METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MACHINING GEARS PROVIDED ON WORKPIECES

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a method for machining gears provided on workpieces, in which a plurality of workpieces are fed to at least one machining station with at least two machining operations and / or at least two machining stations each with at least one machining operation, and there the gear machining is carried out under a machining engagement of a gear cutting tool with the workpiece gear as at least one of these machining operations, as well as the at least one further machining operation in machine real time.

[0002] Such processes are widespread and are used in the field of gear technology for the production of gears, as well as for their further processing. Examples of gear production include hobbing, skiving, or gear shaping—the most commonly used processes—and, with regard to (hard) finishing, generating or profile grinding, honing, and hard skiving. In addition, there are various complementary gear machining processes, such as deburring and / or chamfering, the incorporation of additional structures into gears such as backings or grooves, or tooth end machining in the form of rounding or chamfering.

[0003] Depending on the configuration, there are individual machines that perform only one of these processes, but are also linked to more complex systems via workpiece automation, as well as stations with multiple machining operations, where, for example, gears are created, deburred, and / or chamfered in a single workpiece setup, or combinations thereof. The invention operates in the field in which at least two machining operations are provided, at least one of which involves gear machining in the form of a machining engagement of a gear cutting tool with the workpiece gear.

[0004] In contrast to various comparatively simple machining processes such as drilling or turning, the machining operation of a gear cutting tool with a tool toothing is rather complex. This is due, on the one hand, to the large number of gearing parameters that must be considered even for the basic processes, which require a correspondingly adapted tool design. Furthermore, today's gears are often not manufactured in the classic pure involute form, but with more or less extensive tooth flank modifications, such as crowning, conicity, or combinations thereof, sometimes under additional constraints such as the avoidance of interlocking, etc.

[0005] All of this means that modern CNC-controlled gear cutting machines or gear machining systems incorporate highly complex control systems for scheduling the machining processes. The respective machine axes involved must be precisely coordinated with one another via CNC control in order to reliably achieve the desired precision despite the machining forces involved. For larger workpiece batches, such as those encountered in the automotive sector, a suitable tool design with matching axis control process parameters is first selected for the desired process. These parameters are then checked and modified if necessary. The required machine axis controls are then stored on the machine as a sequential control program for the respective project.Control software providers, such as Siemens with its Sinumerik control software, provide technical support for this, with larger manufacturers of gear cutting machines in particular often developing their own control software that is inserted between the operator and the final machine axis control. This makes things easier for the operator in that they are presented with a simplified input mask, possibly tailored to their needs, into which they can enter the relevant process parameters. The machine then transfers the necessary control data for these preparatory actions, which are carried out in non-machine real time, into control instructions in the background. These instructions later, as soon as the operator starts the sequence program on the machine, provide the machine or each station of a machining system with the necessary control specifications after the process has been selected and executed.to process the workpieces fed to the processing station equally in real-time within the scope of the selected process.

[0006] DE 10 2007 019558 A1 discloses a method according to the preamble of claim 1. Grippers are assigned internal identifiers which depend on the last machining step performed on the workpiece; the four different states for the internal identifier are unmachined ↔ 0; roughed ↔ A; roughed + roll-formed ↔ B; and roughed + roll-formed + finished ↔ C. EP 2394 770 A1 teaches the gear hobbing of workpieces with machining dependent on the shift position of the hob. DE 10 2015 014313 A1 teaches, particularly for gear shaping, a modification of target values ​​for the rotation angle position to compensate for profile angle deviations.

[0007] The invention is based on the object of further improving methods of the type mentioned at the outset, in particular with regard to a good combination of machining accuracy with as few rejects as possible and achievable machining times.

[0008] This object is achieved by the invention by a further development of the method of the type mentioned at the outset, which is characterized by the features of claim 1.

[0009] According to the invention, sequence control is no longer carried out by means of control instructions given once within a process to the processing stations, which then automatically implement precisely these control instructions, but rather based on control information stored and assigned to each individual workpiece to be processed. This storage can be independent of which identical or possibly different workpieces are to be processed before or after. This means that the processing station no longer automatically runs the same processing sequence over and over again, but instead checks the assigned control information for each workpiece and thus only performs those machining operations on the workpiece that are required by the workpiece in the machine's real-time system, i.e., those that are pending for the workpiece (and must, of course, be available at the processing station).The verification may include or consist of a comparison of the processing to be carried out according to the control information with the processing available at the respective station.

