JP2622913B2 - Bar supply method and bar supply device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bar supply method and a bar supply apparatus, and more particularly, to a bar supply apparatus for continuously supplying a long bar to an automatic lathe by a bar supply apparatus. The present invention relates to a supply method and a bar supply device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automatic lathe has been put to practical use in which a bar as a raw material is turned according to a predetermined program and a plurality of products are machined from the front end of the bar.
There is also known a bar feeder configured to supply a bar continuously or automatically to an automatic lathe following the operation of the automatic lathe.

A bar feeder generally includes a feed arrow for moving the bar toward an automatic lathe, a feed arrow drive mechanism for moving the feed arrow forward or backward, and a control device for controlling the operation of the feed arrow drive mechanism. And As a method of supplying a bar to an automatic lathe using this type of bar supply device,
The following two bar supply systems have been conventionally used. (1) A finger chuck for gripping the rear end of the bar is provided at the tip of the feed arrow, and the feed arrow advances the bar in a state where the finger chuck grips the rear end of the bar. When the automatic lathe cuts through the end product from the front end of the bar,
Although a residual material called an offcut is left on the main spindle of the automatic lathe, the feed arrow retracts to the bar supply device while holding the offcut by the finger chuck. The residual material discharge mechanism of the bar supply device separates the scrap from the finger chuck and discharges it to the outside of the machine. According to this method, the end material can be returned to the bar supply device and discharged. (2) The feed arrow presses the rear end face of the bar at its front end face,
Advance toward automatic lathe. The end material is pushed forward of the main shaft at the front end face of the feed arrow or the new material, and is carried out of the lathe by a part catcher of an automatic lathe or a chip conveyor. According to this method, the front end face of the feed arrow can be separated from the bar at the time of cutting the bar, so that the rotation of the bar can be prevented from being transmitted to the feed arrow.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Problems have been pointed out in recent years for the two methods. That is, (a) In the supply method in the above (1) (hereinafter referred to as a grip supply method), an outer diameter grip type finger chuck that grips the outer peripheral surface of the bar is generally used. The outer diameter is much larger than the outer diameter of the bar. Therefore, there is a case where the finger chuck cannot be inserted into the spindle inner tube of the automatic lathe. Attempt to use an outer-diameter gripping finger chuck having an outer diameter equal to or less than the outer diameter of the rod, or an inner-diameter gripping type finger chuck that grips the inner circumference of the bore from the inside, in order to insert the finger chuck into the spindle inner tube. However, in order to grip the bar with such a finger chuck, special pre-processing such as cutting down or boring must be applied to the rear end of the bar. However, processing only one end of a long bar is an extremely inefficient and complicated operation, and such processing cannot be adopted at present. Thus, in such a gripping supply system, not only can the bar and the feed arrow not be separated during machining, but also it remains difficult to insert the feed arrow into the spindle inner tube. (B) On the other hand, in the supply method in (2) above (hereinafter, referred to as a pressure supply method), the scrap left on the main shaft is extruded to the front of the main shaft and is carried out of the lathe together with the product or chips. I do. For this reason, there is a possibility that the product in the automatic lathe that has been precisely machined with high precision may be damaged, or the chip conveyor of the automatic lathe may be damaged. Such a problem becomes remarkable when the diameter of the bar is large and, therefore, a large amount of offcuts is discharged, and some solution is particularly desired in recent years.

The present invention has been made in view of the above point, and an object of the present invention is to supply a long bar continuously to an automatic lathe by a feed arrow of a bar feeder. In the method, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bar material supply method capable of solving both of the drawbacks in the above gripping supply system and the press supply system, and more specifically, a bar material and a feed arrow can be isolated during processing, and It is possible to use a feed arrow with a tip with an outer diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the bar without special pre-processing, and also to prevent product damage and chip conveyor wear due to the discharge of scraps. An object of the present invention is to provide a method of supplying a bar material that can surely prevent the rod material.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bar feeder provided with the feed arrow, the feed arrow drive mechanism and the control device, wherein the bar feed method can be implemented with a simple structure. And

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a bar supply method for continuously supplying a long bar to an automatic lathe by a feed arrow of a bar supply device. In order to supply the bar to the automatic lathe, the leading end of the feed arrow is brought into contact with the rear end face of the bar, and the bar is supplied to the automatic lathe by the advance of the feed arrow toward the automatic lathe. While being machined by the automatic lathe, the rear end face of the bar is separated from the front end, and when the entire length of the bar is shortened to become the end piece, the front end is advanced at least to the vicinity of the rear end face of the bar. A bar material supply method is provided, wherein the scrap material is sucked by a scrap material suction means provided at the tip end, and the feed arrow is retracted together with the scrap material.

