Methods for automatic loading and unloading of NC lathes.

The method and equipment for automatic loading and unloading of NC lathes address the limitations of conventional systems by enabling automatic workpiece inversion and handling of multi-process products, enhancing production efficiency and reducing costs.

JP2025536801APending Publication Date: 2025-11-07SHENZHEN FSJ INTELLIGENT TECHNICAL CO LTD
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Patent Information

Application Number
JP2025530357
Authority / Receiving Office
JP · JP
Patent Type
Applications
Current Assignee / Owner
Priority Date
2022-11-23
Filing Date
2023-09-25
Publication Date
2025-11-07

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Conventional methods for automatically loading and unloading NC lathes are limited to single-process products and require manual intervention for multi-process products, particularly for surface inversion, which increases production costs and reduces efficiency.

Method used

A method and equipment for automatic loading and unloading of NC lathes using a truss manipulator and gripper gripping mechanism that can automatically invert the workpiece, incorporating an article relay stage and multiple grippers to handle both single and multi-process products without manual handling.

Benefits of technology

Enables the production of multi-process products with a single machine, reducing production costs and improving efficiency by eliminating manual intervention and optimizing production capacity, yield rate, and personnel working conditions.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Abstract

The present invention discloses a method for automatic loading and unloading of NC lathes, which belongs to the field of NC lathe technology. The method for automatic loading and unloading of NC lathes includes the loading of a truss manipulator when the NC lathe is machining a single-step product, the loading and unloading process of the truss manipulator when the NC lathe is machining a multi-step product, and the workpiece process surface reversal process. By using a robot for automatic loading and unloading of NC lathes, an automatic process surface reversal mechanism, a gripper gripping mechanism, etc., manual maintenance is no longer required, which reduces production costs and improves the production efficiency of NC lathes, allowing a single machine to complete the production of a multi-step product. This method has significant effects on many aspects of production capacity, yield rate, and personnel working environment, so that the processing industry is free from the constraints of personnel management and effectively controls processing costs.
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Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of NC lathe technology, and more particularly to a method for automatic loading and unloading of an NC lathe. [Background technology]

[0002] NC machine tools (Computer numerical control machine tools) are automated machine tools equipped with a program control system that can operate the machine tool and process parts based on a created program. NC machine tools are flexible, high-performance automated machine tools that integrate technologies such as machinery, automation, computers, and microelectronics to solve the problems of processing complex, precise, small-lot parts. NC machine tools are characterized by their strong adaptability to the workpiece, high processing accuracy, stable processing quality, high productivity, high reliability, and the ability to improve working conditions.

[0003] With the rapid development of China's industrial technology, the development technology of intelligent NC machine tools is also becoming more mature. The intelligent NC machine tools are an inevitable trend in the development of China's machine tool work. The application of intelligent NC machine tools to industrial production can effectively improve China's industrial production level and ensure the accuracy of machine tool internal inspection.

[0004] The conventional method for automatically loading and unloading an NC lathe using a loading and unloading machine requires the construction of an NC lathe, an object stage, a gripper gripping mechanism, and a chuck (or jig, hereinafter the same). The process flow is as follows: The object is manually placed on the object stage, the gripper gripping mechanism grasps the object, moves it, and places it on the object stage. The NC lathe completes the processing of the object, and the gripper gripping mechanism grasps the object, moves it, and places it on the object stage. This is the process for single-process products. For multi-process products, the gripper gripping mechanism must grasp the object, move it, and place it on the object stage, after which the object's processing surface must be manually inverted. The conventional automatic loading and unloading process for NC lathes can only meet the requirements of single-process products; for multi-process products, manual assistance is required to complete the inversion of the processing surface. The gripper gripping mechanism of the conventional loading and unloading machine has two gripper mechanisms, which cannot meet the gripping needs of loading and unloading multi-process products. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In response to the problems of the prior art, the object of the present invention is to provide a method for automatic loading and unloading of NC lathes, which can realize the automatic reversal of the article held by the gripper through the automatic loading and unloading process surface of the NC lathe, eliminating the need for manual maintenance, reducing production costs, improving the production efficiency of NC lathes, and enabling the completion of the production of multi-process products with a single machine, thereby reducing the number of machines required. At the same time, the method has significant effects on many aspects of production capacity, yield rate, and personnel working environment, so that the processing industry is free from the constraints of personnel management and can effectively control processing costs. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] To solve the above problems, the present invention adopts the following technical solution.

