JP2009113201A - Tool magazine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tool magazine capable of eliminating a dead space above racks of the tool magazine, thereby flexibly arranging mutual positional relationship between the racks. <P>SOLUTION: The tool magazine 1 includes racks 3 for retaining tools 4 and a tool changer 2 in a magazine body 12. The magazine body 12 has a rack upper supporting member 32 extending in a horizontal direction thereof and mounted on an upper surface thereof and a rack lower supporting member 33 extending in a horizontal direction thereof and mounted on an upper surface thereof. The rack 3 has an upper end detachably fixed on the rack upper supporting member 32 and a lower end detachably fixed on the rack lower supporting member 33, where the fixing positions of the rack 3 are configured so as to be flexibly adjusted along the rack upper supporting member 32 and the rack lower supporting member 33. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention, while increasing the number of storage and storage of the tool while reducing the volume of the magazine body accommodating several groups racks with multiple gripper, to freely change the mutual positional relationship of the rack tool About the magazine.

  Various types of tool magazines for storing and storing various tools (tools) used in machine tools have been proposed depending on the specifications of the machine tools and the types of tools to be stored and stored. For example, when the number of tools is large, from the viewpoint of increasing the number of tools stored per installation area required for a tool magazine, a tool magazine in which a plurality of racks are erected in a magazine body having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape is preferable. It is done. Such a tool magazine can be found in US Pat.

  In the tool magazine of Patent Document 1, racks each having a fixed positional relationship are erected in a magazine main body having a frame structure formed by combining linear members. Each rack is provided with a number of grippers in the vertical direction that can store or take out tools from the horizontal direction. The tool is taken out from the gripper of each rack by the tool changer that moves up and down or left and right between the racks and on the rack, and is moved out of the magazine body while moving in the left and right directions on each rack. Delivered to the machine.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-052433 (pages 2 to 3, FIG. 1)

  The tool magazine found in Patent Document 1 has the advantage that the number of tools stored per unit area can be increased, but the tool changer can move in the left-right direction at either the upper, middle or lower positions of the rack. There is a problem that space must be secured. For example, in the tool magazine found in Patent Document 1, the space is provided above each rack. This is a dead space in view of the purpose of the tool magazine for storing and storing tools, and is preferably as small as possible.

  Further, as described above, providing a space for the tool changer to move left and right above each rack means that support for each rack to be erected cannot be secured above the magazine body. For this reason, in the tool magazine of patent document 1, the rack upper end was supported by the supporting member protruded toward the back surface from the front surface. That is, each rack has a structure in which the L-shape is turned upside down together with the support member. Since such a rack structure makes the posture of the rack unstable, each rack has to be fixed to the magazine body, and the positional relationship between the racks is fixed.

Therefore, since the purpose of eliminating the rack space above a dead space of the tool magazine seen in Patent Document 1, to develop a tool magazine you free the positional relationship between the rack each other by exclusion of the space, consider did.

Was developed result of the examination is a rack having a gripper for holding a tool, in the tool magazine example Bei a tool exchange unit in the magazine body to retrieve the tool the tool gripper of the rack from the housing or the grippers, magazine The main body has a rack upper support member extending in the left-right direction of the magazine main body on the upper surface side, and a rack lower support member extending in the left-right direction of the magazine main body is also mounted on the lower surface side. An upper support member is detachably fixed, and a lower end thereof is detachably fixed to the rack lower support member and is erected, and the rack standing position is set along the rack upper support member and the rack lower support member. It is a tool magazine that can be freely adjusted. In this case, the tool exchanging unit vertically attaches the exchange arm that stores the tool in the gripper of the rack or removes the tool from the gripper to the main body stage, and rotates the exchange arm in the longitudinal direction of the magazine main body. It is good to have a configuration provided with means.

In the tool changer, the exchange arm that has been taken out of the rack gripper and gripped in a horizontal posture rotates in the vertical direction of the magazine body in the vertical plane to bring the tool into a vertical posture, that is, a posture to suspend the tool. Thus, the tool can be moved without interfering with the rack. Since this exchange arm can be rotated when the tool is taken out from the rack and the tool is suspended, the tool exchange part can move linearly from the position where the tool is taken out to the tool outlet from the magazine body. That is, it can move diagonally.