[0010] With the increased flexibility introduced in this way, it is possible to react to correctable influences due to external conditions or machining operations within the machine real time and to correct them if necessary, without having to switch from the machine real time system back to the non-machine real time system and thereby losing usable machining time.

[0011] In terms of system technology, the invention accordingly provides a machining system for machining gears provided on workpieces with the features of claim 13.

[0012] The assigned control information does not have to be a compilation of all final control commands that are then directed to the machine axes; control instructions that enable the machining stations to execute the desired machining sequences by clearly identifying the specific control instructions for the desired sequences are sufficient. In the simplest case, the stored control instructions could therefore be viewed as a mere image of the instructions calculated in a non-real-time system, which are then applied, for example, to control channels of the final CNC machine axis control. According to the invention, however, a machining system is provided in which the assigned control information can still be changed in machine real-time; optionally, the assigned storage can be supplemented with additional information in machine real-time. The latter variant allows, among other things,, to record and systematically evaluate data on process flows. As far as changes affect the control information itself, several sub-variants are potentially advantageous.

[0013] Thus, in the first alternative according to the invention, the control information stored for a workpiece can be changed depending on a deviation of a monitored machine parameter from its target value detected by a machining station during machining of that workpiece. In this way, potential malfunctions or undesirable deviations can be responded to within the machining system while the machining process is still in progress, thus avoiding rejects or unnecessary machining operations and the associated tool wear.

[0014] On the other hand, in the other alternative according to the invention, and also additionally, it can be provided that the change upon detection of a deviation of a workpiece parameter from predetermined target parameters is carried out by a station functioning as a measuring station for the workpiece. This also offers the possibility of making a correction to the workpiece even before the workpiece leaves the processing stations again and would possibly have to be located and fed in again at a later time. In addition to these changes to the already stored control information, the control information is already adapted in real time during storage by the machine, in that, in the case of comparatively simple corrections in one variant according to the invention, the monitoring and detection of deviations explained above is automatically taken into account when storing the control information for subsequent workpieces.Especially in the case of larger deviations, according to the other variant of the invention, a feedback control via the non-machine real-time system is also conceivable, which can then take effect with improved accuracy in the machine real-time system by storing the control information with at least "some delay".

[0015] Examples of such changing influences are the temperature of the workpiece due to ongoing processing, but also the wear of the tool, which can lead to corresponding changes.

[0016] It is preferred that a completed machining operation be registered in the stored control information (in machine real time). This allows further machining operations that were provided for in the control information but not yet enabled to be enabled.

[0017] Particularly preferred is also a movement device, the actuation of which changes an occupation configuration defining the arrangement of the currently respective processing areas of the processing system at the respective processing stations of the workpieces. For this purpose, machine automation with multiple grippers and / or workpiece holders can be used, as can individual robots with a high number of mobility functions such as industrial robots, e.g. KUKA robots, but also coupled systems such as ring bearing systems with 180° or 90° basic cycle times. The movement device thus serves, on the one hand, to quickly implement automatic machine sequences of the continued processing processes when multiple, particularly larger, workpieces and, in particular, larger workpiece batches are passed through.

[0018] On the other hand, this also allows the movement device, which is provided according to an embodiment of the invention, to be actuated in machine real time depending on the control information stored for those workpieces which are currently in the processing area of ​​the processing system.

[0019] This means that there is no longer a rigid time schedule; instead, the change in the staffing configuration occurs variably when the "slowest" process of the participating stations is completed, at least if a coupled transport system such as a ring storage system is provided. On the other hand, it can be specifically provided that a control system for the actuation of the movement device is designed to compare the possible machining operations for several staffing configurations that can be reached after the next actuation of the movement device, based on the control information assigned to the participating workpieces, and to make a selection from the staffing configurations according to predetermined criteria.In other words, the tooling configuration is not automatically changed in the same way every time a change occurs. Instead, the tooling configuration change can vary depending on the selection made by the system. The system "thinks" ahead and determines which tooling configuration change will ultimately result in the most favorable machining situation across all involved workpieces. This determination can also be made several steps ahead.

