JP7491708B2 - Shutter unit and machine tool - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a shutter unit and a machine tool.

There is a known machine tool that is equipped with a shielding cover that shields the machine body including the spindle, and prevents cutting chips and cutting fluid from scattering to the outside during machining by the spindle (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this machine tool, a tool magazine in which many tools can be mounted and a tool changer are arranged outside the shielding cover. The shielding cover has an opening that connects the inside and outside, and a shutter that can open and close the opening. When changing a tool for the spindle, the shutter is operated to open the opening, and the change arm of the tool changer is operated to change the tool held in the tool magazine and the tool for the spindle through the opening.

JP 2019-10698 A

If the shutter is placed inside the opening of the shielding cover with respect to the machining chamber, there is a high possibility that cutting chips will accumulate on the shutter, and if the shutter is placed outside the opening of the shielding cover, at the opening, which may hinder the opening and closing of the shutter and cause damage. In such cases, the work of removing the shutter and the actuator or guide that drives the shutter from the shielding cover and replacing them is extensive and requires a lot of work time. Therefore, there is a demand for a shutter unit and machine tool that allows the shutter to be replaced without spending a lot of time.

One aspect of the present disclosure is a shutter unit that opens and closes an opening in a shielding cover that surrounds a processing chamber, the shutter unit comprising: a base that is detachably fixed to the shielding cover; a shutter supported by the base and movable between a closed position that closes the opening and an open position that opens the opening; and an actuator that is fixed to the shutter and the base and drives the shutter relative to the base.

1 is a side view showing a schematic diagram of a machine tool according to an embodiment of the present disclosure with a shielding cover cut away; FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the machine tool of FIG. 1 with a shielding cover cut away. 2 is a front view showing a state in which a shutter unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is attached to the shielding cover of the machine tool shown in FIG. 1 with the shielding cover cut away; FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a shutter unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 2 is a side view showing a schematic diagram of the machine tool of FIG. 1 in a state during tool replacement with a shielding cover cut away; FIG. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the machine tool of FIG. 5 with a shielding cover cut away. 6 is a front view showing a state in which a shutter unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is attached to the shielding cover of the machine tool shown in FIG. 5 with the shielding cover cut away. FIG. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a first modified example of the machine tool of FIG. 1 with a shielding cover cut away. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a second modified example of the machine tool of FIG. 1 with a shielding cover cut away. 10 is a front view showing a state in which a shutter unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is attached to the shielding cover of the machine tool shown in FIG. 9 with the shielding cover cut away. FIG.

A shutter unit 13 and a machine tool 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings.
1 to 3, a machine tool 1 according to this embodiment includes a bed 2 placed on the floor, a column 3 placed on the bed 2, and a shielding cover 4 surrounding a machining chamber. The shielding cover 4 is provided with a door, but this is omitted from the illustration for the sake of simplification.

Within the machining chamber, there are arranged a table 5 on which a workpiece is mounted and moved horizontally, a spindle 7 which rotates a tool 6 above the table 5, a spindle mounting base 8 which moves the spindle 7 up and down along the column 3, and an arm 9 and arm drive device 10 for changing the tool 6.
A tool magazine 11 that movably supports a plurality of tools 6 is disposed outside the machining chamber.

A first opening (opening) 12 that opens the machining chamber to the outside is provided on the tool magazine 11 side of the shielding cover 4. The machine tool 1 also includes a shutter unit 13 according to this embodiment.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the shutter unit 13 includes a flat base 14 fixed to the processing chamber side of the shielding cover 4 in a position that blocks the first opening 12, and a shutter 15 supported on the base 14 so as to be movable along the surface of the base 14. The base 14 includes a through hole or a notch for detachably fixing the base 14 to the shielding cover 4 or the column 3 with a bolt (not shown).

The base 14 is provided with a second opening (opening) 16. The shutter 15 is movable between a closed position in which the second opening 16 is closed and an open position in which the second opening 16 is opened.

