JPH0115490Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Industrial application field This invention is a loading/unloading device for transporting workpieces from an input conveyor to a machine processing tool and from the machine processing machine to an output conveyor in an automatic processing line. Regarding.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Although automatic processing lines such as flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) have spread rapidly in recent years, some problems still remain regarding the loading and unloading of workpieces to and from each machine processing machine on an automatic processing line.

In other words, in order to carry out loading and unloading of workpieces into and out of the machine processing machine in the shortest possible distance on an automatic machining line and to maximize the time for each machining cycle, including loading and unloading of workpieces, it is important to Ideally, it would be difficult to do so depending on the type of machine processing tool, and in that case, the conveyor line should be installed in such a way that it passes in front of the machine processing tool, and the machine The processed workpiece is carried out from the processing machine to a conveyor line, and then a new workpiece is carried from the conveyor line to the machine processing machine.

In such a case, if the workpiece is carried in and out using a single device, it would take time to carry it in and out, so the workpiece carry-in device and the carry-out device are provided separately, and the carry-in device is not used for machining. A configuration has already been implemented in which a new workpiece is transported to a standby position as close as possible to the machine processing machine within a range that does not interfere with the operation of the carry-out device while the machine is processing the machine. However, even in this case, there is a certain limit to the reduction in cycle time because the standby position must be set at a position that does not interfere with the conveyance of the processed workpiece.

Next, if the workpiece can be stably placed on the conveyor of a conveyor line, it would be ideal to transport it directly on the conveyor without using a pallet, but the posture and work so that it can be placed stably on the conveyor is ideal. Conventionally, it is difficult to change the posture of a workpiece whose posture is different from the one when it is processed by a processing machine using a loader device that carries the workpiece from a conveyor to a machine processing machine. Since then, pallets have been used.

Next, conventional workpiece loading/unloading equipment in automatic processing lines has generally been installed between the front of the machine processing tool and the conveyor line, and in fully automated equipment equipped with automatic tool changers, etc. In any case, in semi-automated equipment where tools are changed manually, the above-mentioned loading and unloading devices become a hindrance to changing stages when the dimensions of the workpiece or machining dimensions are changed.

Problem of the invention This invention solves the above-mentioned problems, minimizes the downtime of the machine processing tool for loading and unloading the workpiece, greatly reduces the machining cycle time, and Workpieces to be machined rotated 90 degrees from the position where they are stably placed on the machine can be transported on the conveyor without using pallets, and the front side of the processing machine is relatively open. It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel loading/unloading device for workpieces in an automatic processing line, which facilitates stage changes and has a simple structure.

Technical means for solving the problem The technical means used by this invention to solve the problem of this invention are as follows.

That is, this invention is based on an automatic machining line, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, which includes a conveyor line consisting of a carry-in conveyor 1 for carrying in a gear W, which is an example of a workpiece, and a carry-out conveyor 2 for carrying it out, and an example of a machine processing machine. A loader device 3 and a carrier device 4 are placed between the shaving machine SM, and the carrier device 4 is located in front of the processing position where the cutter C is provided in the shaving machine SM along the conveyor line. Install in parallel.

The carrier device 4 includes 1, which is an example of a turning drive means.
A carrier 7 is provided which is horizontally rotated around a vertical fulcrum shaft 6 by a pair of hydraulic cylinders 5, and the carrier 7 can be set to the processing position and a standby position between the processing position and the conveyor line by rotating the carrier 7. A pair of workpiece supports 8, 8 are provided which are centrally positioned. Therefore, during the shaving process of the gear W supported on the workpiece support 8 in the processing position (the support on the right side in FIG. 1), the workpiece support in the standby position (the support on the right side in FIG. If a new gear W is to be supported on the bearing part 8 on the left side, the carrier 7 will be attached after shaving.
By horizontally turning the gear W, a new gear W is brought to the machining position, the machined gear W is brought to the standby position, and the new gear W is brought to the 1st position of the carrier 7.
It takes a position where it can receive the required processing with just one turn.

