JP5443831B2 - Casting machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a casting machine, and more particularly, to an improvement in a casting machine that can make related operations associated with casting work more efficient and can reduce the operational reliability and operation cost.

The outline of the configuration of the casting machine is as follows: a machine frame having a shape in which a base support plate and an upper support plate are connected by a column, a mold apparatus provided on the base support plate in this machine frame, and an upper support in the machine frame A lifting device that is supported so as to be movable up and down with respect to the panel and that holds the upper mold in the mold apparatus so as to be movable up and down is provided at the lower end. A molten metal material is injected into the cavity in the mold apparatus and solidified. The product is cast into a predetermined shape.
As the operation associated with this casting operation, there are operations such as raising and lowering the upper die in the mold and taking out and carrying out the workpiece as a cast product after the completion of casting, and shorten the time required for one tact including these. This is indispensable for improving work and production efficiency.
On the other hand, a hydraulic cylinder is often applied to a member that performs the upper mold moving operation. In the case of this hydraulic cylinder, it is necessary to always drive a hydraulic pump by an electric motor to maintain a constant hydraulic pressure. Therefore, as a so-called energy saving measure, it cannot be said that it is a good measure, and instead of this hydraulic cylinder, a method of performing an upper shift operation by an electrically driven ball screw mechanism has been proposed (Patent Document 1).

  In this application, the present applicant is also involved in the development. The technical focus is on the assumption that the mold is held by electric drive in order to cope with the thermal expansion of the mold. An electric drive type casting in which a cushioning material is interposed in a part of the input path of the mold lifting / lowering operation so that displacement due to thermal expansion can be allowed, and therefore it is difficult to allow thermal expansion of the mold compared to hydraulic cylinders. This is a practical application of the device. This prior art has realized energy saving by electrically driving the mold, but there is still room for improvement in terms of further shortening of the tact time by further investigation of the present applicant's technology. I came to find out.

JP 2003-71554 A

  The present invention has been made in consideration of these various backgrounds, and on the premise of a ball screw mechanism driven by an electric motor for the lifting and lowering operation of the upper mold in the casting apparatus, further shortening the tact time, An object of the present invention is to provide a casting machine capable of smooth casting even if the mold has a more complicated shape in which a horizontal mold is combined with an upper mold and a lower mold.

The casting machine according to claim 1 comprises a machine frame having a base support plate and an upper support plate provided in a hierarchy above the base support plate, and at least an upper mold and a lower mold, and a metal forming a cavity therein. A mold apparatus and a lifting apparatus that is supported so as to be movable up and down with respect to the upper support plate in the machine frame and that holds the upper mold in the mold apparatus at the lower end, and a molten metal material in the cavity of the mold apparatus In the apparatus for injecting and solidifying this into a predetermined shape, the elevating apparatus comprises an elevating machine frame and an elevating driving apparatus for driving the elevating machine, and the elevating machine frame is an upper support plate in the machine frame. and four laps of the lifting rod is slidably supported in the vertical direction so as to penetrate it in, provided at a lower end of the lifting rod, the lifting platform to hold the upper die in the mold device with its lower surface, the temperature Comprising a top plate for receiving an input from the elevation driving device mounted on the upper end of the rod, whereas the lifting drive unit is intended to employ a ball screw mechanism is electrically driven as a drive mechanism, a ball screw shaft of the ball screw mechanism The drive gear unit whose upper end is supported by a bearing provided in the center of the top plate and which drives the ball screw shaft includes a female screw block, a worm wheel integral with the female screw block, and one worm meshing with the worm wheel. The one worm pinion is provided with a high-speed input shaft at one end and a high-load input shaft at the other end, each of which includes a high-speed input system and a high-load input system. connected system of the drive input mechanism, and these high-speed input system, a motor for driving each line of the high load input system comprises further The load input system includes a clutch unit, and further, a displacement permissible structure is provided between the bearing supporting the upper end of the ball screw shaft and the top plate to absorb the displacement caused by the thermal expansion of the mold during casting. It is characterized by being able to.

