JP2001205536A - Work feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a work feeder that can prevent a concurrent feed of a waiting workpiece when feeding a next machined workpiece to a machine tool. SOLUTION: The work feeder 2 comprises a work stocking device 8 for storing and holding workpieces W in a pile and moving a next machined workpiece W1 to a work pickup position A, and a loader 9 for picking up the next machined workpiece W1 at the work pickup position A and feeding it to a work machining position B on a lathe 1. An air cylinder mechanism 30 (work separating means) is arranged to separate a waiting workpiece W2 from the next machined workpiece W1 that it follows when the next machined workpiece W1 is picked up.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a work supply apparatus which automatically supplies a next work stored and held in a work stocker to a machine tool by a loader.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a recent machine tool such as a lathe, in order to cope with a continuous operation, a next work to be taken out from a work stored and held in a work stocker is taken out by a loader and automatically mounted on a spindle of the machine tool. There is a case where the work supply device configured as described above is provided.

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, a work stocker 5 for vertically storing and holding works W in a vertically stacked manner by a guide shaft 51 is provided.
2 and a loader 55 having a pair of hands 53 and 54. The loader 55 takes out the next work W1 located on the uppermost stage of the guide shaft 51 with one hand 53, conveys the work W1 to the work processing position of the spindle, and removes the processed work mounted on the spindle with the other hand 54. Upon receipt, the next work W1 is supplied to the spindle.

[0004]

However, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, the standby work W
When the second convex portion 2 is engaged, the standby work W2 may follow the next work W1 when the next work W1 is taken out, and the work W1 and W2 may be conveyed together to the main shaft side. And may damage the workpiece.

[0005] Even when there is no unevenness on the work, if the work is wet with lubricating oil or the like, the work may stick together and may be conveyed together as described above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides a work supply apparatus which can prevent a standby work from being carried together with a next work to be carried to a machine tool. It is intended to be.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a work stocker for storing and holding works in a stacked state and moving a next work to a work take-out position, and taking out the next work in the work take-out position. And a loader for supplying the workpiece to a workpiece processing position of the machine tool, wherein a work separating means is provided for separating the standby workpiece following the next workpiece from the next workpiece when the next workpiece is taken out. It is characterized by that.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the work separating means inserts a piston into the cylinder so as to be able to advance and retreat, and causes the piston rod connected to the piston to protrude outward. A cylinder mechanism is characterized in that when the next work is taken out, the piston rod is extended to abut on the standby work to separate the standby work from the next work.

[0009]

According to the work supply apparatus of the present invention, when the next work is taken out of the work stocker by the loader, the standby work following the next work is forcibly separated. Even when the standby work bites into or sticks to the processed work, it is not conveyed together, and there is an effect of preventing damage to the machine and the work.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the standby work is separated from the next work by contacting the piston rod of the fluid pressure cylinder mechanism. Therefore, the follow-up of the standby work can be prevented with a simple structure.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 3 are views for explaining a work supply apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 1 and 2 are a front view, a plan view, and a view, respectively, of a lathe provided with a work supply apparatus. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the operation of the work supply device.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a lathe provided with a work supply device 2. The lathe 1 has a spindle 5 provided with a chuck 4 for gripping a work by a headstock 3 fixed on a bed (not shown). It has a schematic structure in which a tool rest 6 rotatably supported and having a tool T mounted on the back side of the bed is movable in the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis directions.

The work supply device 2 includes a work stocker 8 for stacking and holding the works W in a vertical direction, a loader 9 for taking out the next work W1 from the work stocker 8 and supplying the work W1 to the chuck 4 of the lathe 1. It has.

The loader 9 includes a gate-shaped guide rail 10 extending horizontally (Z-axis) above the lathe 1 and the work stocker 8, and a main axis (Z-axis) direction along the guide rail 10. And a loader arm 11 that is movable in the vertical (Y-axis) direction and can be positioned at a desired position.

A loader head 12 is attached to the lower end of the loader arm 11. A revolving body 13 is attached to the loader head 12 such that the revolving body 13 can rotate by 90 degrees around an axis perpendicular to the axis of the loader arm 11 by a drive mechanism (not shown).

The revolving body 13 has a next work W
1, a hand 15 for gripping the processed work W0,
16 are mounted in parallel. Both hands 15,1
Reference numeral 6 denotes a structure in which the revolving body 13 is turned 90 degrees to face the left side in the Z-axis direction (see the broken line in FIG. 1) and the lower side in the Y-axis direction (see the solid lines in FIGS. 1 and 3).

The work stocker 8 pivotally supports a pair of sprockets 21 and 21 on a gantry 20, and winds an endless chain 22 around both sprockets 21 so as to circulate on a horizontal plane on the upper surface of the gantry 20. A plurality of pallets 23 are mounted on the pallet 22 at equal intervals. The one sprocket 21 is rotationally driven by a drive mechanism (not shown), whereby the pallet 23 is circulated.

Each pallet 23 has a guide shuff 25.
Are vertically erected, and a work elevating plate 26 on a disk is arranged so as to be able to move up and down along the guide shaft 25. The work elevating plate 26 is configured to move the work W in the vertical direction by an elevating drive mechanism (not shown) and position the next processing work W1 located at the uppermost end at the work takeout position A.

