JPH04141338A - Subarm structure of automatic tool change device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To change a tool together with a tool pot so as to shorten the change time by fitting a gripper for holding a tool pot to an arm main body which turns between a spindle side change position and a magazine side change position to constitute a subarm. CONSTITUTION:An arm main body 12 of a subarm 11 provided turnably on a column 1 is pivotally supported turnably on the vertical shaft 13 fixed to a tool magazine 4, and turned horizontally at 90 deg. by a hydraulic cylinder 15. A direct-acting arm 16 is linearly driven by a cylinder 17 movable in the orthogonal direction to the shaft 13 on the arm main body 12. A pair of grippers 12A, 13B for holding a tool pot are provided capable of opening and closing by a cylinder 21 at the arm 16 terminal. When a pot 5 installed with the next tool from the magazine 4 is held, turned and stood by on a spindle 3, the present and next tools are drawn with their holding with the rotation of a tool change arm 23, and both tools are installed to the pot 5 and spindle 3 with their shunting and revolving 180 deg.. The present tool is returned to the magazine 4 together with the pot.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a subarm of an automatic tool changer (hereinafter referred to as ATC) for a machine tool such as a horizontal machining center.

Conventional technology Conventionally, when the tool magazine of a horizontal machining center is structured to store tools parallel to the spindle and facing forward, the AT
The structure of C is simpler and the operating time can be shortened, but the disadvantage is that the floor space increases as the number of stored tools increases, so many tool magazines have a structure in which tools are stored perpendicular to the spindle and facing forward. .

In the case of this tool magazine, the ATC has a ready station pot 102 that can be rotated by 90 degrees in preparation for tool exchange because the exchange arm 101 is rotated around a rotation axis parallel to the spindle axis as shown in FIG. Auxiliary arm device 1 for replacing tools between the magazine pot 103 and the magazine pot 103
04 is adopted.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention The ATC including the auxiliary arm device and the ready station pot described in the prior art has the problems of a complicated structure, a large number of operation sequences, and a long operation time.

The present invention was devised in view of the problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to grasp the entire tool bot with a gripper and store it in a magazine without replacing the stored tools with a ready station bot. The present invention aims to provide a sub-arm that can carry between exchange positions on the side and the main shaft side.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the sub-arm structure of the automatic tool changer of the present invention includes a tool magazine to which a tool pot for storing tools at a predetermined angle with respect to the main axis is detachable. In a horizontal machining center, the horizontal machining center includes an arm body that rotates between a spindle side exchange position and a magazine side exchange position, and a gripper for gripping a tool bot provided at the tip of the arm body, and the tool pot and the tool The main shaft is transported to the main shaft side replacement position.

Operation Currently, the sub-arm, which grips the tool pot with the fire tool using the gripper, is waiting at the main spindle side replacement position, and cutting is being performed using the main spindle tool. When the cutting process with the spindle tool is completed, a tool exchange command is issued from the NC, and the twin exchange arm exchanges the tool between the tool box and the spindle, and the tool is inserted into the tool pot as either a spindle tool or a return tool. be done. Next, the arm body is horizontally rotated by 90 degrees to face the magazine side, and a tool pot having a return tool gripped by the gripper is attached to the tool holder of the magazine. Then open the gripper to release the toolpot and
The magazine is pivoted and the tool pot containing the next tool to be used is indexed into the exchange position. Next, the gripper closes to grip the tool pot, the arm body turns 90 degrees, the tool pot is separated from the magazine, and is positioned at the spindle side exchange position, waiting until the next tool exchange command is issued.

Example An embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In a horizontal machining center, a spindle head 2 is provided so as to be movable and positionable along a guide in the vertical (Y-axis) direction provided in a column (■), and a spindle 3 is rotatably supported on the spindle head 2 by a plurality of bearings (not shown). ing. A tool magazine 4 is installed on the left side of column l.
A plurality of U-shaped holders 6, which removably hold a tool pot 5 for storing tools horizontally and facing left and perpendicular to the spindle axis, are connected endlessly in a chain shape by links 7, as shown in the figure. It is indexed to the exchange position a by a rotation indexing mechanism that does not rotate.

The arm body 12 of the sub-arm 11 that is rotatably provided on the column 1 is rotatably supported on a vertical shaft 13 fixed to the tool magazine 4, and the rear end is rotatably supported by a hydraulic pin 14. The cylinder 15 horizontally rotates 90 degrees. The arm body 12 is provided with a guide (not shown) provided in the horizontal direction and perpendicular to the pivot arm axis, and the linear motion arm 16 is movable along the guide.
is provided and linearly driven by a hydraulic cylinder 17.

