JPH0547341B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a tool or workpiece transfer device.
More specifically, two tools or workpieces (hereinafter referred to as articles) in two tool or workpiece seating portions (hereinafter referred to as article seating portions) in a machine tool that are on seating planes that intersect at a specific angular position. This invention relates to a tool or workpiece transfer device for simultaneous exchange.

[Prior art] The technical field related to logistics today has expanded to a wide range of areas, and the types of goods to be transported have become more diverse, and the seating areas on which goods are attached are no longer limited to horizontal surfaces due to demands for more complex shapes and space savings. , often installed at a specific angular position. When exchanging the articles attached at these specific angular positions with the articles on the trolley or other article mount, this is done manually or by using a conveying device such as a general-purpose robot.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when an article is too heavy to be replaced manually, or when an article is carried for a long time even though it is lightweight, transportation becomes unstable due to fatigue, which poses a safety problem. In addition, conveyance devices such as robots are expensive and uneconomical, and although these conveyance operations have their own drive sources, they are sequential operations, which are time consuming and inefficient, which hinders productivity. It was hot.

An object of the present invention is to replace the tools or workpieces in the seating areas at the same time when the seating areas are in two planes that intersect with each other at a specific angular position, thereby reducing the tool or workpiece transfer time. An object of the present invention is to provide a tool or workpiece transfer device that can shorten the time and improve conveyance efficiency.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following means.

a Two article seating parts 4 and 5 each provided on two seating planes that intersect with each other at specific angular positions
and b. The article seating portions 4, 5 are arranged to exchange the articles 3, 6 on the two article seating portions 4, 5 at the same time.
A tool or workpiece transfer device 7 provided between the two article seating sections 4 and 5, comprising: c a base 8 provided between the two article seating sections 4 and 5; and d. the two article seating sections on the base 8. a support shaft 9 fixed at an intermediate angular position that bisects the angular position in the same plane including e.
a twin arm 10 having a book arm; f a swing drive means 11 for swinging the twin arm 10 when exchanging the articles 3 and 6; g a swinging drive means for swinging when exchanging the articles 3 and 6; levers 15a and 15b swingably provided on the twin arm 10; h arms 22a and 22b movably provided at one end of the levers 15a and 15b; i provided at one end of the arms 22a and 22b; Grippers 12a, 12 for gripping the article
b, and j an operating rod 1 that is engaged with the other end of the levers 15a and 15b and is supported by the support shaft 9 and moves backward;
7, k driving means 19, 19a for driving the actuating rod 17 in the axial direction of the supporting shaft 9; l provided movably in the axial direction of the supporting shaft 9, and by movement in the axial direction, the driving means 19, 19a; Arm 22a, 2
touching the other end of the grippers 12a and 12b in the normal direction of the seating plane,
and when the grippers 12a, 12b grip a tool and swing between the rotating position of the twin arm 10 and the article seating sections 4, 5, the articles 3, 6 interfere with the article seating sections 4, 5. Cam member 2 with a cam surface formed so as to draw a trajectory that does not
5, m, driving means 26, 27 for driving the cam member 25 in the axial direction of the support shaft 9, and n.

[Operation] By adopting the above-mentioned means, this invention has the following advantages:
In order to move the gripping members provided at both ends of the twin arms toward the tool or workpiece on each article seating part in parallel with the seating plane, the cam member is advanced in the direction of the pivot axis axis, and then the gripping member is Immediately after each member grips a tool or a workpiece and takes out the article from the article seating section, the gripping member starts to swing by the swinging means. At this time, since the gripping member moves along the cam surface of the cam member, it first performs a substantially linear movement perpendicular to the seating plane, and then moves the gripping member to a position outside the interference area by only a swinging motion. . Next, after rotating the twin arms 180 degrees, the objects in the respective seating positions can be exchanged by performing the opposite operation.

〔Example〕

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a transfer device in the technical field of logistics that can simultaneously exchange articles attached at specific angular positions with respect to each other. In this example, a tool that is no longer needed in a tool storage magazine attached to a machining center of a machine tool and a new tool on a separately placed stocker or a stocker on a trolley are placed at a specific angular position with respect to the unnecessary tool. This will be explained as an article transfer device used in certain cases.

