JP2583696Y2 - Tool changer in work processing line - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tool changing device in a work processing line, and more particularly to a tool changing device in a work processing line which can be installed in a work line without increasing the space occupied by the work processing line. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a work processing line in which different kinds of works are mixed and processed, when the different kinds of works are transferred, the transfer of the works is temporarily stopped in front of the processing machine, thereby causing no work. The technology was designed to sequentially raise the processing machines in the order of transport, stop them, and replace them with tools for different types during the stop, thereby avoiding the entire stop of the processing line and improving the work efficiency, Conventionally, it is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-62-68258.

[0003]

It is preferable that the tool change is automated by a tool changer rather than by a manual operation of an operator. However, there is a problem that the space occupied by the processing station is enlarged because it must be provided side by side or facing each other.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a tool changing apparatus in a work processing line which does not cause an increase in space.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is provided before a processing station in a work processing line, and is capable of temporarily stopping loading of the work into the work station. A tool exchange jig having a station, tool collection and holding means for removing and collecting and holding a tool of a processing machine installed in the processing station, and tool mounting means for mounting a new tool previously held on the processing machine; The tool changing jig is provided between the standby station and the processing station, and while the workpiece is temporarily stopped at the standby station, the tool changing jig is loaded into the processing line from the upstream side of the processing station and is moved along the processing line. Jig transport means for moving the jig out of the processing station after the tool change, Ete is characterized in that it constitutes a tool changer in the work processing line.

[0006] It is desirable that the jig conveying means is installed above the processing line along the processing line.

Further, it is desirable that the tool changing jig is stopped at the processing station in such a manner that the axis of the tool collection and holding means and the axis of the tool mounting means coincide with the axis of the processing axis of the processing machine. .

[0008]

According to the tool changer in the work processing line according to the present invention having the above-described configuration, when it is necessary to change the tool of the processing machine installed in the processing station, the standby station provided in the preceding process is required. , The transfer of the work is temporarily stopped, and the processing station is brought into a state without the work. In this state, the jig for tool exchange is carried into the processing line on the upstream side of the processing station by the jig conveying means, and is moved along the processing line to the processing position of the processing station and mounted on the processing machine. When the removed tool is removed and collected, a new tool is attached. When the tool change is completed, the tool changing jig is carried out of the processing station to the outside of the processing line. That is, since the jig conveying means is disposed by effectively utilizing the space of the processing line, the tool changing device can be easily incorporated into the existing processing line without increasing the installation space, and the production efficiency can be improved. Can be improved as much as possible.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partial plan view showing a work processing line on which a tool changer according to the present invention is installed. In this embodiment, a honing processing station in a cylinder block processing line of a V-6 engine is illustrated. I have. FIG. 2 is an elevation view in the direction of arrows II-II shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a side view in the direction of arrows III-III shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, reference numeral 10 denotes a work transfer device constituted by a roller conveyor, on which a cylinder block 14 serving as a work is placed via a pallet 12 in the direction of its crank axis vertically. And transferred sequentially. In the honing station 16, a honing machine 18, which is a processing machine located on the side of the transfer device 10, has a processing axis 20 perpendicular to the upper surface of one bank 14 a of the cylinder block 14. It is installed at an angle. The honing machine 18 has three banks formed on one bank 14a of a cylinder block 14 for a V-type six-cylinder engine.
In order to perform honing processing on the three cylinders 14b at the same time, three processing axes 20 are provided.

The transfer apparatus 10 is provided with a standby station 22 located upstream of the honing station 16 and capable of temporarily stopping the transfer of the cylinder block 14 to the honing station 16 as a preceding process. ing. This standby station 22
A stopper mechanism 24a at the distal end is provided with a cylinder mechanism 24 that can freely move up and down from between the transfer rollers 10a of the transfer device 10, and when the cylinder mechanism 24 is extended, the stopper section 24a moves on the transfer roller 10a. The transfer of the cylinder block 14 is temporarily stopped by engaging with the moving pallet 12, so that the honing working station 16 in the next process is set to a workless state.

