Tool magazine device

Abstract

To provide a tool magazine device for realizing miniaturization being a problem of the tool magazine device by narrowing the longitudinal width of a tool carrying device.SOLUTION: Large-diameter tools 4A are held by the tool-holding grippers 41 of the front rack 104A, and only small-diameter tools 105 are held by the tool-holding grippers 41 of the rear rack 4B. The advancing and retreating directions of the actuators 14 in the moving body moving step are inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the front and rear rack side 4B and side 4B so that the upper end portions of the actuators 14, which are the end portions farther from the turning center 12a, approach the rear rack side 4A side where only the small-diameter tools 105 are held.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a tool magazine device provided in a machine tool, for example, a machining center. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, to achieve long-term unmanned operation of a machining center, a tool magazine device with multiple tool holding sections capable of storing a wide variety of tools is required. However, such a tool magazine device is large, resulting in a problem of increasing the installation area of ​​the entire machine tool. Furthermore, each tool holding section of the tool magazine device must be large enough to store tools of the maximum length and maximum diameter. However, depending on the type of machining to be performed on the workpiece, at least some of the tool holding sections may not store tools, or at least some of the tool holding sections may not store tools with the maximum length and / or maximum diameter, resulting in wasted space and reduced tool storage efficiency.

[0003] As a tool magazine device that solves such problems, Patent Document 1 discloses the following one shown in FIGS. 4 to 8.

[0004] The conventional tool magazine device 1 is attached to a spindle 101 of a horizontal machining center 100 whose axis direction faces the left-right direction and stores a wide variety of tools such as long tools 102, short tools 103, and large-diameter tools 104 used for various machining processes. The conventional tool magazine device 1 comprises a framework-like frame 3 formed by combining a plurality of vertical members 31 and horizontal members 32, a magazine body 2 comprising a plurality of front and rear racks 4 that are detachably attached to the frame 3 with their longitudinal directions facing up and down and that hold a plurality of tools 102, 103, 104, and a magazine unit 2 provided in front of the frame 3 and attached to the front and rear racks 4 of the magazine body 2 to hold the tools 102, 103, 104 used for machining processes performed by the horizontal machining center 100. The horizontal machining center 100 is equipped with a tool storage section 5 that stores a wide variety of tools 102, 103, and 104 used in machining, an automatic tool changer 6 that attaches and detaches the tools 102, 103, and 104 to and from the spindle 101 of the horizontal machining center 100, a tool standby pot 7 that holds the tools 102, 103, and 104 that are attached to the spindle 101 by the automatic tool changer 6 and the tools 102, 103, and 104 that have been removed from the spindle 101, an internal magazine tool changer 8 that is provided in the magazine body 2 and that transfers tools to and from the tool standby pot 7, and a tool transport device 9 that is provided in the magazine body 2 and that transfers tools held in the front and rear racks 4 at any position to and from the internal magazine tool changer 8.

[0005] The front rack 4 of the magazine body 2 is provided with a plurality of tool holding grippers 41 spaced apart in the longitudinal direction, each of which opens rearward and holds a tool A with its tool axis direction facing left and right, while the rear rack 4 is similarly provided with a plurality of tool holding grippers 41 spaced apart in the longitudinal direction, each of which opens forward and holds a tool A with its tool axis direction facing left and right. The tool holding grippers 41 on the front rack 4 open obliquely upward and rearward, while the tool holding grippers 41 on the rear rack 4 open obliquely upward and frontward (see FIG. 6). A tool phasing key 42 is provided at the deepest portion of the tool holding grippers 41 on both the front and rear racks 4, and the tool phasing key 42 fits into only the deeper and wider tool phasing keyway of two tool phasing keyways of different dimensions formed circumferentially at 180-degree intervals in the shank of a tool holder for, for example, a DIN-, CAT-, or HSK-standard tool (see FIG. 8).

[0006] A wide portion 43 is formed at the opening side of the tool holding grippers 41 of both the front and rear racks 4 by cutting away the upper portion of the tool holding gripper 41. The upper and lower edges of the wide portion 43 of the tool holding grippers 41 of both the front and rear racks 4 are parallel and linearly inclined rearward and upward with respect to the horizontal. The angle of inclination of the opening side portion of the lower edge of the tool holding gripper 41 of the front rack 4 with respect to the horizontal is equal to the angle of inclination of the opening side portion of the lower edge of the tool holding gripper 41 of the rear rack 4 with respect to the horizontal. The shapes of the tool holding grippers 41 of both racks 4 are symmetrical with respect to a vertical line that includes the tool phasing key 42 and is located in the center between both racks 4.

