JPS63102849A - Automatic tool changer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the time required for an automatic tool change reducible, by installing an index driving source, indexing a tool stocker, and a device which moves a frame solidly with a work head as one body. CONSTITUTION:A frame 3 hold an ATC arm unit 15 at the side of a work head 11 and a tool stocker in the height position, respectively. This ATC arm unit 15 holds an ATC arm 17 in a state of being free of movement and rotatable as far as 180 deg. around the central axis in an X-axis direction. And, it holes the tool holder 19 attached to spindle 18 of the work head 11 with a claw 17a at a tip on one side. Also it holds the tool holder 19 fed out of the tool stocker together with a tool pot 36 with another claw 17a at a tip on the other. The frame 3 is supported by a bush 5 in a state of being movable to two parallel guide bars 4 locked to a Y-axis column 2.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to improvements in automatic tool changers for machine tools.

PRIOR ART This type of automatic tool changer usually has an automatic tool changer (ATC) attached to a fixed part such as a bed at a side position of the column.
It is attached with an arm for use. On the other hand, the main shaft is mounted so as to be movable in three dimensions under numerical control, and after being guided to a predetermined processing position, performs necessary machining on the workpiece etc. by cutting rotation movement.

In this case, the machining position of the spindle and the tool change position of the automatic tool changer do not necessarily match, so when the required machining is completed, the spindle is usually guided to the tool change position by numerical control, There, it will face the ATC arm and prepare for automatic tool exchange.

However, each time the tool is changed, the spindle must move to the tool change position, which results in lost time.
This causes a decrease in machining efficiency.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to always keep the position of the machining head, especially its main axis, in a certain direction consistent with the tool exchange position of the tool stocker, and after completing the required cutting process, change the position of the main axis in a certain direction. The objective is to enable immediate tool replacement without having to move the tool.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the present invention provides an ATC arm and a tool stopper movable by a frame on the front surface of a column in the Y-axis direction of a machine tool, and connects the frame to the machining head by the drive source of the machining head. By moving the machining head, especially its spindle, and the tool changing position of the ATC arm in the same plane, the tool change position of the ATC arm can be adjusted without moving the spindle in a certain direction after the required machining has been completed. The tool is ready for immediate tool replacement. Moreover, in the present invention, when the processing head moves to a predetermined processing position, the ATC arm and tool stocker also move by the same amount.
Tools can be changed immediately at all machining positions. As a result, there is no need to re-index the spindle for tool exchange, and the time required for tool exchange can be shortened as much as possible.

Structure of the Invention FIGS. 1 to 7 show the structure of an automatic tool changer 1 of the present invention.

The automatic tool changer 1 is installed, for example, on the front surface of a Y-axis column 2 of a machine tool in a manner movable in the Y-axis direction by means of a frame 3. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, this frame 3 is movable with bushes 5 for vertical and horizontal sliding guidance with respect to two parallel guide bars 4 fixed to the Y-axis column 2. A feed nut 6 fixed to the frame 3 is connected to a feed screw 7 in the Y-axis direction under a screw pair. The feed screw 7 is rotatably supported by upper and lower bearings 8 attached to the Y-axis column 2, and is driven by a motor 10 with a reduction gear via a timing pulley/belt 9. There is. This motor 10 with a reduction gear is a means for moving the frame 3, and for example, moves a talent-type machining head 11 to the Y-axis column 2.
This side surface also serves as a drive source for the feed guide unit 12 for movement in the Y-axis direction. In addition, the above frame 3
In order to reduce the load on the motor 10 with a speed reducer, a counterbalance cylinder 13 is installed at the center of gravity of the frame 3.
is held by a piston rod 14.

On the other hand, the frame 3 has an ATC on the processing head 11 side.
A tool stocker 16 is held at the same height position as the arm unit 15. This ATC arm unit 1
5 holds an ATC arm 17 so that it can move forward and backward in the X-axis direction and rotate 180 degrees around its central axis, and is attached to the main shaft 18 of the processing head 11 with a claw 17a at one end. The tool holder 19 supplied from the tool stocker 16 together with the tool pot 36 is held by the claw 17a at the other end.

