JPS6254639A - Swivel mechanism for automatic tool changer arm - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To setting the number of using racks down to one piece and thereby make a device miniaturizable, by engaging an ATC arm with the rack so as to make the ATC arm rotatable by the rack formed in a position. CONSTITUTION:An ATC arm 7 is rotatably supported on a casing 21 via a rotary shaft 7b, and a sliding cylinder 22 is supported in addition. A connecting head 23 is tightly attached to this sliding cylinder 22, while a tip of a piston rod 25 is connected to this connecting head 23. On the other hand, a cylinder 22a is formed inside the sliding cylinder 22, and a piston 26 is fitly engaged with the cylinder 22a. In this piston 26, a rack 26a is formed over almost overall length of the piston 26, while the rack 26a is engaged with a gear 7c fitted in the rotary shaft 7b of the ATC arm 7.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Industrial Applicability The present invention relates to an ATC device used in a machine tool such as a machining center, and more particularly to a drive mechanism for an ATC arm of the ATC device.

(b), Prior Art Conventionally, this type of ATC arm is rotated by a predetermined angle (S degrees a) from a normal standby position, positioned at a tool gripping position, and then rotated 180 degrees to rotate the main axis of the machine tool. The tool installed in the tool magazine is exchanged with the tool in the tool magazine.

That is, the ATC arm needs to be driven in two different operating modes: the angle α from its standby position to the gripping position, and the 180° rotation angle when exchanging tools, and for this purpose conventionally two racks have been provided. Then, these two types of operations were performed by selectively driving the racks.

(C) 0 Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, if two racks are provided, a considerable amount of installation space is required, resulting in the inconvenience of increasing the size of the ATC arm turning mechanism. Further, when machining the rack, a high degree of machining accuracy is required, which has the disadvantage that manufacturing is time-consuming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ATC arm turning mechanism that is small and easy to manufacture.

(d) Means for solving the zero problem, that is, the present invention provides a sliding cylinder (22) that can be driven reciprocally, and the sliding cylinder (22)
), a piston (26) is provided in the sliding cylinder (22) so as to be movable and driven in the moving direction of the sliding cylinder (22) (arrow L direction), and a rack (26a) is mounted on the piston (26).
is the moving direction of the piston (26) (direction of arrow KSL)
The rack (26a) and the ATC arm (
7), the ATC arm (7) is rotatably engaged with the rack (26a).

Note that the numbers in parentheses are for convenience and indicate corresponding elements in the drawings, and therefore, this description should not be limited to the descriptions on the drawings. The following r (e
The same applies to the column ``I, Effect''.

(e) Zero effect With the above-described configuration, the present invention allows the ATC arm (7) to be driven by individually driving the sliding cylinder (22) and the piston (26) housed in the sliding cylinder (22). It acts so that a turning operation of 180° with respect to angle α can be performed.

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

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of an ATC arm turning mechanism according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a machine tool in which the ATC arm turning mechanism according to the present invention is used.

As shown in FIG. 2, the horizontal machining sensor 1, which is a machine tool, has a column 2 that is movable in the horizontal directions, ie, arrows A and B. The column 2 has a main shaft 3. is provided so as to be freely movable in the vertical direction of arrow C1D. Table 5 is on the front side of column 2 in the figure.
It is provided so as to be movable in the directions of arrows E and F, which are perpendicular to arrows C and D and also perpendicular to the directions of arrows A and B, which are the moving directions of the column 2. On the other hand, an ATC arm 7 constituting a tool changer 6 is provided at the top of the column 2 so as to be able to protrude and drive in the directions of arrows A and B, and to rotate in the directions of arrows G and H. Tool gripping parts 7a, 7a are formed at both ends so that the tool can be gripped and released.

By the way, a tool magazine 9 is provided on the left side of the column 2 in the figure, and the tool magazine 9 has a chain 12 stretched between sprockets 11 rotatably mounted on a frame 10.

