JP5429964B2 - Work loading / unloading device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a workpiece loading / unloading device for loading / unloading a workpiece to / from a plurality of machine tools performing the same machining.

  When processing with a long cycle time is performed, a plurality of machine tools that perform the same processing may be arranged on the processing line to improve processing efficiency. Thus, as a layout method for arranging a plurality of machine tools, a parallel type (see FIG. 24) or a series type (see FIG. 25) can be considered.

For example, in the parallel type conveyance line shown in FIG. 24, the conveyor C extending from the previous process is branched into double rows, and the machine tools A and B are arranged on the branched lines. However, when the conveyance line is branched in this way, the following problems occur.
(1) The space for equipment will be expanded.
(2) The transport distance of each workpiece becomes longer.
(3) It is necessary to provide means (turn table T in FIG. 24) for distributing the work to each line at the branch point of the transfer line.
(4) At the branch point of the transfer line, it is necessary to determine which branch line the work is distributed to.
(5) The same number of workpiece carry-in / out devices 1 ′ as the machine tools are required.

  On the other hand, in the serial type conveyance line shown in FIG. 25, a plurality of machine tools for performing the same processing are arranged in series along one conveyor. As described above, if a plurality of machine tools A and B are arranged in series along the processing line, (1) equipment space, (2) workpiece transport distance, (3) sorting means at the branch point, and ( 4) The problem of distribution control is solved. For example, Patent Document 1 shows an example of a series-type transport line.

JP 2003-25190 A

  However, in the series-type transfer line as shown in FIG. 25 and Patent Document 1, the same number of work loading / unloading devices as the machine tool are still required, and thus the problem (5) above cannot be solved.

  In addition, since a plurality of machine tools that perform the same processing are arranged side by side on a single line, the work line processed by the upstream machine tool is again used by the downstream machine tool. Control (interlock control) for preventing double machining is necessary so as not to perform the same machining. For example, in the conveyance line of Patent Document 1, a pallet lifting / lowering means for retracting the workpiece from the line is provided, and the workpiece conveyance and the operation of the pallet lifting / lowering means are operated at an appropriate timing to prevent double workpiece machining. doing. Providing such complicated interlock control increases the cost and makes the maintenance complicated.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a work loading / unloading device that can carry out loading / unloading of workpieces to / from a plurality of machine tools that perform the same machining with a small number of units and simple control.

The present invention made to achieve the above-described object is for carrying a workpiece in and out of a plurality of machine tools in a machining line in which a plurality of machine tools for performing the same machining are arranged along the workpiece conveyance direction. A workpiece conveyor loading / unloading device, provided on a roller conveyor, a workpiece conveying surface of the roller conveyor , a first stock area for stocking workpieces conveyed from the previous process , and a workpiece conveying surface of the roller conveyor, A second stock area for stocking workpieces processed by the machine, a carry-in / out area provided between the first stock area and the second stock area, provided on the work transfer surface of the roller conveyor, and a carry-in / out area moving the machine tool while carrying the workpiece, and a carry-out means carries out the work in the area loading and unloading from machine tool, along the conveying direction of the workpiece And it is provided in capacity.

  Thus, since the work loading / unloading device is provided so as to be movable along the workpiece conveyance direction, the workpiece can be loaded / unloaded while moving between a plurality of machine tools, so that the number of machine tools is smaller than the number of machine tools. A workpiece can be carried in and out of a plurality of machine tools by the number (for example, one). In addition, since the pre-machining workpiece and the machined workpiece are arranged in different stock areas, it is possible to prevent the machined workpiece from being carried into the same machine tool again, and complicated interlock control becomes unnecessary. In addition, since the first and second stock areas move between the machine tools together with the loading / unloading means, the loading / unloading means and each stock area do not leave with the movement of the workpiece loading / unloading device. Therefore, the moving distance of the workpiece between the machine tool and each stock area can be shortened, and the cycle time can be shortened.

  In addition, if the workpiece loading / unloading device is arranged at a position where the workpiece can be conveyed from the previous process to the first stock area, the workpiece can be loaded / unloaded with respect to the machine tool arranged on the previous process side. Since the work can be transported from the previous process to the first stock area and the work can be carried in and out of the machine tool while being stopped at the place, the work efficiency is improved. Similarly, work efficiency can be further improved by loading and unloading the workpiece to and from the machine tool arranged on the post-process side in a state where the work in the second stock area is arranged at a position where the work can be conveyed to the post-process.

