JP7476141B2 - Workpiece processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a workpiece machining device that machines the outer peripheral surface of a workpiece.

As a laser processing device for laser processing a workpiece and inspecting the workpiece, a laser processing device has been proposed that has a plurality of stages that are configured to be movable independently of each other in a first direction, a processing means that is configured to be movable in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and processes a first workpiece held on one of the plurality of stages, and an inspection means that is configured to be movable in the second direction independent of the processing means and inspects a second workpiece held on another of the plurality of stages (see, for example, Patent Document 1). For example, when laser processing is performed on multiple areas of a workpiece and the processed areas are inspected using the laser processing device described in Patent Document 1, first, the processing means is positioned near a specified stage on which the workpiece to be processed is placed, and laser processing is performed on all of the multiple areas of the workpiece to be processed. Then, the processing means is moved to another position, and the inspection means is positioned near the specified stage on which the workpiece to be processed is placed, and inspection is performed on all of the multiple processed areas of the workpiece.

JP 2021-061280 A

If there is a defect in some of the multiple processed areas of the workpiece, the workpiece is treated as having failed the inspection. However, with the laser processing device described in Patent Document 1, even if a defect occurs in the laser processing midway, the defect is only discovered in a subsequent inspection, so the laser processing continues on all of the multiple areas of the workpiece. In other words, whether or not there is a defect in the laser processing midway, the laser processing device described in Patent Document 1 continues to perform laser processing on all of the multiple areas of the workpiece in a uniform manner, resulting in poor processing efficiency.

In view of this situation, the present invention aims to provide a workpiece processing device that can inspect the previously processed area of a workpiece while processing the next area to be processed of the same workpiece.

The workpiece processing device of the present invention is a workpiece processing device that processes the outer peripheral surface around the central axis of a workpiece, and is characterized by comprising: a workpiece holding unit that positions and holds the workpiece so that the central axis of the workpiece is coaxial with a preset reference axis; a surface processing unit that performs surface processing on the outer peripheral surface of the workpiece held by the workpiece holding unit to provide a processed area; an inspection unit that is arranged to have a circumferential phase difference of the virtual circle with respect to the surface processing unit when a virtual circle centered on the reference axis is defined, images the processed area on the outer peripheral surface of the workpiece, and inspects whether the processed area is provided to satisfy a preset reference condition; and a relative rotation unit that rotates the surface processing unit and the inspection unit, which maintain the circumferential phase difference, and the workpiece relative to the reference axis.

In addition, in the workpiece processing device of the present invention, the surface processing unit is configured to provide multiple machined areas at different circumferential positions on the outer peripheral surface of the workpiece, and when the phase difference in the circumferential direction between multiple machined areas adjacent in the circumferential direction is defined as the machined area phase difference, the circumferential phase difference of the surface processing unit and the inspection unit is the same as the machined area phase difference or an integer multiple of the machined area phase difference.

In addition, in the workpiece processing device of the present invention, the surface processing unit performs surface processing on the outer peripheral surface of the workpiece to provide the processed area each time the workpiece is rotated relatively by the relative rotation unit by an angle corresponding to the processed area phase difference, and the inspection unit, while the surface processing unit is providing the processed area, images the processed area provided previously and inspects whether it has been provided to satisfy the reference condition.

The workpiece processing device of the present invention is further characterized by having an air blowing unit that blows air to the area of the outer peripheral surface of the workpiece where surface processing is performed by the surface processing unit, or to an area nearby.

The workpiece processing device of the present invention is also characterized in that the flow direction of the air blown by the air blowing unit is set in a direction away from an imaging area for imaging the processed area located between the inspection unit and the workpiece.

The workpiece processing device of the present invention is further characterized by having a dust collection section that collects dust blown away by the blower section during surface processing in the surface processing section.

The workpiece processing device of the present invention is further characterized by including a conveying device that conveys the workpiece to the workpiece holding section, and an inspection device that is disposed upstream of the conveying path of the conveying device and that performs a visual inspection of the outer peripheral surface of the workpiece.

The workpiece machining device of the present invention is characterized in that the workpiece is a valve seat. The workpiece machining device of the present invention is characterized in that the workpiece holding portion holds the valve seat.

The workpiece processing device of the present invention is further characterized by having a phase difference changing mechanism that changes the relative positions of the surface processing unit and the inspection unit to change the circumferential phase difference.

The workpiece processing device of the present invention is further characterized by having a rotating table that changes the circumferential phase difference by rotating the surface processing unit and/or the inspection unit about the reference axis.

The workpiece machining device of the present invention has the excellent effect of being able to inspect the previously machined area of a workpiece while machining the next area to be machined of the same workpiece.

1 is a front view of a valve seat machining device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a valve seat machining device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a valve seat holding portion according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a plan view of the valve seat holding portion according to the first embodiment of the present invention. (A) and (B) are cross-sectional views of the valve seat retaining portion in the first embodiment of the present invention, showing the valve seat retaining portions operating in chronological order. (C) and (D) are plan views of the valve seat retaining portion in the first embodiment of the present invention, showing the valve seat retaining portions operating to press and hold the valve seat from the inner peripheral surface side of the valve seat in chronological order. (E) and (F) are plan views of the valve seat retaining portion in the first embodiment of the present invention, showing the valve seat retaining portions operating to press and hold the valve seat from the outer peripheral surface side of the valve seat in chronological order. 5A and 5B are plan views of modified examples of the valve seat holding portion in the first embodiment of the present invention. 1A is a plan view of a portion of a periphery of a valve seat holding portion of a valve seat machining device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a valve seat machined by the valve seat machining device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line G-G of FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a roughened surface area of the valve seat in the first embodiment of the present invention. 10 is a modified example of the valve seat machining device in the first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a diagram showing how the relative position of a laser irradiation unit with respect to an inspection unit is changed by a phase difference changing mechanism of the valve seat processing device in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A to 1D are diagrams illustrating, in chronological order, the process of providing a rough surface area on a valve seat and inspecting the rough surface area by a valve seat processing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 13A to 13D are diagrams illustrating, in chronological order, the process of providing a rough surface area on a valve seat and inspecting the rough surface area using a modified example of the valve seat processing device in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a valve seat machining device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 1A is a plan view showing a passage area of a laser irradiation unit and an inspection unit of a valve seat processing device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a front view showing a passage area of a laser irradiation unit and an inspection unit of a valve seat processing device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

The workpiece processing device of the present invention processes a region to be processed on the outer peripheral surface around the central axis of the workpiece. The region to be processed is processed by the workpiece processing device to become a processed region. In the embodiment of the present invention, the workpiece is a valve seat 100, the processed region of the outer peripheral surface 101 around the central axis 104 of the valve seat 100 is a rough surface region 103 having an uneven portion 102 (see FIG. 7), and the workpiece processing device is a valve seat processing device 1. However, the workpiece is not limited to the valve seat 100, and may be, for example, an annular ring, a disk-shaped disk, a plate-shaped plate, a columnar columnar body, a cylindrical cylinder, or a structure having a shape that is a combination of the above. In addition, the processing mode of the region to be processed is not limited to the mode of providing a rough surface region 103, but all other processing modes are included in the scope of the present invention.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings. Figures 1 to 14 show an example of an embodiment of the invention, and parts in the figures that are given the same reference numerals as in Figures 1 and 2 represent the same items.

First Embodiment
A valve seat machining apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below mainly with reference to Figures 1 and 2. The valve seat machining apparatus 1 according to this embodiment provides a rough surface area 103 (see Figure 7) having an uneven portion 102 on an outer peripheral surface 101 of a valve seat 100. The valve seat machining apparatus 1 according to this embodiment is assumed to be disposed, for example, in a final process downstream of a visual inspection process in a manufacturing line for the valve seat 100, but is not limited thereto, and may be disposed in a process prior to the final process.

The valve seat processing device 1 in this embodiment includes a valve seat holding section (workpiece holding section) 2, a surface processing section (laser processing section) 3, an inspection section 4, a relative rotation section 5, an air blower section 6, a dust collection section 7, a phase difference change mechanism 8, a control section 9, an operation section 10, a display 11, and a case 12 that houses the above sections. It also includes a transport device (not shown) that transports the valve seat 100 in and out of the valve seat holding section 2 by passing through the inside and outside of the case 12.

