JP3237735B2 - Automatic tool changer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic tool changing device (hereinafter referred to as an ATC device) for sequentially and automatically changing tools required for a main shaft of a machine tool, and more particularly to an arm for drilling a construction machine. The present invention relates to a dog attachment structure for releasing a grip lock of a tool gripped by an arm in a type ATC device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6A is a plan view showing a conventional arm type ATC device, FIG. 6B is a front view thereof, and FIG. 7 is a side view thereof. 6 and 7, reference numeral 2 denotes a processing head provided with a main shaft 5 on which a tool 4 is mounted on the front surface, and the processing head 2 is movably mounted on an upper surface of a processing head feed stand 7. Reference numeral 12 denotes a table on which a workpiece 3 (in this example, a crawler shoe used for a traveling body of a construction machine) is set, and the table 12 is installed in front of the processing head feeder 7. I have. Reference numeral 11 denotes a tool transfer device installed beside the processing head feed stand 7,
The tool transfer device 11 includes a swing arm 8 rotatably mounted on a shaft 11a. The swing arm 8 allows the tool magazine 13 and the main shaft 5 of the machining head 2 to be rotated.
The tool 4 (in this example, a drill for cutting the pin hole 3a provided in the shoe 3 into a smooth surface) is delivered.

FIG. 8A is an enlarged sectional view of the swing arm 8, FIG. 8B is an EE sectional view of FIG. 8A showing a state where the tool gripping member 9 is locked, and FIG. It is EE sectional drawing of (A) shown in the state where the lock was cancelled | released. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 8 g denotes a pivot hole into which the shaft 11 a of the tool transfer device 11 is fitted. Reference numeral 9 denotes a main body 8 a of the swing arm 8 such that the distal end 9 a protrudes from a concave gripping portion 8 c at the distal end of the swing arm 8. A plate-like tool holding member slidably fitted in the provided groove 8b, and the tool holding member 9 is a coil spring 2
2 urged in the protruding direction. Reference numeral 10 denotes a pin-shaped locking member for locking the tool gripping member 9. The locking member 10 has heads formed in holes 8d and 8f having different diameters formed in the main body 8a in a direction perpendicular to the groove 8b. 10a and the shaft portion 10b are slidably fitted, and the shaft portion 10b is projected from the hole 8f by the coil spring 23 provided between the upper surface of the head portion 10a and the spring receiving member 8e. Being energized.

In the locked state shown in FIG. 8 (A) and the solid line shown in FIG. 8 (B), the head 10a of the lock member 10 is in contact with the corner 9b on the tail end side of the tool gripping member 9, and the tool gripping is performed. The member 9 is fixed at the projected position shown in FIG.
As shown in (C), when the shaft portion 10b of the lock member 10 comes into contact with the dog 6 and is pushed by the dog 6 against the coil spring 23, the head portion 10a moves from the corner 9b of the tool holding member 9 The tool gripping member 9 comes into an unlocked state in which the tool gripping member 9 can move in the direction of arrow S shown in FIG. 8A, and when a force greater than the spring force of the coil spring 22 is applied to the tool gripping member 9, Immerse yourself.

In the unlocked state shown in FIG. 8C, when the tool 4 is pushed into the tool holding portion 8c in a direction perpendicular to the axis, the holding member 9 is pushed in against the coil spring 22. When the tool escapes and the tool 4 fits into the tool holding portion 8c, the tool holding member 9 is pushed out by the coil spring 22 and holds the tool 4. In the unlocked state shown in FIG. 8C, the tool 4 is fitted into the tool holding portion 8c,
When the swing arm 8 is rotated while being held by the holding member 9 and attached to the main shaft 5, the holding member 9 is pushed by the tool 4, and the tool 4 can be removed from the tool holding portion 8c.

In the apparatus shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the attachment and detachment of the tool 4 from the tool magazine 13 to the spindle 5 of the machining head 2 is performed by retreating the spindle 5 as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. It is performed in the position which was set. Then, as shown in FIG. 6 (B), first, the tool magazine 13 is rotated so that the tool 4 to be mounted on the main shaft 5 is rotated by the circular orbit T of the concave tool gripping portion 8c provided at both ends of the swing arm 8. It is located above (a position). Then, the swing arm 8 is rotated counterclockwise by 90 degrees from the illustrated position to bring the tool grip 8c into contact with the tool 4 set in the tool magazine 13 (at this time,
The lock member 10 is immersed by the dog on the tool magazine 13 side (not shown), and the lock of the tool holding member is released.) The tool 4 on the tool magazine 13 is held by the tool holding member 9 on the tool holding portion 8 c of the swing arm 8. The swing arm 8 is advanced by a predetermined distance in the axial direction. As a result, the locking member 10 is separated from the dog on the tool magazine 13 side, so that locking is performed. Then, the swing arm 8 is rotated by 180 degrees to position the tool 4 in front of the tip 5a. In this state, the swing arm 8 is retracted by a predetermined distance, and the tool 4 is automatically mounted on the main shaft 5. At this time, the lock member 10 comes into contact with the dog 6 so that the lock member 10 is immersed, and the lock of the gripping member 9 is released. Then, the swing arm 8 is rotated 90 degrees clockwise to return to the original position.

