JP2007021628A - Pallet exchanger in machine tool - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pallet exchanger in a machine tool, simple in structure and lowering the equipment cost. <P>SOLUTION: This pallet exchanger includes: a pallet 51 having a downward pin hole 53; a pallet conveying rail 22 extending from a standby station S to a predetermined distance in the horizontal direction; a vertical positioning pin 71 disposed to freely elevate and enter and leave the pin hole 53 of the pallet 51 on the pallet conveying rail 22 in the standby station S; an engagement piece 62 held on the pallet 51 to elevate between an operating position projecting upward from the pallet 51 and a non-operating position retracting in the pallet 51; a transmission mechanism for transmitting the operation of the positioning pin 71 to the engagement piece 62 so that the engagement piece 62 is located in the operating position and in the non-operating position by rising and lowering of the positioning pin 71; and a driver 24 disposed to engage with the engagement piece 62 in the operating position and disengage from the engagement piece 62 in the non-operating position and reciprocating in the longitudinal direction of the pallet conveying rail 22. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a pallet exchanging apparatus in a machine tool such as a machining center.

  In this type of machine, in a machine tool having a standby station that temporarily waits when a pallet is moved in and out of the machine tool, the horizontal extending from the standby station to a position that is a predetermined distance in the horizontal direction. A pallet transport rail; and a driving body that is detachably engaged with a pallet on the pallet transport rail in the standby station and horizontally moved in the length direction of the pallet transport rail. In order to avoid interference between the two when engaged, there is known one in which either one is moved by an actuator (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

In the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, in order to move the pallet or the driving body, a dedicated actuator is required. Therefore, there is a problem that the structure becomes complicated and the equipment cost becomes expensive.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-35648

  An object of the present invention is to provide a pallet exchanging device in a machine tool having a simple structure and a low equipment cost.

  The pallet exchanging device according to the present invention is a machine tool having a standby station that temporarily waits when a pallet is generally moved in and out of the machine tool. A horizontal pallet transport rail that extends a predetermined distance in the direction, a vertical positioning pin that can be moved up and down so as to be able to enter and exit the pin hole of the pallet on the pallet transport rail in the standby station, and above the pallet The engaging piece is held by the pallet so that it can be moved up and down between an operating position that is projected into the pallet and a non-operating position that is retracted into the pallet. The engaging piece is moved to the inoperative position by lowering the positioning pin. A transmission mechanism for transmitting the movement of the positioning pin to the engagement piece so as to be engaged with the engagement piece, and the engagement mechanism being engaged with the engagement piece in the operating position and disengaged from the engagement piece in the non-operation position; And a driving body that is reciprocated horizontally in the length direction of the pallet transport rail.

  In the pallet exchanging device according to the present invention, the engaging piece is positioned at the operating position and the non-operating position in accordance with the raising and lowering operation of the positioning pin, and the engaging piece and the driving body at the operating position are engaged. If the is placed in the non-operating position, the engaging piece and the driving body do not interfere with each other when the driving body is moved. Therefore, no actuator is required to engage the pallet and the drive body.

  Further, both ends of the transmission mechanism are arranged so that one end is connected to the engaging piece and the other end is pushed up by the positioning pin when the positioning pin is raised, and is released from the push-up by the positioning pin when the positioning pin is lowered The movement of the positioning pin can be engaged with a very simple structure by comprising a transmission rod that can swing up and down and a spring that biases the transmission rod in the direction in which the engagement piece is positioned at the operating position. Can be transmitted to the piece. Therefore, coupled with the fact that a dedicated actuator for the engaging operation is not necessary, the equipment cost can be reduced.

  According to the present invention, a pallet exchanging device in a machine tool having a simple structure and a low equipment cost is provided.

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

  In the following description, the front and rear refer to the side indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 1 as the front and the opposite side as the rear, and the left and right refer to the left and right sides as viewed from the front.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a machine tool includes a table 12 supported by a bed 11 so as to be movable back and forth, a column 13 provided at the rear of the table moving path so as to be movable left and right, and a vertical movement at the front of the column 13. A spindle head 14 that is freely provided, a spindle 15 that is supported by the spindle head 14, and a tool changer unit 16 that is disposed on the left side of the column movement path are provided.

