JPH0360939A - Working device for long-sized work - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To quicken the working and to divide a working place with high accuracy by feeding a long-sized work with high accuracy onto the working clamper provided at the work position of a machining center, etc., and positioning a work place correctly. CONSTITUTION:A pair of transfer bases B1, C1 of a long-sized work are made to be driven in the direction approaching and separating from a work position. The long-sized work is clamped by the transfer clamper B located on the transfer base B1, fed onto a working clamper A by the movement of the transfer base B1 and clamped by the clamper A. At this time the clamp by the transfer clamper B at the feeding side is released. The long-sized work is then worked by tools T1, T2, T3. After completion of the work, it is clamped by the transfer clampers B and C and the clamp of the clamper A is released. The new work place of the long-sized work is then fed onto the clamper A by the transfer base B1. The tip part of the discharged work is clamped by the transfer clamper C located on the transfer base C1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field 1] The present invention relates to a processing device for clamping a long workpiece and processing a plurality of parts of the long workpiece. The present invention relates to a processing device for long workpieces that can flexibly respond to differences and differences in processing positions for long workpieces, and that can automatically feed the long workpieces to a processing clamper with high precision and automatically carry them out.

[Prior Art] For example, a processing machine such as a machining center is used to form holes in multiple locations on a long workpiece, and processes such as drilling, counterboring, and chamfering are performed using multiple types of tools.

Conventionally, a conveyor, a cylinder-driven conveyance device, or the like has been used as a means for supplying a long workpiece to the processing machine described above. A long workpiece transported to a processing position by these transport means is processed by a tool while being clamped at that position.

[Problem to be solved by the invention 1 However, the above-mentioned conventional long workpiece feeding means has
There are problems listed below.

(1) When feeding a long workpiece using a conveyor or a shilling-driven conveyance device, it is necessary to change the feed amount to the processing position when the type of workpiece changes, its length, or the location to be processed changes. , this requires setup work, which reduces work efficiency.

(2) When moving the completed part of a long workpiece from the processing position and feeding the next part to be processed, conventionally, only the power on the feeding side was applied to the long workpiece to move it. It was difficult to accurately feed and position the machining area. In particular, when the processing location is at the rear of a long workpiece, the dimensions of the workpiece extending toward the side to be fed out become long, making it difficult to feed the workpiece accurately using feeding power alone.

(3) For example, if there is a processing location at the rearmost part of a long workpiece, only this rearmost part is clamped at a narrow part of the processing position, and the part beyond this extends long toward the discharge side. Therefore, even if this rearmost machining location is clamped, highly accurate positioning cannot be achieved (and the machining accuracy of this portion will decrease).

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and the long workpiece can be fed with high precision onto the processing clamper installed at the processing position, and the processing location can be accurately positioned, and the length of the long workpiece can be It is an object of the present invention to provide a processing device for long workpieces that can flexibly respond to changes and changes in processing locations.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A long workpiece processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a processing clamper that has a plurality of clamp arms and clamps a long workpiece at a processing position by the clamp arms, and a processing clamper that has a plurality of clamp arms and clamps a long workpiece at a processing position. A machining head that feeds the long workpiece clamped in at least three orthogonal axes, and is placed on the side that supplies the long workpiece to the machining position and on the side that takes out the long workpiece from the machining position. a pair of conveyor tables, each having a plurality of clamp arms mounted on each conveyor table, and a conveyor clamper for clamping a long workpiece with the clamp arms; and a pair of conveyor tables with varying intervals. and a feed screw that moves toward and away from the machining clamper in synchronization with each other.

Furthermore, in the long workpiece processing apparatus according to the present invention, the pair of conveyance tables are provided with a lifting mechanism that raises the conveyance clampers mounted on each carriage to raise the long workpiece to a position higher than the positioning surface of the processing clamper. This is what is being done.

Further, in the above configuration, the feed screw is driven by a servo motor whose rotation amount is controlled.

In the above configuration, a stopper is provided between the processing clamper and the conveyance clamper on the side that supplies the long workpieces, and on which the tips of the plurality of long workpieces fed onto the conveyance clamper come into contact; A stopper drive mechanism is disposed to move the stopper to a position out of the supply path for the long workpiece.

Further, in the above-mentioned stopper, a detection switch embedded in each contact surface detects contact of the workpiece.

In addition, the above-mentioned stoppers and stopper drive mechanisms are provided on both sides of the processing clamper, and by making it possible to change the feeding direction of long workpieces, the workpiece loading/unloading direction can be selected as appropriate, and automatic loading/unloading in both directions is facilitated. This made it possible.

Furthermore, workpiece deflection prevention members for receiving a long workpiece from below can be provided at both sides of the machining clamper.

In the above means, a plurality of types of clamp arms can be replaced with each of the processing clamper and the pair of transport clampers.

