JPH1158167A - Tool changing device and tool changing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To smoothly mount a tool by a simple mechanism. SOLUTION: In a position where an arbor Ta of a tool T is inserted into a tool mounting part 11 for a prescribed rate, an upper end of an arm rock pin 92 is push-pressed on a lower surface of a lower machinery frame 26, a taper surface of the arm rock pin 92 is openly fitted to a round groove 51b arranged on a lower surface of an arm rotary shaft, and thereby, an arm rock mechanism AR is released. When the arm rock mechanism AR is released, an arm main body 12 is independently oscillated from a turning shaft 25. Even if positioning accuracy is slightly reduced when the tool T is inserted into the tool mounting part 11, it is absorbed by oscillation of the arm main body 12, and thereby, the tool T is completely mounted smoothly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tool changing device and a tool changing method for changing a tool set on a spindle of a machine tool and a tool magazine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a machine tool capable of exchanging a tool between a spindle and a tool magazine. These machine tools are provided with a tool changing device for performing tool changing, and a tool set on the main spindle and the tool magazine is gripped by a gripping portion provided at a tip of a tool changing arm constituting the tool changing device. The tool is changed by changing the position of the tool by a turning motion of the tool changing arm around the turning axis, and by detaching the tool from the tool mounting portion of the main spindle by a reciprocating motion of the tool changing arm in the turning axis direction. there were.

[0003]

However, after turning the tool changing arm as described above, the tool changing arm is moved in the direction of the turning axis, and the tool is mounted on the tool mounting portion of the main spindle. A problem arises if the position of the latter tool is slightly offset from the axis of the main spindle. In other words, when trying to mount in such a state, before the tool is completely mounted in the tool mounting section, the tool and the tool mounting section of the spindle collide and interfere with each other, and the tool is forcibly forced under load. In the worst case, there is a problem that the tool or the spindle is damaged. For this reason,
It was necessary to strictly set the positioning accuracy of the tool change arm after turning, and in order to achieve this positioning accuracy, it was necessary to use an expensive roller gear cam having a high-precision cam groove.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a tool changer capable of smoothly mounting a tool by a simple mechanism.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a tool changer of the present invention is provided with a grip portion for gripping a tool at at least one end, and rotates around a rotation axis. A movable arm body is provided, and the tool gripped by the gripping portion is inserted and fitted into the tool mounting portion of the main shaft using the rotational motion and the reciprocating motion of the swiveling shaft, or from the tool mounting portion. In the extracting tool changing device, an arm lock mechanism for integrally fixing the arm body with respect to the pivot is provided, or an arm lock / release means for releasing the arm body is provided.
The arm lock mechanism is released when the tool is inserted into the tool mounting portion to a predetermined insertion depth.

According to the above configuration, after the tool is inserted to the predetermined insertion depth, the arm lock mechanism is released, so that the arm body with the tool held at the tip can swing. Become. As a result, after the arm lock mechanism is released, the tool can freely move on a predetermined circumferential orbit centered on the turning axis. That is, after the tool is inserted to the predetermined depth, even if the tool position is slightly shifted, the tool is moved along the mounting surface of the tool mounting portion of the main spindle along with the movement of the arm body in the direction of the turning axis. Mated. At this time, since the tool is inserted while being guided by the tool mounting surface of the spindle, no load is applied between the tool and the tool mounting portion.

At the above-mentioned predetermined insertion depth, there is a certain clearance between the mounting surface of the tool and the mounting surface of the tool mounting portion of the spindle. It is possible to reduce the positioning accuracy of the tool position after the rotation of the shaft. Therefore, unlike the related art, there is no need to provide an expensive mechanism using a roller gear cam or the like in order to strictly set the tool position after the turning of the turning shaft, and it is possible to design by allowing an error corresponding to the clearance. It is. As a result, the manufacturing cost of the device can be reduced.

