JPH04371395A - Apparatus for carry in/out work to working machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable carry-in/out of a raw material rack or a product rack with a manipulator for short time between a stocker arranging plural steps of the raw material racks for incorporating the first pallet loading the raw material as adjoining to e.g. a laser beam machine as a working machine and the product racks for incorporating the second pallet accumulating the worked products, and a working machine. CONSTITUTION:The apparatus is constituted with the stocker 31 arranging plural steps of the raw material racks 43a and the product racks 43b housing the first pallet 9a loading the raw material Wa adjoining to e.g. the laser beam machine 1 as the working machine and the second pallet 9b accumulating the worked product Wb and the pallet manipulator 33 as possible to shift the first pallet 9a and the second pallet 9b in the right and left directions and vertical direction between the above stocker 31 and a fixed table 29 by laying the above first pallet 9a on upper part of the fixed table 29 stood at side of the working machine 1, taking out the raw material Wa from the first pallet 9a working with the laser beam machine 1 and laying the worked product Wb to the second pallet 9b.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a work loading/unloading device for a processing machine for transporting materials to the processing machine and for transporting finished products from the processing machine.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, a device for loading and unloading a work material or a processed product into a processing machine, such as a laser processing machine, uses a loader and an unloader to move the material from the storage location to the processing machine side. It has generally been the case that a workpiece loading/unloading device is used to transport and unload processed products to a storage location.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, since the above-mentioned conventional device for loading and unloading workpieces into the laser processing machine uses a loader and an unloader, there are many transport operations and it takes a lot of time to load and unload the workpieces. There was a problem that it required

An object of the present invention is to improve the above-mentioned problems by connecting a material shelf between a processing machine and a stocker, which is provided with a plurality of stages of material shelves loaded with materials and product shelves for accumulating processed products. Another object of the present invention is to provide a workpiece loading/unloading device for a processing machine that allows a product shelf to be loaded/unloaded in a short time using a manipulator.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a first processing machine loaded with materials adjacent to a processing machine.
A stocker is provided with multiple stages of material shelves for storing pallets and product shelves for storing second pallets for accumulating processed products, and the first and second pallets loaded with the materials and products are placed on this stocker. Providing a driving means that can freely store or discharge, and providing a fixed stand on which first and second pallets loaded with materials and products are placed close to the processing machine,
A pallet manipulator movable horizontally and vertically was provided between the fixed base and the stocker to constitute a workpiece loading/unloading device for the processing machine.

[0006]

[Operation] By adopting the workpiece loading/unloading device for the processing machine of the present invention, a pallet manipulator is provided between the stocker and the fixed base, and when carrying the workpiece into the processing machine, the workpiece is stored in the stocker's material shelf. A first pallet loaded with desired materials is transported onto a pallet manipulator by a drive means provided in the stocker. When the first pallet is carried out onto the pallet manipulator, move the pallet manipulator to the fixed base side, and place the first pallet on the fixed base.
After the pallet is placed, the pallet manipulator is lowered by an appropriate amount to place the first pallet on the fixed table. The material is transported from the first pallet placed on the fixed table to the processing machine side by appropriate means.

[0007] The first pallet, which is now empty after all the materials have been carried out to the processing machine, is stored in the stocker by performing the reverse operation described above.

[0008] Furthermore, the products processed by the processing machine are carried out to the fixed table side, and the empty second pallet carried out from the stocker by the pallet manipulator is placed on the fixed table. Products are loaded onto the top. After loading the products onto the second pallet, raise the pallet manipulator by an appropriate amount, transfer the second pallet onto the pallet manipulator, move the pallet manipulator to the storage position on the product shelf of the stocker, and move the pallet manipulator to the storage position on the product shelf of the stocker. The means stores the second pallet on a product shelf within the stocker. Thus, materials or products can be transported in and out in a short time.

[0009]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that although a laser processing machine will be described as an example of the processing machine, the present invention is not limited to this. Further, since the laser processing machine has a well-known configuration, a detailed explanation will be omitted.

To facilitate understanding, first, the overall arrangement of the workpiece loading/unloading device with respect to the processing machine will be schematically explained.

Referring to FIG. 3, for example, a laser processing machine 1 is provided as a processing machine, and this laser processing machine 1 has a gate-shaped frame 3 that is movable in the X-axis direction (vertical direction in FIG. 3). A laser processing head 5 provided on this gate-shaped frame 3 is movable in the Y-axis direction (left-right direction in FIG. 3), and performs laser processing on a workpiece material Wa.