For ease of explanation, in the following explanation, a virtual space is defined in which the height direction of the case 12 is the Z-axis direction, the width direction of the case 12 is the X-axis direction, and the depth direction of the case 12 is the Y-axis direction, and these will be used appropriately in the explanation.

1, the case 12 has three storage sections (first storage section 120, second storage section 121, third storage section 122) along the height direction (Z-axis direction) of the case 12. The first storage section 120 in the middle of the height direction of the case 12 houses the valve seat holding section 2, part of the laser processing section 3 (laser irradiation section 30), the inspection section 4, the relative rotation section 5, the air blower duct 61 of the air blower 6, the dust collection tube 71 of the dust collection section 7, the phase difference change mechanism 8, and the valve seat detection section 29. A part of the side of the first storage section 120 (the side facing the page in FIG. 1) is open to the outside, and the valve seat 100 is loaded and unloaded from there. 2, the first storage section 120 has therein a laser passing region R1 through which the laser passes when the laser is irradiated onto the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 by the laser processing section 3, and an imaging region R2 for imaging the rough surface region 103 provided on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 by the inspection section 4. Laser processing and inspection (imaging) are performed on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 via the laser passing region R1 and imaging region R2 of the first storage section 120.

As shown in FIG. 1, the second storage section 121 at the bottom in the height direction of the case 12 stores the air source 60 of the air blower 6, the dust collection body 70 of the dust collection section 7, and the remaining part of the laser processing section 3 (laser control section 31). The third storage section 122 at the top in the height direction of the case 12 stores the control section 9 that controls each section, the operation section 10 that accepts various operations, and the display 11 that displays various data and information related to operations.

<Valve seat holding part (workpiece holding part)>
The valve seat holding portion (workpiece holding portion) 2 will be described mainly with reference to Figures 3 and 4. The valve seat holding portion 2 positions and holds the valve seat 100 so that the central axis 104 of the annular valve seat 100 is coaxial with a preset reference axis 2A. The reference axis 2A is parallel to the Z-axis direction as shown in Figures 1 and 3(A). As shown in Figure 3(A), the valve seat holding portion 2 has, for example, three chuck pieces 20 that radially support the valve seat 100 from three directions along a plane parallel to the XY plane, and a chuck piece moving mechanism 21.

As shown in FIG. 3(A), the chuck piece 20 has a mounting base portion 22 having a mounting surface 22A on the upper surface side in the Z-axis direction for mounting the valve seat 100, and a convex portion 23 that protrudes upward in the Z-axis direction from the mounting surface 22A. The mounting base portion 22 and the convex portion 23 may be made of separate members, or may be formed as one piece. If they are separate members, the convex portion 23 is attached to the mounting base portion 22.

As shown in FIG. 3(B), when a virtual circle K is defined with the reference axis 2A as its center on a plane parallel to the XY plane, each mounting base portion 22 is disposed on the chuck piece moving mechanism 21 so that it is equidistant from the reference axis 2A in the radial direction of the virtual circle K, and the angles between the center lines 22C extending in the radial direction of adjacent mounting base portions 22 are equiangular (120°). As a result, as shown in FIG. 3(B), on a plane parallel to the XY plane, the circumscribed circle circumscribing each convex portion 23 on each mounting base portion 22 is centered on the reference axis 2A.

The chuck piece moving mechanism 21 is configured to simultaneously move the three chuck pieces 20 back and forth in the radial direction of the imaginary circle K. As shown in Figs. 4(A) and (B), for example, the chuck piece moving mechanism 21 has a cylinder 25, a piston 26 that can move back and forth within the cylinder 25 along the Z-axis direction, a cam 27 that can move back and forth along the Z-axis direction following the piston 26, a stopper 27A, three moving pieces 27B that can be pressed by the cam 27 to move outward in the radial direction of the imaginary circle K, a pressure supply unit (not shown) that supplies pressure to the cylinder 25, and a chuck piece guide unit 28.

When the cam 27 advances along the Z-axis direction, it simultaneously presses the three moving pieces 27B from the lower side of the three chuck pieces 20 in the Z-axis direction, moving the three moving pieces 27B radially outward of the imaginary circle K. The chuck pieces 20 are fixed to each of the three moving pieces 27B. The moving pieces 27B and the chuck pieces 20 may be made of separate members or may be integrally formed. The chuck pieces 20 move together with the moving pieces 27B. The chuck piece guide 28 guides the moving pieces 27B radially of the imaginary circle K. The pressure supply unit has, for example, an air compressor, and supplies air into the cylinder 25 through the piston forward air supply pipe and the piston backward air supply pipe. The pressure supply unit may apply pressure not by air but by fluid.

When pressure is supplied from the pressure supply unit into the cylinder 25 so that the piston 26 advances along the Z-axis direction, the cam 27 also advances together with the piston 26, simultaneously pressing the three moving pieces 27B and moving them radially outward of the imaginary circle K along the chuck piece guide 28. The stopper 27A is disposed on the forward side of the cam 27 in the advancing direction. The cam 27 advances until its tip reaches the stopper 27A. Conversely, when pressure is supplied from the pressure supply unit into the cylinder 25 so that the piston 26 retreats, the cam 27 also retreats together with the piston 26. At this time, the three moving pieces 27B simultaneously move radially inward of the imaginary circle K along the chuck piece guide 28 by a restoration mechanism (not shown) and return to their initial positions.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a valve seat detection unit 29 is disposed around the valve seat holding unit 2. The valve seat detection unit 29 detects that the valve seat 100 is being held by the valve seat holding unit 2. If the valve seat detection unit 29 does not detect that the valve seat 100 is being held, the laser processing unit 3 and the inspection unit 4, which will be described later, are controlled by the control unit 9 not to operate.

<Valve seat holding operation in the valve seat holding portion>
Next, the holding operation of the valve seat 100 in the valve seat holding portion 2 will be described with reference to Figures 4(C) to (F). First, as shown in Figure 4(C), the chuck piece moving mechanism 21 positions the three chuck pieces 20 at positions where the valve seat 100 can be placed in an area on the mounting surface 22A radially outward from the protrusions 23 of the three chuck pieces 20 (positions where the diameter of the circumscribed circle of the three protrusions 23 centered on the reference axis 2A is smaller than the inner diameter of the valve seat 100). In this state, the valve seat 100 is installed so that the valve seat 100 is placed on each of the mounting surfaces 22A of the three mounting base portions 22.

Next, the three chuck pieces 20 are moved radially outward of the imaginary circle K (see the direction of the arrow in FIG. 4C) by the chuck piece moving mechanism 21. During the movement, as shown in FIG. 4D, the protrusions 23 of each of the three chuck pieces 20 come into contact with the inner peripheral surface 105 of the valve seat 100 and press the valve seat 100 in three directions from the inside to the outside. The circumscribing circles of the protrusions 23 of each of the three chuck pieces 20 are centered on the reference axis 2A. Therefore, when the three protrusions 23 press the valve seat 100 from three directions, the valve seat 100 is centered with respect to the reference axis 2A, and the central axis 104 of the valve seat 100 is coaxial with the reference axis 2A. In this way, when the chuck piece 20 supports the inner peripheral surface 105 side of the valve seat 100, the entire outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 is opened. This increases the freedom of processing because the chuck piece 20 including the protrusion 23 does not get in the way during processing by the laser processing unit 3 described below. In addition, the flow of air along the outer peripheral surface 101 by the air blower 6 described below does not stagnate, so dust during processing is prevented from accumulating on the outer peripheral surface 101 (chuck piece 20) of the valve seat 100.

In the above, the protrusions 23 press the valve seat 100 from the inner peripheral surface 105 side of the valve seat 100 to center the valve seat 100, thereby positioning the valve seat 100. The present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and as shown in Figures 4 (E) and (F), the valve seat 100 may be placed on the mounting table 22 with the three chuck pieces 20 positioned at a position where the diameter of the inscribed circle of the three protrusions 23 centered on the reference axis 2A is larger than the outer diameter of the valve seat 100, and then the chuck pieces 20 may be moved radially inward of the imaginary circle K to press the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 in three directions to center the valve seat 100, thereby positioning the valve seat 100.