Further, the tool and the tool mounting portion each have a tapered surface which engages with each other, and the tool is inserted and fitted into the tool mounting portion along the tapered surface. It may be something. With this configuration, the tool
After being inserted to the above-mentioned predetermined insertion depth, even if it is slightly displaced with respect to the axis of the main shaft, it is inserted and fitted while swinging along the tapered surface of the tool mounting portion.

Further, according to the tool changing method of the present invention, an arm body provided with a grip portion for gripping a tool at least at one end is rotated about an axis of a turning shaft or reciprocated in the axial direction. Thereby, in the tool changing method in which the tool gripped by the gripping portion is inserted and fitted into the tool mounting portion of the main spindle, or the tool is removed from the tool mounting portion, the arm body is integrally fixed to the pivot shaft. A step of operating an arm lock mechanism for inserting the gripped tool into the tool mounting portion up to a predetermined insertion depth, and wherein the tool has the predetermined insertion depth. Releasing the arm lock mechanism so that the arm body can be independently rotated with respect to the rotation axis when the arm body is inserted up to The tool characterized in that it comprises a step of inserting the fitting into the tool mounting part. The above method is a tool changing method that can use the tool changing device according to the present invention, and the tool gripped by the arm main body changes the tool position and inserts a predetermined insertion depth into the tool mounting portion of the spindle. Until it is fully inserted, it follows the position accuracy of the pivot axis,
Thereafter, the arm lock mechanism is released. Therefore, thereafter, the tool is inserted and fitted according to the shape of the tool mounting portion in a state where the tool can swing around the pivot axis.

As for the positioning accuracy of the tool after turning, an error is allowed by the size of the clearance between the tool and the tool mounting portion of the spindle at the above-mentioned predetermined insertion depth, so that the positioning accuracy of the prior art is required. The tool change is completed without any change. As a result, it is not necessary to use a roller gear cam or the like which has been conventionally used because high accuracy is required, so that the manufacturing cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

[0011] In the above-mentioned tool exchanging method, the tool and the tool mounting portion each have a tapered surface which engages with each other, and the tool is inserted and fitted to the tool mounting portion along the tapered surface. It may be characterized by the following. With this configuration, after the tool is inserted to the predetermined insertion depth, even if the tool is slightly displaced with respect to the axis of the main shaft, the tool swings along the tapered surface of the tool mounting portion. Is inserted and fitted.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings in order to further clarify the embodiments of the present invention. The embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the following examples at all, and it goes without saying that the embodiments can be implemented in various modes as long as they belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

First, the entire machining center on which the tool changer TC of this embodiment is mounted will be outlined with reference mainly to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, in this machining center, a headstock 3 is supported by a column 2 fixed upright to a base 1. The headstock 3 is guided by a pair of linear guides 4 and is moved vertically by a Z-axis feed motor 5 and a feed screw 6. The table 7 provided on the base 1 is movable in the horizontal plane direction. On the headstock 3, a spindle motor 8, a spindle 9 and a rotary tool magazine 10 are mounted. The spindle 9 and the tool magazine 10 are disclosed in
The same one disclosed in 23646 is used.

The spindle 9 has a tool mounting portion 11 capable of detachably holding the tool T, and a tool release for releasing the tool T by being connected to the tool mounting portion 11 via a drawbar (not shown) and being pushed down. Pins (not shown). The tool magazine 10 is provided with a plurality of holding pots, which hold the tool T in a detachable manner and are usually in a horizontal position, on the periphery of the turntable. Only the lowermost holding pot is rotated downward by 90 ° to take a vertical position, and the tool is changed by the tool changing machine TC of this embodiment. Selection of the tool T (disposition at the lowest position) is performed by rotation of the magazine motor 14.

The headstock 3 incorporates a tool changer TC according to the present embodiment for exchanging the tool T between the tool magazine 10 and the spindle 9. The tool changer TC includes a tool change drive motor 15, a tool change arm A, and the like. The tool change arm A of the present embodiment has an arm support 1 having an arm center axis extending on the same axis as the pivot axis.
6 and an arm main body 12 rotatably supported by an arm support 16 about an arm center axis and having gripping portions 17 at both ends for supporting a tool, comprising a main shaft 9, a tool magazine 10, The tool T set in the
7 is exchanged by utilizing the gripping by 7 and the turning and vertical movement of the tool exchange arm A.