Now, the tool stocker 16 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in the figure, it has a disk shape, for example, and is rotatably supported at a cylindrical shaft 16a by a ball bearing 21 with respect to a fixed shaft 20 attached to the front surface of the frame 3 in the X-axis direction. A predetermined rotational position can be determined by a gear 23 fixed to the front end portion and a gear 24 on the output side of a motor 25 with a reduction gear that meshes with the gear 23.

This i4 speed a motor 25 is a tool stopper 16
The indexing drive source is fixed to the front end surface of the fixed shaft 20 by a substrate 26 on its front side. Note that the rotational position of the tool stocker 16 is electrically detected by an encoder 27 attached to the board 26 via gears 28 and 29. Further, a star wheel 22 is attached concentrically to the rear end side of the tool stocker 16, and an indexing groove on its outer periphery is connected to a piston rod 31 of a return type stop cylinder 30 attached to the frame 3. Compatible. The movement position of this piston loft 31 is determined by the two limit switches 32 and 33 on the frame 3 side and the dog 34 on the piston rod 31 side.
It is detected by the contact relationship with.

The tool strike 7 car 16 has a large number of support grooves 35 radially formed in its outer peripheral portion, and holds the tool pot 36 therein in a detachable manner in a direction away from the center. As shown in FIG. 6, this tool pot 36 houses the tool holder 19 in a removable manner in the X-axis direction using a pair of pole plungers 36a, and is attached to the back and front sides. The tool stocker 16 faces inside the perfect circular guide groove 39 of the guide frame 38 fixed to the front side of the frame 3 with the roller 37.
Removal is stopped in the direction away from the center of rotation. This guide frame 38 is discontinuous at the insertion/removal position of the tool holder 19, and is in a state where it can be joined to the arcuate guide groove 40a of the guide piece 40. As shown in FIG. 7, this guide piece 40 is supported by two parallel guide rods 41 so as to be movable in the radial direction of the tool stopper 16 with respect to a guide cylinder 42. It is also connected to the piston loft 43 of 42. The forward and backward positions of the piston rod 43 are detected by the contact relationship between the two limit switches 44 and 45 and the dog 46 fixed to one of the guide rods 41.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the forward limit of the guide piece 40 is regulated by a stopper screw 48 of the intermediate holder 47, and is also detected by a sensor 48a. This intermediate holder 47 is fixed to the front surface of the frame 3, and is located at an intermediate position between the rotation center of the ATC arm 17 and the rotation center of the tool stopper 16, and allows the tool pot 36 to be inserted and removed through the holding groove 49. A push rod 51 driven by a push cylinder 50 is provided in order to hold the tool holder 19 in a fixed state and push out the rear end portion of the tool holder 19 inside the tool pot 36.

Effect of the Invention Next, when exchanging tools, the following series of operations are performed.

First, when a tool indexing command is given from a numerical control device or the like, the stop cylinder 30 operates, and the piston loft 31 is moved back from the star wheel 22, thereby releasing the tool stocker 16 from the locked state. Thereafter, the motor 25 with a speed reducer is started, and its rotation is transmitted to the tool stocker 16 through the gears 24 and 23, causing it to rotate and, while detecting the position using the encoder 27, to a desired tool bond at a predetermined rotational position. 36 to the insertion/removal position. After being indexed in this manner, the stop cylinder 30 immediately moves the piston rod 31 forward to apply its tip to the groove portion of the star wheel 22, thereby keeping the tool stocker 16 in the indexed state in a non-rotating state. shall be.

At this insertion/removal position, the selected tool pot 36 is
The roller 37 portion faces the guide groove 40a of the guide piece 40. In this way, after the desired tool pot 36 is indexed to the loading/unloading opening, the guide cylinder 4
2 takes in working fluid from the outside, advances the piston rod 43 in the direction of the intermediate holder 47, and moves the tool pot 36 in the same direction. At this time, the tool pot 36 slides on the support groove 35 of the tool stocker 16, moves away from the center, and then comes out.
Newly transferred between the holding grooves 49 of the intermediate holder 47,
Due to the abutting relationship between the stopper screw 48 and the guide piece 40, it is stopped at a predetermined position.

