JPH0544022Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] This invention is attached to tool storage equipment in a workshop that automatically performs high-mix, low-volume production using a machining center. This invention relates to an automatic tool changer that automatically performs tool handling operations such as returning tools to equipment.

[Conventional technology]

In a workshop where a machining center is used to automatically produce a wide variety of products in small quantities, there is a limit to the number of tools that can be stored near the machining center. For this reason,
Special tools are replenished from a tool storage facility installed in another location, but the necessary tools are taken out from this tool storage facility and loaded into a tool magazine for transport, or returned from the machining center. The tool handling process, in which tools are picked up from the tool magazine and stored in the tool storage equipment, is carried out between the tool storage equipment and the machining center, where the tools are held in an upright position by the tool magazine. , the tools stored in the tool storage facility may be placed against a vertical surface for ease of handling or to ensure retention during storage.
The tool is tilted at an angle of about 20 degrees, and it is not easy to replace the upright tool with the tilted tool using a single machine, and in the past this process was done manually.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

In production lines that automatically perform high-variety, low-volume production using machining centers, it has been desired to mechanize the work of removing and storing tools in tool storage equipment.

Therefore, the automatic tool changer of the present invention mechanizes the above-mentioned work.

[Means for solving problems]

A rotary actuator is mounted on a mounting frame that is movable up and down between a tool magazine having a tool socket that supports tools upright and a tool storage facility that has a tool socket that supports tools at an angle. Mount the frame plate so that the axis of the tool socket is inclined at an angle of 1/2 of the inclination angle of the tool socket that supports the tool, and attach the frame plate to the rotating shaft so that the upper surface of the frame plate is inclined with respect to the axis of the rotating shaft. Install it with the same inclination angle as the corner, and on the upper surface of the frame board,
The rod supported perpendicularly to the upper surface supports a support block that moves up and down by the operation of a lifting cylinder, and the support block is guided by a second rod provided in a direction perpendicular to the rod. A tool gripping section that moves forward and backward is provided.

[Effect]

When the rotation axis of the rotary actuator is not rotating, the tool grip moves horizontally back and forth, and either grips the tool held upright in the tool magazine or holds the tool upright in a predetermined position in the tool magazine. Load in condition. Also, if the rotation axis of the rotary actuator is rotated 180 degrees,
The tool grip is tilted at an angle twice the mounting angle of the rotary actuator and turned in the opposite direction. If the tool gripping section is advanced in this inclined state, the tool gripping section advances from a direction perpendicular to the inclined axis of the inclined tool with respect to the tool stored at an inclined angle in the tool storage equipment. Either grasp this tool, or load the tool that was being grasped into the equipment.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the automatic tool changer of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a column erected perpendicularly to the floor 2. Guide rods 3, 3 are provided on both sides, and a pair of sprockets 4, 4 are provided on the upper and lower sides, and an endless chain is attached to both sprockets 4, 4. 5 is hung. Reference numeral 6 denotes a mounting frame for mounting the guide rods 3,
3, and this mounting frame 6 is fixed to the endless chain 5. 7 is a rotary actuator, which is installed at an angle to the mounting frame 6;
The motion axis of this rotary actuator 7
The angle formed with the rotating shaft 8 is set to 10 degrees. this
The setting angle of 10 degrees is 1/2 of the inclination angle of the tool 10 stored in the tool storage equipment 9 described later, and in this embodiment, the tool 10 is stored at an inclination angle of 20 degrees. It is set as. Reference numeral 11 denotes a tool gripping portion, with a pair of grip claws 12, 12 facing each other;
Both grip pawls 12, 12 are always urged in the direction of abutting each other by springs 13, 13, respectively, and a fitting member 14 is provided between both grip pawls 12, 12. ，
12 to maintain appropriate spacing. An opening 15 for inserting a tool is formed at the tip of both grip claws 12, 12. 16,1
Reference numeral 6 indicates a pivot point for both grips 12, 12. 1
7 is a cylinder for moving the fitting member 14 forward and backward; 18 is a holder for both grips 12; this holder 18 has a second guide rod 1;
9 and 19 are connected to the shaft 21 of the cylinder 20, and both grip claws 12 and 12 are connected to the shaft 21 of the cylinder 20.
It is made to move forward and backward by 0. 22
is a support block into which the guide rods 19, 19 are fitted horizontally; guide rods 23, 23 are also fitted vertically into this support block 22;
and is supported by a lower frame plate 25. Reference numeral 26 denotes a cylinder for raising and lowering the tool gripping section 11, which is fixed to the upper frame plate 24, and a cylinder shaft 27 is fixed to the support block 22. 28, 28 are guide rods supported by the upper frame plate 24 and the lower frame plate 25. The lower frame plate 25 has an inclined surface at an angle of 10 degrees formed on the lower surface, and the rotation axis 8 of the rotary actuator 7 is perpendicular to this inclined surface 29, and the upper surface 30 of the lower frame plate 25 is made perpendicular to the inclined surface 29. Horizontally rotate axis 8
and an inclined surface 29, thereby supporting the tool gripping part 11 and the mechanism for moving the tool gripping part 11 forward and backward and raising and lowering the part by the rotary actuator 7. Reference numeral 31 designates a portable tool magazine for transporting a plurality of tools 10. A cylindrical part 33 is erected in the center of a base frame 32, and a rotary plate 34 is supported by this cylindrical part 33.
A plurality of tool sockets 35 are provided along the outer periphery of the tool socket 14, and the tool 10 is loaded into the tool socket 14. 36 is a transport device for the portable tool magazine 31, and the magazine 31 is placed on the board 37.
A pin 38 for supporting the magazine 31 and a rotating plate 39 are provided, and pins 40 and 41 for controlling the rotation of the rotating plate 34 of the magazine 31 are provided upright on the rotating plate 39. 42 is a lifting mechanism for the board 37, 43
is a box housing a Geneva gear mechanism for intermittently rotating the rotating plate 39.