Next, the loader device 3 includes a support arm 11 that is raised and lowered by a hydraulic cylinder 9, which is an example of an elevating drive means, and horizontally rotated by a hydraulic rotary actuator (vane motor) 10, which is an example of a swing drive means, at the raised position, and a support arm 11, which supports this arm. The arm 11 is fixedly supported by a hydraulic rotary actuator (vane motor) 12, which is an example of a rotation drive means, to rotate it between a horizontal position as shown in FIG. 2 and a vertically downward position as shown in FIG. A chuck 13 is provided. The support arm 11 and the chuck 13 are arranged so that the chuck 13 can be pivoted to a position above the workpiece support 8 in the standby position in the carrier 7 and the end of each of the conveyors 1, 2. . As will be described in detail later, the loader device 3 equipped with the support arm 11 and chuck 13 as described above transfers the machined gear W from the workpiece support section 8 in the standby position of the carrier 7 onto the carry-out conveyor 2. After being carried out in a horizontal position, a new workpiece gear W in a horizontal position is transferred from above the carry-in end of the carry-in conveyor 1 to the workpiece support part 8 which is in a standby position and is empty in the carrier 7. On the other hand, it can be operated such that it is carried in and supported in an upright position, and then enters a standby state to wait for the completion of machining of the gear W of the workpiece support portion 8 in the machining position.

In other words, this invention consists of a carrier device 4 that exchanges a machined gear with a new gear by one rotation of the carrier 7 between the processing position in the shaving machine SM and a standby position in front of it, and the shaving process by the shaving machine SM. A loader device 3 for transporting processed gears from the carrier device 4 onto the carry-out conveyor 2 and transporting new gears from the carry-in conveyor 1 to the carrier device 4,
The above-mentioned problems of the invention can be solved by the combined loading/unloading device.

Embodiment The illustrated embodiment is an example in which the invention is implemented in an automatic gear processing line shown in FIG.

The processing line runs from upstream to downstream: a lathe LM that performs cutting on the workpiece, a hobbing machine HM that performs gear cutting, a deburring machine DM that performs deburring, and a shaving machine that performs finishing. SM, broaching machine that performs keyway forming processing
BM, a processing machine OM dedicated to a specific gear type that performs other necessary processing (for example, drilling), a cleaning device CA that performs cleaning, an inspection device SA that performs inspection, and a boxing device PA that performs packaging are provided. The workpiece is transported from the lathe LM to the broaching machine BM on a conveyor placed on the front side of the machine processing tool, and thereafter is transported through the interior of the processing machine or device.

In the automatic gear processing line shown in Fig. 4, the loading/unloading device according to this idea is the shaving machine SM and the deburring machine located upstream of it.
It is attached to DM. A loading/unloading device consisting of the loader device 3 and carrier device 4 described above with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 is attached to the shaving machine SM, and a loading/unloading device consisting of the loader device 3' and carrier device 4' having exactly the same structure. The device is attached to the deburring machine DM. The carrying-in conveyor 1 for the shaving machine SM is also used as the carrying-out conveyor for the deburring machine DM, and the carrying-out conveyor 1' for the hobbing machine HM is used as the carrying-in conveyor for the deburring machine DM. .

The loading/unloading device attached to the shaving machine SM will be explained in more detail.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and 5 and 6, the loader device 3 is fixed to the base of the shaving machine SM and supported by a support frame 15 that extends in the direction of the conveyor line. Further, the carrier device 4 is configured such that the carrier 7 is supported by a slide 16 of an underframe 16A installed on the table of the shaving machine SM so as to be rotatable around the vertical fulcrum shaft 6. .

In the carrier device 4, the vertical fulcrum shaft 6 for the carrier 7 is located at a position closer to the conveyor line by an appropriate amount than the processing position where the cutter C is located, and as clearly shown in FIG. A pair of workpiece support portions 8, 8 described above are formed at positions equidistant from the axis of the fulcrum shaft 6 so as to rotatably support the gear W. The hydraulic cylinder 5 constituting the swing driving means is attached to the underframe 16.
A, and is connected to the carrier 7 by a rack and pinion mechanism, which will be described later, so that the carrier 7 can be horizontally turned in one direction and the other direction by the expansion and contraction operations of the cylinder 5.

