JP3048269B2 - Equipment for transferring stored items in a three-dimensional stocker - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for transferring stored items in a three-dimensional stocker. More specifically, the present invention relates to a transfer device for taking a pallet in and out of a three-dimensional stocker for storing a pallet on which a work is mounted in advance during automatic operation of a machine tool.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a machine tool is automatically operated in order to improve the operation efficiency. Preparation work for setting the work on the pallet is performed in preparation for the automatic operation, and the pallet on which the work is set is stored in the three-dimensional stocker. The three-dimensional stocker has a plurality of stages provided at predetermined intervals in the height direction. At each stage, a pallet storage section is defined at predetermined angular intervals, and a pallet on which the work is set or an empty pallet that has been processed is stored in this storage section.

[0003] A transfer device for taking a pallet in and out is provided adjacent to a three-dimensional stocker. The transfer device has a lifting platform that moves up and down along a column. A turning table is provided on the lifting table, and a fork is provided on the rotating table. The pallet is mounted on a fork, indexed to an angular position corresponding to a predetermined storage portion by rotating the swivel table, and the pallet is moved in and out by moving the fork in a linear direction toward the storage portion. .

The turning table and the fork are driven by a driver such as a hydraulic / pneumatic cylinder or a servomotor. Usually, the driving body for driving the fork is mounted on the turning table, and the piping and wiring to this driving body are moved in the elevating direction between the column and the elevating table, and are moved in the rotating direction between the elevating table and the swivel table. In this case, the movable member must be movable with respect to the operation in the two directions, and the piping and wiring process become complicated.

[0005] By the way, if a driving body for moving the fork forward and backward is attached to the lift, the wiring and piping that can be moved only by following the movement of the support and the lift in the lifting direction need be performed. Processing becomes easy.

However, in this case, the following new problem occurs. That is, since the driving force of the drive unit for driving the turntable is also transmitted to the transmission mechanism connected to the drive unit for driving the fork, the fork moves in the front-rear direction with the turn of the turntable. Even if the swivel table is indexed to a predetermined storage position, the fork cannot be held at the predetermined position.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made on the basis of the above technical background, and has the following objects.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems caused by attaching a driving body for driving a fork to a lifting platform, and to transfer stored items in a three-dimensional stocker having a simple structure and easy wire processing. Mounting device.

[0009]

The present invention employs the following means to achieve the above object.

[0010] The transfer of stored items in the three-dimensional stocker of the present invention.
The loading devices are provided at predetermined intervals along the height direction.
Multiple stages, each stage having a predetermined angular interval
Stored items are stored in multiple storage sections partitioned by placing
In a three-dimensional stocker,
Column and a platform supported by the column
And a swivel provided on the lift table so as to be swivelable in a horizontal plane.
A rotating table, fixed to the lift table,
To the indexing position corresponding to each of the storage sections
A free-rotating drive unit and a front
Horizontal between the storage position and the position on the swivel table
Is provided so as to be linearly movable in the direction,
And a fork fixed to the lift
Drive to the storage unit position and the position on the turntable
A fork driving driver for moving the
The driving force of the driving unit for driving the fork to the storage portion of the fork.
To a linear movement between the position and the turntable position.
A driving force transmitting mechanism, wherein
Drive whose work affects the position of the fork
A force transmission mechanism, and a turning operation of the turning table;
The fork moves forward and backward by driving the fork drive driver
Correction data to maintain the specified position without performing
A data memory for storing the turning table in the turning drive.
The turning operation is performed by the drive
With the operation, the driving body for driving the fork is
Driven based on the correction data in the data memory,
Control means for performing control for maintaining the laser at a predetermined position.
It is something that can be done. In the above three-dimensional stocker
In the apparatus for transferring stored goods, the fork drive
The body is preferably a drive motor with a rotary drive shaft
New In addition, the transfer of stored items in the above three-dimensional stocker
In the apparatus, the driving force transmission mechanism includes the driving motor
A pinion fixed to the rotary drive shaft, and the pinion
It is preferable to include a rack that meshes with the rack.

[0011]

[Operation] The turning table is turned to the indexing position by the operation of the turning drive driver. The fork moves back and forth by this turning, but the fork is corrected and moved to a preset position by the operation of the fork drive servomotor.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the entire three-dimensional stocker. The stocker 1 has a plurality of stages S ₁ , S ₂ ,... Provided at predetermined intervals in the height direction.
Each of the stages S ₁ , S ₂ ,... Has pallet storage units A, B, C at predetermined angular intervals on an arc centered on a turning center 0 of a turning table 23 to be described later, as shown in FIG. It is partitioned.

