JP2002006915A - Method and apparatus for making nc data for machining of metal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make NC data by automatically recognizing Z-axis coordinate data and inputting machining method and conditions automatically, from even the CAD data produced using two-dimensional CAD software or CAD software without having sophisticated three dimensional function. SOLUTION: Prepared preliminarily are a Z-axis coordinate database that assigns Z-axis coordinates to the attributes assigned to the graph elements, which are made by CAD software, of the CAD data for the work, machining means database that assigns machining methods to the shape and attributes of the graph elements of the CAD data, and machining condition database that assigns machining conditions to the shape, attributes and machining means of graph elements of the CAD data. The CAD software produces CAD data giving the attributes corresponding to the Z-axis coordinate to each graph element of the work, automatically assigns the Z-axis coordinates and other necessary machining information data from that attributes, and makes outputs NC data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of cutting a work by an NC machining center or the like.
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for creating NC data including data such as processing conditions. More specifically, CAD software that can handle only two-dimensional data of the XY axis system, or a height component Z that does not have an advanced three-dimensional processing function
CAD that cannot completely handle axial data
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus capable of automatically creating complete NC data including three-dimensional data from CAD data created by software.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, CAD (Computer Aidded Design) is frequently used for designing printed wiring boards and the like, and accordingly, CAD (Computer Aiddeed) is calculated from CAD data of a work created by the CAD software.
d Manufacturing) is being used. For example, in the cutting of a workpiece, the workpiece is cut by controlling an NC (Numerical Control) machine such as an NC machining center. Therefore, the CAM data includes the cutting shape and dimensions of the workpiece, the tool for cutting the workpiece, and the processing method. And data including cutting conditions at that time are required.

In a conventional method of creating this kind of NC data, necessary information items related to machining are prepared as a database, and the necessary information items as described above are sequentially called from the database, and the necessary information items are allocated. A method of creating and outputting as NC data is adopted.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION As described above, NC
There are two problems in creating data.
One of them is that it is necessary to input the shapes to be machined one by one and let the CAM software recognize them. Another is that the operator needs to input information such as processing conditions suitable for the shape.

[0005] Shape recognition itself is performed by three-dimensional CAD / CA.
M is common, but 2D CAD / CAM
When a so-called 2.5-dimensional CAD / CAM having no advanced three-dimensional processing function such as a modeling function is used, the data of the Z-axis coordinate is generally set manually separately.

The same applies to the setting of processing conditions and the like. Since the set value may vary for each processing step,
It is not always constant. From these, CA
When the NC data is created from the D data, a manual input operation is required, and there is a problem that a lot of trouble is required.

[0007] In view of such problems in the conventional means for creating NC data, the present invention has been created using two-dimensional CAD software or so-called 2.5-dimensional CAD software that does not have an advanced three-dimensional function. It is an object of the present invention to automatically recognize the Z-axis coordinate data even for the CAD data of a work, and to automatically set a processing method and processing conditions based on the Z-axis coordinate data so that NC data can be created.

[0008]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, an attribute in which coordinates in the Z-axis direction are assigned to attributes assigned to graphic elements of CAD data of a work created in advance by CAD software. , A machining means database in which machining methods are assigned to the shapes and attributes of graphic elements of CAD data, and machining conditions are assigned to the shapes, attributes and machining means of graphic elements in CAD data. A working condition database is created and stored. The CAD software creates CAD data while giving each graphic element of the work an attribute in accordance with the Z-axis coordinate. The database automatically converts the Z-axis coordinate of the graphic element and necessary processing information data from the attribute. NC data can be created and output.

In other words, the method for creating NC data according to the present invention is a method for creating CA data for a workpiece created by CAD software.
A Z-axis coordinate database corresponding to attributes in which coordinates in the Z-axis direction are assigned to attributes assigned to graphic elements of D data, and a processing means that allocates a processing method to the shape and attributes of graphic elements in CAD data of a work. A database and a processing condition database in which the processing conditions are assigned to the shape, attribute, and processing means of the graphic element of the CAD data of the work are prepared. Then, by using CAD software capable of handling two-dimensional coordinates in the XY directions, the CAD is performed while giving each graphic element of the work an attribute corresponding to the Z-axis coordinate.
Creating data; determining, for the attribute indicating the Z-axis coordinate of the graphic element in the CAD data, determining the Z-axis coordinate of the graphic element using a Z-axis coordinate database corresponding to the attribute; Determining a processing method for the portion from the processing means database from the shape and attribute of the graphic element of
A step of determining machining conditions for the part from the machining condition database based on the shape and attribute of the graphic element of the data and a method for machining the part, the CAD data is processed, and the NC machine cuts the workpiece with the NC machine. Output as data.

