JPH10249671A - Mist lubricating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To lubricate a lot of gang heads efficiently by means of a simple mist lubricating system, and further, maintain a stable lubrication with no maintenance control. SOLUTION: This mist lubricating device is composed of a mist generator 14, forming a mist after atomizing lubricating oil, and mixing this mist into compressed air, a mist distribution line connecting this mist generator 14 and respective gang heads 10a to 10n together, and installed with each of selector valves 18a to 18n in respective mist intakes of these gang heads, and a distribution selector means 20 opening or closing these selector valves 18a to 18n of the gang heads, and switching the mist to the destination gang head to be supplied, respectively.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a mist lubrication device applied to a machine tool such as a transfer machine and a flexible machine, and more particularly to a mist lubrication device for lubricating a main shaft bearing portion and a gear of a gang head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are various lubrication methods used for machine tools, such as grease lubrication, oil bath lubrication, and oil mist lubrication. Among these, in oil bath lubrication, the oil is agitated, so there is a disadvantage that the heat of agitation of the oil generated increases as the rotational speed of the machine increases. Recently, as the speed of machines has increased, lubrication methods for cooling and supplying oil have become mainstream.

[0003] Oil mist lubrication is an oil supply system particularly suitable for lubrication of high-speed main shaft bearings and the like. In this oil mist lubrication, the atomized oil is pumped by air, so that the main shaft bearing having a large calorific value can be cooled simultaneously with lubrication by high-speed rotation.

Conventionally, an oil bath lubrication system is generally employed for lubricating a gang head of a transfer machine or a flexible machine. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of oil bath lubrication of a gear box of a gang head. 1 indicates a gear box. Various gears are housed inside the gear box 1, and FIG. 2 shows a gear 3 that is coaxial with the main shaft 2. An oil bath 4 in which lubricating oil is stored is provided at the bottom of the gear box 1, and a part of the gear 3 is soaked in the lubricating oil.

[0005] In the case of oil bath lubrication, the cutting agent scattered during machining is prevented from entering through the gap between the main shaft 2 and the gear box.
An oil seal 5 and a labyrinth seal 6 are used as gap seals. In order to prevent the outer peripheral surface of the main shaft 2 rotating at high speed from being worn by friction with the oil seal 5, a ceramic coating 7 is formed on a portion of the outer peripheral surface of the main shaft 2 which comes into contact with the oil seal 5. It is common.

[0006]

However, the oil bath type lubrication system in the gang head 1 requires periodic replacement of the deteriorated oil seal 5 and the lubricating oil. However, there is a problem that maintenance management is considerably required and the cost is increased.

[0007] When the speed of the gang head 1 is increased,
Since the stirring resistance in the oil bath 4 is large and the amount of heat generated by the stirring resistance increases, high-precision processing becomes difficult due to thermal displacement.

On the other hand, the mist lubrication system is more suitable for high speed and higher precision than the oil bath system. However, with a plurality of gang heads, there is an inconvenience that the lubricating oil amount and the air flow rate required by a high-speed transfer machine are insufficient with only a single mist unit, and the mist unit cannot cope with it.

When a mist lubrication system is used for lubrication of each gang head, it is necessary to install a plurality of mist units or to increase the capacity of the mist unit itself, but the lubrication system becomes complicated. There is also a big problem in terms of cost.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and to efficiently lubricate a large number of gang heads by a mist lubrication system with a simple system and without the need for maintenance management. An object of the present invention is to provide a mist lubricating device that can maintain stable lubrication and that contributes to high-speed and high-accuracy transfer machines and flexible machines.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a machine tool equipped with a gang head, in which lubricating oil is sprayed onto lubricated parts such as main shaft bearings and gears of each gang head. In a mist lubrication device that supplies the mist together with compressed air, a mist is generated by atomizing lubricating oil, and the mist is mixed with the compressed air, and the mist lubrication device is connected to each gang head. A mist distribution line in which a switching valve is provided at each mist intake of the gang head, and distribution switching means for opening and closing the switching valve of each gang head and switching the gang head to which the mist is supplied. It is characterized by the following.

According to the mist lubricating device of the present invention, the mist is distributed to the respective gang heads connected to the mist generating device by the mist distribution line by opening and closing the switching valve. In each gang head supplied with mist, the inside of the gear box is filled with mist, so during the operation of the gang head, the rotating gears and main shaft bearings capture the lubricating oil by collision with the mist, Lubricating oil adheres to places requiring lubrication.

According to a preferred embodiment, the distribution switching means supplies a mist to each gang head for a predetermined time, replenishes a required amount of lubrication, closes the switching valve, and supplies the gang head to which the mist is supplied. Are sequentially switched.

By distributing the mist in this way,
The mist generating device can cope with a device that is not large in capacity.

According to the mist lubrication device of the present invention,
An air supply line for supplying compressed air is provided in parallel with the mist distribution line, and each gang head is connected to the air supply line via a switching valve, and the distribution switching means switches the switching valve, and sets an arbitrary gang. Compressed air is supplied to the head from the air supply line to increase the internal pressure of the gang head.