The longitudinal length of the mounting base portion 22 of the chuck piece 20, the position of the convex portion 23 on the mounting surface 22A, the shape of the convex portion 23, and the range of movement of the chuck piece 20 by the chuck piece moving mechanism 21 are assumed to be various depending on the outer diameter or inner diameter of the valve seat 100. In addition, the valve seat holding portion 2 may be configured to have a change mechanism that can change the position of the convex portion 23 along the mounting surface 22A. With this configuration, for example, the convex portion 23 in the position shown in Figures 4(C) and (D) can be changed to the position shown in Figures 4(E) and (F).

5A, the valve seat holding portion 2 may be configured to have a base portion 200 having a plurality of holes 201 and an air intake portion (not shown). The plurality of holes 201 are arranged along the shape of the valve seat 100 so as to be located under the valve seat 100 when the valve seat 100 is assumed to be placed on the base portion 200. As shown in FIG. 5A, the plurality of holes 201 may be arranged in a plurality of groups according to the diameter of the valve seat 100, such as a first group 203A arranged corresponding to the valve seat 100 having a first diameter and a second group 203B arranged corresponding to the valve seat 100 having a second diameter. The air intake portion (not shown) generates an intake flow through the plurality of holes 201. The air intake portion (not shown) may be configured to generate an intake flow for each group of the plurality of holes 201. When the valve seat holding portion 2 is configured as described above, the valve seat 100 is held by the base portion 200 by being adsorbed by air. The valve seat holding portion 2 may also have other configurations that hold the valve seat 100 on the base portion 200 using air suction.

5(B), the valve seat holding portion 2 may be configured to have a base portion 200 and a magnetic force generating portion (not shown) that generates a magnetic force in a predetermined region of the base portion 200. The magnetic force generating portion (not shown) generates a magnetic force only in an annular region that is located under the valve seat 100 and follows the shape of the valve seat 100 when the valve seat 100 is assumed to be placed on the base portion 200. However, the center of the annular region coincides with the reference axis 2A. As shown in FIG. 5(B), a plurality of annular regions that follow the shape of the valve seat 100 may be provided according to the diameter of the valve seat 100 (see annular regions F1 and F2 in FIG. 5(B)). The magnetic force generating portion (not shown) may be configured as a permanent magnet that generates a magnetic force on the entire surface or annular region of the base portion 200, but when the valve seat 100 is removed from the valve seat holding portion 2, demagnetization is performed using a demagnetizing device. The valve seat holding portion 2 may have other configurations that use magnetic force to hold the valve seat 100 on the base portion 200.

In the case of the above two modified examples of the valve seat holding portion 2, it is preferable to further provide a centering mechanism (not shown) for aligning the center axis 104 of the valve seat 100 with the reference axis 2A. This is because the valve seat 100 can be centered more accurately whether it is attracted by air or magnetic force.

<Surface processing section (laser processing section)>
The surface processing unit 3 will be described mainly with reference to Fig. 1 and Fig. 6. The surface processing unit 3 performs surface processing on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 (workpiece) held by the valve seat holding unit 2 to provide a processed area. In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 6 (A), the surface processing unit 3 performs laser irradiation on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 through a preset laser passing area R1 of the first storage unit 120 to provide a rough surface area 103 on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100. In this sense, the surface processing unit 3 in this embodiment will be referred to as the laser processing unit 3 for convenience. As shown in Fig. 1, the laser processing unit 3 has a laser irradiation unit 30 and a laser control unit 31.

As shown in FIG. 6A, the laser irradiation unit 30 has a laser irradiation port 30A and irradiates a laser from the laser irradiation port 30A. The laser irradiation unit 30 (laser irradiation port 30A) is disposed at a position facing the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 held by the valve seat holding unit 2 (for example, in the radial direction of the valve seat 100 held by the valve seat holding unit 2, or in the radial direction of the imaginary circle K) through the laser passing region R1. The laser irradiation unit 30 also has a laser scanning mechanism (not shown) that displaces the laser irradiation position on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 within the range of the laser passing region R1. This laser scanning mechanism allows the desired rough surface region 103 to be formed without moving the valve seat 100.

The laser passing region R1 is a region of three-dimensional space between the laser irradiation unit 30 (laser irradiation port 30A) and the valve seat 100 held by the valve seat holding unit 2, and is a region through which the laser can pass when providing the roughened surface region 103 on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100. Therefore, nothing that blocks the passage of the laser is provided in the laser passing region R1.

The laser control unit 31 controls the operation of the laser irradiation unit 30. Specifically, based on processing data received from an external terminal (not shown), the laser control unit 31 controls the operation of the laser irradiation unit 30 so that the laser is irradiated onto the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 in accordance with the processing data. In this embodiment, the processing data relates to the rough surface area 103, which will be described below.

The laser processing section 3 is also provided with a light-shielding cover 32 that forms the peripheral wall of the cylindrical space that becomes the laser passing region R1. Note that the light-shielding cover 32 does not necessarily have to be provided, and such a case is within the scope of the present invention.

In addition, the surface processing unit 3 in the valve seat processing device 1 of the present invention is not limited to the laser processing unit 3. For example, the surface processing unit 3 may be configured as a shot blast processing unit (not shown) that processes the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 by spraying shot blast onto the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100, or may be configured as a unit that performs surface processing (e.g., cutting processing) on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 using a tool such as a cutting tool. In addition, the surface processing in the surface processing unit 3 includes not only the processing of providing a rough surface area 103 described below, but also all other processing including processing of providing a specific pattern.

<Rough surface area>
Next, the rough surface region 103 will be described with reference to FIG. 7. The rough surface region 103 increases the bonding strength between the valve seat 100 and the cylinder head when the valve seat 100 is press-fitted into the cylinder head, and prevents the valve seat 100 from falling off the cylinder head. As shown in FIG. 7A, the rough surface region 103 constitutes a part of the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7A, the rough surface region 103 is formed, for example, in a triangular shape when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 (the radial direction of the valve seat 100). Note that the triangular shape referred to here is not limited to a triangular shape in the strict sense, and for example, the part corresponding to the apex angle of the triangle may be rounded, and each side of the triangle may include a curve. Note that the rough surface region 103 may have any shape when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the outer peripheral surface 101, and examples thereof include a square shape, a semicircular shape, and a star shape.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 7A, a plurality of rough surface regions 103 may be provided along the circumferential direction L of the valve seat 100. When a plurality of rough surface regions 103 are provided, the rough surface regions 103 are arranged at equal intervals along the circumferential direction L of the valve seat 100, and adjacent rough surface regions 103 have the same circumferential phase difference. In order to distinguish the term from the circumferential phase difference of the laser processing portion 3 and the inspection portion 4 described later, the circumferential phase difference of adjacent rough surface regions 103 will be referred to as the rough surface region phase difference (processed region phase difference: the same below). In this embodiment, the rough surface region phase difference is set to 90 degrees. In addition, the present invention is not limited to this, and the rough surface regions 103 are arranged at unequal intervals along the circumferential direction L of the valve seat 100, and adjacent rough surface regions 103 may have different circumferential phase differences depending on the adjacent pair of selected rough surface regions 103.

The rough surface region 103 has an uneven portion 102 as shown in FIG. 7(B). The uneven portion 102 is an uneven portion formed on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100. As shown in FIG. 7(B), the uneven portion 102 of the rough surface region 103 is composed of a plurality of convex portions 102A and a plurality of concave portions 102B adjacent to the convex portions 102A in the central axis direction M of the valve seat 100. The convex portions 102A are portions that are convex in the radial direction of the valve seat 100 based on the outer peripheral surface (hereinafter referred to as the reference outer peripheral surface) 101A of the valve seat 100 other than the rough surface region 103. The concave portions 102B are portions that are concave in the radial direction of the valve seat 100 based on the reference outer peripheral surface 101A. The convex portions 102A and the concave portions 102B are arranged alternately along the central axis direction of the valve seat 100.