The present invention also includes a feed arrow for advancing a bar toward an automatic lathe, a feed arrow drive mechanism for moving the feed arrow forward or backward, and a control device for controlling the operation of the feed arrow drive mechanism. In the bar supply device provided,
A tip end portion having a tip end surface in contact with the rear end face of the bar, and a suction device provided at the tip end, for sucking off the end material left on the automatic lathe as a result of the bar being processed by the automatic lathe; Comprising, a position detecting means for detecting the position of the feed arrow at the time of the final processing of the bar,
A bar feeder, comprising: suction device control means for operating the suction device when the tip of the feed arrow approaches the scrap, and sucking the scrap by the suction device. provide.

According to the above configuration of the present invention, the bar can be supplied to the automatic lathe without gripping the bar with the finger chuck. Therefore, the outer diameter of the tip of the feed arrow can be reduced to facilitate insertion into the main shaft of the automatic lathe, and the feed arrow can be separated from the rear end of the bar during cutting of the bar, thereby rotating the bar. Can be prevented from being transmitted to the feed arrow. In addition, the end material left on the automatic lathe at the completion of the work of the product is not discharged into the automatic lathe, but the end material is sucked, brought back to the bar supply device together with the feed arrow, and can be discharged on the side of the bar supply device. Therefore,
It is possible to avoid damage to the product in the automatic lathe and damage to the chip conveyor.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the scrap material sucking means or the suction device includes a suction cup for sucking the scrap material by negative pressure, and the suction cup is attached so as to slightly protrude from the tip end. Be inspired. More preferably, the scrap adsorbing means or the adsorbing device is provided with a two-position switching valve for controlling opening and closing of the passage of the suction air. Further, in another embodiment of the present invention, the above-described scrap adsorbing means or device includes an electromagnet capable of attracting scraps by magnetism, and an excitation circuit for controlling the electromagnet.

[0011]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a bar supply method and a bar supply apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a bar supply device to which a bar supply method according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 1 shows a bar supply device 10 and an NC lathe 20 which are aligned along a bar processing axis XX. The bar supply device 10 includes a frame 12 supported by the legs 11, 11, and a feed arrow 13 supported by the frame 12 so as to be movable along a processing axis XX. At the front end of the feed arrow 13, there is provided a tip 14 for pressing the rear end of the bar W. Tip 14
Has an outer diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the bar W,
The rear end of the bar W is not held by the NC lathe 2
It can only be pressed towards zero.

The bar supply device 10 also includes a new material supply mechanism and a feed arrow drive mechanism. The new material supply mechanism (not shown) feeds a bar to be newly processed, ie, a new material,
On the processing axis line XX in front of. The feed arrow driving mechanism includes a chain 15, and is configured to transmit a driving force to the chain 15 to advance the feed arrow 13 toward the NC lathe 20. The bar supply device 10 further includes a remaining material receiver (not shown) arranged at a predetermined position for discharging the scrap material brought back by the feed arrow 13.

The bar feeder 10 includes, as means for controlling the bar feed operation, a controller CU for controlling the operation of the feed arrow 13, and various sensors for detecting the position or movement of the feed arrow 13. ing. The position detection sensor LSA shown in FIG. 1 is disposed at a position separated from the front end of the frame 12 by a predetermined distance rearward, and detects the position occupied by the feed arrow 13 at the start of the final processing stage of the bar W.
The position detection sensor LSA, like other sensors, is connected to the controller CU.
The operation of the feed arrow 13 is controlled based on the position of the feed arrow 13 detected by these sensors.

