JPS61297066A - Stocker apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the number of expensive jig pallettes by installing a work pallette for mounting and accommodating material works and a jig pallette for feeding the material works into a machine tool so as to be accommodated into a stocker, in an automatic working system. CONSTITUTION:A material work is loaded onto a work pallette 32 from the first loading station 10, and accommodated into a stocker 2. Then, a jig pallette 9 is delivered to the second loading station 33 from the stocker 2, and the work pallette 32 onto which the material work is loaded is delivered to the first station 10, and loaded onto the jig pallette 9 and supplied onto a machine tool, and the prescribed work is carried out. The jig pallette 9 onto which the work for which work is completed is loaded is delivered to the second station 33 again, and the material work on the work pallette 32 delivered to the first station 10 and the work for which work is completed are replaced and transferred. Therefore, the need of mounting all the material works onto the jig pallette is avoided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Industrial Field of Application The present invention is directed to a conveyor machine which has one or more machine tools, has a plurality of stockers stacked in multiple stages, and further conveys workpieces. The present invention relates to a stocker device applied to an automatic processing system provided with means.

(b), Prior Art Recently, a machining system has been proposed in which a plurality of machine tools and a plurality of stockers are provided and a plurality of workpieces are machined one after another in an unmanned state.

Conventionally, in such machining systems, a method has been adopted in which all workpieces to be machined are mounted on a pallet called a jig pallet so that the workpieces can be supplied as they are to a machine tool.

(C)0The problem that the invention aims to solveHowever, usually,
Jig pallets used when supplying workpieces to machine tools have high dimensional accuracy because they are directly attached to machine tools and processed, and therefore require precise processing work and are expensive. It is also generally high. Therefore, mounting and storing all of the workpieces to be machined on a jig pallet is economically problematic, and is also an obstacle to the widespread use of automatic angulation systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, the present invention aims to provide a stocking device that does not require all of the material work to be mounted on a jig pallet.

(d) Means for solving the zero problem, that is, the present invention provides a work pallet (32) for simply loading and storing raw workpieces, and a jig pallet (9) for supplying raw workpieces to the machine tool (5). ) is provided so as to be freely retractable against the storage force, and a first loading station (10) for loading the material work onto the work pallet (32), and a jig pallet () for loading the material work on the work pallet (32). 9) Second to transfer on top
A loading station (33) is provided, and a transport means (6) is provided for transporting the workpiece between the first loading station (10), the 20th loading station banquet (33), the stocker (2) and the machine tools. provided and configured.

Note that the numbers in parentheses are for convenience and indicate corresponding elements in the drawings, and therefore, this description is not limited to the descriptions in the drawings. The following r (el
The same applies to the column ``, action''.

(e) 0 effect With the above-described configuration, the present invention allows the material work to be first loaded onto the work pallet (32) from the 10th Dingestion (1o) and stored in the stocker (2), and then , move the jig pallet (9) from the stocker (2) to the second
At the same time, the work pallet (32) loaded with material work is delivered from the stocker (2) to the 10th measuring station (10).
), there, the material work on the work pallet (32) is transferred onto the jig pallet (9), and the jig pallet (9) carrying the transferred material work is transferred to the machine tool. The jig pallet (9) loaded with the workpieces that have been fed and subjected to predetermined machining is returned to the 24th-
It acts to exchange and transfer the raw workpieces and processed workpieces on the work pallet (32) delivered to the ding station (33) and delivered to the 10th ding station (10).

(f), Example Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an automatic angle adjustment system, Fig. 2 is a control block diagram showing an example of a stocker device according to the present invention, Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the contents of a jig pallet management memory, Fig. 4 2 is a schematic diagram showing the contents of a work palette management memory. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic square rod 1 has a jig stocker 30 and a pallet stocker 31.
1 is formed by a plurality of stockers 2. These jig stockers 30 and pallet stockers 31 may be arranged and installed as appropriate between machine tools 5 such as machining centers.
1 has a module configuration each consisting of stockers 2 of the same number and in the same arrangement. Therefore, addition of jig stockers 30 and pallet stockers 31 is performed for each module.

A guideline 7 is formed between each jig stocker 30 and pallet stocker 31 and the machine tool 5 so as to communicate the two, and a transfer lift 6 is movably provided on the guideline 7. The transfer lift 6 is provided with a table 6a that can be raised and lowered in the vertical direction, and the table 6a is used as a jig on which a work is loaded between the stocker 2, the loading stage 10.33 (described later), and the machine tool 5. Pallet 9 and work sensor 3
2 and serves to reliably hold the pallet 9.32 while the pallet 9.32 is being transported by the transport lift 6.