Embodiments of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described in detail below. FIG. 1 is an overall view of a tool or workpiece transfer device showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. Show the diagram. In the figure, a tool storage magazine 2 is provided on the side surface of a machine tool main body 1 and stores a variety of tools used in the machine tool in a sequentially indexable manner. In the vicinity of this tool storage magazine 2, a cart is positioned and fixed, on which tool holding parts 4, which are a plurality of article seating parts for vertically holding new tools 3, are provided in a positionable and indexable manner.

The tool storage magazine 2 is indexably provided with a plurality of tool pots 5, which are article seating parts for storing tools horizontally, and unnecessary tools 6 are indexed to a replacement position. The seating planes including the respective article seating portions are orthogonal to each other, and the tool or workpiece transfer device 7 of the present invention is installed between the two article seating portions.

This tool or workpiece transfer device 7 is constructed as described below. That is, on the base 8, the angular position (90 degrees) between the seating planes is set to 2.
A hollow support shaft 9 is erected at an angular position (45 degrees). At the tip of this support shaft 9, a twin arm 10 is connected to a rotary actuator 11, which will be described later.
It is pivotably supported. On both sides of the twin arm 10, article gripping members 13a and 13b, which movably hold the gripper 12 at their tips, are supported by pins 14 so as to be swingable by a swinging means to be described later.

Next, the configuration of the swinging means will be explained. That is, one end of levers 15a, 15b supported by the pin 14 is fixed to the article gripping parts 13a, 13b, and elongated holes 16a, 16b are formed in the other ends of the levers 15a, 15b. Lever 15 provided on article gripping portions 13a and 13b, respectively
a and 15b intersect on the extended axis of the support shaft 9. This crossed lever long hole 16a, 1
A pin 18 rotatably provided at the tip of an actuating rod 17 slidably inserted into the hollow support shaft 9 is fitted into the pin 6b.

A cylinder 19 is fixed within the base 8.
The actuating rod 1 is attached to the piston rod 20 of the cylinder 19.
7 are screwed together. Two article gripping members 13 that swing by the swinging means configured as described above.
a and 13b are constructed as follows. That is, arms 22a and 22b are inserted into housings 21a and 21b fixed to one ends of the levers 15a and 15b, respectively, in a slidable and non-rotating manner, and grippers that can be opened and closed by known means are provided at the tips of these arms. 12a and 12b are provided.

Further, at the rear ends of the arms 22a, 22b,
Rollers 23a and 23b are rotatably provided, respectively. Springs 24a, 24b are interposed between the housings 21a, 21b of the arms 22a, 22b and the rollers 23a, 23b to bias the arms 22a, 22b rearward.

Further, a cam member 25 is provided in the middle of the support shaft 9.
is provided to be movable in the axial direction. A cylinder 26 is formed inside the cam member 25, and a piston 27 formed in the middle of the support shaft 9 is inserted into the cylinder 26. Furthermore, the cam member 2
5 is prevented from rotating by a rotation stopper pin 28. A special cam curve 31 is formed on the upper surface of the cam member 25, and rollers 23a, 23b, which are supported on the rear ends of the arms 22a, 22b, are pressed against this cam curve 31 by springs 24a, 24b. This pressing force is made stronger than the opening/closing force of the gripper.

Next, the structure of the rotary actuator 11 that rotates the twin arm 10 will be explained. A hole 30 is formed in the host 29 formed at the center of the twin arm 10, and a stopper 31 is fixed in the hole 30 (FIG. 3). On the other hand, a rotor 32 fixed via a key is inserted into the tip of the support shaft 9 so as to be able to rotate within the hole 30 within the angle (90 degrees) formed by the stopper 31.
Therefore, since the support shaft 9 provided with the rotor 32 is fixed on the base 8, the twin arm 10
will rotate 180 degrees.

Further, a torque actuator 1 is disposed within the support shaft 9 to rotate the twin arm 10 in the axial direction.
1, and a cylinder 26 that moves the cam member 25 up and down.
A hydraulic passageway communicating with is opened. All of these are guided into the base 8 and connected to fixed piping within the base 8, so that piping connections to movable parts are unnecessary and piping processing becomes easy.

