ITUB20154937A1 - Improved processing device and relative method of operation. - Google Patents

Description

Improved processing device and its method of operation

The present invention relates to an improved processing device and relative method of operation.

More in detail, the invention relates to a device for working wood, plastic, glass, fiberglass and the like, designed and manufactured, in particular, to allow the machining of a piece on all sides, in a flexible way and during continuous processing, still allowing high machining precision.

In the following the description will be addressed to the processing of wooden pieces, in particular oblong wooden pieces, but it is very clear that the same should not be considered limited to this specific use.

As is well known, there are currently various technologies for the positioning of woodworking tools, for the correct execution of workings. These are necessary to allow the correct positioning of a machining tool, such as a milling cutter or the like, so that it can perform the necessary machining by automatically adapting to the surface of the piece.

In particular, in the sector of processing wooden beams, or oblong pieces in general, the latter are often characterized by irregular surfaces. Therefore, it is often necessary to have systems for detecting surface irregularities, to allow immediate adaptation of the position of the tool for correct machining of the surface of the piece using the tool itself. In fact, it is often necessary to carry out milling pockets on said prismatic wooden beams. The incorrect positioning of the machining tool can cause the incorrect depth of the pocket in milling, while the piece is locked on the machine equipment by means of a clamp system.

In particular, consider that the wooden beams available on the market carry dimensional errors of the order of a millimeter, and on these pockets must be obtained whose depth with respect to the actual surface of the beam must not differ by more than a few tenths of millimeters compared to what was programmed.

Not knowing in advance the position of the actual surfaces of the beam to be machined, it is possible to solve the aforementioned problem by measuring the actual position of the surfaces on which the machining is to be carried out.

Several technologies are currently available for detecting the surface of a workpiece. These technologies are mainly divided into mechanical and optical.

Mechanical technologies provide for devices, also known in the field as feelers, which substantially consist of rolling elements, such as wheels, sliding on the surface of the workpiece while the latter is being moved, such that, when due to an irregularity of the surface of the piece said rolling elements vary their position, by raising or lowering, allowing the tool, by means of an appropriate servo or control unit, to adapt to these irregularities so as to carry out the machining correctly even on the irregular surface.

These systems have a limited use because they cannot be placed in the vicinity of the operating unit that must perform the processing, thus going to carry out the measurement of the surface in positions far from that where the measurement would be necessary. The problem is highlighted more in the case of machines equipped with flexible bi-rotary heads (so-called 5-axis machines), which typically have a large envelope that forces the sensor to be positioned in even more distant positions.

Technologies based on optical systems generally involve the use of a laser device that emits a beam towards the surface. Based on the time it takes the ray to spread over the surface and the intensity of the diffused ray, the system equipped with this device is able to detect, in real time and with high precision, the distance of the surface to be machined with respect to a reference. fixed, so as to adapt the position of the machining tool accordingly.

An example of a processing device based on optical technology is described in European patent no. EP1038644B1. In this patent a processing device is described which equips a laser emitter integral with it. In this way, following a relative mode between the workpiece and the processing device, the laser emitting device calculates in real time the variations in the distance of the surface, due to any surface imperfections. In this way, a logic control unit adjusts the position of the working device, consequently to the detections of the laser emitting device.

A problem of the devices according to the known art is that they can carry out machining on one surface of the piece at a time. This means that, in the event that it is necessary to carry out different machining operations on different faces (for example milling or holes using drills), it is necessary to carry out several passages of the piece.

It is clear that this procedure is expensive in terms of processing times and, therefore, economic.

In light of the above, it is therefore an object of the present invention to propose a machining device which has a flexible structure, such as to allow the workpiece to be machined on any face during the movement or passage of the workpiece.

Therefore, the specific object of the present invention is a processing device, for the processing of surfaces of a piece to be worked in wood, plastic, fiberglass, glass and the like, comprising a processing head, capable of moving relative to said piece. to be machined according to three translation axes, and able to rotate with respect to a first rotation axis, said machining head comprising a spindle-holder unit, provided with a spindle, said spindle-holder unit being coupled in rotation to said machining head around a second axis of rotation, and a distance detection device, integral with said spindle-holder unit, adapted to detect the distance of said spindle-holder unit from the surface of said workpiece.