In such a configuration, the distribution switching means can constantly supply the compressed air from the air supply line to the gang head which performs the processing using the cutting agent, and can increase the internal pressure. Inside the gang head where processing using a cutting agent is performed, the internal pressure is increased by the supplied air. By increasing the internal pressure in this way, an air curtain for preventing the intrusion of a cutting agent from the outside is always formed in the gang head during machining.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a mist lubrication device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 1, 10a, 10b, 10c,.
n indicates the gang head of the transfer machine. The gang heads 10a, 10b, 10c,.
Many are arranged in a line, and constitute a series of combined machining steps. The workpiece is sequentially transferred from the gang heads 10a to 10n, and different processing is performed by the respective gang heads 10a to 10n.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a compressed air supply source such as a compressor. The air pipe 1 extending from the compressed air supply source 12
3 is connected to the mist generator 14. Air that is pressurized to a predetermined pressure from the air pipe 13 is introduced from the air supply ports of each of the mist units 15, 15,.

The mist generator 14 is configured by connecting a plurality of mist units 15, 15,... Used for oil mist lubrication of a machine tool in parallel. The mist units 15, 15,... Used in this embodiment are a venturi that atomizes oil droplets of lubricating oil by air to generate mist, an injection pump that sends lubricating oil to the venturi, a flow rate, It is equipped with various valves for controlling pressure, atomization amount, etc.

Each of the mist units 15, 15,...
Discharge pipes join the main pipe 16 of the mist distribution line. The branch pipes 17a, 17b, 17c,... 17n are respectively separated from the main pipe 16 of the mist distribution line.
It is connected to the mist intake of the gang heads 10a to 10n.

Each of the branch pipes 17a to 17n has
The electromagnetic switching valves 18a, 18b, 18c at the port 2 position
18n are provided. These electromagnetic switching valves 18a,
The opening and closing operations of 18b, 18c,...
The sequence is controlled by 0. The control device 20 controls the operation of the mist generating device 14, and according to a preset order, the electromagnetic switching valves 18a, 18b,
The solenoids 18c,..., 18n are excited or demagnetized. From the main pipe 16 of the mist distribution line, the mist is supplied to the gang head through an electromagnetically opened switching valve among the electromagnetic switching valves 18a to 18b. Conversely, the supply of mist to the gang head of the demagnetized electromagnetic switching valve is stopped. In this manner, the control device 20 controls the gang heads 10a to 10a.
The function of switching the distribution of the mist to n by opening and closing the electromagnetic switching valves 18a to 18n. How to distribute the mist to each of the gang heads 10a to 10n will be described later.

Next, an air supply line provided in parallel with the main pipe 16 and the branch pipes 17a to 17n of the mist distribution line will be described.

An air pipe 21 for supplying air for increasing the internal pressure to each of the gang heads 10a to 10n separates from an air pipe 13 for supplying air to the mist generator 14 from the compressed air supply source 12. It has become.
The air pipe 21 is provided with a pressure reducing valve 22 for adjusting the air pressure to a set pressure. This air pipe 2
From 1, branch pipes 23a to 23n connected to the gang heads 10a to 10n are branched, and the branch pipes 23a to 23n are provided with electromagnetic switching valves 24a to 24n for opening and closing the pipes. The opening and closing operations of these electromagnetic switching valves 24a, 24b, 24c,... 24n are sequence-controlled by the control device 20, and air is passed through the electromagnetic switching valve that has been excited and opened to allow any gang head 10 to operate.
a to 10b.

Next, the operation of the mist lubricating apparatus of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. While the gang heads 10a to 10n are working on the workpiece, mist is supplied from the mist generator 14 to each of the gang heads 10a to 10n as follows.
In this embodiment, each of the gang heads 10a to 10n
The mist is supplied for a certain time every time. For example, among the solenoid-operated switching valves 18a to 18n, the solenoid of the solenoid-operated switching valve 18a is excited for a certain period of time, whereby the mist generator 14 flows through the main pipe 16 and the branch pipe 17a of the mist distribution line to the gang head 10a. An amount of mist corresponding to the amount of oil is supplied. Thus, the gang head 10
a is filled with a mist, and the electromagnetic switching valve 18a
Is demagnetized and the supply of mist is stopped.
At the same time, the mist is distributed to the next gang head 1
To switch to 0b, the solenoid of the electromagnetic switching valve 18b is excited. When the electromagnetic switching valve 18b is opened, mist is supplied to the gang head 10b from the main pipe 16 and the branch pipe 17b of the mist distribution line. Hereinafter, the mist is sequentially supplied to the gang heads 10c, 10d,..., 10n.

In each of the gang heads 10a to 10n supplied with the mist, the inside of the gear box is filled with the mist. During the operation of the gang heads 10a to 10n, a collision with the mist occurs on the rotating gears and the main shaft bearings. Due to this collision, the gears and the main shaft bearing portion capture the lubricating oil, and the lubricating oil adheres to a portion requiring lubrication. Thus, in each of the gang heads 10a to 10n,
Proper lubrication is maintained.