<Method of forming rough surface area by laser processing>
Referring to Figure 8, the formation of the roughened surface area 103 by the laser processing portion 3 will be described using as an example a case where a triangular roughened surface area 103 is formed when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100.

First, under the control of the laser control unit 31, the laser irradiation unit 30 displaces the laser irradiation position in the positive direction of the circumferential direction L of the valve seat 100 using the laser scanning mechanism, starting from the end point 103EA of the base 103E of the triangular rough surface area 103 to the end point 103EB of the base 103E. As a result, the outer circumferential surface 101 of the valve seat 100 is laser processed, and a groove-shaped recess 102B1 extending in the circumferential direction L at the bottom is provided.

Next, the laser irradiation unit 30 displaces the laser irradiation position in the negative direction of the circumferential direction L of the valve seat 100 by the laser scanning mechanism from a first position J1 that is shifted a predetermined distance Δh from the lowest recess 102B1 to the positive direction of the central axis M of the valve seat 100 and a predetermined distance Δt to the negative direction of the circumferential direction L of the valve seat 100 from the end point 103EB to a second position J2 that is shifted a predetermined distance Δt to the positive direction of the circumferential direction L of the valve seat 100 from the end point 103EA. As a result, the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 is laser processed, and a groove-shaped recess 102B2 extending in the circumferential direction L one step above the lowest step is provided. The laser irradiation unit 30 may displace the laser irradiation position in the positive direction of the circumferential direction L of the valve seat 100 by the laser scanning mechanism from the second position J2 to the first position J1.

During the process of forming the lowest recess 102B1 and the next recess 102B2 from the lowest level, material of the valve seat 100 is scattered between the lowest recess 102B1 and the next recess 102B2 from the lowest level. The scattered material is piled up on the reference outer peripheral surface 101A of the valve seat 100, and becomes the protrusion 102A1 extending in the circumferential direction L of the lowest level.

That is, the laser irradiation unit 30 performs laser processing of a groove-shaped concave portion (or convex portion) extending in the circumferential direction L on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 while displacing the laser irradiation position along the positive or negative direction of the circumferential direction L of the valve seat 100 between the start point and the end point located on the side of a virtual triangle (a triangle corresponding to the rough surface area 103) on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 in accordance with the above. Then, when the laser irradiation unit 30 reaches the end point, it displaces the laser irradiation position to the positive side of the central axis direction M of the valve seat 100, turns back from there, and displaces the laser irradiation position along the positive or negative direction of the circumferential direction L of the valve seat 100. Note that, when the laser irradiation unit 30 reaches the end point, it may displace the laser irradiation position by a predetermined distance to the positive side of the central axis direction M of the valve seat 100, and return to the side of the virtual triangle on the immediately preceding start point side, and displace the laser irradiation position along the positive or negative direction of the circumferential direction L of the valve seat 100. By repeating the above until the apex 103F of the triangular rough surface region 103 is reached, a triangular rough surface region 103 is formed. Note that in the above, the triangular rough surface region 103 is formed by machining from the base 103E as the starting point toward the apex 103F, but the triangular rough surface region 103 may also be formed by machining from the apex 103F as the starting point toward the base 103E. Also, even if the rough surface region 103 has a shape other than a triangle, the rough surface region 103 is formed by the laser processing unit 3 in the manner described above.

<Inspection Department>
The inspection unit 4 will be described with reference to Fig. 1, Fig. 2, and Fig. 6. The inspection unit 4 images the rough surface area 103 through the imaging region R2 of the first storage unit 120, and inspects whether the rough surface area 103 is provided so as to satisfy a preset reference condition. The inspection unit 4 has, for example, an imaging unit 40, an analysis unit 41, and a determination unit 42, as shown in Fig. 2.

2 and 6(A), the imaging unit 40 has a lens 40A, and captures an image of the rough surface area 103 through the imaging region R2 to generate imaging data. The imaging unit 40 (lens 40A) is disposed at a position facing the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 through the imaging region R2. In this embodiment, the imaging unit 40 (lens 40A) is disposed at a position facing the valve seat 100 through the imaging region R2 (for example, in the radial direction of the valve seat 100 held by the valve seat holding portion 2, or in the radial direction of the virtual circle K).

As shown in FIG. 6(A), the imaging area R2 is a region of three-dimensional space interposed between the imaging unit 40 (lens 40A) and the valve seat 100 held by the valve seat holding unit 2, and is a region in which the rough surface area 103 of the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 can be imaged. Therefore, there are no obstacles in the imaging area R2 that would prevent the imaging of the rough surface area 103 on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100.

The analysis unit 41 analyzes the rough surface area 103 based on the imaging data. As a result of the analysis, for example, data on the position, shape, and size of the rough surface area 103 on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 is obtained. Specific examples of the data include, for example, if the rough surface area 103 is triangular, the length of the base of the triangle, the position of the base on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100, the height of the triangle, the position of the apex of the triangle on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100, and the relative position of the apex of the triangle with respect to the base.

The determination unit 42 determines whether the data analyzed by the analysis unit 41 meets the preset standard conditions. The preset standard conditions correspond to the analyzed data. For example, for the length of the base of the triangle, the preset standard conditions are the upper and lower thresholds for the length of the base, and for the height of the triangle, the preset standard conditions are the upper and lower thresholds for the height. The valve seat 100 determined by the determination unit 42 to meet the standard conditions is treated as having passed the inspection and is shipped as a product. On the other hand, the valve seat 100 determined by the determination unit 42 to not meet the standard conditions is discarded even if it is in the middle of being processed by the laser processing unit 3. This makes it possible to eliminate unnecessary processing of the valve seat 100 by the laser processing unit 3, and therefore to efficiently process the valve seat 100.

As shown in FIG. 6A, when the valve seat processing device 1 is viewed in a plan view from the Z-axis direction, the inspection unit 4 (imaging unit 40) is disposed at a position having a predetermined circumferential phase difference θ toward the downstream side of the relative rotation direction N with respect to the laser processing unit 3 (laser irradiation unit 30) with respect to the circumferential direction of the valve seat 100 as a reference. The reference of the circumferential phase difference θ in the inspection unit 4 is, for example, the optical axis 40AB of the lens 40A of the imaging unit 40, and the reference of the circumferential phase difference θ in the laser processing unit 3 is, for example, the optical axis 30AB of the laser irradiated from the laser irradiation port 30A. These optical axes 40AB, 30AB are positioned in advance so as to intersect with the reference axis 2A in the Z direction. On a plane parallel to the XY plane, the angle formed by these optical axes 40AB, 30AB is the circumferential phase difference θ. It is preferable that this circumferential phase difference θ coincides with the rough surface area phase difference of each rough surface area 103 of the valve seat 100. As will be described later, if the circumferential phase difference θ is made to coincide with the rough surface area phase difference, when the valve seat 100 (valve seat holding part 2) is relatively rotated by the rough surface area phase difference by the relative rotation part 5, any of the rough surface areas 103 that have been previously processed by laser processing will stop in the imaging area R2 downstream of the relative rotation direction N. Naturally, the next processing planned area Q on the outer circumferential surface 101 of the valve seat 100 will stop at the same time in the laser passing area R1. Then, the inspection of the rough surface area 103 by the inspection part 4 and the laser processing of the processing planned area Q by the laser processing part 3 can be performed simultaneously. In this embodiment, the circumferential phase difference θ and the rough surface area phase difference coincide with each other at 90 degrees. As a result, the rough surface area 103 newly processed by the laser processing part 3 is immediately positioned in the imaging area R2 at the next relative rotation. On the other hand, this circumferential phase difference θ may be an integer multiple of the rough surface region phase difference, for example, 180 degrees or 270 degrees in this embodiment, but the inspection timing will be delayed by that amount.

<Relative Rotation Part>
The relative rotation part 5 will be described with reference to Fig. 1. The relative rotation part 5 rotates the laser processing part 3 (laser irradiation part 30) and the inspection part 4, in which the circumferential phase difference θ is maintained, and the valve seat holding part 2 (valve seat 100) relatively about the reference axis 2A. In this embodiment, the valve seat holding part 2 is rotated by the relative rotation part 5 while the laser processing part 3 and the inspection part 4 are stationary. As a result, the relative rotation part 5 rotates the valve seat 100 together with the valve seat holding part 2.