The casting machine according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in addition to the requirement according to claim 1, the displacement permissible structure is constituted by a plurality of disc springs .

  The casting machine according to claim 3 includes a horizontal mold in addition to the requirements of claim 1 or 2, and the mold apparatus includes a horizontal mold in addition to an upper mold and a lower mold. The lateral movement device, which is held by the device, employs a ball screw mechanism that is electrically driven as a drive mechanism.

In addition to the requirements of claim 3, the casting machine according to claim 4 is provided with a displacement permissible structure at the connection site with the mold mounting plate for the ball screw shaft of the ball screw mechanism in the lateral movement device, This displacement permissible structure is characterized by comprising a plurality of disc springs .

First, according to the first and second aspects of the invention, since the upper type lifting device employs a ball screw mechanism that is electrically driven, the electric motor only needs to be operated for a required time, and energy consumption is reduced. The apparatus can be reduced. In addition to the ball screw mechanism, there are two input mechanisms, a high-speed input system and a high-load input system (low-speed input system), enabling high-load input when the mold is firmly assembled during casting. When the mold is moved up and down before and after casting, it is moved at a high speed so that it can be moved up and down quickly, and the tact time as a whole can be shortened. Furthermore, according to the present invention, the high-speed input system and the high-load input system each have a dedicated electric motor, and a more reliable operation can be expected.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the mold apparatus has a horizontal mold, and a workpiece having a more complicated shape can be processed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the ball screw shaft of the ball screw mechanism in the lateral movement device is provided with a displacement permissible structure at a connection site with the mold mounting plate. Although it is configured by a disc spring , and a normal ball screw mechanism does not allow a slight displacement, the displacement can be allowed to ensure proper operation of the entire apparatus.

It is a front view which shows the casting machine of this invention. It is a side view same as the above. It is a partially vertical front view which shows the raising / lowering apparatus and displacement allowable structure in a casting machine same as the above. It is a top view of a raising / lowering drive device same as the above. It is a horizontal sectional view of a horizontal movement apparatus same as the above. It is a vertical side view same as the above.

  The mode for carrying out the present invention includes the embodiment described below, and includes various improved modes based on this technical idea.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described based on illustrated embodiments.
The casting machine C of the present invention includes a machine frame 1, a mold device 2 supported by the machine frame 1, a lifting device 3 that drives the upper mold 21 in the mold device 2 to move up and down, and a horizontal mold in the mold device 2. A lateral movement device 4 that laterally drives 22, a hot water storage device 5 that communicates with the lower die 20 in the mold device 2 and is provided below the machine frame 1, and a carry-out device 6 that carries the cast workpiece W out. Has been.

First, the machine casing 1 will be described.
The machine frame 1 is a frame-like member that integrally supports a base support board 11 and an upper support board 12 disposed in a hierarchical manner above the base support board 11 by four column bodies 10 as an example. In contrast, a slide metal 13 for supporting the lifting device 3 is provided. Further, the upper support plate 12 is provided with a workpiece take-out rod 14. Since this is related to a known mechanism, a detailed description is omitted, but a structure in which a free leaving state and a downward projecting maintenance state can be selected is adopted. On the other hand, a mold apparatus 2 is provided on a base support board 11 in the machine casing 1.

Hereinafter, the mold apparatus 2 will be described.
This is provided on the base support board 11 of the machine frame 1, but as shown in FIG. 2, what is directly supported by the base support board 11 is the lower mold 20 in the mold, Opposite to the lower mold 20, the upper mold 21 is provided so as to be able to approach and leave in the up and down direction. Furthermore, depending on the shape of the workpiece W, a horizontal die 22 is provided.
And when these lower mold | type 20, upper mold | type 21, and also horizontal mold | type 22 are provided, when this is assembled | attached, the cavity 23 for casting the workpiece | work W inside is formed. The upper mold 21 can be moved up and down by the lifting device 3 described below, and the horizontal mold 22 is configured to be moved in the horizontal (horizontal) direction by the horizontal moving device 4.