[Operation] In the above means, a pair of conveyance tables disposed on the supply side and the discharge side of the workpiece are driven in the direction toward and away from the processing position while maintaining a constant interval. Therefore, the long workpiece is first clamped by a transport clamper on a supply-side transport table, and as the supply-side transport table moves, it is supplied onto a machining clamper located at a machining position facing a machining center or the like. When the long workpiece is clamped by the processing clamper, the clamping by the supply-side transport clamper is released.

Then, while the long workpiece is clamped by the processing clamper, processing such as drilling is performed using the tool. After the machining is completed, the long workpiece is clamped by the transport clamper, the clamp of the machining clamper is released, and a new machining location of the long workpiece is supplied onto the machining clamper by the supply-side conveyance table. By repeating this process, a new machining location is supplied onto the machining clamper, but at this time, the tip of the long workpiece sent from the machining clamper to the discharge side is clamped by the conveyance clamper on the conveyance table on the discharge side. is,
By synchronizing the movement of the two conveyors clamped by the conveyance clampers on the supply side and the discharge side, the machining location of the long workpiece is supplied onto the machining clamper with high precision.

Furthermore, by raising the above-mentioned transport clamper from the transport platform, it becomes possible to lift the long work clamped by the transport clamper, feed it onto the processing clamper, and discharge it, and the positioning surface of the processing clamper This eliminates the possibility of the workpiece being rubbed, and the workpiece and positioning surface can be prevented from being scratched.

Furthermore, by rotating the feed screw using a servo motor, the amount of movement of both conveyance tables can be controlled by numerical control, and the processing location of the long workpiece can be sent to the processing position with high precision. In addition, when there is a machining point at the rear end of a long workpiece, it is possible to control the amount of movement of the conveyor table and have the machining clamper clamp a relatively long part of the rear part of the long workpiece, allowing the final machining to be completed. It becomes possible to position a long workpiece to the processing clamper with high precision.

Further, by arranging a stopper between the processing clamper and the supply-side conveyance clamper, the leading ends of the workpieces can be positioned at the time of feeding a plurality of long workpieces onto the supply-side conveyance clamper.

Further, by providing the stoppers on both sides of the machining clamper, it becomes possible to supply the long workpiece to the machining clamper from both sides.

In addition, by providing workpiece deflection prevention members on both sides of the processing clamper, when feeding or discharging long workpieces,
This makes it possible to prevent the tip of the long workpiece held by the clamper from bending under its own weight.

Furthermore, by making the clamp arm provided on each clamper replaceable, it becomes possible to clamp workpieces of various shapes or sizes.

[Example 1 Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the overall structure of a long workpiece processing device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view showing details of the workpiece loading/unloading section in the above device, and Fig. 3 is a front view thereof. be.

The structure of the entire device will be explained based on these figures.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a stand for the apparatus, which is installed on the floor F of a workplace. A machining clamper A is fixedly installed approximately at the center of the pedestal 1 corresponding to the machining position. In this embodiment, the long workpiece W
is conveyed from the right to the left in the figure (in the direction of arrow α in FIG. 3) and supplied onto the processing clamper A. A supply-side conveyance clamper B is disposed on the right side of the machining clamper A in the figure, and a discharge conveyance clamper C is disposed on the left side of the machining clamper A in the figure. The transport clamper B is installed on the transport table B, and the transport clamper C is installed on the transport table CI. The above-mentioned carriers B and CI are supported on the frame 1 so as to be movable in the left and right directions in the figure, and are moved to the left and right in the figure by a drive device, which will be described later, without changing their mutual spacing (see Figure 3). It is driven to feed in the direction.

That is, a pair of linear guides 11 are installed parallel to each other on the upper surface of the pedestal 1, and each conveyance platform B1 and 01 is guided by the linear guides 11 and supported so as to be movable in the left and right directions in the figure. A feed screw 12 in which a ball screw is formed is located in the middle of the linear guide 11, and its left and right ends are rotatably supported on the frame 1.
One end of the feed screw 12 is connected to a servo motor M provided at the end of the pedestal 1 and is driven to rotate. The amount of rotation of this servo motor M is controlled by numerical control or the like. As shown in FIG. 1, each of the pair of conveyance tables B and C1 has a ball nut 13.
are held, and each ball nut 13 is screwed onto the feed screw 12. When the feed screw 12 is driven by the servo motor M, the pair of conveyance tables B and C1 are driven synchronously in the horizontal direction in the figure without changing the interval 2 between them. Through the numerical control described above, the servo motor M
By controlling the amount of rotation of the pair of conveyors B, , C
, the feed amount can be controlled with high precision.

As shown in FIG. 1, a processing machine (machining center) D is arranged on the side of the pedestal 1. As shown in FIG. A linear guide 3 is installed on the upper surface of the base 2 of this processing machine, and a saddle 4 is supported by the linear guide 3 so as to be movable in the X direction, and the amount of movement of the saddle 4 is controlled by a servo motor Mx. It is designed to be driven in the X direction.

