JPH07101365B2 - Automatic machine tool - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Industrial field of application" The present invention is composed of a numerically controlled machining machine such as a machining center and a multi-faced workpiece supply device, and sequentially machines a plurality of workpieces of different types or the same type by unmanned operation. The present invention relates to an automatic machine tool adapted to do so.

“Prior Art” In recent years, as shown in FIG. 8, a work supply device 22 capable of accommodating a plurality of pallets 21 and a numerically controlled machine tool 23 installed facing the supply device 22 are combined. An automated machine tool (FMC: Flexible Manufacturing Cell) that is configured as described above and is capable of unmanned operation under the control of a numerical controller has been developed and used. By the way, in such an automatic machine tool, if the tool breaks during unmanned operation such as at night and further machining becomes impossible, the apparatus is stopped and the operating rate is reduced. Therefore, when the tool management means determines that the tool cannot be used due to an abnormality such as tool cutting loss, the machining process that becomes infeasible due to that is controlled by the numerical control machine tool operation in the machining process. If there is a machining process that can be stopped and skipped, and the next skip process is performed with a tool having a normal value, the machining process is immediately executed to finish machining of the workpiece, and machining is performed after the skip process. When there is no processing step that can be performed, it is conceivable to finish the processing of the workpiece as it is and immediately perform the processing of another workpiece to minimize the decrease in the operating rate.

"Problems to be Solved by the Invention" However, in the above method, for example,
When unmanned machining at night is completed, one or more machining processes remain unfinished, and the next day, after exchanging an unusable tool, these machining products are unfinished. It was necessary to set a new program for the machining, and it took time and effort.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a numerical value from a workpiece supply device provided with a plurality of pallets to which workpieces are attached, together with the workpiece supply device and the like. By control device
In the automatic machine tool that processes the workpieces sequentially supplied to the numerically controlled machine tool controlled according to the NC program by the tool inserted in the numerically controlled machine tool corresponding to the machining process, , A tool management means for judging whether or not the selected tool can be used, a storage means for storing the result thereof, and a search for the storage means in the processing of each work piece, and the abnormality of the tool such as a cutting loss of the tool When the use is judged to be impossible by the tool management means, the machining process which has become inexecutable is skipped by stopping the operation of the numerically controlled machine tool in the machining process, and then skipping the skipping process. If there is a machining process that can be machined by another normal tool, that machining process is immediately executed to finish machining of the workpiece, and machining that can be performed after the above skip process. When there is no degree is a skip means for machining the machining directly terminated immediately following the other workpieces of the workpiece, and means for storing the skipped skipped step by said skipping means, the skip process
The NC program was extracted, re-edited, and prepared so that only the skip step could be executed.

"Operation" The automatic machine tool selects the tool to be used according to the machining process according to the NC program of the numerical control device, and performs machining sequentially. At that time, the tool management device checks whether or not the tool can be used. As a result, if the tool cannot be used, or if the tool required for the machining process that presupposes that the tool is to be used is unusable, the machining step is removed by stopping the operation of the numerically controlled machine tool in that machining step, and the skip is skipped. If there is a machining process that can be machined with another normal tool after the process, that machining process is executed to finish machining of the workpiece, and if there is no machining process that can be machined after the skip process, that machining process is performed. The processing of the object is finished as it is, and the processing of the next object is performed. Therefore, only the minimum necessary processing steps are omitted, but the other processing is continuously performed, and the decrease in operating rate and the loss of time and energy are minimized. The storage means stores the removed machining process. Then, the editing means re-edits the stored machining process program, and when the disabled tool is manually replaced, the preparation process is performed so that the machining process remaining without being executed can be automatically executed. .

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, A is a numerical controller, and this numerical controller A is a CPU1, a ROM3, a RAM4, a CRT display device 5, an input device 6 such as a keyboard, a bubble memory connected to the CPU1 via a bus 2 of the CPU1. It is composed of a non-volatile memory (storage means) 7 such as.

Here, the ROM 3 stores a program for controlling the numerically controlled machine tool 23 and the like, and the RAM 4 is used as a work area of the CPU 1 for processing such as temporary storage of data. Further, the non-volatile memory 7 stores an NC program, a tool table, a machining table, and a skip process table. The input device 6 is composed of a keyboard switch, a push button switch, a changeover switch, etc., and registers operation commands or various parameters and data in each mode (memory, manual, edit, etc.) of the numerically controlled machine tool 23, and edits such as cutting. The CRT display device 5 is used for displaying work such as internal data and setting data. An I / O interface 8 is provided as a signal processing device with a PLC (logic controller that executes sequence control) attached to the numerically controlled machine tool 23, and commands from the numerically controlled machine tool 23 (start , Feed hold, block skip, etc.), and signal exchange with the tool management device 11 is performed through the I / O interface 8.