Next, the lifting device 3 will be described.
The main members of the elevating device 3 are an elevating machine frame 30 and an elevating drive device 35 that drives the elevating device frame 30 up and down. First, the elevator frame 30 includes four lifting rods 31 as an example, and these are supported by a slide metal 13 provided on the upper support plate 12 in the machine frame 1 so as to be slidable in the vertical direction. An elevating base 32 is provided at the lower end of the elevating rod 31, and a top plate 33 is provided at the upper end, and the elevating rod 31 is connected by the elevating base 32 and the top plate 33 to form a frame shape as a whole. An elevator frame 30 is formed. A mold adapter 321 for attaching the upper mold 21 of the mold apparatus 2 is provided below the lift base 32.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, a bearing 330 that receives the upper end portion of the ball screw shaft 36 in the elevating drive device 35 described below is provided above the center of the top plate 33 provided at the upper end of the elevating rod 31. Further, a displacement permissible structure 34 is provided between the bearing 330 and the top plate 33 by utilizing the portion of the bearing 330. Specifically, the disc spring 341 is sandwiched between the lower end of the bearing support frame 331 rising further upward from the top plate 33 and the bearing upper flange 332 in a multi-plate shape.

Next, the elevating drive device 35 in the elevating device 3 will be described.
As this elevating drive device 35, a ball screw mechanism is applied, and as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a ball screw shaft 36 is screwed with a female screw block 37, and is moved up and down by this rotation. The female screw block 37 is supported by a motor mount 371 provided so as to rise in a trapezoidal shape from the upper support board 12 in the machine frame 1, and it is necessary to firmly tighten the mold during casting. One that can withstand the load is applied. Similarly, a bearing 330 that can withstand a sufficient load is applied to the bearing 330 attached to the top plate 33 in the elevator frame 30.

A drive gear unit 38 for driving the ball screw shaft 36 is provided on the motor mount 371. The drive gear unit 38 includes a worm wheel 381 integrated with the female screw block 37 and a worm pinion that meshes with the worm wheel 381. 382. The worm pinion 382 has input shafts at both ends in the longitudinal direction, one being a high speed input shaft 383 and the other being a high load input shaft 384.
A drive input mechanism 39 is connected to the drive gear unit 38, and this drive input mechanism 39 has two input systems of a high speed input mechanism 39A and a high load input mechanism 39B. . Strictly speaking, the high-speed input mechanism 39A is driven at high speed, and since the drive load is light, it is more accurate to express it as a high-speed light load input mechanism. However, since what is substantially required for this input mechanism is high-speed movement, it is hereinafter referred to as a high-speed input mechanism 39A. Further, the high load input mechanism 39B is also driven at a low speed with a high load input, and it is accurate to be referred to as a low speed high load input mechanism. Since it is a high-load drive, it is hereinafter referred to as a high-load input mechanism 39B.

First, the high-speed input mechanism 39A will be described.
The high-speed input mechanism 39A uses a high-speed drive motor M1 as a power source, and is connected to a high-speed input shaft 383 in a worm pinion 382 that meshes with the worm wheel 381 through a coupling 391.
On the other hand, the high load input mechanism 39B uses a high load drive motor M2 as a drive source, and this is a unit in which a speed reducer is integrated, and is driven via a clutch unit 392 and a coupling 393. The gear unit 38 is connected to a high load input shaft 384.

