JP4410002B2 - Machine Tools - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a machine tool that supports a spindle on which a tool is mounted so as to be relatively movable in the X, Y, and Z axis directions, and more particularly to a structure of a machine tool that can efficiently process a wide and long workpiece.

As a gantry type machining center for processing a relatively long workpiece, for example, there is one described in Patent Document 1 or 2. In Patent Document 1, a gate-shaped column 7 is arranged on a long bed 2 so as to be movable in the X-axis direction, and a saddle 25 can be moved in the Y-axis direction on the front surface of the cross rail 7c of the column 7. The ram 30 is disposed on the saddle 25 so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction, and a main shaft 31 on which a tool 32 is mounted is disposed on the ram 30.

In this type of machining center, a relatively long workpiece W is mounted on the bed 2, and the column 7, the saddle 25, and the ram 30 are relatively moved in the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis directions, respectively, and the above-described workpiece is moved by the main shaft 31. A predetermined process is performed on W.
JP 2001-219325 A JP-A-8-150534

However, the conventional machining center has a structure in which a heavy column loaded with saddles, rams, and the like is reciprocated in the X-axis direction to move the spindle in the X-axis direction to perform workpiece machining. There is a limit to the high-speed movement in the X-axis direction, and there is a demand for improvements in reducing the machining time. Here, from the viewpoint of speeding up the spindle, when the table on the bed is moved in the same direction as the column moving direction (see Patent Document 2 above), the bed according to the amount of movement of the table. Therefore, there is a problem that the entire machine becomes large.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a machine tool capable of shortening a machining time by enabling a high-speed movement of a spindle without causing an increase in the size of the entire machine.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a machining unit that supports a spindle on which a tool is mounted so as to be relatively movable in the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis directions is moved in the arrangement direction of a plurality of machining areas arranged in one direction. A machine tool that is made possible, and has a long processing table having a plurality of processing areas arranged in the one direction, and a left extending on the both sides of the processing table and extending in the arrangement direction of the processing area, A pair of right beds, and the processing unit is disposed on the bed so as to straddle the processing table and to be movable in the processing area arrangement direction. And a main shaft supported relative to the X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis direction and with the axis line oriented substantially vertically,
The workpiece is machined by moving the spindle in the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis directions with the portal column positioned in any of the machining areas. Machine tool to do.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect , the processing unit is configured by connecting the left and right column bodies arranged on the bed with front and rear cross frames as viewed in the processing area arrangement direction. Is arranged in a space surrounded by the front and rear cross frames and the left and right column main bodies, and is rectangular in a plan view supported so as to be movable in the X-axis or Y-axis direction. A cross rail, a cylindrical saddle supported in the cross rail so as to be movable in the Y-axis or X-axis direction, and a ram supported in the saddle so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction. The main shaft is attached to the lower end of the ram.

Here, in the present invention, the “tubular saddle” includes saddles of all shapes such as a cylinder and a square tube.

According to the machine tool of the first aspect of the present invention, since the machining unit that supports the main shaft so as to be relatively movable in the X, Y, and Z axis directions is movable in the machining area arrangement direction, the entire machining unit is placed on the bed. The workpiece is machined by moving it to any machining area and positioning it, and moving the spindle supported by the machining unit in the X, Y, and Z axis directions. In this way, in workpiece machining, the spindle is moved in the X, Y, and Z axis directions without moving the entire machining unit, so the movement weight during machining of the spindle can be reduced and the entire conventional column can be moved. As compared with the case of machining the workpiece, the spindle can be moved at a higher speed, and the machining time can be shortened accordingly.

Further, since the machining unit is disposed on the bed so as to straddle the machining table and the main shaft is supported in the vertical direction, the present invention can be applied to a vertical machining center.

