JPH1080835A - Automatic tool changer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To integrate the drive systems of a plurality of operation parts to synchronously control the respective parts reliably and easily and construct the whole device compactly with a layout of a high degree of freedom in order to assure a quicker replacement operation. SOLUTION: A replacement arm 2 is swung by a swing cylinder 6, and shifted by a shift cylinder 7 in the swing axis direction. A door 3 between a main shaft 1 and a tool magazine is opened and closed by a door cylinder 8. A tool clamp spring 4 on the main shaft 1 side is driven by a clamp cylinder 9. The cylinders 6 to 9 are connected with four remote cylinders 26 to 29 respectively through hydraulic pipings 16 to 19. Four cams which drive the remote cylinders 26 to 29 are provided in a cam box 5 and synchronously rotated by a motor. The rotation of the cams is converted to hydraulic motion to drive the cylinders 6 to 9 on the driven side.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic tool changer for a machine tool.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a hydraulic actuator system, a servomotor system, a cam system, and the like are known as a drive system of an automatic tool changer. However, any of these systems has various problems in increasing the speed of a change operation. There was a point. In the case of the hydraulic actuator system, the hydraulic pump is increased in size to increase the flow rate, and a switch is required to check the operation of the actuator, which is not suitable for high speed operation. In the case of the servo motor system, it is necessary to use a large-sized and high-output motor, which leads to an increase in the size of the apparatus and an increase in cost. In the case of using a cam, the operation is excellent in terms of certainty. However, in order to increase the speed, it is necessary to increase the size of the cam, and naturally, the size of the cam box also increases.

[0003] As shown in FIG.
In many cases, the replacement arm 52 is installed near the main shaft 53 so as to reach the main shaft 53.
When the size of the cam is increased, it is necessary to design the length of the exchange arm 52 to be longer, which results in the effect of increasing the size of the cam being canceled out. For driving the arm, it is necessary to use an expensive three-dimensional cam called a roller gear cam. In addition, the usual automatic tool changer is equipped with a door 55 for preventing scattering provided between the main shaft 53 and the tool magazine 54, and a tool clamp (not shown) for tightening and loosening the tool on the main shaft 53 side. Therefore, in order to increase the speed, these actuators are also increased in size, which not only limits the layout of the entire apparatus but also complicates a control system for synchronizing the actuators.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to increase the speed of the exchange operation by integrating the drive systems of a plurality of operating units, thereby making it possible to reliably and easily control each unit synchronously and to control the entire apparatus. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic tool changer that can be compactly configured with a layout having a high degree of freedom.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an automatic tool changer according to the present invention comprises a swivel cylinder for swiveling an exchange arm, a shift cylinder for shifting the exchange arm in a swivel axis direction, and a spindle. Door cylinder, which opens and closes a door provided between the tool cylinder and the tool magazine, a clamp cylinder that drives a tool clamp on the spindle side, four remote cylinders connected to each cylinder via hydraulic piping, It comprises four cams for separately driving the cylinders, and a driving means for synchronously rotating each cam.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, this automatic tool changer includes a tool (not shown) near the spindle 1.
Arm 2, for turning and pulling in and out, a scatter prevention door 3 provided between the spindle 1 and a tool magazine (not shown), a tool clamp spring 4 for tightening and loosening the tool on the spindle 1 side, and a cam Box 5 is equipped.