Further, a pair of tool pot grippers +8A, 18B or a pivot pin 19 are pivotally supported at the tip of the translational arm 16 so that they can be opened and closed. A proximity switch 22 for checking the presence or absence of a tool is attached to the tip of the gripper 18B. With the above-described structure, the sub-arm 11 is configured such that the grippers +8A and 18B are positioned at the magazine-side exchange position a, with pressure oil being supplied to the rear chamber of the hydraulic cylinder 15 and the front chamber of the hydraulic cylinder I7. With pressure oil being supplied to the rear chamber and the front chamber of the hydraulic cylinder 15, it is positioned at the main shaft side replacement position.

On the other hand, on the front side of the column L, a twin-arm exchange arm 23 is located between the tool exchange position C at the second end position in the Y-axis direction of the spindle 3 and the exchange position on the sub-arm spindle side. It is provided so as to be able to rotate approximately 90° and 180° around the holder and to be movable in the axial direction for inserting and removing tools.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

Now, a plurality of tool bots 5 equipped with tools necessary for cutting are attached to the U-shaped holder 6 of the tool magazine 4.
The sub-arm 11 is a gripper 18A.

At 18B, a tool box 1-5 with a fire tool attached thereto is held and is waiting at the main spindle side exchange position, and cutting is being performed with the current tool attached to the main spindle.

When the cutting process using the current tool is completed, the main spindle 3 moves to the upper end in the Y-axis direction, the column moves in the Z-axis direction, and is positioned at the tool exchange position C, and the exchange arm 23 waits in a horizontal position according to the tool exchange command from the NC. rotates approximately 90 degrees, and the gripping claws at both ends grip the fire tool and the current tool at the same time.

Next, the exchange arm 23 moves axially to the front, extracts the drawing tool from the tool bot 5 and the main shaft 3, rotates 180 degrees to replace the drawing tool, and moves axially to the rear to remove the drawing tool from the tool pot. 5 and the main shaft 3, and again approximately 9
It turns 0 degrees and leaves the painting tool in a horizontal position and waits. The fire tool attached to the main spindle now becomes a tool, and cutting begins.

The current tool mounted on the tool bot 5 becomes a return tool, and the empty holder 6 in which the return tool is stored in the magazine 4 is indexed to the exchange position a. Next, pressure oil is supplied to the rear chamber of the hydraulic cylinder 15, the arm body 12 is rotated 90 degrees to the right, pressure oil is supplied to the front chamber of the hydraulic cylinder 17, and the direct-acting arm 16 degrees grippers +8A, 18B and The tool bot 5 gripped by this moves horizontally to the left side, the tool bot 5 containing the return tool is inserted into the mouth-shaped holder 6, pressure oil is supplied to the rear chamber of the hydraulic cylinder 2I, and the gripper +8A
, 18B opens to release the toolbot 5 and return the used tools to the tool magazine. Next, the tool bot 5 in the magazine 4 rotates to index the next tool to be used at the exchange position a, the grippers 18A and 18B close to grip the tool bot 5 with the fire tool, and the proximity switch 22 turns on the fire tool. Check the presence of tools. Then grippers 18A, 18
B moves horizontally to the right, the tool bot 5 separates from the holder 6, the arm body [2] turns 90 degrees to the left, and the sub-arm 11 is at the spindle side exchange position and waits until a tool exchange command is issued.

Effects of the Invention Since the present invention is configured as described above, it produces the following effects.

The structure of the sub-arm is horizontally swiveled between the spindle side exchange position and the tool magazine side exchange position, and the arm body is equipped with a translation arm that moves horizontally in a direction perpendicular to the pivot arm axis, and the tool is attached to the tip of the translation arm. A gripper is provided to hold the bot, and the tool bot can be attached to and removed from the tool magazine, eliminating the need to change tools from the magazine pot to the ready station pot, simplifying the structure, reducing the number of sequences, and reducing ATC time. Significantly shorten the time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the tool changer of this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a partial view of a tool magazine to which a tool bot can be attached and removed, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a conventional tool changer. 1...Column 3...Spindle 4...Tool magazine 5...Toolbot 11...Sub arm 12...Arm body 16...Linear motion arm +8A, 18B... -Gripper Shoyu 2 course, 1L8 1° Incident display 2゜Name of the invention Relationship to the case involving a person who corrects the sub-arm structure of an automatic tool changer

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a horizontal machining center that has a tool magazine with a removable tool pot that stores tools at a predetermined angle with respect to the spindle, the arm body rotates between the spindle side exchange position and the magazine side exchange position. 1. A sub-arm structure for an automatic tool changer, comprising: a gripper for gripping a tool pot provided at the tip of the arm body, and transports a tool together with the tool pot to an exchange position on a spindle side.