Gantry vertical type turning and milling combined machine tool

Abstract

The invention discloses a gantry vertical turning and milling combined machining tool, which relates to the technical field of machine tools, and is characterized in that the gantry vertical turning and milling combined machining tool comprises a horizontal base, a gantry is arranged on the horizontal base, the gantry comprises a cross beam arranged above the horizontal base, and an X-axis saddle capable of linearly moving in the X-axis direction is arranged on the cross beam; a Y-axis sliding table capable of linearly moving in the Y-axis direction is arranged on the X-axis sliding saddle, and the bottom of the Y-axis sliding table is connected with a combined machining machine head through a rotary driving mechanism. The rotation driving mechanism comprises a B-axis rotary table fixedly installed at the bottom of the Y-axis sliding table, and an output shaft of the B-axis rotary table is arranged in the Y-axis direction and can conduct 360-degree continuous or indexing rotation. According to the gantry vertical type turning and milling combined machining machine tool, all procedures are completed through one-time clamping, the production efficiency is improved, the multi-face machining process is further optimized through continuous rotation of the working rotary table, and therefore efficient machining is achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of machine tool technology, specifically to a gantry vertical turning and milling composite machining center. Background Technology

[0002] In the field of modern mechanical manufacturing, especially for the machining of large and complex components such as wind turbine gearboxes, slewing bearings for construction machinery, and large valves (disc and box-shaped parts), extremely high demands are placed on the precision, efficiency, and versatility of machining equipment. Traditional machining methods often require multiple clamping and positioning operations on multiple machine tools, such as vertical lathes, horizontal lathes, and boring and milling machines, to complete all processes. This multi-machine, multi-process machining mode not only occupies a large area and has high equipment investment costs, but more importantly, multiple clamping inevitably introduces repetitive positioning errors, directly affecting the overall machining accuracy and geometric tolerances of the parts. Furthermore, it consumes a significant amount of auxiliary time during workpiece hoisting and alignment, resulting in low production efficiency.

[0003] To overcome the aforementioned problems, mill-turn machining centers have emerged and become an important development direction for high-end equipment manufacturing. Among them, gantry-type structures, due to their high rigidity, strong load-bearing capacity, and wide machining range, are widely used for the composite machining of large workpieces. Existing gantry-type mill-turn machining centers typically feature a movable milling spindle head mounted on a crossbeam, working in conjunction with a rotary table on the base to achieve multi-face machining of the workpiece in a single setup. However, the spindle head function of these machines is often relatively simple, either a vertical spindle or a horizontal spindle. When the workpiece needs to machine mutually perpendicular feature surfaces, either two independent spindle heads need to be configured for switching, increasing structural complexity and cost, or complex angle head attachments are required. This usually sacrifices the spindle's rigidity, accuracy, and stability, and the automatic angle head changing process is cumbersome, with unreliable reliability and insufficient flexibility.