Next, the horizontal movement device 4 that drives the horizontal die 22 in the mold device 2 will be described. This driving source uses a laterally moving electric motor M3, and the horizontal die 22 can be moved by a ball screw mechanism in the same manner as the lifting device 3.
Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a ball screw shaft 41 driven by a lateral movement motor M3 is used to move the lateral mold 22 in the lateral direction, and a cup is connected to the output shaft 40 of the lateral movement motor M3. A warm pinion 402 is connected via a ring 401. The worm pinion 402 meshes with a worm wheel 421 integrated with a female screw block 42 screwed into the ball screw shaft 41, and the female screw block 42 is driven to rotate to move the ball screw shaft 41.
In this lateral movement device 4, the ball screw shaft 41 fixes the die mounting plate 43 to the working end side, and as an example, a connection site between the tip of the ball screw shaft 41 and the die mounting plate 43. In FIG. 4, a displacement permissible structure 44 is employed. Specifically, the displacement permissible structure 44 is configured by interposing a disc spring 441 that can be deformed and restored at a connection site between the ball screw shaft 41 and the mold mounting plate 43. Reference numeral 45 denotes a pair of guide rods.

Next, the hot water storage device 5 will be described.
This supplies a molten metal material W0 for forming the workpiece W in the cavity 23 of the mold apparatus 2, and is a so-called crucible. Specifically, a hot water storage tank 51 provided below the base support board 11 of the machine casing 1 is a main member, and a hot water supply pipe 52 is communicated with the cavity 23 of the mold apparatus 2 therefrom. ing.
In addition, as for an actual installation mode, the hot water storage device 5 is often installed in a state where it is buried halfway on the floor of a factory or the like.

Further, the unloading device 6 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the unloading device 6 is mainly composed of a transport carriage 61 provided above the mold device 2 so as to freely enter and retreat. For example, when the molded workpiece W is removed from the upper mold 21, the workpiece W is received and supported from the lower side.
By the way, since such a carry-out form is taken, the up / down stroke of the upper mold 21 is set to be relatively long, and the stroke for simply removing the workpiece W from the mold is insufficient.

The present invention employs the specific configuration described above, and operates as follows.
<1. Initial state>
First, regarding the initial state, the state where the elevator frame 30 in the lifting device 3 is located at the top dead center and the upper die 21 and the lower die 20 are vertically charged and separated as shown by the phantom line in FIG. To do. Incidentally, this state is a state after the workpiece W is taken out in the previous tact.

<2. Quick drop of upper mold>
For the casting operation, the upper die 21 of the mold apparatus 2 is moved so as to come into close contact with the lower die 20. This operation is performed by the lifting / lowering drive device 35 of the lifting / lowering device 3. In this case, the high-speed input mechanism 39 </ b> A is operated to move the upper mold 21 of the mold apparatus 2 to the closest distance of the lower mold 20. .
The movement by the high-speed input mechanism 39A drives the high-speed drive motor M1, and moves it down at a speed of 10 cm per second, for example. This is because the rotation of the high-speed drive motor M1 is transmitted to the high-speed input shaft 383 via the coupling 391, the internal thread block 37 integrated with the worm wheel 381 is rotated by the integrated worm pinion 382, and the ball screw shaft 36 is moved at high speed. It is something to lower. Thereby, the bearing 330 at the upper end of the ball screw shaft 36 pulls the top plate 33 of the elevator frame 30 downward, and lowers the entire elevator frame 30. On the other hand, at this time, the clutch unit 392 in the high load input mechanism 39B is in a disconnected state (disconnected state) so as not to be affected by the high load input mechanism 39B.

<3. Cavity molding: Mold clamping: Casting: Mold release>
Thus, in the state where the upper mold 21 supported by the lower end of the elevator frame 30 approaches the lower mold 20 of the mold apparatus 2, the upper mold 21 by the high load input mechanism 39B is controlled by appropriate program control. The movement starts. That is, the clutch unit 392 is set to the connected state, and the high-load drive motor M2 is operated to drive the high-load input shaft 384. As a result, the rotation of the high load input shaft 384 acts on the worm wheel 381 with sufficient torque, and for example, the clamping force by the ball screw shaft 36 is appropriately set in units of several tons to several tens of tons, and the upper die 21 is lowered. Assemble to the mold 20.
Incidentally, the moving speed of the upper mold by the high-load drive motor M2 is about 1 cm per second.
In the case where the lower mold 20 and the upper mold 21 are used, the molten metal material W0 is thereafter injected into the cavity 23 from the hot water storage device 5 and casting is started.