In the invention of claim 2 , a rectangular cross rail is disposed in the inner space of the portal column formed by connecting the left and right column main bodies with the front and rear cross frames, and the processing unit is disposed in the cross rail. Since a cylindrical saddle is arranged and a ram is arranged in the saddle, the support rigidity of the spindle can be increased, the machining accuracy can be increased while the spindle is speeded up, and further, It is possible to set a large processing stroke.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 10 are views for explaining a vertical machining center (machine tool) according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective views of the machining center, FIGS. 5 and 6 are a perspective view, a sectional side view, a sectional front view, and a perspective view, respectively, of a machining unit of the machining center, FIGS. 7 and 8 are a front view and perspective view of a machining unit drive device, and FIGS. It is a schematic diagram of an apparatus.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a vertical machining center, which includes a machining unit 3 that supports a spindle 2 on which a tool T is mounted so as to be relatively movable in three axial directions of an X axis, a Y axis, and a Z axis. The unit 3 includes a pair of left and right beds 4 and 4 that support the unit 3 so as to be movable in the U-axis direction (processing area arrangement direction) parallel to the X-axis direction.

A processing table 5 is disposed between the left and right beds 4 and 4. The machining table 5 is a large one having a length of 20 to 30 m and a width of 3 to 5 m, and has a plurality of machining areas a1 to a4 arranged in the U-axis direction. Further, a retreat space for the processing unit 3 is provided at both ends of the left and right beds 4 and 4 in the U-axis direction so as to be located on the outer side of the processing table 5 in the U-axis direction. A wide and long workpiece (not shown) can be attached and detached in the vertical direction in a state where is positioned.

The machining unit 3 includes a portal column 8 mounted on the left and right beds 4 and 4 so as to straddle the machining table 5 when viewed from the front of the machine in the U-axis direction, and the column 8 allows the X-axis direction. A cross rail 9 supported so as to be movable, a saddle 10 supported so as to be movable in the Y-axis direction by the cross rail 9, and a ram 11 supported so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction by the saddle 10. The main shaft 2 is disposed at the lower end of the ram 11 with its axis line oriented substantially vertically.

As shown in FIG. 6, the ram 11 includes a rotary indexing device 13 for rotationally indexing and driving the main shaft 2 in the A-axis direction around the axis and rotating and driving the main shaft 2 in the C-axis direction around the axis. Thus, the workpiece can be machined by 5-axis control.

The portal column 8 is arranged on the left and right beds 4 in a substantially rectangular shape when viewed from the side. The front and rear walls of the left and right column bodies 15 and 16 are front and rear cross frames 17 and 18. It is the structure united by. The left and right column bodies 15 and 16 are supported by a pair of U-axis guide rails 19 and 19 disposed on the upper surfaces of the beds 4 and 4 so as to be movable in the U-axis direction. The ceiling of the columnar column 8 is covered with a cover 20.

The cross rail 9 has a rectangular box shape opened in the vertical direction, and in a space surrounded by the left and right column bodies 15 and 16 and the front and rear cross rails 17 and 18 in plan view. Is arranged. Further, flange portions 9a, 9a are formed on the left and right upper edge portions of the cross rail 9, and the left and right flange portions 9a are arranged on the upper surfaces of the column main bodies 15, 16, respectively. 21 is supported so as to be movable in the X-axis direction.

The saddle 10 is a rectangular tube that opens in the vertical direction, and is disposed in the cross rail 9. A pair of triangular brackets 25 and 25 are attached and fixed to the front and rear walls of the saddle 10, respectively. The front and rear brackets 25 and 25 are disposed on the front and rear upper surfaces of the cross rail 9, respectively. The shaft guide rails 26 and 26 are supported so as to be movable in the Y-axis direction.

Further, flange portions 10a and 10a are formed on the lower edges of the front and rear walls of the saddle 10, and the front and rear flange portions 10a are disposed on the front and rear lower surfaces of the cross rail 9, respectively. The rails 27 and 27 are supported so as to be movable in the Y-axis direction. In this way, the saddle 10 is sandwiched between the upper and lower Y-axis guide rails 26 and 27.

The ram 11 has a rectangular tube shape extending in the vertical direction, and is disposed in the saddle 10. The ram 11 is supported so that it can move in the Z-axis direction through sliding surfaces (not shown) disposed on the inner wall surfaces of the saddle 10 on the front and rear and on the left and right walls. Reference numeral 29 denotes a scale that detects the position of the ram 11 in the Z-axis direction.