The honing machine 1 is located between the standby station 22 and the honing station 16.
A tool changing device 28 for automatically changing the eight tools 26 is provided. The tool changing device 28 includes a tool changing jig 30 and a jig conveying means 3 for conveying the tool changing jig 30.
The jig conveying means 32 loads the tool changing jig 30 into the work processing line on the work transfer device 10 from immediately downstream of the standby station 22 and also performs the honing processing station along the processing line. 16, and after the tool change, the tool changing jig 3
0 is carried out from the honing working station 16 to the outside of the working line.

The jig transporting means 32 will be described in more detail. The jig transporting means 32 holds the tool changing jig 30 and moves the jig up and down vertically, and holds the elevating and moving means 34. Vertical moving means 3 for moving the lifting / lowering moving means 34 along the work transfer device 10.
6, and a horizontal moving means 38 which holds the vertical moving means 36 and horizontally moves the vertical moving means 36.

The horizontal moving means 38 includes a work transfer device 10.
A horizontal traveling rail 42 composed of a main beam 40 and the like provided across the upper part of the vehicle, and a lateral traveling transporter 44 suspended by the lateral traveling rail 42 and self-propelled. The left and right ends of the main beam 40 of the lateral running rail 42 are the columns 4
6 and 46 supported on the floor,
The guide beam 48 is provided on both sides of the main beam 40 along the longitudinal direction of the main beam 40, and the rack gear 5 is provided on the lower surface thereof.
0 are respectively attached.

The transporting machine 44 has a sub-beam 52 extending longitudinally along the work processing line toward the processing station 16, and the sub-beam 52 is controlled by a frame 54 mounted on the upper surface of the sub-beam 52. The main beam 40 is hung in a cantilever manner while being engaged with the guide rail 48 of the main beam 40 via the base. A pinion gear 58 meshing with the rack gear 50 and a drive motor 60 for driving the pinion gear 58 are also mounted on the upper surface of the auxiliary beam 52.
When the is driven to rotate, the horizontal traveling transporter 44 moves below itself along the lateral traveling rail 42 by itself.

The vertical moving means 36 is constituted by a ball feed screw mechanism attached to the lower surface of the sub beam 52. That is, on the lower surface of the sub beam 52, bearing members 64, 64 are fixed to both ends in the longitudinal direction, and a feed screw 66 is rotatably supported by the bearing members 64, 64 so as to be rotatable. A drive motor 68 for rotating the feed screw 66 is connected to the feed screw 66. Further, the feed screw 66 is provided with an inverted U-shaped moving frame 70 which meshes with the feed screw 66. When the feed screw 66 is rotated, the moving frame 70 moves below the auxiliary beam 52 along the longitudinal direction.

The lifting / lowering means 34 is provided on the moving frame 70. That is, the elevating and lowering means 34 includes a holding plate 72 to which the tool changing jig 30 is attached and which holds the same, two guide rods 74 and 74 and a rack gear 76 which are attached to the holding plate 72 and extend upward.
These two guide rods 74, 74 and the rack gear 76 fit through guide holes 80 of a guide plate 78 attached to the lower end of the moving frame 70. The rack gear 76 is inserted between a pair of left and right side plates 70a, 70a of the inverted U-shaped moving frame 70, and
Further, it extends upward through the moving frame 70. Also, the left and right side plate portions 70 of the moving frame 70
a, 70a, a pinion gear 82 rotatably supported by the side plate portions 70a, 70a is provided.
The rack gear 76 is meshed with the pinion gear 82. The pinion gear 82 has a drive motor 8 for rotating the pinion gear 82 to move the rack gear 76 up and down.
4 are connected.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the tool changing jig 30 is provided with tool collecting and holding means 88 for removing and collecting and holding the tools 26 mounted on the three processing shafts 20 of the honing machine 18, respectively. Machining axis 2 with the tool 26 removed
Tool mounting means 90 for mounting a new tool 26 with respect to
And has. The tool collection and holding means 88 and the tool mounting means 90 are arranged side by side in three sets.