As shown in FIG. 4, the shutter unit 13 also includes a guide 17 that supports the shutter 15 so that it can move linearly relative to the base 14, and an actuator 18 that drives the shutter 15 relative to the base 14. The guide 17 includes, for example, a guide rail 19 fixed to the shutter 15, and a slider 20 that is fixed to the base 14 and supported movably on the guide rail 19.

As shown in FIG. 4, the guide rail 19 is fixed to the surface of the shutter 15 on the base 14 side so as to extend in the width direction of the shutter 15. As a result, the guide rail 19 is arranged in a position hidden behind the shutter 15 over its entire length when viewed from the processing chamber side, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4. In addition, the slider 20 arranged on part of the guide rail 19 is also arranged in a position hidden behind the shutter 15.

The actuator 18 is, for example, an air cylinder that includes a cylindrical cylinder body 21 and a rod (movable part) 22 that can be extended and retracted along the longitudinal direction from one longitudinal end of the cylinder body 21. As shown in the figure, the actuator 18 is disposed at a position sandwiched between the base 14 and the shutter 15, with the cylinder body 21 fixed to the base 14 and the tip of the rod 22 fixed to the shutter 15.

As a result, regardless of whether the shutter 15 is positioned in any position from the open position to the closed position, a part of the cylinder body 21 and the entire length of the rod 22 exposed from the cylinder body 21 are positioned in a position hidden behind the shutter 15 when viewed from the machining chamber side.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the arm 9 is rotatable about a vertical axis by the arm drive device 10, and is provided at both ends with tool attachment/detachment sections 23 for detachably attaching the tools 6 held in the tool magazine 11 and the tools 6 attached to the spindle 7.

When changing the tool 6, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, the shutter 15 moves to the open position, opening the second opening 16, and the arm 9 is rotated 90°. This causes the tool 6 on the spindle 7 to be attached to the tool attachment/detachment portion 23 at one end of the arm 9, and the tool attachment/detachment portion 23 at the other end of the arm 9 passes through the second opening 16 and the first opening 12 to attach the tool 6 from the tool magazine 11.

Then, after the tool 6 is retracted downward relative to the spindle 7, the arm 9 is rotated 180°. As a result, the tool 6 taken out of the tool magazine 11 is placed in a mounting position for the spindle 7, the tool 6 removed from the spindle 7 is stored in the tool magazine 11, and the tool 6 is replaced.

The operation of the shutter unit 13 and machine tool 1 according to this embodiment configured as described above will be described below.
According to the shutter unit 13 of this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 3, the second opening 16 of the base 14 is disposed at a position where it coincides with the first opening 12 of the shielding cover 4. As a result, as shown in Figs. 5 to 7, when the shutter 15 is disposed in the open position, the processing chamber is opened to the outside space by the first opening 12 and the second opening 16.

When the spindle 7 is driven to machine the workpiece with the tool 6, as shown in Figures 1 to 3, the actuator 18 is operated to protrude the rod 22 from the cylinder body 21, thereby placing the shutter 15 in a closed position relative to the base 14. This causes the first opening 12 and the second opening 16 to be closed by the shutter 15, preventing cutting chips or cutting fluid from leaking out during machining.

The shutter unit 13 has a base 14 fixed to the inner surface of the shielding cover 4, a shutter 15 disposed inside the base 14, and a guide 17 and an actuator 18 disposed between the shutter 15 and the base 14. The guide 17 and the rod 22 of the actuator 18 are always disposed in a position hidden behind the shutter 15 when viewed from the machining chamber side, so that cutting chips or cutting fluid during machining are prevented from falling on the guide 17 and the rod 22.

As a result, it is possible to prevent the operation of the shutter 15 by the actuator 18 from being hindered by the accumulation of cutting chips or corrosion of the lubricating oil.
Furthermore, even if chips accumulate on the rod 22, which is the moving part, or the lubricating oil corrodes due to long-term use, the entire shutter unit 13 can be removed from the machine tool 1 simply by removing the bolts that secure the base 14 to the shielding cover 4 or column 3.

This has the advantage of making installation, opening/closing, and other maintenance work easier than when the shutter 15 is directly attached to the shielding cover 4. In addition, because the shutter unit 13 is fixed to the inside of the processing chamber where there is relatively more space, it is easy to install and remove, and also has the advantage of facilitating daily visual inspection.

