JPH0671443A - Device for profiling height of torch - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To keep the height of torch constant even when skins, rusts, or paints are stuck on the surface of a working member to be machined. CONSTITUTION:A torch 3 and a laser sensor 5 are fit to a supporting body 6 which is driven in elevating and lowering with a lifting mechanism 4 by keeping a positional relation being preliminarily set. A reflecting plate 9 having a definite reflection factor is arranged oppositely facing to the laser sensor, and the reflecting plate is fixed on a carriage 13 which has a rotary body 12 and energized to the surface side of the working member B to be machined with a spring 14. A laser beam irradiated from the laser sensor is reflected by the reflecting plate, and a signal is generated from the laser sensor having received the reflecting beam. The height of the torch can be kept by operating the lifting mechanism corresponding to this signal. Because the laser beam is reflected with a reflecting plate, the influence due to the surface state of the working member to be machined is not received.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a height copying device for maintaining the height of a welding torch or cutting torch from the surface of a workpiece to be substantially constant.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Welding materials such as stainless steel plates and steel plates using electric welding torches, plasma welding torches, etc.
Alternatively, cutting is performed using a gas cutting torch, a plasma cutting torch, a laser cutting torch, or the like. When performing such processing, if the height of the torch from the surface of the material to be processed changes, the quality of the welded portion and the cut surface may be adversely affected. Therefore, the height of the torch is maintained constant during processing. That is, when the torch is moved, the torch is made to follow the surface of the workpiece.

When the height of the torch is maintained constant, a sensor having a constant height relationship with the torch is arranged around the torch, and the sensor detects and detects the distance to the workpiece. It is common to control the lifting device of the torch and sensor so as to return to the original height when the height changes.

As the above-mentioned sensor, there are used a sensor for injecting compressed air having a constant pressure to measure a change in back pressure, a sensor for measuring a change in magnetic capacity, and the like. These sensors have their respective characteristics and are used properly according to the torch used. Recently, a laser sensor that detects a distance by reflecting a laser beam is often used.

[0005]

There are various types of materials to be processed, such as stainless steel plates having a glossy surface or polished steel plates, steel plates having a black skin or rust on the surface, and steel plates having an anticorrosion coating. . When a laser sensor is used for such a material to be processed, the reflection of laser light may not be stable depending on the surface condition of the material to be processed, and the distance to the surface may not be accurately detected. There's a problem.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a torch height copying apparatus capable of stably copying the height regardless of the state of the surface of the workpiece.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a torch height copying apparatus according to the present invention is a torch height copying apparatus for welding or cutting a material to be processed. A reflective plate that is in contact with the surface of the workpiece and has a constant reflectance, and a laser sensor that irradiates the surface of the reflective plate with a laser beam and receives the reflected laser beam to generate a signal, A support that supports the laser sensor and the torch in a preset positional relationship, a spring that connects the support and the reflector, and raises and lowers the support according to a signal from the laser sensor. It is configured to have an elevating mechanism.

[0008]

According to the above-mentioned height copying apparatus, even if black skin, rust or paint adheres to the surface of the work material, the laser sensor can stably treat the work material with the work material regardless of the state. The distance can be detected, and the height of the torch from the surface of the work piece can be kept constant. Therefore, the surface of the workpiece can be accurately traced when the torch is moved along with the processing.

That is, a reflecting plate, which is in contact with the surface of the material to be processed through a rotating body and has a constant reflectance on the surface, is attached to the support through a spring, and a torch and a laser sensor are mounted on the support. Since it is supported with a preset positional relationship in the vertical direction, the laser light emitted from the laser sensor to the reflector is always reflected in a stable state regardless of the surface state of the work material and is reflected by the laser sensor. Received light.

Since the reflector plate is biased toward the surface of the work piece by the spring, the rotating body is pressed against the surface of the work piece. Therefore, the rotating body rotates as the torch moves, and the reflecting plate follows the surface of the work material. When the work material is distorted in the height direction, the reflection is reflected according to this distortion. The distance between the plate and the laser sensor changes and the output signal from the sensor changes. The height of the torch can be kept constant by operating the lifting mechanism to move the support up and down according to the change of the signal.