[0007] The method for automatic loading and unloading of NC lathes is as follows: S1. When the NC lathe processes a single-process product, the process flow when the truss manipulator performs the first loading and unloading to the NC lathe; S2. The process flow when the NC lathe processes a single-step product and the truss manipulator loads and unloads the NC lathe for the second time (and all subsequent raw parts in this process); S3.When an NC lathe processes a multi-process product, what is the process flow when a truss manipulator performs the first loading and unloading in the first process of the NC lathe? S4. When the NC lathe processes the multi-process product, the truss manipulator performs the loading and unloading of the second part (and all subsequent raw parts of this process) in the first process of the NC lathe; S5.When the NC lathe processes the multi-process product, the truss manipulator performs the first loading and unloading for the second process of the NC lathe. S6. When the NC lathe processes the multi-process product, the truss manipulator performs the second loading and unloading of the second process of the NC lathe (and all subsequent raw articles of this process), including the process flow; The automatic inversion of the process surface for automatic loading and unloading of the NC lathe and the gripper gripping process can automatically invert the article gripped by the gripper, eliminating the need for manual handling.

[0008] Furthermore, in the S1, S11: Manually placing the raw article on the article stage; S12: The truss manipulator grasps the unprocessed workpiece from the workpiece stage by the first gripper on the gripper gripping mechanism, and the gripper gripping mechanism moves to an appropriate position outside the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, and waits for the NC lathe to finish processing the workpiece in the previous process; S13: After the previous process item is processed, the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position on the chuck of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, the second gripper grips the processed item on the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates the first gripper to an appropriate operating position and places the unprocessed item in the chuck, and the gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed item and moves out of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator; The specific steps include: S14: The gripper holding mechanism clamps the processed article and moves it to an appropriate position on the article stage by pulling the truss manipulator, and then returns the processed article to the position of the corresponding number on the article stage.

[0009] Furthermore, in the S2, S21: The truss manipulator grasps the unprocessed workpiece from the workpiece stage by the first gripper on the gripper gripping mechanism, and the gripper gripping mechanism moves to an appropriate position outside the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, and waits for the NC lathe to finish processing the workpiece in the previous process; S22: After the previous process item is processed, the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position on the chuck of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, the second gripper grips the processed item on the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates the first gripper to an appropriate operating position and places the unprocessed item b in the chuck, and the gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed item and moves out of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator; S23: The gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed article and moves it to an appropriate position on the article stage by the pulling of the truss manipulator, and returns the processed article to the position of the corresponding number on the article stage; Step S24: After the truss manipulator loads and unloads the NC lathe for the third time, the process flow of loading and unloading all items is the same as the process flow of the second loading and unloading, and includes the specific steps of repeatedly circulating S21, S22 and S23 to automatically complete the loading and unloading of all items on the item stage.

[0010] Furthermore, the S3 S31: Manually placing an unprocessed article on an article stage; S32: The truss manipulator grasps the unprocessed workpiece from the workpiece stage by the first gripper on the gripper gripping mechanism, and the gripper gripping mechanism moves to an appropriate position outside the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, and waits for the NC lathe to finish processing the workpiece in the previous process; S33: After the previous process item is processed, the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position on the chuck on the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, the second gripper grips the processed item on the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates the first gripper to an appropriate operating position and places the unprocessed item a in the chuck, and the gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed item and moves out of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator; S34: The gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed article and moves to an appropriate position on the article relay stage by the truss manipulator, and places the processed article on the article tray on the article relay stage. Based on the article processing process and the article size, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates so that the first gripper is in an operating position; S35: According to the process surface reversal demand of the article processing process, the process surface automatic reversal mechanism grasps the processed article from the relay stage article tray, and after reversing it to the process surface of the second process, returns the processed article to the article relay stage article tray, so that the processed article meets the process surface reversal demand; S36: The specific steps include: gripper No. 1 of the gripper gripping mechanism is pulled by the truss manipulator to grab the processed article whose process surface has been inverted from the article tray of the article relay stage, and move it back to the position of the corresponding number on the article stage.

[0011] Furthermore, S4 is S41: The gripper gripping mechanism rotates to the operating position of the first gripper, and the first gripper on the gripper gripping mechanism grips the unprocessed workpiece. The gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position outside the NC lathe by the pulling force of the truss manipulator, and waits for the NC lathe to finish processing the workpiece in the previous process. S42: After the previous process item is processed, the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position on the chuck of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, the second gripper grips the processed item on the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates to the operating position of the first gripper, places the unprocessed item in the chuck, and the gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed item and moves out of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator; S43: The gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed article to an appropriate position on the article relay stage by pulling the truss manipulator, and places the processed article on the article tray of the article relay stage. Based on the article processing process and article size, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates or moves so that the first gripper is in an operating position; S44: According to the process surface reversal demand of the article processing process, the process surface automatic reversal mechanism grasps the processed article from the relay stage article tray, and after reversing it to the process surface of the second process, returns the processed article to the article relay stage article tray, so that the processed article meets the process surface reversal demand; S45: The first gripper of the gripper gripping mechanism is pulled by the truss manipulator to grab the processed article whose process surface has been inverted from the article tray of the article relay stage, and move it back to the position of the corresponding number on the article stage; S46: After the truss manipulator completes the third loading and unloading of the first process of the NC lathe, the process flow of loading and unloading all items is the same as the process flow of the second loading and unloading of the first process, and repeats S41, S42, S43, S44, S45 to automatically complete the first process of loading and unloading all items on the item stage and the reversal of the process surface; S47:NC lathe is a specific step to convert the workpiece into the second process by manual operation.