In this embodiment, an air cylinder is exemplified as the actuator 18, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an actuator 18 equipped with a linear mechanism such as a servo motor and a ball screw (movable part) may be used. In this case, by arranging the ball screw on the back side of the shutter 15 when viewed from the machining chamber side, it is possible to prevent chips from accumulating on the ball screw or cutting fluid from splashing on it.

In addition, while the arm 9 for changing the tool 6 is exemplified as being rotatable around a vertical axis, this is not limiting and the arm may be rotatable around a horizontal axis. In addition, any other exchange mechanism may be used in place of the arm for changing the tool 6.

As shown in FIG. 8, the base 14 may be provided with a protrusion in the shape of a visor for blocking the space between the base 14 and the shutter 15 .
Also, as shown in Figures 9 and 10, the shutter unit 13 may be provided with an internal cover 25 that is positioned on the opposite side of the shutter 15 from the shielding cover 4 in a position that covers the shutter 15 over its entire operating range from the closed position to the open position.

The inner cover 25 has a third opening 26 of the same size as the second opening 16 at a position corresponding to the second opening 16, which is always open. As shown in Figures 9 and 10, the inner cover 25 has a shape that covers the top, processing chamber side, sides and bottom of the base 14, shutter 15, guide 17 and actuator 18, and is removably attached to the inner surface of the shielding cover 4.

The inner cover 25 can prevent chips and cutting fluid from falling onto the entire base 14, guide 17 and actuator 18.
9, the inner cover 25 may be provided with a through hole 27 disposed below the shutter 15 to allow the passage of chips and cutting fluid blocked by the shutter 15. The inner cover 25 may be fixed to the base 14 instead of being detachably attached to the shielding cover 4.

In addition, the base 14 is exemplified as being made of a flat plate-shaped member having the second opening 16 positioned at a position that coincides with the first opening 12, but is not limited to this. Any shape of base 14 may be used as long as it is capable of fixing the actuator 18 and slider 20 and is fixed to the shielding cover 4 at a position that does not overlap with the first opening 12.

In addition, in this embodiment, the guide rail 19, slider 20, and rod 22 of the actuator 18 are hidden behind the shutter 15, but this is not limited to the above. In other words, by making them into a unit, there is an advantage that maintenance work such as installation work and opening/closing adjustment work can be made easier than when the shutter 15 is directly attached to the shielding cover 4.

1 Machine tool 4 Shielding cover 12 First opening (opening)
13 shutter unit 14 base 15 shutter 16 second opening (opening)
17 Guide 18 Actuator 22 Rod (movable part)
25 Inner cover 26 Third opening 27 Through hole

Claims (5)

A shutter unit is disposed inside a shielding cover surrounding a processing chamber and configured to open and close an opening of the shielding cover ,
A base that is detachably fixed to the inside of the shielding cover;
a shutter supported by the base so as to be movable between a closed position at which the opening is closed and an open position at which the opening is opened;
an actuator fixed to the shutter and the base and configured to drive the shutter relative to the base;
The shutter is disposed movably along an inner surface of the shielding cover,
a shutter unit arranged at a position where the movable part of the actuator is always covered by the shutter with respect to the processing chamber; a guide for guiding the shutter so as to be linearly movable relative to the base;
2. The shutter unit according to claim 1, wherein the guide is disposed at a position relative to the processing chamber where the guide is always covered by the shutter. The opening includes a first opening provided in the shielding cover and allowing a tool to pass therethrough, and a second opening provided in the base,
3. The shutter unit according to claim 1, further comprising an inner cover disposed on the opposite side of the shutter from the shielding cover in a position covering the shutter from the closed position to the open position, the inner cover having a third opening at a position where the first opening and the second opening overlap, the inner cover being disposed on the opposite side of the shutter from the shielding cover in a position covering the shutter from the closed position to the open position. The shutter unit according to claim 3, wherein the inner cover has a through hole on the bottom surface. A machine tool comprising the shutter unit according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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