JPH0818215B2 - Tool changer replacement arm - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present application relates to a replacement arm of a tool changing device, which deals with the current trend where a faster tool changing time is desired, and also prevents damage to tools and machine tools. It is what

Conventional technology and its problems The pressing member 100 in the conventional exchange arm 1A, as shown in the outline in FIG. 12, urges the pressing member 100 in the forward direction by the spring 2A, and the pressing metal 3A of the pressing member 100 is always It is in a state of protruding by a predetermined amount. Therefore, when the tool 6A (to be exact, the holder) on the spindle head 4A and the tool pot 5A is gripped by rotating 90 ° forward from the standby position shown in FIG. It collides violently with the robot and is pushed back once, and then it projects again and presses in the tool 6A.
Even when 1A reverses, you have to reverse it while pushing down the pressing plate 3A against the spring 2A. As described above, in the conventional device, not only does the pressing metal 3A generate noise when the tool 6A collides with the tool 6A to deteriorate the working environment, but also the main shaft bearing may be damaged due to collision vibration during the collision,
Further, in all of the forward and reverse directions, since the pusher plate 3A is pushed back against the spring 2A, there is a drawback that the operation resistance becomes large. Therefore, these drawbacks are further promoted as the tool exchange time becomes faster and as the machine tool becomes larger, which is a major obstacle in shortening the tool exchange time.

Means for Solving the Problems For the purpose of improving the problems of the above-mentioned conventional device, the present application provides a closed space formed by a rear end surface of a holding member and a storage hole,
While connecting the other end of the fluid pipe having one end connected to the pressure fluid supply source and supplying the pressure fluid to the closed space when the exchange arm positively rotates and grips the tool through the fluid pipe, The exchanging arm is provided with a pressure fluid control mechanism for stopping the supply of the pressure fluid when the swiveling arm reversely swivels to release the tool, and engages the pressing member pushed back by the tool when the exchanging arm swivels backward. A locking means for stopping and fixing is provided to eliminate the conventional drawbacks.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present application will be described in detail with reference to the drawings illustrating examples. In FIG. 1, 7 is a machine tool, 4 is a spindle head, 1
Is an exchange arm, and 5 is a tool pot. When the tool 6 attached to the spindle head 4 finishes a predetermined work, the tool is exchanged as follows. The exchange arm 1 at the standby position shown in FIG. 1 rotates clockwise 90 °, and the gripper 24 completes the work of the spindle head 4 for the tool 6 and the next work held in the tool pot 5. After holding the tool 6 to be used, the tool 6 is pulled out by advancing by a predetermined stroke in the axial direction of the rotary shaft 15 and then rotated 180 ° forward and then retracted to mount the tool 6 and reverse 90 °. The tool returns to the standby position and the tool replacement is completed. The used tool 6 attached to the tool pot 5 is transferred by the transfer means 8 together with the tool pot 5 to the tool makajin 9, and the tool 6 to be used for the next work is transferred from the tool makagin 9 to the tool pot 5.
All of these steps are the same as those conventionally performed. In this embodiment, the tool pot 5 is moved between the tool makagin 9 and the spindle head 4,
Although the tool 6 is relayed between the tool makagin 9 and the tool pot 5, the presence or absence of the tool pot 5 does not influence the technical idea of the present application.

In the above, the exchange arm 1 of the present application is configured as shown in FIGS. Presser foot mounting shaft 11 for presser member 10
Is a storage hole formed along the longitudinal direction of the exchange arm 1.
A push pin 3 is attached to the tip of a push-rod mounting shaft 11 projecting from the storage hole 12 which is housed in a forward-backward direction 12 and has a forward-backward stroke regulated by a restriction pin 25 and a rotation stop. In the present embodiment, the pressing metal 3 has a triangular block shape, but the shape of the pressing metal 3 is not limited to this and may be appropriately changed to a roller shape or the like as necessary.

Next, 13 is a fluid pressure urging means for urging the pressing member 10 only in the forward direction.
An end on one side of the fluid line 14 is connected to the closed space formed by 12 and the end on the other side of this fluid line 14 is connected to the exchange arm 1 via the rotary shaft 15 and a pressure not shown. It is connected to a fluid supply source and controls the supply of pressure fluid to the closed space to ON and OFF at a predetermined timing as will be described in detail later, but this pressure fluid control mechanism is based on the conventional control mechanism. It may be appropriately selected and used, and its configuration does not matter. The locking means 16 adopts a ball plunger system in this embodiment, and is a spring cylinder attached to the replacement arm 1.
A spring 18 is press-fitted on the spring 17, and the spring 18 biases the locking ball 19 in a direction projecting into the housing hole 12. On the other hand, 20 is a substantially V-shaped locking groove formed in the presser foot mounting shaft 11, and this locking groove 20 is at the rear side (away from the presser foot 3) as shown in FIG.
Has a gentle pushing back surface 21. In the figure, 22 is a positioning pin for positioning the indexed tool 6, and 23 is a locking mechanism for mechanically locking the presser foot mounting shaft 11 when the tool 6 is gripped. 1
Since both are well known, the description thereof will be omitted.