Among the plurality of jig stockers 30 and pallet stockers 31, a 10th loading station 10 and a 20th loading station banquet 33 are installed in one stocker 30 or 31, and these are the first loading station. 10, and the second o-ding station 33 is used for attaching and removing the workpiece to and from the jig pallet 9, and for attaching and detaching the workpiece to and from the jig pallet 9.
A handling robot 35 is provided to move the workpiece between the two. Note that at the first loading station 10, unprocessed workpieces, that is, raw workpieces, are loaded onto the workpiece pallet 32, and processed workpieces are collected from the workpiece pallet 32, and at the second loading station 33, the workpieces on the workpiece pallet 32 are loaded. The following operations are performed: loading the raw material work onto the jig pallet 9 and returning the processed work from the jig pallet 9 to the work pallet 32.

Also, near the 10th stage banquet hall 10,
A main control box 11 is installed which controls the automatic angle adjustment system 1 and is also a stocker device according to the present invention, and the main control box 11 has a main control section 12 as shown in FIG. Main control unit 12
includes a display 13, a keyboard 15, a processing machine control section 16 that controls each machine tool, a workpiece sensor 17, a robot control section 39, a machining schedule memory 25, a pallet sensor 19, a lift control section 20, a workpiece pallet management memory 36, and a workpiece pallet management memory 36. A tool palette management memory 37, a program memory 22, etc. are connected via a bus line 23.

Note that an attachment/detachment program memory 40 is connected to the robot control section 39.

A pallet sensor 19 and a workpiece sensor 17 are respectively attached to each stocker 2. The pallet sensor 19 detects whether a jig pallet 9 or a workpiece pallet 32 is stored in each stocker 2, and the workpiece sensor 17 detects whether a jig pallet 9 or a workpiece pallet 32 is stored in each stocker 2. , it is possible to detect whether or not a workpiece is mounted on the pallet 9.32 stored in the stocker 2.

(A variety of specific detection methods can be considered, such as a contact detection method using a microswitch, etc., and a non-contact detection method using ultrasonic waves, photoelectric elements, etc.) 22 stores the machine program PRO executed by each machine tool 5.

Since the automatic angular alignment stem 1 has the above-described configuration, processing operations using the automatic angular alignment stem 1 are performed as follows. That is, prior to actual machining, the operator inputs the work name of the work to be machined, the machining order of the Canadian program number, the machine tool number to be used, etc. from the keyboard 15 as machining schedule data 5DATA, and enters the machining schedule data 5DATA. 5DATA is stored in the machining schedule memory 25.

At the same time, the operator loads the material work to be processed onto the corresponding work pallet 32 in the pallet stocker 31. That is, the operator operates the keyboard 15 to instruct the lift control unit 20 to unload the work pallet 32 in which the material work is to be stored to the first loading station 10 . At this time, the operator reads out the work pallet management table WBL from the work pallet management memory 36 to check which stocker 2 in the pallet stockers 31 is vacant, and determines the stocker 2 in which the unprocessed work should be stored. do. As shown in FIG. 4, the work pallet management table WBL is created and managed for each module of the pallet stocker 31, and each work pallet management table WBL includes the module number PNO1 of the corresponding pallet stocker 31.
Stocker number 5NO for each stocker 2 (In the example shown in FIG. 4, the pallet stocker 31 consists of 24 stockers 2 in total, with 6 stockers 2 connected horizontally and stacked in 4 stages vertically) ), each stocker 2
Work pallet 32 and presence/absence of material work stored in , work name NAME, installation/removal program number R
Processing number management data MMD etc. that display the number of AN1 material workpieces and the number of processed workpieces are stored. The presence or absence of a workpiece and a pallet 32 in each stocker 2 is confirmed by a workpiece sensor 17 and a pallet sensor 19 mounted on the stocker 2. That is, each sensor 17.19
confirms the workpiece or pallet 32, confirmation signal S1
, S2 are output, and in response, the main control unit 12 searches the work pallet management table WBL of the pallet stocker 31 corresponding to the sensor that outputs the confirmation signals S1 and S2 in the work pallet management memory 36, and retrieves the data. Reads WPN and displays the presence or absence of the work in the table WBL.
, rewrite the contents of the pallet presence/absence display PPN (in this embodiment, if there is a workpiece or pallet,
``1'' is written into the work pallet management table WBL, and if there is no pallet, ``0'' is written. ).