  A pallet exchange arm 21 is disposed in front of the table moving path. Behind the pallet exchanging arm 21 is provided a standby station S for temporarily waiting when a pallet is generally taken in and out of the machine tool. A pallet transport rail 22 extends forward from the standby station S. A pallet 51 is placed on the pallet transport rail 22 via a transport plate 52. From the center of the front edge of the pallet 51, a belt-like drive body 24 extending in the front-rear direction extends forward.

  The pallet exchanging arm 21 has a vertical center shaft 31 and a pair of bifurcated arm members 32 that are projected from the center shaft 31 in opposite directions. The central shaft 31 can be rotated and raised and lowered.

  Although not shown, the entire machine tool is covered with a cover. Further, the inside of the cover is partitioned back and forth by a vertical partition wall extending in the left-right direction through the axis of the central shaft 31, and a processing chamber is formed on the rear side of the partition wall and a setup chamber is formed on the front side thereof. .

  The pallet transport rail 22 includes a pair of rail members 41 extending horizontally in parallel to each other, and a plurality of transport rollers 42 attached side by side in the length direction of each rail member 41.

  Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the pallet 51 is fixed on a horizontal plate-like transport plate 52 that is placed across the rollers 42 of both rail members 41. A downward vertical pin hole 53 is formed in the center of the lower surface of the transport plate 52.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 3, an engagement piece 62 is attached to the front edge portion of the transport plate 52 via an attachment bracket 61. A holding hole 63 is formed in the mounting bracket 61 so as to penetrate vertically. A bottomed cylindrical spring housing 64 is provided so as to cover the holding hole 63 from below. As shown in detail in FIG. 5, the engagement piece 62 is suspended from the large diameter portion 62a slidably fitted in the holding hole 63, the lower end of the large diameter portion 62a, and is suspended from the spring housing 64. And a small-diameter portion 62b slidably passed through the bottom wall. A compression coil spring 65 is accommodated in the spring housing 64 so as to surround the small diameter portion 62b.

  The driving body 24 is moved back and forth by a driving source (not shown). An engagement recess 66 is formed downward in the rear end portion of the drive body 24 (see FIG. 5). The engagement recess 66 is a round hole having substantially the same size as the holding hole 63.

  A vertical positioning pin 71 is arranged at the center between the front end portions of the rail members 41 in the standby station S. The positioning pin 71 is supported by a support member so as to be raised and lowered as appropriate, and can be raised and lowered by a fluid pressure cylinder (not shown). A push-up flange 72 is provided in the middle of the height of the positioning pin 71.

  The rear end portion of the transmission rod 73 extending in the front-rear direction is connected to the downward projecting end portion of the small diameter portion 62b of the engagement piece 62. The transmission rod 73 is supported by the longitudinal moving body 74 so that both longitudinal ends can swing up and down at an intermediate position of the length. The rear end portion of the transmission rod 73 faces the push-up flange 72 from above. The longitudinally moving body 74 is supported so as to be movable back and forth by appropriate support means (not shown). A tension coil spring 75 is stretched between the vicinity of the rear end of the transmission rod 73 and the longitudinal moving body 74.

  Referring to FIG. 3, it is assumed that the pallet 51 is placed on the pallet transport rail 22 via the transport plate 52 at the standby station S. The positioning pin 71 is positioned at the upper limit of the lifting stroke. The upper end portion of the positioning pin 71 is inserted into the pin hole 53 of the transport plate 52. The front end portion of the transmission rod 73 is pushed up by the push-up flange 72 against the spring force of the compression coil spring 65 and the tension coil spring 75. The upper end of the engagement piece 62 is below the upper surface level of the bracket 61. That is, the entire engagement piece 62 is retracted into the transport plate 52, and this is referred to as the engagement piece 62 being positioned at the non-operation position. At this time, the driving body 24 can move back and forth without interfering with the engagement piece 62. The driving body 24 is positioned at a position where the engaging recess 66 is aligned with the holding hole 63.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the positioning pin 71 is lowered from the upper limit. The positioning pin 71 comes out of the pin hole 53, and when the positioning pin 71 is lowered, the transmission rod 73 is released from being pushed up by the push-up flange 72 and becomes free. Then, the front end portion of the transmission rod 73 is lowered and the rear end portion thereof is raised by the spring force of the compression coil spring 65 and the tension coil spring 75. When the rear end portion of the transmission rod 73 is raised, the engaging piece 62 is raised accordingly, and the large diameter portion 62a is protruded upward from the holding hole 63 and is kept waiting there. The engagement recess 66 is inserted. This state is referred to as the engagement piece 62 being positioned at the operating position.