The NC lathe 20 is configured as a so-called two-spindle type automatic lathe with a movable spindle.
Movable first spindle 21 provided with collet chuck 2
And a movable second spindle 25 provided with the second spindle 2.
5 is arranged in front of the first main shaft 21 so as to face the first main shaft 21. Between the first spindle 21 and the second spindle 25, a first byte 23 corresponding to the first spindle 21 and a second byte 24 corresponding to the second spindle 25 are provided.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the feed arrow 13 in a state where the bar W is advanced, and FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the feed arrow 13 in a state in which the end material EW is sucked. . As shown in FIG. 2, the feed arrow 13 is formed entirely hollow, and the cylindrical tip portion 14 has an outer diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the feed arrow 13 and slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the bar W. Having. When the bar W is advanced, the feed arrow 13 is urged forward by the feed arrow drive mechanism, and the front end surface or the front end surface of the tip portion 14 presses the rear end surface of the bar W toward the NC lathe 20. .

A suction cup 30 constituting a device for adsorbing offcuts is disposed in a hollow portion of the distal end portion 14, and the suction cup 30 is provided with a support shaft 32.
It is fixed to the front end. The support shaft 32 extends in the hollow direction of the feed arrow 13 in the axial direction. A compression spring 36 for urging the support shaft 32 forward is disposed around the support shaft 32, and the spring 36 includes an annular portion 34 formed integrally with the front end portion of the support shaft 32, and It is interposed between an annular spring retainer 35 formed integrally with the peripheral wall. An annular stopper 38 is disposed between the annular portion 34 and the suction cup 30.
Abuts against the annular portion 34,
2 can be restricted from moving forward.

The suction cup 30 is made of an elastic member, and its front end face has a mortar-like shape as a whole, and has a recess 31 at the center opening toward the rear end face of the bar W. The recess 31 communicates with a suction passage 33 formed in the base of the suction cup 30 and the shaft of the support shaft 32, and the suction passage 33 is connected to the support shaft 32.
The flexible tube 4 is connected via a connection port 39 provided at the rear end of the flexible tube 4.
Connected to 1.

The flexible tube 41 extends through the closing member 40 provided at the rear end of the feed arrow 13 and extends rearward of the feed arrow 13. A pressure gauge 42 for detecting a suction pressure is connected to the flexible tube 41, and a vacuum pump 46 constituting a suction air source is connected via an electromagnetic solenoid type normally closed two-position switching valve 44. Is done. In FIG. 1, the two-position switching valve 44 is located at the closed position,
And the suction passage 41 are disconnected.

As shown in FIG. 3, when sucking the scrap EW by the suction cup 30, the controller CU switches the two-position switching valve 44 to the open position by applying the solenoid 45, and connects the vacuum pump 46 and the suction passage 41 to each other. Communication. A negative pressure is formed in the concave portion 31 of the suction cup 30 by the action of the vacuum pump 46, and the rear end face of the end material EW is sucked to the suction cup 30. Also,
The suction cup 30 is urged forward by a spring 36,
It protrudes slightly from the front end surface of the front end portion 14.

Next, the operation of the bar supply device 10 will be described. When a bar to be newly processed is put on the processing axis XX in front of the feed arrow 13 by the new material supply mechanism, the feed arrow 13 is advanced by the feed arrow drive mechanism,
The tip 14 of the feed arrow 13 is pressed against the rear end face of the bar W. The two-position switching valve 44 is located at the closed position, and atmospheric pressure acts on the concave portion 31 of the suction cup 30. Tip 1
The suction cup 30 slightly protruding from the front end 4 receives a reaction force from the rear end face of the bar W and relatively moves rearward against the resilience of the spring 36, as shown in FIG. Pull in.
As a result, the front end surface of the front end portion 14 is pressed against the rear end surface of the bar W. Thus, the driving force of the feed arrow drive mechanism is transmitted to the bar W through the feed arrow 13, the bar W moves forward, and the front end portion of the bar W is supplied to the NC lathe 20.

The NC lathe 20 controls the operations of the spindles 21 and 25 and the cutting tools 23 and 24 in accordance with a predetermined main program to machine a product from the front end of the bar W and cut off the product. During machining of the bar W, the NC lathe 20
Is separated from the tip portion 14, and the bar W is rotated by the main shafts 21 and 25. The feed arrow 13 is constantly urged forward by the feed arrow drive mechanism, and advances the bar W following the operation of the main shafts 21 and 25. As a result of the machining of the NC lathe 20, a large number of products are cut off from the bar W, the overall length of the bar W is gradually reduced.
The lathe 20 has a length of end material E that can no longer machine the product.
W is left.