When the laser sensor and the reflection plate are covered with a cover, these sensors and the reflection plate can be protected from the light generated during welding or cutting, and a certain reflectivity can be maintained. .

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the height copying apparatus will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of a height copying apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating the configurations of a laser sensor and a reflector of the height copying apparatus. The height copying device according to the present invention is applied to a welding device or a cutting device and maintains a constant height from the surface of a work material of a torch provided in these devices. An example in which the height copying device is applied to a cutting device will be described below.

In the figure, a height copying device A is mounted on a carriage 2 which can be traversed along a frame 1 of, for example, a numerically controlled cutting device mounted movably on rails laid in parallel. It is installed. The traveling direction and speed of the frame 1 and the carriage 2 are controlled in accordance with a cutting program previously input to the numerical controller, and in the course of this traveling, the torch 3 can be operated to cut a desired figure from the workpiece B. is there.

An elevating motor 4a constituting an elevating mechanism 4 is fixed to the carriage 2, and an elevating bracket 4b is attached so as to be able to ascend and descend. The elevating motor 4a and the elevating bracket 4b are connected by a screw rod 4c, and the elevating motor 4a can be driven to elevate the elevating bracket 4b along a guide 2a provided on the carriage 2.

A support 6 for integrally supporting the torch 3 and the laser sensor 5 is fixed to the lifting bracket 4b. A torch holder 7 is attached to a predetermined position of the support 6, and the torch 3 is attached to the holder 7 so that the vertical position can be adjusted. A support bracket 8 is fixed to a predetermined position of the support 6, and the bracket 8 is provided with a laser sensor 5 and a reflecting plate 9.

A laser sensor 5 is fixed to the tip of the support bracket 8, and a slide guide 10 is attached to a predetermined position. Guide bar on slide guide 10
11 is fitted, and a carriage 13 having a rotating body 12 rotatably attached to the tip of the guide bar 11 is fixed. Further, the guide bar 11 is provided with a spring 14 for urging the carriage 13 downward (in the direction of the workpiece B). A reflector 9 is fixed to the carriage 13 so that a part of the carriage 13 faces the laser sensor 5.

The laser sensor 5 is fixed to the support 6 (support bracket 8) with a preset positional relationship with the torch 3. That is, the torch 3 to be used is determined according to the processing content of the material B to be processed, and the height according to the torch 3 is set. For example, when the torch 3 is a gas cutting torch, the height of the torch 3 is about 7-10 mm.
It is set to a degree.

The distance between the sensor 5 and the reflector 9 is set according to the performance of the laser sensor 5 to be used, and the distance between the surface of the workpiece B and the reflector, that is, the workpiece is set according to the shape of the reflector 9. Material B surface and laser sensor 5
The distance to and is set. Therefore, by determining the shape of the reflector 9, the position of the laser sensor 5 with respect to the torch 3 is set.

As the rotating body 12, a ball, a roller, a free roller or the like can be used. In particular, in a device for cutting a cutting line including a curve such as a numerically controlled cutting device or a profile cutting device having a tracer, it is preferable to use a ball or a free roller capable of rotating in any direction as the rotating body 12. . Further, in a straight line cutting device or a welding device for straight lines, a roller that can rotate in one direction may be used as the rotating body 12. In this embodiment, a ball is used as the rotating body 12.

The reflector 9 is arranged so as to face the laser sensor 5. This arrangement method is not particularly limited. That is, as shown in the figure, a reflecting plate 9 bent in a crank shape may be formed, and a part of the reflecting plate 9 may be opposed to the laser sensor 5, and a plate-like reflecting plate may be provided on the upper surface of the carriage 13. The laser sensor 5 may be attached and the laser sensor 5 may be fixed near the slide guide 10 so as to face the reflection plate.

The material of the reflector 9 is not particularly limited. However, it is necessary that the surface of the reflection plate 9 has a constant reflectance with respect to the laser light. In this embodiment, a stainless plate having a thickness of 2 mm is used.