[0020] Various criteria can be specified as selection criteria, which can also be weighted against each other. However, self-learning software is also conceivable, in which the system tries out several variants in test runs and independently determines the most favorable one. Specifiable selection criteria could, for example, include the desired minimization of the time required between the next and the next but one actuation of the movement device, but also, for example, a greater emphasis on a requirement that the greatest machining effort distributed across the machining stations can, if possible, always be carried out between two changes in the staffing configuration. A further selection criterion can include the consideration of a limited number of control channels for the final control instructions to the CNC-controlled machine axes involved in the machining system. Depending on the overall structure of the control system, the details are, for example,If commercially available machine controls such as Sinumerik or similar are used, only a limited number of control channels are available, the optimal use of which can therefore be a criterion to be taken into account.

[0021] In principle, it would be conceivable for each individual workpiece to physically contain the control information in readable form. However, according to the invention, the movement device comprises a plurality of grippers and / or workpiece holders, and the assignment of the control information stored for a workpiece is implemented via a storage location assigned to the gripper / holder gripping this workpiece in a storage space. In this case, too, the storage space could be a data storage space that could be physically assigned to the grippers. According to the invention, however, the storage space is a memory of a control system of the machining system, and the storage locations are then defined memory locations assigned to the respective workpieces.They can be assigned to the gripper / holder variably, but uniquely in each current configuration, so that each processing station, knowing which gripper / holder has just supplied it with the workpiece, can access the stored control information associated with the received workpiece accordingly. Implemented using pointers, for example, a pointer assigned to a gripper points to the appropriate storage location.

[0022] In the operating mode explained so far, the machining station is controlled to perform the machining operation that, after checking the stored control information, is determined to be capable of being performed by this station and is enabled. Simply put, the machining station looks to see which machining operations the workpiece currently requires and performs such operations, provided it is capable of doing so—i.e., has the necessary tools and machine axes.

[0023] If multiple machining operations are possible at a machining station, but these are sequentially connected and cannot yet be started simultaneously, it is also intended that the machining station also performs operations that are not yet enabled but are enabled due to the processing of this operation. An example of this would be the removal of axial burrs after a hobbing operation. Only when the hob has advanced axially along the workpiece axis sufficiently so that the burr is formed or there is no longer any risk of collision with a burr tool, for example a deburring wheel, is the tool used (the machine control contains a corresponding enable signal that is generated as soon as the hobbing tool has reached a certain axial position).

[0024] The control information for a workpiece should be stored at the latest when it reaches a processing station whose processing may depend on the result of a previous processing operation. In terms of timing, the storage could also be planned for a very early point in time, especially if sufficient storage space is available. In a preferred embodiment, however, the control information for a respective workpiece is stored as it enters the processing area of ​​the processing system. This allows updating modifications to the control information during storage to be made as up-to-date as possible, based on the current state of the system, in particular its tools and other influencing process variables.

[0025] As already explained, the deposit can be made by transmitting a control instruction that can be created by a user in the non-machine real-time system, in particular for a (constant) workpiece batch.

[0026] As explained above, the storage locations are defined, allocated storage areas, have sufficient storage space to accommodate the changes explained above, and preferably also separate additional storage space for storing supplementary information relating to the production of this workpiece. The latter can be used to create additional, particularly complete, data that represents the machining processes of the gear machining system. The evaluation of this data can be used to optimize the process flows. With appropriate archiving, it also enables the tracking of the workpiece if, for example, this workpiece subsequently fails, in order to better track any failure risks inherent in the production of the workpiece.

[0027] Also, as already mentioned, updating modifications are included when storing the control information. These modifications can be activated as a reaction to detected and, if necessary, predictive process conditions. These modifications can be activated accordingly. These modifications can be obtained either directly from the real-time system through feedback from individual stations, but can also be activated (with some time delay) after reevaluation in the non-machine real-time system included in the feedback control.

