JPH0710438B2 - Laser processing machine with automatic nozzle changer - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a laser beam machine with an automatic nozzle changing device, which is capable of automatically changing nozzles of a laser beam machine to perform various types of laser beam machining.

2. Description of the Related Art In a laser processing machine, it is necessary to select and replace a suitable nozzle according to processing conditions, but conventionally, this was all done manually.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention Since manual work requires time and restrains a worker to a specific machine, labor costs are high and there is a problem in safety.

Means for Solving the Problems Tables 2 and 3 that can be moved and positioned in the NC-driven X and Y axis directions orthogonal to each other on the bed 1, a laser oscillator 7 provided on a frame 4 on the bed 1, A laser beam conduit head 5 provided on a mount 6 capable of moving and positioning in the Z axis direction orthogonal to the X and Y axes of NC drive on the front surface of the frame, and the laser beam conduit head 5 can be replaced. A nozzle 16 having a gripping groove 16b for replacement, a magazine member having a plurality of storage pots and supported so as to be arbitrarily indexable, and a nozzle is automatically provided between the magazine member and the laser beam conduit head 5. It is provided with a nozzle exchanging means for exchanging and an NC exchanging device.

Example An X table 2 having a sliding guide surface in the X-axis (horizontal) direction (not shown) provided on the bed 1 and having a sliding guide surface in the Y-axis (forward / backward) direction formed on the upper surface is used for NC drive (not shown). It is movably mounted by a ball screw and is positioned on the X axis. A Y table 3 having a mounting T groove formed on the upper surface of the X table 2 is movably provided by an NC driven ball screw.
The axis is positioned.

On the rear side of the bed, there is provided a frame 4 having a Z-axis (vertical) direction sliding guide surface formed on the front surface, and a laser beam conduit head 5 having a laser beam conduit head 5 on the sliding guide surface.
Is movably provided by an NC driven ball screw and is positioned on the Z axis. It can also be positioned manually. A laser oscillator 7 is provided on the upper surface of the frame 4,
An L-shaped laser beam conduit 8 is fixed to the front surface of the laser oscillator 7, and an L-shaped corner portion of the laser beam conduit 8 is installed at an angle of 45 ° with respect to the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator 7. A mirror is built in, which allows the laser light to be bent at a right angle. The tip of the laser beam conduit 8 is slidably inserted into the center hole of the laser beam conduit head 5 which is mounted on the laser beam conduit mount 6. The laser beam conduit head 5 has a tubular shape, a condenser lens 9 is provided in the hole, an assist gas introducing pipe 10 is screwed into the gas hole 11 on the nozzle side, and is connected to an assist gas source by a hose (not shown). . Further, the central hole 13 of the boss portion at the lower end of the laser beam conduit head 5 has a slightly tapered distal end, and three holes are formed in the central portion in the axial direction from the outer periphery in a radial direction at equal intervals to reduce the inner openings. And the ball
14 and a spring 15 are inserted, and the ball is pushed toward the center by the spring 15 so that part of the ball projects into the center hole 13. In the center hole 13 of the laser beam conduit head 5, there is a R on the outer periphery of the straight portion.
A nozzle 16 having a groove 16a and a positioning flange 16c.
Is inserted, the ball 14 engages with the R groove 16a, and the nozzle 16 is fixed. On the taper side of this nozzle 16, a gripping groove 16b for replacement, which will be described later, is formed.

The central axis facing the X-axis direction is fixed to the side surface of the frame 4,
A nozzle magazine body 17 is supported around the central axis so that it can be arbitrarily indexed by a driving device (not shown), and the nozzle magazine body 17 has a disk shape and is provided with a plurality of pots concentrically. The pot has a nozzle retaining mechanism (not shown) and is arranged parallel to the central axis, and has a structure capable of rotating 90 ° about the center of rotation by the action of a groove cam (not shown) provided on the back surface only at the replacement position. It has a posture perpendicular to the central axis.

Between the front laser beam conduit head 5 of the frame 4 and the magazine device 18, there is provided a nozzle exchanging device having two exchange arms, a twin exchange arm device 22 and a single exchange arm device 23, and a ready station device 24.

