JP3127134B2 - A processing machine that can measure the workpiece reference position using a processing tool - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a machine capable of measuring a workpiece reference position using a machining tool, and more particularly to an improved machine capable of automatically measuring a workpiece reference position during machining and continuing optimum machining. Related to processing machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An NC-controlled processing machine is used to perform various types of processing on a workpiece fixed to a work table, and various types of drills, reamers, milling machines, cutting tools, and the like are used as processing tools. In an ordinary NC processing machine, a processing tool moves along a workpiece in accordance with processing data programmed in advance, and complicated processing can be performed by a fully automated process by combining with a machining center or the like.

[0003] However, in recent years, not only large NC processing machines, but also various light machining methods have been used for NC processing.
Control is widely used.

As this kind of light processing, for example, there is a correction processing of a printed wiring board or the like. In printed wiring boards, pre-set wiring is printed on an insulating substrate, and such a substrate is mass-produced for various uses, but when using it, it is necessary to partially modify or change the wiring In order to cope with such a situation, processing for cutting and removing a predetermined wiring portion of the printed wiring board is required. Normally, such processing involves fixing the completed printed wiring board on a table, fixing the electric router to a tool holder, and cutting and removing necessary portions. Normally, the feed of the electric luter is automatically performed in accordance with a preset NC program. However, in the case of such light machining, the cutting amount is not necessarily set due to a variation in the thickness of a work, for example, a printed wiring board, or warpage. In some cases, the program cannot be executed as specified. That is, the position of the tip of a processing tool such as a luter is controlled correctly, and the cutting is performed to a predetermined depth with respect to the table. However, there was a problem that it fluctuated each time. Most printed wiring boards in recent years consist of multilayer boards, and when the cutting depth of the surface is out of the predetermined range as described above, the inner layer may be cut off, or the necessary surface may not be cut off. As a result, there is a problem that the optimal machining by the NC program is difficult to apply to such light machining.

[0005]

For this reason, in the light machining described above, the operator measures the height of the work placed at the machining position during the actual machining, and uses this measured value as the work reference position. Each time, the amount of processing had to be adjusted. For this reason, there is a problem that the effect of applying the NC processing or the like is small in light processing, or there is a problem that almost all of the processing must be performed by hand. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an improved machine capable of performing such measurement and subsequent machining by a series of automated processes while measuring a workpiece reference position using a machining tool. .

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a processing machine according to the present invention comprises: a moving base movable in a predetermined axial direction with respect to a holding base; A floating base, which is movable in a small amount in the direction, and on which a desired processing tool can be mounted, supporting means for balancing and supporting the floating base against its own weight, and fixing the floating base to the moving base. Lock means, provided between the moving base and the floating base, a position detection sensor that detects contact between the processing tool and the work, and can measure a work reference position using the processing tool It is characterized by the following.

According to the present invention, as described above, the processing machine itself has each base of the holding base, the moving base, and the floating base, and at the time of processing the work, the work is performed by using the processing tool according to a predetermined procedure. The following processing can be performed using the measured surface position as a work reference position, and there is an advantage that the optimum processing can be automatically performed for each individual work.

[0008]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a preferred embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an electric router, FIG. 2 is a left side view thereof, and FIG. A sectional view of a main part is shown.

Although not shown, the processing machine according to the present invention is a processing machine for cutting and removing the surface of a printed wiring board by using an electric luter to remove the surface layer printing. The work, that is, the printed wiring board 10 is positioned and fixed on a table of a processing machine (not shown) by a well-known clamp mechanism. The processing machine has a tool slider that can move in a plane along the XY axis with respect to the table, and the tool is correctly moved and positioned at the processing coordinates specified by the NC program or the like. The holding base 11 is fixed to the slider (not shown), and as is clear from the above description, the holding base 11 can also be moved to any XY coordinates.

In order for the processing machine to perform XYZ three-dimensional processing, a moving base 12 is supported on the holding base 11 so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction in this embodiment. In the figure, the moving base 12 is the holding base 11
The ball screw 13 is rotatably supported in the Z direction to move in the Z-axis direction. For this purpose, the moving base 12 is provided with a ball nut 14 that meshes with the ball screw 13. In the figure, the ball screw 13 is supported substantially vertically by a holding base 11, and a pulse motor 15 for rotating the ball screw 13 is mounted above the holding base 11. The main shaft of the pulse motor 15 and the ball screw 13 are connected to a coupling 16.
And the pulse motor 15
Is rotated by a predetermined amount, whereby the ball screw 13 is rotated, whereby the movement of the movable base 1 is restricted.
2 is moved and positioned at a predetermined position in the Z-axis direction.