The X-axis and Y-axis strokes are set to about 3 to 4 m, and the Z-axis stroke is set to about 1 to 2 m. The cross rail 9, saddle 10 and ram 11 are reciprocated by ball screws 30, 31, 32 and servo motors 33, 34, 35, respectively.

The right column body 16 is formed with a working opening 16a having a size allowing an operator to enter and exit, and a door (not shown) for partitioning the inside of the machine from the outside of the machine is disposed in the opening 16a. . An operation panel 37 is disposed outside the door in the work opening 16a.

A tool magazine 38 for holding a number of tools Tn is disposed on the outer wall of the left column body 15. Further, a tool change window 15a is formed at a portion of the column main body 15 facing the tool change position, and the processed tool T mounted on the spindle 2 is held by the tool magazine 38 through the tool change window 15a. The next process tool is automatically changed by a tool changing arm (not shown).

The machining unit 3 is reciprocated in the U-axis direction by a U-axis drive device 40 shown in FIGS. 7 to 10, and the drive device 40 has the following configuration.

The bed 4 is provided with a rack 41 extending over substantially the entire length thereof, and the column 8 is provided with a pair of pinions 42 and 43 before and after meshing with the rack 41. The front and rear pinions 42 and 43 are rotationally driven by a single motor 44 through a reduction gear group 45. The reduction gear group 45 is accommodated in a gear box 46 fixed to the column 8, and a motor 44 is attached to the gear box 46.

The reduction gear group 45 includes reduction large gears 47 and 48 fixed to the pinion shafts 42 a and 43 a of the front and rear pinions 42 and 43, and the reduction gears 47 and 48 are connected to both the reduction large gears 47 and 48 via an intermediate gear 49. The rotating gear 44a is engaged. The reduction large gear 47 is formed with inner peripheral teeth 47a, and the outer peripheral teeth 50 fixed to the pinion shaft 42a of the front pinion 42 are engaged with the inner peripheral teeth 47a. The outer peripheral teeth 50 and the inner peripheral teeth 47a are engaged with each other while shifting in a direction in which backlash is reduced.

In order to perform workpiece machining with the vertical machining center 1 of the present embodiment, a wide and long workpiece is mounted on the machining table 5 and fixed, and the machining unit 3 is moved to the first machining area a1 and fixed. Then, in the first machining area a1, the spindle 2 is relatively moved in the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis directions, and a predetermined machining is performed on the wide and long workpiece by the tool T while rotating around the A-axis and the C-axis. Apply. When the workpiece machining is completed, the machining unit 3 is moved to the next machining area a2, and the workpiece machining by the spindle 2 is performed in the next machining area a2 in the same manner as described above. In this way, the machining unit 3 is sequentially moved for each machining area a1 to a4, and workpiece machining by the spindle 2 is performed in each machining area a1 to a4. Specifically, it is suitable when, for example, a large-sized vehicle body such as a train or a bus is formed by hollowing a window at a predetermined interval, or a bolt hole or the like is formed on the outer periphery of each window hole.

According to this embodiment, the machining unit 3 supports the main shaft 2 so as to be relatively movable in the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis directions, and the machining unit 3 is parallel to the X-axis by the left and right beds 4 and 4. Since it is supported so as to be movable in the U-axis direction, when moving between the machining areas a1 to a4 of the machining table 5, the entire machining unit 3 is moved, and when machining a workpiece within each machining area a1 to a4, The main shaft 2 supported by the machining unit 3 is relatively moved in the X, Y, Z axis or A, C axis direction. Since it comprised in this way, the moving weight in the X, Y, Z-axis direction of the main axis | shaft 2 on the processing unit 3 can be made small, and a main axis | shaft compared with the case where the whole column is moved and it processes a workpiece | work. Can be moved at high speed, and the machining time can be shortened accordingly.