When in the standby position shown in FIG. 1, the locking means 10 is in the fourth position.
As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 5, the locking ball 19 enters the locking groove 20 and locks the presser foot mounting shaft 11 at the most retracted position. Is not working.
When an exchange command is issued to the exchange arm 1 which is standing by in this state, the exchange arm 1 rotates 90 ° in the clockwise direction to grip the tool 6 as described above, but the presser foot mounting shaft 11 moves as described above. Since it is locked at the last retracted end, as shown in FIG. 4, there is a space L between the tip of the pressing metal 3 and the tool 6, and the pressing metal 3 and the tool 6 rotating as in the conventional case. Does not collide with each other, and the pressed metal mounting shaft 11 that is locked does not project due to the centrifugal force during rotation, so that the interval L is always maintained. In this way, the exchange arm 1 completes a predetermined rotation and grips the indexed tool 6 while positioning it, and at the same time, pressurizing fluid acts on the rear end face of the presser foot mounting shaft 11 through the fluid conduit 14, so that the presser foot mounting shaft 11 is unlocked by the locking means 16, moves forward and strongly presses the tool 6 with the presser plate 3, and at the same time, the lock mechanism 23 acts to lock the presser plate mounting shaft 11. As shown in FIG. 6, the pressing of the tool 6 by the presser 3 presses the pressing point P1 further down from the apex P of the arc intersecting the center line S, and the apex P and the pressing point P1.
There is a gap L1 between them. Further, the engagement ball 19 which has been disengaged from the engagement groove 20 has a push-back surface as shown in FIG.
It is pressed against the presser foot mounting shaft 11 near the end of 21. Next, the exchange arm 1 advances in the axial direction of the rotary shaft 15 by a predetermined stroke, pulls out the tool 6 from the spindle head 4 and the tool pot 5, and further rotates 180 ° forward, but since the tool 6 is gripped as described above. , No matter how large centrifugal force or inertia acts, it will not fall off.

When the forward rotation of 180 ° is completed, the exchange arm 1 moves backward by the amount of the above-mentioned forward movement, and the tool 6 used for the next work is transferred to the spindle head 4.
The tool 6 which has completed the work is installed in the tool pot 5, and at the same time, the supply of the pressurized fluid is stopped and the lock by the lock mechanism 23 is released to make the presser foot mounting shaft 11 free. The exchange arm 1 having the tool 6 attached at a predetermined position is rotated 90 degrees to return to the standby position shown in FIG. Along with this reverse rotation, the presser foot mounting shaft 11 is pushed back by the gap shown in FIG. 6 (FIG. 8). In addition to this push-back action, the locking that was immediately positioned as shown in FIG. 7 was released when the push-back was released. Sphere 19 is the 9th
As shown in the figure, because it hits the push-back surface 21 and presses the slope,
The presser foot mounting shaft 11 is forcibly pushed back a little further by the spring force, and the locking ball 19 is fitted into the locking groove 20 as shown in FIG. Is pushed back by a stroke corresponding to the distance L shown in FIG. 4, and the presser foot mounting shaft 11 is pushed back by a stroke obtained by adding the gap L1 shown in FIG. 5 to the distance L. Therefore, even when the next tool change is performed, There is always a gap L between the pusher 3 and the tool 6.
Is maintained and both parties do not clash. FIGS. 10 and 11 show another embodiment of the locking means 16, in which the locking groove 20E is simply V-shaped, and the pusher mounting shaft 11 has only the gap L1 without forcibly pushing back. Since it is locked at the retracted position, the distance L becomes zero, but a collision between the pressing metal 3 and the tool 6 is prevented.

Effect of the Invention As described in detail above, the present invention, as described in detail above, prevents the pressing member and the tool from coming into contact with each other when the exchange arm is rotated forward to grip the tool, and the two do not collide with each other. Even when the gyro rotates in the reverse direction, the pressing member is not pushed back by the tool against the urging force of the spring as in the conventional technique,
Since the operating resistance of the pressing member during the gripping and releasing operation of the tool is reduced, it is possible to prevent the generation of noise and speed up the replacement operation, and to prevent damage and damage to the machine tool and tool due to a collision. You can Further, the structure is extremely simple, there are few failures, and it is maintenance-free, and the working source is a useful invention that satisfies all the desired things, such as the pressure fluid supply source that this type of machine tool already has. Is.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present application, FIG. 1 is a front view showing the entire machine tool, FIG. 2 is a front view of an exchange arm, FIG. 3 is a side view, and FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway enlarged view. Fig. 5 and Fig. 3
Partial view of the figure, Figure 6 is a partially enlarged view with a part cut away,
6 is a partial view of FIG. 6, FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged view with a part cut away, FIG. 9 is a partial view of FIG. 8, and FIGS. 10 and 11 are partial views of other embodiments. FIG. 12 is an explanatory view showing a conventional device. 1 ... Exchange arm, 3 ... Pusher, 6 ... Tool, 10 ... Presser member, 11 ... Pusher mounting shaft, 13 ... Pressure fluid urging means, 16
…… Locking means, 19 …… Locking ball, 20 …… Locking groove, L …… Spacing, L1 …… Gap

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A tool exchange is performed by forming a storage hole along the longitudinal direction at both ends of an exchange arm, and fitting a holding member in the storage hole so as to move back and forth. In the exchange arm for performing the above, the other end of the fluid pipe whose one end is connected to the pressure fluid supply source is connected to the closed space formed by the rear end surface of the pressing member and the storage hole, and the exchange arm is connected through this fluid pipe. Control of the pressure fluid so that the pressure fluid is supplied to the closed space when the tool swivels forward and grips the tool, and the supply of the fluid is stopped when the exchange arm swivels backward to release the tool. An exchange arm for a tool exchange device, comprising a mechanism and locking means for locking and fixing a pressing member pushed back by a tool when the exchange arm rotates in a reverse direction.