In this embodiment, the relative rotation part 5 has a shaft part 50 and a shaft side rotation part 51. The central axis of the shaft part 50 is coaxial with the reference axis 2A. The valve seat holding part 2 is fixed to the shaft part 50 so that its central axis and the central axis of the shaft part 50 are coaxial. The shaft side rotation part 51 rotates the shaft part 50 around the reference axis 2A under the control of the control part 9. In this embodiment, the shaft side rotation part 51 is controlled by the control part 9 to operate, for example, to rotate the shaft part 50 by the rough surface area phase difference and stop for a predetermined time, and then rotate again by the rough surface area phase difference and stop for a predetermined time. During the above-mentioned predetermined time, the laser processing process and the inspection process are performed. Then, when the laser processing process and the inspection process are completed, the shaft side rotation part 51 rotates.

<Blower section>
The blower 6 will be described with reference to Figures 1, 6 and 9. The blower 6 blows air to the laser passing region R1 at least while the laser processing unit 3 performs laser processing on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100. In this embodiment, the blower 6 particularly blows air toward the intended processing region Q or its neighboring region on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100, which is included in the laser passing region R1 and is to be laser processed. The intended processing region Q or its neighboring region to which the air is blown intersects with the laser passing region R1. The blower blows away debris produced during laser processing. The blown-away debris is collected in the dust collection body 70 through the dust collection pipe 71 of the dust collection unit 7.

However, while the imaging unit 40 of the inspection unit 4 is imaging the rough surface area 103, it is necessary to prevent the debris blown away by the air blowing unit 6 from flying into the imaging area R2. For this reason, it is preferable that the flow direction of the air generated by the air blowing unit 6 is set toward the intended processing area Q and away from the imaging area R2 (the rough surface area 103 waiting there).

As shown in FIG. 6A, when the valve seat 100 held by the valve seat holding part 2 is viewed in a plan view from the Z-axis direction, the blower 6 starts from the imaging area R2 side (downstream side of the relative rotation direction N of the valve seat 100) of the laser passing area R1 in the X-axis direction, and blows air toward the laser passing area R1 (upstream side of the relative rotation direction N of the valve seat 100). More specifically, the blower starts from the area downstream of the laser optical axis 30AB in the relative rotation direction N and the area on the laser irradiation part 30 (laser passing area R1) side of the tangent line X of the center of the processing area Q of the outer circumferential surface 101 of the valve seat 100, and blows air in a direction toward the processing area Q of the valve seat 100 or its neighboring area. As a result, the blowing direction intersects with the tangent line X from the radial outside toward the inside with a predetermined inclination α (where 0°<α<90°) as shown in FIG. 6B.

As shown in FIG. 9, when the valve seat 100 held by the valve seat holding part 2 is viewed from above in the Y-axis direction, the air blowing part 6 may blow air in a direction away from the imaging area R2 vertically downward (downward on the Z-axis) while moving from the vertically upward (upper side on the Z-axis) side of the laser passing area R1 (or the laser optical axis 30AB) toward the processing target area Q or a nearby area in the Z-axis direction. As shown by the dotted line in the above-mentioned elevational view, the air blowing part 6 may blow air in a direction toward the processing target area Q or a nearby area from a region above the laser passing area R1 (or the laser optical axis 30AB) in the Z-axis direction and starting from a region on the inspection part 4 (imaging area R2) side of the laser passing area R1 (or the laser optical axis 30AB).

As shown in FIG. 1, the above-described air blowing section 6 has, for example, an air blowing source 60, an air blowing pipe 61, and an air blowing side valve 62. The air blowing source 60 is, for example, a compressor or a blower. The air blowing source 60 is housed, for example, in the second housing section 121 of the case 12. The air blowing pipe 61 has an air blowing side valve 62 interposed therein and is connected to the air blowing source 60. The opening and closing of the air blowing side valve 62 is controlled by the control section 9. The air blowing pipe 61 is arranged in the first housing section 120 of the case 12 with its opening facing the intended processing area Q of the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 or an area nearby, and is positioned in such a manner that it can blow air in the direction described above.

<Dust collection section>
The dust collection unit 7 will be described with reference to Figures 1, 2, 6 and 9. The dust collection unit 7 collects dust generated during laser processing that is blown away by the air blowing unit 6. As shown in Figure 6, the dust collection unit 7 has a dust collection pipe 71 whose opening 71A faces the opening 61A of the air blower pipe 61 across the planned processing area Q. In this embodiment, the opening 71A of the dust collection pipe 71 is arranged to face the inspection unit 4 (imaging unit 40) side across the planned processing area Q. The valve seat holding unit 2 is interposed between the opening 71A of the dust collection pipe 71 and the inspection unit 4 (imaging unit 40).

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, when the valve seat 100 held in a position by the valve seat holding portion 2 is viewed from above in the Y-axis direction, the dust collection tube 71 may be positioned so that its opening 71A is located lower in the Z-axis direction than the valve seat holding portion 2, and faces the opening 61A of the air pipe 61 through the intended processing area Q or its neighboring area of the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100, which is included in the laser passing area R1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the dust collection unit 7 has a dust collection main body 70 that is connected to a dust collection tube 71 and generates an airflow that is sucked into the dust collection unit 7. When the dust collection main body 70 is operated, an intake airflow is generated toward the inside of the dust collection main body 70. As a result, debris generated during processing enters through the opening 71A of the dust collection tube 71 and is stored inside the dust collection main body 70. The dust collection main body 70 is stored, for example, in the second storage section 121 of the case 12.

<Phase difference changing mechanism>
The phase difference changing mechanism 8 will be described with reference to Fig. 10. The phase difference changing mechanism 8 changes the relative positions of the laser processing unit 3 (laser irradiation unit 30) and the inspection unit 4 to change the circumferential phase difference θ between the laser processing unit 3 (laser irradiation unit 30) and the inspection unit 4.

In this embodiment, the phase difference change mechanism 8 rotates the laser irradiation unit 30 of the laser processing unit 3 in the circumferential direction of a virtual circle K centered on the reference axis 2A while the inspection unit 4 is fixed. This changes the relative position of the laser irradiation unit 30 of the laser processing unit 3 with respect to the inspection unit 4, and changes the circumferential phase difference θ.

Specifically, the phase difference change mechanism 8 has, for example, a turntable 80 on which the laser irradiation unit 30 is placed. This turntable 80 turns in the circumferential direction of a virtual circle K centered on the reference axis 2A. As a result, even if the turntable 80 turns, the optical axis 30AB of the laser by the laser irradiation unit 30 can always maintain a posture intersecting the reference axis 2A. In addition, in order to automate the movement of the turntable 80, a moving mechanism not shown in particular may be provided. In addition, although the case where the laser irradiation unit 30 is turned by the turntable 80 is exemplified here, the present invention is not limited to this, and the circumferential phase difference θ may be freely changed by turning the inspection unit 4 by the turntable 80. In addition, the phase difference change mechanism 8 also includes all configurations other than those described above that can change the circumferential phase difference θ by changing the relative position of the laser processing unit 3 (laser irradiation unit 30) and the inspection unit 4.

In addition, even when the laser irradiation unit 30 is rotated by the rotating table 80 and the laser passing region R1 is changed, it is preferable that the air blower duct 61 of the air blower unit 6 is configured to be oriented so that the opening 61A of the air blower duct 61 faces the processing-intended region Q included in the laser passing region R1 or a region nearby it. In this case, the air blower duct 61 may be configured to have a first deformation mechanism that deforms its own posture so that it can be changed. The air blower duct 61 can be curved, bent, or otherwise deformed by the first deformation mechanism to change its posture. As a result, the air blower duct 61 can be oriented so that its opening 61A faces the processing-intended region Q included in the laser passing region R1 or a region nearby it by the first deformation mechanism. In addition, the posture of the air blower duct 61 may be changed by a first moving mechanism that can move the orientation of its opening 61A so that it can be changed. The first moving mechanism may include a rotating table 80 or another rotating table, and the air blower tube 61 may be fixed to the rotating table 80 or another rotating table and configured to rotate around the reference axis 2A together with the laser irradiation unit 30.