Operation of Tool or Workpiece Transfer Device Next, the operation of the present invention configured as described above will be explained based on FIGS. 4 to 7. That is, FIG. 4 shows the tool or workpiece transfer device 7 in its original position. In this case, in the hydraulic circuit diagram shown in FIG. 7, since the solenoid SOL4 of the electromagnetic switching valve 40 for swinging the article gripping members 13a and 13b is energized, the pressure oil flows to the rear of the cylinder 19 and flows through the piston 19a. , the actuating rod 17 is pushed up to the rising end. Gripper 12a, 1 at the tip
Arms 22a and 22b having 2b are in a state parallel to the seating planes of tool pot 5 and tool holder 4, respectively.

Further, while maintaining the postures of the arms 22a and 22b, the electromagnetic switching valve 41 for operating the cam member 25 is activated.
The solenoid SOL2 is energized, and pressure oil is supplied to the lower side of the cylinder 26 in the cam member 25, pushing the cam member 25 down. In this embodiment, the piston is fixed to a support shaft 9. Therefore, the cam member 25 on the cylinder side moves due to the inflow of pressure oil. In addition, the rotor 31 is attached to the support shaft 9 by the excitation of the solenoid SOL6 of the electromagnetic switching valve 42 for actuating the actuator 11 that rotates the twin arm 10.
are fixed, so the stopper 30 in the twin arm contacts one side of the rotor 31, the gripper 12a of the article gripping member 13a is attached to the unnecessary tool 6, and the gripper 12b of the article gripper 13b is attached to the new tool 3. located in opposite positions.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the respective tools 6 and 3 are gripped by the grippers 12a, 12b at the tips of the arms 22a, 22b. That is, when the solenoid SOL1 of the electromagnetic switching valve 41 is excited, pressure oil is supplied to the upper part of the piston 26 of the cam member 25, causing the cam member 25 to rise. As the cam member 25 rises, the arms 22a,
The rollers 23a and 23b at the rear end of 22b abut against the cam member 25. Therefore, the arms 22a, 22b move forward toward the tools 6, 3, and grip the tools 6, 3 with the grippers 12a, 12b, respectively.

Next, the removal operation of each tool and the turning operation of the twin arm 10 will be explained based on FIGS. 6 and 7. With the cam member 25 raised, the solenoid SOL3 of the electromagnetic switching valve 40 is energized. By switching the ports due to this excitation, pressure oil is supplied to the upper part of the piston 19a in the cylinder 19, causing the actuating rod 17 to retreat.

By retracting the actuating rod 17, the arm 22a,
Housings 21a and 21b supporting 22b
are swung via the levers 15a and 15b until they become parallel to the support shaft 9, respectively. As the housings 21a, 21b swing, the rollers 23a, 23b at the rear ends of the arms 22a, 22b move.
It moves along the cam curve of the cam member 25 in the axial direction of the housing.

Therefore, the grippers 12a and 12b gripping the old tool 6 and the new tool 3, respectively, move the cam member 25 as the housings 21a and 21b swing.
The combined movement of the arms 22a and 22b along the cam curve in the axial direction on the housing causes the tools to move until the respective tools 6 and 3 are completely extracted from the tool pot 5 and the tool holding member 4. They each move in a trajectory perpendicular to the seating plane so as not to interfere with the article seating section (6th
figure).

After the respective tools 6 and 3 are extracted, the grippers 12a and 12b further swing while drawing a circular arc until they are mutually parallel to the support shaft 9. That is, the tools 6 and 3 gripped by the grippers 12a and 12b, respectively, stand by outside the area of interference with the other tools. In this state, the solenoid SOL5 of the electromagnetic switching valve 42
When energized, the twin arm rotates until the opposite contact surface of the stopper 30 contacts the rotor 31.

Therefore, the twin arm 10 will rotate 180 degrees. Since the two tools are arranged facing each other (FIG. 6), there is no fear that the tools will fly outward due to centrifugal force even if this turning operation is fast. Therefore, there is no problem in terms of safety. Continuing,
When the solenoid SOL4 of the electromagnetic switching valve 40 is excited, the piston 19a in the cylinder 19 rises again. The housings 21a, 21b swing in the opposite direction, and the arms 22a, 21b swing in the opposite direction.
The rollers 23a and 23b at the rear end of the roller 22b climb onto the cam member 25 and move toward the support shaft along the cam curve.