Again according to the invention, said machining head can comprise a fork and by the fact that said spindle-holder unit is coupled in rotation to said fork.

Still according to the invention, said spindle-holder unit can comprise a spindle, to which a machining tool is coupled, such as a cutter, a drill and the like.

Furthermore, according to the invention, said first rotation axis and said second rotation axis can be oriented perpendicularly to each other.

Advantageously according to the invention, said distance detection device can be of the optical and / or contactless type.

Always according to the invention, said distance detection device can comprise a laser emission device, able to emit a laser beam to intercept the surface of the workpiece, such that said beam, by spreading, allows said distance detection device detecting the distance of the point of the surface of said workpiece intercepted by the laser beam.

Advantageously according to the invention, said distance detection device can comprise optical time-of-flight sensors and / or ultrasonic sensors and / or Hall-effect sensors and / or infrared sensors.

Still according to the invention, said distance detection device can be coupled to the side of said spindle-holder unit.

Further according to the invention, said device can comprise means for moving said processing head along two or three translation axes, and can comprise first actuator means for rotating said processing head around said first rotation axis, and said device can comprise second actuator means for rotating said spindle-holder unit about said second axis of rotation.

Advantageously according to the invention, said device can comprise a logic control unit, connected to said device for detecting the distance to said movement means, to said first actuator means and to said second actuator means, such that, on the basis of the detections of said distance detection device, said logic control unit orienting said machining head and said spindle-holder unit in space.

A further object of the present invention is a method of operation of a working device for working the surface of a workpiece made of wood, plastic, fiberglass, glass and the like, comprising the steps of: (a) providing said workpiece having a portion of the surface to be machined; (b) to provide a machining head capable of moving relative to said workpiece according to three translation axes, and capable of rotating with respect to a first axis of rotation, said machining head comprising a spindle-holder unit, provided of a spindle, said spindle-holder unit being coupled in rotation to said machining head about a second axis of rotation; (c) providing a distance detection device, integral with said spindle-holder unit, adapted to detect the distance of said spindle-holder unit from said portion of the surface to be machined of said workpiece; (d) orienting said machining head in space, for machining said portion of the surface of said workpiece; (e) detecting the distance of said spindle-holder unit from said portion of the surface to be machined of said workpiece; and (f) adjusting the position of said spindle-holder unit with respect to said portion of the surface to be machined of said workpiece.

Always according to the invention, said orientation step can provide for the orientation of said machining head according to five degrees of freedom.

Still according to the invention, said orientation step can comprise the translation of said processing head with respect to at least one of said three translation axes, the rotation of said processing head with respect to said first axis of rotation and the rotation of said unit spindle holder with respect to said second rotation axis.

Advantageously according to the invention, said spindle-holder unit can comprise a spindle, to which a machining tool is coupled, such as a cutter, a drill and the like.

Further according to the invention, said step (f) of adjusting the position of said spindle-holder unit can take place after detecting said distance of said spindle-holder unit from a predefined portion of the surface to be machined of said piece.

Still according to the invention, said step (f) of adjusting the position of said spindle-holder unit can take place while the step of detecting said distance of said spindle-holder unit from said portion of the surface to be machined of said piece takes place.

The present invention will now be described for illustrative but not limitative purposes, according to its preferred embodiments, with particular reference to the figures of the attached drawings, in which: figure 1 shows a side view of the improved processing device according to the present invention;

figure 2 shows a front view of the device according to figure 1; And

Figure 3 shows a bottom view of the device according to Figure 1.

In the various figures similar parts will be indicated with the same numerical references.

With reference to the attached figures, a processing device 1 according to the present invention can be seen.

Said machining device 1 essentially comprises a machining head 2, to which a machining tool 3 is operatively coupled for machining a piece P, and a distance detection device 4.

The machining head 2 substantially comprises a fork 21, which in the present embodiment has a single arm, capable of rotating with respect to a first axis A, by means of first actuator means (not shown in the figures). Said first axis A in the case in question is arranged perpendicular to the piece P.

Said machining head 2 also comprises a spindle-holder unit 22, coupled in rotation to said fork 21, so as to be able to rotate with respect to a second rotation axis B, perpendicular to said axis A, by means of second actuator means (not shown in the figures) . Said spindle-holder unit 22 in turn comprises a spindle 23.