FIG. 2 shows the entire configuration of the tool changer TC causing the movement of the tool change arm A, and FIG. 3 shows a sectional view of the lower part of a tool changer corresponding to a main part of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the ATC drive shaft 18 of the tool changer TC is connected to the tool change drive motor 15 and is arranged vertically, and is rotatably supported by the headstock 3 via bearings 19 and 20. ing. The ATC drive shaft 18 has four cams 2
1, 22, 23, and 24 are provided.

On the other hand, on the side of the ATC drive shaft 18, a turning shaft 25 is disposed vertically. A spline 25a is provided at an upper portion of the pivot shaft 25, and a flange 25b is provided at a lowermost portion.
The flange 25b has a tool change arm A
Has been fixed. A stepped hole 32 having a predetermined depth is formed at the upper end of the turning shaft 25 along the center of the turning shaft 25, and has a long axis shape having an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the stepped hole 32. A support member 31 is inserted through a through hole 28 a formed in the upper machine frame 28 of the headstock 3. The support member 31 is fixed to the upper machine frame 28, is inserted into the stepped hole 32 via a bush 33 disposed above the stepped hole 32, and supports the upper part of the revolving shaft 25.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
Has a hole diameter larger than the diameter of the revolving shaft 25, and penetrates a substantially cylindrical outer gear 29. Using the bush 30 and the outer gear 29 as a guide, rotation around the central axis and reciprocation in the axial direction are performed. Supported as possible. A hole 26a is provided in the lower machine frame 26 of the headstock 3, and the outer shaft gear 29 passes through the hole 26a through a bush 27,
It is supported so as to be able to rotate around the central axis independently of the rotation of the turning shaft 25.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rotating shaft 25 is a cylindrical member 3 having a circumferential groove and fixed near the center in the vertical direction.
6, the cylindrical member 36 is moved up and down,
The turning shaft 25 reciprocates in the vertical direction. Further, the turning shaft 25 rotates with the rotation of the spline sub shaft 37 fitted around the spline 25a on the upper side thereof. In addition,
Flange portion 37 formed on the outer periphery of spline counter shaft 37
A shaft of a driven roller 38 as a follower of the cam 21 is fixed to the upper and lower surfaces of the cam 21.

As shown in FIG. 3, a gear 29a is engraved on the outer periphery of the upper end of the outer shaft gear 29.
Are meshed with the side segment gears 34. An oscillator 35 is fixed to the segment gear 34, and is driven by the cam 24. Also, the cylindrical outer shaft gear 29
Two lower portions of the lower end are separated from each other by 180 °, and are provided with concave portions 71a and 71b which are open downward, and are fitted with an arm rotating shaft of a tool changing arm A to be described later via the concave portions.

The tool exchanging arm A of this embodiment includes an arm support 16 having an arm center shaft 62 at the center and an arm main body 12 rotatably supported by the arm support 16 about the arm center shaft 62. It is configured. The arm support 16 is formed integrally with the upper end of the arm shaft 62, and extends downward in the radial direction. The lower flange 61 is formed of a disc-shaped member fitted to the lower end of the arm shaft 62. A flange 63 is provided, and the arm body 12 is rotatably held between the upper flange 61 and the lower flange 63.

The arm main body 12 has a hollow cylindrical arm rotating shaft 51 through which an arm center shaft 62 penetrates, a center portion fitted to a lower portion of the arm rotating shaft 51, and both end portions for holding a tool. And a revolving arm 52 having the same. The arm rotation shaft 51 has a flange 51a at an upper portion, and upper portions thereof are provided with convex portions 72a and 72b protruding upward at two places facing concave portions 71a and 71b provided at a lower end of the outer shaft gear 29. ing. The turning arm 52 has a recess at the center thereof, and a through hole is provided at the center of the recess. In other words, it has a shape in which the flange 52a extending from the side surface of the recess toward the center is integrally formed. The arm main body 12 is integrally formed with the flange 51a by joining a flange 52a, which is a part thereof, to the flange 51a. The arm rotation shaft 51 and the turning arm 52 may be formed integrally.

