JP2000024861A - Automatic tip replacing device for milling cutter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fully automated cutting edge tip replacing device for a cutting edge tip reference type milling cutter. SOLUTION: A nut runner station 9 additionally provided opposing a dividable recombination table 2 with a milling cutter placed thereon is so constituted that a nut runner 10 is mounted on two support shaft bodies automatically adjustable in height individually so as to be able to cope with the height and tilt angle difference of a clamp screw for mounting a cutting edge tip. A grip hand 16 provided to grip the cutting edge tip is replaced integrally with a robot hand replacing device according to the shape of the tip. An attaching/detaching station 15 with the grip hand 16 placed, is slidable being mounted on a traveling shaft body 20 so as to be able to also cope with the state of the milling cutter being line symmetry.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fully automatic tip changer for a face milling cutter in which a cutting tip is incorporated into a cutter body on the basis of a cutting edge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a prior art relating to the present invention, there is an "apparatus for automatically changing the cutting tip of a milling tool" disclosed in JP-A-6-126572. The technology shown here was completed as a cutting edge chip automatic exchange device by arranging a grip hand, nut runner, cutting edge positioning stopper, cutting edge measuring sensor, etc. around a refill table on which a milling tool is placed. It is. The replacement of the cutting edge tip is performed by a grip hand and a nut runner configured to be able to control the attitude. The newly-exchanged new cutting edge tip has its axial run-out measured by a blade run-out measuring sensor, and the one that deviates from the intersection is corrected and assembled by using a cutting edge positioning stopper.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a fully automatic tip changer which can be applied to a milling cutter called a so-called cutting edge reference regardless of its type and shape. In the above-mentioned prior art, the replacement of the cutting edge tip and the adjustment of the blade runout are automatically performed. However, a technology capable of fully automatic operation is not disclosed. That is, the initial settings for different milling cutters are basically based on manual settings. More specifically, for example, for different shapes of the cutting blade tip, it is necessary to replace the grip hand, but in the past, it was dependent on manual replacement. Conventionally, the blade tip positioning stopper moves the bar micrometer by an air cylinder, and the only correction is manual fine adjustment of the bar micrometer.

[0004] Conventionally, the operation of a nut runner or a blade edge positioning sensor has been driven by an air cylinder as a driving source. Looking at the tilt angle of the axis of the nut runner, the nut is rotated in an arc around the center of rotation.
Depending on the magnitude of the tilt angle, subtle deviations in position accuracy may occur due to the own weight or the unbalanced load. In addition, because it is an air cylinder, the operating speed cannot be controlled,
There was a problem that it was not possible to stop at an intermediate point.

Further, conventionally, it was not possible to cope with the difference in hand of the milling cutter, and one device was required for each hand.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems. First, a removable table which can be indexed is turned by turning a tightening screw of a mounting wedge. A cutting cutter on which a milling cutter with detachable blade tips is freely mounted is mounted, and a grip hand for gripping old and new cutting blade tips and a nut runner for tightening and loosening a tightening screw of the mounting wedge are mounted. In an automatic chip changing device for a milling cutter that automatically changes chips, a nut runner station equipped with the nut runner has two support shafts that are height-adjustable, and the milling cutter has The support shafts are arranged side by side in the longitudinal direction of the diameter so that the heights of the support shafts can be controlled separately. Characterized in that it is carried out.

If the heights of the two support shafts arranged in parallel one after another are simultaneously changed by the same amount, the nut runner mounted on the support shaft moves in parallel, and the height of the shaft center is increased. Are translated. If the heights of the support shafts are separately changed, the axis of the nut runner can be inclined to an arbitrary angle. In this way,
It corresponds to different angle specifications of milling cutter such as corner angle. The two supporting shafts eliminate subtle deviations in the positional accuracy due to the weight of the nut runner and the unbalanced load, and together with the use of an AC servomotor as a drive source, the accuracy of the posture control can be further enhanced.

[0008] Secondly, a milling cutter, on which a cutting edge tip can be freely attached and detached by turning a tightening screw of a mounting wedge, is mounted on an indexable rearrangement table.
In addition, a gripping hand for gripping the old and new cutting edge tips and a nut runner for tightening and loosening the tightening screw of the mounting wedge are mounted, and the automatic tip changing device for the milling cutter automatically changes the cutting edge tips. At the base end of the grip hand, an automatic hand changing device for a robot is provided, and a detachment station equipped with the grip hand is orthogonal to the extension of the diameter of the milling cutter, and And is mounted on a traveling shaft body which is symmetrically distributed and arranged so as to be slidable.