A linear guide 5 is provided on the saddle 4, and a column 6 is supported by the linear guide 5 so as to be movable in the Y direction. Further, the column 6 is driven in the Y direction with the amount of movement thereof being controlled by a servo motor MY. Furthermore, a processing head 7 is supported on the front surface of the column 6 so as to be able to move up and down in the Z direction, and is driven up and down with the amount of movement controlled by a servo motor Mz. A plurality of spindles 7a are provided on the lower surface of the processing head 7.
There are multiple (three in the case of the example shown in the figure) tools T+.
, Ta, and Ts are respectively held. Further, a tool magazine (not shown) is arranged on the side of the processing head 7, so that tools can be exchanged with the processing head 7.

Next, the structure of the processing clamper A will be explained. FIG. 4 is a front view of the processing clamper A, and is a front view including a partial cross section showing the processing clamper A shown in FIG. 3 enlarged and omitting the structure of the central part. The figure is a sectional view taken along the line V-V in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a view taken in the direction of the ■ arrow in FIG.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the processing clamper A
The chassis 21 is fixed to the upper surface of the above-mentioned pedestal l by a bracket 22. Five rows of clamp bases 23a to 23e are arranged on the chassis 21 at equal pitches in the work supply direction (direction of arrow X in FIG. 1). In FIG. 4, only the rightmost clamp base 23a located at the supply side end and the leftmost clamp base 23e located at the discharge side end are shown.

The intermediate clamp bases 23b to 23d have almost the same structure as the two clamp bases 23a and 23e, so the fourth
It is omitted in the figure.

The clamp base 23e located at the discharge side end here
The structure will be explained with reference to the cross-sectional portion of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.

As shown in FIG. 5, this clamp base 23e has three cylinder mechanisms 24a, 24b, 24 in the longitudinal direction (direction across the workpiece W: downward direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 1).
c are built in at equal intervals. This cylinder mechanism is hydraulically driven or air driven, and the same applies to other cylinder mechanisms that will be described below. For example, the cylinder mechanism 24a in the oldest row is for raising and lowering an elevating member 25a, and a clamp rod 26a integrally provided at the upper end of this elevating member 25a is adapted to move up and down. Reference numeral 27 is a sleeve held by the clamp base 23e, and the clamp rod 26a is slidably supported by the sleeve 27. Clamp rod 26
A clamp arm 28a is supported at the upper end of the clamp arm 28a so as to be movable within a certain movable range about a shaft 29 as a fulcrum.

The cylinder mechanism 24a drives the clamp rod 26a up and down, and also moves the clamp rod 26a approximately 90 degrees.
It has the ability to rotate. When the clamp rod 26a is raised by the cylinder mechanism 24a, the clamp arm 28a is raised from the clamped state shown in FIG. As shown, the clamp arm 28a is directed in the short width direction of the clamp base 23 (work supply direction: direction of arrow X shown in FIG. 1). In addition, the cylinder mechanism 24a causes the clamp rod 26a to
At the same time when the clamp arm 28a is lowered, the clamp arm 28a is reversed approximately 90 degrees from the orientation shown in FIG. 1, and becomes oriented as shown in FIG. 5, so that the workpiece W can be clamped.

Similarly, other cylinder mechanisms 24b and 24c, which are lined up with the cylinder mechanism 24a, also have clamp rods 26b, 26c and a clamp arm 28b.

28c are provided respectively, and each clamp rod 2
6b, 26c and clamp arm 28a.

28b performs the same operation as the aforementioned clamp rod 26a and clamp arm 28a. As shown in FIGS. clamp rod 26a.

26b, 26c and clamp arm 28a28b, 2
8c, and the machining clamper A is equipped with a total of 15 clamp rods and 15 clamp arms. And by the cylinder mechanism corresponding to each,
The clamp arm is driven in the same manner as the clamp arm 28a.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cylinder mechanism 2 located at the leftmost part
4c is provided with a rod 31 extending downward,
This rod 31 moves up and down in response to the up and down movement of the clamp rod 26c. This rod 31 is provided with a detection lever 32 and is movable up and down along a guide shaft 32a. Pressing bodies 33a and 3 provided on this detection lever 32
3b operates the limit switch 34a or 34b, and detects the rising dead center and the falling dead center of the clamp arm 28c, that is, the clamping operation and the clamp release operation. This detection mechanism may be provided in only one of the plurality of cylinder mechanisms, so that the vertical movement of all the clamp arms can be detected, or it may be provided in each of the cylinder mechanisms. Good too.

