JP2978273B2 - Laser processing system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a laser processing system provided with a laser processing machine and a work transfer device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A laser processing cell provided with a laser processing machine and a work transfer device for automating laser processing has been put to practical use. A laser processing system that combines a stacker crane that transports a pallet on which a work is placed and a three-dimensional warehouse that stores the pallet,
Unmanned processing can be continued for a long time, and productivity is extremely high. In this type of system, the workpiece at the loading station is supplied to the laser processing machine by the work transfer device, and the work that has been processed is opposed to the laser processing machine by the work transfer device at the position opposite to the loading station. It is sent to the unloading station arranged on the side.

[0003]

Workpieces that have been processed are sequentially sent to an unloading station and sorted by an operator on a work station attached to the unloading station. Since the processing is automated, if the sorting operation is not performed every time the work is sent, unsorted work remains on the unloading station. As a result, it becomes necessary to interrupt the laser processing, and unmanned production becomes difficult. Therefore, the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problem by providing a device for storing the processed work in the three-dimensional warehouse again.

[0004]

A laser processing system according to the present invention has a three-dimensional warehouse for storing a pallet and a stacker crane for transporting the pallet to a laser processing cell. A loading station for placing a workpiece to be supplied to the processing machine, a first unloading station disposed on the loading station side of the laser processing machine to receive the laser-processed workpiece, A second unloading station disposed opposite to the loading station for receiving the laser-processed work; and a work transfer device for transferring the work between the loading station and the second unloading station. is there. Then, the first unloading station receives the work from the work transfer device, and a carrier that travels along an axis orthogonal to a traveling axis of the work transfer device, a work clamp that grips the work transferred by the carrier, It comprises a traveling lifter that supports a pallet on which the work is placed and travels along an axis parallel to the traveling axis of the work transfer device, and a pallet table on which the pallet is placed.

[0005]

The work that has been laser-processed and the semi-finished product that has been partially processed are sent to the first unloading station as required, stacked on a pallet and stored in a three-dimensional warehouse. Therefore, unmanned production is continued without interrupting the processing of the laser beam machine.

[0006]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the outline of a laser processing system according to the present invention. This production system is a three-dimensional warehouse 10
And a pallet 20 stored in the three-dimensional warehouse 10, and a stacker crane 30 is provided facing the three-dimensional warehouse 10. A plurality of laser processing cells are arranged on the front surface of the three-dimensional warehouse 10. FIG. 1 shows two laser processing cells. The laser processing cell includes a work loading station 40, a first unloading station 50, a work transfer device 60, a laser processing machine 70, and a second unloading station 80.

[0007] The work 25 to be laser-processed is a plate-like material and is stored on the pallet 20 in a superimposed manner.
The stacker crane 30 pulls out the work in the three-dimensional warehouse 10 together with the pallet and transports the work to a loading station 40 of a predetermined laser processing cell. The work transferred to the loading station 40 is transferred to the work transfer device 60.
Is supplied to the laser processing machine 70. Laser processing machine 7
The work which has been subjected to the necessary processing by the first unloading station 5 by the work transfer device 60.
0, or to the second unloading station 80. The operation of a series of these devices is controlled by the line controller 90.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show details of the work transfer device 60. FIG. The work transfer device 60 is a stacker crane 30
And a guide rail 600 disposed along an axis B1 orthogonal to the axis A1 that is the moving direction of the guide rail. Guide rail 60
0 connects the loading station 40 and the second unloading station 80 and is located at the top of the device. A traveling device 610 is attached to the guide rail 600. The traveling device 610 has a main body 613 guided by the guide rail 600 and is driven by a motor 612. A frame 614 is attached below the main body 613. The frame 614 is equipped with a loader 620 and an unloader 640. The loader 620 includes a work suction device 630, and the unloader 640 includes a fork device 650 that scoops the work.