A quick change of the grip hand is realized by combining the grip hand with the automatic hand exchanging device for the robot. Therefore, if the robot is used in attaching and detaching the grip hand, complete automation can be achieved. Depending on the type of milling cutter, the size and clearance angle of the cutting tip differ, and even with the same type of milling cutter, if the hand is different, the hand of the grip hand and the working position will also need to be changed, In order to automate this type of device, automatic replacement of the grip hand is inevitable, and furthermore, it is necessary to be able to slide on a traveling shaft that is symmetrically distributed with respect to the nut runner. is there.

Third, the automatic tip changing device for a milling cutter includes a cutting edge positioning stopper which comes into contact with the cutting edge tip when the cutting edge tip is mounted on the milling cutter and serves as a cutting edge height reference point; A setting station provided with a measurement sensor for measuring the height is attached, and the measurement result is stored by the controller to calculate a correction value of the variation.The cutting edge positioning stopper incorporates an electric cylinder to perform the correction. It is characterized in that fine adjustment based on the value is automatically performed.

Fourth, the setting station is slidably mounted on a traveling shaft that is orthogonal to the extension of the diameter of the milling cutter and that is symmetrically distributed with respect to the nut runner. It is characterized by being constituted so that it becomes.

At the beginning of the measurement, the absolute height of the cutting edge positioning stopper is determined using a block gauge or the like. Next, the tip of the cutting edge tip is brought into contact with the edge positioning stopper, and the screw of the milling cutter is tightened with a nut runner, whereby a milling cutter having a uniform height is obtained. However, in such an operation, the heights of the cutting edges are not the same in actuality due to subtle deformation of the components and the cutter body due to the tightening force, and variations occur. Then, some of them come out of the built-in tolerance that is suitable for cutting.

[0013] Measurement data for each cutting edge position is stored, and for a cutting edge tip that is out of the permissible value of the built-in position, the position of the cutting edge positioning stopper is finely adjusted in advance by an error to correct the position. . The tightening operation and the measuring operation are repeated based on the corrected blade edge positioning stopper, but correction has been performed manually by using a bar micrometer in the past. The present invention achieves complete automation by using an electric cylinder. The setting station can also be slid in accordance with the movement of the position of the detachable station on which the grip hand is mounted.

Fifth, the automatic chip changing device for a milling cutter is provided with a cutting chip supply station for accommodating a new cutting chip, and the cutting chip supply station is provided with the milling cutter. Is mounted on a traveling shaft that is orthogonal to the extension of the diameter of the nut runner and is symmetrically distributed with respect to the nut runner, and is configured to be slidable. The cutting edge chip supply station is also slidable in response to the movement of the attachment / detachment station equipped with the grip hand.

[0015]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the reassignment station 1 includes:
A disc-shaped rearrangement table 2 is incorporated so that it can be automatically indexed. A milling cutter 3 (shown in phantom lines only in FIG. 2) that has been used for cutting and has been cleaned is placed on the reassignment table 2. The reassignment table 2 is configured to be slidable in a direction (hereinafter, referred to as X direction) with respect to a nut runner described below and a direction (hereinafter, referred to as Y direction) orthogonal to the direction.

The milling cutter 3 to which the apparatus is applied is, for example, a throw-away type milling cutter generally called a cutting edge reference cutter shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b). That is, the mounting wedge 7 into which the tightening screw 6 is inserted is incorporated into a plurality of mounting grooves 5 provided on the outer peripheral portion of the cutter body 4 forming an annular body. The cutting blade tip 8 is detachably held between the wall surface of the mounting groove 5 and the mounting wedge 7. In this case, no chip seating surface is provided in the groove direction in the mounting groove 5, and the cutting edge chip 8 is aligned with the cutting blade tip as a reference for positioning, and is mounted in a floating state in the groove direction. Will be. The mounting groove 5 is designed so that the axial rake angle, the central rake angle, and the corner angle are different depending on the type of the milling cutter 3.

1 to 3, reference numeral 9 denotes a nut runner station. The nut runner 10 has a hexagonal bar wrench 11 at the tip so that it can be turned forward and backward and can slide in the X direction. This portion is supported by support shafts 12 arranged before and after in the extending direction of the diameter of the milling cutter 3 (that is, two in a row in the X direction), and these support the nut runner station 9 as a whole. Make up.

The main part of the support shaft 12 is a ball screw 13, two of which can be separately controlled by an AC servomotor 14. Therefore, the two support shafts 12
If the protrusion heights of the nut runners are simultaneously changed by the same amount, the nut runner 10 mounted on the support shaft 12 moves in parallel. If the protruding heights of the support shafts 12 are individually changed, the inclination angle of the axis of the nut runner 10 can be arbitrarily changed as shown by the imaginary line in FIG.