[0028] Further features, details and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying figures, of which Fig. 1a schematically shows a machining system without any workpieces loaded, Fig. 1b shows an abstract representation of a deposit room with deposited tax information, Fig. 2 shows a cast configuration of a processing system, and Fig. 3 shows a sequence of occupation configurations.

[0029] The Fig. 1 In this exemplary embodiment, the processing system designated 100 has four stations A, B, C and D, and a transport system T in the form of a ring loader with four grippers G1, G2, G3 and G4 rigidly coupled to one another at 90°. However, this is only an example; more or fewer stations could be provided, and a rigid coupling of the grippers is not mandatory; the grippers could also be movable independently of one another. In the specific exemplary embodiment, the coupling of the grippers makes it easier to implement a control system in which it is determined and known at any time which gripper G i is currently located at which of the stations.

[0030] Furthermore, in the specific embodiment of the machining system 100, station C is designed as a machining station where the machining processes of gear hobbing and post-processing in the form of removing the axial burrs created during gear hobbing take place. These two processes can overlap in time.

[0031] Station D is designed as a touch station. This means that chamfers are formed on the tooth edges of the produced gears in a manner generally known to those skilled in the art. This could be achieved, for example, by pressing processes such as roller deburring or by cutting processes. A measuring station could also be set up at station D to check the quality of the gears milled at station C.

[0032] In this example, station B is a free station where no actual machining of the workpieces takes place. However, it could be used for preparatory or other machining operations if necessary. For example, workpiece blanks could be checked at station B for compliance with their target parameters.

[0033] In station A, workpieces or blanks are fed via an external transport system (not shown), such as a workpiece automation system. New workpieces enter the processing area of ​​the processing system 100, and processed workpieces leave the processing area.

[0034] In the specific embodiment, only stations C and D are equipped with rotary, CNC-controlled workpiece spindles, but all stations can also be equipped with such spindles, depending on the desired use of the machining system 100.

[0035] It goes without saying that other processes are also conceivable with regard to the type of gear machining to be carried out. For example, a main machining operation for producing gears could also be carried out by gear shaping or power skiving. The focus could also be on fine machining, in which case gear grinding machines such as a generating grinder or a profile grinder, or even honing machines, could be used. It is conceivable that a gear is produced at one station and that substructures, such as backings, are introduced into the gears at the same or a different station. A preferred variant is one in which a gear is produced in at least one station starting from a toothless or pre-toothed workpiece by machining, and at least one further post-processing process takes place, such as deburring and / or chamfering.

[0036] Unlike conventional controls, in which each processing station receives a predefined sequence program before starting to process a workpiece batch, which is executed for each workpiece fed to the station, a workpiece-dependent control is provided for the control of the processing system 100. Thus, each workpiece i (i=1, 2,...) located in the processing area is assigned a piece of control information S i , and the workpiece itself determines, in a sense, which processing operations are to be performed on it. In this exemplary embodiment, this is implemented in such a way that a storage space H ( Fig. 1B ) is provided, in which several deposit points H j (j=1, 2,...) are provided. The deposit point H1 is assigned to the gripper G1, which is located in Fig. 1A at the location of the workpiece change station A. During the loading of the gripper G1 of the transport system T with a workpiece, control information S1 associated with this workpiece is imported / stored at the storage location H1. The import of the control information S1 can be transmitted from a control instruction created in a non-real-time system, for example, in the form of an image thereof. However, other variants are also conceivable, or additional modifications of the control information S1 are conceivable, which will be described later.

[0037] How next Fig. 1B or Fig. 3 As can be seen, in the course of further processing of the processing system, several workpieces will be in the processing area of ​​the processing system 100 at the same time and will circulate in this embodiment, but not more than the number of grippers, in the present embodiment not more than four. Accordingly, four deposit locations H1, H2, H3 and H4 are formed in the deposit space H. As in Fig. 1B As indicated, additional storage locations could be provided. For example, if storage location H1 is still required for further evaluation of control information S1 (which, as described later, may have been modified or provided with additional information during the processing), another storage location can be used for the next workpiece (in this exemplary embodiment, the fifth workpiece in the cycle). However, the link between the workpiece-related control information and the respective storage location via the gripper remains intact.

