Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B23—MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B23B—TURNING; BORING
  • B23B13/00—Arrangements for automatically conveying or chucking or guiding stock
  • B23B13/02—Arrangements for automatically conveying or chucking or guiding stock for turning-machines with a single working-spindle
  • B23B13/021—Feeding device having intermittent movement
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B23—MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B23B—TURNING; BORING
  • B23B13/00—Arrangements for automatically conveying or chucking or guiding stock
  • B23B13/08—Arrangements for reducing vibrations in feeding-passages or for damping noise
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B23—MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B23B—TURNING; BORING
  • B23B13/00—Arrangements for automatically conveying or chucking or guiding stock
  • B23B13/12—Accessories, e.g. stops, grippers
  • B23B13/123—Grippers, pushers or guiding tubes

Definitions

• the present invention relates to servo-mechanisms for a machine tool, in particular a lathe, and concerns a feeding apparatus for feeding elongate semi-finished products, such as metal bars or rods.
• bar-shaped semi-finished products for machining are fed into a lathe-type machine tool through a tubular conveyor of fixed and invariable size, which is housed in the structure of the machine tool itself.
• Bar-shaped semi-finished products can come in various diameters depending on the needs of the machining in question, with the sole limitation being the maximum diameter, which is determined by the diameter of the machine tool conveyor through which the semi-finished products are to travel.
• one end of the bar shaped semi-finished products is always supported by the spindle of the machine tool, whereas the rest of the bar is supported by supports outside the conveyor or by special collets that are inserted into the conveyor accordingly.
• the intermediate section of the semi-finished product vis-a-vis the supports tends to inflect to a greater or lesser extent.
• the centre of gravity of the bar-shaped semi-finished product shifts away from the geometric axis of the bar by a certain distance, or shifts away from the axis of the conveyor and of the machine tool spindle, which are aligned to the abovementioned geometric axis.
• the bar is normally fed toward the machine tool in a guide along a channel, or rather a substantially continuous cradle with a semi-circular cross-section, with this channel aligned with the conveyor in such a way as to align and keep the geometric axis of the semi finished product aligned with the axis of the spindle.
• the channel-replacement process - normally carried out in modular form, with segments placed successively to one another and bolted to the apparatus structure - is laborious, time-consuming and requires the machine tool to be stopped, thus negatively impacting on machining costs .
• Replacement operations are not limited to changing the bar guide channels, but also involve the pushers being replaced, as mentioned above.
• the disassembly and reassembly of operating parts of the loader may be further exacerbated by other actions that may be carried out to remove and reinstall the safety accident prevention devices that are are normally mounted on these machine tools.
• the technical purpose of the present invention is therefore to provide a solution to the issues arising in the prior art by proposing a feeding apparatus designed to be precisely configurable for each specific diameter of elongate semi-finished product to be machined and to be configurable in this way for all commercial diameters of bar-shaped semi-finished products that may be contained within a tubular conveyor of a machine tool up to a maximum pre-established diameter, without having to disassemble and reassemble mechanical connecting parts of any kind.
• FIG. 1 is a perspective overall view of a feeding apparatus for feeding bar-shaped semi-finished products according to the invention
• FIG. 2 is an enlarged, partial view of Figure 1, showing certain details of the feeding apparatus
• FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the details in Figure 2, as observed from a different point of view so as to better highlight some details that are not otherwise visible;
• Figure 4 is a top plan view of Figure 1, stripped of some details so as to better highlight others;
• FIG. 5 is a rear view of the invention in Figure 1;
• FIG. 6 is a top view of the invention shown in Figure 1, stripped of some details so as to better highlight other hidden details;
• FIG. 7 shows a rear view of the invention according to its first operational setup
• FIG. 8 shows another rear view of the invention shown in Figure 7 according to its second operational setup
• Figure 1 shows, with reference number 1, a complete feeding apparatus for feeding elongate semi-finished products (2) into a tubular conveyor (3) of a machine tool, in particular a lathe, which is not shown in the drawings.