The moving base 12 can be moved three-dimensionally with respect to the workpiece 10 fixed to the table. A feature of the present invention is that a floating base for holding a processing tool with respect to the moving base 12 is provided. 17 is Z
That is, it is supported so as to be movable by a minute amount in the axial direction.
That is, one end of the floating base 17 is supported by the slide rail 18 so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction. Therefore, the floating base 17 is provided with a rail guide 17a for engaging with the slide rail 18.
Is provided. As is clear from FIGS. 1 and 2, a desired processing tool, in this embodiment, an electric router 19 is detachably mounted on the floating base 17, and a drill 19 fixed to the tip of the electric router 19.
“a” scrapes the surface of the work 10 to a predetermined depth, whereby a part of the circuit provided on the surface layer of the printed wiring board can be scraped to perform a desired circuit modification or change.

Slide rail 18 and rail guide 17a
The floating base 17 always falls to the lowermost end due to its own weight and the own weight of the electric luter 19 only by the engagement with.
A supporting means is provided to balance and support the floating base 17 with its own weight including the electric luter 19 itself. This supporting means is shown in detail in FIG. 2, and a desired supporting force can be obtained by inserting the compression spring 20 in a compressed state into a spring holder 17b provided on a part of the floating base 17.
That is, the drill 19 which is a working tool in the embodiment
When a is not in contact with the work 10, the floating base 17 is pushed upward by the compression spring 20, and in this state, the position of the floating base 17 is determined in a state of floating with respect to the movable base 12. . Therefore, in this floating state, the processing machine according to the present invention can perform measurement before processing using the processing tool. That is, in the floating state,
The drill 19a, which is a processing tool, can slightly move in the vertical direction of the Z axis with respect to the moving base 12, and a slight movement when coming into contact with the work 10 is detected by a position detection sensor described later. .

On the other hand, after the completion of the position measurement, the reference position of the work is determined, so that a predetermined processing of the surface of the printed wiring board is requested from the control device. Must be firmly held. For this,
In the present invention, locking means for fixing the floating base 17 to the moving base 12 is provided. In the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, an air cylinder fixed to the moving base 12 via a flange 21 2
2 form this locking means. Air cylinder 22
Is supplied with high-pressure air from the outside via a pipe (not shown), and the floating base 17 is fixed using a plunger 23 pressed against the pressing surface 17c of the floating base 17. That is, when the air cylinder 22 is driven from the open state of FIG. 3, the plunger 23 descends, and its tip comes into contact with the pressing surface 17c, and the floating base 17
Is pressed toward the receiving portion 12a of the moving base 12, and when the floating base 17 moves by the gap a in the floating state, the floating base 17 is firmly positioned and fixed with respect to the moving base 12. Of course, a desired damper mechanism is incorporated in the air cylinder 22, and the plunger 23 can slowly press the floating base 17 toward the moving base 12 to maintain this fixed position.

A position detecting sensor is provided between the moving base 12 and the floating base 17, and a drill 19a of an electric luter 19 serving as a processing means and a work 10 are provided.
Contact can be detected. In the figure, the position detection sensor is indicated by reference numeral 24 and the floating base 1
7 comprises a capacitance detection sensor fixed at 7. Since such a capacitance sensor is well known, detailed description is omitted, but the sensor probe 2 movable in the Z-axis direction with respect to the substrate is provided.
4a, the sensor probe 24a comes into contact with the fixing portion 25 when the floating base 17 moves upward, and when the sensor probe 24a is pulled into the main body of the sensor 24, the capacitance value of the sensor 24 becomes And it can be detected as a frequency fluctuation or the like by a high-frequency signal input from the outside. In the illustrated embodiment, the fixed portion 25 is configured as a tip of a micrometer head 26 fixed to the moving base 12, and the position of the fixed portion 25 is adjusted by a minute amount by rotating the micrometer head 26. Then, the operation position of the position detection sensor 24 can be adjusted. Therefore, the position where the floating base 17 moves upward with respect to the moving base 12 and the position detection sensor 24 operates is always constant, and this can be stored in a control device (not shown) before processing.

