JPH0830972B2 - Numerical control system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a numerical control (N
C) Regarding the system.

(Prior Art) In a numerical control system, when machining a workpiece with an NC machine tool, regarding the replacement of the workpiece, the workpiece is attached to the position to be processed and the workpiece is replaced manually after the completion of machining. There are a manual method and a pallet changer method of automatically changing using a device called a pallet changer.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a state of exchanging a workpiece using the pallet changer described above. In FIG. 3, a pallet changer 1 is provided with a plurality of pallets (fixed bases) 2 on which a workpiece W is mounted on a rotary table 3. The pallet changer 1 also moves the workpiece W to the machining position of the NC machine tool 4, such as a machining center, simultaneously with the pallet 2.

On the other hand, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the operation of pallet exchange, and M60 to M76 are command codes. FIG. 4 is an example of a four-sided pallet. In FIG. 4, first, at the point A, the selected pallet 2 is set on the rotary table 3 for pallet exchange. This is called a pallet exchange cycle.
After that, rotate the rotary table 2 for pallet exchange,
Set the pallet to be processed at point B. After that, the pallet 2 is moved to the processing position C, which is called a processing cycle.

In this case, the means for exchanging the pallet 2 is the NC machine tool 4 directly in both the pallet exchanging cycle and the machining cycle.
Manual replacement from the operation panel or automatic replacement by entering NC machining data.

This automatic pallet exchange method includes a method in which NC processing data is converted to paper tape and input to the NC device using tape, and a DNC (Direct NC) method in which the host computer is connected and the NC processing data is directly stored in the NC device. .

Figure 1 shows the structure of this DNC. In FIG. 1, a host computer 5 equipped with a CRT console 5a and an NC device 6 are connected by an optical fiber cable 7, and NC processing data is sent to the NC device 6 by serial communication.
It is designed to be stored in.

In the above, one of the functions of the host computer 5 is called schedule operation. Schedule operation creates a schedule file by keyboard input and follows the processing order of the schedule file.
The NC processing data is sequentially transferred to the NC device 6.

FIG. 2 (a) shows the contents of the schedule file. The schedule is set by the NC operator before the work starts for the day's worth of processes.

Next, the data type in the actual pallet exchange will be described. In the pallet operation in Fig. 4, taking P1 as an example in the pallet exchange cycle, the command code M71 is NC.
When executed by the device, the P1 pallet is set on the pallet exchange table. Executing command code M72 sets the pallet set in the pallet exchange table to the P1 pallet storage position. Fig. 5 (a) (b)
(C) and (d) show the movement of the processing cycle. When command code M60 is executed, it is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5 (b) → FIG. 5 (c) → FIG. 5 (d), the new processed pallet and the processed pallet are exchanged.

In this way, when performing long-time machining with a pallet changer having a plurality of pallets, that is, a certain number of identical machinings is called a lot size, the machining of the next pallet is performed when one lot is completed. In order to exchange a new pallet with a processed pallet in the machining cycle, specify the command code M60 in the machining program, but specify in the pallet exchange table to set the next pallet in the pallet exchange table. Is difficult to specify in the machining program in advance.
That is, since the pallet is specified differently for each lot, a plurality of pieces of processing data are required when performing the same processing. Further, since the number of lots itself may be changed, such as when an abnormality occurs in a processing lot, it is impossible to determine which pallet to use for each lot.

Therefore, under the present circumstances, when the lot size is changed, the operator inputs the pallet exchange data by the NC device's MDI (manual data input; the NC device executes the machining operation of one block by manual data input) function. The data of several blocks is input by the editing function of the machining program stored in the NC unit.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, the conventional numerical control system has a problem in that it is not easy to set and change the program in the pallet exchange and the operation efficiency is poor.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a numerical control system in which a program for pallet exchange can be easily set and changed and operation efficiency can be improved.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving Problems) The present invention is characterized by taking the following means in order to solve the above problems and achieve the object. That is, the present invention processes a workpiece at a predetermined processing position.
The NC device that controls the NC machine tool and the pallet changer that selectively conveys multiple pallets on which different workpieces are placed to the above-mentioned processing position is processed by a pallet that stores the processing data in which the processing content is described by a symbolic numerical sequence. In the numerical control system that transfers together with the pallet exchange data that specifies the, while creating a schedule by arranging the file names of a plurality of machining data with different machining contents in association with each pallet number according to the desired machining order, the above
Input means for changing the schedule after starting the machining work by the NC machine tool, display means for displaying the schedule, and the machining data of each file name to the pallet number corresponding to the file name according to the schedule. In addition to the unique pallet exchange data, the above items are sequentially displayed according to the progress of machining work by the NC machine tool.
It is a numerical control system equipped with a host computer that transfers data to an NC unit.