[0038] If, for example, gripper 1 reaches machining station C with the workpiece it has gripped / held and transfers the workpiece to machining station C, the deposit location assigned to gripper G1, in this case deposit location H1, must be checked and machining station C will then take action if the control information stored and checked in H1, in this case S1, indicates that the machining processes available at machining station C are to be used. Machining station C will therefore machine a workpiece blank, i.e. hobbing and deburring. If a workpiece that has already passed through machining station C earlier is returned to machining station C because, for whatever reason, it has not been fully machined and therefore has not left the machining area, this will be detected and machining station C will not take action.In particular, since machining station C would normally assume that it is cutting into rotationally symmetrical, toothless blanks, so that the relative rotational position of the blank relative to the hob is not important, and a centering device is not provided in every case, this avoids the situation just described that the toothing already produced is cut or completely destroyed during the actually unnecessary further processing by machining station C.

[0039] The machining stations therefore de facto carry out only those machining operations that are specifically intended for this particular workpiece and do not automatically repetitively run a predefined machining program.

[0040] In this way, it is also possible, among other things, for different workpiece batches to be introduced into the processing area of ​​the processing system 100 not sequentially, but in a random manner; the system also allows for rather chaotic processes.

[0041] The transport system T is not moved again until the machining operations performed at all participating stations have been completed. The next time the transport system T is activated, the configuration of the workpieces located at the stations is changed. It is not mandatory that the transport system with grippers G1 to G4 must always change by 90° for each change in the configuration, or even according to a predefined pattern. Rather, the configuration can also be changed depending on the currently stored control information S i.Thus, in one possible embodiment, the control of the gear machining system 100 is controlled to determine the potentially achievable configuration after the next movement of the transport system T and to determine for each possible configuration which machining operations are possible on which workpieces and to select the next actuation of the transport system T from this determination by means of a suitable evaluation or self-learning processes.

[0042] An example of this is the approach of the gear machining system 100 from a rest position to machine a workpiece batch consisting of several workpieces. Starting from the Fig. 1A In the situation shown, the first workpiece blank is the first to reach the gripper G1. With a conventional, fixed 90° cycle, the gripper G1 would then reach the empty station B, and gripper G2 could pick up another blank at station A. The possibility of this change in the staffing configuration is also given for the exemplary embodiment, but other changes in the staffing configuration are also tested, such as a 180° rotation, in which gripper G1 skips station B and immediately lands at station C. Here, the system recognizes by comparison that machining of the workpiece is already possible in the next cycle at machining station C. The system can therefore also be used to control the transport system T to reach the Fig. 2 shown cast configuration.

[0043] If the operation of the gear machining system 100 reaches a steady state for a constant workpiece batch, i.e., the maximum possible number of workpieces is present in the machining area of ​​the system 100, and if no malfunction occurs, the system will carry out the planned sequence and, in this exemplary embodiment, remain at a 90° cycle rate. If no modifications occur when storing the control information and the same workpiece batch is maintained, and no stored control information is otherwise overwritten by the machining stations, the machining system 100 could then also be operated in a repeat mode, in which, if necessary,switching to a simpler control system by routinely carrying out the same processing sequences as in the previous staffing configuration, without checking the control information S i in the depository locations H j.

[0044] At the storage locations, in addition to the stored control information S i , this can be modified, for example, by a machining station or provided with supplementary information E i . This is illustrated below using two further examples: In one embodiment, for example, the gear hobbing process is monitored at machining station C, for example by observing the torques occurring, for example by monitoring the currents of the machine axes. If, as a result of this monitoring, it is determined that a malfunction has occurred during the machining / production of the gearing, this can be noted by the system at the storage location H j , for example, in this case the storage location H4, by changing the control information.If the next machining operation would otherwise have been chamfering according to control information S k , this control information is deactivated and, in this case, replaced by the control information "eject from the machining area." Depending on the specific design of the gear machining system 100, the following events can then occur, for example. If the system controller decides to rotate the transport system T by 90° for the next configuration change, the gripper G4 moves to machining station D. However, this station is no longer active after checking the workpiece-assigned control information. This avoids unnecessary tool loading.