By fitting the concave portions 71a and 71b provided at the lower end of the outer shaft gear 29 with the convex portions 72a and 72b provided at the upper end of the arm body 12, the outer shaft gear The arm 29 and the arm body 12 can move integrally. As shown in FIG. 5, a partial cross-sectional view in the horizontal direction of the swing arm 52, the swing arm 52 is configured symmetrically with respect to an arm center shaft 62, and gripping portions 17, 17 are provided at both ends thereof in opposite surfaces. Tool contact part 5
6, 56 are provided.

Further, outside the flange 52a provided at the center of the turning arm 52, two through holes 55, 55 are provided at positions symmetrical with respect to the center. Each through hole 55
A tool lock pin 91 and an arm lock pin 92, which will be described later, are inserted in the vertical direction, and are formed so as to be able to rotate by a predetermined angle in the through hole.

Further, inside the arm body 12, in the vicinity of the side surface on which the tool contact portion 56 faces, extends in the longitudinal direction between the through hole 55 and the grip portion 17, and extends from the center thereof. A stepped insertion hole 58 having a reduced step portion is provided on the through hole 55 side. The stepped insertion hole 58 has a tool contact portion 56
A roller shaft 80 as a locking member rotatably supported at one end by a roller 81 for pressing and fixing a tool abutting on the shaft is inserted. The roller shaft 80 has a step portion that becomes smaller toward the through hole 55 at the center of the rod-shaped columnar shape, and slidably passes through the stepped insertion hole 58. An oval slot 83 is provided at the center of the roller shaft 80, and the orthogonal pin 59 fixed to the revolving arm 52 is inserted through the slot 83 so that the roller shaft 80 rotates around its own axis. Prevents rotation. Further, a spring 85 is elastically compressed and inserted between the step portion of the stepped insertion hole 58 and the step portion of the roller shaft 80 to urge the roller shaft 80 toward the grip portion.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a BB section in FIG. As can be seen from FIGS. 3 and 4, the flange 25 b that connects the pivot shaft 25 and the arm support 16 is configured as shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), the disk has a shape in which opposing portions are cut out in parallel, and the central portion of the upper surface is coupled to the lower surface of the revolving shaft 25. The lower surface of the flange 25b is 2
It is connected to the upper surface of the arm support 16 by using a pin 76 at the four circumferential portions. The concave portions 71a and 71b and the convex portions 7
The fitting with 2a, 72b is performed at a position slightly above the upper surface of the flange 25b. As will be described later, the rotational movement of the pivot shaft 25 and the arm support 16 is performed in a state where the pivot shaft 25 and the arm support 16 are moved downward to release the fitting of the fitting portion. Rotational movement between the shaft gear 29 and the arm rotation shaft 51 is performed in a state where the revolving shaft 25 and the arm support 16 are pulled upward, and the outer shaft gear 29 and the arm rotation shaft 51 are fitted at the fitting portion. Done.

As shown in FIG. 8 when the arm body 12 is at the standby position (two-dot chain line) and when it is at the tool change position (solid line), the protrusions 72a and 72b In 61, only the inside of the through hole 73 provided on the side of the flange 25b is rotated by a predetermined angle, so that the rotation is not hindered by the flange 25b.
Returning to FIG. 3, a pair of tool lock mechanisms for locking the slide of the roller shaft 80 are provided on the arm support 16 so that the roller provided at the tip of the roller shaft 80 is pressed and fixed to the gripped tool. TR and arm body 1
A pair of arm lock mechanisms AR for locking or unlocking 2 with respect to the arm center shaft 62 are provided symmetrically with each other. In FIG. 3, with the arm center shaft 62 as the center,
Although the tool lock mechanism TR is shown on the right side and the arm lock mechanism AR is shown on the left side, as shown in FIG. 5, one of the tool lock mechanism TR and one of the arm lock mechanisms AR Are provided close to each other.