As shown in FIG. 5, horizontal positioning blocks 35a and 35b are arranged on both sides of the clamp rod 26a at the right end, horizontal positioning blocks 35C135d are arranged on both sides of the central clamp mouth 26b, and horizontal positioning blocks 35C135d are arranged on both sides of the clamp rod 26a at the left end.
Horizontal positioning blocks 35e and 35f are provided on both sides of c, respectively. Each horizontal positioning block 35a
-35f are fixed to the upper surface of the clamp base 23e, and the upper surfaces of the respective horizontal positioning blocks 35a-35f form horizontal positioning surfaces H located on the same plane. Furthermore, a vertical positioning block 36a is installed on the right side of the rightmost horizontal positioning block 35a. Further, a vertical positioning block 36b is located between the horizontal positioning blocks 35b and 35c, and a vertical positioning block 36c is located between the horizontal positioning blocks 35d and 35e.
is provided. Further, a vertical positioning block 36d is provided on the left side of the leftmost horizontal positioning block 35f. And vertical positioning blocks 36a at the left and right ends
and 36d, and a vertical positioning block 36b,
Both side surfaces of 36c are vertical positioning surfaces V, and this vertical positioning surface (2) and the horizontal positioning surface H form a precise right angle. As shown by chain lines in FIG. 5, the long workpiece W has clamp arms 28a to 28c.
By being pressed by, it is positioned by the positioning surfaces H and ■, and is clamped and fixed onto the processing clamper A. Each of the clamp arms 28a to 28c can be attached to and detached from the clamp rods 26a to 26c, respectively, and by appropriately replacing the clamp arms with clamp arms according to the shape of the workpiece, it is possible to easily handle workpieces with various cross-sectional shapes and dimensions. There is.

The horizontal positioning blocks 35a to 35f and the vertical positioning blocks 36a to 36d are similarly provided to each of the other four columns of clamp bases 23a to 23d.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the right side (supply side side surface) of the clamp base 23a, which is located on the supply side (oldest row) among the five clamp bases lined up, has a workpiece. A stopper 40 is provided to determine the feed reference position. A support block 41 is fixed to the right side of the clamp base 23a in the drawing, and the stopper 40 is driven up and down by a cylinder mechanism 42 as a stopper drive mechanism supported by the support block 41. A positioning plate 4 is provided on the upper front surface of each stopper 40.
3 is provided, and at a plurality of locations on this positioning plate 43, contact surfaces 44 whose respective surfaces are located on the same vertical plane are provided.
is formed. A proximity switch 66 as a detection switch is embedded in each contact surface 44, and
This proximity switch 66 makes it possible to detect that the work W has come into contact with the contact surface 44 .

Further, switches 67 and 68 shown in FIG. 6 detect the raising and lowering of the stopper 40.

As shown in FIG. 4, at the rear of the clamp base 23e located on the supply side and the most discharge side of the stopper 40 in the discharge direction, there is a roller 45 as a workpiece deflection prevention member.
, 47 are provided respectively. Both rollers 45,
47 are rotatably supported by brackets 46 fixed to the clamp bases 23a and 23e, respectively.

The height of each of the rollers 45, 47 is set so that the upper surface thereof substantially coincides with the horizontal positioning surface H of the processing clamper A.

Next, the structures of the transport clampers B and C and the transport platforms B and 01 will be explained.

Although the conveyance clamper B and conveyance table B1 on the supply side and the conveyance wrapper C1 and conveyance table C8 on the discharge side are arranged symmetrically to each other, their structures are almost the same. Therefore, only the structure of the discharge side conveyance clamper C and the conveyance table C3 will be described below.

FIG. 7 shows the structure of the discharge side conveyance clamper C and the conveyance table C8, and is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 3. Further, FIG. 8 is a right side view of FIG. 7.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a sliding member 51 is provided at the bottom of the moving base 52 of the conveyance table C3.
This sliding member 51 is slidably installed on the linear guide 11. Further, a pole nut 13 is held at the center bottom of the conveyance table C1, and this pole nut 13 is screwed onto the feed screw 12. The movable base 52 is provided with a guide portion 52a extending in the vertical direction.
An elevating base 53 is supported on the guide portion 52a so as to be movable up and down. And the cylinder mechanism 5 shown in FIG.
4, the elevating base 53 is driven up and down. By this cylinder mechanism 54, the portion of the transport clamper C above the elevating base 53 is lifted upward from the transport table CI. In Figure 1, the dashed line (β) is
This shows the position where the transport clamper C has risen from the transport table C0.

As shown in FIG. 8, the elevating base 53 is provided with three cylinder mechanisms 55a, 55b, and 55c arranged in the left-right direction (direction of arrow Y in FIG. 1). Each cylinder mechanism 55a, 55b.

55c is a clamp rod 56a that moves up and down.

56b and 56c are provided. As shown in the cross section of FIG. 8, the clamp rod is slidably supported by a sleeve 59 held at the upper end of the lifting base 53. At the upper end of each clamp rod 56a, 56b, 56c, clamp arms 58a, 58b, 58c are provided which are movably supported within a certain range by a shaft 57. Clamp arms 58a to 58c in this conveyance clamper are also provided replaceably with respect to the clamp rod, similarly to the clamp arms 28a to 28c provided in the processing clamper.