As can be seen from the above description, while the swing arm 8 is moving between the tool magazine 13 and the processing head 2, the tool holding member 9 is locked by the lock member 10. The reason for locking the tool gripping member 9 is that when the swing arm 8 is moved at high speed between the tool magazine 13 and the main shaft 5 of the processing head 2, the tool 4 falls off the swing arm 8 due to centrifugal force or the like. This is to prevent that. However, when the tool 4 is attached to or detached from the set position of the spindle 5 or the magazine 13, it is necessary to release the lock of the gripping member 9. Is provided with the dog 6.

[0008]

However, when the above-mentioned ATC device is used, the dog 6 is fixed to the front surface of the processing head 2 so as to protrude from the front surface thereof. Since the moving amount of the processing head 2 becomes large and the dog 6 interferes with the workpiece 3, the long pin hole 3a cannot be processed. In order to prevent such interference and to enable processing of the long pin hole 3a, it is conceivable to perform hole processing using a long tool (drill) 4. However, when the tool 4 becomes long, the tip side of the tool 4 The vibration amplitude becomes large, so that precise processing cannot be performed. For this reason, if the length of the pin hole 3a is long, the ATC device having an automatic tool changing function using the dock 6 cannot be used. Therefore, there is a problem that a large amount of time and labor is required for the tool change when machining the long pin hole 3a.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, the present invention reduces the limitation on the amount of movement of the machining head, and performs machining with a large amount of movement of the machining head, such as long hole machining, for tool change using existing equipment. An object of the present invention is to provide an ATC device that can be performed without spending time and effort.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a work head feed base with a work head.
Movably mounted in the direction of approaching and separating from
Comprising a spindle for mounting a tool on the front of the head, comprising a swing arm for releasably the tool between the tool magazine and the spindle, said swing arm is arranged next to the spindle
It is installed so that it can rotate around the axis
A lock member for a tool gripping member is attached to the swing arm to prevent the tool from falling off by the spindle and the tool gripping member.
Only, when in the position in which the swing arm to attach and detach the tool to the spindle, to advancing the working head
The unlocking dog provided on the processing head
It has a structure in which the lock is released in contact with the tool-holding member to the locking member, the dog, the abutting engagement position during tool removably attached to the locking member for the tool-holding member, those in the lock member Workpieces that are inaccessible and work
And an actuator for moving the dog between the engagement position and the retreat position is provided movably over a retreat position that can prevent interference between the dog and the retreat position . In the present invention, an engagement position detection unit and an evacuation position detection unit that detect the engagement position of the dog with the lock member and an evacuation position, respectively, and move the dog between the engagement position and the evacuation position. Actuator control means for controlling the actuator to be moved, and a tool change start signal from the main body of the automatic tool changer refers to the detection signals from the engagement position detection means and the retreat position detection means to actuate the actuator control means. Dog control means for sending a control signal for use.

[0011]

According to the present invention having the above-described structure, when the tool is attached to or detached from the main shaft by the swing arm, the dog is moved to the engagement position where the tool grip lock of the swing arm is released, and the tool is mounted on the main shaft. When processing the workpiece, the dog is set to the retracted position and the processing is performed.

[0012]

1 (A) is a plan view showing an embodiment of an ATC apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 1 (B) is a front view thereof, and FIG.
(A) is a side view, and (B) is a plan view showing a state at the time of tool replacement. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 6 to 8 denote parts or portions exhibiting equivalent functions. In this example, the dog 6A moved by the dog moving device 1 is replaced with the processing head 2 instead of the conventional dog 6.
Is provided at the front end of the upper surface.