In the case shown, the carrier 7 is supported so that it can move forward and backward together with the slide 16 in the direction of the processing position where the cutter C is located, and can swing within an appropriate range around the horizontal axis 17 shown in FIG. . A hydraulic cylinder 18 for moving the carrier 7 forward and backward together with the slide 16 is installed on the underframe 16A side, and before moving the new gear W to the machining position by the horizontal rotation of the carrier 7, the carrier 7 is moved by a small amount in advance. Move the gear backward in the direction opposite to the machining position, then rotate the carrier 7 horizontally and move the carrier 7 forward. If the new gear W is not in the correct meshing posture with the cutter C, move it to the position of the carrier 7. The gear W, which has been slightly rotationally displaced due to contact with the cutter C, is detected by the Mituto switch due to the rocking movement, and the gear W is detected by the carrier 7.
The meshing of the gear W with the cutter C is automatically obtained by repeating the steps of moving the gear W slightly backward and moving it forward again. Incidentally, such an automatic meshing mechanism is well known, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 48-23959 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 146487-1987.

As shown in FIG. 7, the vertical fulcrum shaft 6 is rotatably supported by a slide 16, and its upper end is engaged with the carrier 7 so that the rotation of the fulcrum shaft 6 causes the carrier 7 to pivot horizontally. Further, a rack 5a which is displaced and driven in one direction and the other direction by the pair of hydraulic cylinders 5 described above is provided so as to be slidably supported on the underframe 16A.
A vertical drive shaft 5c formed with a pinion 5b that meshes with the shaft 5c is supported by the underframe 16A. A key-shaped protrusion 5d is provided on the upper end surface of the drive shaft 5c. An engagement groove 6a is provided on the lower end surface of the vertical fulcrum shaft 6, which fits into the protrusion 5d when the carrier 7 is moved backward together with the slide 16 by the hydraulic cylinder 18. The drive shaft 5c and the vertical fulcrum shaft 6 are engaged so as to rotate integrally with each other by the fitting engagement between the portion 5d and the engagement groove 6a. Therefore, when the carrier 7 is moved backward, the hydraulic cylinder 5
When the carrier 7 is operated, the carrier 7 is rotated horizontally.

Next, the loader device 3 will be described. In FIG. 8, 19 is the piston rod of the hydraulic cylinder 9 that constitutes the lifting drive means, and 20 is the hydraulic rotary actuator 1 that constitutes the swing drive means.
0 rotor axis. A cylindrical body 2 is placed on the rotor shaft 20.
1 is extrapolated through a pair of upper and lower bearings 22 and 23. The bearings 22 and 23 have balls 24, a part of which is shown by chain lines in FIG. It is formed by something. That is, the cylindrical body 21 is provided on the rotor shaft 20 so as to be non-rotatable but movable up and down by a so-called ball spline shaft mechanism. At the lower end of the piston rod 19 is a keyway 25 of the supporting frame 15.
An elevating hardware 26 that is prevented from rotating is fixed by a key member 26a received by the cylindrical body 21, and the outer peripheral end of a disc 21b attached to the upper end of the cylinder body 21 is supported by the overhanging portion 26b of the elevating hardware 26 and the hardware 26. The cylindrical body 21 is held between upper and lower sides by rollers 26c, and is raised and lowered on the rotor shaft 20 by the raising and lowering of the piston rod 19 and the lifting hardware 26. As described above, the cylindrical body 21 is connected to the hydraulic cylinder 9.
The support arm 11 described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 is fixed to the cylindrical body 21 described above. It is said that it can be moved up and down and rotated horizontally.