First, the tool lock mechanism TR will be described. In the upper flange 61 of the arm support 16, through holes 65, 65 are provided at positions symmetrical with respect to the arm shaft 62 (see FIG. 4).
At positions opposed to the vertical axes 5 and 65 on the vertical axis, there are provided stepped insertion holes 68 and 68 which become smaller downward. Also,
A tool lock pin 91 is provided so as to pass through the through hole 65 and the stepped insertion hole 68. The tool lock pin 91 has a flange 91a having a taper whose cross section becomes smaller upward at a substantially central position of the long axis shape, an upper end thereof penetrates the through hole 65, and a lower end thereof is formed by the step. It is inserted through the attached insertion hole 68. A spring 93 is elastically compressed and inserted between the step upper surface of the stepped insertion hole 68 and the bottom surface of the flange 91a to urge the tool lock pin 91 upward. The tool lock pin 9
1 rises, the tapered surface of the flange 91 a presses the end of the roller shaft 80 protruding into the through hole 55 of the revolving arm 52, thereby causing the through hole 5 of the roller shaft 80 to move.
Lock the sliding to the 5 side.

Next, the arm lock mechanism AR will be described. In the upper flange 61 of the arm support 16, through holes 67, 67 are provided at positions symmetrical with respect to the arm shaft 62 (see FIG. 4).
Stepped insertion holes 69, 69 which are reduced downward are provided at positions facing the vertical lines 7, 67 on the vertical axis. Also,
An arm lock pin 92 is provided so as to pass through the through hole 67 and the stepped insertion hole 69. The arm lock pin 92 has a flange 92a having a taper whose cross section becomes smaller upward at a substantially central position of the long axis shape, an upper end thereof penetrates the through hole 67, and a lower end thereof has the step. The attached insertion hole 69 is inserted. A spring 95 is elastically compressed and inserted between the step upper surface of the stepped insertion hole 69 and the bottom surface of the flange 92a to urge the arm lock pin 92 upward. The arm lock pin 92
Is raised, its tapered surface fits into a round groove 51b (see FIG. 5) provided on the side surface of the arm rotation shaft, thereby locking the rotation of the arm main body 12 with respect to the arm support 16.

Now that the overall configuration of the tool changer has been clarified, the operation of the tool changer TC of this embodiment will be described. The tool changing mechanism of the tool changing device of the present invention is of a type in which the grip is locked after the tool abutting portion 56 abuts on the tool T by turning. In the tool changing step, the tool is turned by a predetermined angle from an arm standby position, which is separated from the tool changing position by a predetermined angle in a turning plane, to the tool changing position, and the gripping portions 17 provided at both ends of the tool changing arm A are respectively driven by the spindles. A step of gripping the used tool T used in the magazine 9 and the new tool T set in the magazine 10 (see FIG. 1). When the gripping is completed, the tool exchange arm A descends and turns 180 °, Of changing the position of
After that, the tool change arm A is raised, a new tool T is mounted on the spindle 9, the grip of the tool T is released, and the step of storing the used tool T in the magazine 10 is completed. Thereafter, a step of reversely turning by a predetermined angle and returning to the arm standby position is constituted. Hereinafter, the operation of each step will be described in detail.

As described above, the tool change arm A pivots by a predetermined angle from the standby position, moves to the tool gripping position, grips the tool, and finally exchanges the tool. Is provided with a mechanism for reverse turning. This is because the tool gripping mechanism of this embodiment is of a type in which the tool contact portion of the tool change arm A contacts the tool from one side. ATC drive shaft 1 is involved in this movement.
8 is the flat groove cam 24 on the lower surface of the cylindrical member 39 around (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. As shown in the figure, the groove shape of the flat groove cam 24 is a closed ring shape, and a large-diameter portion 24a having an arc shape centered on the cam shaft.
And a small diameter portion 24b and a connecting portion 24c for connecting them. Depending on where the rocker 35 is attached to the large-diameter portion 24a, the small-diameter portion 24b, and the connection portion 24c of the rotating flat grooved cam 24, the tool change arm A is switched between the standby position, the tool change position, and the turning motion state. Become.