[0004] To address this, some existing machine tools enhance flexibility by equipping their turrets with tilting milling spindle heads. It must be noted that these tilting spindle heads are essentially still single-function milling units; their "composite" functionality typically only manifests in achieving multi-faceted machining by rotating the tool axis to a certain angle through positioning (e.g., A-axis, C-axis), falling under the category of "motion axis composite" or "positioning composite." When machining mutually perpendicular feature surfaces, these spindle heads cannot instantly and rigidly switch between vertical and horizontal core machining modes, often requiring manual angle head changes or complex program compensation, severely limiting machining efficiency and accuracy. Furthermore, the rotation range of these tilting spindle heads is usually limited by the mechanical structure, making true full-circumferential machining difficult. When precision milling, drilling, or tapping is required on the workpiece side or non-standard angle surfaces, the machine tool's flexibility remains insufficient, potentially requiring secondary clamping adjustments or reliance on specialized tooling, resulting in unsatisfactory performance. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to provide a gantry vertical turning and milling composite machining center to solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0006] The present invention achieves the above-mentioned objective through the following technical solution: a gantry vertical turning and milling composite machining center, comprising a horizontal base, a gantry frame disposed on the horizontal base, the gantry frame including a crossbeam disposed above the horizontal base, an X-axis slide saddle disposed on the crossbeam that can move linearly along the X-axis direction, a Y-axis slide table disposed on the X-axis slide saddle that can move linearly along the Y-axis direction, and a composite machining head connected to the bottom of the Y-axis slide table through a rotary drive mechanism; The rotary drive mechanism includes a B-axis turntable fixedly installed at the bottom of the Y-axis slide. The output shaft of the B-axis turntable is arranged around the Y-axis and can rotate continuously or in increments of 360 degrees. A turntable is fixedly connected to the output end of the B-axis turntable. The composite machining head is fixedly installed on the turntable so that the composite machining head can rotate circumferentially together with the turntable in the plane formed by the X-axis and Z-axis. The composite machining head includes a housing, on which a vertical machining spindle and a horizontal machining spindle with mutually perpendicular working directions are integrated. The axis of the vertical machining spindle is parallel to the Z-axis, and the axis of the horizontal machining spindle is parallel to the Y-axis. The horizontal base surface is provided with a linear guide rail along the X-axis direction, and a sliding seat is slidably connected to the linear guide rail. A working turntable is provided on the sliding seat, and the working turntable can rotate 360 ​​degrees continuously around the Z-axis.

[0007] As a further feature of the present invention, the axis of the vertical machining spindle intersects the rotation center line of the B-axis rotary table at a single point, and the axis of the horizontal machining spindle is spatially perpendicular to and does not intersect the rotation center line of the B-axis rotary table, and maintains a fixed spatial distance from the axis of the vertical machining spindle.

[0008] As a further feature of the present invention, a slide rail is provided on the X-axis slide saddle along the Y-axis direction, and a slider is provided on the Y-axis slide platform and slidably connected inside the slide rail. Slide grooves are provided on both sides of the Y-axis slide platform along the length direction, and inserts for embedding into the slide grooves are provided on both sides of the slide rail on the X-axis slide saddle. The inserts can slide in the slide grooves.

[0009] As a further feature of the present invention, the vertical distance between the axis of the vertical machining spindle and the axis of the horizontal machining spindle in space is 180mm.

[0010] As a further feature of the present invention, the diameter of the worktable is 850mm.

[0011] As a further feature of the present invention, both the horizontal base and the gantry frame are made of stainless steel.

[0012] In summary, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: 1. This invention completes all processes in one clamping, completely avoiding the repeated positioning errors introduced by multiple clamping, ensuring the machining accuracy and geometric tolerances of the parts, eliminating the need for angle head attachments, avoiding rigidity loss and accuracy reduction caused by attachments, ensuring the stability and reliability of the machining process, and the composite machining head can switch instantly between vertical and horizontal modes without stopping the machine to manually change the angle head or perform complex program compensation, greatly reducing the auxiliary time for hoisting or alignment, improving production efficiency, and the continuous rotation of the worktable further optimizes the multi-face machining process, thereby achieving high-efficiency machining; 2. This invention, through the full circumferential rotation capability of the B-axis rotary table combined with the vertical and horizontal dual spindle design, enables the machine tool to easily process mutually perpendicular feature surfaces, side surfaces, and non-standard angle surfaces, achieving true full circumferential machining. This gives the equipment excellent flexibility and versatility. Furthermore, by integrating vertical and horizontal spindles on a single machine head, the complexity and cost of configuring two independent spindle heads are avoided. At the same time, the use of special tooling is reduced, lowering equipment investment and maintenance costs. Attached Figure Description

[0013] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the Y-axis slide and the composite machining head in this invention; Figure 3 for Figure 2 Enlarged structural diagram at point A; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the X-axis slide saddle in this invention.