FIG. 9 shows the specific structure of the chuck 13, which is attached to the rotor shaft 27 of the hydraulic rotary actuator 12 constituting the turning drive means. This chuck 13
In addition to forming a piston rod attached to a piston 28 provided in the cylindrical body 13a and driven forward and backward by hydraulic pressure into a taper pin 29,
A collet 32 is provided on the outer end surface of a cylindrical sliding metal fitting 30 slidably provided on the taper pin 29, with a chucking portion 32a in close contact with the taper portion of the taper pin 29 via a ring 31. It is made up of. An annular block 33 is provided on the taper pin 29 and slides integrally with the pin 29, and the sliding hardware 30 is slid by a spring 34 so as to come into contact with the block 33 at the small diameter end face of the tip. When the main body 13a is energized and moves forward by the amount α shown in FIG. 9, the large-diameter end face of the proximal end comes into contact with the inner end face of the lid 13b attached to the tip of the main body 13a, thereby preventing the main body 13a from moving forward. has been done.
The stroke β of the piston 28 is set to be larger than the above-mentioned amount α by an appropriate amount (α<β). Therefore, as shown in Fig. 9, the gear W is located in its center hole.
When moving the piston 28 and the taper pin 29 forward by applying hydraulic pressure behind the piston 28 from the state where the piston 28 and the taper pin 29 are positioned opposite to each other with Wa, the sliding metal fitting 30 and the collet 32 are moved by the amount α.
moves forward together with the taper pin 29, the taper part of the taper pin 29 and the chucking part 32a of the collet 32 rush into the gear center hole Wa, and then only the taper pin 29 moves forward by an amount (β-α). By this, the chucking part 32 of the collect 32
a is expanded and comes into close contact with the inner circumferential surface of the center hole Wa, and chucking of the gear W is achieved. This chucking state is released by applying hydraulic pressure to the front side of the piston 28, causing the taper pin 29 to retreat, and the sliding metal member 30 and the collet 32, which are pushed back by the annular block 33, to retreat.

The illustrated loading/unloading device configured as described above is used as follows.

Before the shaving machine SM finishes shaving the gear W in the processing position, the carrier 7
A new gear W is carried in and supported by the workpiece support part 8 which is in the standby position, and the chuck 13
is in a horizontal position above the standby position.

When the shaving process is completed, the carrier 7 is moved backward by the operation of the hydraulic cylinder 18 and horizontally rotated by 180 degrees by the hydraulic cylinder 5, so that the processed gear W is placed in the standby position and the new gear W is placed in the processing position. , respectively. The time required during this time is only the time required for the carrier 7 to move backward and forward and make one turn, so the time is short, e.g. 3 seconds, and then the shaving machine SM is immediately operated to remove the new gear W. begins the shaving process.

During this shaving process, the loader device 3 is operated as follows. That is, first, the hydraulic cylinder 9 is extended, and the support arm 11 and the chuck 13 are lowered to the standby position of the gear support 8, as shown by the chain line in FIG.
is operated to chuck the machined gear W, and then the hydraulic cylinder 9 is operated to reduce the gear W.
The chuck 13 holding the is raised to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. Here, the hydraulic rotary actuator 10 is operated to rotate the support arm 11 to the right, and the hydraulic rotary actuator 12 is operated to rotate the chuck 13 to the right, as shown in FIG. Thus, the support arm 11 rotates approximately 90 degrees, and the chuck 13 rotates 90 degrees, so that the chuck 13 is in a vertically downward position above the starting end of the discharge conveyor 2. If the state changes during this time are shown in a plan view, the state changes will be from FIG. 10a to FIG. 10b. Here, the hydraulic cylinder 9 is extended and the support arm 11 and the chuck 13 are lowered to a position where the machined gear W held by the chuck 13 is almost placed on the carry-out conveyor 2, and then the chuck 13 is caused to perform a chuck release operation. The gear W is placed on the carry-out conveyor 2. This completes the process of carrying out the machined gear W, and the gear W can be supplied to the broaching machine BM shown in FIG. 4 at any time by the operation of the carry-out conveyor 2.