As shown in FIG. 1, the clamp rod 56a.

56b, 56c and clamp arm 58a.

58b and 58c are provided in two rows with an interval in the workpiece insertion direction (arrow X direction in FIG. 1), and one transfer clamper C is equipped with a total of six clamp rods and clamp arms. There is. Each of them is driven up and down by an individual cylinder mechanism. Although not shown, any one of the clamp rods or all of the clamp rods is provided with a limit switch mechanism for checking the lifting/lowering operation.6 As shown in FIG. 8, the right end clamp rod 56a Horizontal positioning blocks 61a and 61b are arranged at both IFs, and horizontal positioning blocks 61a and 61b are arranged on both sides of the central clamp rod 56b.
1C061d, horizontal positioning blocks 61e and 61f are provided on both sides of the left end clamp rod 56c, respectively. Each of the horizontal positioning blocks 61a to 61f is fixed to the upper surface of the lifting base 53, and the upper surface of each of the horizontal positioning blocks 61a to 61f forms a horizontal positioning surface H located on the same horizontal plane. Furthermore, a vertical positioning block 62a is installed on the right side of the rightmost horizontal positioning block 61a. Further, a vertical positioning block 62b is located between the horizontal positioning blocks 61b and 61c, and a horizontal positioning block 61d and 61e is located between the horizontal positioning blocks 61b and 61c.
A vertical positioning block 62c is provided in the middle. Furthermore, a vertical positioning block 62d is provided to the left of the leftmost horizontal positioning block 61f. The opposing side surfaces of the left and right vertical positioning blocks 62a and 62d and both side surfaces of the vertical positioning blocks 62b and 62c form a vertical positioning surface V, and this vertical positioning surface V and the horizontal positioning surface H form an accurate right angle. is configured. As shown by dotted lines in FIG. 8, the long workpiece W is pressed by the clamp arms 58a to 58c, positioned by the positioning surfaces H and V, and fixed onto the transport clamper C.

As described above, the supply side conveyance clamper B and conveyance table B1 are oriented symmetrically to the discharge side conveyance clamper C and conveyance table C1, and the structure thereof is the same as that of the conveyance clamper C and conveyance table C1.

That is, the supply-side transport clamper B is similarly raised from the transport table B by the cylinder mechanism (see the dashed line (β) in FIG. 1).

Further, the clamping function of the workpiece in the transport clamper B and the transport clamper C is almost the same as the clamping function in the processing clamper A, as described above. However, in the machining clamper A, the clamp arms 28a to 28c are set at an angle of approximately 90 degrees in order to require high positioning accuracy and to make it easier for machining debris to be washed away from the horizontal positioning surface H by coolant when the clamp is released. In contrast, the clamp arms 58a to 58c of the conveyance clampers B and C move up and down in the orientation shown in FIG. 8 without rotating. Further, the clamp arms 28a to 28c of the processing clamper A and the clamp arms 58a to 58c of the transport clampers B and C have the same arrangement pitch in the direction across the workpiece. The clamp arms 28a to 28c of the machining clamper A and the clamp arms 58a to 58c of the transfer clampers B and C described above are used for the same workpiece and have the same dimensions. Furthermore, by exchanging the clamp arms, it becomes possible to clamp workpieces with various cross-sectional areas by changing the size and shape of these clamp arms. FIG. 9 illustrates workpieces that can be clamped using different clamping arms. Although this figure shows the clamp arms 28A to 28C installed on the processing clamper A, the same applies to each clamp arm of the transport clamper. In actual machining, multiple workpieces of the same type are used, so clamp arms of the same shape are used in the machining work, but for convenience of explanation, different clamp arms are attached to each clamp rod in Figure 9. It shows the condition that has been removed. The clamp arm 28A at the right end can clamp works W1 and W2 having relatively large cross-sectional areas. The central clamp arm 28B can clamp works W and W4 having small cross-sectional areas. The clamp arm 28C at the left end can clamp workpieces W and W6 having medium-sized cross-sectional areas.

Next, the operation of the long workpiece processing apparatus having the above structure will be explained.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the machining operation.