  If a plurality of workpieces can be stocked in at least one of the first stock area and the second stock area, it is possible to move between machine tools while stocking a plurality of workpieces in the stock area. Can respond.

  As the loading / unloading means, for example, as shown in FIG. 26, when a cylinder S that can be advanced and retracted in the loading / unloading direction (vertical direction in the drawing) is adopted, the length L1 of the cylinder S is set to at least the loading / unloading of the workpiece W. Since it is necessary to make it longer than the movement distance L2 at the time, the cylinder S protrudes backward (side away from the machine tool A). For this reason, when moving a workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus, since it is necessary to ensure a space so that the cylinder S which protruded back may not interfere with other facilities, an installation space will be expanded. Therefore, if the loading / unloading means for loading / unloading the workpiece via the link mechanism is used, the amount of protrusion of the loading / unloading means to the rear can be suppressed, so that the equipment space can be reduced (FIGS. 5 and 6). reference).

  As described above, according to the workpiece loading / unloading apparatus of the present invention, loading / unloading of workpieces to / from a plurality of machine tools performing the same machining can be performed with a small number of units and with simple control.

It is a top view of the processing line containing a workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus. It is a side view of the processing line containing a workpiece carrying in / out apparatus. It is a front view of a workpiece carry-in / out device. It is a side view of a workpiece carry-in / out device. It is a top view (at the time of retreat) of a carrying in / out means. It is a top view (at the time of protrusion) of a carrying in / out means. It is a top view which shows a mode that a workpiece | work is carried in / out by a workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus. It is a top view which shows a mode that a workpiece | work is carried in / out by a workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus. It is a top view which shows a mode that a workpiece | work is carried in / out by a workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus. It is a top view which shows a mode that a workpiece | work is carried in / out by a workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus. It is a top view which shows a mode that a workpiece | work is carried in / out by a workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus. It is a top view which shows a mode that a workpiece | work is carried in / out by a workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus. It is a top view which shows a mode that a workpiece | work is carried in / out by a workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus. It is a top view which shows a mode that a workpiece | work is carried in / out by a workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus. It is a top view which shows a mode that a workpiece | work is carried in / out by a workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus. It is a top view which shows a mode that a workpiece | work is carried in / out by a workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus. It is a top view which shows a mode that a workpiece | work is carried in / out by the workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus of another example. It is a top view which shows a mode that a workpiece | work is carried in / out by the workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus of another example. It is a top view which shows a mode that a workpiece | work is carried in / out by the workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus of another example. It is a top view which shows a mode that a workpiece | work is carried in / out by the workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus of another example. It is a top view which shows a mode that a workpiece | work is carried in / out by the workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus of another example. It is a top view which shows a mode that a workpiece | work is carried in / out by the workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus of another example. It is a top view which shows a mode that a workpiece | work is carried in / out by the workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus of another example. It is a top view which shows an example of a parallel type processing line. It is a top view which shows an example of a serial type processing line. It is a top view which shows the carrying in / out means by a cylinder.

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

  The processing line shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 processes the workpiece W conveyed from the previous process with one of the machine tools A and B that perform the same processing, and conveys it to the subsequent process. Specifically, the pre-process conveyor C1 for transporting the workpiece W from the previous process, the workpiece loading / unloading device 1 for loading / unloading the workpiece W to / from the machine tool A or B, and the workpiece unloaded from the machine tool A or B And a post-process conveyor C2 for transporting W to the post-process. The pre-process conveyor C1 and the post-process conveyor C2 are, for example, roller conveyors in which a plurality of drive rollers R are arranged side by side, and are placed on the work conveyance surface (upper surface) of the conveyor by rotating the drive rollers R all at once. The workpiece W is conveyed forward (in the direction of the arrow in FIGS. 1 and 2). In the following description, the direction along the conveyor (the left-right direction in FIG. 1) is referred to as the workpiece conveyance direction.

  The workpiece loading / unloading device 1 is provided between the pre-process conveyor C1 and the post-process conveyor C2 so as to be movable along the workpiece conveyance direction (the left-right direction in FIGS. 1 and 2). The workpiece loading / unloading apparatus 1 includes a frame 10 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, a roller conveyor 20 provided on the upper surface of the frame 10, and a loading / unloading means 30 for loading / unloading the workpiece W into / from the machine tool A or B. And moving means 40 for moving the entire apparatus along the workpiece conveying direction.

