KR19990014063A - Tool changer - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the tool changer according to the present invention, the spindle head is provided with a spindle moving along the Y axis with respect to the fixing table of the circuit board drilling machine, the work platform moves along the X axis orthogonal to the Y axis, and the tool magazine is parallel to the Y axis. By moving along one β axis, one of the spindles and one of the plurality of tool posts arranged in the tool magazine horizontally and vertically is aligned with the axis of the pressing member included in the tool pressurizing device. It is fixed to the fixed position in position.

The tool presser acts to feed the tool from the tool post to the chuck attached to the spindle or from the chuck to the tool post. Thus, the workbench is reduced in weight and moves quickly. In addition, the tool changer according to the present invention can simplify its operation during a tool change operation.

Description

Tool changer

The present invention relates to a tool changer applied to a circuit board drilling machine, and more particularly, to a tool pressurization device provided in the tool changer.

A conventional tool changer (Japanese Patent No. 4-2437A) applied to a printed circuit board drilling machine is provided with a tool magazine. The tool magazines include a plurality of tool posts arranged in a row. A tool post and a plurality of pressing cylinder actuators configured to interlock with the stator respectively are provided. The tool magazine with a pressurized cylinder actuator is fixed to a movable workbench. The pressurized cylinder actuators are each operated by a controller. The position of the movable workbench in the cross feed direction and the position of the circuit board drilling machine spindle in the longitudinal feed direction align one of the tool posts fixed in the tool magazine with the spindle. It is adjusted to be in the desired position.

In addition, the movement of the tool from the tool post to the spindle or the movement of the tool from the spindle to the tool post is achieved by controlling the pressure cylinder actuator associated with the selected tool post by the controller.

Another conventional tool changer (Japanese Patent No. 4-122537A) applied to a circuit board drilling machine includes a tool magazine. The tool magazine includes a plurality of tool posts, and a plurality of pressurizations respectively associated with the tool posts. A cylinder actuator is provided. All of the pressurized cylinder actuators are operated simultaneously by the controller. The pressure exerted on the tool by each pressurized cylinder actuator is applied when the spindle of the circuit board drilling machine pressurizes the shank of the tool held mounted to the tool post associated with each pressurized cylinder actuator. The pressure rod is adjusted to back off.

The tool changer is provided with a plurality of pressure cylinder actuators, the pressure cylinder actuators are respectively associated with a tool post fixed to the tool magazine. Therefore, such a conventional tool changer requires many parts including an O-ring, a piston, and various sealing members, and a lot of time and effort are consumed in its manufacture. The pitch of the tool post depends on the diameter of the pressure cylinder actuator. When the tool is moved between the tool post and the spindle, pressure is applied to the spindle by the respective pressure cylinder actuators, which is applied to the circuit board drilling machine, such as an air bearing that rotatably supports the spindle. A large pressure is applied in the axial direction, which lowers the precision of rotation of the spindle. Therefore, in order to avoid excessive axial pressure on the bearings supporting the spindle, special cylinder actuators with cylinders of small diameter and pressure capacity may be used. However, this special cylinder actuator is expensive, and as a result, a problem arises that it causes the price of the entire tool changer. In addition, a problem arises in that the movable work bench supporting the tool magazine equipped with a plurality of pressure cylinder actuators becomes heavy and cannot move quickly.

Since each pressurized cylinder actuator must be separately controlled by a controller of such a conventional tool changer, the controller requires a complicated connection structure. The latter of the above-described conventional tool changer has the advantage that it does not separately control each pressurized cylinder actuator as compared to the former. However, the latter has a problem in that it is economically inefficient by using a lot of compressed air compared to the former because all the pressure cylinder actuators move at the same time.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art as described above is less space constraints, is not fixed to the mobile workbench to improve the moving speed of the mobile workbench, it is easily controlled to facilitate tool change work, An object of the present invention is to provide a tool changer equipped with a tool pressurizing mechanism which requires a small production cost.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention is equipped with a plate drilling machine equipped with one spindle, and includes a tool magazine including a plurality of tool posts and capable of transferring one of the tool posts to a position aligned with the spindle. ; A positioning device for positioning the tool magazine such that one of the tool posts is transported to a position aligned with the spindle; In the tool changer within the range where the spindle is moved, there is a tool pressurizing device which is fixedly arranged against the spindle in the tool changer. The tool pressurizing device is arranged in alignment with the spindle and presses one of the tool posts toward the spindle. Provided is a tool changer that performs a tool change operation.