(Operation) According to the present invention, the following operation can be achieved.

(A) Transfer machining data and pallet exchange data from the host computer to the NC device according to a schedule.

(B) The schedule is created by arranging the final names of the processed data together with the pallet number. This can be expected to improve work efficiency. In other words, reduce the frequency of pallet replacement by referring to the file name and pallet number while performing the same machining operation continuously, or by performing different machining operations related to the same pallet in succession. In addition, it becomes easy to set up a schedule.

(C) Even after the processing operation is started, the schedule can be easily changed by changing the arrangement of the file names or changing the correspondence between the file names and the palette numbers.

(D) It is not necessary to store the processing data and the pallet exchange data themselves in the work order. As a result, it is not necessary to repeatedly store the same machining data and pallet exchange data, and it is possible to effectively use the storage resources and change the schedule.

(Examples) Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below. An application example in the case of using the pallet changer as shown in FIG. 4 in the DNC system of FIG. 1 will be described.
That is, as shown in FIG. 2A, the host computer 5
Create a schedule file in advance. After that, when the first processing pallet is decided, the pallet No.
To No.1 (file name AAA). When the pallet No. is set in No. 1, P2, P3, P1, P2, P2, P3, P1, P2,
P3, ... are set in that order.

When the operation is started in this state, first, when a data request comes from the NC device 6, as shown in FIG.
The pallet change code is transferred, and then the processed data in the file AAA is transferred. At the time when the first processing is completed, the NC device 6 sends a request to the host computer 5 again.

As a result, the host computer 5 transfers the P2 pallet change code and then the machining data. Hereinafter, the same operation is repeated. FIG. 6 (b) shows the processed data for the second time. FIG. 7 shows the movement of the pallet in the first machining, and is shown in FIG. 7 (a) → FIG. 7 (b).
→ Changes in Fig. 7 (c). This pallet specification can be easily changed by key input on the CRT console 5a even if a lot error occurs and the pallet is changed.

[Effects of the Invention] As described in detail above, the present invention selectively selects an NC machine tool for machining a work piece at a predetermined machining position and a plurality of pallets on which different work pieces are placed. In a numerical control system that transfers the machining data in which the machining contents are described in a symbolic numerical sequence together with the pallet exchange data that specifies the pallet to the NC device that controls the pallet changer that is transported to the A schedule is created by associating file names with pallet numbers and arranging them in accordance with a desired machining sequence, and input means for changing the schedule after the machining work by the NC machine tool is started, and the schedule. According to the display means for displaying and the above schedule, the processed data of each file name is displayed in the file name. A numerical control system is provided with a pallet exchange data unique to a pallet number corresponding to a system and a host computer that sequentially transfers the pallet exchange data to the NC device according to the progress of machining work by the NC machine tool.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the following effects can be achieved.

(A) Transfer machining data and pallet exchange data from the host computer to the NC device according to a schedule.

(B) The schedule is created by arranging the final names of the processed data together with the pallet number. This can be expected to improve work efficiency. In other words, reduce the frequency of pallet replacement by referring to the file name and pallet number while performing the same machining operation continuously, or by performing different machining operations related to the same pallet in succession. In addition, it becomes easy to set up a schedule.

(C) Even after the processing operation is started, the schedule can be easily changed by changing the arrangement of the file names or changing the correspondence between the file names and the palette numbers.

(D) It is not necessary to store the processing data and the pallet exchange data themselves in the work order. As a result, it is not necessary to repeatedly store the same machining data and pallet exchange data, and it is possible to effectively use the storage resources and change the schedule.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 and 2 show the configuration of an embodiment of the numerical control system of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram, FIG. 2 is a data structure diagram, and FIG. 3 is a pallet changer in the system. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state of exchanging workpieces, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a pallet exchanging process, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an operation of a machining cycle, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a program example in data transfer, FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing movement of pallets. 4 ... NC machine tool, 5 ... host computer, 6 ... NC device, 7 ... optical fiber cable.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An NC device for controlling an NC machine tool for machining a workpiece at a predetermined machining position and a pallet changer for selectively conveying a plurality of pallets having different workpieces to the machining position. In the numerical control system that transfers the machining data in which the machining contents are described in the symbolic numerical value sequence together with the pallet exchange data that specifies the pallet, the file names of a plurality of machining data with different machining contents are associated with the pallet numbers respectively. While creating a schedule by arranging according to the machining order of, the input means for changing the schedule after the machining work by the NC machine tool, display means for displaying the schedule, according to the schedule, The processed data of each file name is fixed to the pallet number corresponding to the file name. Numerical control system characterized by comprising a host computer to be transferred to the NC device sequentially in accordance with the pallet exchanging data with the progress of the machining operation by the NC machine tool.