[0012] Carrying the material Wa into the laser processing machine 1,
In order to transport the processed product Wb, a shuttle table 7 is provided directly below the laser processing machine 1 and extends in the X-axis direction. This shuttle table 7 consists of material Wa and product W.
The shuttle table 7 carries out the loading and unloading of the material Wa and the product Wb, and the shuttle table 7 has an endless chain (not shown) between the loading/unloading position 7a of the material Wa and the product Wb and the processing position 7b located directly below the laser processing machine 1. A pallet 9 on which materials Wa or products Wb are placed is movably provided in two stages via a drive system.

Further, a manipulator 11 that is movable in the Y-axis direction is provided directly above the loading/unloading position 7a of the shuttle table 7 for the material Wa and the product Wb.

Referring also to FIG. 1, this manipulator 11 includes a shuttle table 7, table frame 13,
It rides on a rail 15 extending upward in the Y-axis direction and is movable in the Y-axis direction. Mount 17 of manipulator 11
A rotatably supported shaft 19 is mounted on the shaft. A manipulator main body 21 that is movable in the X-axis direction is mounted on the shaft 19, and a pad support member 25 on which a plurality of suction pads 23 are mounted is provided to hang down from the manipulator main body 21. Note that the pad support member 25 is provided movably in the Z-axis direction (direction perpendicular to the drawing in FIG. 3, vertical direction in FIG. 1).

With the above configuration, the material Wa sent from a workpiece loading/unloading device to be described later is sucked by the suction pad 23 of the manipulator 11 and transferred onto the pallet 9 at the loading/unloading position 7a of the shuttle table 7. The material Wa transferred onto the pallet 9 is laser-processed by driving the shuttle table 7 to position the pallet 9 at the processing position 7b.

[0016] The product Wb that has been processed is placed in the loading/unloading position 7.
The product W transferred to a and carried out to this carry-in/out position 7a
b is suctioned by the suction pad 23 of the manipulator 11 and transported to the workpiece loading/unloading device, which will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 3, the workpiece loading/unloading device 27 is perpendicular to the running direction of the shuttle table 7.
and an adjacent fixed table 29, a stocker 31 equipped with a plurality of stages of material shelves 43a and product shelves 43b for storing a first pallet 9a for loading materials Wa and a second pallet 9b for accumulating products; and a pallet manipulator 33 for loading and unloading the first pallet 9a and the second pallet 9b between the fixed base 29 and the fixed base 29.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, the fixed base 29 has L-shaped frames 35a and 35b erected, and these frames 35a and 35b are connected to a plurality of stays 3.
The fixing base 29 is constructed by joining at 7. Furthermore, L
The product W is placed on the inner surface of the shaped frames 35a and 35b.
Support blocks 39a and 39b that support a second pallet 9b that accumulates materials Wa, and support blocks 41a and 41b that support a first pallet 9a loaded with materials Wa are provided. In addition, the mounting position of the stay 37 is such that when the arm of the pallet manipulator 33 (described later) is inserted and the first and second pallets 9a, 9b are placed on the support blocks 39a, 39b, 41a, 41b, the stay 37 is lowered slightly. It is necessary to install it in a position where it will not come into contact even when the

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the stocker 31 is provided parallel to the running direction (Y-axis direction) of a pallet manipulator 33, which will be described later, and stores pallets 9a loaded with materials Wa and products Wb. Shelf 43 with multiple rows of multiple stages capable of storing a large number of pallets 9b stacked together.
A material shelf 43a and a product shelf 43b are provided, and rails 45 are provided at a plurality of locations on the upper material shelf 43a, extending in the X-axis direction. (See Figure 3) This rail 45
A plurality of wheels 47 attached to the first pallet 9a are mounted on the top, and the first pallet 9a is movable in the
A second pallet 9b extends in the axial direction and is placed on this rail 45.
The second pallet 9b is movable in the X-axis direction. In this embodiment, the stockers 31 are arranged in two stages and in two rows, but the number is not limited to this.