  The roller conveyor 20 has a plurality of drive rollers 21 that have a rotation axis in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction and are arranged side by side in the transport direction. Each drive roller 21 is connected to a drive motor 22 via a drive belt 23, and by rotating the drive motor 22, all the drive rollers 21 are simultaneously rotated in the same direction. The drive motor 22 is driven to rotate only in the direction in which the drive roller 21 transports the workpiece W to the subsequent process side.

  The work conveyance surface (upper surface) of the roller conveyor 20 is set to the same height as the pre-process conveyor C1 and the post-process conveyor C2. Of the work conveying surface of the roller conveyor 20, the area on the front process side functions as a first stock area S1 for stocking the unprocessed work W transferred from the front process conveyor C1, and the area on the back process side is a work area. It functions as a second stock area S2 for stocking the processed workpiece W carried out from the machine A or B. A region between the first stock area S1 and the second stock area S2 functions as a loading / unloading area S3 for loading / unloading the workpiece W into / from the machine tool A or B.

  The first stock area S1 and the second stock area S2 are provided with guide bars 24 for guiding the work W stocked in each area. The guide bar 24 extends in the workpiece conveyance direction and is fitted to a recess provided in the workpiece W to guide the workpiece W. For example, when the workpiece W is an engine cylinder block, as shown in FIG. 3, a recess W0 for attaching a camshaft is formed in the workpiece W, so that the guide rod 24 is fitted into the recess W0. In addition to guiding the workpiece W, it is possible to prevent the workpiece W from falling off the roller conveyor 20.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a stopper 25 that can protrude upward from the work transfer surface is provided at the end of the first process area S1 on the rear process side. When the workpiece W is transported from the previous process side with the stopper 25 protruding, the workpiece W comes into contact with the stopper 25 and is restricted from moving to the subsequent process side, and is stopped at a predetermined position in the first stock area S1. When the stopper 25 is retracted downward, the workpiece W can be transferred to the subsequent process side and transferred to the carry-in / out area S3. Similarly, a stopper 26 for stopping the work W in the second stock area is provided at the end of the second stock area S2 in the subsequent process. In addition, a stopper 27 that can protrude upward from the workpiece transfer surface is also provided at the end of the carry-in / out area S3 in the subsequent process. The stopper 27 restricts the movement of the workpiece W toward the subsequent process, and positions the workpiece W during loading / unloading.

  The loading / unloading means 30 loads the unprocessed workpiece W from the loading / unloading area S3 to the machine tool A or B, and unloads the processed workpiece W from the machine tool A or B to the loading / unloading area S3. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the loading / unloading means 30 of the present embodiment loads and unloads the workpiece W via the parallel link mechanism (a direction perpendicular to the workpiece conveyance direction, the vertical direction in FIGS. 5 and 6). It is to be transported by. Specifically, the carry-in / out means 30 includes a hand portion 31 that can detach the workpiece W, a slide portion 33 that can freely slide in the workpiece conveyance direction along a slide rail 32 fixed to the frame body 10, and a hand. A pair of link arms 34 and 35 provided in parallel between the portion 31 and the slide portion 33 are provided. Both ends of the pair of link arms 34 and 35 are rotatably attached to the hand portion 31 and the slide portion 33, respectively, and the parallel link mechanism is formed by the hand portion 31, the slide portion 33, and the link arms 34 and 35. Composed.

  A rotation arm 37 extending from a rotation shaft 36a of the drive motor 36 is rotatably connected to an intermediate portion of one link arm 34. When the drive motor 36 is driven to rotate, the slide portion 33 slides in the workpiece transfer direction via the rotary arm 37 and the link arm 34, and the hand portion 31 moves in parallel in the workpiece loading / unloading direction. In this way, the loading / unloading means 30 for loading / unloading the hand portion 31 in the loading / unloading direction via the parallel link mechanism suppresses the amount of protrusion backward in the loading / unloading direction as compared to the loading / unloading means (see FIG. 26) using a cylinder. Therefore, the facility space can be reduced.

  The hand portion 31 is provided with a pair of finger portions 31 a that protrude toward the machine tool side and that can be raised and lowered relative to the hand portion 31. The workpiece W is loaded / unloaded by moving the hand unit 31 in / out in the loading / unloading direction with the workpiece W lifted by the finger portion 31a.