Next, the hydraulic cylinder 9 is retracted to raise the support arm 11 and chuck 13 to the position shown in FIG.
0 in the right rotation direction of the support arm 11, and the support arm 11 is rotated approximately 90 degrees, as shown in Fig. 10c.
As shown in FIG. 2, the chuck 13 assumes a vertically downward position above the new gear W on the conveying end of the carry-in conveyor 1. Next, the hydraulic cylinder 9 is extended and the support arm 11 is lowered to move the chuck 13 onto the loading conveyor 1 as shown in FIG.
The upper gear W is lowered to a chuckable position, and the chuck 13 is operated to grip the gear W. Next, the hydraulic cylinder 9 is contracted to raise the support arm 11 and chuck 13, and then the hydraulic rotary actuator 1
0 in the left rotation direction of the support arm 11, and the hydraulic rotary actuator 12 in the left rotation direction of the chuck 13. The support arm 11 is rotated approximately 180 degrees to the left, and the chuck 13
For each, make a 90 degree left turn. At this time, the chuck 13 in the horizontal position is gripping the new gear W in the position shown in FIGS. 2 and 10 a, so the hydraulic cylinder 9 is now extended and gripped by the chuck 13. Lower the gear W onto the workpiece support part 8 in the standby position,
The chuck 13 is operated to release the chuck and the new gear W is supported on the support portion 8 at the standby position. This completes the process of loading the new gear W into the carrier device 4, and then, by the contraction operation of the hydraulic cylinder 9, the support arm 11 and chuck 13 are raised to the position shown in FIG. 2 and placed on standby.

The first example shows the operation explained above over time.
2 is a sequence diagram in which the loader device 3 carries out the machined gear and carries in the new gear in a time period of, for example, 15 seconds, and is accomplished before the shaving process of the gear in the processing position is completed. Ru.
The time of one cycle is, for example, 22 seconds, of which the operating time of the carrier device 4 or its carrier 7 is extremely small;
This accounts for a large proportion of SM's drivable time. In FIG. 12, the midpoint of the horizontal rotation of the support arm 11 refers to the point where the chuck 13 comes to the end position of the carry-out conveyor 2, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 10b. Further, in FIG. 12, Tr indicates the time period during which a timer is set for the chuck 13 chuck and chuck release operations, and other operations are controlled by position detection using a limit switch.

When the type of gear to be machined is changed, there is a step to replace the cutter C, the carrier 7 of the carrier device 4 and the collet 32 of the chuck 13 of the loader device 3, which are each removable. Not only the carrier 7 and the collet 32 can be easily replaced, but also the cutter C can be easily replaced since there is only a low-position carrier device 4 in front of the cutter C.

The structure, operation, and advantages of the loading/unloading device for the shaving machine SM described above also apply to the loading/unloading device for the deburring machine DM, which is a combination of the loader device 3' and the carrier device 4'. apply.

Effects of the invention In the present device having the above-mentioned configuration, the workpiece can be directly carried in and out of the processing position in the machine processing tool by only one horizontal rotation of the carrier 7 of the carrier device 4. 1 in 7
The loader device 3 horizontally swings the support arm 11 of the workpiece support 8, which is in a standby position during machining, to move the chuck 13 above the standby position. and above the end positions of each conveyor 1 and 2, and by raising and lowering the support arm 11, the chuck 13 is lowered to the above three positions and then raised, and the chuck 13 is moved to the lowered position. and performing a chucking release operation,
Since the workpiece is designed to be able to be carried in and out, a workpiece that has been carried in close to the machining position while the machine processing tool is in operation can be transferred to the machined workpiece with one rotation of the carrier 7. By transporting the workpiece to the processing position at the same time as the workpiece is taken out, the machine processing tool's operation stop time is minimized, and the machining cycle time, including the time for loading and unloading the workpiece, is greatly reduced. That's it.

In addition, since the chuck 13 of the loader device 3 can be rotated between a horizontal position and a vertically downward position, processing can be performed in a position rotated 90 degrees from the position stably placed on the conveyors 1 and 2. For workpieces such as gears that are used for processing, pallets are used to eliminate the need to send them on the conveyor in the posture during processing, and the pallet can be omitted. However, the chuck 13 can be maintained in any one posture corresponding to the workpiece.