Therefore, in the tool changer according to the present invention, only one tool pressing device is fixedly arranged to face the spindle, so that the number of components is reduced compared to the conventional tool changer, and the structure of the controller for the operation is simplified. . When a pneumatic cylinder actuator is applied as a tool pressurizing device, the number of pneumatic cylinders is equal to the number of spindles, and the tool pressurizing device uses a small amount of compressed air. In addition, since the tool pressurizing device is separated and fixed to the tool magazine, the size of the tool pressurizing device is not limited to the size of the tool post. Accordingly, it is possible to use a low-cost general-purpose cylinder actuator as the tool pressurizing device.

The features and advantages of the present invention as described above are more apparent through the configuration and operation of the present invention and the accompanying drawings.

1 is a front view showing a partial cross-sectional processing of the tool changer according to an embodiment of the present invention

2 is a perspective view showing a circuit board drilling machine

Figure 3a, 3b, 3c is a supplementary view showing the operating state of the tool changer shown in FIG.

Figures 4a, 4b, 4c is a supplementary view showing the operating state of the tool changer shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

2: column 3: machining head

4: Y-axis motor 5: Feed screw device

6: guide rail 7: spindle head

8: Z-axis motor 9: Feed screw device

10: guide rail 11: spindle

15: Workbench 16: X axis motor

17: Feeding screw device 18: Guide rail

20: guide rail 21: slide block

22: magazine frame 24: motor support bracket

25: β axis motor 26: feed screw

30: Tool magazine 33: Tool post

33a: stem 34: tool head

35: color 36: shank

37: Flange 38: Compression Spring

40: actuator 42: piston rod

43: bore 44: lifting rod

44a: flange 45: cap

46: compression spring 50: pressurizing device

T: Tool TC: Tool Change Position

W: circuit board

First, the structure of the circuit board drilling machine prior to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, a column 2 of a double-housing type is fixedly mounted on the stator. Two machining heads 3 are supported on the column 2, and the machining heads 3 are guide rails formed by a feed screw device 5 operated by a Y-axis motor 4. along the guide rail (6) in a horizontal direction, ie parallel to the Y axis. The spindle head 7 provided in each machining head 3 is vertically oriented along the guide rail 10, ie, Z-axis, by the feed screw device 9 operated by the Z-axis motor 8. It moves in a direction parallel to. As shown in FIG. 1, a chuck 13 for fixing or releasing the tool T is fixed to the lower end of the spindle 11.

The worktable 15 located below the column 2 is in the transverse direction along the guide rail 18, ie in the direction parallel to the X axis, by the feed screw device 17 operated by the X axis motor 16. Move. Guide rail 20 is fixed to the front end of the worktable 15 to extend in a direction parallel to the Y axis. As shown in FIG. 1, a slide block 21 is attached to the guide rail 20 to slide along the guide rail 20. The magazine frame 22 is fixedly connected to the slide block 21. Two tool magazines 30 respectively connected to the two spindles 11 are fixed to the magazine frame 22. As shown in FIG. 2, the motor support bracket 24 is fixed to one side end of the holder 15, and the β-axis motor 25 is supported by the motor support bracket 24. Transfer screw 26 is attached to the front end of the magazine frame 22, the transfer screw 26 is inserted into a screw hole (not shown) formed in the block. The feed screw 26 is operated by the β-axis motor 25 to move the magazine frame 22 along the guide rail 20 in the horizontal direction, that is, β-axis direction. The distance between two tool change positions TC on the Y axis to be described later is equal to the center distance between the two tool magazines 30. Two tool posts 33 each fixed at a position corresponding to two tool magazines 30 among the plurality of tool posts 33 are respectively positioned to align with the axes of the two spindles 11 at the same time. Reference numeral 11 denotes two tool change positions TC, respectively, by the coupling action of the worktable 15 moving along the X axis and the magazine frame 22 moving along the Y axis.

The two tool magazine 30 has the same structure. As shown in FIG. 1, each tool magazine 30 is provided with a tool post support member 31 fixedly connected to the magazine frame 22. The tool post support member 31 is provided with a plurality of guide holes 32 arranged in a line parallel to the β axis and a plurality of columns parallel to the X axis. The plurality of tool posts 33 are inserted into the guide holes 32 to enable vertical movement. Each tool post 33 has a stem 33a having a small diameter and a flange 37 formed at a lower end thereof so as to be inserted into the guide hole 32, and a tool fixing head extending from an upper end of the stem 33a and having a large diameter. 34 is provided.

The tool T is vertically supported such that the color 35 is cut downward by the tool fixing head 34 of the tool post 33, and the shank 34 is fixed at the tool fixing head 34. It protrudes upward by the length of. The compression spring 38 is wound around the stem 33a of the tool post 33, and the compression spring 38 exerts a tension force between the flange 37 and the bottom surface of the tool post support member 31. The tool post 33 faces downward so that the lower end of the head 34 contacts the upper surface of the tool post support member 31.

The tool change position TC is set within the movement range on the Y axis of each spindle 11. The pressurizing device 50 is arrange | positioned so that the axis | shaft of the spindle 11 put in the upper tool change position TC may correspond, respectively. Each pressurizing device 50 is provided with a cylinder actuator 40 attached to a bracket 41 fixed to the fixing table 1 and equipped with a vertically moving piston rod 42. The lower part of the lifting rod 44 which is moved in contact with the lower end of the tool post 33 is inserted into a bore 43 formed at the upper end of the piston rod 42, and thus the lifting rod 44 Is moved axially with respect to the piston rod 42. A flange 44a is formed below the lifting rod 44 inserted into the bore 43 of the piston rod 42. The compression spring 46 exerts a tensioning force for the lifting rod 44 to rise between the bottom surface of the bore 43 and the flange 44a.

The upward movement of the lifting rod 44 relative to the piston rod 42 is limited by the cap 45 attached to the tip of the piston rod 42 so that the lifting rod 44 is not separated from the piston rod 42. do. The elastic force generated by the compression spring 46 being compressed between the bottom of the bore 43 and the flange 44a placed on the cap 45 is properly adjusted so that the lifting rod 44 lifts the tool post 33 and the tool post. If the pressure applied to the bearing supporting the spindle 11 via 33 exceeds the limit, the compression spring 46 will expand, thereby avoiding excessive axial pressure on the bearing. At this time, even if the compression spring 46 is compressed when the piston rod 42 raises the lifting rod 44 to lift the tool post 33, the compression force of the compression spring 46 and the piston rod 42 The stroke of is set such that the lower end of the lifting rod 44 does not contact the bottom surface of the bore 43 (see FIG. 4B). When the piston rod 42 is located at the lower end of the strut, the upper end of the lifting rod 44 is positioned slightly below the lower end of the tool post 33. The distance between two tool change positions TC on the Y axis is equal to the distance between each axis of the two spindles 11. Thus, the two spindles 11 are moved by the Y-axis motor 4 to move along the Y-axis, and are simultaneously positioned at the corresponding tool change position TC.

As shown in FIG. 2, two circuit boards W are fixedly mounted on the work table 15 so as to correspond to the two spindles 11, respectively. The two machining heads 3 move on the Y axis and the work table 15 moves on the X axis to position the circuit board W relative to the spindle 11 in two-dimensional space. The plurality of spindle heads 7 simultaneously move on the Z axis to simultaneously form two holes at corresponding positions of the two circuit boards W. As shown in FIG. In addition, the worktable 15 is separated from the pressurizing device 50, and the tool magazine 30 in which the pressurizing device 50 is separated is placed on the worktable 15. Therefore, the work bench 15 in the present invention is lighter than the work bench of the conventional tool changer, and the moving speed is also faster.

When the tool is changed, the spindle 11 of the two machining heads 3 rises by a predetermined amount, and the machining head 3 moves on the Y axis to position the spindle 11 at the tool change position TC. . On the other hand, as shown in Figure 3a by the operation of the X-axis motor 16 and β-axis motor 25, the work table 15 and the tool magazine 15 is moved along the X-axis and β-axis, respectively. Therefore, the two spindles 11 are placed at the corresponding tool change positions TC at the same time, and empty tool posts of the tool magazine 30 corresponding to each spindle 11 and receiving a tool from the spindles 11. 33 is arranged in line with the axis of the corresponding spindle 11. In this state, as shown in FIGS. 3B and 4A, the empty tool posts 33 are arranged in line with the axes of the pressure cylinder actuators 40, respectively.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, the piston rod 42 of the pressure cylinder actuator 40 protrudes upward, thereby fixing the empty tool post 33 to the chuck 13 of the spindle 11 to be used. To the T) side. Therefore, the chuck 13 of the spindle 11 releases the binding state of the tool T in use, and the tool T in use is transferred from the spindle 11 to the tool post 33. As shown in FIG. 4C, the tool post 33 which is engaged with the tool T in use through the tool fixing head 34 is applied to the elastic force of the compression spring 38 as the piston rod 42 returns to its original position. Descended by

As a result, as shown in FIGS. 3c and 4c, the worktable 15 moves along the X axis, and the tool magazine 30 moves along the β axis, such as the spindle 11 fixed to the tool change position TC. A tool post 33 with a tool T is taken to be associated with each spindle 11. As shown in FIG. 4B, the operation of the pressure cylinder actuator 40 causes the tool post 33 to be lifted in the direction of the chuck 13 mounted on the spindle 11 so that the chuck 13 bites the tool T. As shown in FIG. do. As shown in FIG. 4A, after the shank 36 of the tool T is engaged by a tool fastening device (not shown) of the chuck 13, the piston rods 42 of the pressure cylinder actuator 40 are respectively minimized. It will return to the position. After a series of processes according to the tool change is completed, the spindle 11 is dropped from the tool change position TC, and the work platform moves along the X axis to move the spindle 11 to the work position TC opposite to the circuit board W. Moved. Then, the boring operation by the spindle 11 is made. When changing the tool, only one pressurized cylinder actuator 40 is used for one spindle 11. Therefore, the structure of the control circuit for controlling the pressurized cylinder actuator 40 applied to the present invention has a simpler configuration than the control circuit applied to the conventional tool changer, and the pressurized actuator 40 applied to the present invention is better than the prior art. A small amount of working fluid is used.

As shown in FIG. 4B, when the tool T in use is moved from the spindle 11 to the empty tool post 33, the piston rod 42 protrudes to lift the lifting rod 44. Thus, at the same time the lifting rod 44 is lifted, the upper end of the lifting rod 44 is in contact with the lower end of the tool post 33, and the tool post 33 is also raised above the elastic force of the compression spring 38. When the lifting rod 44 lifts the tool post 33, the compression spring 46 is not deformed because the elastic force of the compression spring 46 is greater than that of the compression spring 38. As a result, the color 35 of the tool T fixed to the spindle 11 is seated on the tool fixing head 34, and comes into contact with the step 34a formed in the bore of the tool fixing head 34, so that the tool post 33 Stop the upward movement of After the upward movement of the tool post 33 stops, the piston rod 42 moves slightly upward to press the tool fixing head 34 strongly against the color 35 of the tool T. Therefore, when the tool fixing head 34 is pressed against the color 35 of the tool T, the compression spring 46 is tensioned to avoid excessive load on the bearing supporting the spindle 11. do. This action to avoid the excessive load on the bearing supporting the spindle 11 is to transfer a new tool (T) from the tool post 33 to the chuck 13 of the spindle 11 as shown in Figure 4b It is also effective in the case.

As is evident in the embodiment described above, only one tool changer is used for one spindle (one tool magazine), so that the tool changer according to the present invention has a small number of parts and is easy to assemble. In addition, since only one tool changer is controlled for the tool change operation for one spindle, the control circuit to be applied has a simple structure. When a cylinder actuator operated by a pressurized working fluid is applied to a tool pressurizing device, the cylinder actuator is controlled by a control circuit having a simple structure, thereby achieving an economical operating state in which the amount of working fluid is reduced. In addition, since the tool pressing device is separated from the tool magazine and attached to the fixing member, the tool pressing device is not structurally limited by the arrangement of the tool posts. Therefore, inexpensive general-purpose cylinder actuators may be applied to the tool pressurizing device. Since the workbench does not carry the tool presser, it is light in weight and can move faster, thereby improving work efficiency.

Since one of the tool posts of the tool magazine is placed at a predetermined tool change position by a worktable moving along the X axis and a tool magazine moving along the Y axis, the tool changer according to the present invention has a structure in which the tool magazine is separated from the worktable in the vertical direction. It is made simpler than the conventional tool changer that moves with.

And, more tool posts are mounted vertically and horizontally in the tool magazine. In addition, since the pressure of the pressure cylinder actuator is absorbed by the compression spring, an excessive load on the spindle can be avoided during tool change.

As described above, the present invention can be modified and implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of the invention. For example, the tool changer according to the present invention is applicable to a plate drilling machine rather than a circuit board drilling machine.

Claims (7)

Mounted on a plate drilling machine with one spindle, A tool magazine comprising a plurality of tool posts and capable of transferring one of the tool posts to a position aligned with the spindle; A positioning device for positioning the tool magazine such that one of the tool posts is transported to a position aligned with the spindle; In the tool changer within the range in which the spindle is moved, there is provided a tool pressurizing device which is fixedly disposed against the spindle with respect to the tool magazine. The tool pressurizing device is a tool changer that is aligned with the spindle to perform a tool change operation by pressing one of the tool post toward the spindle. The method of claim 1, The tool magazine is provided with the tool magazine arranged in a row in the tool magazine. The method of claim 1, The positioning device is a tool changer is provided with a worktable on which a plate to be processed is mounted, and a means for movably supporting a tool magazine on the worktable. The method of claim 3, The worktable is movable in the primary direction, the tool magazine is movable tool changer in the secondary direction orthogonal to the primary direction. The method of claim 1, The tool pressurizing device is a tool changer fixedly mounted in the coaxial position with the spindle on the holding plate of the plate drilling machine. The method of claim 1, The tool pressing device is provided with a lifting rod for pressing one of the tool post, the lifting rod is a tool changer that can be returned to its original position by elasticity when pressing one of the tool post. The method of claim 1, The tool pressurizing device A pressurized cylinder actuator fixedly mounted to the fixed member of the plate drilling machine and equipped with a piston rod; A lifting rod in contact with the tool post to lift the tool post, the lifting rod being inserted into a bore formed at an upper end of the piston rod to move in the axial direction of the piston rod, and having a flanged portion; A pressurizing spring tensioned between the bottom surface of the bore formed in the piston rod and a flange under the lifting rod to bias the lifting rod upward; And a cap attached to the free end of the piston rod to support a lower portion of the lifting rod inserted into the bore of the piston rod by mounting a flange of the lower portion of the lifting rod, which is applied by the pressure spring, to the inner surface thereof.