  The vertical movement means and the horizontal movement means of the tool changer may be configured as separate bodies that individually realize vertical movement and horizontal movement, and the tool changer may be moved obliquely by combining the movements. The tool changer may be configured to be integrated with each other to realize two-dimensional movement, and the tool changer may be directly moved two-dimensionally. The former is preferable because configuration and control are easy. As the vertically moving means and the left and right moving means constituted by such separate bodies, for example, a vertical upper and lower rail is bridged between a pair of upper and lower left and right rails laid in the left and right direction of the magazine body so as to be movable in the left and right directions, The structure which attaches a tool exchange part so that a vertical movement is possible can be shown. When viewed from the tool changer, the upper and lower rails spanned between the pair of upper and lower left and right rails and the upper and lower rail driving means for moving the upper and lower rails in the left and right directions constitute left and right moving means. Further, as viewed from the tool changer, the main body stage of the tool changer attached to the upper and lower rails and the stage driving means for moving the main body stage in the vertical direction constitute vertical movement means.

  More specifically, as the upper and lower rail driving means, a configuration in which a rack carved on each of the pair of upper and lower left and right rails and a pinion pivotally attached to the upper and lower ends of the upper and lower rails are engaged, and one of the pinions is driven by a motor, An example is a configuration in which a timing belt laid from the upper and lower rails toward the left and right rail ends, a driving gear and a driven gear meshing with the timing belt, and the driving gear is driven by a motor. In addition, as stage drive means, a rack carved on the upper and lower rails and a drive pinion pivotally attached to the main body stage are engaged with each other, and the drive pinion is driven by a motor. A configuration in which the timing belt is engaged with a driving gear and a driven gear and the driving gear is driven by a motor can be exemplified. In addition, various conventionally known means can be used as these vertically parallel means or left and right moving means, and the present invention can be used regardless of the difference in the configuration of such vertically parallel means or left and right moving means.

The tool changer may be provided with an attachment base having front and rear moving means on the main body stage, an exchange arm is pivotally attached to the attachment base, and vertical turning means is provided on the attachment base. A tool that tilts from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture according to the rotation of the exchange arm will no longer interfere with the rack as long as it is within the range through which the tool changer that moves vertically and horizontally moves. Here, if the tool is to be placed within the above range only by rotating the replacement arm, the replacement arm needs to have a length from the tool changer to the gripper of the rack, and the rotation moment with the tool held. (Rotational moment) may increase. Therefore, in order to reduce the rotational moment when the tool is held, an exchange arm is attached to the mounting stage that moves back and forth with respect to the main body stage so that the exchange arm can be shortened.

In the tool magazine of the present invention, the tool changer can move in a vertical posture in which the tool is hung from the change arm so as to prevent interference between the tool being moved and the rack. As a result, there is no need to provide a space for the tool changer to move separately above the rack, as has been seen in conventional tool magazines. Thus, the magazine body has a rack upper support member extending in the left-right direction of the magazine body mounted on the upper surface side, and a rack lower support member extending in the left-right direction of the magazine body is mounted on the lower surface side. Can be fixed to the rack upper support member and the lower end can be fixed to the rack lower support member. This not only increases the number of grippers by increasing the length of the rack and increases the number of tools that can be stored and stored, but also increases the structural strength of the rack because a straight rack can be secured vertically. There is an advantage that can be.

  The rack upper support member and the rack lower support member may be provided with structural members constituting the magazine main body, without being provided separately. That is, the rack may be erected so as to span from the upper surface to the lower surface of the magazine body. However, in order to properly set the positional relationship of the rack with respect to the front-rear direction of the magazine main body and to stand the rack more firmly, a dedicated rack upper support member and rack lower side are provided to support the rack with respect to the magazine main body. A configuration in which the support member is erected so as to be bridged is preferable.

  Thus, when the dedicated rack upper support member and rack lower support member are provided, the rack is not fixed to each support member and cannot be separated, but is detachable, and at any position with respect to each support member. A degree of freedom can be given to the arrangement of the racks, such as to enable the racks to be fixed. That is, the magazine body has a rack upper support member extending in the left-right direction of the magazine body mounted on the upper surface side, and a rack lower support member extending in the left-right direction of the magazine body is mounted on the lower surface side. The rack upper support member is detachably fixed, the lower end is detachably fixed to the rack lower support member, and the rack is erected along the rack upper support member and the rack lower support member. The position can be freely adjusted.

According to the present invention, the space above the rack, which was a dead space in the conventional tool magazine, can be eliminated, and by eliminating the space, the positional relationship between the racks can be made free and the time required for tool replacement can be shortened. A magazine can be provided. This is largely due to the change arm of the tool changer that allows the tool taken out from the rack to be taken out from the magazine body in a vertical posture. Thereby, according to each user's request | requirement, the positional relationship between racks can be made now free and the effect which improves the convenience of a tool magazine can be acquired.