At this time, the arms 22a, 22b move forward, and the grippers 12a, 1 holding the respective tools 3, 6 at their tips move forward.
2b follows the cam curve of the cam member and draws a locus of linear motion substantially perpendicular to the respective seating surfaces immediately in front of the tool pot 5 and tool holding portion 4. This approximately linear movement (normal direction) causes the new tool 3 to be placed in the tool pot 5 of the tool storage magazine 2 and the old tool 6 to be placed in the tool pot 5 of the tool storage magazine 2.
are each smoothly attached to the tool holding member 4.

Note that this linear movement does not require accurate linear movement, as long as the tool to be replaced can be attached and removed from each seat without any trouble.

The tool or workpiece transfer device described above can be used not only in machine tools but also in technical fields such as logistics, and can be expected to have a wide range of uses.

[Other Embodiments] In the embodiments described above, the tools of a machine tool are replaced, but the invention is not limited to this, and may also be delivered within a factory or replaced within a warehouse. It is also possible to transfer goods directly from unmanned vehicles. Further, although the grippers 12a and 12b are mechanically gripped in the above embodiment, other gripping means such as vacuum suction or electromagnetic suction may be used.

[Effects of the Invention] By having the structure as described above, the present invention has the following advantages:
The compact structure saves space, and the device can be easily relocated. The items to be transferred are not limited to tools or workpieces of machine tools, and are versatile, and since two items can be exchanged at the same time, the transfer efficiency is good, and it has excellent effects such as contributing to improved productivity. It is something that you have.

Furthermore, since the present invention has a cam member for correcting the motion trajectory, when replacing an object, for example, in the case of a tool, the taper shank of the tool and the spindle taper hole of the machine tool that grips the tool can be fixed so that they are in close contact with each other. However, since the twin arm of the present invention is configured to forcibly press the tool against the article seating portion, this configuration allows for accurate insertion and insertion in the axial direction of the main shaft so that this close contact is achieved precisely.
Or it can be extracted.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an overall view of a tool or workpiece transfer device showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a view in the direction of arrow A in Fig. 1,
Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line B-B in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is an explanatory view of the operation of the tool or workpiece transfer device in its original position, and Fig. 5 shows the respective states when gripping an article. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the operation, showing a state in which the arm that has taken out an article is turned, and FIG. 7 is a hydraulic circuit diagram. 3, 6... Article, 4, 5... Article seating part, 7... Tool or workpiece transfer device, 8... Base, 9... Support shaft,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Twin arm, 13a, 13b... Article gripping member, 15a, 15b... Lever, 17... Operating rod,
19...Cylinder, 20...Piston rod.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1 a. Two article seating portions 4 and 5 each provided on two seating planes that intersect with each other at a specific angular position, and b. Each article on the two article seating portions 4 and 5. 3 and 6 at the same time, the article seating section 4,
A tool or workpiece transfer device 7 provided between the two article seating sections 4 and 5, comprising: c a base 8 provided between the two article seating sections 4 and 5; and d. the two article seating sections on the base 8. a support shaft 9 fixed at an intermediate angular position that bisects the angular position in the same plane including e.
a twin arm 10 having a book arm; f a swing drive means 11 for swinging the twin arm 10 when exchanging the articles 3 and 6; g a swinging drive means for swinging when exchanging the articles 3 and 6; levers 15a and 15b swingably provided on the twin arm 10; h arms 22a and 22b movably provided at one end of the levers 15a and 15b; i provided at one end of the arms 22a and 22b; Grippers 12a, 12 for gripping the article
b, j an operating rod 1 that is engaged with the other end of the levers 15a, 15b and is supported by the support shaft 9 and moves backward;
7, k driving means 19, 19a for driving the actuating rod 17 in the axial direction of the supporting shaft 9; l provided movably in the axial direction of the supporting shaft 9, and by movement in the axial direction, the driving means 19, 19a; Arm 22a, 2
touching the other end of the grippers 12a and 12b in the normal direction of the seating plane,
and when the grippers 12a, 12b grip a tool and swing between the rotating position of the twin arm 10 and the article seating sections 4, 5, the articles 3, 6 interfere with the article seating sections 4, 5. Cam member 2 with a cam surface formed to draw a trajectory that does not
5. A tool or workpiece transfer device comprising: m driving means 26, 27 for driving the cam member 25 in the axial direction of the support shaft 9; and n.