[0012] Furthermore, the S5 S51: The truss manipulator grips the article awaiting secondary processing from the article stage with the first gripper on the gripper gripping mechanism, and the gripper gripping mechanism moves to an appropriate position outside the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, and waits for the NC lathe to finish processing the article in the previous process; S52: After the item in the previous process has been processed, the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position on the chuck on the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, the third gripper grips the processed item on the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates the first gripper to an appropriate operating position and places the item waiting for secondary processing in the chuck, and the gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed item and moves out of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator; The specific steps include: S53: The gripper holding mechanism clamps the processed article and moves it to an appropriate position on the article stage by pulling the truss manipulator, and then returns the secondary processed article to the position of the corresponding number on the article stage.

[0013] Furthermore, S6 S61: The gripper gripping mechanism rotates to the operating position of the first gripper, and the first gripper on the gripper gripping mechanism grips the item waiting for secondary processing. The gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position outside the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, and waits for the NC lathe to finish processing the item in the previous process. S62: After the item in the previous process has been processed, the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position on the chuck on the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, the third gripper grips the secondary-processed item on the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates to the operating position of the first gripper, the item waiting for secondary processing is placed in the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism clamps the secondary-processed item, and is moved out of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator; S63: The gripper gripping mechanism clamps the secondary processed article, moves to an appropriate position on the article stage by the pulling of the truss manipulator, and places the secondary processed article at the position of the corresponding number on the article stage; S64: After the truss manipulator has completed the third loading and unloading of the second process of the NC lathe, the process flow of loading and unloading all the items is the same as the process flow of the second loading and unloading of the second process, and steps S61, S62, and S63 are repeatedly cycled to automatically complete the second process of loading and unloading all the items on the item stage until the processing of all the items on the item stage is completed.

[0014] The automatic loading and unloading equipment further comprises a bracket, an article relay stage, a second article relay stage, and an article stage main body; a loading and unloading manipulator is fastened to the tip of the bracket; a gripper gripping mechanism is fixed to the front end of the loading and unloading manipulator; an automatic process surface inversion mechanism and an article tray for the relay stage are fixed to the tip of the article relay stage; a second automatic process surface inversion mechanism and an article tray for the second relay stage are fixed to the tip of the second article relay stage; and an article tray for the article stage is fixed to the tip of the article stage main body. By adding a new article relay stage and improving the conventional gripper gripping mechanism, the process surface for automatic loading and unloading of the NC lathe is used to automatically invert the article gripped by the gripper, eliminating the need for manual handling, reducing production costs and improving the production efficiency of the NC lathe.

[0015] Furthermore, the gripper gripping mechanism includes a gripper console, which is fixed to the front end of the loading and unloading manipulator, with grippers No. 1 and No. 2 fixed to the side ends of the gripper console, respectively, and gripper No. 3 fixed to the bottom end of the gripper console. A vision system and a scanning inspection device are further fixed to the front end of the article relay stage, which scan and detect the external size and outer surface of the processed article through the vision system and the scanning inspection device. By installing multiple grippers, the process surface reversal method and the gripper gripping method can be directly selected in the control system according to actual needs.

[0016] Furthermore, the process surface automatic reversal mechanism includes two types of process surface automatic reversal methods, each of which is: A1: Flip the bottom surface to the top surface (180° flip) A2: The process surface does not invert. There are four types of gripper gripping methods, each of which is B1: The difference in clamp diameter before and after processing is not large, gripper No. 1 lifts the part, gripper No. 2 lowers the part, and gripper No. 1 picks the part. B2: The difference in clamp diameter before and after processing is not large, and gripper No. 1 lifts the part, gripper No. 2 lowers the part, and gripper No. 3 picks the part. B3: The difference in clamp diameter before and after processing is not large, and the first gripper lifts the workpiece and the second gripper lowers the workpiece. B4: The difference in clamping diameter before and after processing is relatively large, and gripper No. 1 lifts the workpiece and gripper No. 3 lowers the workpiece; By effectively combining the process surface reversal method and the gripper gripping method, four common manufacturing methods can be combined. [Effects of the Invention]

