JP2019042768A - Laser processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

To freely process a work up to an end part.CONSTITUTION: A laser processing device comprises a pallet having a work placing part for supporting a bottom surface of a plate-like work at a plurality of points, a work clamper for clamping the work in the pallet and a laser head support body for cutting the work by a laser beam by relatively moving to the work. The work clamper comprises a clamp member, a vertical shaft part for installing the clamp member on an upper end and a driving mechanism for lifting the clamp member between a clamp position and an unclamp position by moving the clamp member between the clamp position for clamping the work by contacting with an upper surface of the work and the unclamp position where an upper surface of the clamp member becomes a height of the upper surface or less of the work by disconnecting from the work in a plan view by simultaneously lifting when turning the shaft part around the vertical axis.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

  The present invention relates to a laser processing apparatus, and more particularly to an improvement of a work clamper that clamps a work being processed.

  The laser processing apparatus is an apparatus for cutting out a product having a desired shape from a plate-like workpiece by a laser. In this apparatus, a workpiece is clamped on a pallet by a workpiece clamper, a laser head support is moved relative to the workpiece, and a product is cut out.

  Introduce prior patents on work clampers. Patent Document 1 (JPH11-170080A) proposes that a clamp member of a work clamper is biased upward by a biasing member and lowered by an air cylinder to clamp it (Patent Document 1 [0043]).

JPH11-170080A

  It is required to improve the yield for taking out the product from the work. In this case, in the vicinity of the work clamper, processing can not be performed because the laser head support and the work clamper interfere with each other. Therefore, the inventor studied that a workpiece can be processed to the end by avoiding the interference with the laser head support by retracting the clamp member of the workpiece clamper, and came to the present invention.

  An object of the present invention is to improve the yield of a laser processing apparatus by allowing a work to be processed to the end without interfering with a clamp member.

A laser processing apparatus according to the present invention is a pallet including a work placement portion configured to support a bottom surface of a plate-like work;
A workpiece clamper configured to clamp workpieces to a pallet,
And a laser head support configured to move the upper part of the pallet relative to the workpiece and to cut the workpiece by a laser beam.
The work clamper is
A clamp member,
A vertical shaft with a clamping member attached at the upper end,
A clamping position for clamping the workpiece by bringing the clamp member into contact with the upper surface of the end of the workpiece by raising and lowering the shaft and pivoting about the vertical axis, and removing from the workpiece in plan view and the upper surface of the clamp member A driving mechanism configured to move the clamp member once while moving between the unclamping position where the height of the workpiece is below the upper surface of the workpiece and moving between the clamping position and the unclamping position; Equipped with
When the laser head support approaches the clamp member, the clamp member is retracted to the unclamping position, so that the work can be processed to the end. It is preferable that the raising and lowering of the shaft portion and the turning around the vertical axis be performed simultaneously, but may be made after turning.

  In the present invention, the clamp member can be retracted from the clamp position to the unclamp position, and in the unclamp position, the upper surface of the clamp member has a height equal to or less than the upper surface of the workpiece, and therefore does not interfere with the laser head support. The clamp member ascends and descends from the clamp position to the unclamp position, and also as it returns from the unclamp position to the clamp position. Therefore, it is possible to move smoothly between the clamping position and the unclamping position. Then, by retracting the clamp member, the laser head support can process the work up to the end, and the yield of the work is improved. The upper surface of the clamp member at the unclamping position is preferably at a height equal to or less than the upper surface of the workpiece mounting portion.

  Preferably, a plurality of work mechanisms independently controllable drive mechanisms are provided, and the members of at least one, particularly preferably two or more work clampers are held in the clamping position while the other work clamper members are unmanned. Evacuate to the clamp position. With this configuration, even when a part of the clamp members is retracted to the unclamping position, the workpiece can be clamped by the other clamp members, so that the workpiece being processed can be fixed. In particular, if the clamp is continued by two or more clamp members, the work can be fixed more securely.

  Preferably, the drive mechanism includes a biasing member that biases the shaft portion downward, a fluid pressure cylinder that pivots the shaft portion pivotably, and a cam mechanism that pivots the shaft portion as it moves up and down. . The fluid pressure cylinder is, for example, an air cylinder, but may be a cylinder using nitrogen gas or a hydraulic cylinder. Since the biasing member biases the clamp member downward via the shaft, there is no need to operate the hydraulic cylinder except when moving the clamp member between the clamp position and the unclamp position. For this reason, the consumption of air and the like can be reduced. Further, the shaft can be pivoted and raised and lowered easily by raising and lowering the shaft rotatably with a fluid pressure cylinder and converting the elevation of the shaft into a swinging motion with the cam mechanism.