Although not shown in detail, a surveillance camera is mounted on the movable base 12 so that the relative position between the movable base 12 and the work 10 moved in the X and Y directions can be accurately observed. it can. Therefore, the position of the work tool (drill 19a) and the position of the work 10 in the XY axis directions are precisely measured by the monitoring camera. The preferred embodiment of the processing machine according to the present invention has the above-described configuration, and its measurement and processing operations will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In the illustrated embodiment, the measurement and processing of the processing machine are performed by a control device using an NC program. When the control device starts, the processing coordinates are read by the NC program (step S1). Based on the read processing coordinates, the XY slider and the moving head 12 move at high speed to the vicinity of the specified processing position with a sufficient gap in the Z direction so that the drill 19a does not contact the work 12 (step S2). At this time, the surveillance camera described above correctly monitors the position of the printed wiring board, which is a work, and correctly adjusts the positions of the work 10 and the drill 19a, which are roughly fixed on the table.
In the initial state in which the drill 19a moves to the vicinity of the processing position, the air cylinder 22 is in a non-operating state, and as a result, the floating base 17 is in a floating state with respect to the moving base 12. In this floating state, the position detection sensor 24 does not output a detection signal.

After the drill 19a has moved to the vicinity of the desired processing position in the step S2, the control device switches to low-speed movement (step S3), and further causes the drill 19a to contact the surface of the work 10 near the predetermined processing position. . This contact is caused by the upward movement of the floating head 17 with respect to the moving head 12 by the position detection sensor 2.
The measurement is performed by outputting a detection signal from Step 4, and Step S4 indicates the presence or absence of this sensor detection signal. In step S4, the low-speed movement is continued until there is a sensor detection signal from the position detection sensor 24, and when the sensor detection signal is output, the pulse motor 15 stops its rotation (step S4).
5).

Then, in this stopped state, the Z coordinate value, that is, Z0 is read (step S6), and then the pulse motor 15 moves back by a fixed amount (step S7). This fixed amount of return is caused by the drill 19a, which is a machining tool,
After that, a desired high-pressure air is supplied to the air cylinder 22, and the floating base 17 descends toward the moving base 12 to be fixed together as described above. Maintains this locked state (step S8).

On the other hand, the coordinate value Z ₀ read in step S6 is sent to the control device, and Z _{0 is} corrected for the processing data based on the processing coordinates read in advance (step S6).
9). As described above, the workpiece plane height near the required machining position is accurately measured by the machining tool, and the machining data is corrected by the measured value. Will be When the desired correction or change processing is completed, the next processing is repeated while determining again the end of all processing in step S11, and the entire processing is completed, and the measurement and the processing are completed.

Of course, in the present invention, the measurement of the surface height of the work 10 may be performed at one location or may be performed each time processing is performed.

Further, in the embodiment, the electric luter is used as the processing tool, but this tool can be arbitrarily changed. Further, as the supporting means for bringing the floating base into the floating state, not only the illustrated compression spring but also any other supporting means can be adopted.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Necessary machining can be performed while easily measuring the reference position of the workpiece to be machined using a machining tool, and this measurement and machining can be performed continuously and automatically. It is possible to mass-produce stable processing quality without mass production.

According to the present invention, even when the work position cannot be determined in advance due to a change in the thickness of the work or a warp, the measurement work can be automatically performed by a series of operations each time. Therefore, it is possible to provide a processing machine which is particularly suitable for a small amount of simple light processing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a preferred embodiment of a processing machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a left side view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part in a state where an electric luter is removed as viewed from a direction AA in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a measurement processing process according to the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 work, 11 holding base, 12 moving base,
17 floating base, 19 electric luter, 1
9a drill, 20 support means (compression spring), 22 locking means (air cylinder), 24 position detection sensor.

Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Takeshi Sakaguchi 2-10-19, Ueda-shi, Ueda-shi, Nagano Ueda Japan Radio Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-60-155345 (JP, A) Jpn. 24140 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 62-188349 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 63-38911 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B23Q 17/22

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A movable base movable in a predetermined axial direction with respect to a holding base; and a floating base supported by the movable base so as to be movable by a small amount in the predetermined axial direction and capable of mounting a desired processing tool. A supporting means for balancing and supporting the floating base with respect to its own weight; a locking means for fixing the floating base to the moving base; a processing means provided between the moving base and the floating base; And a position detection sensor for detecting contact between the tool and the work, and a processing machine capable of measuring a work reference position using the processing tool.