When feeding a long workpiece W, the left and right conveyance tables B1 and CI are placed on the right side (positions shown by solid lines in Figures 2 and 3).
is positioned. In addition, each transport platform B1 and C1
Then, transport clampers B and C are lowered (see step (a) in FIG. 10). When the transport clampers B and C are lowered, the upper surfaces of the horizontal positioning blocks 61a to 61f of the transport clampers B and C and the upper surfaces of the horizontal positioning blocks 35a to 35f of the processing clamper A are horizontal. The positioning surfaces V are located on substantially the same horizontal plane. Also, when the workpiece W is supplied, the stopper 4
0 is increasing (step (b)). For example, a plurality of long works W of the same type are simultaneously supplied from a conveyor (not shown). The long workpiece W is fed onto the feeding side (right side) transport clamper B while being pressed by a pressing device (not shown) along the feeding roller 65 shown at the right end of FIG. 3 (step (C)). At this time, each clamp arm 58a to 58c on the transport clamper B is rising. The plurality of long workpieces W supplied onto the horizontal positioning blocks 61a to 61f of the conveyance clamper B are placed on the contact surface 4 of the stopper 40.
4, whereby the tips of the plurality of long workpieces W are aligned with the feed reference position (step (d); see Figure 3).
At this time, all proximity switches 66 are turned on. Next, clamp arms 58a to 5 on the supply side transport clamper B
8c descends, and as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of long workpieces W are clamped onto the transport clamper B (step (e)
), at this time, the transport clamper BC is still on the transport platform B+.
, is decreasing with respect to CI.

When feeding the long workpiece W, the position of the conveyor table B is set to such a position that no deflection occurs until the tip of the workpiece W hits the contact surface 44, thereby preventing the deflection of the long workpiece W. Moreover, the roller 45 prevents the tip of the workpiece from lowering from below when it comes into contact with the contact surface 44. The optimum position for supporting the work by the conveyor table B in order to minimize the deflection of the long work W is stored by a computer.
This is performed by controlling the rotational speed of the servomorph M to move the conveyance table B1 to its optimal position, and the long workpiece W is clamped by the conveyance clamper B at that position.

After the long workpiece W is clamped by the transport clamper B, the stopper 40 is lowered (step (f)).

After that, the transport clampers B and C are moved to the transport platforms B+ and C.
The workpiece W is raised by the cylinder mechanism 54 (see FIG. 8) provided at the carrier B1 and lifted from the carrier B1 (see (β) in FIG. 1; step (g)), and then to the carrier B+.

C3 is moved to the left in the figure by the feed screw 12 (step (h)) (the position indicated by the dashed line in FIGS. 2 and 3), and the long workpiece W is raised by the transport clamper B. is supplied onto the processing clamper A (process (
i)) Since the long workpiece W is fed in an elevated state, the long workpiece W is fed without hitting the horizontal positioning blocks 35a to 35f of the machining clamper A or sliding on the upper surface thereof. Therefore, the workpiece W is prevented from being scratched by the horizontal positioning blocks 35a to 35f or by cutting debris on the horizontal positioning blocks 35a to 35f.

After a predetermined length of the long workpiece W is supplied onto the processing clamper A, the transport clampers B and C descend, and the workpiece W is moved to the horizontal positioning blocks 35a to 35 of the processing clamper A.
f (step (j
)), and the clamp arm 28 on the processing clamper A.
a to 28c descend, and the long workpiece W is moved to the machining clamper A.
The clamp arms 58 on the transport clampers B and C are positioned and clamped by the upper horizontal positioning blocks 35a to 35f and the vertical positioning blocks 36a to 36d (step (k)).
a to 58c are raised and the clamping force exerted by the transport clampers B and C is released (step (I2)).

When the long workpiece W is clamped on the processing clamper A, the processing head 7 of the processing machine (machining center) D
Driven in the Y direction, tools TI, T2, and T move to predetermined machining positions, and are driven in the Z direction while being rotationally driven by the spindle motor 69, and the long workpiece W is machined by the tools (step (m )) When the long workpiece W is a linear guide, for example, the processing includes drilling, counterboring, chamfering, etc., and the tool is replaced for each process.

As shown in FIG. 5, the machining clamper A in this embodiment clamps six long workpieces W in a line.

On the other hand, the tool is T,,T,.

There are three wires indicated by T. Therefore, the processing procedure is, for example, as shown in FIG.
Based on the vertical positioning surface ■ on the right side of the figure in 6b, the centers of the tools T+, Tz, and Ts are moved to a position a distance δ from this reference position to the center of the workpiece W, and the machining location is indexed. will be carried out.

For the other three workpieces W, for example, using the vertical positioning surface V on the left side of the vertical positioning blocks 36a, 36b, and 36c as a reference, the distance from there to the center of the workpiece W is determined, and the tool is moved and processing is performed. Furthermore, the tools T, , T, , T move in the longitudinal direction of the long workpiece W, and machining is performed on a plurality of machining locations on each workpiece.

While the machining is being completed, the conveyance tables B, C, are moved to a predetermined position in the right direction in the figure by the feed screw 12 (step (1)), and the conveyance clamper B or both clampers B are moved almost simultaneously with the completion of the machining. , C for each long workpiece W
is clamped (step (n)), and the clamping of the workpiece W by the machining clamper A is released (step (0)
)) Then, the transport clamper B is raised from the transport stand B1, and the workpiece W floats on the processing clamper A (step (p)).
, is driven to the left side in the figure by the feed screw 12, and the next machining location of the long workpiece W is moved by a predetermined amount onto the machining clamper A (step (q)), and the above-mentioned step (j
) to (q) can be repeated until machining of all machining positions is completed. As a result, the machining locations are sequentially machined.

