JPS6322033Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a work feeder turning and indexing device that utilizes the movement of a robot.

Conventionally, a work feeder that sequentially indexes a plurality of workpieces on a worktable and transports the workpieces at a workpiece transfer position to a spindle chuck has been equipped with an indexing drive device and a transport drive device, respectively. Therefore, the structure of the work feeder becomes complicated and heavy, and furthermore, it takes time and effort to adjust the installation of the work feeder.

The present invention was developed in view of the above circumstances, and the purpose of the present invention is to provide a feeder that can simplify the structure of the work feeder by utilizing the movement of a transport device such as a robot and also serving as an indexing drive device. The object of the present invention is to provide an indexing device for the invention.

In order to achieve this objective, the present invention uses the vertical (Y direction) and lateral (Z direction) movements of the robot, which is a transport drive device, to index the work table. A structure is adopted in which mutual engagement means are provided in the two.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is an overall plan view of a work feeder to which the present invention is applied, and Fig. 2 is a -
The enlarged line sectional view and FIG. 3 are a plan view taken in the direction of the arrows in FIG. 2. In FIG. 1, an arm transfer type robot 3 is provided to convey a workpiece to a spindle chuck 2 of a machine tool 1. The structure of the robot 3 is such that the saddle 5 moves along the guide rail of the base 4 attached to the front of the machine tool 1 in the Z direction (lateral direction).
The ram 6 is movable in the Y direction (vertical direction) along the saddle 5, and the ram 6 is movable in the Y direction (vertical direction) along the saddle 5.
The rotation axis 8 is inclined with respect to the spindle axis 7.
An arm 9 is provided around which it can pivot. The arm 9 can transfer the workpiece to the workpiece transfer position 11 on the worktable 10 and the spindle chuck 2 side. As described above, the "machine tool robot" according to the applicant's application has a structure that allows the arm to move within an angular range of less than 180 degrees and the hand 12 to rotate by 90 degrees.
(Japanese Patent Application No. 57-135387) can be used.

The work table 10 has the following structure. A central shaft 14 is erected on the base 13, and a rotary plate 16 is held on the central shaft 14 via a bearing 15 so as to be rotatable in a horizontal plane.
A roller 17a of a caster 17 mounted on the base 13 is in contact with a key lower surface of the base 13. Rotating plate 1
On the upper surface of the outer peripheral side edge of 6, workpiece placement sections 18 are provided at equal pitches on the circumference (12 equally spaced in the drawing), and a workpiece 19 is placed on each workpiece placement section 18. When one workpiece placement section 18 is located at the workpiece transfer position 11, the position where the workpiece placement section 18 three positions before is located is the indexing start position 20, and the position where the workpiece placement section 18 located two places before is located is the indexing start position 20. The position is the indexing end position 21, and the position where the workpiece placement section 18 in front is located is the detection position 22 for confirming that the workpiece is placed. Rotating plate 1
A pair of photoelectric switch sensors 25a and 25b are provided on a stay 23 attached to a central shaft 14 projecting upward from 6 and on a stay 24 attached to a base 13, with the detection position 22 in between.

On the lower surface of the rotary plate 16, a pair of protrusions 26a in a direction parallel to the radius are provided corresponding to each workpiece placement part 18.
An engagement member 26 consisting of 26b is provided,
An engagement groove 27 is formed between both protrusions 26a and 26b. Further, a rotation prevention mechanism 29 for the rotary plate 16 is provided on a stay 28 fixed to the base 13 below the engaging member 26 corresponding to the workpiece mounting portion 18 at the index end position 21 . The rotation prevention mechanism 29 includes a rod 32 held on a bracket 30 via a bearing 31 so as to be movable up and down;
A spring 33 that applies an upward biasing force to the rod 32 and an output end thereof are connected to the lower end of the rod 32 with a pin 34.
It consists of an AC solenoid 35 and a sensor 36 that detects when the rod 32 is in the raised position.
By actuation of the AC solenoid 35, the head of the rod 32 can take an elevated position where it is fitted into the engagement groove 27 of the engagement member 26 and a lowered position where it is disengaged from the engagement groove 27. 37 is the protrusion 2 of the engagement groove 26
This is a sensor that confirms the indexed position of the rotary plate 16 by detecting the position 6b.