FIG. 3A is a plan view of the dog moving device 1, FIG. 3B is a front view thereof, and FIG. 3C is a side view thereof. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 20 denotes an L-shaped bracket, and the bracket 20 is fixed to the upper surface of the processing head 2 by bolts. Reference numeral 19 denotes a hydraulic cylinder provided as a means for moving the dog 6A. The hydraulic cylinder 19 bolts a rod projecting side flange 19a of the tube to a vertical plate portion of the bracket 20, and a vertical plate of the bracket 20. The rod 19a is inserted into a hole 20a provided in the portion, and is protruded forward to be attached to the bracket 20. Then, the plate 1 is attached to the tip of the rod 19a.
The dog 6A is fixed to the front surface of the plate 16 and the dog 6A moves in the front-rear direction by the expansion and contraction of the hydraulic cylinder 19. Further, a pair of guide shafts 1 are provided on the left and right sides of the joint portion of the plate 16 with the rod 19a so as to protrude to the back.
5 and 15 are fixed, and these guide shafts 1
Holes 20 provided on the left and right of the bracket 20
b and 20b are slidably fitted to prevent the dog 6A from meandering during movement.

As shown in FIG. 3 (A), the hydraulic cylinder 19 has a limit switch 17 (hereinafter referred to as LS17) which operates at an extended position of the rod and a limit switch 18 (hereinafter referred to as LS17) which operates at a contracted position of the rod. The following LS1
8), and guide shafts 15, 15 are provided with dogs 15a, 15b for operating them.

As shown in the plan view of FIG. 2B, in this example, the delivery of the tool 4 from the tool magazine 13 to the spindle 5 of the machining head 2 is performed in the same manner as in the conventional example. The machining head 2 is retracted so that the position of 5a is behind the back of the arm 8, and the hydraulic cylinder 1
9, the dog 6A is advanced to the forward end. Then, after the tool 4 is held by the tool holding portion 8c of the swing arm 8 with the tool magazine 13 in the same manner as described above, the swing arm 8 is moved forward by a predetermined distance in the axial direction, and the swing arm 8 is rotated by 180 degrees. When the shaft 8 is retracted a predetermined distance in the axial direction, the dog 6A pushes the shaft portion 10b of the lock member 10 to unlock the tool gripping member 9, and the tool 4 is mounted on the main shaft 5. After the tool 4 is mounted, the hydraulic cylinder 19 of the dog moving device 1 is contracted to retract the dog 6A to the retracted end.
(A), as shown in FIG. 2 (A), the main shaft 5 is rotated and the processing head 2 is advanced to process the workpiece 3 on the table 12.

As described above, after the dog 6A is advanced to the forward end and the tool 4 is mounted on the main shaft 5, the dog 6A is retracted and retracted to a position where it does not interfere with the workpiece .
At the time of machining, the distance between the tip of the dog 6A and the workpiece 3 is larger than in the case of the conventional fixed dog 6, and the amount of forward movement of the machining head 2 can be increased. Therefore, when processing the connecting pin hole 3a of the crawler shoe, it becomes possible to process a hole longer by the moving distance of the dog 6A than in the related art.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a portion added to a conventional ATC device in the embodiment. 31
Is an automatic tool changer main body composed of a machine tool CPU, the tool magazine 13, the tool transfer device 11, and the like. As described above, the automatic tool changer main body 31 changes the tool 4 according to the processing contents. Is performed. Reference numeral 32 denotes a command signal generating means including a control panel or a keyboard for issuing a command signal to the main body 31 of the automatic tool changer by manual operation. The dog control means 30 controls the machine tool C
It is built in the PU or added to the CPU and provided with an interface.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG. 4. When the tool change operation is started, a tool change start signal is simultaneously sent from the main body 31 of the automatic tool changer to the dog control means 30 (S1). The dog control means 30 issues an actuator operation control signal (control valve switching signal) to the actuator control means 33 (in this example, a control valve provided in a pipeline between the hydraulic cylinder 19 and the hydraulic power source). Then, an actuator 34 (in the present example, the hydraulic cylinder 19) for moving the dog 6A is operated by the actuator control means 33 (the hydraulic cylinder 19 is extended) to move the dog 6A forward. Further, the forward end position of the dog 6A is detected by the engagement position detecting means 35 (in this example, the LS 17 provided on the hydraulic cylinder 19). When this detection signal is input to the dog control means 30, the dog control is performed. Means 30
An actuator stop command signal is sent to the actuator control means 33 to stop the dog 6A (S2). At the same time, a series of ATC operations is started by the automatic tool changer body 31. Then, as described above, when the tool 4 is mounted on the main shaft 5 and the ATC operation completion signal is output from the automatic tool changer main body 31 (S3), the dog control means 30 instructs the actuator control means 33 to operate the actuator. Is sent, the hydraulic cylinder 19 is contracted, the dog 6A is retracted, the LS 18 is operated at the retracted end (retracted position), and the dog control means 30 retreats from the LS 18 Upon receiving the position detection signal, a stop command signal for the actuator is sent to the actuator control means 33 to stop the dog 6A (S
4). Then, the ATC all-operation completion signal is output from the automatic tool changer body 31 (S5), and thereafter, the machining by the tool 4 is performed. Similarly, when the tool 4 is removed from the main shaft 5, the dog 6A is automatically advanced and retracted by a signal from the main body 31. The tool 4 can also be attached to and detached from the spindle by inputting a tool change command from the command signal generating means 32 to the main body 31 of the automatic tool changer.