When all the processing is completed, the conveyance tables B+ and C+ are moved to the left in the figure by the feed screw 12 (step (r)).
, The workpiece W is taken out from above the machining clamper A with the workpiece W being clamped by the transport clamper C on the discharge side (step (S)), thereby completing the workpiece unloading. Here, the left and right conveyance tables B1 and C1 are synchronously driven in the left-right direction by a common feed screw 12 while maintaining the interval β between them. Further, on each of the conveyance tables B and 01, conveyance clampers B and C are also raised and lowered in synchronization. Furthermore, the clamp arms 58a to 58c on each of the transfer clampers B and C move up and down (clamping and releasing operations) in synchronization, so that the workpiece W is sent out from the processing clamper A to the left in the figure.
is clamped by the conveyance clamper C on the discharge side, and a discharge force is applied. In this way, the workpiece is clamped by transport clampers B and C on the left and right sides of processing clamper A,
Since the long workpiece W is sent out in the discharge direction, the feed amount of the long workpiece W becomes highly accurate, and the processing location of the long workpiece W is accurately sent to the processing position. Also, at this time, the workpiece W is raised by the left and right transport clampers B and C and sent to the left in the figure, so the workpiece does not slide onto the horizontal positioning blocks 35a to 35f on the processing clamper A, causing damage to the workpiece. can be prevented.

As mentioned above, the transport operation of the work W is carried out between the left and right transport platforms B and C.
This is done by moving left and right synchronously without changing the interval 4. Here, the feed amount of the workpiece W can be set arbitrarily by controlling the drive amount of the servo motor M by numerical control etc. For example, when the pitch of the machining location in the longitudinal direction on the workpiece is P, the feed rate of the workpiece W is set once by the machining clamper A. When machining is performed at three locations using the clamp, by setting the workpiece feed rate to (3XP), the three machining locations on the workpiece can be accurately moved to the locations processed by the previous process. .

Furthermore, for example, when the processing location at the rearmost part of the workpiece W is near the rear end of the workpiece, the feed amount of the conveyance tables B, C, is controlled so that the rear part of the workpiece W is located at the 5-row clamp base 23a of the processing clamper A. If the workpiece W is clamped in a wide range above 23e, the workpiece W can be accurately positioned, clamped, and processed on the processing clamper A.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments.
For example, processing clamper A and each transport clamper B and C
The above clamping mechanism may have another structure, and the long workpiece is not limited to bar materials such as linear guides, but can also be applied to processing various other things, such as flat workpieces. .

In addition, in the above embodiment, the case where the workpiece loading/unloading direction is set from the right to the left in the figure has been explained, but if the workpiece loading/unloading direction is desired to be set in the opposite direction, the stopper 40 provided on the right side of the processing clamper A can be used. It is also possible to reinstall the drive unit in the left-hand position as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 3, and this replacement operation alone completes the setup change for feeding the workpiece in the opposite direction. Feed control can be easily handled by simply changing the feed direction of the NC program. Alternatively, by providing the same stoppers 40 and their driving parts in advance on both the left and right sides of the machining clamper A, the workpiece loading/unloading direction can be selected as appropriate without requiring any setup work when changing the feeding direction. , automatic loading and unloading in both directions is easily possible.

[Effects] As described above, according to the present invention, conveyance tables each having a conveyance clamper are provided on the supply side and the discharge side of the processing clamper at the processing position, and both conveyance tables are kept at a constant distance from each other and synchronized. Since the workpiece moves toward and away from the processing clamper, a long workpiece that has been processed by the processing machine is clamped by a pair of transport clampers, and is supplied onto the processing clamper and clamped. In this way, since the long clamper is clamped and transported by the pair of transport clampers that sandwich the processing clamper, the transport distance becomes accurate, and the processing portion of the long workpiece is accurately sent to the processing position.

Further, in the invention as claimed in claim 2, the conveying clamper rises from the conveying table, and the long workpiece clamped by the conveying clamper is lifted up from the positioning surface of the machining clamper and sent in, so that the workpiece can be machined. It is possible to prevent damage caused by chips hitting or adhering to the positioning surface of the clamper.

In the invention as claimed in claim 3, since the feed screw that drives the conveyance table is driven by a servo motor, the feed rate of the conveyance table can be controlled by numerical control etc., and the processing location of the long workpiece can be controlled by the tool. It becomes possible to feed accurately to the processing position. Furthermore, even if the length of the workpiece or the pitch of the machining area changes, by controlling the amount of movement of the conveyor table using a servo motor, it is possible to respond immediately without performing other setup work.