The machining tool 3, which in the case in question is a milling cutter, but which can be any other machining tool, is operatively coupled to said spindle 23 of said spindle-holder unit 22.

Said processing head 2 is movable, by means of suitable handling means, with respect to three Cartesian axes X, Y, Z (in the attached figures the Y axis is indicated with a circle and is understood to come out of the sheet).

In this way, said machining head 2 is a five-axis head, such as to be able to orient the machining tool 3 with respect to 5 degrees of freedom:

two degrees of freedom of rotation, with respect to the rotation axes A and B; And

three degrees of freedom of translation, with respect to the three Cartesian axes indicated above X, Y, Z.

The distance detection device 4 is integral with said spindle-holder unit 22, so that, when the latter is arranged in the space according to the 5 degrees of freedom of said machining head 2, said distance detection device 4 is moved rigidly in the space. with said spindle-holder unit 22 and, therefore, with said machining tool 3.

Said distance detection device 4 is capable of emitting a laser beam 41 to intercept the surface of the workpiece P to be machined, such that said beam, by spreading, allows said distance detection device 4 to calculate the distance from it to the point 42 of the surface of said piece P to be machined intercepted by the laser beam 41.

In further embodiments, the distance detection device can be of the optical type or generally without contact (contactless) and comprise, in addition to the means for emitting a laser beam, also optical time-of-flight sensors and / or ultrasonic sensors. and / or Hall effect sensors and / or infrared sensors.

Naturally, the machining head 2 is moved in space by means of suitable motorized members of a known type not shown in the figures. In particular, it is possible to arrange said processing head 2 at the end of an arm or on a mobile device on a bridge plant.

Furthermore, it is generally considered that the degree of freedom relative to the X axis is generally absolved by the relative movement between the piece P and the machining head 2.

The processing device also comprises a control logic unit, not shown in the figure, which can be integrated into the general control logic of the plant on which the device 1 is installed.

The operation of the processing device 1 described above takes place as follows.

Consider the piece P moving along the direction of the X axis as indicated in figure 1 or in figure 3.

In this case, the distance detection device 4 is arranged in front of the machining tool 3. In this way, while the workpiece is moved along said X axis, the distance detection device 4 detects the surface before it occurs. the machining of the tool grip 3.

As can be seen, while the workpiece P is sliding, said distance detection device 4 constantly detects the distance from it to the surface still to be machined of the workpiece P, which is proportional to the distance of the spindle holder 23 from said surface of the workpiece P. In this way, in the event of surface irregularities, the length of the laser beam 41 would vary. This information is immediately transmitted to the logic control unit so as to actuate the moving members of said processing head 2 and said first and second actuator means, so as to orient said processing head 2 in the three-dimensional space as well as in such a way as to orient with respect also to the other 2 degrees of freedom, axis A and axis B, the spindle-holder unit 22 and consequently the machining tool 3.

In a further operating mode, the distance detection device 4 can measure the distance in a point of the piece P to be machined when the tool 3 is not yet engaged on said piece P. Subsequently, the processing device 1 is positioned so that said tool 3 performs the machining with the appropriate depth.

As can be seen, if it were necessary to perform a machining on a lateral surface of the piece P to be machined, it would be sufficient to rotate the spindle-holder unit 22 by about 90 ° with respect to axis B. In this way, the tool 3 would have to machine the side face of the piece P and, at the same time, the distance detection device 4, since it would rotate integrally with said spindle-holder unit 22, would have the laser beam 41 automatically on the new surface to be machined of the machining tool 3.

An advantage of the machining device according to the present invention is that of allowing the machining by means of a tool of any face of the piece to be machined, allowing automatic adaptation to any imperfections of the surface thereof.

A further advantage of the device according to the present invention is that of carrying out continuous measurements, allowing scans of the actual surfaces to be obtained, and therefore, as a particular case, also measuring the position of surfaces in a direction orthogonal to the direction of the spindle axis.

It is also an advantage of the present invention that the system can be implemented very quickly, allowing a better productivity of the machine.

The present invention has been described for illustrative, but not limitative purposes, according to its preferred embodiments, but it is to be understood that variations and / or modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without thereby departing from the relative scope of protection, such as defined by the attached claims.