[0017] Compared with the prior art, the advantages of the present invention are as follows:

[0018] (1) This solution can realize the automatic reversal of the gripped object by the gripper through the automatic loading and unloading process surface of the NC lathe, eliminating the need for manual maintenance, reducing production costs, improving the production efficiency of the NC lathe, and enabling the finished product of multi-process products to be completed with one machine. At the same time, the number of machines required is reduced, and the method has significant effects on many aspects such as production capacity, yield rate, and personnel working environment, so that the processing industry is not limited by personnel management and can effectively control processing costs.

[0019] (2) In this solution, the automatic loading and unloading equipment includes a bracket, an article relay stage, a second article relay stage, and an article stage main body; a loading and unloading manipulator is fastened to the end of the bracket; a gripper gripping mechanism is fixed to the front end of the loading and unloading manipulator; an automatic process surface inversion mechanism and an article tray for the relay stage are respectively fixed to the end of the article relay stage; a second automatic process surface inversion mechanism and an article tray for the second relay stage are respectively fixed to the end of the second article relay stage; and an article tray for the article stage is fixed to the end of the article stage main body. By adding a new article relay stage and improving the conventional gripper gripping mechanism, the process surface for automatic loading and unloading of the NC lathe is used to automatically invert the article gripped by the gripper, eliminating the need for manual handling, reducing production costs and improving the production efficiency of the NC lathe.

[0020] (3) In this solution, a vision system and a scanning inspection device are further fixed to the tip of the article relay stage, and the vision system and the scanning inspection device are used to scan and detect the outer size and outer surface of the processed article. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0021] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the automatic loading and unloading device of the present invention; [Figure 2] 1 is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional structure of an article relay stage according to the present invention; [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional structure of a second article relay stage according to the present invention. [Figure 4] 1 is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional structure of an article stage according to the present invention; [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional structure of a gripper holding mechanism according to the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the automatic process surface inversion and gripper gripping method of the present invention. [Figure 7] 1 is a schematic diagram of the automatic process surface inversion and gripper gripping process method of the present invention; FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] The following clearly and completely describes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without any creative efforts are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0023] In the description of the present invention, the orientations or positional relationships indicated by terms such as "upper," "lower," "inner," "outer," "top / bottom," etc. are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings and are intended only to facilitate and simplify the description of the present invention, but do not indicate or imply that the indicated devices or elements have a specific orientation, are constructed or operate in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limitations on the present invention. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are intended only to describe the purpose, but cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0024] In describing the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, terms such as "attached," "installed," "mounted / connected," and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, "connected" may mean fastening, detachable connection, integral connection, mechanical connection, electrical connection, direct connection, indirect connection via an intermediate medium, or internal communication between two elements. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention according to specific circumstances.

[0025] Example 1 Referring to Figure 1-7, the method for automatic loading and unloading of NC lathes is as follows: S1. When the NC lathe processes a single-process product, the process flow when the truss manipulator performs the first loading and unloading to the NC lathe; S2. The process flow when the NC lathe processes a single-step product and the truss manipulator loads and unloads the NC lathe for the second time (and all subsequent raw parts in this process); S3.When an NC lathe processes a multi-process product, what is the process flow when a truss manipulator performs the first loading and unloading in the first process of the NC lathe? S4. When the NC lathe processes the multi-process product, the truss manipulator performs the loading and unloading of the second part (and all subsequent raw parts of this process) in the first process of the NC lathe; S5.When the NC lathe processes the multi-process product, the truss manipulator performs the first loading and unloading for the second process of the NC lathe. S6. When the NC lathe processes the multi-process product, the truss manipulator performs the second loading and unloading of the second process of the NC lathe (and all subsequent raw articles of this process), including the process flow; The automatic inversion of the process surface for automatic loading and unloading of the NC lathe and the gripper gripping process can automatically invert the article gripped by the gripper, eliminating the need for manual handling.

[0026] S1 has: S11: Manually placing the raw article on the article stage; S12: The truss manipulator grasps the unprocessed workpiece from the workpiece stage by the first gripper on the gripper gripping mechanism, and the gripper gripping mechanism moves to an appropriate position outside the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, and waits for the NC lathe to finish processing the workpiece in the previous process; S13: After the previous process item is processed, the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position on the chuck of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, the second gripper grips the processed item on the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates the first gripper to an appropriate operating position and places the unprocessed item in the chuck, and the gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed item and moves out of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator; The specific steps include: S14: The gripper holding mechanism clamps the processed article and moves it to an appropriate position on the article stage by pulling the truss manipulator, and then returns the processed article to the position of the corresponding number on the article stage.