Material shelf 43a and product shelf 43 of stocker 31
A driving means 49 for carrying in and out the first and second pallets 9a and 9b is provided at b. More specifically, referring to FIG. 5, the driving means 49 moves the material shelf 43a and the product shelf 43
For example, the motor 5
1 to the material shelf 43 via a chain 53 which is a transmission means.
a, Rotation is transmitted to pulleys 55 provided on both sides of the product shelf 43b in the X-axis direction. A belt 57 is wound around the pulley 55, and a clamp 59 is attached to the belt 57.

Although detailed illustrations are omitted, the clamp 59 has a known construction, and uses a hydraulic cylinder or the like as a driving source to clamp the side ends of the first and second pallets 9a and 9b. The structure is such that it can be clamped or unclamped by means of, etc. In addition, in order to fill the gap between the material shelf 43a, product shelf 43b and a pallet manipulator 33, which will be described later, an auxiliary rail 63 rotated by a hydraulic cylinder 61 is provided on the material shelf 43a, product shelf 43b side. .

With the above configuration, when storing the first pallet 9a or the second pallet 9b on the material shelf 43a or product shelf 43b of the stocker 31, the cylinder 61 is operated to hold the auxiliary rail 63 in a horizontal state, and the motor is 51 to move the clamp 59 to the left in FIG. Then, with the clamp 59, the first pallet 9a or the second pallet
By grasping the pallet 9b and moving it to the right side in FIG. 5, the first pallet 9a or the second pallet 9
b can be stored in the stocker 31. After storing the first pallet 9a and the second pallet 9b in the stocker 31,
The cylinder 61 is operated to rotate the auxiliary rail 63 and retract it.

When carrying out the first pallet 9a or the second pallet 9b stored in the stocker 31, the clamp 59 is used to remove the first pallet 9a or the second pallet 9b.
When the side end of b is clamped and the motor 51 is driven, the clamp 59 moves forward (leftward in FIG. 5) via the chain 53 and belt 57. As the clamp 59 moves forward, the first and second pallets 9a and 9b move forward. Note that the auxiliary rail 63 is placed in a horizontal state by operating the cylinder 61 in front of the vehicle.

[0024] At the forward limit, the first and second pallets 9a, 9b
is transferred onto the arm of the pallet manipulator 33, which will be described later, so the clamp 59 is unclamped and returned to the retracted position (the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 5), and the auxiliary rail 63 is also rotated and retracted. to finish the unloading. Note that the driving means 49 is provided in the storage section of each of the first and second pallets 9a and 9b.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the L-shaped pallet manipulator 33 is movable in the Y-axis direction, and the manipulator main body 67 is movable on a plurality of rails 65 extending in the Y-axis direction. Although not shown, the pallet manipulator 33 is movable in the Y-axis direction via individual wheels 69 driven by a motor or the like.

An arm 71 is provided on the manipulator body 67 and is movable in the Z-axis direction (vertical direction in FIG. 2). That is, a plurality of rollers 75 guide both sides of a guide plate 73 provided perpendicularly to the manipulator body 67.
is attached to the arm 71. The driving means for vertically moving the arm 71 is of a known configuration and is not shown in the drawings, but for example, a cylinder operated by fluid pressure may be used, or
Alternatively, a combination of a motor-driven pinion and a rack is used. The width of the arm 71 is such that it can support the first and second pallets 9a and 9b, and that it does not come into contact with the frames 35a and 35b of the fixed body 29.

With the above configuration, the height direction position of the arm 71 can be positioned at a position where the pallet 9a on which the material Wa stored in the stocker 31 is placed can be transferred.
The height position at which the pallet 9b stacked with products Wb is stored in the stocker 31 can be freely set. Also,
To place the pallet 9a transferred to the arm 71 on the fixed base 29, the motor is driven to rotate the wheels 69 to move the manipulator body 67 in the Y-axis direction until the arm 71 reaches a predetermined position on the fixed base 29. Once entered, the arm 71 is lowered by a slight amount and the first pallet 9a is transferred to the fixed table 29. Then, the manipulator main body 67 is moved back.

In order to store the empty first pallet 9a placed on the fixed base 29 or the second pallet 9b loaded with products Wb into the stocker 31, the arm 71 of the pallet manipulator 33 is supported by the fixed base 29. block 39a
, 39b or the support blocks 41a, 41b so as not to contact the lower surface of the empty first pallet 9a or the second pallet 9b stacked with products Wb. Moreover, the arm 71 is positioned at a position where it does not come into contact with the stay 37 of the fixed base 29 either. Then, the arm 71 is advanced into the fixed base 29 and raised by a certain amount, that is, to a position where the first pallet 9a or the second pallet 9b is separated from the fixed base 29.