[0014] Reference numerals in the attached diagram: 1. Horizontal base; 2. Crossbeam; 3. X-axis slide saddle; 4. Y-axis slide table; 5. Composite machining head; 6. B-axis rotary table; 7. Turntable; 8. Machine housing; 9. Vertical machining spindle; 10. Horizontal machining spindle; 11. Linear guide; 12. Sliding seat; 13. Worktable; 14. Slide rail; 15. Slider; 16. Slide groove; 17. Insert. Detailed Implementation

[0015] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0016] Please see Figure 1-4 As shown, a gantry vertical turning and milling composite machining center includes a horizontal base 1, on which a gantry frame is mounted. Both the horizontal base 1 and the gantry frame are made of stainless steel, which has high strength and hardness, is corrosion-resistant, and has high durability. The gantry frame includes a crossbeam 2 mounted above the horizontal base 1 and a column fixedly mounted on the horizontal base 1. An X-axis slide saddle 3, which can move linearly along the X-axis direction, is mounted on the crossbeam 2. A Y-axis slide table 4, which can move linearly along the Y-axis direction, is mounted on the X-axis slide saddle 3. The bottom of the Y-axis slide table 4 is connected to a composite machining head 5 via a rotary drive mechanism. A slide rail 14 is formed on the X-axis slide saddle 3 along the Y-axis direction. A slider 15 is slidably connected inside the slide rail 14 on the Y-axis slide table 4. Slide grooves 16 are formed on both side walls of the Y-axis slide table 4 along the length direction. 4. Both sides are provided with inserts 17 for embedding in the slide groove 16. The inserts 17 can slide within the slide groove 16. This double guide structure provides additional constraints and support, ensuring that the Y-axis slide 4 remains stable during movement, preventing overturning or shaking, distributing the load, reducing gaps and vibrations during movement, improving the accuracy and smoothness of Y-axis movement, avoiding vibrations during processing, thereby improving the surface finish and dimensional accuracy of the workpiece, and effectively improving the processing quality. The slide 14 is a rectangular guide rail with a surface hardened to a hardness of not less than HRC58. The slider 15 adopts a linear rolling guide block with a preload level of P4. The inserts 17 are made of copper-based alloy material, and the fit clearance between them and the slide groove 16 is controlled within the range of 0.005-0.01mm through precision grinding. A centralized lubrication interface is provided for periodic addition of lithium-based grease.

[0017] Please see Figure 1-3 As shown, the rotary drive mechanism includes a B-axis rotary table 6 fixedly installed at the bottom of the Y-axis slide 4. The output shaft of the B-axis rotary table 6 is set around the Y-axis direction and can perform continuous or indexing rotation of 360 degrees. A turntable 7 is fixedly connected to the output end of the B-axis rotary table 6, and the composite machining head 5 is rigidly fixedly installed on the turntable 7 so that the composite machining head 5 can rotate in the full circumference in the plane formed by the turntable 7, the X-axis, and the Z-axis. The B-axis rotary table 6 is driven by a high-precision servo motor, and the rotation is achieved by direct drive through a worm gear transmission mechanism or a torque motor. It is equipped with an absolute encoder for real-time position feedback. Its housing is made of cast iron and contains crossed roller bearings to withstand composite loads. It also integrates a hydraulic clamping device to lock the B-axis rotary table 6 during indexing.