By combining the sliding position of the milling cutter 3 in the X direction and the Y direction, the indexing position in the rotating direction, and the inclination angle of the axis of the nut runner 10, all the angle specifications of the milling cutter 3 can be obtained. The operation position of the tightening screw 6 adapted to the above is obtained. Two support shafts 1
The nut runner 10 supported by the nut 2 is not affected by its own weight or unbalanced load, so that the positional accuracy does not slightly fluctuate and the synergistic effect of using the AC servo motor 14 having excellent positioning accuracy as a driving source. Also,
Extremely accurate attitude control can be obtained.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, reference numeral 15 denotes a detachment station. The attachment / detachment station 15 is constituted by an articulated robot, and a grip hand 16 is attached to a tip end thereof. This grip hand 1
As shown in FIG. 5, reference numeral 6 denotes a tip lever 17, the tip of which is in contact with and supports one flank of the cutting edge chip 8 forming a polygonal flat plate; It is formed by the suction plate 18 which is in contact with the surface. The tip lever 17 is for pressing the tip of the cutting edge tip 8 against a cutting edge positioning stopper, which will be described later. The suction plate 18 has its end face aligned with the flank face of the cutting edge tip 8, and is sucked by vacuum to cut. This is for holding the blade tip 8.

The shape, size, clearance angle and the like of the cutting tip 8 differ depending on the kind of the milling cutter 3. Therefore, the shape of the tip of the grip hand 16 must also be changed according to the difference in the cutting tip 8. Also,
Even if the milling cutter 3 is different in its own right, it is necessary to make the end face angle of the suction plate 18 reverse.

This device is characterized in that the problem is solved by exchanging the entire grip hand 16 from the base end, instead of using the grip hand 16 at the distal end. That is, a robot automatic hand exchanging device 19 is adopted at the base end of various grip hands 16 prepared in advance in accordance with the required shape, thereby achieving complete automation. The robot automatic hand exchange device 19
For example, a pneumatic circuit is switched by an electromagnetic valve, and components constituting the fastening structure are moved and controlled.

The attachment / detachment station 15 is mounted on a traveling shaft 20 which is arranged in the Y direction and symmetrically arranged with the nut runner station 9 interposed therebetween. The traveling shaft 20 incorporates a ball screw 13 driven by an AC servomotor 14, and
Sliding is possible. This makes it possible to handle both the right-handed and left-handed milling cutters 3.

This device is provided with a cutting edge chip supply station 21 at an intermediate position between the reassignment station 1 and the attachment / detachment station 15. The cutting blade tip supply station 21 is provided with a traveling shaft 2 disposed in parallel with and substantially at the same length as the traveling shaft 20 on which the attaching / detaching station 15 is mounted.
2 A ball screw 13 driven by an AC servomotor 14 is incorporated in the traveling shaft 22. In the cutting blade chip supply station 21, a cylindrical chip cartridge 23 is set up, and the cutting blade chips 8 having new cutting blades are stacked and stored therein. Then, the lowermost cutting blade tip 8 in the tip cartridge 23 is pushed by the push bar inserted from the side and the tip table 2
4 extruded.

The milling cutter 3 that has been used for cutting and has been cleaned is put on the reassignment table 2, and the tightening screw 6 is loosened by the nut runner 10. The free-cutting tip 8 is held by the grip hand 16 and collected in the collection box 25. The main body of the nut runner 10 is provided with a nozzle (not shown), and the mounting groove 5 is cleaned again by air blow. Next, the cutting edge chip 8 having a new cutting edge waiting on the chip table 24 of the cutting edge chip supply station 21.
Is picked up by the grip hand 16, carried to the milling cutter 3, and fixed by the nut runner 10. At this time, the position of the attachment / detachment station 15 which slides in accordance with the difference of the milling cutter 3 is adjusted.
The cutting tip supply station 21 can also move on the traveling shaft 22.

The apparatus is also provided with a setting station 26. The setting station 26 is mounted on a traveling shaft 27 provided in a direction orthogonal to the extension of the diameter of the milling cutter 3,
It is configured to be slidable by a ball screw driven by an AC servomotor incorporated in the motor. In this embodiment, the traveling shaft 27 is arranged in the Y direction,
It may be in the X direction.

The setting station 26 is an XY
It is formed by a cutting edge positioning stopper 28 having an axis in a direction perpendicular to the surface, that is, a vertical direction, and a measurement sensor 29. The blade positioning stopper 28 is an electric cylinder 30 composed of a small drive motor and a ball screw.
Is formed with a stopper at the tip. Therefore, high-precision positioning in the vertical direction can be performed under the control of the controller. On the other hand, the measurement sensor 29 is, for example, an electric micrometer.

