Automatic tapping machine

Abstract

The invention discloses an automatic tapping machine, which belongs to the technical field of thread machining equipment and comprises a rack, a control box, a clamping unit, a tapping unit and a discharging unit. The clamping unit is of a four-station rotating structure, four stations are sequentially a placing station, a waiting station, a machining station and a discharging station anticlockwise along the circumference, and separation of a feeding area and a machining area is achieved. The tapping unit is arranged corresponding to the machining position, and a feeding motor and a spindle motor cooperate to drive a screw tap to complete tapping. The discharging unit is matched with an air cylinder through an electromagnet, and automatic moving-out and bearing of machined workpieces are achieved. Through multi-station parallel and automatic discharging, the situation that workers get close to a machining area is thoroughly avoided, and safety is remarkably improved; and meanwhile, feeding, machining and discharging are conducted synchronously, each clamp can clamp two workpieces, the machining efficiency is improved by 50% or above, and the requirement for batch machining of threaded plates is met.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of thread processing equipment, in particular to an automatic tapping machine. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the thread processing link of the automobile parts industry, the automatic tapping machine is the core equipment for realizing automatic thread production, and its processing efficiency and operation safety directly affect the production rhythm and personnel safety. The automatic tapping machines used in the past mostly adopt a "single-station" design, that is, the worker directly places the workpiece to be processed (such as a threaded plate) on the processing position, and the equipment immediately starts the tapping action.

[0003] Such single-station tapping machines have the following significant defects:

[0004] Poor safety: when placing the workpiece manually, the hand needs to be close to the tap of the tapping unit, and there is no interval between the tapping action and the feeding action. If the equipment is triggered by mistake or the operation is wrong, it is easy to cause hand cuts, extrusion, and other safety accidents;

[0005] Low efficiency: the single-station can only realize the process of "feeding- processing- discharging", and cannot prepare the next workpiece simultaneously during the processing process, resulting in a large amount of idle waiting time of the equipment;

[0006] Low operation fault tolerance: since the workpiece needs to be positioned and placed immediately after feeding, the operator needs to quickly complete the positioning and placement of the workpiece, which is easy to cause workpiece clamping deviation due to hurry, and further cause problems such as insufficient thread processing precision (such as thread skewing, incomplete tooth profile) or tap breakage;

[0007] High discharging risk: after processing is completed, the worker directly takes the material from the processing position, still needs to be close to the tap, and the taking action is closely linked with the next feeding, further increasing the operation risk.

[0008] In view of the above problems, it is urgent to design an automatic tapping machine that reduces the contact frequency between the worker and the processing area and simultaneously improves the safety and efficiency. SUMMARY

[0009] In view of the problems existing in the prior art, the present application provides an automatic tapping machine, which solves the defects of poor safety, low efficiency, and low operation fault tolerance of single-station tapping machines by setting a four-station rotating structure and an automatic discharging unit.

[0010] An automatic tapping machine, comprising:

[0011] a rack for supporting and installing other components;

[0012] a control box installed at the lower part of the rack, with a built-in PLC control system for controlling the operation of each component of the equipment;

[0013] The clamping unit is installed in the middle part of the frame and used for clamping workpieces, and the clamping unit comprises four workstations which are distributed in the circumferential direction in the order of a front placement position, a right waiting position, a rear machining position and a left discharge position.

[0014] The tapping unit is installed in the upper part of the frame and arranged corresponding to the machining position of the clamping unit, and used for tapping the workpieces on the clamping unit.

[0015] The discharge unit is arranged above and on the side of the discharge position, and used for moving the tapped workpieces to the subsequent process.

[0016] As a preferred scheme of the present application, the clamping unit comprises a rotating workbench, a stepping motor is installed below the rotating workbench, the output end of the stepping motor is in transmission connection with the rotating workbench, and the rotating workbench is driven to rotate to switch the workstations; the four workstations are each provided with a clamp; the clamp is provided with two workpiece placement positions for simultaneously clamping two workpieces to be machined; the workpiece to be machined is a threaded plate, a cylindrical boss is arranged in the cavity of the threaded plate, and a bottom hole to be machined is arranged in the center of the cylindrical boss in the axial direction.

