JPH0515993A - Clamping device for thin work for laser beam processing - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the clamping device for a work in laser beam processing which can exhibit the work clamping function by uniform clamping force and can simultaneously impart an adequate cooling effect. CONSTITUTION:This work clamping device is constituted by having an expandable lower holder 12 consisting of a tubular body which can be expanded by the supply of pressure fluid at the time of fixing and holding the thin work W to be processed by a laser beam machine to the positioning surface 6 of a locator jig 5, an upper holder 14 which presses the lower holder 12 to the work W and pressure fluid supply mechanisms 16, 18, 20 which supply the pressure fluid to the lower holder and can discharge this fluid during the execution of the laser beam processing or upon ending thereof.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clamp device used for performing laser processing such as welding and cutting on a thin work by a laser processing machine including a laser robot. A clamp that holds the work area of the workpiece to be laser-machined to the positioning surface of the locator jig with a uniform clamping force to enable stable laser processing and also to provide a cooling effect to the work area during machining. Regarding the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a thin work such as a sheet metal processed product or a thin cast product is subjected to secondary processing such as welding or cutting by a laser processing machine, a surface shape complementary to the work shape is used as a positioning surface. Place the work on the same positioning surface of the locator jig that was installed on the work, place a metal clamp mainly on the surface of the work, and press the clamp against the work with the clamp retainer from above to place the work on the locator jig and the clamp. A device that performs processing by sandwiching it between and is often used.

[0003]

However, when the work is a thin work such as a panel part in a car body of an automobile which is processed by press forming, the work has a complicated shape having a large number of uneven portions. Since the product may be a product or the shape may not exactly match the design value, the following various problems have been raised when performing laser processing.

That is, as is clear from the conventional examples shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a gap is generated between the positioning surface 6 of the locator jig 5 and the work W, and between the work W and the metal clamp 7, , The clamping force becomes uneven in each processing area. Further, in order to make the clamping force as uniform as possible, it is necessary to dispose the clamp retainer 8 at a large number of places, so that the work of attaching the clamp retainer 8 is particularly troublesome for a large work. Furthermore, when a large number of clamp pressers 8 are used in this way, when the laser processing machine is a laser robot, there is a risk that the clamp presser 8 will interfere with other parts such as the laser processing head 9 at the tip of the robot and the robot arm. Since it occurs, it is necessary to be very careful, and therefore it becomes more difficult to arrange the clamp retainer. In addition, if the clamping force is not uniform, the work piece may be removed from the locator jig 5 or the clamp 7
In some cases, the cooling effect when releasing heat is not sufficient.

Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional problems. Another object of the present invention is to provide a workpiece clamping device in laser processing which can exert a workpiece clamping function by a uniform clamping force and at the same time can impart an appropriate cooling effect.

[0006]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention uses a tubular body and an inflatable retainer for a clamp device, and a pressure fluid such as cold pressure air, pressure water, pressure oil which can also function as a cooling medium. Etc. are supplied, the work piece is expanded and pressed against the positioning surface of the locator jig with a uniform clamping force, and further expandable by using a shell-like work piece on top of the same expandable work piece. The presser foot is pressed against the work to ensure reliable work holding. The inflatable retainer should be formed of a plastic material that is resistant to the heat of spattering generated during laser processing, and should be formed in advance as a long, tubular body that matches the irregular shape of the work. In this case, the pressure fluid is supplied to expand by receiving the internal pressure, and since it is covered with the metallic shell from above, a uniform clamping force can be exerted and it is also protected from spatter. The pressure fluid also absorbs heat to cool the work.

That is, according to the present invention, in a clamp device for fixing and holding a thin work piece machined by a laser beam machine on a positioning surface of a locator jig, it is formed by a tubular body which is expandable by supplying a pressure fluid. An inflatable lower presser that is disposed along a work area of the work that is fixed on the positioning surface of the locator jig, an upper presser that presses the lower presser against the work, and the lower presser. A clamp for a thin workpiece in laser processing, comprising: a pressure fluid supply mechanism that supplies a pressure fluid to a holding tool and discharges the pressure fluid during or after completion of laser processing. The device is provided. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail based on the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken along the line 1-1 of FIG. 2 showing a clamp device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a view showing a state in which a work is held immediately below a laser processing head. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional example, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3 showing a state in which a work is held by a locator jig and also including a laser processing head. is there.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the workpiece clamping apparatus according to the present invention uses a locator jig 5 similar to the conventional one. Therefore, the positioning surface 6 of the locator jig 5 is the same as the conventional one in that it is formed as a surface having a surface shape that complementarily matches the uneven shape of the work W in advance.

When the work W is placed on the positioning surface 6 of the locator jig 5, the thin work W, in particular,
Lower pressers 12 and 12 formed of an inflatable tubular body are arranged on both sides of a processing area 10 by the laser processing head 9. The lower presser 12 is made of an appropriate heat-resistant plastic material that is resistant to the heat of spatter scattered by the laser processing, and is easily formed by a forming method in advance as a long tube in conformity with the uneven shape of the work 1W. Can be formed. Then, the lower pressers 12, 12 are arranged so as to be pressed from above so as to be surrounded by an upper presser 14 formed as a metal shell from above. At this time, the lower presser 12 may be stored and adhered to the lower side of the upper presser 14 in advance so as to be integrated.