Furthermore, when the opening 61A of the blower pipe 61 changes direction, it is preferable that the dust collection pipe 71 of the dust collection unit 7 is configured so that the opening 71A of the dust collection pipe 71 faces the processing planned area Q included in the laser passing area R1 or its neighboring area from the opposite side of the opening 61A of the blower pipe 61 in the X-axis direction, with the processing planned area Q included in the laser passing area R1 or its neighboring area as the boundary. In this case, the dust collection pipe 71 may be configured to have a second deformation mechanism that can change its own posture. The dust collection pipe 71 can be curved, bent, etc. by the second deformation mechanism to change its posture. As a result, the dust collection pipe 71 can be oriented such that its opening 71A faces the processing planned area Q included in the laser passing area R1 or its neighboring area by the second deformation mechanism. In addition, the dust collection pipe 71 may be oriented by a second movement mechanism that can move the orientation of its opening 71A in a changeable manner. The second moving mechanism may include a rotating table 80 or another rotating table, and the dust collection pipe 71 may be fixed to the rotating table 80 or another rotating table and configured to rotate around the reference axis 2A together with the laser irradiation unit 30 and the air blower pipe 61. As a result, even if the laser irradiation unit 30 rotates and the position of the processing target area Q or its neighboring area included in the laser passing area R1 changes, dust collection processing of debris generated during laser processing can be continued.

<Control Unit>
The control unit 9 controls the operations of the valve seat holding unit 2, the laser processing unit 3, the inspection unit 4, the relative rotation unit 5, the air blowing unit 6, the dust collection unit 7, and the phase difference changing mechanism 8. As shown in Fig. 1, the control unit 9 is housed in, for example, the third housing unit 122. The timing of each operation will be described below in <Operation of the valve seat processing device>.

The control unit 9 is composed of a computer having a CPU, RAM, ROM, and a storage medium. The CPU is responsible for the overall processing in the computer, and uses the RAM as a working area. For example, a program for starting the computer, an operating system (OS) for implementing the basic operations of the computer, and various other programs are written in the ROM. The storage medium stores various data and programs, and is composed of, for example, a readable and writable non-volatile memory such as a flash memory, a hard disk drive (HDD), or a solid state drive (SSD). The CPU sends commands to the laser processing unit 3, the inspection unit 4, the relative rotation unit 5, the blower unit 6, the dust collection unit 7, and the phase difference change mechanism 8 according to the programs stored in the ROM or the storage medium, and they operate. Specifically, the computer may be composed of, for example, a dedicated computer, or a general-purpose personal computer (desktop personal computer, laptop personal computer).

<Operation of valve seat machining device>
The operation of the valve seat machining apparatus 1 when providing the rough surface region 103 on the valve seat 100 will be described below with reference to Fig. 11. In this embodiment, an example will be described in which four rough surface regions 103 (first rough surface region 103A to fourth rough surface region 103D) are provided on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100. The four rough surface regions 103 are provided at equal intervals along the circumferential direction of the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 with a rough surface region phase difference of 90°. The processing planned regions Q of the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100 in which the four rough surface regions 103 are provided are defined as the first processing planned region Q1 to the fourth processing planned region Q4, respectively.

After the valve seat 100 is manufactured, the valve seat 100 is inspected by, for example, an inspection device 300 (see FIG. 2). The inspection of the valve seat 100 includes at least one of the outer diameter and inner diameter dimensions, height dimension, and visual inspection of the inner and outer peripheral surfaces of the valve seat 100. The valve seat 100 that passes the inspection is transported by a transport device (not shown) to the valve seat holding section 2 of the valve seat processing device 1. That is, the inspection device 300 is provided on the upstream side of the transport path of the valve seat 100 by the transport device, and the valve seat processing device 1 is provided on the downstream side of the transport path. In this embodiment, before the laser processing is performed on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100, the visual inspection of the valve seat 100 is performed. With this configuration, the laser processing can be performed on the outer peripheral surface 101 of the valve seat 100, which has high dimensional accuracy and no problems with appearance, which has the advantage of increasing the accuracy of the laser processing.

When the valve seat detection unit 29 shown in Figures 1 and 2 detects that the valve seat 100 has been placed on the valve seat holding unit 2, the control unit 9 recognizes that the first planned processing area Q1 of the valve seat 100 is included in the laser passing area R1 (hereinafter referred to as the first state) as shown in Figure 11 (A). The control unit 9 then instructs the laser processing unit 3 (laser irradiation unit 30) to perform laser processing. In response to the instruction from the control unit 9, the laser processing unit 3 (laser irradiation unit 30) irradiates the first planned processing area Q1 of the valve seat 100 with a laser to provide a rough surface area (hereinafter referred to as the first rough surface area) 103A in the first planned processing area Q1 of the valve seat 100.

When the laser processing of the first planned processing area Q1 by the laser processing unit 3 (laser irradiation unit 30) is completed and the first rough surface area 103A is provided in the first planned processing area Q1 of the valve seat 100, the control unit 9 instructs the relative rotation unit 5 to rotate clockwise by a rough surface area phase difference of 90° and stop. As shown in FIG. 11(B), in response to the instruction from the control unit 9, the relative rotation unit 5 rotates the valve seat holding unit 2 clockwise by a rough surface area phase difference of 90° and stops. As a result, as shown in FIG. 11(B), the second planned processing area Q2 of the valve seat 100 is included in the laser passing area R1, and the first rough surface area 103A provided in the first planned processing area Q1 of the valve seat 100 is included in the imaging area R2 (hereinafter referred to as the second state).

11(B), when the second state is reached, the control unit 9 instructs the laser processing unit 3 (laser irradiation unit 30) to perform laser processing on the second planned processing area Q2, and instructs the inspection unit 4 to perform inspection processing on the first rough surface area 103A. In response to the instruction from the control unit 9, the laser processing unit 3 (laser irradiation unit 30) irradiates the second planned processing area Q2 of the valve seat 100 with a laser to provide a rough surface area (hereinafter referred to as the second rough surface area) 103B in the second planned processing area Q2 of the valve seat 100. While the laser processing unit 3 (laser irradiation unit 30) is providing the second rough surface area 103B, the inspection unit 4, in response to the instruction from the control unit 9, images the first rough surface area 103A with the imaging unit 40, and inspects whether the first rough surface area 103A satisfies the reference condition. The timing for the inspection unit 4 to perform the inspection process is preferably any time while the laser processing unit 3 (laser irradiation unit 30) is performing the laser processing process, but it is more preferable for it to be performed simultaneously with the laser processing process.

If the first rough surface region 103A does not satisfy the standard conditions, the control unit 9 instructs the transport device (not shown) to discard the valve sheet 100. Upon receiving the instruction from the control unit 9, the transport device transports the valve sheet 100 and discards it at a specified location.

If the first rough surface area 103A does not satisfy the standard conditions, the valve seat 100 is discarded. Therefore, the timing for providing the second rough surface area 103B may be after the inspection unit 4 has determined that the first rough surface area 103A satisfies the standard conditions. In other words, after the second state is reached, the inspection process in the inspection unit 4 may be performed prior to the laser processing process in the laser processing unit 3 (laser irradiation unit 30). In this case, there is an advantage in that unnecessary processing of the valve seat 100 is not performed, but the laser processing process cannot be performed until the inspection process is completed. For this reason, in the laser processing process after the above inspection process, it takes more time to complete one laser processing process and inspection process than when the laser processing process and inspection process are performed simultaneously.

When the laser processing and inspection processes are completed and the determination unit 42 determines that the first rough surface area 103A satisfies the reference conditions, the control unit 9 instructs the relative rotation unit 5 to rotate clockwise by a rough surface area phase difference of 90° and stop. As shown in FIG. 11(C), the relative rotation unit 5 receives an instruction from the control unit 9 and rotates the valve seat holding unit 2 clockwise by a rough surface area phase difference of 90° and stops. As a result, as shown in FIG. 11(C), the third planned processing area Q3 of the valve seat 100 is included in the laser passing area R1, and the second rough surface area 103B provided in the second planned processing area Q2 of the valve seat 100 is included in the imaging area R2 (hereinafter referred to as the third state).