[0027] S2 has S21: The truss manipulator grasps the unprocessed workpiece from the workpiece stage by the first gripper on the gripper gripping mechanism, and the gripper gripping mechanism moves to an appropriate position outside the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, and waits for the NC lathe to finish processing the workpiece in the previous process; S22: After the previous process item is processed, the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position on the chuck of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, the second gripper grips the processed item on the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates the first gripper to an appropriate operating position and places the unprocessed item b in the chuck, and the gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed item and moves out of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator; S23: The gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed article and moves it to an appropriate position on the article stage by the pulling of the truss manipulator, and returns the processed article to the position of the corresponding number on the article stage; Step S24: After the truss manipulator loads and unloads the NC lathe for the third time, the process flow of loading and unloading all items is the same as the process flow of the second loading and unloading, and includes the specific steps of repeatedly circulating S21, S22 and S23 to automatically complete the loading and unloading of all items on the item stage.

[0028] S3 is S31: Manually placing an unprocessed article on an article stage; S32: The truss manipulator grasps the unprocessed workpiece from the workpiece stage by the first gripper on the gripper gripping mechanism, and the gripper gripping mechanism moves to an appropriate position outside the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, and waits for the NC lathe to finish processing the workpiece in the previous process; S33: After the previous process item is processed, the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position on the chuck on the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, the second gripper grips the processed item on the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates the first gripper to an appropriate operating position and places the unprocessed item a in the chuck, and the gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed item and moves out of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator; S34: The gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed article and moves to an appropriate position on the article relay stage by the truss manipulator, and places the processed article on the article tray on the article relay stage. Based on the article processing process and the article size, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates so that the first gripper is in an operating position; S35: According to the process surface reversal demand of the article processing process, the process surface automatic reversal mechanism grasps the processed article from the relay stage article tray, and after reversing it to the process surface of the second process, returns the processed article to the article relay stage article tray, so that the processed article meets the process surface reversal demand; S36: The specific steps include: gripper No. 1 of the gripper gripping mechanism is pulled by the truss manipulator to grab the processed article whose process surface has been inverted from the article tray of the article relay stage, and move it back to the position of the corresponding number on the article stage.

[0029] S4 is S41: The gripper gripping mechanism rotates to the operating position of the first gripper, and the first gripper on the gripper gripping mechanism grips the unprocessed workpiece. The gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position outside the NC lathe by the pulling force of the truss manipulator, and waits for the NC lathe to finish processing the workpiece in the previous process. S42: After the previous process item is processed, the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position on the chuck of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, the second gripper grips the processed item on the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates to the operating position of the first gripper, places the unprocessed item in the chuck, and the gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed item and moves out of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator; S43: The gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed article to an appropriate position on the article relay stage by pulling the truss manipulator, and places the processed article on the article tray of the article relay stage. Based on the article processing process and article size, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates or moves so that the first gripper is in an operating position; S44: According to the process surface reversal demand of the article processing process, the process surface automatic reversal mechanism grasps the processed article from the relay stage article tray, and after reversing it to the process surface of the second process, returns the processed article to the article relay stage article tray, so that the processed article meets the process surface reversal demand; S45: The first gripper of the gripper gripping mechanism is pulled by the truss manipulator to grab the processed article whose process surface has been inverted from the article tray of the article relay stage, and move it back to the position of the corresponding number on the article stage; S46: After the truss manipulator completes the third loading and unloading of the first process of the NC lathe, the process flow of loading and unloading all items is the same as the process flow of the second loading and unloading of the first process, and repeats S41, S42, S43, S44, S45 to automatically complete the first process of loading and unloading all items on the item stage and the reversal of the process surface; S47:NC lathe is a specific step to convert the workpiece into the second process by manual operation.

[0030] S5 is S51: The truss manipulator grips the article awaiting secondary processing from the article stage with the first gripper on the gripper gripping mechanism, and the gripper gripping mechanism moves to an appropriate position outside the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, and waits for the NC lathe to finish processing the article in the previous process; S52: After the item in the previous process has been processed, the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position on the chuck on the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, the third gripper grips the processed item on the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates the first gripper to an appropriate operating position and places the item waiting for secondary processing in the chuck, and the gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed item and moves out of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator; The specific steps include: S53: The gripper holding mechanism clamps the processed article and moves it to an appropriate position on the article stage by pulling the truss manipulator, and then returns the secondary processed article to the position of the corresponding number on the article stage.