As described above, the start and stop of the movement of the dog 6A are automatically controlled, and the operation of the dog 6A and a series of tool changing operations and machining are controlled by the automatic tool changing device main body 31 in conjunction with each other. Since the operation is performed, the dog 6A can be automatically moved between the engagement position and the retracted position, and the labor of the operator can be reduced.

In the above embodiment, the dog 6A is moved forward and backward by the hydraulic cylinder 19 between the engagement position and the retracted position by the hydraulic cylinder 19. Alternatively, another fluid pressure cylinder, hydraulic or electric motor may be used. In addition, the dog 6A may be moved in the left-right direction, the up-down direction, or by turning, and the present invention can be applied to surface cutting, milling, and the like.

[0021]

According to the first aspect, when the tool is attached to or detached from the main spindle by the swing arm, the dog is moved to the engagement position for releasing the tool grip lock, and the workpiece is processed by the tool mounted on the main spindle. When moving the dog, the dog was moved to a position where it was retracted from the workpiece.
The distance between the tip of the dog and the workpiece can be increased as compared with the related art, and the amount of movement of the processing head to the workpiece can be increased. Therefore, in the case of a connecting pin hole of a crawler shoe, for example, it is possible to process a long hole by using an existing device, and the use is expanded and economy is achieved. In addition, since it is not necessary to use a machine tool that requires manual exchange for the long hole machining, time and labor for tool exchange can be greatly reduced.

According to the second aspect, the start and stop of the movement of the dog are automatically controlled, and the operation of the dog and a series of tool changing operations are performed in conjunction with each other under the control of the control signal generating means. Therefore, the dog can be continuously and automatically moved between the engagement position and the retreat position,
The labor of the worker can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a plan view showing an embodiment of an ATC device according to the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a front view thereof.

FIG. 2A is a side view of the embodiment, and FIG. 2B is a plan view showing a state at the time of tool change.

FIG. 3A is a plan view of the dog moving device of the embodiment,
(B) is the front view, (C) is the side view.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a portion added to the ATC device in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a dog moving operation of the embodiment.

6A is a plan view showing a conventional arm type ATC device, and FIG. 6B is a front view thereof.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a conventional arm type ATC device.

8A is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a swing arm, FIG. 8B is an EE cross-sectional view of FIG. 8A in a state where the tool gripping member is locked, and FIG. It is EE sectional drawing of (A) shown in the state where the lock was cancelled | released.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Dog moving device, 2: Processing head, 3: Workpiece,
4: tool, 5: spindle, 6A: dog, 7: machining head feeder, 8: swing arm, 9: tool gripping member, 10:
Lock member, 11: tool transfer device, 12: table,
13: Tool magazine, 17, 18: Limit switch,
19: Hydraulic cylinder

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B23Q 3/157 B23Q 11/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A work head is mounted on a work head feed base.
Movably mounted in the direction of approaching and separating from
Comprising a spindle for mounting a tool on the front of the head, comprising a swing arm for releasably the tool between the tool magazine and the spindle, said swing arm is arranged next to the spindle
It is installed so that it can rotate around the axis
A lock member for a tool gripping member is attached to the swing arm to prevent the tool from falling off by the spindle and the tool gripping member.
Only, when in the position in which the swing arm to attach and detach the tool to the spindle, by advancing the working head, before
The unlocking dog provided on the machining head
Tsu the click member abuts has a structure in which locking of the tool-holding member is released, the dog, the tool wear in the locking member for the tool-holding member
From the engagement position where it can be abutted at the time of removal, it is impossible to abut against the lock member and interference between the workpiece and the dog during machining.
An automatic tool changer, which is provided movably over a retractable position that can be prevented and further includes an actuator that moves the dog between the engagement position and the retracted position. 2. An actuator control means for controlling the actuator according to claim 1, wherein the engagement position detection means and the retreat position detection means detect that the dog is at the engagement position with the lock member and the retreat position, respectively. With the tool change start signal from the automatic tool changer body,
An automatic tool changer comprising: a dog control unit that sends an actuator operation control signal to the actuator control unit with reference to detection signals from the engagement position detection unit and the retreat position detection unit.