  The processed pallet 51 is placed on the rearward arm member 32, the unprocessed pallet 51 is placed on the forward arm member 32, the pallet replacement arm member 21 is raised, rotated 180 degrees, and then lowered. Then, the two pallets 51 are switched.

  In the standby station S, the processed pallet 51 is placed on the pallet transport rail 22 via the transport plate 52. When the positioning pin 71 is raised and inserted into the pin hole 53, the engagement piece 62 is positioned at the non-operating position. In this state, when the driving body 24 is moved forward and the engagement recess 66 is aligned with the holding hole 63, the positioning pin 71 is lowered and pulled out from the pin hole 53. Then, the engagement piece 62 is positioned at the operating position, and the engagement piece 62 is fitted into the engagement recess 66 and engaged. When the drive body 24 is advanced in this state, the processed pallet 51 and the transport plate 52 are carried on the transport rail 22 together with the drive body 24.

  When the unprocessed pallet 51 is carried into the standby station S by the driving body 24, when the positioning pin 71 is raised while waiting at the lower limit, the engaging piece 62 is positioned at the non-operating position. Thereby, the engagement between the transport plate 52 and the driving body 24 is released.

  In the present embodiment, the pallet 51 is fixed to the transport plate 52 by means not shown, and the transport plate 52 and the pallet 51 are handled integrally. In this case, for fixing between the conveying plate 52 and the pallet 51, the vertical movement of the exchange arm 21 is utilized by projecting a pin on the upper surface of the conveying plate 52 and providing a hole in the pin corresponding portion on the lower surface of the pallet 51. And then detach it.

  Further, the pin hole 53 may be provided in the pallet 51. In that case, a through hole may be formed in the transport plate 52.

  Furthermore, although the transport plate 52 is provided in this embodiment, the pin hole 53 and the engagement piece may be provided directly on the pallet without using the transport plate.

  In addition, it goes without saying that design changes within a range not departing from the gist of the present invention are included in the present invention.

It is a perspective view of the whole machine tool equipped with the pallet exchanging device by this invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view perpendicular to the line II-II in FIG. FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view perpendicular to the line III-III in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 3, showing a state different from FIG. 3. It is a partially expanded sectional view of FIG. 3 and FIG.

Explanation of symbols

22 rails
24 Driver
53 pin hole
62 Engagement piece
71 Positioning pin S Standby station

Claims (2)

In a machine tool having a standby station for temporarily waiting when a pallet enters and exits the machine tool,
A pallet having a downward pin hole;
A horizontal pallet transport rail extending from the standby station to a position separated by a predetermined distance in the horizontal direction;
A vertical positioning pin arranged so as to be movable up and down so as to be able to enter and exit the pin hole of the pallet on the pallet transport rail in the standby station;
An engagement piece held on the pallet so that it can be raised and lowered between an operating position protruding upward from the pallet and a non-operating position retracted into the pallet;
In the standby station, transmission of transmitting the operation of the positioning pin to the engaging piece so that the engaging piece is positioned at the operating position by raising the positioning pin and the engaging piece is positioned at the non-operating position by lowering the positioning pin. Mechanism,
A driving body that is engaged with the engagement piece in the operating position and is disposed so as to be disengaged from the engagement piece in the non-operation position and horizontally reciprocated in the length direction of the pallet transport rail;
Pallet changer equipped with. The transmission mechanism
One end is connected to the engaging piece, and the other end is pushed up by the positioning pin when the positioning pin is raised, and both ends arranged so as to be released from the push-up by the positioning pin when the positioning pin is lowered can be swung up and down A transmission rod that
A spring biasing the transmission rod in a direction in which the engagement piece is positioned at the operating position;
The pallet exchanging apparatus according to claim 1 comprising:

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