This conveyance device 36 has rails 4 laid on the floor 2.
Wheels 46 provided on the base 45 are guided,
Further, a pinion gear 48 provided on a base 45 is engaged with a rack 47 provided on the floor 2, and the pinion gear 48 is rotated by a motor 49 provided on the base 45 to cause the vehicle to travel.

The tool storage facility 9 includes a support 50 erected on the floor 2.
A rail frame 51 is provided divided into several stages, an endless chain body 52 is horizontally spanned over this rail frame 51, and a tool socket 53 is fixed to this endless chain body 52. The opening is tilted upward at a 20 degree angle in the front.

The automatic tool changer of the present invention is attached to a tool storage facility of a production line that uses a machining center to produce a wide variety of products in small quantities to automatically change tools.The operation thereof will be described below.

Tools 10 currently stored in tool storage facility 9
If there is a command for a tool to be conveyed to a machining center (not shown) from inside, the tool is conveyed to the front of the device of the present invention by the movement of the endless chain body 52. Therefore, if the rotary actuator 7 is activated and the rotating shaft 8 is rotated 180 degrees,
The lower frame plate 25 also rotates 180 degrees together. Incidentally, the upper surface 30 of the lower frame plate 25 was initially in a horizontal state, but the rotating shaft 8 tilted at an angle of 10 degrees
Since the lower surface of the lower frame plate 25 rotated at a angle of 10 degrees and connected perpendicularly to the rotation axis 8 is also an inclined surface 29 at an angle of 10 degrees, the lower frame plate 25 inverted from the horizontal state
The upper surface 30 of is inclined at an angle of 20 degrees with respect to the horizontal plane. The dashed-dotted line shown in FIG. 2 shows the inverted state of this tool gripping portion 11. In this state, the lifting cylinder 26 is operated to lift the tool gripping part 11.
Raise cylinder 2 to an appropriate height, and then
0 is activated to advance the grip pawls 12, 12, and the cylinder 17 is activated to extract the fitting member 14 from between the grip pawls 12, 12. The advanced grip pawls 12, 12 eventually collide with the tool 10, but the grip pawls 12, 12 further collide with the tool 10.
When the tool 10 is advanced, the grip pawls 12, 12 that hit the tool 10 are both pushed up against the elasticity of the springs 13, 13, and the tool 10 is pushed up against the grip pawl 1.
2, 12, both grip claws 12, 1
2 presses and grips the tool by the elasticity of springs 13, 13. Therefore, when the cylinder 26 is actuated to raise the tool gripping portion 11, the tool 10 is removed from the tool socket 53.

When the rotary actuator 7 is operated again while the tool 10 is being gripped and the rotary shaft 8 is rotated 180 degrees in the opposite direction, the tool gripping section 11 returns to the horizontal state and grips the tool in an upright state. are doing.
In this state, the cylinder 20 is actuated, and the cylinder 26 is further actuated to position the tool 10 above the tool socket 35 of the portable tool magazine 31. Load into socket 35.

After loading, the grip claws 12,
12, both grip claws 12, 12 are pushed apart by the tool 10 against the elasticity of the springs 13, 13, and eventually the tool 1 is pulled out from the opening 15.
0 is removed, and the loading operation of the tools 10 into the portable tool magazine 31 is completed.

The operation of returning the tools in the portable tool magazine 31 to the tool storage facility 9 is performed in the reverse order of the operations described above, so a detailed explanation will be omitted.

[Effect of idea]

The automatic tool changer of the present invention allows the tool gripping section to be moved up and down, forward and backward, as well as gripping an upright tool and inverting it to make the tool tilted, or vice versa. If a tilted tool is reversed, the tool is gripped in an upright position, so it is possible to use tool storage equipment that stores and stores tools at an angle, and transport tools in an upright position. Tools can be exchanged automatically and accurately with a portable tool magazine.If this device is adopted in a production process that uses a machining center to produce a wide variety of products in small quantities, the production line can be fully automated and the production The more you improve your sexual performance, the more effective it will be.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the automatic tool changer of the present invention together with its usage mode, Fig. 2 is a front view of the main part enlarged and shown in longitudinal section, and Fig. 3 is the same as Fig. 2. - Line cross-sectional view. 6... Mounting frame, 7... Rotary actuator, 8... Rotating shaft, 9... Tool storage equipment, 10...
...Tool, 11...Tool gripping part, 12...Grip claw, 13...Spring, 19...Guide rod, 20...Cylinder, 22...Support block,
24... Upper frame plate, 25... Lower frame plate, 26... Cylinder, 29... Inclined surface, 30... Upper surface, 31...
Portable tool magazine, 35...tool socket, 3
6... Conveyance device, 52... Endless chain body, 53
...Tool socket.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A rotary actuator is mounted on a mounting frame that is movable up and down between a tool magazine having a tool socket that supports tools upright and a tool storage facility that has a tool socket that supports tools at an angle. Mount the frame plate so that the axis of the tool socket is inclined at an angle of 1/2 of the inclination angle of the tool socket that supports the tool, and attach the frame plate to the rotating shaft so that the upper surface of the frame plate is inclined with respect to the axis of the rotating shaft. Install it with the same inclination angle as the corner, and on the upper surface of the frame board,
The rod supported perpendicularly to the upper surface supports a support block that moves up and down by the operation of a lifting cylinder, and the support block is guided by a second rod provided in a direction perpendicular to the rod. An automatic tool changer equipped with a tool gripping part that moves forward and backward.