As the attributes of the graphic element indicating the Z-axis coordinates, various attributes given to graphic elements such as line segments on CAD data can be used. For example, it is C
A layer on which the graphic element on the AD data is placed, a color given to the graphic element, a line type given to the graphic element, and the like can be given. In particular, the layer on which the graphic element is located will be most accessible.

An NC data creating apparatus for implementing such an NC data creating method assigns coordinates in the Z-axis direction to attributes assigned to graphic elements of CAD data of a workpiece created by CAD software. A Z-axis coordinate database corresponding to the attribute, a processing means database in which processing methods are allocated to the shapes and attributes of the graphic elements, and a processing condition database in which processing conditions are allocated to the shapes, attributes and processing means of the graphic elements. Having. Further, the CAD software creates an attribute indicating the Z-axis coordinate of the graphic element in the CAD data created while giving an attribute to each graphic element according to the Z-axis coordinate. Graphic element Z
Means for determining the axis coordinates, means for determining the machining method of the part by the machining means database based on the shape and attribute of the graphic element of the CAD data of the work, and shape and attribute of the graphic element of the CAD data of the work. And means for determining the processing condition of the part from the processing condition database based on the processing method of the part.

In such an NC data creation method, CA
The attribute given to the graphic element of the work created by the D software is used as information indicating the Z-axis coordinate, and the assigned Z-axis coordinate is registered in the database. For this reason,
On CAD data drawings, two-dimensional CAD software that cannot handle Z-axis coordinates,
Even with CAD data created using dimensional CAD software, troublesome manual setting is greatly reduced, and NC data can be created by automatically acquiring the Z-axis coordinates.

Further, the machining tool, the machining method, the machining conditions, and the like can be obtained from the database and assigned based on the Z-axis coordinates and the two-dimensional shape and dimensions of the graphic element. NC from input
The process up to data creation can be performed automatically by software processing. As a result, manual input work can be significantly reduced.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described specifically and in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a method for creating NC data according to the present invention.
FIG. 1 is an overview diagram showing a general computer hardware system from creation of CAD data of a work by AD software to creation of NC data and output to an NC machine 7.

A keyboard 2, a mouse 3, and a digitizer 4 are connected to the computer main body 1 as input devices.
A display 5 for displaying the processing state and the created drawing is connected. Further, a hard copy output device 6 for outputting a hard copy such as a plotter or a printer is connected. Also, the created NC data is
Output to C machine 7.

FIG. 2 is a system diagram showing a connection relationship between the computer main body 1 and its peripheral devices. The computer main body 1 has a microprocessor 11 mounted thereon, and further has a RAM (Rand Rand).
A main storage device 12 composed of an om acces memory) and an I / O unit 14 for controlling input / output are connected by a data bus. Further, the I / O unit 14 is connected to an IDE data bus or P
An external storage device 13 such as a hard disk, an optical disk, or a magneto-optical disk via a CI bus and a SCSI adapter
It is connected to the. For example, the illustrated external storage device 13
Indicates a boot disk for reading the operation system into the main storage device 12.

Several databases are constructed in the external storage device 13. First, as described later, CAD
This is a database in which the correspondence between the attribute of each graphic element and the Z-axis coordinate is associated with the CAD data of the work created by the software. For example, it is the Z-axis coordinate database 15 corresponding to the layer in which the correspondence between the layer (Layer) where each graphic element is placed and the Z-axis coordinate is associated. Here, the graphic element refers to an element such as a line segment, a surface, or the like for indicating the external shape and internal structure of the work in the CAD data. In the design and drafting by CAD software, these graphic elements are created so as to belong to one of the layers, and a Z-axis coordinate component is allocated to each layer, and a certain layer is assigned to which Z-axis coordinate. The database corresponding to the existence is the Z-axis coordinate database 15 corresponding to the image layer. This is constructed as data that can be read by CAD software, CAM software, and NC data creation software, and can be converted from the image layer to the corresponding Z-axis coordinates.

Another database stores the shape of the graphic element of the CAD data and the Z-axis coordinate corresponding to the image layer.
This is a processing means database 16 to which processing methods are assigned. Here, depending on the shape of the graphic element of the CAD data and the attribute, a tool to be used and a processing method using the same, for example, drilling by a drill, concave processing by an end mill, counterbore processing by milling, etc.
A processing tool and a processing method are allocated based on information on the shape and dimensions of the processing target portion of the work obtained from the shape and attribute of the graphic element of the CAD data. Further, this data is associated with information such as the shape of the graphic element and the image layer of the CAD data.