A setup table 2 is provided on a side surface of the stocker 1. The work W is mounted on and removed from the pallet P on the setup table 2. The pallet P is transferred from a stage (not shown) adjacent to the setup table 2 by a pusher or the like, and is transferred from the stage to another stage. Are transferred by the transfer device described in FIG.

The transfer device 3 is installed adjacent to the stage of the stocker 1. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the transfer device 3 has a column 4 erected on a base plate 8. Guide rails 5 are provided on both side surfaces of the support column 4, and an elevating frame 6 is supported by the guide rails 5 via rollers 7 so as to be able to move up and down. A ball screw 9 is disposed between bearings 27 provided on the upper and lower portions of the rear surface of the support 4,
A rear frame portion 6 a of the lifting frame 6 is screwed to the ball screw 9 via a ball nut 10.

The ball screw 9 is driven and transmitted to an elevation drive servomotor 42 (see FIG. 5) provided on the upper portion of the column 4 to rotate, and the elevation frame 6 is moved up and down accordingly. Stoppers 11 and 12 provided at the upper and lower portions of the front surface of the support 4 are for defining the upper limit position and the lower limit position of the lifting frame 6 respectively.

A balance weight 13 is arranged inside the column 4, and the balance weight 13 can be moved up and down. The upper part of the balance weight 13 is connected to one end of the chain 14. Bearings 17, 17 are provided on the upper portion of the column 4, and a chain wheel 19 is provided on a shaft 18 supported by the bearings 17, 17. The chain 14 is wound around the chain wheel 19 and inverted, and the other end of the chain 14 is connected to the lifting frame 6. Therefore, when the lifting frame 6 is raised or lowered, the balance weight 13 is lowered or raised.

An elevator 20 is fixed to the front of the elevator frame 6, and a support disk 21 is further fixed thereon.
A swivel table 23 is rotatably supported on the support disk 21. That is, a ring gear 24 having teeth on the outer periphery is fixed to the lower surface of the swivel table 23, and the swivel table 23 is supported by the support disk 21 via the ball bearing 22 on the inner peripheral surface of the ring gear 24.

A turning drive servomotor 25 is fixed to the lower surface of the lift 20. The shaft 26 of the servo motor 25, that is, the turning shaft, protrudes above the lift 20. A pinion 26 a is provided at the tip of the turning shaft 26, and the pinion 26 a meshes with the ring gear 24. The turning table 23 is turned by the operation of the servo motor 25, and can be freely indexed to a predetermined angular position, that is, an angular position corresponding to the storage sections A, B, and C.

A pair of guide rails 28, 28 are provided on the upper surface of the swivel table 23, and a fork base 30 is supported by the guide rails 28, 28 via a linear bearing 29. It is movable. A servo motor 32 for driving a fork is fixed to the lower surface of the support disk 21 so as to be located at the center of rotation 0 of the swivel table 23. Axis 33 of servo motor 32
That is, the fork output shaft projects above the turning table 23. A pinion 34 is provided at the tip of the fork output shaft 33, and the pinion 34 is attached to the fork base 30.
Rack 31 provided in parallel with guide rail 28 on the lower surface of
Is engaged. Therefore, the fork base 30 is moved in a linear direction by the operation of the servomotor 32.

A pair of spur gears 35 are pivotally mounted on the fork base 30 so as to be rotatable.
Rack 36 provided on the upper surface of the turntable 23 in parallel with
Is engaged. Guide grooves 37 extending parallel to the guide rails 28 are formed on both upper sides of the fork base 30. Sliding portions 41 formed on both sides of the fork 40 are engaged with the guide groove 37, and the fork 40 is movable in the same direction as the fork base 30.

A pair of racks 39 is provided on the lower surface of the fork 40, and a spur gear 35 meshes with the racks 39. Therefore, when the fork base 30 moves,
The spur gear 35 rotates, and the rotation causes the fork 40 to move in the same direction as the fork base 30. As a result, the fork 40 moves between the positions of the storage units A, B, and C and the position on the swivel table 23 at a speed twice the moving speed of the fork base 30.