[0018] Please see Figure 2 , Figure 3 As shown, the composite machining head 5 includes a housing 8, on which a vertical machining spindle 9 and a horizontal machining spindle 10 with mutually perpendicular working directions are integrated. The axis of the vertical machining spindle 9 is parallel to the Z-axis, and the axis of the horizontal machining spindle 10 is parallel to the Y-axis. The vertical distance between the axis of the vertical machining spindle 9 and the axis of the horizontal machining spindle 10 in space is 180mm. Both the vertical machining spindle 9 and the horizontal machining spindle 10 have independent electric spindle drive units and tool clamping devices, which can be independently started, stopped, and cut by receiving CNC commands. The housing 8 is an integral cast iron structure. Inside, there are independent cooling circulation channels for the electric spindle units of the vertical machining spindle 9 and the horizontal machining spindle 10 to force cooling of the electric spindles. The cooling medium of the cooling circulation channels is a mixture of water and ethylene glycol, which is cooled by an external refrigeration unit and circulated in a closed loop by an electric pump. The cooling channels are tightly wrapped or encased in the stator housing of the electric spindle, removing the heat generated by the spindle operation through heat exchange. The control logic of the cooling system is integrated into the machine tool's CNC system, which can adjust the power and circulation flow of the cooling unit in real time based on the spindle load and temperature sensor feedback, ensuring that the electric spindle operates under constant temperature conditions, effectively controlling thermal deformation, and ensuring machining accuracy. The tool holder adopts the HSK-63A tool holder interface, and automatic tool changing is achieved through the disc spring tensioning and hydraulic release mechanism inside the spindle. The equipment is also equipped with a tool changing mechanism with a tool capacity of 32 tools, a maximum tool length of 250mm, a maximum tool weight of 25kg, and a tool changing time of less than 4 seconds.

[0019] Please see Figure 1-3As shown, a linear guide rail 11 is provided on the surface of the horizontal base 1 along the X-axis, and a sliding seat 12 is slidably connected to the linear guide rail 11. A worktable 13 is provided on the sliding seat 12, and the worktable 13 can rotate continuously 360 degrees around the Z-axis. The diameter of the worktable 13 is 850mm. Through the linkage of the X-axis slide saddle 3 and the Y-axis slide 4, the composite machining head 5 is accurately positioned in the X and Y directions in three-dimensional space. The B-axis turntable 6 drives the turntable 7 and the composite machining head 5 to rotate as a whole, which allows the vertical machining spindle 9 or the horizontal machining spindle 10 to selectively face the workpiece, or to... The horizontal machining spindle 10 is adjusted to an angle parallel to the inclined plane of the workpiece for milling. The relative distance between the workpiece and the gantry can be adjusted by moving the worktable slide 12 along the X-axis to accommodate different machining areas of large workpieces. Turning or precision indexing is achieved by rotating the rotary table 13. The axis of the vertical machining spindle 9 intersects the rotation center line of the B-axis rotary table 6 at a single point. Therefore, when the B-axis rotary table 6 rotates, the machining point of the vertical spindle remains on the rotation center line, maintaining a constant spatial position and avoiding tool offset errors caused by B-axis rotation. This ensures consistent machining datum and is particularly suitable for high-precision machining. For contour machining, the axis of the horizontal machining spindle 10 is spatially perpendicular to and does not intersect with the rotation center line of the B-axis rotary table 6, and maintains a fixed spatial distance from the axis of the vertical machining spindle 9. This geometric relationship ensures that the relative positions of the two spindles remain stable during B-axis rotation, and their relative directions will not change due to rotation. This reduces the complexity of machine tool setup and calibration, and improves production repeatability. The linear guide 11 is a heavy-duty roller guide with a precision grade of C3. The sliding seat 12 is moved by a ball screw driven by a servo motor. The ball screw has a diameter of 40mm, a lead of 10mm, and is equipped with a grating. The ruler performs closed-loop position control. The worktable 13 is directly driven by a torque motor or driven by a servo motor in conjunction with a worm gear reducer. It is supported by a combination of bidirectional thrust angular contact ball bearings and cylindrical roller bearings to ensure its rotational accuracy is better than ±5 arcseconds. The intersection of the vertical machining spindle 9 axis and the B-axis rotation center line is calibrated by a laser interferometer during assembly to ensure that the intersection point position error is less than 0.002mm. The spatial perpendicularity between the horizontal machining spindle 10 axis and the B-axis rotation center line is verified by a coordinate measuring machine on the assembly platform to ensure that the perpendicularity error is less than 0.005mm.