Furthermore, in the workpiece loading/unloading device of this invention, only the carrier device 4 is located in front of the processing position in the machine processing tool, and the loader device 3 is installed away from the position in front of the processing position in the direction of the conveyor line. Therefore, by positioning the carrier device 4 below the level of the machining position, the front upper part of the machining position is opened, and tools and the like can be changed easily and quickly.

Moreover, when compared with the conventional system in which a workpiece loading and unloading device is provided separately, the workpiece loading and unloading mechanism is composed of two devices, the loader device 3 and the carrier device 4, which reduces the number of devices. Moreover, since the carrier device 4 having the above-mentioned structure is simple with a small number of movable members and drive means, the structure is not complicated but rather simplified compared to the conventional one. ing.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a right side view of an embodiment of this invention together with a shaving machine that is an example of a machine processing machine, Fig. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the same embodiment, and Fig. 3 is different from Fig. 2. FIG. 4 is a plan view of an automatic gear processing line equipped with the above embodiment; FIG. 5 is a plan view of the above embodiment and the shaving machine; FIG. 6 is a front view of the same embodiment and the shaving machine, FIG. 7 is a partially longitudinal sectional side view of a part of the above embodiment, FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of a part of the above embodiment, and FIG. The figure is a cross-sectional view of another part of the above embodiment, Figures 10a, b, and c are schematic plan views showing the movement of the main parts of the above embodiment, and Fig. 11 is the main part of the above embodiment. FIG. 12 is a perspective view for explaining the operation, and FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the above embodiment. W...gear (workpiece), SM...shaving machine (machining machine), DM...deburring machine (machining machine), C...cutter, 1...carrying conveyor, 2...carrying out Conveyor, 3,3'...
Carrier device, 4, 4'... Loader device, 5...
Hydraulic cylinder (swing drive means), 5a...Rack,
5b...Pinion, 5c...Vertical drive shaft, 5d...
...Protrusion, 6...Vertical fulcrum shaft, 6a...Engagement groove, 7
... Carrier, 8 ... Workpiece support section, 9 ... Hydraulic cylinder (elevating drive means), 10 ... Hydraulic rotary actuator (swivel drive means), 11 ...
Support arm, 12...Hydraulic rotary actuator (rotation drive means), 13...Chuck, 15...
...Support frame, 16A...Underframe, 16...Slide,
18... Hydraulic cylinder, 19... Piston rod, 20... Rotor shaft, 20a... Engaging portion, 21
... Cylindrical body, 21a ... Engagement part, 22, 23 ... Bearing, 24 ... Ball, 25 ... Keyway, 2
5a...Key member, 26...Lifting hardware, 27...
Rotor shaft, 28...Piston, 29...Taper pin, 30...Sliding hardware, 32...Collection.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A loading/unloading device for loading workpieces from an input conveyor to a machine processing machine and carrying them out from the machine processing machine to an output conveyor in an automatic processing line, comprising: both said conveyors; A loader device 3 and a carrier device 4 are installed between the conveyor line consisting of 1 and 2 and the machine processing machine SM, and the carrier device 4 is connected to the machine processing machine SM.
A carrier 7 is arranged parallel to the conveyor line in front of the processing position in the carrier device 4 and horizontally rotated by a rotation drive means 5.
a carrier 7 having a pair of workpiece support parts 8, 8 which can be alternatively positioned at the processing position and a standby position between the processing position and the conveyor line by rotation of the loader device 3; , a support arm 11 that is raised and lowered by the lifting drive means 9 and horizontally rotated by the swing drive means 10 in the raised position; and the support arm 11
The chuck 1 is rotated between a horizontal position and a vertically downward position by a rotation driving means 12 fixedly supported by the chuck 1.
3 are provided in the carrier 7 at positions above the workpiece support 8 at the standby position and the ends of the respective conveyors 1 and 2 so as to be able to turn the chucks 13. Loading/unloading equipment.