After that, the ATC arm unit 15
By changing the claw 17a at the tip of 7 from the open state to the closed state, the tool holder 19 inside the tool pot 36 guided to the position of the intermediate holder 47 is held, and the main shaft 18 to be replaced is held at the other end. The tool holder 19 is held. Thereafter, the ATC arm 17 moves in the axial direction of the center of rotation, that is, in the X-axis direction, thereby pulling out the tool holder 19 held at both ends from the tool pot 36 and simultaneously pulling it out from inside the main shaft 1B. At the time of this pulling out, the pushing cylinder 50 moves its pushing rod 51 forward, so that the tool holder 19 overcomes the ball plunger 36a from inside the tool pot 36 and is set in a state where it is easy to pull out. Thereafter, the ATC arm 17 rotates 180 degrees, and then retreats again in the axial direction of the rotation center, thereby removing the new tool holder 1 from the tool pot 36.
9 is installed inside the main spindle 18, and the tool holder 19 pulled out from the main spindle 18 is placed in the empty tool pot 36.
It can be stored inside the . Thereafter, the main spindle is indexed to a machining position, and the necessary cutting is performed by the feed movement of the machining head 11.

On the other hand, the tool holder 19 housed inside the tool pot 36 at the position of the intermediate holder 47 is housed inside the empty guide groove 39 of the tool stopper 15 by an operation opposite to the above-mentioned operation.

As is already clear, when the processing head 11 is set at the processing position with respect to the Y-axis column 2, following this,
Since the position of the frame 13 in the Y-axis direction has already changed, the rotation centers of the main shaft 18, the ATC arm 17, and the tool stocker 16 are always on the same plane.
Moreover, they are set in a parallel state. Therefore, when a certain machining is completed, there is no need to move the main spindle 18 in the Y-axis direction (the above-mentioned series of tool exchange operations can be performed in the same position. As shown in the figure, it is constructed as a turret type, and there are 18
In an embodiment with a rotation angle of 0 degrees and two spindles 18, when machining is performed on the spindle 18 in the Y-axis direction, the other spindle 18 is always indexed to the tool exchange position. , tool change operations proceed in parallel during machining.

Modifications of the Invention Although the above embodiments show the machining head 11 as being of the turret type, the machining head 11 may also be of the axle or multi-shaft type.

Effects of the Invention In the present invention, the ATC arm and the tool stocker are
Because these frames always move in a certain direction together with the machining head and are always in a position where the tool can be changed, there is no need to move the machining head to the position where the tool can be changed before changing the tool. ,
The time required for automatic tool exchange can be reduced accordingly. In addition, since the drive source for indexing the tool stocker is provided on the front side of the tool stocker, that is, in front of the tool pot, a large space is not required at the rear of the tool pot, and the tool stocker is thin and easy to work with. Can be stably attached to the side of a machine column, etc.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view of the automatic tool changer of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a partially cutaway front view of the supporting part of the frame of the device, Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of the tool stocker, Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view of the tool stocker at the loading/unloading position, and Figure 5 is the tool stocker. 6 is a sectional view of the tool pot, and FIG. 7 is a front view of the guide piece. 1. Automatic tool changer, 2. Y-axis column, 3.
Frame, 4... Guide bar, 5... Bush for sliding guide, 6... Feed nut, 7... Feed screw, 10... Motor with reducer, 11... Processing head, 15... ATC arm unit, 16...Tool stocker, 17...AT
C-arm, 18...Main shaft, 19...Tool holder, 2
5. Motor with reducer, 36. Tool pot, 40.
・Guide piece, 47...Intermediate holder. Figure 3 Y Figure 4 Figure 6 Figure 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] An automatic machine comprising: a frame supporting an ATC arm and a tool stocker; an indexing drive source provided on the front side of the frame for indexing the tool stocker; and means for moving the frame integrally with a processing head. Tool changer.