As shown in FIG. 11(C), when the third state is reached, the control unit 9 instructs the laser processing unit 3 (laser irradiation unit 30) to perform laser processing on the third processing-intended region Q3, and instructs the inspection unit 4 to perform inspection processing on the second rough surface region 103B. In response to the instruction from the control unit 9, the laser processing unit 3 (laser irradiation unit 30) irradiates the third processing-intended region Q3 of the valve seat 100 with a laser, and provides a rough surface region (hereinafter referred to as the third rough surface region) 103C in the third processing-intended region Q3 of the valve seat 100, as shown in FIG. 11(C). While the laser processing unit 3 (laser irradiation unit 30) is providing the third rough surface region 103C, the inspection unit 4, in response to the instruction from the control unit 9, inspects whether the second rough surface region 103B satisfies the reference condition. Note that here too, the timing at which the inspection unit 4 performs the inspection processing is preferably any time while the laser processing unit 3 (laser irradiation unit 30) is performing the laser processing, but it is more preferable that the inspection processing is performed simultaneously with the timing at which the laser processing is performed.

If the second rough surface area 103B does not satisfy the standard condition, the control unit 9 instructs the conveying device (not shown) to discard the valve sheet 100 in the same manner as described above. The conveying device discards the valve sheet 100 in response to the instruction from the control unit 9. When the laser processing and image capture processing are completed and the determination unit 42 determines that the second rough surface area 103B satisfies the standard condition, the control unit 9 instructs the relative rotation unit 5 to rotate clockwise by a rough surface area phase difference of 90° and stop. As shown in FIG. 11 (D), the relative rotation unit 5 receives an instruction from the control unit 9 and further rotates the valve sheet holding unit 2 clockwise by a rough surface area phase difference of 90° and stops. As a result, as shown in FIG. 11 (D), the fourth processing planned area Q4 of the valve sheet 100 is included in the laser passing area R1, and the third rough surface area 103C provided in the third processing planned area Q3 of the valve sheet 100 is included in the image capture area R2 (hereinafter referred to as the fourth state).

In the fourth state, the same processing as that performed in the second and third states is performed, and a rough surface area (hereinafter referred to as the fourth rough surface area) 103D is provided in the fourth processing-intended area Q4 of the valve seat 100, and an inspection process is performed on the third rough surface area 103C. Then, when the laser processing and inspection process in the fourth state are completed without any problems, the valve seat holding part 2 is rotated clockwise by the relative rotation part 5 by a rough surface area phase difference of 90°, and the first rough surface area 103A of the valve seat 100 is included in the laser passing area R1, and the fourth rough surface area 103D of the valve seat 100 is included in the imaging area R2 (hereinafter referred to as the fifth state). The fifth state is not shown. In the fifth state, since the first rough surface area 103A has already been provided in the processing-intended area of the laser processing part 3, the laser processing by the laser processing part 3 is not performed, and only the inspection process by the inspection part 4 is performed on the fourth rough surface area 103D. Finally, if the inspection unit 4 determines that the fourth rough surface area 103D provided in the fourth intended processing area Q4 of the valve seat 100 satisfies the standard conditions, the valve seat 100 is transported to a specified location by the transport device as a shippable product.

However, unlike the above, the circumferential phase difference θ may be an integer multiple of the rough surface area phase difference. In this case, as shown in Figures 12(A) to (D), when the circumferential phase difference θ is 180°, which is twice the rough surface area phase difference of 90°, when the third rough surface area 103C is provided by the laser processing unit 3, the inspection unit 4 performs an inspection process on the first rough surface area 103A provided by the laser processing unit 3 first. In other words, when the circumferential phase difference θ is an integer multiple of the rough surface area phase difference, while the laser processing unit 3 provides a rough surface area, the inspection unit 4 inspects the rough surface area provided by the laser processing unit 3 immediately before at the same timing. Such an embodiment is also included in the scope of the present invention.

Second Embodiment
A valve seat machining apparatus 1 according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 13 and 14. The valve seat machining apparatus 1 according to this embodiment differs from the valve seat machining apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment in that the relative rotation unit 5 does not rotate the valve seat holding unit 2, but rotates (turns) the laser irradiation unit 30 and the inspection unit 4 about the reference axis 2A. The relative rotation unit 5 rotates (turns) the laser irradiation unit 30 and the inspection unit 4 about the reference axis 2A while maintaining the circumferential phase difference θ between the laser irradiation unit 30 and the inspection unit 4.

As shown in FIG. 13, the relative rotation unit 5 in this embodiment has a turntable 55 and a turntable drive unit 56. The turntable 55 holds the laser irradiation unit 30 and the inspection unit 4 in a position and orientation where the laser irradiation unit 30 and the inspection unit 4 have a circumferential phase difference θ.

As shown in FIG. 14B, the swivel table driving unit 56 rotates the swivel table 55 around the reference axis 2A. The swivel table driving unit 56 has a swivel-side rotating unit 57 including a motor having a drive shaft coaxial with the reference axis 2A, and a radial extension unit 58 extending from the swivel-side rotating unit 57 in the radial direction of a circle centered on the reference axis 2A and connected to the swivel table 55.

The relative rotation unit 5 in this embodiment configured as described above rotates (turns) the laser irradiation unit 30 and the inspection unit 4 around the reference axis 2A while maintaining the circumferential phase difference θ between the laser irradiation unit 30 and the inspection unit 4, with the valve seat 100 fixed together with the valve seat holding unit 2. Note that the configuration of the relative rotation unit 5 described above is one example, and other configurations that can rotate (turn) the laser irradiation unit 30 and the inspection unit 4 around the reference axis 2A while maintaining the circumferential phase difference θ between the laser irradiation unit 30 and the inspection unit 4 are also included in the scope of the present invention.

The relative rotation unit 5 may also rotate the valve seat holding unit 2 together with the valve seat 100 while rotating (rotating) the laser irradiation unit 30 and the inspection unit 4 about the reference axis 2A while maintaining the circumferential phase difference θ between the laser irradiation unit 30 and the inspection unit 4.

In this embodiment, the laser irradiation unit 30 and the inspection unit 4 are rotated (pivoted) around the reference axis 2A. Therefore, when the laser irradiation unit 30 and the inspection unit 4 rotate, the air blower duct 61 of the air blower 6 and the dust collection tube 71 of the dust collection unit 7 must be configured so as not to interfere with the laser irradiation unit 30 and the inspection unit 4. In other words, the air blower duct 61 of the air blower 6 and the dust collection tube 71 of the dust collection unit 7 must be arranged to avoid the passing area U (see Figures 14 (A) and (B)) through which the laser irradiation unit 30 and the inspection unit 4 may pass when rotating. For example, when the valve seat processing device 1 is viewed from the Y-axis direction in an elevational view, as shown in Figure 14 (B), the air blower duct 61 of the air blower 6 must be arranged above the passing area U (laser irradiation unit 30 and inspection unit 4) in the Z-axis direction, so that the air blower duct 61 of the air blower 6 and the dust collection tube 71 of the dust collection unit 7 do not interfere with the rotating laser irradiation unit 30 and inspection unit 4. In addition, the dust collection pipe 71 of the dust collection unit 7 needs to be located above and below the passing area U (laser irradiation unit 30 and inspection unit 4) in the Z-axis direction. In addition, as shown in FIG. 14(A), when the valve seat processing device 1 is viewed from above in the Z-axis direction, the blower pipe 61 of the blower 6 and the dust collection pipe 71 of the dust collection unit 7 may be located in an area outside the passing area U.

The air blower duct 61 of the air blower 6 and the dust collection pipe 71 of the dust collection unit 7 may be configured to be rotated (turned) around the reference axis 2A by the relative rotation unit 5 together with the laser irradiation unit 30 and the inspection unit 4 while maintaining the relative position between the laser irradiation unit 30 and the inspection unit 4. In this case, it is preferable that the air blower duct 61 of the air blower 6 and the dust collection pipe 71 of the dust collection unit 7 are fixed to the turning table 55.