The loader 620 moves with respect to the frame 614.
The support member 632 is guided by the guide 623 in the direction of the axis C2 which is a vertical direction. The axis C2 of the support member 632
Is driven by the air cylinder 622. The support member 632 includes a number of vacuum pads 634. The suction device 630 descends to the upper surface of the plate-like work and the vacuum pad 6
When a vacuum is supplied to, the suction device 630 sucks the work in vacuum. Thereafter, by driving the air cylinder 622 to raise the suction device 630, the uppermost work among the works stacked on the pallet can be lifted. The unloader 640 is connected to the frame 614 by a fork device 650 guided by a guide 643.
Having. The movement of the fork device 650 along the axis C3 is as follows.
It is driven by the air cylinder 642. Fork device 6
50 has a sub-frame 652 and a fork 654 supported by the sub-frame 652. The forks 654 have a U-shaped cross section, and are mounted at regular intervals on a plane. The upper surface of the fork 654 is inserted into the lower surface of the work and holds the work. For example, a limit switch is disposed on the abutting surface 657 of the fork 654 bent in a U-shape to detect the presence of a work. Therefore, the work transfer device 60 can suck the material work by the loader 620 and hold the processed work by the unloader 640. The traveling device 610 travels on the guide rail 600 while holding the work, and conveys the work to a predetermined location.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a main part of the laser processing system. The stacker crane 30 that runs on a rail disposed along the axis A1 on the front surface of the three-dimensional warehouse 10 includes a mast 300 and a carriage 310 that moves up and down along the mast 300. A pallet transport device 320 is provided on the carriage 310. Pallet conveyor 320
Executes loading and unloading of pallets to and from the three-dimensional warehouse 10, and also executes loading and unloading of pallets to the loading station 40 and the like disposed on the opposite side of the three-dimensional warehouse 10. The pallet on which the material work is placed is loaded onto a loading station 40 by a stacker crane 30.
Transported to The loader 620 of the work transfer device 60 sucks the uppermost work of the material work stacked on the pallet and supplies the work to the table 72 of the laser processing machine 70. The laser processing machine 70 performs necessary laser processing on the work supplied on the table 72. The processed workpiece is unloaded from the table 72 of the laser beam machine 70 by the unloader 640 of the workpiece transfer device 60. The processed workpiece is usually conveyed to the second unloading station 80 side. The second unloading station 80 has a number of rollers 82 arranged in parallel, and receives the work 25 from the unloader 640 of the work transfer device 60. The second unloading station 80 includes a chain conveyor in addition to the roller conveyor 82, and can transfer the work to the adjacent work station 84. The work 25 carried to the workstation 84 is subjected to necessary processing by an operator,
It is unloaded from the laser processing system as a finished product.

Depending on the type of work, there is a case where only a part of the processing is executed and it is desired to return to a three-dimensional warehouse in a semi-finished state. In this system, a device for returning the semi-finished product to the three-dimensional warehouse is added. The first unloading station 50 is a device for returning a semi-finished product to the stacker crane side. The first unloading station 50
A carrier 52, a traveling lifter 54, a pallet table 56, and a work clamp 58 are provided. The carrier 52 is provided with a fork member for supporting a workpiece at an upper portion, and moves on a rail along an axis A2 parallel to the axis A1 of the stacker crane 30.
The work carried from the carrier 52 is gripped by the work clamp 58 and is stacked on the traveling lifter 54. The traveling lifter 54 moves along an axis B2 parallel to the movement axis B1 of the work transfer device, and moves the pallet to a pallet table 56.
Carry up. The pallets on the pallet table 56 are carried on the stacker crane by the pallet transfer device 320 of the stacker crane 30, and returned to a predetermined shelf in the multi-level warehouse.

FIG. 5, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 show details of an apparatus constituting the first unloading station 50. FIG.
6, the carrier 52 includes a lower frame 521 and an upper frame 522 supported by columns 523. A drive motor 524 is provided on the lower frame 521, and a drive wheel 525 runs on the rail 510 to move the entire carrier 52 along the axis A2. Upper frame 5
The fork 526 is attached to the cantilever 22. When the support member 654 of the unloader of the work transfer device 60 is lowered along the axis C3 while supporting the work, the work on the support member 654 is moved onto the fork 526 of the carrier 52. The carrier 52 supporting the work 25 on the fork 526 moves along the axis A2. Carrier 52
The tip of the work 25 supported and transported above abuts against the work clamp 58.

The work clamp 58 has a post 580 and a work holding device 582 mounted on the post 580. The gripping device 582 is openable and closable, and when the workpiece 25 abuts, grips the end thereof. When the carrier 52 returns with the work 25 being gripped by the work clamp 58, the work 25 remains as it is and is stacked on the traveling lifter 54. The traveling lifter 54 has a lower frame 540 and an upper frame 544 supported by a pantograph 542 with respect to the lower frame 540. The traveling vehicle 546 attached to the lower frame 542 is driven by the motor 545, and moves the entire traveling lifter 54 along the rail 530 in the direction of the axis B2. The upper frame 544 can be moved up and down in the direction of the axis C4 by the pantograph mechanism 542. The upper surface of the upper frame 544 supports the pallet 20,
The work 25 is stacked on the pallet 20. When a predetermined number of works 25 are stacked on the pallet 20, the traveling lifter 54 moves along the axis B2 and reaches the pallet table 56. The pallet table 56 has posts 562 erected on both sides. Post 562 spacing is pallet 2
0 are set up at an interval to support both side ends. Travel lifter 5
4 by operating the pantograph mechanism 542.
When the 44 is lowered along the axis C4, the pallet 20 is supported by the posts 562 of the pallet stand 56. Post 56
The pallet positioning means 564 is provided on the upper part of the second pallet.