The arm mounting cylinder 26 of the twin exchange arm device 22 has a stepped center hole, and a part of the hole forms the hydraulic cylinder 26a.
The sleeve is fixed in parallel with the nozzle 16 in the front Z-axis direction and has a piston 27 in the outer diameter in the center hole of the arm mounting cylinder 26.
28 is fitted. A twin-arm swivel shaft 29 is swivelably supported by a plurality of bearings in a central hole of the sleeve 28,
A twin frame 30 having a flat plate shape and having U-shaped gripping groove portions 30a facing in opposite directions to each other is fixed to the tip of the turning shaft. Near the entrance of the U-shaped groove of the grip groove portion 30a, the balls 32 pushed by the spring 31 from both of them protrude into the groove to prevent the nozzle 16 from coming off.

A drive device main body 33 is fixed to the end surface of the sleeve 28, a 90 ° swivel cylinder 34 is provided on the drive device main body 33, and a 180 ° swivel cylinder 36 which is a double cylinder integrated with a piston 35 fitted in the drive device main body 33. Piston 38 integrated with piston rod 37
Is fitted. Rack together with the piston rod 37
39 is provided and meshes with a gear 40 fixed to the tip of the twin-arm swivel shaft 29. The arm swing body 45 of the single exchange arm device 23 has stepped holes, and part of the holes is a cylinder.
45a is formed and fitted in a hole formed in the front surface of the frame 4 in the Y-axis direction. An arm sleeve 47 having a center hole formed in the hole of the arm turning body 45 and having a piston 46 on the outer diameter.
U-shaped grip groove having a gear 60 at the tip and a flat plate-like tip at the other tip and a retaining mechanism near the tip. A single arm 52, in which 52a is cut, is fixed. The drive device main body 53 is fastened to the end face of the arm sleeve 47, the main body 53 is provided with a turning cylinder 54, and the piston 55 fitted to this is provided with a standby cylinder 56.
A piston integrated with the piston rod 57 in the cylinder 56
58 is fitted. A rack 59 is provided on the piston rod 57 and meshes with a gear 60 fixed to one end of the arm pivot shaft 48.

A ready station device 24 is provided on the front surface of the frame 4 at a position symmetrical to the laser beam conduit head 5 with respect to the twin exchange arm device 22, and an auxiliary pot 66 having a swivel center axis 65 on both sides is horizontally swiveled on the ready station body 67. Hole 67
It is installed so that it can turn 90 degrees horizontally and vertically at a. The auxiliary pot has a blind hole with a slightly tapered entrance 66
has a, and is equally divided into 3 in the radial direction from the outer circumference in the middle of the blind hole 66a.
A retaining hole 68 whose inner opening has a reduced diameter is bored at a position, a ball 69 is inserted, and a part is projected into the blind hole 66a by a pressing spring 70. Further, a segment gear 71 is fixed to one of the turning center shafts 65 and meshes with a rack piston 72 fitted in a cylinder 73 provided in a ready station body 67 through a series of gears to turn the auxiliary pot 66 by 90 °.

The workpiece mounted on the table 3 controlled by the X and Y axes is moved and positioned at a predetermined position by the command of the NC device.
The laser beam conduit mount 6 is positioned in the Z-axis direction by NC driving, and the focus of the laser beam focused by the lens 9 provided in the laser beam conduit head 5 is positioned at the processing position.

The laser light oscillated from the laser oscillator 7 changes its direction at a right angle downward by the 45 ° tilt mirror of the laser beam conduit 8 and is condensed by the condenser lens 9 so that the laser light emitted from the nozzle 16 is directed to the machined surface of the workpiece. Focusing and laser processing are performed. During the laser processing, an assist gas is supplied from the gas hole 11 of the tube 10 to assist the processing and protect the lens, and is jetted from the tip of the nozzle 16 to the laser processing surface. During this processing, a command is issued to replace with a nozzle corresponding to the next other processing, and the magazine device 18 rotates the magasin main body 17 by a driving device (not shown) to select the nozzle 16 required for processing and assign it to the replacement position. Will be issued. The indexed nozzle 16 is swiveled 90 ° around the swivel center axis by the action of the groove cam on the back side by the swiveling operation in which the stored pot is indexed to the replacement position, and the direction is changed at right angles to the magazine center axis and is horizontal. Position of Lady Station 24
Take a posture parallel to.