In addition, the tool changer used in the present invention can cause the tool taken out from the rack to take an arbitrary posture in a range from approximately horizontal to approximately vertical. This means that the tool magazine of the present invention can be applied to a machine tool in which tools are mounted horizontally and a machine tool in which tools are mounted vertically. Conventionally, in the same type of tool magazine, since the posture is specified according to the machine tool, an intermediate device for changing the posture of the tool separately is required when the machine tool is changed. Thus, the tool magazine of the present invention has the effect of expanding the range of applicable machine tools in addition to improving the performance in the tool magazine.

It is a partial fracture perspective view showing an example of the tool magazine based on the present invention. It is a side view of a tool exchange part. It is a front view of a tool exchange part. It is a top view of a tool exchange part. It is the front view showing the step which took out the tool from the gripper in the horizontal direction. It is a side view showing the step which took out the tool from the gripper in the horizontal direction. It is the front view showing the stage which lowered the exchange arm and made the tool into the perpendicular posture. It is the side view showing the step which lowered the exchange arm and made the tool into the perpendicular posture. It is a front view showing the step which is operating the horizontal movement means and the vertical movement means simultaneously, and is moving the tool exchange part diagonally toward a tool taking-out mouth. It is a side view showing the stage which operates a horizontal movement means and a vertical movement means simultaneously, and is moving the tool change part diagonally toward a tool take-out mouth. FIG. 6 is a front view corresponding to FIG. 5 illustrating a state in which a rack interval is enlarged. It is the elements on larger scale showing the adhering means of a rack.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the tool magazine 1 of this example is a rack 3 having a gripper 31 for holding a tool 4 in a magazine main body 12 having a frame structure in which linear members are assembled in the same manner as a conventional tool magazine. And a tool changer 2 for storing the tool 4 in the gripper 31 of each rack 3 or taking out the tool 4 from the gripper 31. The tool changer 2 has a vertical movement means in the vertical direction of the magazine body 12 and a horizontal movement means in the horizontal direction of the magazine body 12, and is movable in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction of the magazine body 12 on the back side of the rack 3. Some points are the same as the conventional tool magazine. The difference from the prior art is that the tool changer 2 is provided with an exchange arm 21 that is rotatable in the front-rear direction of the magazine body 12, the rack upper support member 32 installed on the upper surface side of the magazine body 12, and the lower surface side of the magazine body 12 The rack 3 has the upper and lower ends thereof detachably fixed to the rack lower support member 33.

  The vertical movement means and the horizontal movement means in the tool exchange unit 2 of this example are configured using a conventionally known timing belt, and can independently move the tool exchange part 2 in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction. Specifically, a vertical upper and lower rail 23 is laid between a pair of upper and lower left and right rails 22 and 22 installed in the left and right direction of the magazine body 12 so as to be movable in the left and right direction, and the tool changer 2 is moved up and down on the upper and lower rail 23. The left and right moving means is composed of an upper and lower rail 23 that is mounted movably in the direction and spans between a pair of upper and lower left and right rails 22 and 22 and an upper and lower rail driving means that moves the upper and lower rail 23 in the left and right direction. The main body stage 24 of the tool changer 2 attached to 23 and the stage driving means for moving the main body stage 24 in the vertical direction constitute vertical movement means. In this example, the left and right rails 22, 22 are respectively formed on support portions 34, 34 configured to extend from the rack upper support member 32 and the rack lower support member 33 that fix the upper and lower ends of the rack 3 to the rear of the magazine body 12. It is erected.

  The upper and lower rail driving means uses a configuration in which a timing belt laid from the upper and lower rails 23 toward the end of the left and right rails 22, a driving gear and a driven gear meshed with the timing belt, and the driving gear is driven by a motor. Yes. Further, the stage driving means uses a configuration in which a timing belt that is routed from the main body stage 24 toward the end of the upper and lower rails 23, a driving gear and a driven gear are meshed with the timing belt, and the driving gear is driven by a motor. Yes. The up-and-down moving means and the right-and-left moving means composed of each driving means using such a timing belt have the advantage that the tool changer 2 can be stopped and moved at high speed, and accurate position control is possible. It is suitable for use in the tool magazine 1 of the present invention that is actuated to move the tool changer 2 obliquely.

  Conventionally, the vertical movement means and the horizontal movement means are selectively operated so that the tool changer 2 can move only in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction. The tool changer 2 in the present invention will be described later. Thus, each moving means can be operated simultaneously and moved diagonally. As a result, not only can the time required for moving the tool changer 2 be shortened, but the space provided above the rack 3 for the tool changer 2 to move horizontally is no longer necessary, and the structurally stable rack 3 can be obtained. As a result, there can be obtained an advantage that the number of grippers 31 provided in each rack 3, that is, the number of tools 4 that can be stored can be increased.