A bracket 38 is attached to the side of the ram 6 of the robot 3, and the bracket 38 extends below the outer edge of the work table 10, and an upwardly directed engagement pin 39 is provided at the tip of the bracket 38. There is. The engagement pin 39 is connected to the engagement member 26.
It has a shape that engages with the engagement groove 27 of. Mataramu 6
The mounting position of the engagement pin 39 relative to the saddle 5 is
By moving in the Z direction, the engagement pin 39 moves from the position 40 corresponding to the engagement groove 27 corresponding to the workpiece mounting section 18 at the indexing start position 20 to the indexing end position 21.
The engagement pin 39 can be moved to a position 41 corresponding to the engagement groove 27 corresponding to the workpiece mounting portion 18 in the Y-direction movement of the ram 6.
It can take a raised position 42 where it is fitted into the engagement groove 27 and a lowered position 34 where it is disengaged from the engagement groove 27 (Fig. 2,
Figure 3).

Next, the operation of the feeder including the operation of the indexing device will be explained. First, the robot 3 is in its original position, that is, in the state where it has started its operation, and the arm 9 is swung up almost vertically as indicated by the solid line in FIG. When machining of the work gripped by the spindle chuck 2 in the machine tool 1 is completed, the arm 9, which had been swung up at the original position in Fig. 1, moves backwards after the tool post (not shown) moves back to the position shown in Fig. As shown by the solid line, it is transferred to the spindle chuck side, and as the saddle 5 moves backward, the hand 12
is brought close to the workpiece on the spindle chuck and grips the workpiece, and as the spindle chuck is released, the saddle 5 moves forward to pull out the workpiece from the spindle chuck 2, and the workpiece is transferred to the worktable 10 side again to transfer the workpiece to the workpiece. The machined workpiece is placed on the workpiece placement section 18 at the workpiece transfer position 11 on the table 10, the hand 12 is released, and the return operation of the machined workpiece is completed. Swing the arm 9 up again to its original position and move the saddle 5 backward to release the engagement pin 39.
to the lower position of position 40, then ram 6
The engagement pin 39 is fitted into the engagement groove 27 by the upward movement, and the rod 32 of the rotation prevention mechanism 29 is moved downward to make the rotary plate 16 rotatable.
As the saddle 5 moves forward, the engagement pin 39 moves and the rotating plate 16 is rotated via the engagement member 26, thereby indexing the workpiece mounting portion 18 by one pitch. At this time, the linear motion of the engagement pin 39 is converted into a rotational motion of the rotary plate 16, but since the engagement groove 27 is parallel to the radial direction, the engagement member 26 prevents the relative movement of the engagement pin 39 in the radial direction. It is possible to receive the transmission of motion while allowing it. When the indexing of the rotary plate 16 is completed, the rod 32 of the rotation prevention mechanism 29 is engaged with the next indexed engagement groove 27 to prevent rotation of the rotary plate, and as the ram 6 moves downward, the engagement pin is closed. 39 is disengaged from the engaging member 26, but at this position, the arm 9
If the mounting positional relationship between the arm and the engagement pin is determined so that the hand 12 is located above the workpiece transfer position 11, the engagement pin 39 can be simply separated from the engagement member 26 by the downward movement of the ram 6. Move hand 12 of arm 9 to workpiece transfer position 1
1, grip the workpiece with the hand 12, swing the arm 9 toward the spindle chuck 2 side, and move the saddle 5 backward to move the hand 12.
was moved close to the spindle chuck 2, the workpiece was gripped by the spindle chuck 2, and the hand 12 was released, the saddle 5 was advanced, the hand 12 was moved to the position shown by the solid line in Fig. 1, and the arm 9 was swung up vertically. At the same time, machining of this workpiece is started. The indexing advances the workpiece to the workpiece take-out position 44, and the processed workpiece on the workpiece placement section 18 is carried out to the outside. When the machining of the workpiece on the spindle chuck is completed, the machined workpiece is returned to the worktable by the same procedure as above.
Repeat the indexing operation and attaching a new workpiece to the spindle chuck. Before the indexing operation, it is detected whether or not there is a workpiece on the workpiece mounting section 18 at the detection position 22. If there is a workpiece, it is sufficient to perform one indexing operation as described above, but if there is no workpiece In this case, after performing the indexing operation, confirm that there is a workpiece on the workpiece placement section at the detection position 22, perform the indexing operation again, and then place a new workpiece on the spindle chuck as described above. Perform the installation work.