As is apparent from the above configuration, when the turntable 23 turns by the operation of the servomotor 25, the fork base 30 and the fork 40 also turn, but the pinion 34 of the fork output shaft of the rack 31 and the servomotor 32. Are in an engaged state, the fork 40 moves back and forth with this turning. For this reason,
For example, when the turntable 23 is indexed from the storage section A to the storage section B by the operation of the servomotor 25, the fork 40, that is, the position of the pallet P cannot be held at the indexing position B. Therefore, each index position A,
It is necessary to correct the forward / backward position of the fork 40 according to B and C. The present invention solves the problem caused by attaching the servomotors 25 and 32, which are the driving sources of the turning table 23 and the fork 40, to the lifting table 20 and the supporting disk 21.

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of a control device for controlling the operations of the servomotor 42 for raising / lowering drive, the servomotor 25 for turning drive, and the servomotor 32 for fork drive.

The CPU 43 is a central processing unit that controls the entire control device 70. A memory, a servomotor, and the like are connected to the CPU 43 via a bus 44. The switches 45 are provided on a manual operation panel (not shown), and are used for an operation when an operator operates each servomotor or the like in a manual mode, and are connected to the bus 44 via an interface 46. The CRT 47 is a well-known display device for displaying characters, figures, and the like on a screen. The keyboard 60 is connected to the interface 4
8 for inputting programs, data, and the like.

The system memory 49 controls the control device 70.
ROM in which a system program for controlling is stored
It is. Data memory 50 is for vertical positioning data, turning
Axis positioning data, fork axis positioning data, etc.
A rewritable RAM for storing
You. Here, the vertical positioning data is stored in each stage S₁, S
_Two,... To be taken by the servomotor 42 for vertical drive
This is data of the mounting position and the lowering position of the unit P. Pivot axis
The setting data is the rotation axis 2 at the index positions A, B and C.
6 is index position data to be taken. Fork axis position
The positioning data is the fork axis at indexing positions A, B, and C.
With fork retraction and forward position data to take 33
Yes, as shown in the table below.

[0027]

[Table 1] The servomotor 42 for raising and lowering drive, the servomotor 25 for turning drive, and the servomotor 32 for fork drive are provided with axis control units 51, 54, 57 and servo amplifiers 52, 54, respectively.
It is connected to the bus 44 via 55 and 58, and is driven by a command signal from the CPU 43. The servomotors 42 for raising / lowering drive, the servomotor 25 for turning drive, and the servomotor 32 for fork drive have sensors 53, 56, 5 for detecting the rotational position and rotational speed of a rotary encoder or the like.
9 are provided. The detection outputs of the sensors 53, 56, 59 are output to the axis control units 51, 54, 57 and the servo amplifier 5.
2, 55 and 58, and feedback control is performed so as to move as instructed.

[0028]motion  Any storage of any stage of the three-dimensional stocker 1
Whether the pallet P is put in and out of the part
Program data by MDI input and
The program loaded from the control device on the machine tool side
Is determined by the CPU 43 according to the program data.

[0029]Vertical movement  The CPU 43 performs the n-th stage S_nJudge
The n-th stage mounting position data (or the
Or descending position data) is read out by the CPU 43 and the axis control is performed.
The servo motor 42 is sent to the
Be moved. The axis control unit 51 determines the movement amount
Coincides with the position feedback pulse from the sensor 53
The servomotor 42 for raising and lowering is operated up to this point. in this way
To raise or lower the lifting frame 6 to a predetermined position
You.

[0030]Turning motion  The turning operation is performed subsequent to the elevating operation. Fig. 9 is turning
It is a flowchart of an operation. CPU 43 determines the current
Determines whether there is an indexing command to a position different from the indexing position
Yes (P₁). Not shown if there is this index command
Check the current index position n of the swing axis from the current value counter.
(P_Two). Next, the fork shaft is moved to the data memory 50.
Of the fork shaft at the index position n stored in
It is determined whether the position data is at the backward position (P
_Three).

If the fork shaft is not at the retracted position, an alarm signal is issued (P ₄ ).
Further, if the fork shaft in the retracted position, command turning indexing position n'is confirmed (P _5). Then, the pivoting axis positioning data and the fork positioning data at the index position n ′ stored in the data memory 50 are read by the CPU 43 and sent to the axis controllers 54 and 57 (P
_6, P _7).