Tool exchange unit 2, as seen in Figures 2-4, the mounting base 25 having front and rear moving means to the main body stages 24 with the vertical movement means described above is provided, the exchange arm 21 horizontally to the mounting base 25 A vertical rotation shaft 211 (the rotation direction in FIG. 2 is indicated by an arrow, and the axis in FIGS. 3 and 4 is indicated by a one-dot chain line) , and an air cylinder 26 is mounted on the mounting base 25 as a vertical rotation means. It is swingably attached. The exchange arm 21 includes a chuck portion 27 that holds a tool at the tip, and connects the rod 28 of the air cylinder 26. The exchange arm 21 sets the tool 4 held by the chuck portion 27 in a horizontal posture with the state where the angle is about 45 degrees obliquely downward toward the front of the magazine body 12 as a tool exchange position (see FIG. 6). Further, the exchange arm 21 rotates from the exchange position toward the rear of the magazine body 12 in the vertical plane, and is set at a moving position when it is inclined obliquely downward at an angle of about 45 degrees toward the rear of the magazine body 12. The tool 4 held on the chuck portion 27 at the moving position is set to a vertical posture (see FIG. 8). Thus, the exchange arm 21 of this example rotates in the front-rear direction of the magazine body 12 within a range of about 90 degrees. The chuck part 27 provided at the tip of the exchange arm 21 may be the same as the chuck part of the tool exchange part of a conventionally known similar type tool magazine.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 to 10, the exchange arm 21 receives the tool 4 in the chuck portion 27 in a horizontal posture, and rotates and lowers the tool 4 while holding the tool 4 to bring the tool 4 into a vertical posture. . At this time, the tool 4 moves within the range in which the tool changer 2 moves up and down or horizontally, in this example, within the range of the front-rear width of the main body stage 24. The possibility of interference with the rack 3 can be eliminated. The tool 4 transported to the tool outlet 11 in the vertical posture is transferred to a machine tool (not shown) while maintaining the vertical posture or lifting the exchange arm 21 to the horizontal posture. As described above, the tool magazine 1 of the present invention has an advantage that the posture of the tool delivered to the machine tool can be selected.

  The back-and-forth moving means of this example is constituted by a front-rear rail 29 extending in the front-rear direction of the magazine body 12 and an air cylinder 291 provided on the mounting base. This back-and-forth moving means moves the replacement arm 21 together with the mounting base to the front of the magazine body 12 with the replacement arm 21 in the replacement position. The mounting base 25 is moved to the rear of the magazine body 12. This makes it easy to transfer the tool 4 between the gripper 31 of the rack 3 and the chuck portion 27 of the exchange arm 21 while shortening the exchange arm 21 to reduce the rotational moment, and to move the tool behind the rack 3. Interference between the tool 4 held by the exchange arm of the exchange unit 2 in a vertical posture and the rack 3 can be avoided.

  In taking out the tool 4 in the tool magazine 1 of the present invention, the trajectory for moving the tool 4 to the tool outlet 11 after receiving the tool 4 mainly from the gripper 31 of the rack 3 is significantly different from the conventional one. For example, even with a conventional tool changer, interference with the rack does not pose a problem when the tool is not held. Therefore, the vertical movement means and the left / right movement means are combined to move diagonally and move to a position corresponding to the gripper. Can come. Therefore, hereinafter, a procedure from when the tool 4 is received from the gripper 31 of the rack 3 to when the tool 4 is moved to the tool outlet 11 will be described.

  First, as seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, the tool changer 2 that has moved the tool 4 to the position corresponding to the gripper 31 of the rack 3 holding the tool 4 to be taken out, lifts the replacement arm 21 horizontally to the replacement position, The mounting base 25 is moved horizontally to the front of the magazine body 12 to advance the chuck portion 27 of the exchange arm 21 to the position of the rack 3. Here, the movement of the tool changer 2 to the position corresponding to the gripper 31 of the rack 3 is performed by operating the vertical movement means and the horizontal movement means at the same time if the exchange arm 21 is rotated and is in the movement position. It can be a move. Thus, the tool changer 2 that protrudes the chuck part 27 to the same height as the specific gripper 31 moves horizontally from the gripper 31 toward the tool 4 held by the gripper 31 to move the tool from the gripper 31 to the chuck part 27. 4 is received.