In the present embodiment, since the processing unit 3 is disposed so as to straddle the processing table 5 disposed between the left and right beds 4, 4, the main shaft 2 can be supported in the vertical direction. Can be applied to vertical machining centers.

Further, a rectangular box-shaped cross rail 9 is disposed in the inner space of the portal column 8 formed by connecting the processing unit 3 with the left and right column bodies 15 and 16 by the front and rear cross frames 17 and 18; Since the rectangular cylindrical saddle 10 is arranged in the cross rail 9 and the ram 11 having the main shaft 2 mounted therein is arranged in the saddle 10, the support rigidity of the main shaft 2 can be increased. Further, the spindle 2 can be supported near the center of gravity of the machining unit 3, the machining accuracy can be increased while increasing the speed of the spindle 2, and the machining stroke of the spindle 2 can be set large. That is, in the conventional gantry type, the saddle and ram are supported movably on the front surface of the column, and therefore the spindle may be tilted forward when reciprocating in the Z-axis direction. There were limits to increasing the moving speed and increasing the Z-axis stroke.

In the above embodiment, the case where the cross rail 9 is supported by the column 8 so as to be movable in the X-axis direction and the saddle 10 is supported by the cross rail 9 so as to be movable in the Y-axis direction has been described. 11, the column 8 may support the cross rail 9 so as to be movable in the Y-axis direction, and the cross rail 9 may be configured to support the saddle 10 so as to be movable in the X-axis direction. In this case, the same effect as that of the above embodiment can be obtained.

In the above embodiment, the case of processing a wide and long workpiece has been described as an example. However, the present invention is also applicable to the case where individual workpieces are placed in each processing area of the processing table and each workpiece is sequentially processed. it can.

Furthermore, although the case where the column was moved for each machining area has been described in the above embodiment, in the present invention, it is also possible to perform machining in the U-axis direction by moving the column in addition to workpiece machining by the spindle.

In the present embodiment, the processing table 5 is arranged between the left and right beds 4, 4, but it is also possible to arrange the processing table on the upper surface of one bed extending over the entire bottom surface of the machine.

1 is an overall perspective view of a vertical machining center according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the vertical machining center. It is a perspective view of the processing unit of the embodiment. It is a cross-sectional side view of the said processing unit. It is a section front view of the above-mentioned processing unit. It is a perspective view of the said processing unit. It is a front view of the drive device of the said processing unit. It is a perspective view of the said drive device. It is a schematic diagram of the said drive device. It is a schematic diagram of the said drive device. It is a perspective view which shows the modification of the processing unit of the said embodiment.

1 Vertical machining center (machine tool)
2 Spindle 3 Processing unit 4 Bed 5 Processing table 8 Column 9 Cross rail 10 Saddle 11 Ram 15, 16 Column body 17, 18 Cross frame a 1 to a 4 Processing area

Claims (2)

A machine tool in which a machining unit that supports a spindle on which a tool is mounted so as to be relatively movable in the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis directions is movable in a plurality of machining areas arranged in one direction. And
A long processing table having a plurality of processing areas arranged in one direction;
A pair of left and right beds arranged on both sides of the processing table and extending in the direction of arrangement of the processing area;
The processing unit includes a portal column disposed on the bed so as to straddle the processing table and movable in the processing area arrangement direction, and the portal column includes the X axis, the Y axis, A main shaft supported relative to the Z axis so as to be relatively movable and the axis line oriented substantially vertically;
The workpiece is machined by moving the spindle in the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis directions with the portal column positioned in any of the machining areas. A machine tool characterized by that. In Claim 1 , the said processing unit is the portal column formed by connecting the left and right column main bodies arrange | positioned on the said bed with the front and back cross frame seeing in the said process area arrangement | positioning direction, A rectangular cross rail arranged in a space surrounded by the front and rear cross frames and the left and right column main bodies and supported so as to be movable in the X-axis or Y-axis direction; A cylindrical saddle supported so as to be movable in the Y-axis or X-axis direction, and a ram supported so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction within the saddle. A machine tool on which the spindle is mounted.

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