[0020] In addition, the machine tool is equipped with a multi-axis CNC system. This system is built on an industrial PC and a programmable logic controller (PLC), supporting five-axis linkage interpolation control of the X, Y, Z, B, and C axes. Its collaborative working interface and logic are as follows: The industrial PC is responsible for human-machine interaction, G-code program parsing, five-axis interpolation calculation, and the operation of various intelligent modules. The parsed axis motion commands are sent to the servo drivers of each axis via a real-time Ethernet bus, driving the servo motors to achieve precise positioning and movement. The PLC is responsible for processing the machine tool's discrete I / O signals, such as limit switches, hydraulic clamping signals, the action sequence of the tool changer mechanism, coolant start / stop, etc. The system is controlled by logic and communicates in real time with an industrial PC via a bus. For the vertical machining spindle 9 and the horizontal machining spindle 10, their independent electric spindle drive units also receive speed and start / stop commands from the industrial PC via the bus and feed back the real-time status to the system. The CNC system receives G-code programs via an Ethernet interface and integrates anti-collision prediction module, thermal error compensation module, and cutting parameter adaptive control module to ensure the safety, accuracy, and efficiency of the machining process. The entire system achieves deep integration and coordination of motion control, logic control, and spindle control through the above architecture, ensuring the seamless execution of complex machining tasks.

[0021] Working Principle: During operation, the workpiece can be fixed on the rotary table 13, which can rotate continuously 360 degrees around the Z-axis, allowing for arbitrary adjustment of the workpiece's circumferential position. The composite machining head 5 moves along the X-axis and Y-axis directions via the X-axis slide saddle 3 and Y-axis slide 4, precisely positioning the machining position. The rotary drive mechanism drives the composite machining head 5 to rotate continuously or in increments 360 degrees around the Y-axis via the B-axis rotary table 6, enabling full circumferential angle adjustment within the plane formed by the X and Z axes. The vertical machining spindle 9 and horizontal machining spindle 10 integrated on the composite machining head 5 can be used separately or simultaneously according to machining requirements. When machining horizontal or vertical surfaces, the head angle is adjusted via the B-axis rotary table 6, allowing the vertical or horizontal spindle to be used. The spindle is directly aligned with the workpiece's feature surface, eliminating the need to change tools or accessories. For example, a vertical spindle can be used to machine the top surface of a workpiece, while a horizontal spindle can be used to machine the side surface. Alternatively, the spindle can be tilted by rotating the B-axis to machine non-standard angle surfaces. Throughout the machining process, the workpiece only needs to be clamped once. Through the rotation of the rotary table 13 and the multi-axis movement of the composite machining head 5, multiple processes such as turning, milling, drilling, and tapping can be combined. This setup allows all processes to be completed in a single clamping, completely avoiding the repetitive positioning errors introduced by multiple clampings, ensuring the machining accuracy and geometric tolerances of the parts. Furthermore, the integrated vertical and horizontal spindles are directly fixed to the machine head, eliminating the need for angle head accessories and avoiding rigidity loss and accuracy degradation caused by accessories, thus ensuring... The machining process is stable and reliable, and the composite machining head 5 can instantly switch between vertical and horizontal modes without stopping the machine to manually change angle heads or perform complex program compensations. This significantly reduces auxiliary time for hoisting or alignment, improving production efficiency. The continuous rotation of the worktable 13 further optimizes the multi-face machining process, thus achieving high-efficiency machining. At the same time, the full-circumferential rotation capability of the B-axis rotary table 6, combined with the vertical and horizontal dual-spindle design, allows the machine tool to easily machine mutually perpendicular feature surfaces, side surfaces, and non-standard angle surfaces, achieving true full-circumferential machining. This solves the problem of single-function spindle heads and limited rotation range, adapting to the multi-angle machining needs of large and complex components, giving the equipment excellent flexibility and versatility. Furthermore, by integrating vertical and horizontal spindles on a single machine head, the complexity and cost of configuring two independent spindle heads are avoided. At the same time, the use of special tooling is reduced, lowering equipment investment and maintenance costs. In the specific working process, the CNC system controls the servo drives of each axis, so that the X and Y axis movement and positioning accuracy reaches 0.01mm, and the indexing accuracy of the B-axis rotary table 6 and the work rotary table 13 reaches ±5 arcseconds. The start-up, stop, speed adjustment, and tool changing actions of the vertical and horizontal spindles are all precisely controlled by the PLC program according to the CNC code, ensuring seamless switching between processes. Before leaving the factory, the machine tool must undergo no-load running tests and cutting test pieces to verify its linkage accuracy and machining capabilities. The surface roughness of the test pieces must reach Ra0.8μm or less.