Further, another database is a machining condition database 1 in which machining conditions are assigned to the shape, layer, and machining means of graphic elements of CAD data of a work.
7 Here, processing conditions are set for each of the shape of the graphic element of the CAD data and the image layer and the processing means selected thereby, and are set to the shape, the layer and the processing means of the graphic element of the CAD data. It is a database that can be referred to correspondingly. For example, CAD of work
If the shape of the graphic element of the data is a circle, the Z-axis coordinate is −t with respect to the surface of the work, and if t is the thickness of the work, the processing means is determined as drilling by a drill, and at the same time, The drill diameter is determined by the shape and size of the processed part of the work, for example, the diameter of the hole. Subsequently, the processing conditions, for example, the spindle rotation speed and feed, are determined by the processing condition database 17 based on the drill diameter.

FIG. 3 illustrates N using such a system.
It shows a procedure for creating C data. First, C
Work design and drafting using AD software. As the input device, the keyboard 2, mouse 3, and digitizer 4 shown in FIG. 1 are mainly used. The keyboard 2 is used to input numerical values, commands and their options. The mouse can be used to specify the coordinates on the screen,
Under the GUI (Graphic UsersInterfasce) environment,
Also used to enter commands and their options. The digitizer 4 is a device capable of inputting absolute coordinates with respect to coordinates on a screen, and can be used to input a figure drawn on paper as absolute coordinates. In a non-GUI environment, commands and their options can be assigned to the digitizer by editing the menu file of the CAD software, and the commands and their options can be input with a pointing cursor.

Next, the drawing created by the CAD software is output as CAD data. The data format of CAD data employs various formats, and there is almost no compatibility. Even if the CAD data is created by the same kind of CAD software of the same company, compatibility is often lost if the CAD software version is different.
The only thing that has wide compatibility is Autodesk
desk) DXF (Data eXchange Forma)
t) format. This is because AutoCAD (registered trademark) of three-dimensional CAD software provided by Autodesk and AutoCAD L of two-dimensional CAD software are provided.
A data format used by T.RTM., Which has become the de facto industry standard format for exchanging two-dimensional and three-dimensional CAD data.

The DXF format is generally used as the format of the CAD data to be used. However, if the CAD software used in the company or factory is unified into one type, or if the output data file is limited to a plurality of types of CAD software that are compatible with each other, the CAD software specific It is convenient to use CAD data in the form.

Next, the outputted CAD data is processed by the database. First, the shape and size of a graphic element that is a specific processing target in CAD data of a work are read, and the shape and size of two-dimensional XY coordinates are grasped. Further, the layer on which the graphic element is placed is read, and information on the Z-axis coordinates of the graphic element is obtained from the Z-axis coordinate database corresponding to the layer. Thereby, the two-dimensional C created by the two-dimensional CAD software
Even with the AD data, information on three-dimensional coordinates including the Z-axis coordinates of the graphic element can be obtained.

Next, from the information on the three-dimensional coordinates of the graphic element, the tool to be used and the method of machining by the tool are determined by the machining means database 16 described above. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, in the two-dimensional CAD data, when there are two circles having the same diameter on the metal plate M, one is in the layer A and the other is in the layer B, Layer A
Corresponds to the Z-axis coordinate of -t with respect to the surface of the work, the image layer B corresponds to the Z-axis coordinate of -t / 2 with respect to the surface of the work, and t is the thickness of the work. If so,
It can be seen that the former is a through hole and the latter is a recess.
As a result, according to the processing means database 16, the former is determined as the drilling processing by the drill, and the latter is determined as the pitting processing by the end mill. At the same time, the nominal diameter of the drill or end mill to be used is determined from the information of the XY two-dimensional dimensions.

In this manner, the XY-
After the information on the three-dimensional dimension of Z and the information on the processing means are determined, the processing conditions for the determined processing means are determined by the processing condition database 17. For example, information on the XYZ three-dimensional dimensions of the graphic element and processing conditions suitable for the processing means thereof, for example, the spindle rotation speed and feed suitable for the drill or end mill to be used are determined, and at the same time, information on the Z-axis coordinates. Determines the cutting depth.

The NC data is created as an accumulation of information of each graphic element requiring such processing, and is output to an NC machine such as an NC machining center. This allows
Work designed and drafted by CAD software is N
It is sent to the processing stage of the C machine and is NC machined.

In the example shown in FIG. 4 described above, the simple size of the graphic element has been described as an example.
The information on the axis coordinates includes incidental dimensional elements such as dimensional tolerance and surface roughness. For example, when it is necessary to keep the hole diameter or dent diameter within a certain dimensional tolerance, or when it is necessary to process the surface to a predetermined surface roughness or less, after cutting with a drill or end mill, secondary processing such as inner surface polishing May be required. These data are determined by referring to the processing means database 16 and the processing condition database 17 in the same manner as described above from the additional dimensional elements such as the dimensional tolerance and surface roughness of the CAD data.