  Then, the tool changer 2 horizontally moves in the left-right direction so as to be slightly away from the gripper 31 while maintaining the change position, and then moves by rotating the changer arm 21 as seen in FIGS. Position and the tool 4 is in a vertical position. In this case, it is conceivable that the tool 4 in the vertical posture interferes with the bottom surface of the magazine body 12 and the like. Therefore, the exchange arm 21 that puts the tool 4 in the vertical posture is controlled to rotate only at a predetermined height or more. For example, if the height at which the tool 4 is received is less than the predetermined height, the tool changer 2 may be raised to a predetermined height while the tool 4 is held horizontally by the chuck portion 27. Here, as apparent from FIG. 8, the tool 4 is within the range of the front and rear width of the main body stage 24 of the tool changer 2, and is particularly at a position away from the rack 3, so there is a possibility that it will no longer interfere with the rack 3. Absent. In this way, the tool changer 2 holds the vertical tool and operates the vertical movement means and the horizontal movement means simultaneously to linearly move toward the tool outlet 11 as seen in FIGS. That is, it moves diagonally.

  The movement of the tool changer 2 may interfere with the rack 3 as long as the tool 4 is within the range of the front and rear width of the main body stage 24 as can be seen by comparing FIGS. 8 and 10. Absent. For this reason, in the tool magazine 1 of the present invention, the rack 3 having a height that extends from the upper surface side to the lower surface side of the magazine body 12 can be used, and each rack 3 can be firmly erected. Further, the position of each rack 3 can be fixed by a detachable fixing means. Thus, in this example, the rack upper support member 32 extending in the left-right direction of the magazine body 12 is installed on the upper surface side, and the rack lower support member 33 extending in the left-right direction of the magazine body 12 is installed on the lower surface side. 3 has an upper end detachably fixed to the rack upper support member 32 and a lower end detachably fixed to the rack lower support member 33.

  As a result, the positional relationship between the racks 3 is changed so that the interval between the racks 3 is widened or narrowed, or more actively as shown in FIG. The interval can be widened. Such a degree of freedom of the standing position of the rack 3 has an effect of greatly increasing the types of tools 4 that can be stored in the tool magazine 1. There are various types of tools, and in particular, the number of machining parts is increasing in recent years. However, such a tool with a large machining site has a smaller number than a tool having a normal size, and the number of each type of tool often fluctuates. In the tool magazine 1 of the present invention, the positional relationship between the racks 3 can be freely changed by the user without changing the magazine body 12 in accordance with the variation in the number of such various tools and each type of tool. The tool magazine 1 can be used easily and simply.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the fixing means for the detachable rack 3 is a rack upper support member 32 and a rack lower support member 33, which are formed by engraving grooves 36 through which nuts 35 are inserted, on the four surfaces. A configuration including a fixing flange 38 having a bolt 37 screwed onto the nut 35 can be shown. Each rack 3 has the fixing flange 38 attached to the upper end and the lower end, or is formed integrally, and the upper end of the rack 3 is fastened to the rack upper support member 32 via the fixing flange 38. In addition, the position of the rack lower support member 33 can be fixed by tightening the lower end of the rack 3. Further, when the bolts 37 tightened at the upper end or the lower end of the rack 3 are loosened, each rack 3 is released from the fixed state and can be repositioned.

  Such a fixing means is, for example, a specification for fixing the position of a wall panel of a building material and the like. Although it is not special, the tool changer holding the tool can move without interfering with the rack, and can be moved horizontally above the rack. Since it is not necessary to provide a space for movement, the tool magazine 1 can be used as a fixing means for the rack 3. Thus, the tool magazine 1 of the present invention eliminates the space above the rack 3 by improving the tool changer 2 and, as a result, obtains the effect of making the positional relationship between the racks 3 free.

1 Tool magazine
11 Tool outlet
12 Magazine body 2 Tool changer
21 Exchange arm
22 Left and right rails
23 Vertical rail
24 Main unit stage
25 Mounting base 3 racks
31 Gripper
32 Rack upper support member
33 Rack lower support member 4 Tool

Claims (1)

A rack having a gripper for holding a tool, in the tool magazine example Bei a tool exchange unit in the magazine body to retrieve the tool the tool gripper of the rack from the housing or the gripper,
The magazine main body has a rack upper support member extending in the left-right direction of the magazine main body on the upper surface side, and a rack lower support member extending in the left-right direction of the magazine main body on the lower surface side. The rack upper support member is detachably fixed, the lower end is detachably fixed to the rack lower support member, and the rack is erected along the rack upper support member and the rack lower support member. A tool magazine characterized in that it is freely adjustable .

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