[0022] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. All technical solutions falling within the scope of the present invention's concept are within the scope of protection of the present invention. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art, any improvements and modifications made without departing from the principles of the present invention should also be considered within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A gantry vertical turning and milling composite machining center, comprising a horizontal base (1), wherein a gantry frame is provided on the horizontal base (1), characterized in that: The gantry includes a crossbeam (2) set above the horizontal base (1), an X-axis slide saddle (3) that can move linearly along the X-axis direction is set on the crossbeam (2), a Y-axis slide table (4) that can move linearly along the Y-axis direction is set on the X-axis slide saddle (3), and a composite processing head (5) is connected to the bottom of the Y-axis slide table (4) through a rotary drive mechanism. The rotary drive mechanism includes a B-axis turntable (6) fixedly installed at the bottom of the Y-axis slide (4). The output shaft of the B-axis turntable (6) is arranged around the Y-axis direction and can perform continuous or indexed rotation of 360 degrees. A turntable (7) is fixedly connected to the output end of the B-axis turntable (6). The composite machining head (5) is fixedly installed on the turntable (7) so that the composite machining head (5) can rotate in the full circumference in the plane formed by the turntable (7) together with the X-axis and Z-axis. The composite machining head (5) includes a housing (8), on which a vertical machining spindle (9) and a horizontal machining spindle (10) with mutually perpendicular working directions are integrated. The axis of the vertical machining spindle (9) is parallel to the Z-axis, and the axis of the horizontal machining spindle (10) is parallel to the Y-axis. The horizontal base (1) has a linear guide rail (11) along the X-axis. A sliding seat (12) is slidably connected to the linear guide rail (11). A working turntable (13) is provided on the sliding seat (12). The working turntable (13) can rotate 360 ​​degrees continuously around the Z-axis.

2. The gantry vertical turning and milling composite machining center according to claim 1, characterized in that: The axis of the vertical machining spindle (9) intersects the rotation center line of the B-axis rotary table (6) at one point. The axis of the horizontal machining spindle (10) is perpendicular to the rotation center line of the B-axis rotary table (6) in space and does not intersect, and maintains a fixed spatial distance from the axis of the vertical machining spindle (9).

3. The gantry vertical turning and milling composite machining center according to claim 1, characterized in that: The X-axis slide saddle (3) has a slide rail (14) along the Y-axis direction. The Y-axis slide table (4) is provided with a slider (15) that is slidably connected inside the slide rail (14). The two side walls of the Y-axis slide table (4) have grooves (16) along the length direction. The X-axis slide saddle (3) is provided with inserts (17) for embedding into the grooves (16) on both sides of the slide rail (14). The inserts (17) can slide in the grooves (16).

4. A gantry vertical turning and milling composite machining center according to claim 1, characterized in that: The vertical distance between the axis of the vertical machining spindle (9) and the axis of the horizontal machining spindle (10) in space is 180mm.

5. A gantry vertical turning and milling composite machining center according to claim 1, characterized in that: The diameter of the worktable (13) is 850mm.

6. A gantry vertical turning and milling composite machining center according to claim 1, characterized in that: Both the horizontal base (1) and the gantry frame are made of stainless steel.

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