In the case of the one having the horizontal mold 22, in addition to the connection between the lower mold 20 and the upper mold 21, the horizontal mold 22 is assembled by the horizontal movement device 4. Incidentally, with respect to the lateral movement device 4 of the horizontal mold 22, in the case of the horizontal mold 22, a stroke for simply separating the mold may be used, and therefore a mechanism corresponding to the high-speed input mechanism 39 </ b> A in the drive mechanism of the upper mold 21 is not provided.
Thereafter, until the molten metal material W0 is supplied into the cavity 23 and further cooled and solidified, the molds are maintained in a combined state. Thereafter, when the mold is separated and released after a lapse of a predetermined time, a high load is required. Therefore, the high load input mechanism 39B is operated only for a certain stroke, and the upper mold 21 and the lower mold 20 are moved. Try to separate. Of course, when the horizontal mold 22 is provided, the horizontal mold 22 may be withdrawn prior to this.

<4. Fast leaving>
Thereafter, in order to move the upper mold 21 at a high speed, the upper mold 21 is raised by operating the high-speed input mechanism 39A. That is, the high-speed driving motor M1 is operated, the worm wheel 381 is driven by the high-speed input shaft 383 via the worm pinion 382, and the rotation is transmitted from the female screw block 37 to the ball screw shaft 36 to increase it at high speed. Thereby, the top plate 33 in the elevator frame 30 connected to the upper end of the ball screw shaft 36 is pushed up, and the entire elevator frame 30 is moved up. In this state, when the workpiece W is held by the upper die 21, the conveyance carriage 61 in the unloading device 6 is entered downward in this state, and the workpiece W is pushed out of the upper die 21 by the workpiece removal rod 14. It is transferred to the transport carriage 61 and carried out.

  In this embodiment, the high-speed input mechanism 39A and the high-load input mechanism 39B are driven by separate high-speed drive motor M1 and high-load drive motor M2 as drive sources, respectively, but a single drive motor is used as the drive source. There is no problem. In other words, while using a single drive motor, a speed reduction mechanism capable of outputting sufficient torque is interposed in the middle of the drive system, and whether or not the speed reduction mechanism is routed in the middle of the drive system is switched, so The load (low speed) driving state is selected.

<5. Thermal expansion measures>
Furthermore, in the present invention, in response to the expansion of the mold apparatus 2 due to heat during casting, the mold is allowed to be deformed by the displacement permissible structure 34 in the elevating apparatus 3 or the displacement permissible structure 44 in the lateral movement apparatus 4. However, the casting operation can be performed smoothly.
That is, in the apparatus of the present invention, since all the movement of the mold is performed by a ball screw mechanism that uses an electric motor as a drive source, unlike the type in which the mold is moved using a conventional hydraulic cylinder, There is no room to allow slight dimensional displacement (thermal expansion) by the hydraulic cylinder. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt a structure that allows displacement according to thermal expansion.
Specifically, for example, in the case of this apparatus, a large number of disc springs 341 provided between the top plate 33 and the bearings 330 are somewhat contracted, and their positions are restrained by the ball screw shaft 36. The top plate 33 side is slightly moved with respect to the bearing 330. This movement results in a stable operation of the mold apparatus 2. On the other hand, in the lateral movement device 4, the disc spring 441 of the displacement permissible structure 44 provided between the die mounting plate 43 and the tip of the ball screw shaft 41 acts to allow a slight movement in the lateral direction. It is what.

The displacement permissible structures 34 and 44 are applied at appropriate portions where such displacement is transmitted, and are not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, an appropriate portion such as a connection portion between the elevator frame 30 and the top plate 33 of the lifting device 3 or a ball screw bearing 37 of the ball screw shaft 36 and the motor mount 371 can be adopted.
Further, the displacement permissible structure 44 in the lateral movement device 4 can be provided, for example, between the entire mounting member of the ball screw shaft 41 and the base support board 11 of the machine frame 1.

