sliding on the movable slide. Although a turret has been shown with four tool locations, therefore four different tool possibilities, it should be understood that this number of locations could be different; the tools can be blades fixed relative to the turret, but also rotary tools animated by their own movement.

 This arrangement of tools supported by a turret, known for turning metals, seems to be, to the knowledge of the Applicant, new for wood turning.

 On fig.4, it appears that the movable slide 45 of the previous figure e is integrally connected to a plurality of probes 50 movable opposite a first fixed template 51 (fig.5) said dc control; it also appears that the carriage 46 in the preceding figure supports the ground ideally a copying finger 6th movable along an edge of a second fixed template 61.

 As is clear from FIGS. 4 and 6, the copying finger 60 known in itself and intended to follow the copying profile 62 has the function of determining the position of the tool relative to 1 axis of turning. .

Su I fig.5, the control template comprises a plurality of tracks a, b .... f followed by the probes 50 and-, along these tracks, pins pierced by the probes; each of the pawns engages through the probe a predetermined program step; these program steps are supported by means of logical processing of information (electronic, electric, pneumatic, etc.) falling within the scope of cybernetics and not falling within the scope of the present invention; the effect of these program steps is either to cause a rotation of the turret to change the tool, or to modify the speed of movement tIc of the turret and of the tool in one or the other, their directions of
The pawns of tracks c, d will be used to determine the parameters of the kind of number of passes, rapid return, etc., while the pawns of tracks a, b, e, f, will be used to determine the tool to be used.

 It will be observed by virtue of the juxtaposition of FIGS. 5 and 6 that the pins 52 are generally arranged opposite the points of the profile separating zones of different profile, that is to say at points where, in the case dc manual turning, the turner - either change g or change tools, as well as at the beginning and at the end of operations to initiate the loading-evacuation cycle.

 In Figs. 5a, 5b, the pins 52 include a tail fi-I been 53 secured to a parallelepeled head 54 serving as a guide for a cap 55 whose upper face is shaped as a dihedron, the sharp edge being dihedral normally perpendicular to tracks a, .... f; the position of the cap can be adjusted by sliding on the head 54 and be fixed by means of a screw 56.

 Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described and shown, it should. It should be understood that the scope of this clerniere is not limited to this form but that it extends to any wood turning device comprising> - taken separately or in combination, the general characteristics defined above.

Claims (2)

R E V E N D I C A T I O N S 1.- Wood lathe, of the automatic lathe type comprising  the so-called prime means of supply  these, so-called second means, for placing a  blank between points and, to evacuate the turned part,  of towers that can include a plurality of tools  and means, called thirds, to put successively-  using some of said tools, characterized:  in that he understands as pre  first and second ways (4,5) to cooperate with a view to  to supply the blanks:  - a sloping store (it) in which blanks (12)  rows side by side can descend by gravity  until leaving the store,  - a substantially horizontal conveyor (15,16) - a cradle (1S,) movable vertically between four  positions: a loading position (24) located  substantially below an outlet end of the  conveyor, a high position (26) located substantially  towards the turning axis, a waiting position (27)  located slightly below the previous one and a  low position (29) located slightly below a  2. Ejection ramp according to claim 1, characterized  in that the slope of the store  is between 300 and 600 3.- Salt tower claim 1, characterized  in that said cradle is  constituted by a pair of forks (18) mounted on a  arm (33), one of the forks being movable along  of said arm 4. - Tower according to claim 3, characterized  in that said supporting arm.  the forks is mounted at the end of a rod (la) movable along it aê @ e penr a @ ener  said four cradle positions, and  in that said arm is pivoted  ble around its axis, means for controlling the  pivoting being arranged in the vicinity of the, position  low (20);  5.- Device according to claim 4, characterized:  in that said rod (19) is  an actuator rod whose body (20) is integral with a  carriage (21) movable along a parallel rail (22)  axis dt turning 6.- Device according to claim l, characterized:  eri what said @ thirds  means include  - a barrel turret (41) capable of supporting a  plurality of tools (43d and which, by its rotation,  ensure each tool in a working position,  - a system of slides following two directions  orthogonal including a fixed slide- (44) para] -  linked to the turning axis (33), a movable slide (45)  transversely sliding mounted on the slide  fixed, and a turret carriage (46) slidingly mounted  on the movable slide,  - A first template (61), said in profile, including an edge  (62) determines the position of the garlic in relation to  the axis of turning, this first template co-operating with u @  copying finger (60) connected to the turret carriage,  - A second template (51), called control, comprising  a plurality of tracks (a. f) on each of them  are arranged marks (52), each track cooperating  with a feeler (50) sensitive to said arranged markers  along the latter, said probes being connected to  said movable slide, said marks and probes  determining a parameter of the group parameters compre  nant the choice of a tool and the speed of movement of  the following tool, one and the other of the ortnogonal directions 7. - Device according to claim 6, characterized  in that said feelers are  electromagnetic sensors, and  in that said benchmarks are  ferromagnetic metal pawns, each pawn includes  nant a threaded tail (51) integral with a head (54)  parallelepiped serving as a guide for a cap (55) to  upper face shaped into a dihedral, the position of the  adjustable hood on the head