Here, the detachment relationship between the machining shaft 20 of the honing machine 18 and the tool 26 will be described with reference to FIG. That is, a concave portion 92 into which the base end portion 26a of the tool 26 is inserted is formed in the shaft core at the tip of the machining shaft 20, and the inserted tool base end portion 26a is rotated in the concave portion 92 by a predetermined angle. A chucking mechanism 94 for firmly fixing the tool 26 is provided.
By arranging the shaft 6 and the processing shaft 20 coaxially, moving them relatively close to or away from each other, and rotating them by a predetermined angle, they can be easily detached from each other.

By the way, the same configuration of the tool collection and holding means 88 and the tool mounting means 90 is adopted for the tool 26 thus detached. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, a cylindrical sleeve 98 is rotatably supported on the jig body 96, and the outer periphery of the sleeve 98 is not explicitly shown in the drawing, but the worm wheel gear The worm wheel gear is meshed with a worm gear 100 supported by a jig main body 96. The rotation of the worm gear 100 causes the sleeve 9 to rotate.
8 is adapted to be rotated by a predetermined angle.

The inside of the sleeve 98 is a holding portion for the tool 26, and a holding mechanism 102 for holding the tool 26 is provided inside the sleeve 98. This gripping mechanism 102
A groove 104 formed by cutting out three places at equal angular intervals on the peripheral side of the sleeve 98, a lever-shaped claw member 106 pivotally supported in each groove 104, and Ring-shaped sliding member 10 with which one end of claw member 106 is engaged
8 is provided. The ring-shaped sliding member 108 is slidably fitted to a shaft member 110 provided coaxially with the shaft core of the sleeve 98. Also, a ring-shaped sliding member 108
Is pulled by a spring 112 locked at the distal end of the shaft member 110 and urged toward the distal end thereof. When the ring-shaped sliding member 108 is located at the distal end side, the claw member 106 has the other end side. It is designed to open radially outward.

That is, when the tip end of the tool 26 attached to the machining shaft 20 of the honing machine 18 is inserted into the sleeve 98, and its end surface contacts and presses the ring-shaped sliding member 108, the sliding member is pressed. 108 retreats and claw member 1
06 swings, and the other end is closed radially inward so as to engage with the concave portion 114 formed in the tool 26. When the sleeve 98 is rotated in a state where the claw member 106 is engaged with the concave portion 114, the tool 26 is also integrally rotated to disengage the tool 26 from the machining shaft 20, and thereafter the machining shaft 20 is moved to the sleeve 98. When the tool 26 is relatively moved away from the tool 98, the tool 26 is collected and held in the sleeve 98. If this operation is performed in reverse, the sleeve 9
The tool 26 held in 8 is mounted on the processing shaft 20.

Further, the tool changing jig 30 having the tool collecting and holding means 88 and the tool mounting means 90 having such a configuration.
Is inclined so that the axial direction of the sleeve 98 coincides with the inclination of the machining shaft 20 of the honing machine 18, and is attached to the holding plate 72 of the lifting / lowering moving means 34. In the processing position of the processing station 16, the tool collection and holding means 88 and the tool mounting means 90
Are sequentially set with the above-mentioned axes aligned, the tool 26 can be easily changed automatically by moving the machining shaft 20 of the honing machine 18 forward and backward.

Hereinafter, the operation of the tool changing device in the work processing line configured as described above will be described.

When a different kind of work, that is, a cylinder block 14 having a different cylinder bore diameter is transferred on the work transfer line 10, or when the tool 26 of the honing machine 18 is worn, the tool 26 needs to be replaced. When the need arises, first, the standby station 22
, The stopper portion 24a is projected upward from between the transport rollers 10a of the transport device 10. Then, the pallet 12 transferred on the transport device 10
Is temporarily stopped by being locked by the stopper portion 24a,
Honing station 1 for cylinder block 14
6 is stopped, and the honing station 16 enters a state where there is no work.