The workpiece machining device of the present invention, and the valve seat machining device 1, which is an example of the workpiece machining device, are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and all appropriate combinations of the respective components of each embodiment are included in the scope of the present invention, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made to them without departing from the gist of the present invention.

LIST OF SYMBOLS 1 Valve seat processing device 2 Valve seat holding section 2A Reference axis 3 Laser processing section 4 Inspection section 5 Relative rotation section 6 Air blowing section 7 Dust collection section 8 Phase difference change mechanism 9 Control section 30 Laser irradiation section 31 Laser control section 40 Imaging section 41 Analysis section 42 Determination section 50 Shaft section 51 Shaft side rotation section 55 Turning table 56 Turning table driving section 57 Turning side rotation section 58 Radial extension section 60 Air blowing source 61 Air blowing tube 62 Air blowing side valve 70 Dust collection main body section 71 Dust collection tube 100 Valve seat 101 Outer circumferential surface 102 Uneven section 103 Rough surface area 300 Inspection device K Virtual circle L Circumferential direction of valve seat M Central axis direction of valve seat R1 Laser passing area R2 Imaging area S Planned machining area θ Circumferential phase difference

Claims (13)

A workpiece machining apparatus for machining an outer peripheral surface around a central axis of a workpiece,
A workpiece holder that positions and holds the workpiece so that the central axis of the workpiece is coaxial with a preset reference axis;
a surface processing unit that performs surface processing on the outer peripheral surface of the work held by the work holding unit to provide a machined region;
an inspection unit that is disposed so as to have a circumferential phase difference of the virtual circle with respect to the surface-processed portion when a virtual circle centered on the reference axis is defined, and that images the processed area of the outer peripheral surface of the workpiece and inspects whether the processed area is provided to satisfy a preset reference condition;
A relative rotation unit that relatively rotates the surface processing unit and the inspection unit, in which the circumferential phase difference is maintained, and the workpiece around the reference axis;
Equipped with
The surface processing unit is configured to provide a plurality of the processed regions at different positions in a circumferential direction of the outer circumferential surface of the workpiece,
When the phase difference in the circumferential direction of the plurality of processed regions adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction is defined as a processed region phase difference,
The circumferential phase difference of the surface processed portion and the inspection portion is the same as the processed area phase difference or an integer multiple of the processed area phase difference,
Workpiece processing equipment. the surface processing unit performs surface processing on the outer peripheral surface of the workpiece to provide the machined area each time the workpiece is relatively rotated by the relative rotation unit by an angle corresponding to the machined area phase difference,
The inspection unit is characterized in that, while the surface processing unit is providing the processed area, the inspection unit images the processed area provided before the surface processing unit to inspect whether the processed area is provided so as to satisfy the reference condition.
The workpiece machining device according to claim 1 . The surface processing unit is characterized in that it is provided with a blower unit that blows air to the area of the outer peripheral surface of the workpiece to be surface processed by the surface processing unit or a nearby area.
3. The workpiece machining device according to claim 1 or 2 . The flow direction of the air blown by the blower is set in a direction away from an imaging area for imaging the processed area interposed between the inspection unit and the workpiece.
The workpiece machining device according to claim 3 . The present invention is characterized in that a dust collection section is provided for collecting dust blown away by the blowing section during surface processing in the surface processing section.
5. The workpiece machining apparatus according to claim 3 or 4 . A conveying device that conveys the workpiece to the workpiece holding portion;
an inspection device that is disposed upstream of a conveying path of the conveying device and performs an appearance inspection of the outer peripheral surface of the workpiece;
The present invention is characterized in that it comprises
The workpiece machining device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 . The workpiece is a valve seat.
The workpiece machining device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 . The present invention is characterized in that a phase difference changing mechanism is provided for changing the relative position of the surface processing portion and the inspection portion to change the circumferential phase difference.
The workpiece machining device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 . The surface processing unit and/or the inspection unit have a rotating table that changes the circumferential phase difference by rotating the surface processing unit and/or the inspection unit around the reference axis.
The workpiece machining device according to any one of claims 1 to 8 . A workpiece machining apparatus for machining an outer peripheral surface around a central axis of a workpiece,
A workpiece holder that positions and holds the workpiece so that the central axis of the workpiece is coaxial with a preset reference axis;
a surface processing unit that performs surface processing on the outer peripheral surface of the work held by the work holding unit to provide a machined region;
an inspection unit that is disposed so as to have a circumferential phase difference of the virtual circle with respect to the surface-processed portion when a virtual circle centered on the reference axis is defined, and that images the processed area of the outer peripheral surface of the workpiece and inspects whether the processed area is provided to satisfy a preset reference condition;
A relative rotation unit that relatively rotates the surface processing unit and the inspection unit, in which the circumferential phase difference is maintained, and the workpiece around the reference axis;
A blower unit that blows air to an area of the outer circumferential surface of the workpiece to be surface-processed by the surface processing unit or a nearby area;
Equipped with
The flow direction of the air blown by the blower is set in a direction away from an imaging area for imaging the processed area interposed between the inspection unit and the workpiece.
Workpiece processing equipment. A workpiece machining apparatus for machining an outer peripheral surface around a central axis of a workpiece,
A workpiece holder that positions and holds the workpiece so that the central axis of the workpiece is coaxial with a preset reference axis;
a surface processing unit that performs surface processing on the outer peripheral surface of the work held by the work holding unit to provide a machined region;
an inspection unit that is disposed so as to have a circumferential phase difference of the virtual circle with respect to the surface-processed portion when a virtual circle centered on the reference axis is defined, and that images the processed area of the outer peripheral surface of the workpiece and inspects whether the processed area is provided to satisfy a preset reference condition;
A relative rotation unit that relatively rotates the surface processing unit and the inspection unit, in which the circumferential phase difference is maintained, and the workpiece around the reference axis;
A blower unit that blows air to an area of the outer peripheral surface of the workpiece to be surface-processed by the surface processing unit or a nearby area;
A dust collecting section that collects dust blown away by the blowing section during surface processing in the surface processing section;
The present invention is characterized in that it comprises
Workpiece processing equipment. A workpiece machining apparatus for machining an outer peripheral surface around a central axis of a workpiece,
A workpiece holder that positions and holds the workpiece so that the central axis of the workpiece is coaxial with a preset reference axis;
a surface processing unit that performs surface processing on the outer peripheral surface of the work held by the work holding unit to provide a machined region;
an inspection unit that is disposed so as to have a circumferential phase difference of the virtual circle with respect to the surface-processed portion when a virtual circle centered on the reference axis is defined, and that images the processed area of the outer peripheral surface of the workpiece and inspects whether the processed area is provided to satisfy a preset reference condition;
A relative rotation unit that relatively rotates the surface processing unit and the inspection unit, in which the circumferential phase difference is maintained, and the workpiece about the reference axis;
a phase difference changing mechanism for changing the circumferential phase difference by changing a relative position between the surface processing portion and the inspection portion;
The present invention is characterized in that it comprises
Workpiece processing equipment. A workpiece machining device for machining an outer peripheral surface around a central axis of a workpiece,
A workpiece holder that positions and holds the workpiece so that the central axis of the workpiece is coaxial with a preset reference axis;
a surface processing unit that performs surface processing on the outer peripheral surface of the work held by the work holding unit to provide a machined region;
an inspection unit that is disposed so as to have a circumferential phase difference of the virtual circle with respect to the surface-processed portion when a virtual circle centered on the reference axis is defined, and that images the processed area of the outer peripheral surface of the workpiece and inspects whether the processed area is provided to satisfy a preset reference condition;
A relative rotation unit that relatively rotates the surface processing unit and the inspection unit, in which the circumferential phase difference is maintained, and the workpiece about the reference axis;
a rotating table that changes the circumferential phase difference by rotating the surface processing unit and/or the inspection unit around the reference axis;
The present invention is characterized in that it comprises
Workpiece processing equipment.

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