[0045] However, it is also conceivable that the control of the transport system T decides to immediately execute the recognizable "ejection" that has now been assigned to this workpiece, so that the cycle is 180° instead of 90°.

[0046] Another example of handling a potential malfunction is when station C detects an irregularity, but not a serious one, and modifies the control information by inserting the "measurement check" processing sequence. If this workpiece now reaches station D, which could perform such a measurement, the station, after checking the control information, will not immediately carry out the chamfering process, which it could also perform, but will first carry out the measurement check. If this does not result in any significant deviation, station D will then also carry out the chamfering of the workpiece teeth. However, if it detects that, for example, the tooth gap is not milled wide enough (e.g., due to increasing wear of the hob at station C), station D can modify the control information S i , e.g.Modify in such a way that a new hobbing pass for finishing is arranged, with a deeper cutter infeed compensating for the detected deviation.

[0047] In this case, the workpiece assigned to gripper G4 is not removed from the machining area of ​​the gear machining system 100 at workpiece change station A, since the discharge, which would otherwise only be enabled after successful "chamfering," is not enabled. Unlike conventional systems, in which this workpiece would be replaced simply by reaching the workpiece change position, it remains in the machining area and will later return to machining station C, where the corrective finishing cut is then performed. This also saves overall machining time.

[0048] In a further embodiment, this detection at station D, particularly if it also registers the same deviation error in the subsequent workpiece, can lead to corresponding feedback to the overall control system. In the non-machine real-time system, the latter now has the option of either concluding, based on the detectable tool wear and based on predefined criteria, that the tool must be replaced and therefore terminating the entire process. However, it could also redetermine optimized machine axis configurations for this deviation and, once created, modify the initial storage of the control information S i to reflect the new setting values. In this case, the system continues to operate flexibly, and terminating the process is not absolutely necessary.

[0049] Such situations are discussed again below using the Fig. 3 described occupation configuration sequence. In Fig. 3 The grippers are no longer shown, but only the schematically shown workpieces, marked with reference symbols to distinguish them from one another.

[0050] In the Fig. 3A In the situation shown, which arose from a steady-state process, it was determined by measurement after chamfering for workpiece 3 at station D that the tooth gap width is too narrow, requiring another finishing step. The same error occurs again at station C, which is why workpiece 4, like workpiece 3, is marked with a "minus." This error, reported to the system, leads to an immediate corrective response for all new workpieces introduced into the system's machining area, so that workpiece 6, which replaced workpiece 2, receives updated control information as soon as it is stored, which is indicated by an "asterisk."

[0051] The next rotation position after Fig. 3A is the Fig. 3B shown, in which the cycle was reversed by 90°, since the control information for workpiece 3 was also rewritten to "re-finishing with the correct tooth width" in station D due to the detected tooth width mismatch. Accordingly, the corrective finishing cut is now performed on workpiece 3 in station C. Workpiece 5 in station A is not replaced because it has not yet been machined, and station D is also not operating because chamfering is not enabled.

[0052] Now the cycle is 180°, since the total processing that can then be achieved is significantly more advantageous than with 90° cycles, so that the Fig. 3C The situation shown is reached. Workpiece 3 can be replaced there with workpiece 7, which already has modified, correctly stored control information. Workpiece 4 is chamfered at station D, but not released for discharge. Instead, its control information at station D is overwritten, as previously with workpiece 3, to "required finishing step". Workpiece 5 is then hobbing at station C, but still with an incorrect finishing cut, since the control information for workpiece 5 has not yet been adjusted and machining station C is based precisely on the control information stored for workpiece 5.

[0053] Now, by means of a 90° re-cycling, workpiece 4 is brought back to station C, where it receives the corrective finishing cut, while no work is carried out at stations B and D and workpiece 6 at station A is not yet replaced.

[0054] Next, as in Fig. 3E As shown, after another 180° swivel, the finished workpiece 4 is replaced at station A, while workpiece 5 is chamfered at station D and marked for a corrective finishing cut. At station C, however, workpiece 6 is the first workpiece since the error occurred that is now immediately correctly hobbing at station C according to the target parameters due to appropriately updated control information when the information is stored.