  The loading of the workpiece W into the machine tool by the loading / unloading means 30 is performed as follows. First, as shown in FIG. 5, the hand unit 31 is retracted in the loading / unloading direction, and the workpiece W is placed in the first stock area in a state where the finger unit 31a is disposed below the conveying surface of the roller conveyor 20 (not shown). Transport from S1 to carry-in / out area S3. Thereby, when conveying the workpiece | work W to carrying in / out area S3, the situation where the workpiece | work W and the hand part 31 or the finger part 31a interfere can be prevented. If the workpiece | work W is distribute | arranged to carrying in / out area S3, the finger part 31a will be raised and the workpiece | work W will be lifted slightly from the workpiece conveyance surface of the roller conveyor 20. FIG. In this state, the drive motor 36 is rotationally driven to project the hand portion 31 forward in the loading / unloading direction, whereby the workpiece W is loaded into the machine tool (see FIG. 6). Then, after the finger part 31a is lowered and the workpiece W is placed inside the machine tool, the drive motor 36 is rotationally driven in the opposite direction to the above, and the hand part 31 is moved backward in the loading / unloading direction. . In addition, since carrying out of the workpiece | work W from the machine tool is a procedure reverse to the above, description is abbreviate | omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the moving means 40 slides the rail 41 fixed to the ground, the guide portion 42 fixed to the lower side of the frame body 10 and fitted in the groove portion of the rail 41, and the work loading / unloading device 1. And a drive unit that is driven so as to be driven. In the illustrated example, a drive motor 43 as a drive unit is fixed to the frame body 10, and a friction wheel 43 b attached to the rotation shaft 43 a of the drive motor 43 is brought into contact with the rail 41. By rotating the drive motor 43, the workpiece carry-in / out device 1 slides in the conveyance direction due to friction between the friction wheel 43 b and the rail 41. The drive motor 43 can rotate in either the forward or reverse direction, whereby the workpiece carry-in / out device 1 can reciprocate between the pre-process conveyor C1 and the post-process conveyor C2 along the transport direction.

  Hereinafter, a method for loading and unloading workpieces to and from the plurality of machine tools A and B by the workpiece loading and unloading device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  In the state shown in FIG. 7, the workpieces W1 and W2 are processed in the machine tools A and B, respectively, and the workpiece W3 before processing that is not processed by the machine tools A or B is applied to the pre-process conveyor C1.・ W4 is waiting. From this state, first, the pre-process conveyor C1 is rotationally driven, and the workpiece W3 before processing is conveyed to the workpiece carry-in / out device 1. At the same time, the roller conveyor 20 of the workpiece carry-in / out device 1 is rotationally driven, and the workpiece W3 delivered from the pre-process conveyor C1 is arranged at a predetermined position in the first stock area S1 (see FIG. 8). At this time, the stopper 25 provided in the first stock area S1 and the stopper 27 provided in the carry-in / out area S3 protrude upward from the work transfer surface (see FIG. 4) and are provided in the second stock area S2. The stopper 26 is lowered below the workpiece transfer surface (not shown). When the workpiece W3 comes into contact with the stopper 25 in the first stock area S1, the rotation of the roller conveyor 20 is stopped.

  Next, the processed workpiece W1 in the machine tool A is unloaded by the loading / unloading means 30 and placed in the loading / unloading area S3 of the workpiece loading / unloading apparatus 1 (see arrows in FIG. 8). Thereafter, the stopper 27 in the carry-in / out area S3 is lowered downward, and the stopper 26 (see FIG. 4) in the second stock area S2 is protruded upward. In this state, the roller conveyor 20 is rotationally driven, and first, the work W1 is conveyed to the second stock area S2 (see the arrow on the right side of FIG. 9). At this time, since the stopper 26 of the second stock area S2 protrudes upward, it is possible to prevent the processed workpiece W1 from dropping from the roller conveyor 20. Next, the stopper 25 of the first stock area S1 is lowered and the stopper 27 of the loading / unloading area S3 is protruded upward to transport the workpiece W3 before processing to the loading / unloading area S3 (left side in FIG. 9). See arrow). When the workpiece W3 comes into contact with the stopper 27, the rotation of the roller conveyor 20 is stopped, whereby the workpiece W3 is positioned at a predetermined position in the carry-in / out area S3.