C casting machine 1 machine frame 2 mold device 3 lifting device 4 lateral movement device 5 hot water storage device 6 carry-out device 11 base support plate 12 upper support plate 13 slide metal 14 work take-out rod 2 mold device 20 lower die 21 upper die 22 horizontal die 23 Cavity 3 Lifting Device 30 Lifting Machine Frame 31 Lifting Rod 32 Lifting Base 321 Mold Adapter 33 Top Plate 330 Bearing 331 Bearing Support Frame 332 Bearing Upper Flange 34 Displacement Allowed Structure 341 Disc Spring 35 Lifting Drive Device 36 Ball Screw Shaft 361 Coupling 37 Female Screw Block 371 Motor mount 38 Drive gear unit 380 Casing 381 Worm wheel 382 Worm pinion 383 High speed input shaft 384 High load input shaft 39 Drive input mechanism 39A High speed input mechanism 39B High load input mechanism 391 Ring 392 clutch unit 393 coupling 4 horizontal moving device 40 output shaft (lateral movement motor M3)
401 Coupling 402 Worm Pinion 421 Worm Wheel 41 Ball Screw Shaft 42 Female Screw Block 43 Mold Mounting Plate 44 Displacement Allowed Structure 441 Belleville Spring 45 Guide Rod 5 Hot Water Storage Device 51 Hot Water Storage Tank 52 Hot Water Supply Pipe 6 Carrying Out Device 61 Transporting Cart 62 Rail M1 High Speed Drive motor M2 High load drive motor M3 Transverse motor W Work W0 Molten metal material

Claims (4)

A machine frame comprising a base support board and an upper support board provided in a hierarchy above the base support board;
A mold apparatus comprising at least an upper mold and a lower mold and forming a cavity therein;
A lifting device that is supported so as to be movable up and down with respect to the upper support plate in the machine frame and that holds the upper mold in the mold device at the lower end,
In an apparatus for injecting a molten metal material into a cavity in the mold apparatus, solidifying it and casting it into a predetermined shape,
The lifting device comprises a lifting machine frame and a lifting drive for driving the lifting and lowering.
This elevator frame is a four-round elevator rod that is slidably supported in the vertical direction so as to penetrate the upper support plate in the machine frame;
Provided at the lower end of the lifting rod, the lifting base that holds the upper mold in the mold apparatus on the lower surface thereof, and a top plate that is attached to the upper end of the lifting rod and receives the input from the lifting drive device,
Meanwhile the lift drive unit is intended to employ a ball screw mechanism is electrically driven as a drive mechanism,
The ball screw shaft of the ball screw mechanism is supported by a bearing provided at the top of the top plate at the center of the top plate,
The drive gear unit for driving the ball screw shaft includes a female screw block, a worm wheel integral with the female screw block, and one worm pinion meshing with the worm wheel, and the one worm pinion has one end. The part has a high-speed input shaft, the other end has a high-load input shaft, and a high-speed input system and a high-load input system are connected to each of the two drive input mechanisms.
Each high-speed input system and high-load input system has a driving motor.
Furthermore, the high load input system has a clutch unit,
Further , a casting machine characterized in that a displacement permissible structure is provided between the bearing supporting the upper end of the ball screw shaft and the top plate to absorb the displacement caused by the thermal expansion of the mold during casting.
The casting machine according to claim 1 , wherein the displacement permissible structure includes a plurality of disc springs .
The mold apparatus includes a horizontal mold in addition to an upper mold and a lower mold. The horizontal mold is held by a horizontal movement apparatus, and the horizontal movement apparatus employs a ball screw mechanism that is electrically driven as a drive mechanism. The casting machine according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that:
The ball screw shaft of the ball screw mechanism in the lateral movement device is provided with a displacement permissible structure at a connection portion with the mold mounting plate, and the displacement permissible structure is constituted by a plurality of disc springs. The casting machine according to claim 3.

Images