That is, when the ATC drive shaft 18 rotates and reaches a predetermined angle, the rocker 35 comes off from the large diameter portion 24a of the flat groove cam 24, and the rocker 35 moves from the large diameter portion 24a to the small diameter portion. While passing through the connecting portion 24c leading to 24b,
The rocker 35 rocks in one direction about the axis of the segment gear 34. Further, while the rocker 35 comes off the small diameter portion 24b and passes through the connecting portion 24c from the small diameter portion 24b to the large diameter portion 24a, the rocker 35 moves in the opposite direction to the above. Rocks.

The swing of the oscillator 35 causes the segment gear 34 driven by the oscillator 35 to rotate, and the outer gear 2 meshing with the segment gear 34 via the gear 29a.
9 rotates. With the rotation of the outer shaft gear, the tool change arm A fitted to the lower end of the outer shaft gear at the upper end of the arm rotation shaft moves from the standby position to the tool change position, or from the tool change position to the standby position. It makes a turning movement.

The tool change arm A reciprocates in the axial direction of the turning shaft 25. This is for removing the tool T from the headstock 9 and the tool magazine 10 and clamping it. This movement is caused by the cylindrical groove cam 23 formed at the center of the peripheral surface of the cylindrical member 39 around the ATC drive shaft 18.
(See FIG. 2). The cylindrical groove cam 23 has a support point 44
A swinging lever 40 swinging around a fulcrum is engaged via an engaging member 43 provided near the center thereof, and a contact 41 provided at the tip of the swinging lever 40 is connected to the rotating shaft 2.
5 is engaged with a circumferential groove of the cylindrical member 36 fixed to the cylindrical member 5.
Therefore, when the ATC drive shaft 18 makes one rotation, the swing lever 40 swings, and the turning shaft 25 and the tool changing arm A fixed thereto are reciprocated once in the axial direction. FIG. 2 conceptually shows an engagement relationship between the contact 41 and the cylindrical member 36.

As shown in FIG. 2, the tool changer TC of this embodiment has a mechanism for removing the used tool T from the spindle 9. That is, the cylindrical groove cam 22 is formed on the upper peripheral surface of the cylindrical member 39 outside the ATC drive shaft 18, and when the tool T is removed from the main shaft 9, the tool T is swung by following the cylindrical groove cam 22. By pressing and lowering a tool release pin (not shown) connected to a drawbar (not shown) of a tool attaching / detaching device of the main shaft 9 by the swinging member 42, it is possible to set the main shaft 9 in a detached state.

Further, the tool changing arm A pivots in the horizontal direction. This is because the tool T between the spindle 9 and the tool magazine 10
In order to exchange. ATC involved in this movement
The parallel cam 21 is provided at the uppermost position of the drive shaft 18. The movement by this is the same as that of the corresponding part of the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-123646, and therefore will be briefly described.
The parallel cam 21 is a composite cam including two plate cams 21a and 21b, and is in contact with a driven roller 38 provided as a follower provided on the spline sub shaft 37. Based on this configuration, during one rotation of the ATC drive shaft 18, the spline counter shaft 37, the turning shaft 25, and the tool change arm A
Rotate 0 °.

The arm lock / release means and the tool lock / release means of the tool changer of the present invention and the timing when the tool T is mounted on the spindle will be described below with reference to FIG. In the drawings, only the tool mounted on the tool mounting portion of the spindle is shown for simplicity, and the tool stored on the tool magazine is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 7, the tool is mounted in this embodiment with an arbor Ta formed of a tapered shank.
A well-known collet method is adopted for the tool T gripped by the gripping portion 17 of the arm body 12 and the tool mounting portion 11 at the lower end of the spindle 9 having a frusto-conical opening that allows the arbor Ta to be closely inserted. It is done by inserting and fixing.