  And the workpiece | work W3 before processing distribute | arranged to carrying in / out area S3 is carried in to the machine tool A by the carrying in / out means 30 (refer the arrow of FIG. 10). Thereafter, the drive motor 43 of the moving means 40 is rotationally driven in the forward direction to move the work carry-in / out device 1 to the post-process side (see FIG. 11), and the roller conveyor 20 is connected to the post-process conveyor C2 so that the work can be conveyed. (See FIG. 12). In this state, the stopper 26 of the second stock area S2 is lowered, and the roller conveyor 20 and the post-process conveyor C2 are rotationally driven to move the processed workpiece W1 arranged in the second stock area S2 to the post-process conveyor C2. Transport. By the above, the carrying-in / out of the workpiece | work with respect to the machine tool A, ie, replacement | exchange of the processed workpiece W1 and the workpiece | work W3 before a process, is completed.

  Subsequent to the above process, the work is carried into and out of the machine tool B. First, the drive motor 43 of the moving means is rotationally driven in the reverse direction to move the workpiece loading / unloading apparatus 1 to the previous process side, and the roller conveyor 20 is connected to the previous process conveyor C1 so that workpieces can be conveyed (see FIG. 13). In this state, the pre-process conveyor C1 and the roller conveyor 20 are rotationally driven, and the unprocessed workpiece W4 is conveyed from the pre-process conveyor C1 to the first stock area S1. Then, the workpiece carry-in / out device 1 is moved to the post-process side and connected to the post-process conveyor C2, and the processed work W2 in the machine tool B is carried out by the carry-in / out means 30 and placed in the carry-in / out area S3. (See FIG. 14). Thereafter, the roller conveyor 20 and the post-process conveyor C2 are rotationally driven to convey the processed work W2 to the post-process conveyor C2, and the pre-process work W4 is disposed in the carry-in / out area S3 (see FIG. 15). Then, the workpiece W4 before processing is loaded into the machine tool B by the loading / unloading means 30 (see FIG. 16), and loading / unloading of the workpiece with respect to the machine tool B is completed. Thereafter, the workpiece carry-in / out device 1 is moved to the previous process side, and the above processes are repeated.

  As described above, the workpiece loading / unloading device is provided with the first stock area S1 and the second stock area S2, and the workpiece before machining and the workpiece after machining are stocked separately, so that the machined workpiece is loaded again into the machine tool. It is possible to reliably avoid the situation. In the present embodiment, as in the illustrated example, the first stock area S1, the carry-in / out area S3, and the second stock area S2 are arranged in order from the previous process side, and the roller conveyor 20 is rotationally driven only to one side. By doing so, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the processed workpiece stocked in the second stock area S2 is erroneously returned to the carry-in / out area S3, so that double machining can be ensured without providing complicated interlock control. Can be prevented.

  Moreover, since each stock area S1 * S2 moves in the conveyance direction together with the loading / unloading means 30, even when the workpiece loading / unloading apparatus 1 is moved in the conveyance direction, the stock area can always be arranged near the machine tool. . Thereby, since the conveyance distance of the workpiece | work between a machine tool and each stock area can be shortened, the time which a workpiece | work carrying in / out operation | work can require can be shortened.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, as described above, the workpiece conveyor can be loaded into and unloaded from the machine tool A while the roller conveyor 20 of the workpiece loading / unloading apparatus 1 is connected to the pre-process conveyor C1 so that the workpiece can be conveyed. The line is laid out. Thereby, conveyance (refer FIG. 7) of the workpiece | work from the front process conveyor C1 to the workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus 1 (refer FIG. 7), and carrying-in / out of a workpiece (refer FIGS. 8-10) are performed, without moving the workpiece carrying-in / out apparatus 1. Therefore, the work efficiency of carrying in / out the workpiece can be increased. Similarly, in this embodiment, the processing line is laid out so that the workpiece can be carried in and out of the machine tool B in a state where the roller conveyor 20 of the workpiece carry-in / out device 1 is connected to the post-process conveyor C2 so that the workpiece can be conveyed. Therefore, the work efficiency of carrying in / out the workpiece is further enhanced.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the work loading / unloading device 1 capable of stocking one work W in each of the first stock area S1 and the second stock area S2 is shown. A plurality of workpieces may be stockable in at least one of S1 and second stock area S2. In this way, by moving the workpiece loading / unloading apparatus stocking a plurality of workpieces between machine tools, various loading / unloading procedures can be handled. Hereinafter, an example of a loading / unloading procedure using the workpiece loading / unloading apparatus 101 capable of stocking a plurality of workpieces in each stock area will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the site | part which has the structure and function similar to the said embodiment, and description is abbreviate | omitted.