[0031] S6 is S61: The gripper gripping mechanism rotates to the operating position of the first gripper, and the first gripper on the gripper gripping mechanism grips the item waiting for secondary processing. The gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position outside the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, and waits for the NC lathe to finish processing the item in the previous process. S62: After the item in the previous process has been processed, the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position on the chuck on the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, the third gripper grips the secondary-processed item on the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates to the operating position of the first gripper, the item waiting for secondary processing is placed in the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism clamps the secondary-processed item, and is moved out of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator; S63: The gripper gripping mechanism clamps the secondary processed article, moves to an appropriate position on the article stage by the pulling of the truss manipulator, and places the secondary processed article at the position of the corresponding number on the article stage; S64: After the truss manipulator has completed the third loading and unloading of the second process of the NC lathe, the process flow of loading and unloading all the items is the same as the process flow of the second loading and unloading of the second process, and steps S61, S62, and S63 are repeatedly cycled to automatically complete the second process of loading and unloading all the items on the item stage until the processing of all the items on the item stage is completed.

[0032] The automatic loading and unloading equipment comprises a bracket 1, an article relay stage 4, a second article relay stage 7, and an article stage main body 10. A loading and unloading manipulator 2 is fastened to the tip of the bracket 1. A gripper gripping mechanism 3 is fixed to the front end of the loading and unloading manipulator 2. An automatic process surface inversion mechanism 5 and an article tray for the relay stage 6 are fixed to the tip of the article relay stage 4. A second automatic process surface inversion mechanism 8 and an article tray for the second relay stage 9 are fixed to the tip of the second article relay stage 7. An article tray for the article stage 11 is fixed to the tip of the article stage main body 10. By adding the article relay stage 4 and improving the conventional gripper gripping mechanism, the article gripped by the gripper can be automatically inverted using the process surface for automatic loading and unloading of the NC lathe, eliminating the need for manual handling, reducing production costs and improving the production efficiency of the NC lathe.

[0033] The gripper gripping mechanism 3 includes a gripper console 31, which is fixed to the front end of the loading and unloading manipulator 2. Gripper No. 1 32 and gripper No. 2 33 are fixed to the side ends of the gripper console 31, respectively. Gripper No. 3 34 is fixed to the bottom end of the gripper console 31. A vision system and scanning inspection equipment are further fixed to the tip of the article relay stage 4, which scans and detects the external size and outer surface of the processed article. By installing multiple grippers, the process surface reversal method and gripper gripping method can be directly selected in the control system according to actual needs.

[0034] The automatic process surface reversal mechanism includes two types of automatic process surface reversal methods, each of which is as follows: A1: Flip the bottom surface to the top surface (180° flip) A2: The process surface does not invert. There are four types of gripper gripping methods, each of which is B1: The difference in clamp diameter before and after processing is not large, gripper No. 1 lifts the part, gripper No. 2 lowers the part, and gripper No. 1 picks the part. B2: The difference in clamp diameter before and after processing is not large, and gripper 1 lifts the part, gripper 2 lowers the part, and gripper 3 picks the part. B3: The difference in clamp diameter before and after processing is not large, and the first gripper lifts the workpiece and the second gripper lowers the workpiece. B4: The difference in clamping diameter before and after processing is relatively large, and gripper No. 1 lifts the workpiece and gripper No. 3 lowers the workpiece; By effectively combining the process surface reversal method and the gripper gripping method, four common manufacturing methods can be combined.

[0035] The present invention enables the automatic reversal of the process surface for automatic loading and unloading of the NC lathe and the automatic reversal of the article gripped by the gripper through the gripper gripping process, eliminating the need for manual maintenance, reducing production costs, improving the production efficiency of the NC lathe, and enabling the completion of the finished product of multi-process products with one machine, reducing the number of machines. At the same time, the method has significant effects in many aspects of production capacity, yield rate, and personnel working environment, so that the processing industry is free from the constraints of personnel management and effectively controls processing costs.

[0036] The above are only preferred and specific embodiments of the present invention, and the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any equivalent replacement or modification made by anyone skilled in the art based on the technical solutions and improvement ideas of the present invention within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 1 bracket 2 Loading and unloading manipulators 3 Gripper holding mechanism 31 Gripper console 32 Gripper No. 1 33 Gripper No. 2 34 Gripper No. 3 4. Goods relay stage 5 Automatic process surface reversal mechanism 6. Relay stage item tray 7 Second Goods Relay Stage 8. Second process surface automatic reversal mechanism 9 Second relay stage article tray 10. Product stage body 11. Product stage product tray