The operator refers to the work pallet management table WBL, searches for the stocker 2 in which the empty work pallet 32 with no work mounted is stored, inputs the stocker number SNP of the stocker 2 from the keyboard 15, and then The first empty work pallet 32 stored in the stocker 2 is sent to the lift control unit 20 via the
The loading station 10 is commanded to be unloaded.

Then, the transport lift 6 is driven, and the empty work pallet 32 is taken out from the stocker 2 corresponding to the input stocker number SNP of the pallet stocker 31 and delivered to the first loading station 10. The operator loads a predetermined number of material works at predetermined positions on the work pallet 32 delivered to the first loading station 10, and inputs the work name NAME1 of the material work loaded on the work pallet 32 from the keyboard 15. Program number R of a mounting/dismounting program for handling a material work between the work pallet 32 and the jig pallet 9 using the handling robot 35
AN, and further inputs the number of material workpieces loaded on the workpiece pallet 32 as processing number management data MMD, and in response to this, the main control unit 12 sets the address position corresponding to the stocker number SNP in the workpiece pallet management table WBL. , and store the input data.

When the loading of the material work onto the work pallet 32 is completed in this way, the operator notifies the main control unit 12 of the completion of the loading work via the keyboard 15, and in response, the main control unit 12 20 to the transfer lift 6,
The work pallet 32 on which the material work has been loaded at the first loading station 10 is transferred to a predetermined stocker 2.
(In other words, the above-mentioned stocker 2 corresponding to the stocker number SNP) is commanded to be stored in the work pallet 32
is stored at a predetermined position in the pallet stocker 31.

In this way, the operator sequentially loads each material work onto the work pallet 32 in the pallet stocker 31, inputs various data regarding the loaded material work, and updates the contents of the work pallet management table WBL. , the work pallet management table WBL always displays the material works stored in the pallet stocker 31 and data regarding the material works.

Note that the presence/absence of the workpiece and workpiece pallet 32 in the workpiece pallet management table WBL is displayed by the workpiece sensor 17 and pallet sensor 19 provided in each stocker 2.
As mentioned above, the information is automatically updated.

In this way, when the work of loading and storing a series of material works on the pallet stocker 31 is completed, the operator outputs a machining start command C1 from the keyboard 15 to the main controller 12, and the main controller 12 outputs the machining start command C1 to the machining schedule memory 25. The machining operation by the machine tool 5 is started in accordance with the machining order of the raw material work. That is, the main control unit 12 uses the machining schedule data 5DAT in the machining schedule memory 25.
Based on the processing order of the workpieces shown in A, the lift control unit 20 is driven, and the transport lift 6 moves the jig pallet 9 in the jig stocker 30 together with the material workpieces loaded on the jig pallet 9. The workpiece is transported to a machine tool that processes the workpiece, and the workpiece that has been processed by the machine tool is further transported from each machine tool to the corresponding stocker 2 of the jig stocker 30 to perform a series of processing.

When the jig pallet 9 is carried into and out of the jig stocker 30 by the transport lift 6, the main control unit 12 searches the jig pallet management memory 37 and stores the corresponding workpiece in each slot 2 of the jig stocker 30. Check whether it is stored. That is, as shown in FIG.
jig pallet management table TABL for each module
are stored, and each jig pallet management table TAB
L indicates the module number MNO of the corresponding jig stocker 30, the stocker number SNO of each stocker 2 (in the example shown in FIG. 3, the jig stocker 30 has five stockers 2 connected in the horizontal direction, ), the jig pallet 9 stored in each stocker 2, the presence or absence of a workpiece, the workpiece name NAME, the program number PNO, and the time required for machining ( Schedule time) MT, etc. are stored. The presence or absence of workpieces and jig pallets 9 in each stocker 2 is determined by a workpiece sensor 17 attached to the stocker 2.
and is confirmed by the pallet sensor 19. That is, when each sensor 17.19 confirms the workpiece or jig pallet 9, confirmation signals S1 and S2 are output, and in response to this, the main control unit 12 outputs confirmation signals S1 and S2 in the jig pallet management memory 37. The jig pallet management table TABL of the jig stocker 30 corresponding to the sensor output is searched, the data is read, and the contents of the work presence/absence display WPN and the pallet presence/absence display PPN in the table TABL are rewritten (this implementation In the example, if there is a work or a pallet, the rectangular figure Is is stored in the work management table T.
Write it in the ABL, and if it does not exist, do not display anything,
It is left blank. ).