The chain 12 is provided with tool holders 12a at regular intervals so that tools 13 can be attached to and removed from the tool holders 12, and the tool holders 12 are formed with openings 12b facing outward from the chain 12. Further, a tool transfer device 15 is provided on the upper part of the frame 10, and the tool transfer device 15 is moved 90 degrees in the direction of the arrow 11J in a horizontal plane with respect to the frame 1o by a drive cylinder 19, as shown in FIG. It has an arm 16 that is rotatably supported within a range of .

A tool holding hand 17 is provided at the tip of the arm 16 so as to be able to grip and release the tool 13 at will.

Next, the turning mechanism 20 of the ATC arm 7 according to the present invention will be explained. As already mentioned, ATC arm 7
As shown in FIG. 1, the column 2 is provided with a casing 21 that constitutes a turning mechanism 20, and the ATC arm 7 is connected to the casing 21 via a rotating shaft 7b. A sliding cylinder 22, which is rotatably supported and formed in a cylindrical shape, is also supported so as to be slidable in the L direction, as indicated by the arrow. A connecting head 23 is fixed to the right end of the sliding cylinder 22 in the figure, and a connecting head 23 is fixed to the upper end of the connecting head 23 in the figure.
The tip of the piston rod 25 is connected. The piston rod 25 is a cylinder 21 formed in the casing 21.
a through the piston 25a so as to be slidable in the L direction.
By driving the connecting head 23 in the
The sliding cylinder 22 also connects to the casing 21 through
Move in the L direction, in the direction of the arrow.

On the other hand, a cylinder 22a is formed inside the sliding cylinder 22, and a piston 26 is fitted into the cylinder 22a so as to be slidable in the L direction as indicated by the arrow.

A rack 26a is formed on the piston 26 over substantially the entire length of the piston 26, and the rack 26a is connected to the ATC arm 7.
It meshes with a gear 7C fitted on the rotating shaft 7b.

Since the horizontal machining rack 1 has the above configuration, during machining, the tool 13 is attached to the main spindle 3, the workpiece is mounted on the table 5, and the column 2 is moved in the direction of arrow A.
, B, the main spindle 3 is moved in the directions of arrows C and D, and the table 5 is moved together with the workpiece in the directions of arrows E and F to perform machining.

When a predetermined machining is completed and the tool 13 attached to the main spindle 3 is to be replaced, the chain 12 of the tool magazine 9 is moved by rotating the sprocket 11 in the forward and reverse directions as appropriate, and then the main spindle 3 is replaced. The tool holder 12a holding and storing the tool 13 to be attached to the tool transfer device 15
The tool is positioned at a tool attachment/detachment position opposite to the tool holding hand 17.

When the positioning of the tool with respect to the tool holding hand 17 is completed, the tool holding hand 17 is driven and the tool holder 1 is moved.
The tool 13 in 2a is grasped and pulled out through the opening 12b in the direction of arrow J, transferred to the ATC arm 7 side, and positioned at a predetermined tool exchange position where the ATC arm 7 will perform the tool exchange operation. In addition, in this state, the main spindle 3 is raised in the direction of arrow C, and the main spindle 3 and the tool 13 attached to the main spindle 3 are positioned at a predetermined tool exchange position, and the column 2 is retreated in the direction of arrow A. Column 2 is also positioned at a predetermined tool exchange position.

Next, drive the piston 25a in the direction of the arrow to move the sliding cylinder 22 by a predetermined stroke in the direction of the arrow via the piston rod 25 and connecting head 23. Then, the piston 26 inside the sliding cylinder 22 similarly moves in the L direction together with the sliding cylinder 22, and the rotating shaft 7b rotates in the G direction by a predetermined angle via the rack 26a1 gear 7c. On this occasion,
Pressure oil is supplied into the cylinder 22a via the boat 22b, and therefore the piston 26 is pressed against the connecting head 23 side on the right side in FIG. Along with the movement in the L direction, the piston 26 also moves in the L direction together with the sliding cylinder 22, and the gear 7c can be smoothly driven.

By doing this, the ATC arm 7 rotates by a predetermined angle in the G direction from the previous standby position
a and 7a are held by the tool holding hand 17, and also hold the tool 13 mounted on the main spindle 3, respectively. In this state, the ATC arm 7 is made to protrude in the direction of FIG.