Next, the effects brought about by the present invention will be explained based on examples as follows.

In the feeder indexing device according to the present invention, the work table is rotationally driven by a robot that transports the work between the machine tool and the work table, so that a dedicated drive section for the work table can be omitted. Therefore, energy saving can be achieved in the entire drive system of the feeder.

The feeder indexing device according to the present invention only needs to be provided with an engaging pin on the robot and an engaging member on the work table. This can be done by utilizing vertical and horizontal movements. Therefore, the structure of the entire feeder is simplified, the weight can be reduced, the installation and adjustment are easy, and the maintenance and inspection of the machine is also easy.

The movement of the robot and the feeder are partially mechanically interlocked, eliminating the need for electrical interlock. Therefore, the failure rate can be reduced.

Since the indexing operation of the feeder is controlled by the movement of the robot, the characteristics of the servo motor provided in the robot can be utilized. Therefore, the movement of the work table when starting and stopping becomes smooth.

Since the feeder indexing operation is performed using the movement of the robot as a driving source, by applying the present invention to the feeder of a machine tool, there is no change in the function or layout of the robot. In particular, since the movement of the robot during the indexing operation of the feeder is closer to the base than the transfer area of the arm, there is an advantage that the work area is not enlarged.

The present invention described above can be modified in various ways within the scope of the claims for utility model registration. Although the embodiment has been described using a robot that moves in the Y-axis and Z-axis and transfers the arm, a robot having another structure that moves in the vertical direction and in the lateral direction may also be used.
For example, a rotating plate that can rotate in a horizontal plane with respect to a base, a body that can move up and down with respect to the rotating plate, an arm that can freely move in the radial direction of the rotation with respect to the body, and a vertical plane with respect to the arm. By using a robot consisting of a hand that can be rotated by a hand, the robot can be engaged with and disengaged from a work table by moving the body up and down, and the work table can be indexed by horizontal rotation of a rotating plate.

Further, in the above embodiment, the work table has been described as having the rotary plate 16, but a work table may be used in which separately movable work placement parts are connected to a chain and move around the work table.

Further, the splash cover can be automatically opened and closed by engaging the splash cover using the movement of the robot, thereby eliminating the need for a power source for the cover.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is an overall plan view of a work feeder to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line - in FIG. 1, and FIG. It is a diagram. 1...Machine tool, 2...Spindle chuck, 3...
Robot, 4...Base, 5...Saddle, 6...
Ram, 9...arm, 10...work table,
18... Work placement part, 19... Work, 26...
...Engagement member, 39...Engagement pin, 29...Rotation prevention mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A feeder that transports a workpiece to a spindle chuck of a machine tool by a robot, the workpiece is rotatable by having an engagement pin provided on a portion of the robot that moves vertically and laterally, and a plurality of workpiece placement parts. It has a table, and an engagement member provided on the work table for engaging with the engagement pin, the engagement pin is detachable from the engagement member by vertical movement of the robot, and the engagement member A feeder indexing device characterized in that the engaging pin engaged with the robot can index and rotate the work table by a predetermined angle via the engaging member by the lateral movement of the robot.