FIG. 7A shows a state in which the tool change arm A is lowered. Since the upper ends of the tool lock pin 91 and the arm lock pin 92 are open, the springs 93, 95
The tool lock pin 91 and the arm lock pin 92 are pushed upward by the urging force, and the tool lock mechanism TR and the arm lock mechanism AR function. That is, the tool lock pin 91 is raised, and the tapered surface of the tool lock pin 91 presses the end of the roller shaft 80 protruding into the through hole of the turning arm, thereby sliding the roller shaft 80 toward the through hole. The arm lock pin 92 is raised, and the tapered surface of the arm lock pin 92 is fitted into the round groove 51b (see FIG. 5) provided on the lower surface of the arm rotation shaft. The rotation of the arm body 12 with respect to the arm support 16 is locked. The tool T grasped by the tool lock mechanism TR is firmly fixed to the grasping portion, and the arm body 12 is integrated with the arm support 16 by the arm lock mechanism AR, that is, the arm body 12 Are integrated with the turning shaft 25. In this state, the tool changing arm A makes a 180 ° turning motion, and the position of the tool T is changed.

Then, the tool exchanging arm A is raised, and FIG.
As shown in (b), the upper end surfaces of the arm lock pin 92 and the tool lock pin 91 abut on the lower surface of the lower machine frame 26. This contact timing, that is, the timing at which the arm lock mechanism AR and the tool lock mechanism TR are released, is set at a position where the arbor Ta of the tool T is inserted into the tool mounting portion 11 by a predetermined amount. That is, the arm lock mechanism AR and the tool lock mechanism TR are released before the arbor Ta is securely fixed to the tool mounting portion.

That is, the upper ends of the tool lock pin 91 and the arm lock pin 92 are pressed by the lower surface of the lower machine frame 26, and the tool lock pin 91 and the arm lock pin 92 are pressed against the urging forces of the springs 93 and 95. By being pushed down, the tool lock mechanism T
R and the arm lock mechanism AR are released. That is,
Simultaneously with the lowering of the tool lock pin 91, the engagement between the tapered surface of the tool lock pin 91 and the end of the roller shaft 80 protruding into the through hole of the turning arm is released, so that the roller shaft 80 has a through hole. The arm lock pin 92 is lowered, and at the same time, the tapered surface of the arm lock pin 92 and the round groove 51b (see FIG. 5) provided on the lower surface of the arm rotation shaft are fitted. Is opened, the arm main body 12 can rotate with respect to the arm support.

When the arm lock mechanism AR is released, the arm main body 12 can swing around the axis of the turning shaft 25 independently of the turning shaft 25, and the arbor T of the tool T
a swings according to the movement of the tool T when a is inserted along the taper of the tool mounting portion of the main shaft.

In the state shown in FIG. 7C, the tool change arm A is at the top dead center. In this state, when the outer gear 29 rotates, the reciprocating swing movement between the arm standby position and the tool change position is performed. However, it is performed independently of the movement of the turning shaft 25. The tool changer of the present invention can function or release the tool lock mechanism TR and the arm lock mechanism AR as the tool change arm A moves up and down. Through the shaft gear 29, tool exchange is enabled by a simple mechanism that converts the reciprocating swing motion between the arm standby position of the arm main body 12 and the tool exchange position. Further, even if the positioning accuracy when the tool T is inserted into the tool mounting portion 11 is slightly low, the positioning accuracy can be absorbed by the swing of the arm body 12, so that the load is not applied to the tool T and the tool mounting portion 11. It becomes possible to attach to. As a result, there is no need to use an expensive roller cam gear or the like that realizes this positioning accuracy with high accuracy, and the manufacturing cost can be kept low.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above.
The present invention is not limited to such embodiments at all. For example, although a motor is used as a drive source in the present embodiment, a rotary cylinder, a rack and a pinion, or the like may be used. Further, in this embodiment, the cam mechanism is used to operate the outer shaft gear. However, it is operated by another drive source, for example, an air cylinder or a separately installed motor that is not directly connected to the ATC drive shaft. Is also good.