The controller CU includes a position detection sensor LS
When A detects the feed arrow 13 located at the start position of the final machining stage, it inputs a predetermined signal to a control device (not shown) of the NC lathe 20, and the NC lathe 20 performs the final machining on the bar W. The last product that can be cut off from the bar W is machined. When the final machining is completed, the control device of the NC lathe 20 inputs a predetermined signal to the controller CU, whereby the controller CU detects the end of the final machining stage, and moves the feed arrow 13 by the feed arrow drive mechanism for a predetermined time. Just move forward. The predetermined time is set to a time at which the suction cup 30 protruding from the distal end portion 14 can reach at least the rear end surface of the end material EW. The controller CU also applies the solenoid 45 to switch the two-position switching valve 44 to the open position. As a result, the suction pressure of the vacuum pump 46 acts on the concave portion 31 of the suction cup 30, and a negative pressure is formed in the concave portion 31. Thus, the suction cup 30 reaching the rear end face of the scrap EW is the scrap EW.
And hold it.

After the collet chuck of the NC lathe 20 is released, the controller CU retreats the feed arrow 13 carrying the scrap EW, transfers the scrap EW to a region above the remaining receiver, and turns off the solenoid 45. To switch the two-position switching valve 44 to the closed position to release the negative pressure in the recess 31. The suction cup 30 releases the scrap EW, and the remaining material receiver receives the falling scrap EW.

As described above, in the above-described bar supply method and the bar supply apparatus, the tip portion 14 of the feed arrow 13 merely contacts the rear end face of the bar W, and the bar W is processed by the NC lathe 20. During this time, the bar W is separated from the rear end face. Therefore, the rotation of the bar W during the cutting process is not transmitted to the feed arrow 13. In addition, the scrap EW left on the NC lathe 20 at the time of completing the work of the product is not discharged into the NC lathe 20, but is carried on the sucker 30 of the feed arrow 13 and brought back to the bar feeder 10. Therefore, it is possible to avoid damage to the product in the NC lathe 20 and damage to the chip conveyor.

In the above embodiment, the scrap EW is sucked by the suction cup 30, but the scrap EW may be sucked by the magnetism of the electromagnet, for example.

[0027]

According to the above construction of the present invention, the bar and the feed arrow can be separated during the processing, and the outer diameter is smaller than the outer diameter of the bar without performing special pre-processing on the bar. It is possible to provide a bar supply method and a bar supply device which can use a feed arrow having a tip portion of the bar, and can surely prevent damage to a product due to discharge of scraps and wear of a chip conveyor. Becomes

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a bar supply device to which a bar processing method according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a feed arrow shown in a state where a bar is advanced.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a feed arrow shown in a state in which a scrap is sucked.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Bar supply device 11 Leg part 12 Frame 13 Feeding arrow 14 Tip part 20 NC lathe 30 Suction cup 32 Support shaft 33 Suction passage 34 Annular part 35 Spring retainer 36 Compression spring 38 Stopper 40 Closure member 41 Flexible tube 42 Pressure gauge 43 2 Position switching valve 45 Solenoid 46 Vacuum pump LSA Position detection sensor CU controller

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A bar supply method for continuously feeding a long bar to an automatic lathe by a feed arrow of a bar feeder, wherein a tip of the feed arrow is supplied so as to supply the bar to the automatic lathe. The bar is brought into contact with the rear end face of the bar, and the bar is supplied to the automatic lathe by the advancement of the feed arrow toward the automatic lathe. When the bar is separated and the entire length of the bar is reduced to become a scrap, the tip is advanced to at least the vicinity of the rear end face of the bar, and the scrap is attached to the scrap by means of the scrap suction means provided at the tip. Wherein the feed arrow is retracted together with the end material. 2. A rod comprising a feed arrow for advancing a bar toward an automatic lathe, a feed arrow drive mechanism for advancing or retreating the feed arrow, and a control device for controlling the operation of the feed arrow drive mechanism. In the material supply device, the feed arrow remains on the automatic lathe as a result of the bar material being processed by the automatic lathe provided at the distal end portion having a distal end surface that abuts on the rear end surface of the bar material. A suction device for suctioning offcuts, wherein the control device is a position detection means for detecting the position of the feed arrow at the time of final processing of the bar, and the tip of the feed arrow is the end material And a suction device control means for operating the suction device when the device approaches the suction device, and causing the suction device to suction the scrap material.