Furthermore, when the transport lift 6 carries a workpiece from the stocker 2 of the jig stocker 30 to the machine tool 5, the main control unit 12 reads the machine tool program PRO corresponding to the workpiece from the machine tool memory 22 and controls the machine tool. output to section 16. The processing machine control unit 16 transfers the input cutting program PRO to each machine tool, and causes the machine tool into which the workpiece has been loaded to perform a predetermined processing operation. When the machining of the workpiece is completed and therefore the execution of the machine program PRO is completed, the machining end signal S3 is output from the processing machine control section 16, and in response to this, the main control section 12
commands the lift control unit 20 to transport the processed workpiece from the machine tool 5 to the corresponding stocker 2 of the jig stocker 30. When the processed workpiece is stored in the stocker 2 again, the signals S1 and S2 from the workpiece sensor 17 and the pallet sensor 19 are output, so the main control unit 12 updates the jig pallet management table TA in the jig pallet management memory 37.
A workpiece processed flag FLG is written in the address of the workpiece stocker 2 corresponding to BL (in this embodiment, a rectangular figure Is indicating the presence of a workpiece is shown by hatching).

On the other hand, when processing a workpiece using the machine tool 5,
The automatic squaring system 1 returns the processed work from the jig pallet 9 to the work pallet 32, and loads the unprocessed material from the work pallet 32 onto the jig pallet 9. .

That is, the operator calls the jig pallet management table TABL on the display 13, refers to the jig pallet management table TABL, and selects the jig pallet 9 on which the workpiece on which the machining completed flag is displayed is mounted. of,
A command is given to the main control unit 12 via the keyboard 15 to transport the device to the 20th ding station 32 (note that this work can of course be performed automatically according to a predetermined operation program, regardless of the operator). ). In response to this, the main control unit 12 selects the jig pallet management table TABL.
With reference to FIG.
A command is given to unload the target jig pallet 9 from the stocker 2 corresponding to No. 0 and to the second loading station 33. After the workpieces and the jig pallet 9 that have been processed have been taken out of the warehouse by the transport lift 6, the main control unit 12 searches the work pallet management table WBL in the work pallet management memory 36 and stores the jig pallet 9.
It is searched whether or not a material work corresponding to the work mounted above is mounted on a work pallet 32 in a pallet stocker 31. The number of material works on the work pallet 32 can be immediately determined by referring to the processed number management data MMD in the stocker 2 of the corresponding work name NAME in the work pallet management table WBL. That is, the processed number management data MMD stores the number of raw workpieces of the workpieces loaded on the work pallet 32 stored in the stocker 2 and the number of processed workpieces, and the processed number management data Data MM
In D, if there is one or more material workpieces, the main controller 12 controls the transport lift 6 via the lift controller 20.
, the first work pallet 32 on which the material work is loaded
0--Instructs the shipping station controller 10 to leave the warehouse.

As a result, the jig pallet 9 loaded with the processed work and the work pallet 32 loaded with the material work corresponding to the processed work are transferred to the second loading station 33 and the first loading station 1.
0 respectively.

Next, the main control unit 12 controls the work pallet management table W.
Reads the mounting/dismounting program number RAN for the stocked material work from the BL, instructs the robot control unit 39 to execute the mounting/dismounting program corresponding to the number RAN, and the robot control unit 39 executes the mounting/dismounting program. The attachment/removal program ARP of the commanded number is read out from the memory 40 and is caused to be executed by the handling robot 35. Handling robot 35
The machine removes the machined work on the jig pallet 9 between the work pallet 32 and the jig pallet 9 that have been delivered to each loading station 10.33 based on the read attachment/dismount program ARP. It is mounted on the pallet 32, and an operation is performed to attach the material work on the work pallet 32 to the jig pallet 9. Since the attachment/detachment program ARP is prepared individually for each raw material work, that is, for the processed workpiece after the machining of the material work has been completed, workpiece transfer and attachment/detachment operations to the pallet are performed smoothly.

When the handling robot 35 completes the mounting of the material work onto the jig pallet 9 and the mounting of the processed work onto the work pallet 32, the main control unit 12
Add 1 to the completed number of pieces in the processed piece number management data MMD of the work pallet management table WBL, and subtract 1 from the number of raw materials. Furthermore, jig pallet management table TAB
The processed flag of the work in the stocker 2 corresponding to L is removed and updated to an unprocessed state.