  Particularly preferably, the cam mechanism vertically extends the shaft so that the clamp retracts from the clamp position to the unclamp position in the first half rotation and returns the clamp to the clamp position from the unclamp position in the next half rotation. Rotate 360 ° around the axis. Then, the phase of the cam mechanism returns to its original state in one rotation of the shaft portion. In this way, the clamp member can be moved between the clamping position and the unclamping position simply and reliably.

Top view of the laser processing apparatus of the embodiment and the pallet changer Top view of the pallet used in the embodiment Top view of the laser processing apparatus of the modification FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a work clamper used in the embodiment, showing a clamp member in a clamp position. The vertical direction sectional view of the work clamper used for an example, the clamp member in the unclamping position is shown. Top view showing four types of positions of the work clamper in the embodiment Horizontal cross-sectional view of the work clamper used in the embodiment at the cam portion Development view of cam groove of work clamper used in the embodiment Development view of cam groove of work clamper in modification Block diagram showing a control system of the laser processing apparatus of the embodiment

  The following is a description of the best mode for carrying out the present invention. The scope of the present invention should be determined based on the description of the claims, in consideration of the description of the specification and well-known techniques in this field, and in accordance with the understanding of those skilled in the art.

  The laser processing apparatus 4 of an Example and its deformation | transformation are shown to FIGS. 1-10. FIG. 1 shows a laser processing system 2 comprising a laser processing apparatus 4 and a pallet changer 5. The pallet 6 carries the work 20 and the pallet changer 5 exchanges the pallet 6 with the laser processing apparatus 4. For example, the pallet changer 5 unloads the pallet 6 carrying the processed work from the laser processing apparatus 4 and at the same time, the pallet changer 5 carries the pallet 6 carrying the unworked work onto the laser processing apparatus 4.

  The pallet 6 is provided with a plurality of work clamps 8, and two work clamps 8 are installed on each long side of the rectangular pallet 6, for example. However, the number and position of the work clamper 8, such as one work clamper 8 on one long side, two on the other, or three or more on each long side, one each on each long side and short side Is optional. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the work clamper 8 may be installed not on the pallet 6 but on the machine body of the laser processing apparatus 4. In the embodiment, since the work clamper 8 is operated by the air cylinder, piping such as air is provided in the laser processing apparatus 4. In the pallet changer 5, the work clamper 8 may or may not be used, and when used, the pallet changer 5 is also provided with air piping. The air may be replaced with nitrogen or the like, or the work clamper 8 may be operated by oil pressure or a motor.

  In this specification, the longitudinal direction of the laser processing apparatus 4 is the x direction, the short side direction is the y direction, and the vertical direction is the z direction. The laser head support 10 is attached to the cross rail 12 movable in the x direction, and moves along the cross rail 12 in the y direction. The laser head support 10 includes, for example, a laser light source, and emits a laser beam from the laser head. The focal height of the laser light can be changed according to the thickness of the work 20, the depth of the processing position, and the like. The laser processing device 4 may be covered by a cover (not shown), and the laser light source may be provided outside the laser head support 10. The work 20 is, for example, a metal plate.

  FIG. 2 shows the pallet 6, and for example, two work clampers 8 are provided on each of the long sides 13 and 13 of the pallet 6, respectively. The work placement portion 15 is formed of a vertical plate-like member provided with a plurality of point-like tops 16 and is disposed, for example, in parallel to the short sides 14, 14 between the short sides 14, 14 of the pallet 6 There is. Top portions 16 of the work placement portion 15 are provided in the pallet 6 at intervals in both the x and y directions, and the top portions 16 support the bottom surface of the work. The slag generated by the laser processing falls downward through the space between the workpiece mounting portions 15 and 15 and is discharged to the outside of the machine by a conveyor (not shown).

  FIG. 3 shows a laser processing apparatus 44 of a modification, and the work clamper 8 is provided not on the pallet 6 ′ but on the body of the laser processing apparatus 44. The other points are the same as the laser processing apparatus 4 of FIG.

  4 to 8 show the structure of the work clamper 8. The clamp member 18 at the top of the work clamper 8 is attached to the upper end of the vertical shaft 24. The shaft portion 24 is accommodated in the housing 22 of the work clamper 8, and the flange 25 at the bottom of the shaft portion 24 is biased downward in the vertical direction by a biasing member 26 such as a spring coil. The biasing force causes the clamp member 18 to abut on the work 20.