In this embodiment, the arm lock mechanism A
R and the tool lock mechanism TR are set to function at the same time, but the arm lock pin 92 and the tool lock pin 91 are made different in length (by making the positions of the respective upper end surfaces different), so that the arm Lock mechanism A
The desired lock timing may be formed by shifting the timing at which R functions and the timing at which the tool lock mechanism TR functions.

Further, a so-called hook-type double arm is used for the arm body of the present embodiment, but a so-called cantilever-type arm having only one gripping portion or a so-called finger-type arm for holding a tool from both sides. Needless to say, a device provided with a similar arm lock mechanism may be used.

In this embodiment, a tool changer which can be easily realized without using an expensive roller gear cam or the like has been described. A configuration may be adopted in which a mechanism is mounted and the arm lock mechanism is released at the timing shown in this embodiment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tool changer according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the tool changer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a lower portion of the tool changing device of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal partial cross-sectional view of the arm body of the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an arm lock unit and a tool lock unit according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a turning movement of the tool change arm of the present embodiment between a standby position and a tool holding position.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 ... headstock, 9 ... spindle, 11 ... tool mounting part, 12 ... arm body, 16 ... arm support, 17 ... gripping part, 24 ... flat groove cam , 25
... Swirl axis, 26 ... Lower machine frame, 29
..Outer shaft gears, 51 ... arm rotating shafts, 51 ...
Arm center shaft, 52: revolving arm, 54: gripping part, 55: through hole, 56: tool contact part, 58
... Stepped insertion hole, 59 ... orthogonal pin, 61 ...
Upper flange, 62: Arm center shaft, 63: Lower flange, 80: Roller shaft, 91: Arm lock pin, 92: Tool lock pin, A ...
-Tool change arm, T: Tool, TC: Tool changer, AR: Arm lock mechanism, TR: Tool lock mechanism Ta: Arbor

Claims (4)

[Claims] At least one end is provided with a gripping portion for gripping a tool, an arm body rotatable around an axis of a turning shaft is provided, and a rotating motion and a reciprocating motion of the turning shaft are used. In a tool changing device for inserting and fitting a tool held by the holding portion into a tool mounting portion of a main spindle or extracting the tool from the tool mounting portion, an arm for integrally fixing the arm main body with respect to the pivot shaft. Activate the lock mechanism,
Alternatively, the arm lock / release means includes an arm lock / release means for releasing the arm lock mechanism when the tool is inserted into the tool mounting portion to a predetermined insertion depth. A tool changing device for releasing the tool. 2. The tool and the tool mounting portion each have a tapered surface that engages with each other, and the tool is inserted and fitted into the tool mounting portion along the tapered surface. The tool changing device according to claim 1. 3. An arm body provided with a gripper for gripping a tool at at least one end thereof is rotated around an axis of a turning shaft or reciprocated in the axial direction, whereby the gripper is gripped by the gripper. An arm lock mechanism for integrally fixing the arm main body to the pivot shaft in a tool changing method of inserting and fitting the set tool into the tool mounting portion of the main shaft or removing the tool from the tool mounting portion. Step, the step of inserting the gripped tool to a tool mounting portion to a predetermined insertion depth, when the tool is inserted to the predetermined insertion depth, Releasing the arm lock mechanism so that the arm body can be independently rotated with respect to the rotation axis, and inserting the tool into the tool mounting portion using the independent rotation of the arm body. A method of changing tools with a tool changing apparatus, comprising: 4. The tool and the tool mounting portion each have a tapered surface that engages with each other, and the tool is inserted and fitted into the tool mounting portion along the tapered surface. Item 3. The tool changing method of the tool changing device according to Item 3.