In the vicinity of the exchange arm 2, a swing cylinder 6 for swinging the exchange arm 2 and a shift cylinder 7 for shifting the exchange arm 2 in the direction of the swing axis are provided. The swing cylinder 6 is provided with a rack 11 and a pinion 12. The rotation shaft 13 is connected to the rotation shaft 13 via the rotation shaft 13. A door cylinder 8 for opening and closing the door is provided near the door 3, and a clamp cylinder 9 for driving the tool clamp spring 4 is provided on the main shaft 1.
These four cylinders 6 to 9 are connected to four remote cylinders 26 to 29 on the cam box 5 via hydraulic pipes 16 to 19, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, inside the cam box 5, four cams 36 to 39 and four rods 4 are provided.
6 to 49 are disposed at positions corresponding to the remote cylinders 26 to 29, respectively. The cams 36 to 39 are supported by a common shaft 21, are synchronously rotated by a motor 22 as driving means, and are connected to a rod 46 via a cam follower 23.
To 49, slide the remote cylinders 26 to 29
Is configured to be driven. FIG. 2 exemplifies a drive system of the exchange arm 2 in the direction of the rotation axis, and the cam 37 has a cam groove 37 a having a shape corresponding to the tool removal operation of the arm 2. Other cams 36, 38,
39 also has a cam groove having a shape corresponding to the operation of the driven object.

The hydraulic pipe 17 is provided with a shut-off valve 31 for shutting off a hydraulic closed circuit of the arm shift system on the way, and a switching valve 32 between the hydraulic pipe 17 and the hydraulic unit on the machine side. Then, the circuit is shut off by the shutoff valve 31,
By switching the switching valve 32, the shift cylinder 7 can be independently driven by the hydraulic pressure of the machine, and the other drive systems are configured in the same manner. It can be operated independently, and maintenance and centering can be performed without any problem.

According to the automatic tool changer configured as described above, the tool clamp spring 4 is tightened or loosened on the main shaft 1 side and the door 3 is opened and closed in synchronization with the shift and turning operations of the change arm 2. be able to. In this case, the cam 36
To 39 are converted into fluid motions via the remote cylinders 26 to 29 to drive the driven cylinders 6 to 9, so that the exchange arm 2, the door 3, and the tool clamp spring 4 are moved according to the non-compression characteristics of the hydraulic oil. Cams 36 to 39 respectively
Can be operated accurately according to the cam shape of Further, by setting the cross-sectional area of the driven cylinders 6 to 9 smaller than that of the remote cylinders 26 to 29, the cams 36 to 39 and the cam box 5 can be increased without increasing the size.
It is also possible to operate the exchange arm 2, the door 3, and the tool clamp spring 4 at high speed, respectively.

Although the cams 36 to 39 are arranged beside the rods 46 to 49 in the cam arrangement of the above embodiment, the cams may be arranged behind the rods. Further, the tool clamp on the main spindle 1 side is not limited to the clamp spring 4,
Various clamp mechanisms that can tighten and loosen tools can be adopted. In addition, the shape and configuration of each part may be appropriately changed and embodied without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0012]

As described above in detail, according to the automatic tool changer of the present invention, in order to increase the speed of the changing operation, the drive systems of a plurality of operating parts are integrated and the respective parts are reliably and easily controlled synchronously. In addition to this, there is an excellent effect that the entire apparatus can be compactly configured with a layout having a high degree of freedom.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of an automatic tool changer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a drive system of an exchange arm in the same device.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a cam box showing an arrangement of cams in the device.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing a conventional automatic tool changer.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Spindle, 2. Replacement arm, 3. Door, 4. Tool clamp spring, 5. Cam box, 6, Rotating cylinder, 7, Shift cylinder, 8, Door cylinder, 9
..Clamp cylinders, 10 .., 16-19..hydraulic piping, 22.motors, 23..cam followers, 26-
29 .. remote cylinder, 31 .. shut-off valve, 32 ..
Switching valve, 36-39 .. cam, 46-49 .. rod.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A swivel cylinder for swiveling an exchange arm;
A shift cylinder that shifts the exchange arm in the direction of the rotation axis, a door cylinder that opens and closes a door provided between the spindle and the tool magazine, a clamp cylinder that drives a tool clamp on the spindle, and hydraulic piping for each cylinder An automatic tool changer comprising: four remote cylinders connected via a cable; four cams for separately driving each of the remote cylinders; and driving means for synchronously rotating the cams.