The gantry 20 is provided with an air cylinder mechanism 30 as a work separating means. The air cylinder mechanism 30 has a structure in which a piston (not shown) is inserted into a cylinder 31 so as to be able to advance and retreat, and a piston rod 32 connected to the piston is projected outward. Supply of compressed air,
The switching of the interruption causes the piston rod 32 to move forward and backward.

The cylinder 31 is fixedly mounted on a support 33 fixed to the gantry 20 via a bracket 34, and the tip of the piston rod 32 stands by after the next work W1 located at the work take-out position A. It is arranged so as to be directed to the waiting work W2 to be performed. A cushion material 35 made of rubber or the like is attached to the tip of the piston rod 32.

The air cylinder mechanism 30 is set so that the piston rod 32 projects when the loader arm 11 is lowered and the next work W1 is gripped and lifted by one hand 15. The rod 32 comes into contact with the standby work W2 to separate it from the next work W1.

Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described.

The loader arm 11 descends in the Y-axis direction, grips the next work W1 transferred to the work take-out position A of the guide shaft 25 by one hand 15, and holds the next work W1 while holding the next work W1. It rises slightly in the axial direction.

At this time, the piston rod 32 of the air cylinder mechanism 30 projects and the cushion material 3 at the tip thereof
5 contacts the standby work W2 following the next work W1,
This prevents the standby work W2 from rising following the next work W1.

After the revolving unit 13 moves to the rising end in the Y-axis direction, the revolving unit 13 turns the hands 15 and 16 toward the side facing the chuck 4. Next, the loader arm 11 moves to the main spindle side in the Z-axis direction along the guide rail 10, and waits until the machining is completed.

When the finishing of the semi-worked workpiece held by the chuck 4 of the lathe 1 is completed, the tool rest 6 is in a standby position at the back of the bed. Then, the loader arm 11 is lowered in the Y-axis direction, and the other empty hand 16 is positioned at the work processing position B facing the chuck 4.

The hand 16 moves to the chuck side in the Z-axis direction, grips the processed work W0 gripped by the chuck 4, and then retracts slightly in the Z-axis direction to move the processed work W0.
Extract 0. In this state, the hand 15 is lowered in the Y-axis direction, one hand 15 is positioned at the work processing position B, advances in the Z-axis direction, and the next work W1 is mounted and gripped on the chuck 4, and in this manner, the work W Exchange is performed.

Next, after the loader arm 11 moves up in the Y-axis direction, it moves to the work stocker side in the Z-axis direction.
5 is turned downward and lowered in the Y-axis direction to insert the processed work W0 into the recovery guide shaft 25 ', whereby the processed work W0 is stored in the work stocker 8.

As described above, when the next work W1 is lifted from the work take-out position A, the next standby work W2 following the next work W1 is engaged and follows the next work W1 together. There was a concern that they would be transported.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, when the next work W1 is gripped and lifted by the hand 15, the piston rod 32 of the air cylinder mechanism 30 projects and abuts the standby work W2, and the standby work W2 is pressed. Since the rise of W2 is prevented, the problem that the standby work W2 is conveyed together with the next work W1 can be solved.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the gantry 20
The air cylinder mechanism 30 is attached to the
Is arranged so as to contact the standby work W2 located next to the next processing work W1, so that when the next processing work W1 is lifted by the hand 15, the standby work W2 is forcibly moved by the piston rod 32 to the next processing work W1. When the convex portion of the standby work W2 is engaged with the concave portion of the next processed work W1 and is joined, the two works W1 and W2 are not transported together, and the machine and the work are not separated. The concern of damage can be eliminated.

In this embodiment, since the means for separating the standby work W2 is constituted by the air cylinder mechanism 30, it can be realized with a simple structure and without increasing the number of parts.

In the above embodiment, the next work W
Although the case where the piston rod 32 is always brought into contact with the standby work W2 to prevent the standby work W2 from being lifted when the lifter 1 is lifted has been described, the separation method of the present invention is not limited to this. . For example, the position of the standby work may be detected by a position detection sensor, and the piston rod may be projected only when the standby work moves.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a lathe provided with a work supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the lathe.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an operation of the work supply device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a problem caused by a conventional work supply device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lathe (machine tool) 2 Work supply device 8 Work stocker 9 Loader 30 Air cylinder mechanism (Work separation means) 31 Cylinder 32 Piston rod A Work take-out position B Work processing position W Work W Primary work W2 Standby work

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A work stocker for storing and holding works in a stacked state and moving a next work to a work take-out position, and a loader for taking out the next work to be taken from the work take-out position and supplying the work to a work working position of a machine tool. And a work separating means for separating a standby work following the next work from the next work when the next work is taken out. 2. A fluid pressure cylinder mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said work separating means inserts a piston into the cylinder so as to be able to advance and retreat, and projects a piston rod connected to the piston outward. A work supply device configured to extend the piston rod and contact the standby work when the next work is taken out, thereby separating the standby work from the next work.