The tool management device 11 integrates the use time of each tool and outputs an alarm when a preset life time is reached, or in order to detect breakage of a drill or the like, at the start of processing. The limit switch 12 installed in the vicinity of the table of the machining center has a function of recognizing a breakage when a check operation is performed by hitting the tip of the drill and it is missed, and the latter is adopted in this embodiment.

Various tables stored in the non-volatile memory 7 will be described below.

(A) Tool Table The tool table is configured so that its size matches the tool magazine, and as shown in FIG. 2, the first column is the pot number of the tool magazine in which the tools are stored, and the second column is The tool number, the third column is the previous tool number, and the fourth column is the defective flag display column. The pot number and the tool number are set using the input device 6 when the tool magasin tool is inserted. The previous tool number is the number of the tool to be processed before machining with this tool.For example, in the case of the tap of this tool, a drill with a diameter corresponding to the specified tap diameter It is a tool, and the front tool of this drill is the center drill. For a tool without a front tool, that fact is stored, and the * mark is conveniently displayed on the CRT display device 5. This front-to-back relationship between tools is specified only when there is a one-to-one communication relationship between tools, and when the connection relationship between tools is different in different work pieces, or even in the same work piece, it is different. In this case, it is necessary to give an instruction for each processing step that is performed later. The association between the tool number and the previous tool number may be set by using the input device 6, or can be set by using the automatic programming function (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-196145) for general setting. is there. The defect flag column stores the tool whose breakage has been detected by the breakage detection function of the tool management device 11, and when the limit switch 12 detects a defect, a signal to that effect is sent from the tool management device 11 and this 1 is displayed in the defect flag part of the tool table, and 0 is normal
Is displayed.

(B) Machining table The machining table indicates the order in which machining is performed on a certain machined product. Like the tool table, the machining process that is a prerequisite for machining each machining process, that is, the machining process is performed. The process that needs to be completed before the process is input as the pre-processing process. The context of the machining process displayed in this machining table is described when the communication relationship of the tools used is peculiar and cannot be generally specified, or when it is less direct than the context of the tools. . Since the former was described, the latter will be described.For example, if the tools interfere with each other in the machining of the next process unless the machining process is completed, or if the machining order is specified as such, the accuracy will be higher. This is specified when high processing is possible. This processing table is set for each processed product as shown in FIG. 3, and the sequence numbers indicating the processing steps for the processed product are sequentially displayed. The sequence number is displayed as the previous sequence number. The setting method is also performed using the CRT display device 5 and the input device 6. Note that the relationship between these machining processes is described at the beginning of the NC program for each machining number, read into the memory at the start of machining, and stored in the memory as a machining table to save memory. Also becomes.

(C) Skipped process table When a tool breakage occurs during machining of a pallet during unmanned operation and machining related to the tool is skipped (this process will be described later), the skipped process is stored. To do. In this skip process table, as shown in FIG. 4, the sequence numbers of the machining processes skipped for each processed product number are sequentially displayed as skip sequence numbers.

This skip process table is called by the operator after finishing all the processes on the workpiece supply device 22 in the unmanned operation, and is used for confirmation of the process steps that have not been executed, setup of re-processes, and the like. After the defective tool is replaced by the operator, the program is re-edited so that only the remaining steps can be automatically performed. Also,
Even during unattended operation, as will be described later, this skip step table is checked at the start of processing of each step, the skip sequence number and the processing table are compared, and if the pre-processing step is impossible, a new step is newly added. Is also skipped, and its sequence number is also registered as a skip sequence number.

Next, the operation of the automatic machine tool of the present invention will be described. First, the NC program stored in the non-volatile memory 7
It will be described with reference to the drawings. Although this NC program is also input from the input device, it may be transferred from another recording medium and input.

A processed product number (01234; in the example) corresponding to the processed product is described at the beginning of the program. With this number, the required program is selected from the plurality of machining programs stored in the non-volatile memory 7. (The processing table described above and the skip process table described later are configured according to this number). In the machining program, various machining processes necessary for machining are sequentially described for each machining item number, and usually one machining process number (sequence number) is specified for one tool. There is.

In the example of FIG. 5, during the processing of the processed product number 01234,
Tool change command indicated by sequence number N0030 (T101M0
6;) is described. As a result, the tool with the described tool number (T101) is inserted into the spindle of the machining center. After that, the block skip check code (M33;)
Is described, followed by a program for calling a / code (block delete code) and a subprogram (stored in the non-volatile memory 7) for machining by the tool (in the figure, ×). ××××
Abbreviated as XXX). When this skip check code comes, the block skip subprogram is executed as follows. First, whether the spindle insertion tool itself can be used,
Also, the presence or absence of a front tool of the spindle mounting tool, if there is a front tool, the availability of the front tool is checked in the tool table, and if any of the tools is defective, the current sequence number is skipped. The processed product number is registered in the table, and the block delete code is validated to proceed to the next step without processing the block.