[0055] As a result, the following ( Fig. 3F ) after a 90° cycle backwards, the last faulty hobbing workpiece 5 is brought back to station C, while at workpiece change position A, workpiece 7 is not yet exchanged and, of course, no chamfering takes place on the not yet hobbing workpiece 8 at station D.

[0056] After another 180° cycle, the fully machined workpiece 5 at station A can be replaced with a new workpiece 9. The already hobbing workpiece 6 is chamfered at station D, and workpiece 7 is hobbing and deburred at station C (the transition from Figure 3F to Figure 3G again shows that time can be saved by not adhering to a fixed 90° cycle). Full operation is then achieved again, with control information now updated for all workpieces in the system's processing area, and machining can continue in this full operation ( Fig. 3h ). Here again, it can be seen that even with the best possible tax alternatives based on the state of the art, the situation in Fig. 3Aideally, a real-time correction of a universal control would have been introduced at machining station C, and with the usual 90° indexing, a reject in the form of workpieces 3 and 4 would have been produced.

[0057] As already stated, the control information for the individual workpieces is stored as late as possible, ideally as a workpiece enters the machining area of ​​the gear machining system 100. If, as provided in a preferred embodiment, updating modifications are made when the control information S k is stored in the storage locations H j , the updating modification is as precise as possible. This may, for example, take the form of minor adjustments to the prevailing conditions, e.g., temperature conditions, or to known / predictable tool wear.

[0058] Suitable tools that are familiar to those skilled in control engineering can be used to implement workpiece-dependent control. Access to the storage locations, preferably defined memory areas, can be achieved via pointers that indicate the actual control commands for the machining sequences via associated signals when subsections are completed and further machining operations can be enabled. For this purpose, some sequences that are to be enabled later can contain start conditions, the fulfillment of which is indicated by these aforementioned signals. For simultaneous sequences, there is a correspondingly defined assignment of the respective start conditions to the sequences. A concrete implementation of these processes could be achieved by dynamically mapping the signals to global memory areas that can be read and written by multiple control components, e.g., dual-port bits.Associated templates with the initiated sequences can then be stored for the sequences.

[0059] As already explained, after a workpiece has passed through the station, the storage locations must be prepared for the next workpiece. This can be done by centrally resetting the signals.

[0060] If the machining system is to be stopped, the gripper system will no longer pick up new workpieces at workpiece change position A. Nevertheless, control information is still stored in the storage locations, from which the subsequent machining stations merely infer that they no longer need to take action.

[0061] The invention is not limited to the embodiments shown. Rather, the individual features of the preceding description and the following claims, individually and in combination, may be essential for the realization of the invention in its various embodiments.

Claims

1. A method for machining toothings provided on workpieces (1-9), wherein several workpieces are fed to at least one machining station (C) carrying out at least two machining operations and / or to at least two machining stations (C, D) each carrying out at least one machining operation, where one of these machining operations is carried out in order to produce a toothing on said workpiece from a non-toothed or pre-toothed workpiece, by a machining engagement with chip removal between a gear cutting tool and the produced toothing, and the at least one additional machining operation in order to effect post-machining by deburring and / or chamfering in machine real-time, wherein a sequence control of the machining operations is carried out at least partly on the basis of stored control information (Si) which is assigned to each individual workpiece to be machined and which is monitored in machine real-time, said assignment of the stored control information (Si) in relation to a respective workpiece is carried out via a storage location in a storage space, said storage space consisting of a memory of a control device of a machining system executing the method, and said storage locations consisting of defined memory locations assigned to the respective workpieces, and wherein said storage location is a storage location assigned to a gripper gripping the respectively assigned workpiece or to a support carrying it, said gripper or support belonging to a workpiece moving device having a plurality of grippers (61, 62, 63, 64) and / or workpiece supports and used to move the workpieces, characterised in that in response to sensed process conditions, updating changes are implemented during storing of the control information, which are obtained directly from the real-time system by feedback from individual stations or with a delay by means of feedback control after re-evaluation in the non-machine real-time system included in the feedback control, wherein, in addition to machine real-time changes of the already stored control information, namely changes made as a function of a deviation about a monitored machine parameter with respect to its target value, detected by a machining station during the machining of said workpiece or when a deviation about a workpiece parameter with respect to predetermined target parameters is detected by a station working as a measuring station for said workpiece, a corrective adjustment with respect to detected deviations is also taken into account automatically when storing the control information for the following workpieces, in machine real-time or with a delay by means of a feedback control.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the storing with attribution is further supplemented by additional information in machine real-time.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an allocation configuration defining the arrangement of the workpieces currently located in the machining area of the machining system at the respective machining stations is changed by actuation of the moving device (T).