Next, pressure oil is supplied from the boat 22c of the cylinder 22a to move the piston 26 in the direction of the arrow. Then,
The rotation shaft 7b of the ATC arm 7 is rotated by 180° in the H direction by the rack 26a via the gear 7c, and thereby,
The tool 13 that had been mounted on the main spindle 3 until then is opposed to the tool holding hand 17, and the tool 13 that was gripped by the tool holding hand 17 is now opposed to the main spindle 3. In this state, ATC arm 7
When the tool 13 that was previously attached to the main shaft 3 is moved backward in the F) A direction by the previously-mentioned known drive mechanism (not shown), the tool 13
is held by the tool holding hand 17, and the tool holding hand 17
The tool 13, which was being held by the tool 13, is attached to the spindle 3 and released.

Next, when the piston 25a is driven in the direction of the arrow and the sliding cylinder 22 is moved in the direction of via the piston rod 25 and the connecting head 23, the pressure oil from the port 22C similarly causes the first
Rack 2 of piston 26 pushed to the left in the figure
6a, the ATC arm 7 moves at a predetermined angle α in the direction of arrow H.
The ATC arm 7 rotates over the entire range, and the ATC arm 7 is replaced with the same tool as before! The tool returns from x2 to the predetermined standby position x1, and the tool exchange operation ends.

The main spindle 3 with the new tool 13 mounted thereon is driven in the direction of the arrow B, and the column 2 is also moved forward in the direction of the arrow B to resume machining the workpiece. On the other hand, in the tool holding hand 17 to which the tool 13 that had been attached to the spindle 3 has been returned, the drive cylinder 19 is driven, and the arm 16 is
Rotate 90° in the direction. At this time, on the tool magazine 9 side, the chain 12 is driven to rotate as appropriate, and the tool holder 12 that stores the tool 13 that was previously attached to the main shaft 3 is moved.
Position it at the specified tool attachment/detachment position. Then, when the arm 16 and the tool 13 are rotated 9'0 degrees in the direction ■ and returned to the tool attachment/detachment position, the tool 13 held by the tool holding hand 17 is inserted into the opening 1 in the tool holder 12.
2b, and is returned into the tool magazine 9.

In addition, at the time of the next tool exchange operation, the operation of the piston 26 starts from the state where it has moved to the left in FIG.
The other operations are the same as described above, except that the direction of rotation during application is changed to the G direction.

In addition, although the above-mentioned embodiment described the case where the ATC arm rotation mechanism 20 according to the present invention is applied to the horizontal machining center 1, the present invention is not limited to the horizontal machining center, and the ATC arm can be used to perform tool exchange. Of course, it can be applied to all machine tools.

(g) 0 Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the sliding cylinder 22 is provided so as to be freely reciprocally driven, and the piston 26 is inserted into the sliding cylinder 22 in the moving direction of the sliding cylinder 22 (arrow A rack 26a is formed on the piston 26 in the moving direction of the piston 26 (in the L direction of the arrow), and the rack 26a and ATCy-A7 are connected to each other in the ATCy-A7 direction.
A7 is rotatably engaged with the rack 26a, so that the ATC arm 7 can be driven at the angle α;
The sliding cylinder 22 and the rack 26 provided in the sliding cylinder 22 perform the 180' turning operation.
(a), and the turning mechanism can be significantly downsized compared to the case where two independent racks are provided. Further, since only one rack is used, the labor required for processing is halved, which is extremely convenient.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of an ATC arm turning mechanism according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a machine tool in which the ATC arm turning mechanism according to the present invention is used. 7...ATC arm 7a...Tool gripping section 20...Swivel mechanism 22...Sliding cylinder 26...
... Piston 26a ... Rack applicant Yamabe Iron Works Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Phase 1) Shinji (and one other person)

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] In an ATC arm that is rotatably provided and has tool gripping portions formed at both ends, a sliding cylinder is provided so as to be freely reciprocally driven, and a piston is moved in the sliding cylinder in the moving direction of the sliding cylinder. An ATC arm turning mechanism configured to be freely drivable, a rack being formed on the piston in the direction of movement of the piston, and the rack and the ATC arm being engaged so that the ATC arm can be rotated by the rack.