Furthermore, in the invention as set forth in claim 4, the leading end of the long workpiece can be positioned at the feeding reference position at the stage of feeding the workpiece to the conveyance clamper on the supply side, so that the long workpiece can be accurately fed to the processing position. This makes it possible to speed up machining work and accurately determine the location to be machined.

In the invention set forth in claim 5, since the detection switch detects the contact of the workpiece with the stopper, the leading end of the workpiece can be reliably positioned at the feeding reference position, and malfunctions in the post-stroke can be prevented.

In the invention described in claim 6, the stopper for positioning the tip of the workpiece during feeding and its drive mechanism are provided not only on one side of the processing clamper but also on the other side, so that the direction of the workpiece conveyance direction can be changed. Even in the worst case, it can be put into operation immediately without any setup change work, making it highly versatile.

In the invention as claimed in claim 7, the bending prevention members that receive the workpiece from below are provided at both sides of the processing clamper, so that the tip of the workpiece held by one of the clampers is prevented from bending due to its own weight during supplying and discharging the workpiece. This can be reliably prevented and workpieces can be loaded and unloaded smoothly.

In the invention as claimed in claim 8, since each clamp arm is replaceable, by selectively replacing clamp arms of various shapes and sizes according to the type of workpiece,
The clamper setup can be easily changed according to the type of workpiece, making it possible to flexibly handle machining of a wide variety of workpieces.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the overall structure of a processing device for long workpieces, and FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the workpiece loading/unloading section in this processing device. 3 is a front view of the structure, FIG. 4 is a partial front view showing the specific structure of the processing clamper with the central part omitted, and FIG. 5 is the V of FIG. 4. -V sectional view, Fig. 6 is a view in the direction of the ■ arrow in Fig. 4, Fig. 7 is an enlarged front view showing the specific structure of the conveyance clamper on the discharge side, Fig. 8 is its right side view, Fig. 9 FIG. 10 is a front view showing each type of clamp arm provided in a processing clamper (as well as a conveyance clamper), and FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a working process. A: Processing clamper, B: Supply side conveyance clamper, B: Supply side conveyor table, C: Takeout side conveyance clamper, CI: Takeout side conveyor table, D...・Processing machine, 1
...Equipment stand, 7...Processing head, T,,T,,T
,...Tool, 11...Linear guide, 12...
Feed screw, 13...pole nut, 23a-2
3e...Clamp base of processing clamper, 24a~
24c...Cylinder mechanism, 28a-28c...Clamp arm, 35a-35f...Horizontal positioning block, 36a-36d...Vertical positioning block, W.
. . . Workpiece, 40 . . . Stopper, 42 .
... Lifting base, 55a to 55c... cylinder mechanism,
58a-58c...clamp arm, 61a-61f
. . . Horizontal positioning block, 62a to 62d . . . Vertical positioning block, 66 . . . Proximity switch as a detection switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A processing clamper that has a plurality of clamp arms and clamps a long workpiece at a processing position by the clamp arms, and a processing clamper that is at least orthogonal to the long workpiece clamped by the processing clamper. A processing head whose feed is controlled in three axial directions, a pair of conveyance tables arranged on the side that supplies a long workpiece to the machining position and the side that takes out the long workpiece from the machining position, and A transfer clamper, which is mounted on each of the clamp arms and has a plurality of clamp arms, and which clamps a long workpiece using the clamp arms, and the pair of transfer tables are synchronized without changing the interval between them, and are connected to the processing clamper. A long workpiece processing device 2 has a feed screw that moves the long workpiece in the approaching and separating direction, and a pair of conveyance tables have a positioning surface for the clamper for processing the long workpiece by raising a conveyance clamper mounted on each carriage. 3. The long workpiece processing apparatus 3 according to claim 1, further comprising a lifting mechanism for raising the workpiece to a higher position, and the feed screw is driven by a servo motor whose rotation amount is controlled. In the long workpiece processing device 4, the tips of the plurality of long workpieces fed onto the conveyance clamper are brought into contact between the processing clamper and the conveyance clamper on the side that supplies the long workpieces. Claim 1: A stopper and a stopper drive mechanism for moving the stopper to a position out of the supply path for the long workpiece are arranged.
In the long workpiece processing apparatus 5 described above, a detection switch is embedded in each contact surface of the stopper to detect when the long workpiece is in contact with the stopper.
The long workpiece according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the long workpiece processing device 6, the stopper and the stopper drive mechanism are respectively provided at both sides of the processing clamper, and the feeding direction of the long workpiece can be changed. Claim 1: The workpiece processing device 7 is provided with workpiece deflection prevention members for receiving the long workpiece from below at both sides of the processing clamper.
For the long workpiece processing device 8, the processing clamper, and the pair of transport clampers described in any one of 6 to 6,
The long workpiece processing apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein plural types of clamp arms are respectively replaceable.