[0017] As a preferred scheme of the present application, the clamp comprises a clamp base which is fixedly installed on the rotating workbench, a side clamping block and a convex support table are installed on the top surface of the clamp base, a limiting hole is vertically arranged in the center of the convex support table; the threaded plate is placed on the convex support table, and the cylindrical boss is sleeved in the limiting hole; the side clamping block is provided with four, and is symmetrically arranged on the front and rear sides of the convex support table; two threaded holes are vertically arranged in the side clamping block, and a clamping rod is threadedly connected in the threaded holes; one end of the clamping rod in contact with the threaded plate is provided with a circular plate, and the clamping rod and the side clamping block are used for limiting the two sides of the threaded plate.

[0018] As a preferred scheme of the present application, the longitudinal section of the threaded plate is a triangular structure with one thick end and one thin end; the clamping rod is installed in the threaded hole below the side clamping block corresponding to the thick end, and is installed in the threaded hole above the side clamping block corresponding to the thin end, so as to achieve better limiting effect.

[0019] As a preferred scheme of the present application, the tapping unit comprises a feeding motor and a main shaft motor, the output end of the feeding motor is in transmission connection with a lead screw, the lead screw is in screw connection with a moving seat, and the moving seat is driven by the lead screw to move up and down in the vertical direction; the main shaft motor is fixedly assembled on the moving seat, a planetary reducer and a multi-axis head are sequentially installed below the main shaft motor, and a tap is assembled on the multi-axis head; the output end of the main shaft motor drives the multi-axis head to rotate through the planetary reducer, and then drives the tap on the multi-axis head to rotate synchronously, so as to realize the tapping action.

[0020] As a preferred scheme of the present application, the discharging unit comprises a sliding support fixedly installed at the rear of the discharging position, a horizontal moving transverse cylinder installed on the sliding support, a vertical moving longitudinal cylinder installed on the transverse cylinder, and a rectangular frame fixedly installed on the telescopic end of the longitudinal cylinder through a support; the rectangular frame is arranged in parallel above the discharging position, and an electromagnet is arranged below the rectangular frame corresponding to the discharging position, which is used to attract the workpiece after tapping and move it out of the discharging position.

[0021] As a preferred scheme of the present application, a discharging chute is fixedly installed on the rack at the left side of the discharging position, and the discharging chute is arranged in an inclined manner to receive the workpiece released by the electromagnet and make it slide into the subsequent process.

[0022] As a preferred scheme of the present application, a placing opening is formed in the rack at the front side of the placing position, which facilitates the placing operation of the workpiece.

[0023] As a preferred scheme of the present application, leveling feet are arranged at the bottom of the rack, and four leveling feet are arranged at the four corners of the bottom of the rack.

[0024] As a preferred scheme of the present application, a start button and a human-machine interface are arranged at the front end of the rack, the start button is electrically connected with the PLC control system in the control box, and the human-machine interface is in communication connection with the PLC control system.

[0025] Due to the adoption of the above technical scheme, the present application has the following beneficial effects:

[0026] 1. Four-station rotary design, manual feeding only at the placing position, physically isolated from the machining position, and feeding, machining and discharging operations are parallel and do not interfere with each other, completely avoiding the risk of hand approaching the tap;

[0027] 2. The automatic discharging unit takes the workpiece by the electromagnet, without manual contact with the machined workpiece, further reducing the operation risk;

[0028] 3. Each station operates independently, and tapping can complete feeding and discharging at the same time, and the equipment has no idle waiting time; and each clamp can clamp two thread plates at the same time, the single processing efficiency is doubled, and it is suitable for batch production requirements;

[0029] 4. The waiting position is set to buffer, and the operator does not need to rush to feed, and has sufficient time to complete the accurate positioning and clamping of the thread plate, reduces the machining defects caused by clamping deviation, and improves the thread machining precision by 30%;

[0030] 5. The clamp can adapt to thread plates or similar workpieces with positioning bosses of different thicknesses and different specifications by adjusting the installation position and rotation depth of the clamping rod, without frequent replacement of the clamp, and the cost of changing types is reduced. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0031] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the application;

[0032] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the clamping unit structure of the application;

[0033] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the tapping unit structure of the application;

[0034] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the discharging unit structure of the application;

[0035] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the thread plate workpiece structure of the application;

[0036] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the internal cavity structure of the thread plate workpiece of the application.

[0037] In the figure: 1, control box; 2, rack; 3, clamping unit; 31, rotating workbench; 32, clamp base; 33, side clamping block; 34, clamping rod; 35, convex support table; 36, limiting hole; 4, tapping unit; 41, feeding motor; 42, moving seat; 43, main shaft motor; 44, planetary reducer; 45, multi-axis head; 46, tap; 5, discharging unit; 51, sliding support; 52, transverse air cylinder; 53, longitudinal air cylinder; 54, support; 55, rectangular frame; 56, electromagnet; 57, discharging chute; 6, thread plate; 7, bottom hole; 8, cylindrical boss. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the application, rather than all the embodiments of the application.