A cover 15 for protecting the laser sensor 5 and the reflection plate 9 from outside light is attached to the support bracket 8. The cover 15 is formed in a box shape with an open lower surface, and generates light when cutting the workpiece B (for example, when the torch 3 is a gas cutting torch, combustion of gas and combustion of workpiece). The laser sensor 5 is prevented from generating noise due to light generated by the laser, plasma light in the case of a plasma cutting torch, laser light in the case of a laser cutting torch, and the like).

When the height copying device A is mainly applied to a welding device or a straight line cutting device for machining a straight line, a set of laser sensor 5 and reflector 9 may be provided around the torch. However, when it is applied to a welding device for welding a welding line including a curved line or a cutting device for cutting a cutting line including a curved line, it is preferable to dispose a plurality of laser sensors 5 and reflecting plates 9 around the torch 3. In this way, a plurality of sets of laser sensors 5 and reflectors 9 are provided around the torch 3.
When the torch 3 processes the edge portion of the work material B by arranging the combination of
Even if the combination of the reflector 9 and the reflecting plate 9 is separated from the surface of the work material B, the work material B may be combined by another combination
It becomes possible to imitate the surface of.

Next, the operation when the height of the torch 3 is maintained by the height copying apparatus A configured as described above will be described. First, the lifting mechanism 4 is operated and the laser sensor 5 is operated to lower the support 6 to move the carriage 13
The rotating body 12 is brought into contact with the surface of the work material B. Rotating body 12
When comes into contact with the surface of the workpiece B, the reflecting plate 9 stops descending, the spring 14 bends, and the laser sensor 5 approaches the reflecting plate 9.

In the above state, the distance between the laser sensor 5 and the reflector 9 is larger than a preset value, and the laser sensor 5 generates a signal indicating that the height of the torch 3 is high. In response to this signal, the lifting mechanism 4 further operates to lower the support 6. When the distance between the laser sensor 5 and the reflector 9 coincides with a preset value in this process, the laser sensor 5 generates a signal indicating that the height of the torch 3 is at the preset value, and the operation of the lifting mechanism 4 is stopped. To do.

Then, a preheating flame is radiated from the torch 3 toward the workpiece B, and cutting oxygen is jetted to start the cutting of the workpiece B. Then, the torch 3 moves according to the graphic information and the operation program input to the control device to execute the cutting of the workpiece B.

In the above cutting process, when the material B to be processed is distorted, the reflecting plate 9 moves upward or downward depending on the distortion, and the distance between the plate 9 and the laser sensor 5 changes. Then, the laser sensor 5 generates a signal indicating that the torch 3 should be raised or lowered. The elevating motor 4a is driven in response to this signal, and the support 6 is moved upward or downward until the laser sensor 5 generates a predetermined signal. This operation is always performed in the course of cutting, and thus the height of the torch 3 can be maintained regardless of the surface state of the work material B.

[0028]

As described in detail above, in the torch height copying apparatus according to the present invention, a reflecting plate having a constant reflectance is moved along the surface of the work piece as the working progresses, By irradiating this reflector with laser light and reflecting it, even if there is black skin, rust, or paint on the surface of the work piece, the surface of the work piece can be kept in a stable state. The feature is that the height of the torch can be kept constant by copying.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of a height copying apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating a configuration of a laser sensor and a reflector of the height copying apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A Height Copying Device B Work Material 1 Frame 2 Carriage 3 Torch 4 Lifting Mechanism 4a Lifting Motor 4b Lifting Bracket 5 Laser Sensor 6 Support 8 Support Bracket 9 Reflector 10 Slide Guide 11 Guide Bar 12 Rotating Body 13 Truck 14 Spring 15 cover

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A torch height copying apparatus for welding or cutting a material to be processed, comprising: a reflector which is in contact with the surface of the material to be processed via a rotating body and has a constant reflectance on the surface; A laser sensor that emits a laser beam to the surface of the reflector and receives the reflected laser beam to generate a signal, a support that supports the laser sensor and the torch in a preset positional relationship, and the support A torch height copying apparatus comprising: a spring connecting a body and the reflection plate; and an elevating mechanism for elevating the support according to a signal from the laser sensor. 2. The torch height copying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the laser sensor and the reflector are covered with a cover.