On the other hand, the empty auxiliary pot 66 of the ready station device 24 is NC
The pressure oil switched according to the command of the apparatus is supplied to the cylinder 73 and is swung around a turning central axis through a series of gears that engage with the rack piston 72 to take a horizontal posture in the Y-axis direction.

The single exchange arm device 23 (FIG. 6 (a)) in the standby position A has the piston changed by switching the pressure oil supplied to the swiveling cylinder 54 and the standby cylinder 56 in response to a command from the NC device.
55 and 58 move forward at the same time, and the rack 59 directly connected to the piston rod 57 moves to rotate the single arm 52 via the gear 60 and the arm rotation shaft 48 to the posture of C (Fig. 6C).
The gripping groove 52a at the tip of the single arm 52 is inserted into the gripping groove 16a of the nozzle 16 indexed to the exchange position of the magazine device 18, and the ball 51 of the retaining mechanism is pushed by the spring 50 so that the R groove of the nozzle 16 is pushed. 16a, the nozzle 16 is a single arm 52
Is gripped by. The pressure oil in the cylinder 45a is switched by a command from the NC device, and the single arm 52 to which the piston 46 moves and is directly connected pulls the nozzle 16 out of the pot of the magazine device 18.

The pressure oil of the swiveling cylinder 54 is switched by the command of the NC device, and the piston 55 moves forward and is directly connected. The single arm 52 holding the nozzle is swung by the movement of the rack 59, and the auxiliary pot that takes the horizontal posture of the ready station device 24. The position of the front surface B is shown in FIG. The pressure oil in the cylinder 45a is switched to move the piston 46, and the single arm 52 inserts the nozzle 16 held by the single pot 52 into the blind hole 66a of the auxiliary pot 66 and the ball 69 pushed by the spring 70 to project into the hole is the R of the nozzle 16. Groove 16a
And the nozzle is fixed. The pressure oil in the standby cylinder 56 is switched, the piston 58 moves forward, and the single arm 52
Is swung, and the tip gripping groove is swung while leaving the gripped nozzle 16 in the auxiliary pot 66 and returns to the standby position A.

The pressure oil supplied to the cylinder 73 provided in the ready station device 24 is moved by the NC command, the rack piston 72 moves, and the auxiliary pot 66 is swung 90 ° around the swivel center axis 65 via a series of gears. The direction is changed to be vertical to the Z-axis direction, and the tip of the nozzle is directed downward to take a posture of standby for replacement. In the exchange arm device 22, pressure oil is sent by a solenoid valve (not shown) which is switched by a command of the NC device, and pistons 38 and 35 which are inserted into the 90 ° swivel cylinder 34 and the 180 ° swivel cylinder 36 are both at the retracted end, The twin arm 30, which is swung via the rod 37, the rack 39, and the swivel shaft 29, faces the Y-axis direction, and the piston 27 is at the upper end by the pressure oil sent to the cylinder 26a, and the sleeve 28 integrated with the piston 27 is formed. The moving twin arm 30 stops upward in the Z-axis direction and assumes the posture of the intermediate standby position D (FIG. 10D). In response to the processing completion command, the laser beam conduit mount 6 is moved in the Z-axis direction, positioned at a predetermined nozzle replacement position, and stopped. In response to a command from the NC device, the pressure oil sent to the 90 ° swivel cylinder 34 of the twin exchange arm device 22 is switched, and the piston 35 moves forward to move the integrally formed 180 ° swivel cylinder 36 and the rack 39 directly connected with the piston 38. The gear 40 fixed to one end of the arm turning shaft 29 is rotated, and the twin arm 30 fixed to the other end of the turning shaft turns 90 ° to take the posture of E (Fig. 10E).
Laser beam conduit head 5 and ready station device 24
The nozzle 16 waiting at the replacement position of the twin arm 30 at the same time
The retaining balls 32 are inserted into the grasping grooves 30a at both ends of the nozzle, and the retaining balls 32 are pressed against the R groove 16a of the nozzle by the spring 31 to be grasped.