The new cutting tip 8 supplied from the cutting tip supply station 21 is positioned by bringing the tip of the cutting blade into contact with the blade positioning stopper 28, and the nut runner 10 advances the tightening and fixing operation with a specified torque. Can be After all the cutting edge chips 8 are assembled, the height of the cutting edge is measured by the measuring sensor 29, and the measured value is stored in the controller.

If the measurement results show a variation exceeding the allowable value, a correction value is calculated for a portion outside the allowable value. Fine adjustment is automatically made to the blade edge positioning stopper 28 based on the obtained correction value, and the blade edge positioning stopper 28 is tightened and fixed again based on the corrected blade edge positioning stopper 28. In this way, the cycle of the measurement and the correction is repeated, and when the deflection of all the cutting edges falls within the allowable value, the replacement operation of the cutting edge tips 8 is completed.

[0030]

The present invention realizes a fully automatic device for exchanging cutting tips in a milling cutter mounted on the basis of a cutting edge, and basically uses a ball screw driven by an AC servomotor as a driving source. The moving part is slidable by applying it to the nut runner, attachment / detachment, cutting edge chip supply, and measurement stations, so that all postures can be controlled extremely accurately regardless of the type of milling cutter.

In particular, in the nut runner station, the head is supported by two support shafts, thereby further improving the position accuracy of the nut runner. In addition, since the grip hand can be quickly changed with the grip hand by a robot hand exchanging device, it is possible to automatically cope with a milling cutter having a different hand.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG. 1;

4A and 4B are examples of a blade edge reference cutter, in which FIG. 4A is a front view of a part, and FIG. 4B is a longitudinal sectional view near the cutting blade.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a grip hand according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 rearrangement station 3 milling cutter 8 cutting tip 5 mounting groove 6 tightening screw 7 mounting wedge 9 nut runner station 10 nut runner 12 support shaft 15 detachment station 16 grip hand 19 robot hand exchange device 21 cutting edge chip supply station 26 Setting Station 28 Blade Positioning Stopper 29 Measurement Sensor 30 Electric Cylinder

Claims (5)

[Claims] A reciprocating table that can be indexed is provided with a milling cutter that allows a cutting blade tip to be freely attached and detached by turning a tightening screw of a mounting wedge.
In an automatic chip changing device for a milling cutter, which is equipped with a grip hand for gripping a new and old cutting blade tip and a nut runner for loosening and loosening a tightening screw of the mounting wedge, the cutting blade chip is automatically replaced. In the nut runner station on which the nut runner is mounted, two support shafts that can be adjusted in height are arranged side by side in the direction in which the diameter of the milling cutter extends so that the height of the support shaft can be adjusted. An automatic tip changer for a milling cutter, wherein the height adjustment is performed using an AC servomotor as a drive source. 2. A milling cutter in which a cutting blade tip can be freely attached and detached by turning a tightening screw of a mounting wedge is placed on an indexable rearrangement table.
In an automatic chip changing device for a milling cutter, which is equipped with a grip hand for gripping a new and old cutting blade tip and a nut runner for loosening and loosening a tightening screw of the mounting wedge, the cutting blade chip is automatically replaced. An automatic hand changing device for a robot is provided at the base end of the grip hand, and a detachment station equipped with the grip hand is orthogonal to an extension of the diameter of the milling cutter and symmetric with respect to the nut runner. An automatic chip changing device for a milling cutter, wherein the automatic chip changing device is configured to be slidably mounted on a traveling shaft body which is arranged and distributed. 3. An automatic tip changer for a milling cutter, comprising: a cutting edge positioning stopper which comes into contact with the cutting edge tip when the cutting edge tip is mounted on the milling cutter and serves as a cutting edge height reference point; A setting station equipped with a measurement sensor for measuring is provided, and a measurement result is stored by the controller, and a correction value for variation is calculated.The cutting edge positioning stopper incorporates an electric cylinder and has a built-in electric cylinder. 3. An automatic tip changer for a milling cutter according to claim 1, wherein the fine adjustment based on the automatic tip change is performed automatically. 4. The setting station is slidably mounted on a traveling shaft that is orthogonal to an extension of the diameter of the milling cutter and that is symmetrically distributed with respect to the nut runner. The automatic tip changer for a milling cutter according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the automatic tip changer is configured as described above. 5. An automatic tip changer for a milling cutter is provided with a cutting tip supply station for accommodating a new cutting tip, wherein the cutting tip supply station is provided with a diameter of the milling cutter. 2. A structure according to claim 1, wherein the slidable member is mounted on a traveling shaft disposed orthogonally to the extension of the nut runner and distributed symmetrically with respect to the nut runner so as to be slidable.
An automatic tip changer for a milling cutter according to any one of claims 1 to 4.