Next, the CPU 43 simultaneously operates the turning drive servomotor 25 and the fork drive servomotor 32 (P ₈ ). At this time, the servo motor 25 and the servo motor 32 operate by linear interpolation.

As described above, even if the turning table 23 turns to the predetermined indexing position n ', the fork 40 maintains the predetermined position. Each stage is a fork 4
If there is sufficient space in the movement direction of 0, the servomotor 25 is first operated to turn the turntable to the index position n 'without using the linear interpolation as described above.
The fork may be moved to the retreat position at the predetermined index position n 'by operating the servo motor 32.

[0034]Fork movement  After the above-described turning operation, the fork driving servomotor 32
The fork 40 moves forward by only the operation. Pho
The pallet 40 moves to the forward position, and in this forward position, the pallet
P is loaded or unloaded, and then the index position
The retracted position located on the turntable 23 at the position n ′
Go to

In the above-described embodiment, the description has been made of the method in which the forward position data and the backward position data of the fork corresponding to each indexing position are stored in the data memory, but the present invention is not limited to this. And storing, in a data memory, common forward position data and reverse position data irrespective of the index position, and correction data for correcting common forward and reverse position data corresponding to each index position. Is also good.

[0036]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, a fork driving driver can be mounted on the lifting platform in order to correct the fork's forward / backward movement accompanying the turning of the turning table. In addition, wiring processing becomes easy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a three-dimensional stocker.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a stage of a three-dimensional stocker and an arrangement relationship between the stage and a transfer device.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the transfer device.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the transfer device.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the transfer device.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the transfer device.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a turning table, a fork, and the like in the transfer device.

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram illustrating a servo motor control device.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a turning operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Solid stocker, S ... Stage, A, B, C ... Storage part, 3 ... Transfer device, 4 ... Post, 20 ... Elevating stand, 23 ... Swivel table, 25 ... Swing drive servomotor, 40 ... Fork

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Keiichi Matsumoto, Inventor 1 Abiko, Abiko, Chiba Pref.Hitachi Seiki Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-3-8607 (JP, A) JP 48-39430 (JP, B1) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65G 1/00- 1/20

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of stages (S ₁ , S _2, ...) Provided at predetermined intervals along a height direction, and each stage (S ₁ , S ₂ ,. In a three-dimensional stocker in which storage items are stored in a plurality of storage sections (A, B, C) that are placed and partitioned, a column (4) provided adjacent to the stocker, and a vertically movable column (4) Lifting platform supported by (20)
A swivel table (23) provided on the elevating table (20) to be rotatable in a horizontal plane ; and the swivel table (2) fixed to the elevating table (20).
3) a turning drive body (25) that can be indexed to an indexing position corresponding to each of the storage sections (A, B, C); and the storage section (A ) on the rotation table (23). , B,
C) a fork (40) provided linearly movable in a horizontal direction between a position and a position on the swivel table (23), on which the stored items are mounted; and the elevating platform (20). Fixed to the fork (40)
To drive the storage units (A, B, C) and the swivel
And a driving force of the fork driving driver (32) for moving between the position on the cable (23) and the fork driving driver (32).
Position of the storage portions (A, B, C) of the fork (40) and the
Convert to linear movement between the position of the turntable (23)
A driving force transmitting mechanism, wherein the turning table (23)
Turning movement affects the position of the fork (40)
A driving force transmission mechanism is intended, during turning operation of the turning table (23), said Four
The fork (4) is driven by driving the
0) is a supplement for maintaining a predetermined position without performing the forward / backward operation.
A data memory (50) for storing primary data, the said swivel table (23) pivot drive driving body (2
5) a turning operation is performed, and in accordance with the turning operation, the fork driving driver (32) is driven based on the correction data in the data memory (50) ;
An apparatus for transferring stored items in a three-dimensional stocker, comprising a control means (70) for controlling the fork (40) to be maintained at a predetermined position . 2. A three-dimensional stocker according to claim 1.
A storage object transfer device, wherein the fork drive driver has a rotary drive shaft (33).
In a three-dimensional stocker that is a driving motor (32)
Delivery transfer device. 3. The apparatus for transferring stored items in a three-dimensional stocker according to claim 2, wherein the driving force transmission mechanism is fixed to the rotary drive shaft (33) of the drive motor (32). (34),
An apparatus for transferring stored items in a three-dimensional stocker including a rack (31) that meshes with the pinion (34) .