Subsequently, the pressure oil in the cylinder 26a is switched and the piston 27
Moves downward, the twin arm 30 moves to the table side in the Z-axis direction via the sleeve 28 and the twin arm swivel shaft 29, and the nozzle 16 gripped by both is withdrawn.

In accordance with a command from the NC device, the pressure oil in the 180 ° swivel cylinder 36 is switched to move the piston 38 forward, and the twin arm 30 is turned 180 ° while holding the nozzle 16 at both ends, and then the posture of F (first
0) The twin arm 30 in which the pressure oil in the cylinder 26a is switched and the piston 27 moves upward and is directly connected to the twin arm 30, moves to the arm mounting cylinder 26 side and grips both nozzles 16 with the laser beam conduit head 5 and the auxiliary pot of the ready station device 24. The retaining balls 14 and 69, which are inserted into the holes of 66 and project into the holes, are pressed and fixed to the nozzle R groove 16a. The pressure oil supplied to the 90 ° swivel cylinder 34 is switched again, the piston 35 retracts, the twin arm 30 swivels 90 °, and both nozzles 16 gripped are released from the gripping groove 30a, and the intermediate standby position G Stop in the posture (Fig. 10).

The laser beam conduit head 5 in which the nozzle has been replaced is again moved in the Z-axis direction by the command of the NC device and positioned at a predetermined position, and at the same time, moved by the command of the NC device to the machining start position and is moved in the X and Y positions. Laser processing is performed on the workpiece on the table 3. The ready station device 24 becomes horizontal by the movement opposite to the front, and the single arm device 23
Is moved to an empty pot in the incision posture of the magazine body 18 and the tools of the magazine are indexed by the next tool command.

Effect As described above in detail, the present invention eliminates the manual nozzle replacement, so that the safety of the operator is ensured, and further the work efficiency is improved and the labor is saved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view of a laser processing machine, FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional explanatory view of the vicinity of a laser beam conduit head nozzle, FIG. 3 is a ready station device explanatory diagram, and FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a single arm drive device, FIGS. 6 (a), (b) and (c) are explanatory views of the positional relationship between the single arm and the swing cylinder, and FIG. , FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of the twin arm drive device, FIG. 9 is a view of the twin arm, and FIGS. 10 (d), (e), (f), and (g) are explanatory views of the positional relationship between the twin arm and the swing cylinder. is there. 2 ... X table, 3 ... Y table 5 ... Laser beam conduit head 6 ... Laser beam conduit mount, 7 ... Laser oscillator 9 ... Focus lens, 16 ... Nozzle 17 ... Nozzle magazine body 18 ...... Magazine device. 22 ...... Twin exchange arm device, 23
...... Single exchange arm device 24 …… Ready station device 26 …… Arm mounting cylinder, 33 …… Drive device body 34 …… 90 ° swivel cylinder 36 …… 180 ° swivel cylinder 52 …… Single arm, 54 …… Swivel cylinder 56 …… Standby cylinder, 66 …… Auxiliary pot 72 …… Rack piston, 73 …… Cylinder

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A table which is NC-movable and positionable in the X and Y-axis directions on a bed, a laser oscillator provided on a frame on the bed, and an NC-driven Z on the front surface of the frame.
A laser beam conduit head provided on a mounting base that can be moved and positioned in the axial direction, a nozzle that is replaceable with the laser beam conduit head and that has a gripping groove for replacement, and a plurality of nozzle accommodating pots that are arbitrarily divided. An automatic nozzle replacement comprising a magazine member supported so as to be capable of being ejected, a nozzle replacement means for automatically replacing a nozzle between the magazine member and the laser beam conduit head, and an NC controller. Laser processing machine with device.