If the previous tool and the tool are not defective, the machining table is searched for the presence of the previous machining step. If there is the previous machining step, the skip step table is referred to and the preceding machining step is skipped. Check, and if skipped, perform the same processing as in the case of tool failure.

As described above, when both are normal, the block delete code is invalidated and the cutting subprogram of the tool (number 101) is called. Usually, at the head of this subprogram, there is an operation program for checking whether or not the tool is broken during machining. The result is stored in the tool management device 11. If the tool is broken, the subsequent machining process is skipped and the sequence number N0030 is registered in the skip process table.

In this way, after finishing all the processing steps for the processed products, and further after processing all the processed products placed on the pallet, by the program stored in ROM3,
The re-editing work of the skipped process is performed.

The process of this re-editing work will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 6 and the configuration diagram of the nonvolatile memory 7 in FIG. First, the operator inputs the processed product number from the input device 6 (St1). Then, the skip process table corresponding to this processed product number is searched, and the index 1 is set in the storage area of this table (St2). Then the corresponding NC
Search for the program and index 2 in its storage area
Set (St3). Next, the empty area in the non-volatile memory 7 is designated and the index 3 is set (St4).
Hereinafter, the sequence numbers listed in the skip process table are read by sequentially referring to index 1 (St
5) Transfer the NC program corresponding to that number from index 2 to index 3 (St6), and continue this until there are no skipped steps (St8). When the skip process disappears, the end program is transferred to the area of index 3 (St9), and the editing of the program for rework is completed. The contents of the end program are a return program to the origin position, a pallet change command, a program end command, and the like.

As a result of the above, an NC program is created that collects only skip processes with new processed product numbers, and this creation is performed for the processed products on all pallets. As a result, when the operator issues a start command after the unusable tool is replaced, the unprocessed process is automatically operated as a new processed product unattended.

"Effects of the Invention" As described in detail above, the present invention is controlled according to an NC program from a workpiece supply device provided with a plurality of pallets to which workpieces are attached, by a numerical controller together with the workpiece supply device and the like. In an automatic machine tool that processes a workpiece sequentially supplied to a numerically controlled machine tool by a tool inserted in the numerically controlled machine tool in accordance with a machining process, the selected tool is used for the numerical controller. Tool management means for determining whether or not the result is stored, storage means for storing the result, and the storage means searched in processing each workpiece,
When it is judged by the tool management means that the tool cannot be used due to an abnormality such as tool cutting loss, the machining process that becomes infeasible due to that is stopped the operation of the numerically controlled machine tool in that machining process. If there is a machining process that can be skipped and then processed by another normal tool after the skip process, the machining process is immediately executed to finish machining of the workpiece, and machining that can be performed next to the skip process. When there is no process, skip means for immediately ending the processing of the workpiece and immediately processing the other workpiece,
The skip means skipped by the skip means is stored, and the NC program of the skip step is extracted and re-edited to prepare to execute only the skip step. Since only the cutting process related to the defective process such as loss or life is skipped by stopping the operation of the numerically controlled machine tool in the machining process,
Minimal damage in terms of time and energy is required, and the delay can be limited to only the time required for the broken tool and the process associated with the tool. Moreover, since the NC program relating to the machining process skipped due to tool damage or the like can be quickly edited and re-machining can be quickly performed after the tool is manually replaced, it is relatively easy as shown in FIG. In the system such as FMC, which is a device configuration, delay recovery can be performed without trouble, and as a result, a high operating rate can be maintained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention,
2 is a diagram showing an example of a tool table, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a machining table, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a skip process table, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an NC program, FIG. FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the entire control process of the numerical control device, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the program arrangement in the non-volatile memory, and FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the mechanical configuration of the numerical control device. A: Numerical control device, 1 ... CPU, 7 ... Non-volatile memory, 11 ... Tool management device 21 ... Pallet, 23 ... Numerical control machine tool.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A workpiece sequentially supplied from a workpiece supply device having a plurality of pallets for mounting workpieces to a numerically controlled machine tool which is controlled by a numerical controller together with the workpiece supply device and the like according to an NC program. In an automatic machine tool for machining with a tool inserted into a numerically controlled machine tool corresponding to a machining process, the numerical controller has:
Tool management means for judging whether or not the selected tool can be used, storage means for storing the result, and searching the storage means for processing each workpiece, and using the tool due to abnormality such as tool cutting loss. If it is determined by the tool management means that it is not possible, the machining process that becomes infeasible due to it is skipped by stopping the operation of the numerically controlled machine tool in that machining process, and then normalizing after the skipping process. If there is a machining process that can be machined with another tool, the machining process is immediately executed and the machining of the workpiece is finished. The skip means for finishing the processing as it is and immediately processing another workpiece, a means for storing the skip step skipped by the skip means, and an NC program for the skip step. Automatic machine tool reedited by extracting the ram, characterized in that the means for preparing such may perform only skip steps are provided.