  First, the workpiece carry-in / out device 101 is arranged on the previous process side, and the roller conveyor 20 and the previous process conveyor C1 are connected so as to be able to convey the workpiece (see FIG. 17). In this state, the unprocessed workpieces W3 and W4 are conveyed from the pre-process conveyor C1 to the roller conveyor 20, and are stocked in the first stock area S1. Thereafter, the processed workpiece W1 in the machine tool A is unloaded by the loading / unloading means 30 (see FIG. 18) and placed in the loading / unloading area S3 (see FIG. 19). Then, the roller conveyor 20 is rotationally driven to convey the workpieces W1, W3, and W4 to the subsequent process side, the processed workpiece W1 is moved to the second stock area S2, and the unprocessed workpiece W3 is moved to the loading / unloading area S3. One workpiece W4 before processing is arranged in the first stock area S1 (see FIG. 20). After the roller conveyor 20 is stopped, the unprocessed workpiece W3 in the loading / unloading area S3 is loaded into the machine tool A by the loading / unloading means 30.

  Next, the work carry-in / out device 1 is moved to the post-process side, and the roller conveyor 20 is connected to the post-process conveyor C2 so that the work can be conveyed (see FIG. 21). In this state, the processed workpiece W2 in the machine tool B is unloaded by the loading / unloading means 30 and placed in the loading / unloading area S3 (see FIG. 22). Then, the roller conveyor 20 and the post-process conveyor C2 are rotationally driven to transfer the workpieces W1, W2, and W4 to the post-process side, and the processed workpieces W1 and W2 are transferred to the post-process conveyor C2 and the pre-process work W4 is placed in the carry-in / out area S3 (see FIG. 23). After stopping the roller conveyor, the workpiece W4 before processing in the loading / unloading area S3 is loaded into the machine tool B by the loading / unloading means 30. Then, the workpiece carry-in / out device 1 is moved to the previous process side, and the above process is repeated.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the workpiece loading / unloading device 1 is loaded and unloaded with respect to the machine tool A and the machine tool B only by reciprocating between the pre-process conveyor C1 and the post-process conveyor C2. Therefore, the cycle time of the processing line can be shortened.

  In addition, in said embodiment, although the processing line with which two machine tools were distribute | arranged along the conveyance direction was shown, it is not restricted to this, For example, in the process line with which 3 or more machine tools were arranged side by side, The workpiece carry-in / out device of the present invention can also be applied.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Work loading / unloading apparatus 10 Frame 20 Roller conveyor 30 Loading / unloading means 40 Moving means A / B Machine tool C1 Pre-process conveyor C2 Post-process conveyor S1 First stock area S2 Second stock area S3 Loading / unloading area W Workpiece

Claims (4)

In a processing line in which a plurality of machine tools performing the same processing are arranged side by side along the workpiece conveyance direction, a workpiece loading / unloading device for loading and unloading workpieces with respect to a plurality of machine tools,
A roller conveyor, a first stock area that is provided on a workpiece conveyance surface of the roller conveyor and stocks the workpiece conveyed from the previous process , and a workpiece that is provided on the workpiece conveyance surface of the roller conveyor and processed by a machine tool is stocked. The second stock area is provided on the work conveyance surface of the roller conveyor, and a work load / unload area provided between the first stock area and the second stock area, and a work is carried into the machine tool from the carry in / out area , A workpiece loading / unloading device provided with loading / unloading means for unloading a workpiece from a machine tool to a loading / unloading area, which is movable along the workpiece conveyance direction.   A workpiece is loaded into and unloaded from a machine tool on the previous process side at a position where the workpiece can be transferred from the previous process to the first stock area, and a machine tool on the subsequent process side at a position where the workpiece in the second stock area can be transferred to the subsequent process. The work loading / unloading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the work is loaded / unloaded with respect to the workpiece.   The work loading / unloading apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a plurality of works can be stocked in at least one of the first stock area and the second stock area.   The workpiece loading / unloading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the loading / unloading means transfers the workpiece in a loading / unloading direction via a parallel link mechanism.

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