The three-dimensional warehouse 10 includes shelves 1 partitioned vertically.
2 A rail 31 is laid on the front of the three-dimensional warehouse 10. Stacker crane 30 running on rail 31
Has a mast 300 and a carriage 310 that moves up and down along the axis C1 along the mast 300. The carriage 310 includes a pallet transfer device 320. The pallet conveyor 320 transfers the pallets on the pallet table 56 to the carriage 3.
Pull over 20. The stacker crane 30 on which the pallets are placed on the carriage 320 stores the pallets 20 on predetermined shelves 12 of a three-dimensional warehouse. This apparatus can return the work, which has been partially processed by the laser processing machine 70, to the shelf 12 of the three-dimensional warehouse 10 while being placed on a pallet.

[0015]

As described above, the present invention provides a laser processing machine having a laser processing machine and a stacker crane for supplying a pallet on which a work is mounted on a laser processing machine cell provided with a work transfer device, and a three-dimensional warehouse for storing the pallet. In the system, since a device for returning a semi-finished product that has been partially subjected to laser processing to a pallet is provided, the semi-finished product can be automatically returned to the three-dimensional warehouse again. Therefore, the laser processing machine can continue the continuous processing, and the work can be returned to the three-dimensional warehouse as a semi-finished product, or can be unloaded to the unloading station for handling the finished product. In this production system,
Even when there is no operator on the unloading station side of the finished product, laser processing can be continued by unmanned operation. Therefore, productivity is significantly improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a work transfer device.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the work transfer device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a relation between the three-dimensional warehouse and the stacker crane of the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing details of a carriage and a traveling lifter.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a pallet table.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Solid warehouse 20 Pallet 25 Work 30 Stacker crane 40 Loading station 50 1st unloading station 52 Carrier 54 Traveling lifter 56 Pallet stand 58 Work clamp 60 Work transfer device 70 Laser processing machine 72 Table 80 2nd unloading station 90 line controller

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Kazuyuki Toda No. 1 Oguchi-cho, Oguchi-cho, Niwa-gun, Aichi Prefecture Inside the headquarters of Yamazaki Mazak Co., Ltd. Boarding No. 1 Yamazaki Mazak Co., Ltd. Headquarters Factory (56) References JP-A-60-30596 (JP, A) JP-A-3-238204 (JP, A) JP-A-4-341405 (JP, A) JP-A-4-113124 (JP, A) JP-A 63-116128 (JP, U) JP-A 2-148735 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B65G 1 / 00-1/20 B23K 26/00-26/18 B21D 43/20, 43/24

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A laser processing machine, a loading station on which a workpiece to be supplied to the laser processing machine is mounted, and a first unloading device disposed on the side of the laser processing machine and the loading station for receiving a laser-processed workpiece. A second unloading station disposed on the side opposite to the loading station with respect to the laser processing machine to receive the laser-processed work; a loading station; a first unloading station ; A laser processing cell having a work transfer device for transferring the work between the second unloading stations, and a palette for mounting the work.
Warehouse and a loading station.
Or the first unloading station and the three-dimensional warehouse
A laser processing system equipped with a stacker crane that transports pallets between them . 2. A first unloading station for receiving a work from a work transfer device, a carrier traveling along an axis orthogonal to a traveling axis of the work transfer device, and a work for gripping the work transferred by the carrier. placing a clamp to support a pallet for mounting a workpiece, and a traveling lifter travels along an axis parallel to the travel axis of the workpiece transfer device for receiving the workpiece clamping the workpiece, the pallet when the run line lifter drops The laser processing system according to claim 1, further comprising a pallet table. 3. The work stacked on the pallet is carried from the three-dimensional warehouse to a loading station of a laser processing cell for each pallet, and the work supplied to the laser processing machine is subjected to the necessary processing after being subjected to necessary processing. 1st unloading station or 2nd unloading station
The laser processing system according to claim 1, further comprising a transport path that is selectively transported to the section.