• the apparatus (1) essentially comprises a feeding line (4), preferably horizontal, along which the semi finished products (2) are fed, above at least one supporting cradle (5), longitudinally to themselves, and until they pass through said conveyor (3); an elongate rod-shaped body (6) positioned longitudinally to the feeding line (4), which (as highlighted in Figures 2 and 3) is supported by a first carriage (7), which is motor- driven and movable back and forth and parallel to said feeding line (4), travelling along parallel guiding rails, as shown with reference number (32) .
• the apparatus (1) further comprises a tubular body (8) positioned on the feeding line (4), having an inner axial through cavity (9) substantially shaped to match the shape of the rod-shaped body (6) .
• the body (8) is supported by a second carriage (10), which is motor- driven, movable back and forth parallel to the feeding line (4) and is also able to travel along the tracks (32), as clearly shown in Figure 4.
• the carriages (7 and 10) are motor-driven independently of one another, moving towards or away from one another so as to enable the bar-shaped semi-finished products (2) to be inserted into the cradle (5) in an intermediate position vis-a-vis the rod-shaped body (6) and the tubular body (8), as can be seen in Figure 4.
• the carriages (7) and (10) are moved by their respective conveyors (33,34), which are separate from and parallel to one another and which have metal bands forming a closed loop around a pulley wheel couple (35,36), at least one of which is motor-driven.
• the apparatus (1) also comprises control means (11) as illustrated in Figure 1, which, by coordinating the motor synchronisation of the movements of said first and second carriages (7,10) along the feeding line (4) where appropriate, allow a said semi-finished product, (2) interposed between said rod-shaped body (6) and said tubular body (8), to penetrate said tubular body (8), to travel along it longitudinally towards the machine tool conveyor (3) , and to pass - at least in one direction through said conveyor (3) - due to the longitudinal action applied to said semi-finished product (2) .
• control means (11) as illustrated in Figure 1, which, by coordinating the motor synchronisation of the movements of said first and second carriages (7,10) along the feeding line (4) where appropriate, allow a said semi-finished product, (2) interposed between said rod-shaped body (6) and said tubular body (8), to penetrate said tubular body (8), to travel along it longitudinally towards the machine tool conveyor (3) , and to pass - at least in one direction through said conveyor (3) - due to the longitudinal action applied to said semi-finished product (2) .
• tubular body (8) can also operate inside the machine tool conveyor (3), said tubular body (8) is able to provide a continuous support for the semi-finished product (2) inside the conveyor
• the apparatus (1) also comprises supporting and guiding means (13) for said semi-finished product (2) along said feeding line (4) .
• the supporting and guiding means (13) preferably comprise a plurality of freely rotatable revolving bodies (14), which are positioned longitudinally to the feeding line (4), with these revolving bodies (14) preferably including a plurality of double truncated cone rollers (15) with axes (16) of rotation transversal to the feeding line
• said first carriage (7) also comprises a motor-driven slide (17), translatable in a guide (19) in both vertical directions along an axis (18) transversal to the feeding line (4), with the slide (17) supporting said rod-shaped body (6) .
• the free translation of the slide (17) allows the pushing body (6) to be raised away from and lowered towards the cradle (5) vertically to the feeding line (4) - envisaged to pass through the geometrical centre of the tubular body (2) - between two end-of-stroke positions, in a first, operating position, of which said rod-shaped body (6) is aligned along the feeding line (4), and in the second of which it is offset and moved away from the feeding line in a non-operating condition.
• the said guide (19) is preferably open at its top end for allowing rapid disengagement and subsequent engagement of said rod-shaped body (6) .
• the apparatus (1) can be reconfigured in relation to changes to machining needs without any disassembly and reassembly of fastening components, such as bolts, pins, tabs and so on.
• the invention entirely fulfils its stated purposes as well as offering the added advantage of shortening the time required for loading bars onto the feeding line (4) and moving elements (2) quickly along the feeding line ( 4 ) .

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Turning (AREA)
• Feeding Of Workpieces (AREA)
• Wire Processing (AREA)
• Yarns And Mechanical Finishing Of Yarns Or Ropes (AREA)
• Adornments (AREA)

Priority Applications (2)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=63014886

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Citations (6)

• 2018
  • 2018-05-04 IT IT102018000005069A patent/IT201800005069A1/it unknown
• 2019
  • 2019-05-02 WO PCT/IT2019/050089 patent/WO2019211883A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2019-05-02 EP EP19726173.8A patent/EP3787823A1/en active Pending
  • 2019-05-02 EA EA202092626A patent/EA039712B1/ru unknown

Patent Citations (6)

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