[0039] Embodiment 1

[0040] As shown in the figure, the specific embodiment of the automatic tapping machine according to the application comprises: Figures 1 to 6 Rack 2:

[0041] The rack 2 is the basic support structure of the device, which is used for stably mounting all components such as the control box 1, the clamping unit 3, the tapping unit 4, etc. The rack 2 is provided with leveling feet at four corners of the bottom, and the leveling feet adopt a threaded adjusting structure, so that the height can be adjusted by rotating to realize horizontal calibration of the rack 2, avoid processing deviation caused by inclination of the rack 2, and ensure the thread processing precision.

[0042] Control box 1:

[0043]

[0044] ​The control box 1 is installed at the lower part of the rack 2, and a PLC control system is built-in, which is used to coordinate the control of the station switching of the clamping unit 3, the tapping action of the tapping unit 4, the material taking and feeding action of the discharging unit 5, and simultaneously receives the signal instructions of the start button and the man-machine interface; the front end of the rack 2 is provided with a start button (used to trigger the start and stop of the equipment) and a touch screen type man-machine interface (used to set the machining parameters such as tapping depth, spindle speed, feed speed, and simultaneously display the equipment running state and fault alarm information) which are electrically connected with the PLC control system; the control box 1 adopts an existing product, and its principle structure will not be described here, for example, a product such as Siemens S7-200 SMART can also be used, and other products that can achieve the purpose of the scheme are not limited here;

[0045] The clamping unit 3:

[0046] The clamping unit 3 is installed at the middle part of the rack 2, and is used to accurately clamp the threaded plate 6 workpiece to be processed, and the core design is a "four-station rotary structure", which specifically includes:

[0047] Rotary workbench 31: The rotary workbench 31 is horizontally arranged, and a stepper motor (not shown in the figure) is installed below. The output end of the stepper motor is in transmission connection with the rotary workbench 31, so as to drive the rotary workbench 31 to rotate counterclockwise along the circumferential direction, thereby realizing station switching;

[0048] Four-station distribution: The four stations are distributed equidistantly along the circumferential direction of the rotary workbench 31, and are sequentially placed in the counterclockwise direction as a placement position on the front side, a waiting position on the right side, a machining position on the back side, and a discharging position on the left side;

[0049] Clamp structure: A clamp is arranged on each station, and the clamp is provided with two workpiece placement positions, so as to clamp two threaded plates 6 at the same time, thereby improving the single processing efficiency; the clamp includes a clamp base 32 fixed on the rotary workbench 31, and a side clamping block 33 and a convex support table 35 are arranged on the top surface of the clamp base 32, and the specific structures of the side clamping block 33 and the convex support table 35 are as follows:

[0050] Convex support table 35: A limiting hole 36 is arranged in the center of the convex support table 35 along the vertical direction; a cylindrical boss 8 is arranged in the cavity of the threaded plate 6 to be processed, and a bottom hole 7 to be processed is arranged in the center of the cylindrical boss 8 along the vertical axis; when the threaded plate 6 to be processed is placed on the convex support table 35, the cylindrical boss 8 is adapted to be sleeved in the limiting hole 36, thereby realizing preliminary positioning;

[0051] Side clamping block 33, side clamping block 33 is provided with four, along the convex support table 35 two sides two two symmetry distribution, side clamping block 33 is provided with two preset threaded holes in the vertical direction, threaded hole is connected with the clamping rod 34, the clamping rod 34 is provided with a circular plate at the contact end of the threaded plate 6;The longitudinal section of the threaded plate 6 is a triangular structure with "thick end and thin end", the clamping rod 34 is installed below the threaded hole of the side clamping block 33 corresponding to the thick end of the threaded plate 6, and the clamping rod 34 is installed above the threaded hole corresponding to the thin end;By adjusting the depth of the clamping rod 34 screwed in, the threaded plate 6 of different sizes can be used;

[0052] Tapping unit 4:

[0053] The tapping unit 4 is installed on the upper part of the rack 2, corresponding to the machining position of the clamping unit 3, which is used for machining the inner thread of the bottom hole 7 of the threaded plate 6 on the machining position, specifically including:

[0054] Feed drive structure: the output end of the feed motor 41 is in transmission connection with the lead screw (not shown in the figure), the lead screw is in threaded connection with the moving seat 42, the feed motor 41 drives the moving seat 42 to move up and down along the vertical direction through the lead screw, realizing the feed and tool withdrawal of the tap 46; The retractable protective cover is installed on the upper and lower ends of the moving seat 42, which is used to prevent foreign matters from flying into the transmission part;

[0055] Rotary tapping structure: the main shaft motor 43 is fixed on the moving seat 42, and the planetary reducer 44 and the multi-axis head 45 are sequentially installed below the main shaft motor 43, and the multi-axis head 45 is assembled with two taps 46 (adapted to two workpiece placing positions of the clamp); The main shaft motor 43 drives the multi-axis head 45 to rotate through the planetary reducer 44 after speed reduction, which drives the tap 46 to rotate synchronously, and cooperates with the vertical movement of the moving seat 42 to complete the tapping action of the bottom hole 7 of the threaded plate 6;

[0056] Discharging unit 5:

[0057] The discharging unit 5 is arranged above and on the side of the discharging position, which is used for automatically moving out the processed threaded plate 6, avoiding manual contact with the processing area, specifically including:

[0058] Moving drive structure: the sliding support 51 is fixed on the rear side of the discharging position, and the horizontal cylinder 52 is slidingly assembled on the support; The horizontal cylinder 52 is connected with the vertical cylinder 53 through the mounting seat, and the vertical cylinder 53 can be extended and retracted along the vertical direction;

[0059] Material taking structure: the rectangular frame 55 is fixedly installed on the vertical cylinder 53 through the support 54, and the rectangular frame 55 is parallel to the upper side of the discharging position; Two electromagnets 56 are arranged below the rectangular frame 55 corresponding to the two workpiece placing positions;

[0060] The receiving structure: the inclined discharge chute 57 is fixedly installed on the rack 2 on the left side of the discharge position, the high end of the chute corresponds to the discharging position of the electromagnet 56, and the low end faces the subsequent process, which is used to receive the threaded plate 6 released by the electromagnet 56 and make it slide along the chute.

[0061] The working principle of the present application is:

[0062] Workpiece placement:

[0063] The operator places the threaded plate 6 to be processed into the clamp of the placement position through the limiting hole 36 and the clamping rod 34 (the clamping rod 34 does not need to be rotated and tightened, and it only plays a limiting and slight clamping role, and the manual placement and the electromagnetic attraction are used as the standard), the positioning and limiting are completed, and the hand does not need to be close to the processing position;

[0064] Press the start button, and the PLC control system triggers the following actions:

[0065] Workstation switching: the step motor drives the rotating workbench 31 to rotate counterclockwise by one station, the threaded plate 6 in the original waiting position is transferred to the processing position, the threaded plate 6 in the original placement position is transferred to the waiting position, and the threaded plate 6 in the original processing position is transferred to the discharge position;

[0066] Subsequently, the following synchronous actions are triggered:

[0067] Tapping unit 4: the feed motor 41 drives the moving seat 42 to drive the tap 46 to move downward, and the main shaft motor 43 drives the tap 46 to rotate, so as to tap the bottom hole 7 of the threaded plate 6 in the processing position;

[0068] Discharge unit 5: the longitudinal cylinder 53 drives the rectangular frame 55 to move downward, and the electromagnet 56 is powered on to attract the threaded plate 6 in the discharge position which has been processed; then the longitudinal cylinder 53 rises, the horizontal cylinder 52 moves horizontally, the threaded plate 6 is sent to the above of the discharge chute 57, the electromagnet 56 is powered off, and the threaded plate 6 falls into the chute and enters the subsequent process;

[0069] Cyclic operation:

[0070] The operator places the next batch of threaded plates 6 to be processed in the new placement position, presses the start button again, and repeats the above steps to realize continuous and cyclic processing.

[0071] The components in this paper are all general standard components or components known to those skilled in the art, the structure and principle of which can be known by those skilled in the art through technical manuals or through conventional experimental methods, so they will not be described in detail here.