In this state, the first pallet 9 is removed from the fixed base 29.
A or the second pallet 9b can be carried out, the manipulator main body 67 is moved to a desired storage position in the stocker 31, and the first and second pallets 9a and 9b are stored in the stocker 31.

[0030] With the above-mentioned configuration, the overall operation is that when carrying the material Wa into the laser processing machine 1, the first pallet 9a loaded with the desired material Wa stored in the stocker 31 is The arm 71 of the pallet manipulator 33 is positioned to the desired position. Next, the auxiliary rail 63 provided on the stocker 31 is brought into a horizontal state, and the first pallet 9a is carried out onto the arm 71 by the driving means 49.

Arm 71 of pallet manipulator 33
When the first pallet 9a is carried out, the pallet manipulator 33 is moved to the fixed stand 29 side, and the first pallet 9a is placed on the fixed stand 29. The material Wa placed on the first pallet 9a placed on the fixed table 29 moves the manipulator 11 toward the fixed table 29 and rotates the pad support member 25, as shown in FIG. Then, the material Wa is sucked by the suction pad 23. This state is shown in Figure 1.
is indicated by a chain double-dashed line.

[0032] After the material Wa is adsorbed with the adsorption pad 23,
The manipulator 11 is moved to a position directly above the loading/unloading position 7a of the shuttle table 7, and the material Wa is transferred onto the pallet 9 at the loading/unloading position 7a while rotating and descending. The material Wa transferred onto the pallet 9 is sent to the processing position 7b by the drive of the shuttle table 7, and is transferred to the laser processing machine 1.
Thermal cutting process is performed.

[0033] By repeating the above-mentioned operation, all of the materials Wa are sent to the processing machine 1 side, and the empty first pallet 9a is stored in a desired location in the stocker 31 by performing the operation opposite to the time of carrying it out. .

Further, the product Wb processed by the laser processing machine 1 is carried out by the shuttle table 7 to the carry-in/out position 7a, and the product Wb is held by suction by the manipulator 11 and placed on the fixed table 29. Empty second pallet 9
B is loaded one after another.

When the second pallet 9b has been loaded with a predetermined amount of products Wb, the arm 71 of the pallet manipulator 33 is inserted into the fixed base 29, and raised slightly to support the second pallet 9b on the arm 71. do. Then, the pallet manipulator 33 is moved and positioned to a desired position in the stocker 31, and the second pallet 9b is stored in the stocker 31 by the drive means 49 of the stocker 31.

[0036] By repeating the simple operation, the material Wa
Alternatively, the product Wb can be carried in and out in a short time.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but can be implemented in other embodiments by making appropriate changes.

[0038]

As can be understood from the above description of the embodiments, according to the present invention, a first pallet loaded with materials and a processed product are placed adjacent to a laser processing machine as a processing machine. Each first and second pallet is carried in and out by a pallet manipulator between a stocker having a plurality of stages of material shelves and product shelves for storing second pallets to be accumulated, and a processing machine.

[0039] Thus, with a simple equipment configuration, materials or products can be loaded and unloaded in a short time by repeating simple operations.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged side view of a portion viewed from arrow I in FIG. 3, showing the main parts of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of a section taken along arrow II in FIG. 3, showing the main parts of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the overall layout of a laser processing machine and a workpiece loading/unloading device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line V-V in FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Laser processing machine 9a 1st pallet 9b Second pallet 27 Workpiece loading/unloading device 29 Fixed stand 31 Stocker 33 Palette manipulator 43a Material shelf 43b Product shelf 49 Driving means

Claims (1)

[Claims] [Claim 1] A first machine loaded with materials adjacent to a processing machine.
A stocker is provided with a plurality of stages of material shelves for storing pallets and product shelves for storing second pallets on which processed products are accumulated, and the first and second pallets loaded with the materials and products are placed on this stocker. Providing a driving means that can freely store or discharge, and providing a fixed stand on which first and second pallets loaded with materials and products are placed close to the processing machine,
A workpiece loading/unloading device for a processing machine, characterized in that a pallet manipulator that is movable horizontally and vertically is provided between the fixed base and the stocker.