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the actuation of the moving device (T) is carried out in machine real-time according to the control information stored independently of the workpieces which are currently in the machining area of the machining system.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the actuation of the moving device is controlled to compare with each other, for several allocation configurations achievable after the next actuation of the moving device, the machining operations then possible in these configurations, according to the control information allocated to the workpieces concerned, and to make a selection from the allocation configurations according to predetermined criteria.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein this selection is carried out taking into account not only the next feasible allocation configurations, but also those following the next and preferably even later ones.

7. The method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the predetermined selection criteria take into account the time required between the next actuation of the moving device and the following one, and / or include a consideration of a limited number of control channels for the final control instructions regarding the implemented CNC machine axes of a machining system carrying out the machining operation.

8. The method according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a machining station is controlled to carry out the machining which, after verification of the stored control information (Si), proves to be a machining which is executable by this station and which has been validated.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein a machining station is controlled to perform machining operations which were not initially validated but which became validated following machining at that machining station.

10. The method according to one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the control information (Si) relating to a workpiece is stored at the time of entering the machining area of a machining system carrying out the machining operation.

11. The method according to one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the storing is carried out by transmission of control instructions which can be created by a user in the non-machine real-time system, in particular for a batch of workpieces.

12. The method according to one of claims 1 to 11, wherein modifications are also implemented in response for predictable process conditions.

13. A machining system (100) for machining toothings provided on workpieces (1-9) and configured to execute a method according to one of the preceding claims, and comprising: at least one machining station (C) configured to carry out two machining operations and / or at least two machining stations (C, D) each configured to carry out at least one machining operation, wherein at least one of the machining stations (C, D) is configured for a machining engagement between a gear cutting tool and the toothing of the workpiece, and this machining station or the other machining station (C, D) is configured for a machining to effect post-machining by deburring and / or chamfering; a moving device which has a plurality of grippers (61, 62, 63, 64) and / or workpiece supports, which moves said workpieces and transports them to said respective machining stations; and a control system having a memory and used for controlling the machining system (100) and for the sequence controlling of the machining operations, wherein, in at least one operating mode of the system, the sequence control of the machining operations is carried out at least partly on the basis of stored control information (Si) which is assigned to each individual workpiece to be machined and which is monitored in machine real-time, said assignment of the stored control information (Si) in relation to a respective workpiece is carried out by means of a storage location in a storage space, said storage space consisting of the memory of the control system and said storage locations consisting of defined memory locations assigned to the respective workpieces, and wherein said storage location is a storage location assigned to a gripper gripping the respectively assigned workpiece or to a support carrying it, characterised in that the control system controls the machining system in said at least one operating mode for executing a method according to one of the preceding claims and is controlled accordingly so that, in response to sensed process conditions, updating changes are implemented during storing of the control information, which are obtained directly from the real-time system by feedback from individual stations or with a delay by means of feedback control after re-evaluation in the non-machine real-time system included in the feedback control, wherein, in addition to machine real-time changes of the already stored control information, namely changes made as a function of a deviation about a monitored machine parameter with respect to its target value, detected by a machining station during the machining of said workpiece or when a deviation about a workpiece parameter with respect to predetermined target parameters is detected by a station working as a measuring station for said workpiece, a corrective adjustment with respect to detected deviations is also taken into account automatically when storing the control information for the following workpieces, in machine real-time or with a delay by means of a feedback control.