When the mist lubrication system is adopted in the gang head lubrication system, unlike the conventional oil bath lubrication shown in FIG. 2, the lubrication oil is used to spread the lubricating oil to seals such as oil seals and gears in the gear box. Parts associated with lubrication, such as an oil pump and its piping, become unnecessary. In particular, with a large number of gang heads, a considerable component reduction can be achieved for the entire lubrication system.

Further, unlike the conventional oil bath lubrication, periodic maintenance work such as periodic replacement of the lubricating oil in the gear box and the oil seal is not required, so that the labor of the lubrication system for the entire gang head can be reduced. Maintenance costs can be reduced.

Further, the mist lubrication system has an advantage that it can easily cope with an increase in the speed and accuracy of the gang head as compared with the oil bath lubrication system in which the stirring resistance is large and heat easily accumulates. In other words, with mist lubrication, there is no friction loss associated with lubrication and heat is carried away with air, so high-speed,
Applicable to high precision transfer machines.

On the other hand, in the present invention, a large number of mist generated by the mist generating device 14 are provided to the gang heads 10a to 10a.
0n, so that the mist generating device 14 can sufficiently cope with it even if it is not large in capacity. Therefore, it is not necessary to have as many mist units 15 as the number of gang heads 10a to 10n.

The above description is based on the gang heads 10a to 10a.
n is the distribution and supply of mist in the case of performing processing without using a cutting material. Next, for example, in the case of processing an aluminum-based work, a case where a step mainly using a cutting agent is described. I do.

In FIG. 1, gang heads 10a, 1
At 0b, it is assumed that machining using a cutting agent is performed. In order to supply air to the inside of the gang heads 10a and 10b, the solenoids of the electromagnetic switching valves 23a and 23b are excited, and the electromagnetic switching valves 23a and 23b are kept open during machining. Thus, the gang heads 10a and 10b using the cutting agent are always supplied with air at a predetermined flow rate from the air pipe 21.

Inside the gang heads 10a and 10b, the internal pressure is increased by the supplied air.
By increasing the internal pressure in this manner, the gang head 1
An air curtain for preventing the intrusion of a cutting agent from the outside is always formed in the inside of 0a and 10b during machining.
Since the intrusion of the cutting agent is prevented by the air curtain, the generation of rust on the bearing portion and the gear caused by the cutting agent can be prevented.

[0033]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a mist generating device for generating mist by atomizing lubricating oil and mixing the mist into the compressed air of the compressed air, A mist distribution line in which a lubricating device is connected to each gang head, a switching valve is provided at each mist intake port of the gang head, and a gang head to which the switching valve of each gang head is opened and closed to supply mist The mist lubrication method can efficiently lubricate a large number of gang heads with a simple system, and can maintain stable lubrication without the need for maintenance management.
It can be used for lubrication system of high precision transfer machine and flexible machine.

Further, the mist is supplied to each gang head for a predetermined time by the distribution switching means, and after the required amount of lubrication is supplied, the switching valve is closed and the gang head to which the mist is supplied is sequentially switched. Since the mist is distributed by using the mist, the mist lubrication device is not provided for each gang head, and the mist generation device can cope with a large mist generation device.

Further, an air supply line for supplying compressed air is provided in parallel with the mist distribution line, each gang head is connected to the air supply line via a switching valve, and a gang for performing machining using a cutting agent. Since compressed air can be constantly supplied to the head from the air supply line to increase the internal pressure, intrusion of the cutting agent into the gang head can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of an embodiment of a mist lubrication device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of conventional oil bath lubrication.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10a to 10n Gang head 12 Compressed air supply source 14 Mist generator 15 Mist unit 16 Mist distribution line 20 Control device (distribution switching means) 21 Air supply line

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A mist lubricating device for supplying mist of lubricating oil together with compressed air to lubricated portions such as a main shaft bearing portion and a gear of each gang head of a machine tool having a gang head, wherein the lubricating oil is supplied. A mist generating device for generating mist by atomization and mixing the mist into the compressed air, connecting the mist lubrication device and each gang head, and a switching valve was provided at each mist intake of the gang head. Mist distribution line, distribution switching means for opening and closing the switching valve of each gang head and switching the gang head to which the mist is supplied,
A mist lubrication device comprising: 2. The distribution switching means supplies a mist to each gang head for a predetermined time to supply a required amount of lubrication.
The mist lubricating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the switching valve is closed, and the gang head to which the mist is supplied is sequentially switched. 3. An air supply line for supplying compressed air is provided in parallel with the mist distribution line, and each gang head is connected to the air supply line via a switching valve.
The said distribution switching means switches the said switching valve, supplies compressed air from the said air supply line to arbitrary gang heads, and was made to be able to raise the internal pressure of the said gang head. Mist lubrication equipment. 4. The mist lubrication system according to claim 3, wherein said distribution switching means constantly supplies compressed air from said air supply line to a gang head for performing machining using a cutting agent to increase the internal pressure. apparatus.