Claims (16)

CLAIMS 1. Processing device {1), for processing the surfaces of a piece (P) to be worked in wood, plastic, fiberglass, glass and the like, comprising a machining head (2), able to move relative to the workpiece (P) according to three translation axes (X, Y, Z), and able to rotate with respect to a first rotation axis ( A), said machining head (2) comprising a spindle-holder unit (22), provided with a spindle (23), said spindle-holder unit (22) being coupled in rotation to said machining head (2) around a second axis of rotation {B), e a distance detection device (4), integral with said spindle-holder unit (22), able to detect the distance of said spindle-holder unit (22) from the surface of said piece (P) to be machined. Device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said machining head (2) comprises a fork (21) and in that said spindle-holder unit (22) is coupled in rotation to said fork (21). Device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said spindle-holder unit (22) comprises a spindle (23), to which a machining tool (3) is coupled, such as a cutter, a drill and the like . Device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said first axis of rotation (A) and said second axis of rotation (B) are oriented perpendicularly to each other. 5. Device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said distance detection device (4) is of the optical and / or contactless type. 6. Device (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that said distance detection device (4) comprises a laser emission device, able to emit a laser beam (41) to intercept the surface of the piece (P) to be working, such that said beam, spreading, allows said distance detection device (4) to detect the distance of the point (42) of the surface of said workpiece (P) intercepted by the laser beam (41). Device (1) according to any one of claims 5 or 6, characterized in that said distance detection device (4) comprises optical time-of-flight sensors and / or ultrasonic sensors and / or Hall effect sensors and / or infrared sensors. Device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said distance detection device (4) is coupled to the side of said spindle-holder unit (22). Device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by comprising means for moving said machining head (2) along two or three translation axes (X, Y, Z), by the fact of comprising first actuator means for the rotation of said machining head (2) around said first axis of rotation (A), and by comprising second actuator means for rotating said spindle-holder unit (22) around said second rotation axis (B). Device (1) according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises a logic control unit, connected to said distance detection device (4) to said movement means, to said first actuator means and to said second actuator means, such that, on the basis of the readings of said distance detection device (4), said logic control unit orientates said machining head (2) and said spindle-holder unit (22) in space. 11. Method of operation of a processing device (1) for processing the surface of a workpiece (P) made of wood, plastic, fiberglass, glass and the like, comprising the steps of: (a) providing said workpiece (P) having a portion of the surface to be machined; {b) provide a machining head (2) capable of moving relative to said workpiece (P) according to three translation axes (X, Y, Z), and capable of rotating with respect to a first axis (A), said machining head {2) comprising a spindle-holder unit {22), provided with a spindle (23), said spindle-holder unit (22) being coupled in rotation to said machining head (2) around a second axis of rotation <B); (c) providing a distance detection device (4), integral with said spindle-holder unit (22), able to detect the distance of said spindle-holder unit (22) from said portion of surface to be machined of said workpiece (P); (d) orienting said machining head (2) in space, for machining said portion of the surface of said workpiece (P); (e) detecting the distance of said spindle-holder unit (22) from said portion of the surface to be machined of said workpiece (P); And (f) adjusting the position of said spindle-holder unit (22) with respect to said portion of the surface to be machined of said workpiece (P). Method according to claim 11, characterized in that said orientation step (d) provides for the orientation of said machining head (2) according to five degrees of freedom. 13. Method according to any one of claims 11 or 12, characterized in that said orientation step comprises the translation of said machining head (2) with respect to at least one of said three translation axes (X, Y, Z), the rotation of said machining head (2) with respect to said first rotation axis (A) and rotation of said spindle-holder unit (22) with respect to said second rotation axis (B). Method according to any one of claims 11 - 13, characterized in that said spindle-holder unit (22) comprises a spindle (23), to which a machining tool (3), such as a cutter, a drill and the like, is coupled. Method according to any one of claims 11 - 14, characterized in that said step (f) of adjusting the position of said spindle-holder unit (22) occurs after the detection of said distance of said spindle-holder unit (22) from a predefined portion of surface to be machined of said piece (P). Method according to any one of claims 11 - 14, characterized in that said step (f) of adjusting the position of said spindle-holder unit (22) takes place while the step of detecting said distance of said spindle-holder unit (22) from said portion of surface to be machined of said piece (P).