Further, the inflatable lower pressers 12 and 12 made of the above-mentioned tubular body are provided with pressure cold air, pressure water, pressure oil, etc., from one end side thereof, respectively, as desired or suitable for the site of use. A fluid supply mechanism is provided that can supply a fluid and discharge the pressurized fluid from the other end side. That is, the lower presser 12 is formed to have a liquid supply conduit 16 connected to one end, a drainage conduit 18 connected to the other end, an on-off valve 20, etc. It is supplied and pressurized and expanded from the inside to give elasticity. In this state, upper presser foot 1
If the protrusions 14a and 14b formed at the ends of 4 are properly clamped to the lower locator jig 5 with an appropriate clamp tool, for example, a well-known C clamp (not shown), the upper presser foot 1
The work W can be pressed against the locator jig 5 and held from above by the elastic functions of the lower pressers 12 and 12.

According to the above-mentioned structure, the lower pressers 12, 12
Is supplied with pressure fluid to obtain elasticity due to expansion, and therefore
The working area 10 of the work W receives a uniform clamping force from the upper side toward the positioning surface 6 of the locator jig 5 over the entire length, and is clamped accurately without a gap. In addition, the lower pressers 12 and 12 can be protected from the laser processing spatter by the upper pressers 14 and 14.

Although the C clamps are used for the both ends 14a, 14b to hold the upper pressers 14, 14 as described above, if one end 14a or 14b is configured as a hinge structure to open and close up and down, the pressing work can be performed. It is also possible to improve the convenience. Moreover, the lower presser foot 12, 1 that closely adheres to the surface of the work W
Since 2 has a cold pressure fluid inside, a laser processing head 9
When the workpiece W is heated by the laser beam during the laser processing by, the heat can be absorbed and a cooling effect can be provided. At this time, if the on-off valve 20 is opened and fluidity is imparted to the pressure fluid, the pressure fluid that has absorbed heat can be discharged to the outside while maintaining the internal pressure of the lower pressers 12 and 12, thus further cooling. You can get Noh.

Although the present invention has been described based on the embodiments, the present invention uses the inflatable tubular body as the lower presser and is brought into close contact with the work by the internal pressure to exert a uniform clamping force, and
A system completely different from the conventional work clamp device is adopted in that the cooling effect is exerted, and various modifications and modifications can be configured under the technical idea of the present invention. Also, those skilled in the art can implement various methods.

[0015]

According to the present invention, a workpiece to be laser processed by a laser processing machine is pressed and held by a uniform clamping force using a fluid pressure on a locator jig having a complementary positioning surface. Therefore, when the laser head is moved to sequentially perform laser processing on the processing area of the work, the finish can be made uniform and stabilized.

Further, since the inflatable lower presser is in an expanded state while being elastic when receiving the internal pressure of the pressure fluid, there is no gap between the inflatable presser foot and the work. It can be brought into close contact with the positioning surface of the jig to contribute to the realization of stable laser processing.

Further, according to the present invention, since the inflatable lower presser uniformly performs the clamping action, it is not necessary to hold many positions with another clamp presser as in the conventional clamp device.
It is possible to solve the problem of interference with the laser processing head of the laser robot as well as the workability.
That is, both sides are clamped, or only one side is pressed and the other one side is opened and closed by a hinge, so that there is almost no chance that the clamp pressing interferes with the laser processing head. And, it is not necessary to provide the clamp retainer at multiple points, which means that the conventional trouble of making the clamp force uniform while appropriately adjusting the clamp retainer can be eliminated at the time of the setup of the machining of each work.

Further, since the cooling fluid is applied to the working area of the work by the pressure fluid supplied into the lower presser, it is possible to improve the finish quality of the work by laser processing.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 shows a clamp device according to the present invention, 1-1 of FIG.
It is sectional drawing which follows the line.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 showing a state where a work is pressed right below a laser processing head.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a conventional example.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3, showing a state where a work is pressed by a locator jig and also including a laser processing head.

[Explanation of symbols]

5 ... Locator jig 6 ... Locating surface 9 ... Laser processing head 10 ... Processing area 12 ... Lower foot 14 ... Top foot 16 ... Supply pipeline 18 ... Discharge line 20 ... Open / close valve W ... work

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Akihiro Terada             Yamanashi Prefecture Minamitsuru-gun Oshino-mura Shinobaku-ji Kobaba 3580             Local Product Development Laboratory, Juanatsk Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hidenori Kurebayashi             Yamanashi Prefecture Minamitsuru-gun Oshino-mura Shinobaku-ji Kobaba 3580             Local Product Development Laboratory, Juanatsk Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A clamping device for fixing and holding a thin work piece machined by a laser beam machine on a positioning surface of a locator jig, the clamping device being formed of a tubular body which is expandable by supply of a pressure fluid. An inflatable lower presser that is arranged along the work area of the work set on the positioning surface, an upper presser that presses the lower presser against the work, and a pressure fluid to the lower presser. A clamp device for a thin workpiece in laser processing, comprising: a pressure fluid supply mechanism that supplies the pressure fluid and discharges the pressure fluid during or after the completion of the laser processing. 2. The pressure fluid supply mechanism can supply a low temperature pressurized fluid to give a cooling effect to the work.
Clamping device for thin workpieces in laser processing according to.