Next, the main control unit 12 instructs the lift control unit 20 to store each jig pallet 9 and work pallet 32 that have completed the transfer operation into the corresponding jig stocker 30 and pallet stocker 31, and The lift control unit 20 drives the transport lift 6 to accommodate each pallet 9.32. In this way, the main control unit 12 further searches the jig pallet management table TABL, searches for the jig pallet 9 on which the processed workpiece is mounted, and treats the processed workpiece and the raw workpiece in the same manner as described above. While exchanging and transferring between the tool pallet 9 and the work pallet 32, the jig pallet 9 loaded with material workpieces is supplied to each machine tool according to the order shown in the machining schedule memory 25, and machining is continued. Teyu (.

In addition, the processed workpiece is placed on the 20th ding station? If there is no material work corresponding to the processed workpiece in the pallet stocker 31 when the workpiece is delivered to the warehouse 33, the main control unit 12 instructs the operator to remove the processed workpiece. , return only the processed work to the work pallet 32, and return the empty jig pallet 9 to the jig stocker 30.

Further, in the above embodiment, the stocker 2 that stores the jig pallet 9 and the work pallet 32 is configured as a separate module, but the jig pallet 9 and the work pallet 32 are managed by the jig pallet management. table TAB
Since they are managed by L and work pallet management table WBL, it goes without saying that they may be mixed in the same module as long as they can be managed by this table.

Further, it goes without saying that the operation of transferring the raw workpieces and the processed workpieces between the jig pallet 9 and the workpiece pallet 32 may be performed manually by the operator instead of using the handling robot 35.

(g) 0 Effects of the Invention As explained above, according to the present invention, the work pallet 32 for simply loading and storing the material work and the jig pallet 9 for supplying the material work to the machine tool are placed in the stocker 2. a tenth loading station 10 which is retractably provided for loading the material work onto the work pallet 32; and a second loading station 10 which loads the material work on the work pallet 32 onto the jig palette 9. A loading station 33 is provided, and conveyance means such as a tenth loading station 10, the second loading station 33, the stocker 2, and a conveyance lift 6 for conveying the workpiece between the machine tools are provided. ,
Instead of storing all the material workpieces to be machined on the jig pallet 9 and storing them in the stocker 2, you can load the minimum necessary material workpieces on the jig pallet 9 and store the rest on the machine tool 5.
The jig pallet 9, which is expensive and requires precision machining work, is frequently used because the machining work can be carried out while mounted on the work pallet 32, which does not cause problems even if the dimensional accuracy is low. Material workpieces can be stored on the workpiece pallet 32, which is inexpensive and easy to manufacture, which is extremely economical and can contribute to the spread of automatic knotting systems.

Furthermore, between the 10th handling station 10 and the 20th handling station 33, the handling robot 3
5 etc., the work is placed on the jig pallet 9 and the work pallet 32.
By providing a handling means that can transfer the workpiece between 0 and 0, the workpiece can be transferred between the workpiece pallet 32 and the jig pallet 9 without the operator's intervention.
This can contribute to labor savings for the entire system.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an automatic processing system, Fig. 2 is a control block diagram showing an example of a stocker device according to the present invention, Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the contents of a jig pallet management memory, Fig. 4 2 is a schematic diagram showing the contents of a work palette management memory. FIG. 1...Automatic processing system 2...Stocker 5...Machine tool 6...Transport means (transport lift) 9...
Jig pallet 10...first loading station 32...
...Work pallet 33...Second loading station 35.
...Handling means (handling robot) Applicant: Yamazaki Iron Works Co., Ltd. Agent: Patent attorney: Shinji (Phase 1) (and 1 other person)

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In an automatic processing system that has one or more machine tools and is equipped with a stack of multiple stockers that can store pallets loaded with workpieces, a workpiece that simply loads and stores raw workpieces. A pallet and a jig pallet for supplying the material work to the machine tool are provided so as to be freely stored in the stocker, a first loading station for loading the material work onto the work pallet, and a first loading station for loading the material work on the work pallet. A stocker comprising: a second loading station for transferring the work onto a jig pallet; and a transport means for transporting the work between the first loading station, the second loading station, the stocker, and the machine tool. Device. (2) The stocker device according to claim 1, further comprising a handling means that can transfer the workpiece between the work pallet and the jig pallet between the first loading station and the second loading station.