  FIG. 4 shows the clamp member 18 in the clamped state, and FIG. 5 shows the clamp member 18 in the unclamped state. While changing from the state of FIG. 4 to the state of FIG. 5, the clamp member 18 turns 180 ° and descends, and the upper surface of the unclamp member 18 is lower than the upper surface of the work 20 as shown in FIG. Moving. For this reason, the laser head 11 provided at the bottom of the laser head support 10 can process the workpiece 20 up to the end without interfering with the unclamping member 18 in the state of FIG.

  For example, the cam portion 27 is fixed to the flange 25 at the lower end of the shaft portion 24, and the pin 29 fixed to the housing 22 is engaged with the cam groove 28 of the cam portion 27. The cam portion 27 and the pin 29 constitute a cam mechanism, and the bottom portion of the cam portion 27 is rotatably supported around the vertical axis by the piston 31 of the air cylinder 30, and is raised and lowered by the piston 31. Although the air cylinder 30 is supplied with air from the air pipe 39, another fluid such as nitrogen gas or oil may be used instead of air.

  The clamp member 18 rotates 360 ° with the shaft 24 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 6, for example, and at least twice reciprocates in the height direction. In the clamping position shown by the solid line, the clamp member 18 is at the low position, contacts the end of the workpiece on the pallet, and clamps the workpiece by the force from the biasing member 26. At the position 18c (unclamping position) of the chain line rotated 180 ° from the clamping position, the clamp member 18 is lowered most, the clamp member 18 faces the outside of the pallet 6, and the upper surface of the clamp member 18 is higher than the upper surface of the work 20 It will be Therefore, the clamp member 18 does not interfere with the laser head support 10 at the unclamping position. Then, at intermediate positions 18b and 18d between the position shown by the solid line (clamping position) and the position 18c (the unclamping position) of the dashed line, the clamp member 18 ascends to avoid the frame 13 and the like of the pallet 6. The engagement between the cam groove 28 and the pin 29 is schematically shown in FIG.

  FIG. 8 shows the cam groove 28 provided on the surface of the cylindrical cam portion 27 unfolded, and the BB line on the left side of FIG. 8 and the B′-B ′ line on the right side are lines at the same position. The pin 29 moves in the direction of the outlined arrow in FIG. 8 and moves from the line B--B to the line B '-B' from left to right. This corresponds to one rotation of the clamp member 18 in the order of positions 18b → 18c (unclamp position) → 18d → solid line from the solid line position in FIG. Since the pin 29 is fixed, when the pin 29 is raised with respect to the cam groove 28, the clamp member 18 is lowered, and when the pin 29 is lowered, the clamp member 18 is raised. The position of the clamp member 18 will be described. When the pin 29 is in the vertical groove 32, the clamp member 18 appears in the solid clamp position of FIG. 6 and in the vertical groove 33, the clamp member 18 appears in the unclamp position of the dashed line 18c in FIG. In the vertical groove 34, the clamp member 18 appears at an intermediate position of the dashed line 18b, and in the vertical groove 35, the clamp member 18 appears at an intermediate position of the dashed line 18d.

  The cam groove 28 has two types of inclined grooves 36 and 37, and the inclined groove 36 is at a lower position than the inclined groove 37 and both connect the vertical grooves 32-35. When the pin 29 descends in the cam groove 28, the pin 29 passes through the inclined groove 36 and passes through the inclined groove 37 when ascending. This is because the cam portion 27 tries to move up and down as vertically as possible because the air cylinder and the urging member move up and down. The vertical grooves 32 and 33 have the same height at the highest point, but in the vertical groove 32, the pin 29 does not rise to the highest point because the clamp members contact the work on the pallet. The range of the highest position of the pin 29 at the vertical groove 32 is indicated by S. The pin 29 ascends to the highest point of the vertical groove 33, so that in the unclamped state, the upper surface of the clamp member is lower than the upper surface of the workpiece. As described above, the shaft portion 24 ascends and descends at the same time as the pivoting, and the clamp member 18 moves between the clamping position and the unclamping position faster than that which pivots after the ascent and descent.