In the above-described example, the layer in which the graphic element is placed is used to determine the Z-axis coordinates from the graphic element of the CAD figure of the workpiece by the Z-axis coordinate database corresponding to the layer. As the attribute of the graphic element indicating the Z-axis coordinate,
In addition to the above-mentioned image layers, the color and line type of the graphic element can be used. In this case, a Z-axis coordinate database corresponding to a color or Z-axis coordinate data corresponding to a line type is constructed as a database for obtaining information on Z-axis coordinates. By using a plurality of attributes such as a layer, a color, a line type, and the like as attributes of the graphic element, a database in which more information is allocated can be constructed.

[0029]

As described above, in the NC data creation method and apparatus according to the present invention, a work created using two-dimensional CAD software or so-called 2.5-dimensional CAD software having no advanced three-dimensional functions. CAD
Even in the case of data, information different from dimensions of graphic elements such as layers is used as data indicating Z-axis coordinates, and data of Z-axis coordinates can be automatically set by a database in addition to XY-axis coordinates. I have to. Furthermore, based on this, the NC data can be created by automatically inputting the processing method and processing conditions. For this reason, the manual input operation is greatly reduced, and the NC can be easily executed on software without human intervention.
You will be able to create data. Therefore, there is an effect that the working efficiency of the working process is improved by reducing the number of working steps and preventing an artificial working error at the time of data working.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a system for implementing an NC data creation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a system for implementing an NC data creation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for creating NC data by an NC data creation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view showing a CAD screen of a part of a work and a processing example of the work showing a concept when creating NC data by the NC data creating method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Computer main body 13 External storage device 15 Z-axis coordinate database corresponding to a layer 16 Processing means database 17 Processing condition database

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A method for creating NC data including machining dimensions, machining methods and machining conditions for cutting a workpiece from CAD data of the workpiece, wherein the NC data is assigned to graphic elements of CAD data of the workpiece created by CAD software. Z-axis coordinate database corresponding to attributes in which the coordinates in the Z-axis direction are allocated to the attributes to be processed, a processing means database in which the processing method is allocated to the shape and attribute of the graphic element of the CAD data of the work, and the CAD data of the work A processing condition database in which processing conditions are allocated to the shape, attribute, and processing means of the graphic elements of the above is prepared, and CAD software capable of handling two-dimensional coordinates in the XY directions is used in accordance with each graphic element attribute of the workpiece. CA with given Z-axis coordinates
Creating D data; determining, for the attribute indicating the Z-axis coordinate of the graphic element in the CAD data, determining the Z-axis coordinate of the graphic element using a Z-axis coordinate database corresponding to the attribute; Determining a processing method for the part from the processing means database from the shape and attribute of the graphic element of the data;
CAD data is processed by the step of determining the processing condition of the part from the processing condition database based on the shape and attribute of the graphic element of the D data and the processing method of the part, and this is output as NC data to be processed by the NC machine. NC data creation method for cutting. 2. The attribute of a graphic element indicating a Z-axis coordinate is CA
2. The NC data creating method according to claim 1, wherein the graphic element is a layer on which the same graphic element is placed on the D data. 3. The attribute of a graphic element indicating a Z-axis coordinate is CA
2. The NC data creating method according to claim 1, wherein the color is given to the same graphic element on the D data. 4. The attribute of a graphic element indicating a Z-axis coordinate is CA
2. The NC data creating method according to claim 1, wherein the line type is given to the same graphic element on the D data. 5. An apparatus for creating NC data including machining dimensions, machining methods and machining conditions for cutting a workpiece from CAD data of the workpiece, wherein the NC data is assigned to graphic elements of the CAD data of the workpiece created by CAD software. Z-axis coordinate database corresponding to attributes in which the coordinates in the Z-axis direction are allocated to the attributes to be processed, a processing means database in which the processing method is allocated to the shape and attribute of the graphic element of the CAD data of the work, and the CAD data of the work And a machining condition database in which machining conditions are assigned to the shapes, attributes and machining means of the graphic elements, and CAD software capable of handling two-dimensional coordinates in the X-Y direction is used for Z-elements corresponding to the respective graphic element attributes. CA created while giving axis coordinates
For the attribute indicating the Z-axis coordinate of the graphic element in the D data,
Means for determining a Z-axis coordinate of the graphic element by a Z-axis coordinate database corresponding to the attribute;
The means for determining the processing method of the part by the processing means database from the shape and attribute of the graphic element of the D data, and the processing condition from the shape and attribute of the graphic element of the CAD data of this work and the processing method of the part Means for determining the processing conditions of the part by the database,
The CAD data is processed by these means and is
An NC data creation device for cutting, which is output as NC data to be machined.