Claims

1. A method for automatic loading and unloading of an NC lathe, comprising: S1. When the NC lathe processes a single-process product, the process flow when the truss manipulator performs the first loading and unloading to the NC lathe; S2. The process flow when the NC lathe processes a single-step product and the truss manipulator loads and unloads the NC lathe for the second time (and all subsequent raw articles in this process); S3. When an NC lathe processes a multi-process product, the process flow when the truss manipulator performs the first loading and unloading in the first process of the NC lathe; S4. When the NC lathe processes a multi-process product, the truss manipulator performs the second loading and unloading of the first process of the NC lathe (and all subsequent raw articles of this process); S5. When an NC lathe processes a multi-process product, the process flow when a truss manipulator performs the first loading and unloading in the second process of the NC lathe; S6. A manufacturing method including a flow called a process flow when a truss manipulator performs the second loading and unloading of the second process of the NC lathe (and all subsequent unmachined articles of this process) when the NC lathe processes a multi-process product.

2. In the above S1, S11: Manually placing the raw article on the article stage; S12: The truss manipulator grips the unmachined article from the article stage by the first gripper on the gripper gripping mechanism, and the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position outside the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, and waits for the NC lathe to finish machining the article in the previous process; S13: After the article in the previous process has been processed, the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position on the chuck on the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, the second gripper grips the processed article on the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates the first gripper to an appropriate operating position and places the unprocessed article in the chuck, and the gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed article and moves out of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator; S14: The gripper holding mechanism clamps the processed workpiece and moves it to an appropriate position on the workpiece stage by pulling the truss manipulator, and then returns the processed workpiece to the position of the corresponding number on the workpiece stage.

3. In the above S2, S21: The truss manipulator grips the unmachined workpiece from the workpiece stage by the No. 1 gripper on the gripper gripping mechanism, and the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position outside the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, and waits for the NC lathe to finish machining the workpiece in the previous process; S22: After the article in the previous process has been machined, the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position in the chuck on the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, the second gripper grips the machined article on the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates the first gripper to an appropriate operating position and places the unmachined article b in the chuck, and the gripper gripping mechanism clamps the machined article and is moved out of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator; S23: The gripper holding mechanism clamps the processed article and moves it to an appropriate position on the article stage by being pulled by the truss manipulator, and returns the processed article to the position of the corresponding number on the article stage; The method for automatically loading and unloading an NC lathe as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the specific steps of: step S24: after the truss manipulator has loaded and unloaded the NC lathe for the third time, the process flow of loading and unloading all the articles is the same as the process flow of the second loading and unloading, and repeatedly circulating steps S21, S22 and S23 to automatically complete the loading and unloading of all the articles on the article stage.

4. The S3 is S31: Manually placing an unprocessed article on the article stage; S32: The truss manipulator grips the unmachined workpiece from the workpiece stage by the No. 1 gripper on the gripper gripping mechanism, and the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position outside the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, and waits for the NC lathe to finish machining the workpiece in the previous process; S33: After the article in the previous process has been machined, the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position in the chuck on the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, the second gripper grips the machined article on the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates the first gripper to an appropriate operating position and places the unmachined article a in the chuck, and the gripper gripping mechanism clamps the machined article and is moved out of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator; S34: The gripper gripping mechanism grips the processed article and moves to an appropriate position on the article relay stage by the truss manipulator, and places the processed article on an article tray on the article relay stage. Based on the article processing process and the article size, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates so that the first gripper is in an operating position; S35: According to the process surface reversal demand of the article processing process, the process surface automatic reversal mechanism grasps the processed article from the relay stage article tray, reverses it to the process surface of the second process, and then returns the processed article to the article relay stage article tray, so that the processed article meets the process surface reversal demand; S36: The No. 1 gripper of the gripper holding mechanism is pulled by the truss manipulator to grab the processed article whose process surface has been inverted from the article tray of the article relay stage, and move it back to the position of the corresponding number on the article stage.

5. The step S4 is S41: The gripper gripping mechanism rotates to the operating position of the first gripper, and the first gripper on the gripper gripping mechanism grips the unprocessed article. The gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position outside the NC lathe by the pulling force of the truss manipulator, and waits for the NC lathe to finish processing the article in the previous process. S42: After the article in the previous process has been processed, the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position in the chuck on the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, the second gripper grips the processed article on the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates to the operating position of the first gripper and places the unprocessed article in the chuck, and the gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed article and moves out of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator; S43: The gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed article to an appropriate position on the article relay stage by pulling the truss manipulator, and places the processed article on an article tray on the article relay stage. Based on the article processing process and the article size, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates or moves so that the first gripper is in an operating position; S44: According to the process surface reversal demand of the article processing process, the process surface automatic reversal mechanism grasps the processed article from the relay stage article tray, reverses it to the process surface of the second process, and then returns the processed article to the article relay stage article tray, so that the processed article meets the process surface reversal demand; S45: The first gripper of the gripper gripping mechanism is pulled by the truss manipulator to grab the processed article whose process surface has been inverted from the article tray of the article relay stage, and move it back to the position of the corresponding number on the article stage; S46: After the truss manipulator completes the third loading and unloading in the first process of the NC lathe, the process flow of loading and unloading all the articles is the same as the process flow of the second loading and unloading in the first process, and repeats S41, S42, S43, S44, S45 to automatically complete the first process of loading and unloading all the articles on the article stage and the reversal of the process surface; S47: The NC lathe is manually operated to convert the workpiece into the second process. The method for automatically loading and unloading an NC lathe as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the specific steps of:

6. The step S5 is S51: The truss manipulator grips an article awaiting secondary processing from the article stage using the No. 1 gripper on the gripper gripping mechanism, and the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position outside the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, and waits for the NC lathe to finish processing the article in the previous process; S52: After the article in the previous process has been processed, the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position in the chuck on the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, the third gripper grips the processed article on the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates the first gripper to an appropriate operating position and places the article awaiting secondary processing in the chuck, and the gripper gripping mechanism clamps the processed article and is moved out of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator; S53: The gripper holding mechanism clamps the processed article and moves it to an appropriate position on the article stage by being pulled by the truss manipulator, and returns the secondary processed article to the position of the corresponding number on the article stage; 2. The method for automatic loading and unloading of an NC lathe according to claim 1, comprising:

7. The step S6 is S61: The gripper gripping mechanism rotates to the operating position of the first gripper, and the first gripper on the gripper gripping mechanism grips the article waiting for secondary processing. The gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position outside the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, and waits for the NC lathe to finish processing the article in the previous process. S62: After the article in the previous process has been processed, the gripper gripping mechanism is moved to an appropriate position in the chuck on the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator, the third gripper grips the secondary-processed article on the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism rotates to the operating position of the first gripper, the article waiting for secondary processing is placed in the chuck, the gripper gripping mechanism clamps the secondary-processed article, and is moved out of the NC lathe by the pull of the truss manipulator; S63: The gripper holding mechanism clamps the processed article, moves to an appropriate position on the article stage by the pulling of the truss manipulator, and places the processed article at the position of the corresponding number on the article stage; S64: The process flow of the truss manipulator performing the third loading and unloading in the second process of the NC lathe is the same as the process flow of the second loading and unloading in the second process, and steps S61, S62, and S63 are repeatedly cycled to automatically complete the second process of loading and unloading of all articles on the article stage until processing of all articles on the article stage is completed.

8. 8. The method for automatic loading and unloading of an NC lathe as set forth in claim 7, wherein the automatic loading and unloading equipment includes a bracket (1), an article relay stage (4), a second article relay stage (7), and an article stage main body (10), a loading and unloading manipulator (2) fastened to the tip of the bracket (1), a gripper holding mechanism (3) fixed to the front end of the loading and unloading manipulator (2), an automatic process surface inversion mechanism (5) and an article tray for the relay stage (6) fixed to the tip of the article relay stage (4), a second automatic process surface inversion mechanism (8) and an article tray for the second relay stage (9) fixed to the tip of the second article relay stage (7), and an article tray for the article stage (11) fixed to the tip of the article stage main body (10).

9. 9. The method for automatic loading and unloading of an NC lathe according to claim 8, wherein the gripper gripping mechanism (3) includes a gripper console (31), the gripper console (31) is fixed to the front end of the loading and unloading manipulator (2), a first gripper (32) and a second gripper (33) are fixed to the side ends of the gripper console (31), a third gripper (34) is fixed to the bottom end of the gripper console (31), and a vision system and a scanning inspection device are further fixed to the front end of the article relay stage (4).

10. The process surface automatic reversal mechanism (5) includes two types of process surface automatic reversal methods, each of which is as follows: A1: Flip the bottom surface to the top surface (flip 180°) A2: The process surface does not invert, There are four types of gripper gripping methods, each of which is B1: The difference in clamp diameter before and after processing the item is not large, and the first gripper lifts the part, the second gripper lowers the part, and the first gripper picks the part; B2: The difference in clamp diameter before and after processing the item is not large, and the first gripper lifts the part, the second gripper lowers the part, and the third gripper picks the part; B3: The difference in clamp diameter before and after processing the item is not large, and the first gripper lifts the workpiece and the second gripper lowers the workpiece. B4: The method for automatic loading and unloading of an NC lathe as described in claim 8, characterized in that the difference in clamping diameter before and after processing the item is relatively large, and gripper No. 1 lifts the workpiece and gripper No. 3 lowers the workpiece.

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