  The pin 29 may be provided on the side of the shaft portion 24 and the cam portion 27 'may be provided on the side of the housing 22. The arrangement of the cam grooves of such a modified example is shown in FIG. The vertical grooves 32 'and 35' of the cam groove 28 of FIG. 8 are upside down, and the inclined grooves 36 'and 37' are upside down and left and right with respect to the inclined grooves 36 and 37 of FIG. In the embodiment, although the biasing member 26 is disposed at the upper side and the cam portion 27 is disposed at the lower side, the upper and lower sides of these may be reversed. In the embodiment, the clamp member is rotated between the four positions, but may be reciprocated between the clamp position and the unclamp position. In this case, it may be reciprocated between the unclamping position 18c from the solid clamp position in FIG. 6 through the intermediate position 18b.

  FIG. 10 shows a control system of the laser processing system, and the main controller 40 controls the laser head support 10, the cross rail 12, and the pallet changer 5. The main controller 40 may control these directly or via separate controllers provided for them. The clamper controller 42 controls the air cylinder of each work clamper 8 individually, and may be integral with or separate from the main controller 40.

  In response to a command from the main controller 40, the laser head support 10 is moved along the predetermined route by the cross rail 12 to cut the work. The position of the laser head support 10 is sent from the laser head support 10 or the main controller 40 or the like to the clamper controller 42, and when the laser head support 10 approaches a position where it interferes with the clamp member, the clamp member is 180 °. Rotate and retract to the unclamping position. And in the unclamping position, the upper surface of the clamp member is at a height equal to or less than the upper surface of the work on the pallet, and the laser head support and the clamp member do not interfere. Further, since the work clamper can be controlled individually, even if one work clamper retracts, another work clamper clamps the work, and the work does not shift or rotate. Because of these, the work can be processed to the end, and the yield of the work is improved.

The following effects can be obtained in the embodiment.
1) Since the clamp member 18 is retracted to the unclamping position so as to avoid interference with the laser head support 10, the work can be processed to the end, and the yield is improved.
2) If a plurality of work clampers 8 are used, work can be clamped by the remaining work clampers even if one clamp is retracted to the unclamping position. In particular, when three or more workpiece clampers 8 are used, the workpiece can be clamped by two or more clamps when one clamp is retracted to the unclamping position, so that the displacement of the workpiece during processing can be made more reliably. It can prevent.
3) By using the cam portion 27, the pin 29 and the air cylinder 30, the clamp member 18 can be rotated while being raised and lowered to smoothly move between the clamp position and the unclamp position.
4) The air cylinder 30 consumes air only when the clamp member 18 is raised, and does not consume air during clamping or unclamping. Therefore, the consumption of air is small.

2 Laser processing system
4,44 Laser processing equipment
5 pallet changer
6,6 'pallet
8 Work clamper
10 Laser head support
11 Laser head
12 Cross rail
13,14 frames
15 Workpiece
16 top
18 Clamp member
20 work
22 Housing
24 axis
25 flange
26 biasing member
27 cam section
28 cam groove
29 pin
30 air cylinder
31 piston
32-35 vertical groove
36, 37 inclined grooves
39 Air pipe
40 main controller
42 clamper controller

Claims (4)

A pallet provided with a workpiece placement unit configured to support the bottom surface of a plate-like workpiece;
A workpiece clamper configured to clamp workpieces to a pallet,
And a laser head support configured to move the upper part of the pallet relative to the workpiece and to cut the workpiece by a laser beam.
The work clamper is
A clamp member,
A vertical shaft having the clamp member attached at its upper end;
A clamping position for clamping the workpiece by bringing the clamp member into contact with the upper surface of the workpiece end by raising and lowering the shaft and pivoting about the vertical axis; It is configured to move the clamp member once while moving between the unclamping position where the upper surface of the member is at a level lower than the upper surface of the work and moving between the clamping position and the unclamping position Equipped with a drive mechanism,
A laser processing apparatus characterized in that when a laser head support approaches a clamp member, the clamp member is retracted to an unclamping position so that the work can be processed to the end. A plurality of work clampers are provided so that the drive mechanism can be independently controlled.
The laser processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the member of another work clamper is retracted to the unclamping position while maintaining the clamp member of at least one work clamper at the clamping position.   The drive mechanism includes a biasing member that biases the shaft portion downward, a fluid pressure cylinder that pivots the shaft portion pivotably, and a cam mechanism that pivots the shaft portion as it moves up and down. The laser processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that   The cam mechanism rotates the shaft about the vertical axis so that the clamp part retracts from the clamp position to the unclamp position in the first half rotation and the clamp part returns from the unclamp position to the clamp position in the next half rotation. 4. A laser processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said laser beam is rotated by 360 DEG and the phase of said cam mechanism is returned to its original position by one rotation of said shaft.

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