[0072] Although the specific embodiments of the present application are described in detail above, the present application is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes can be made within the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present application, and modifications or variations not having creative labor are still within the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An automatic tapping machine, characterized in that, include: The frame (2) is used to support the installation of other components; The control box (1) is installed at the bottom of the frame (2) and has a built-in PLC control system for controlling the operation of each component of the equipment. The clamping unit (3) is installed in the middle of the frame (2) and is used to clamp the workpiece. The clamping unit (3) includes four stations, which are distributed counterclockwise along the circumference: the front placement station, the right waiting station, the rear processing station, and the left discharge station. The tapping unit (4) is installed on the upper part of the frame (2) and is set at the processing position of the clamping unit (3) for tapping the workpiece on the clamping unit (3); The discharge unit (5) is located above and to the side of the discharge position and is used to remove the tapped workpiece and put it into the subsequent process.

2. The automatic tapping machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The clamping unit (3) includes a rotary table (31), a stepper motor is installed below the rotary table (31), the output end of the stepper motor is connected to the rotary table (31) for driving the rotary table (31) to rotate to switch the work position; each of the four work positions is provided with a fixture; the fixture is provided with two workpiece placement positions for clamping two workpieces to be processed at the same time; the workpiece to be processed is a threaded plate (6), the cavity of the threaded plate (6) is provided with a cylindrical boss (8), and the center of the cylindrical boss (8) is provided with a bottom hole (7) to be processed along the axial direction.

3. An automatic tapping machine according to claim 2, characterized in that: The fixture includes a fixture base (32), which is fixedly mounted on a rotary table (31). The top surface of the fixture base (32) is equipped with side clamping blocks (33) and a convex support platform (35). A limiting hole (36) is vertically opened at the center of the convex support platform (35). A threaded plate (6) is placed on the convex support platform (35), and a cylindrical boss (8) is fitted into the limiting hole (36). The side clamping blocks (33) are four in number and are symmetrically arranged on the front and rear sides of the convex support platform (35). Two threaded holes are vertically opened on the side clamping blocks (33), and clamping rods (34) are threadedly connected in the threaded holes. A circular plate is provided at the end of the clamping rod (34) that contacts the threaded plate (6). The clamping rods (34) and the side clamping blocks (33) are used to limit the two sides of the threaded plate (6).

4. An automatic tapping machine according to claim 3, characterized in that: The longitudinal section of the threaded plate (6) is a triangular structure with one end thick and the other end thin; the corresponding thick end of the clamping rod (34) is installed in the threaded hole below the side clamping block (33), and the corresponding thin end is installed in the threaded hole above the side clamping block (33), so as to achieve a better limiting effect.

5. An automatic tapping machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tapping unit (4) includes a feed motor (41) and a spindle motor (43). The output end of the feed motor (41) is connected to the lead screw, and the lead screw is threadedly engaged with the moving seat (42). The feed motor (41) drives the moving seat (42) to move up and down in the vertical direction through the lead screw. The spindle motor (43) is fixedly mounted on the moving seat (42). A planetary reducer (44) and a multi-spindle head (45) are installed below the spindle motor (43) in sequence. A tap (46) is mounted on the multi-spindle head (45). The output end of the spindle motor (43) drives the multi-spindle head (45) to rotate after being reduced by the planetary reducer (44), thereby driving the tap (46) on the multi-spindle head (45) to rotate synchronously, thus realizing the tapping action.

6. An automatic tapping machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The discharge unit (5) includes a sliding bracket (51) fixedly installed on the rear side of the discharge position. A horizontal cylinder (52) for horizontal movement is installed on the sliding bracket (51). A vertical cylinder (53) for vertical movement is installed on the horizontal cylinder (52). A rectangular frame (55) is fixedly installed on the telescopic end of the vertical cylinder (53) through a support (54). The rectangular frame (55) is arranged parallel above the discharge position. An electromagnet (56) is provided below the rectangular frame (55) corresponding to the discharge position. The electromagnet (56) is used to pick up the tapped workpiece and move it out of the discharge position.

7. An automatic tapping machine according to claim 6, characterized in that: A discharge slide (57) is fixedly installed on the frame (2) on the left side of the discharge position. The discharge slide (57) is inclined and is used to receive the workpiece released by the electromagnet (56) so that it slides into the subsequent process.

8. An automatic tapping machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The frame (2) on the front side of the placement position has a placement opening, which facilitates the placement of workpieces.

9. An automatic tapping machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bottom of the frame (2) is provided with leveling feet. There are four leveling feet in total, which are distributed at the four corners of the bottom of the frame (2).

10. An automatic tapping machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The front end of the frame (2) is equipped with a start button and a human-machine interface. The start button is electrically connected to the PLC control system in the control box (1). The human-machine interface is a touch screen and is communicatively connected to the PLC control system.

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