Next, the horizontal moving means 3 of the jig conveying means 32
8 is operated to hold a new tool in the sleeve 98 on the tool mounting means 90 side in advance.
Is moved above the work transfer device 10. Afterwards
The tool changing jig 30 is lowered by operating the elevating / lowering moving means 34, and is carried into the processing line immediately above the transfer device 10. Further, the vertical moving means 36 is operated, and the tool changing jig 30 is moved.
Processing station 1 along the processing line
6 and the axis of the sleeve 98 on the tool collection and holding means 88 side is aligned with the extension of the processing shaft 20 of the honing machine 18 and stopped.

In this state, the machining shaft 2 of the honing machine 18
0 is advanced without rotating, the tool 26 attached to the tip is inserted into the sleeve 98, the tool 26 is removed from the processing shaft 20, the tool 26 is collected and held in the sleeve 98, and the processing shaft 20 is Move back to the home position.

Next, the vertical traveling means 36 is operated again,
Sleeve 98 on tool mounting means 90 side of tool changing jig 30
Is stopped by aligning the axis with the axis of the machining axis 20. Then, the processing shaft 20 is advanced again to mount the tool 26 held by the sleeve 98 on the tool mounting means 90 side to the tip of the processing shaft 20, and the processing shaft 20 is retracted to the original position again and returned.

When the tool change has been completed in this way, the tool changing jig 30 is raised by operating the elevating / lowering moving means 34, and is carried out of the processing station 16 to the outside of the processing line. 36 and the horizontal moving means 38 are sequentially operated to return to the home position, and the tool 26 collected in the sleeve 98 on the tool collecting and holding means 88 is removed. A new tool 26 is attached in preparation for a tool change.

[0031]

As described in detail in the above embodiments, the tool changer of the work processing line according to the present invention is provided with a standby station for temporarily stopping the transfer of the work as a preceding process upstream of the processing station. In addition, between the standby station and the processing station, tool collection and holding means for removing and collecting and holding the tool of the processing machine installed in the processing station, and tool mounting means for mounting a new tool previously held on the processing machine. While the workpiece is temporarily stopped at the standby station, the tool changing jig having the above is moved into the processing line from the upstream side of the processing station and is moved to the processing position of the processing station along the processing line. The jig transport means for unloading the jig from the processing station after tool change is provided. It can be disposed tool changer while preventing enlargement of the space by effectively utilizing the over scan. Therefore, it can be easily incorporated and arranged in the existing work processing line, and the production efficiency can be improved as much as possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial plan view showing a work processing line on which a tool changing device according to the present invention is installed, and is a diagram showing a honing processing station in a cylinder block processing line of a V-type six-cylinder engine.

FIG. 2 is an elevation view in the direction of arrows II-II shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view taken in the direction of arrows III-III shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway side view of the tool changing jig.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing an attachment relationship between a processing shaft of a honing machine and a tool.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Conveying apparatus which forms a processing line 14 Cylinder block as a work 16 Processing station 18 Honing machine as a processing machine 20 Processing axis 22 Stand-by station 26 Tool 30 Tool changing jig 32 Jig conveying means 88 Tool collection and holding means 90 Tool mounting means

Claims (3)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A standby station which is provided in a process preceding a processing station in a processing line of a work and is capable of temporarily stopping loading of a work into the processing station; and removing a tool of a processing machine installed in the processing station. A tool changing jig having a tool collecting and holding means for collecting and holding a new tool and a tool mounting means for mounting a new tool previously held in the processing machine; and a standby station provided between the standby station and the processing station. While the workpiece is temporarily stopped, when the tool exchange jig is carried into the machining line from the upstream side of the machining station, it is moved along the machining line to the machining position of the machining station, and the tool is moved. Jig transport means for unloading the jig from the processing station after replacement. Tool changer in 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said jig conveying means is provided above said processing line along said processing line.
Tool changer in the work processing line described in the above. 3. The tool change jig is sequentially stopped at the processing station with the axis of the tool collection and holding means and the axis of the tool mounting means coinciding with the axis of the processing axis of the processing machine. The tool changing device in a work processing line according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: