US3910180A

US3910180A - Air feeder for auxiliary jobs in machine tools

Info

Publication number: US3910180A
Application number: US467818A
Authority: US
Inventors: Nariyoshi Yasuhara; Fukuo Yamamoto; Yoshinori Fujii
Original assignee: Toyota Motor Corp
Current assignee: Toyota Motor Corp
Priority date: 1973-05-11
Filing date: 1974-05-07
Publication date: 1975-10-07
Anticipated expiration: 1992-10-07
Also published as: JPS501472A; JPS533747B2

Abstract

An air feeder for auxiliary jobs in such machine tools as a press machine provided with moving bolsters, comprising a header on the fixed side which is provided on a frame, a header on the movable side which is provided on a moving bolster, an air valve which is movably disposed in the fixed side header, and a coiled spring which is arranged inside the fixed side header. The coiled spring normally urges the air valve into its closed position, so that no air is fed from an air chamber defined in the fixed side header. When the movable side header is lowered with the descent of the bolster, the air valve is depressed and brought into its open position, so that compressed air is fed from the air chamber through the air valve to an air distributing pipe located on the bolster side.

Description

United States Patent 1 1 Yasuhara et a1. Oct. 7, 1975 [54] AIR FEEDER FOR AUXILIARY JOBS IN 2,988,234 6/1961 Barothy et al. lOO/DIG. 18 MACHINE OOL 3,002,479 10/1961 Johansen. et al. IOO/DIG. 18 3,455,141 7/1969 Bracco et a1 72/446 [75] Inventors: Nariyoshi Yasuhara; Fukuo f fl f Toyota; Primary ExaminerBilly .1. Wilhite Yoshmon FUJI" h" of Japan Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Stevens, Davis, Miller & ['73] Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Mosher Kaisha, Toyota, Japan 22 Filed: May 7, 1974 [57] ABSTRACT An air feeder for auxiliary jobs in such machine tools [211 App!" 467318 as a press machine provided with moving bolsters,

comprising a header on the fixed side which is pro- [30] F i Application priority Data vided on a frame, a header on the movable side which M 11, 1973 J 48-52798 is pmvded a moving bolster an air Valve which is ay apan movably disposed in the fixed side header, and a [52] us CL 100/224, 72/446 coiled spring which is arranged inside the fixed side [51] Int. Cl l I l B36) 15/02 header. The coiled spring normally urges the air valve [58] Field D into its closed position, so that no air is fed from an air 75/446 chamber defined in the fixed side header. When the movable side header is lowered with the descent of the [56] References Cited bolster, the air valve is depressed and brought into its open position, so that compressed air is fed from the UNITED STATES PATENTS air chamber through the air valve to an air distributing X located on the bolster ide y er l. 2,543,498 2 1951 Japikse 100/D1G. 18 2 Claims, 5 Drawing gu s US. Patent O ct.7,1975 Sh eet10f2 3,910,180

leivi 5o U.S. Patent 0a. 7,1975 Sheet2 0f2 3,910,180

WI 6b 6' AIR FEEDER FOR AUXILIARY JOBS IN MACHINE TOOLS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air feeder for auxiliary jobs in machine tools, mainly in press machines provided with cross-moving bolsters and side-moving bolsters.

2. Description of the Prior Art A variety of devices are employed for the loading and unloading of a work as automation in a press working equipment etc. In order to effectively usethe equipment, a lifter, gauge, guide etc. are required inside press 'dies' and they need be actuated in timing with the working equipment.

In general, the lifter,gauge, guide etc. In the dies of the press equipment are actuated by'air cylinders. As their air source, compressed air is taken out from a press machine by air hoses. The timing of the actuation is controlled by a rotary cam switch of the press ma chine. The air hoses twice as many as the lifter, gauge, guide etc. in the dies need be disposed'between the dies and the press machine.

On the other side, the thin-plate press working etc. are of the lot production in many cases. Several dies are allotted to one machine, and are successively used in the working. This necessitates the arrangements job of detaching and attaching the dies. It is the present situation that the job of the detachment and attachment of the air hoses is also carried out at the arrangements job.

Usually, the arrangements jobs account for approximately 30% of the total time of operationof the press machine. V I

In order to shorten the time of the arrangements operation, a press machine with moving bolsters is often employed. As regards the detachment and attachment of the air hoses, the quick joint system has been proposed.

Withthese measures, however, as the automation becomes more complicated and more advanced;the number of the .air hoses increase more, which hinders the shortening of the time required for the arrangements operation. Withthe increase, of the number of the hoses, connecting portions are liable to mistakes. In a large-sized press machine, the handling of the air hoses takes time due to' the increase of the lengths and num ber "ofthe air hoses Since an operator goes into and out of the press madhine, there are various problems in point of the safety. r i

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an air feeder with which, merely by inserting dies into a press machine -by means of moving bolsters, the coupling of an air hosebetween the press machine and the dies can be automatically made reliably and readily.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an air feeder in which the lower end surface of a header on the movable. side secured to a bolster and the upper end surface of a header on the fixed side secured toa frame are formed into flat surfaces, respectively, and the connecting portion between both the flat surfaces are joined by an O-ring, so that the airtight-connection between the movable side header and the fixed side header can be made reliably and readily.

With the prior-art quick joint, air leakage, arises at its release. In this respect,=an-object of the present invention is to provide an. air feeder'with which, an air valve adapted to operate in tune. with the up-anddownmotion of a header on the movable side is utilized so that no air leakage occurs, and the motion of a bolster is utilized so that any driving mechanism for only the air feeder is not required. I I

A further object of the present invention is to eliminate the necessity for the arrangements job of attaching and detaching air hoses even in a machine, such as press machine, which has a plurality of bolsters, and to thereby shorten the rest time of the machine sharply in comparison with that in the prior-art device.

A still further objectof the present invention is to I eliminate the necessity for performing the connection of air hoses by putting the body into dies, the necessity having been encounted in case of a large-sized press etc.,- and to thereby obviate danger in operations and prevent the trouble of damage of the dies ascribable to an incorrect connection'of the hose- BRIIEF DESCRIPTION OF HE DRAWINGS These and other objects and advantages of the invention may be readily ascertained by referring to the following description and appended drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a press machine with cross-moving bolsters;

FIG. 2 is a side view corresponding to FIG. I;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical section showing the essential portions of an air feeder according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical section showing the operative' state of the portions in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view showing another embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 to 4 illustrate an aspect of performance in which the air feeder ofethe present invention is applied to a press machine having cross-moving bolsters A and Headers 1 on the movable side are secured to the end surfaces a and b of the bolsters A and'B on'the same.

side, respectively. At that position of a frame F which corresponds to the movable side header 1 when the bolster A or B is fixed into the press machine, a header 4 on the fixed side is secured. When the bolster A or B is fixed onto the frame F, the movable side header I and the fixed side header 4 are coupled,and air supply passages formed in the respective headers are caused to communicate;

- In the embodiment, the movable side header lsecured to the bolster A, which carries out the up-and down motion after moving into the frame F of the press machine; is formed with 'the air passage 3 of predetermined diametrical dimension vertically upwards from 1 its fiat lower end surface 2. The air passage 3 communicateswith pipes for distributing air to various appliances which are additionally provided on theside of=the bolster 'A. 1 I

Directly under the lower end .surface 2of the header 1, the fixed side header4 is disposed with a predetermined spacing therefrom. g 7

Within the fixed side header 4, an air chamber .5 is definedby a partition plate 6 which is the seat of a spring to be described later. The air chamberS is shut off from the open air by means of an O-ring 7 which is disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the partition plate 6. The partition plate 6 is integrally supported by means ofa mounting seat 8 which is disposed at the back thereof.

Over the air chamber 5, a hole for sliding 9 which communicates with the air chamber is formed in a.

manner to penetrate up to a flat upper end surface 10 of the header 4. The axis of the hole 9 is coincident with the axis of the air passage 3 formed in the bolster Arranged within the hole 9 is an air valve 11 which A of the supply passage 14, branch passages 15, forbringing the air chambers 5 and the air supply passage 14 into communication are penetratingly provided in several places in a manner to orthogonally intersect with the supply passage 14 and to extend towards the outer periphery of the air valve 11.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the branch passages 15,

15 are formed at suchpositions that the air chamber 5 and the air supply passage 14 are brought into the communicating state during the operating period and that the communication between the air chamber 5 and the supply passage 14 is cut off during the non-operating period.

On the upper end surface 12 and the outer peripheral surface 13 of the air valve 11, there are respectively arranged O-rings l6 and 17 for holding airtightness during the operating period. To a lower-end side surface 110 of the air valve 11, a seal seat for holding airtightness 18 adapted to cooperate with an upper wall 50 of the air chamber 5 is integrally secured by a mounting ring 19. Between the mounting ring 19 and the partition plate 6, the coiled spring 20 is disposed. The coiled spring 20 normally urges the air valve 11 to the position shown in FIG. '3. That is, it acts so that the seal seat 18 may be pressed against the upper wall 50 of the air chamber 5 to maintain the hermetic sea] state.

The air chamber 5 is supplied with compressed air through a connection port which is provided in a suitable place as shown by

chain lines

60 or 40..

The air feeder of the present invention is constructed as described above. In operation, with the descending motion of the bolster A or'B, the lower end surface 2 of the header 1 comes into contact with the upper end surface 12 of the air valve 11. At the same time, the header 1 and the air valve 11 are closely contacted under tha airtight state by the O-ring 16 disposed on the upper end surface 12. The coiled spring 20 disposed within the air chamber 5 is depressed and contracted to lower the air valve 11.'In the lowered air valve 11, the branch passages l5, 15 having openings 150, 150 at several parts of thelower-end outer peripheral surface of the valve come away from the lower end of the hole 9 and face the air chamber 5. Simultaneously therewith, the air within the air chamber 5 passes through the branch passages 15, I5, and is supplied via the air supply passage 14 into the air passage 3 of the header 1. The air valve 11 at the air supply is quite free from airleakage by the action of the O-rings I6 and 17 disposed on the upper end surface 12 and the outer peripheral surface 13 thereof.

When. upon completion of a predetermined forming work, the bolster A shifts to the ascending motion, the header 1 also ascends, Owing to the elastic force of the coiled spring 20, the air valve 11 is simultaneously pushed up while holding the airtightness of the connecting part. As soon as the openings 150, 150 of the

branch passages

15, 15 of the air valve 11 are perfectly piunged into the hole 9, the air feed is automatically cut off. At the same time, the upper part of the air chamber 5 is hermetically sealed by the seal seat 18. The connec'tion between the lower end surface 2 of the header 1 and the upper end surface 12 of the air valve 11 is released.

In the: manner described above, a predetermined amount of air is automatically fed by means of the fixed side header 4 and the movable side header 1 which rises and falls integrally with the ascending and descending motions of the bolster A.

While the foregoing embodiment effects the contact and separation between the headers by making use of the up-and-down motions of the cross-moving bolsters,

it is a matter of course that the invention is similarly applicable to side-moving bolsters C and D as illustrated in FIG. 5.

The device of the present invention can be applied not only to the press machine, but also to other machine tools in wide range.

' What we claim is:

1. In machine tools such as a press machine provided v with moving-bolsters,

an air feeder in the machine tools comprising:

a header on a fixed side which is installed on a frame and which has a flat upper-end surface;

an air chamber which is defined inside the fixed side header;

a hole portion which is formed in an upper wall of said air chamber, which communicates with said air chamber and which opens to said upper end surface;

an air valve which is disposed in said hole portion in a manner to be vertically movable,

said air valve being provided with an air supply passage which extends vertically upwards and which has a bottom wall, and branch passages which intersect orthogonally with said supply passage at its lower end part, seal members being respectively arranged on an upper end part, an outer peripheral surface and a lower-end side surface of said air valve;

a coiled spring which is interposed between a lower surface of said bottom wall of said air valve and a lower wall of said air chamber so that said air valve may be normally held at a cut-off position being non-operative position;

a header ona movable side which is installed on a moving bolster and which has a flat lower-end surface; and

an air passage which is provided vertically upwards from said lower end surface of the moving side header;

said air passage and said air chamber coming into communication only when said movable side header and said fixed side header are held in contact.

2. The air feeder in the machine tools according to claim 1, wherein said lower wall of said air chamber is

Claims

1. In machine tools such as a press machine provided with moving bolsters, an air feeder in the machine tools comprising: a header on a fixed side which is installed on a frame and which has a flat upper-end surface; an air chamber which is defined inside the fixed side header; a hole portion which is formed in an upper wall of said air chamber, which communicates with said air chamber and which opens to said upper end surface; an air valve which is disposed in said hole portion in a manner to be vertically movable, said air valve being provided with an air supply passage which extends vertically upwards and which has a bottom wall, and branch passages which intersect orthogonally with said supply passage at its lower end part, seal members being respectively arranged on an upper end part, an outer peripheral surface and a lower-end side surface of said air valve; a coiled spring which is interposed between a lower surface of said bottom wall of said air valve and a lower wall of said air chamber so that said air valve may be normally held at a cutoff position being non-operative position; a header on a movable side which is installed on a moving bolster and which has a flat lower-end surface; and an air passage which is provided vertically upwards from said lower end surface of the moving side header; said air passage and said air chamber coming into communication only when said movable side header and said fixed side header are held in contact.

2. The air feeder in the machine tools according to claim 1, wherein said lower wall of said air chamber is formed by a partition plate being a seat of said spring, and said partition plate is supported integrally with said fixed side header by a mounting seat disposed at the back of said partition plate.