[0007] The distance between two adjacent front racks 4 is adjusted so that some of all the front racks 4 hold long tools 102 and the remaining parts hold short tools 103 and large diameter tools 104, and the distance between two adjacent rear racks 4 is adjusted so that some of all the rear racks 4 hold long tools 102 and the remaining parts hold short tools 103 and large diameter tools 104.

[0008] The tool A is transferred between the tool storage section 5 and the front and rear racks 4 of the magazine body 2, for example, manually by an operator. In this case, the tool phase determination key 42 does not fit into the tool phase determination key grooves of DIN, CAT, and HSK standard tools, which have small depths and widths, so the phase of the tool A relative to the tool holding gripper 41 can always be kept in the correct state.

[0009] 7, the automatic tool changer 6 is provided with tool gripping units 62 at both longitudinal ends for gripping a tool A with the tool axis direction facing the Z-axis direction (left-right direction), which is the axial direction of the spindle 101, and with a tool change arm 61 that is rotatable about an axis that passes through the longitudinal center and extends in the Z-axis direction. Both tool gripping units 62 of the tool change arm 61 are point-symmetrical with respect to the center of rotation when viewed from the Z-axis direction (left or right) (see FIG. 7).

[0010] The tool standby pot 7 is adapted to move in the Z-axis direction relative to the tool change arm 61 of the automatic tool change device 6, and holds the tool A in a position where the tool axis direction faces the Z-axis direction (the same direction as the tool A held by the tool gripping portion 62 of the tool change arm 61). The tool A held in the tool standby pot 7 has a phase that is 180 degrees inverted from the phase of the tool A attached to the spindle 101.

[0011] As shown in detail in Figure 7, the in-magazine tool changer 8 has tool gripping portions 82 at both ends that grip the tool A with the tool axis direction facing the Z-axis direction, and is equipped with a swivel arm 81 that rotates around an axis that passes through the center of the longitudinal direction and extends in the Z-axis direction, so that it can move relative to the tool standby pot 7 in the Z-axis direction.

[0012] 8, the tool transport device 9 includes a movable body 91 that moves in the Z-axis direction and in the longitudinal direction (up and down direction) of the rack 4, a base 92 that is attached to the movable body 91 so as to be rotatable about an axis extending in the Z-axis direction, a transport gripper 93 that is attached to the base 92 so as to be movable within a vertical plane perpendicular to the Z-axis direction and that holds the tool A with its tool axis direction facing the Z-axis direction, and an air cylinder 94 that is attached to the base 92 and serves as an actuator that moves the transport gripper 93 within the vertical plane perpendicular to the Z-axis direction. The phase of the tool A held by the transport gripper 93 is 180 degrees inverted from the phase of the tool A attached to the tool standby pot 7.

[0013] The movable body 91 is attached to a vertical guide rail 33 provided on the frame 3 with its longitudinal direction facing up and down so as to be movable up and down. The upper and lower ends of the vertical guide rail 33 are attached to horizontal guide rails 34 provided on the upper and lower ends of the frame 3 with its longitudinal direction facing left and right so as to be movable left and right. As a result, the movable body 91 is movable up and down and left and right.

[0014] The positional relationship in the front-to-rear direction between the tool transport device 9 and the front and rear racks 4 of the magazine body 2 is such that even when a large-diameter tool 104 is held by the tool holding grippers 41 of the front and rear racks 4 and the transport gripper 93 of the tool transport device 9, there is no interference between the large-diameter tool 104 held by the front and rear racks 4 and the large-diameter tool 104 held by the transport gripper 93 of the tool transport device 9.

[0015] In the above-described tool magazine device 1, a wide variety of tools A stored in the tool storage section 5 are manually held by the tool holding grippers 41 at required positions on both the front and rear racks 4 by an operator. At this time, the tool phase determining key 42 does not fit into the tool phase determining key grooves, which have small depths and widths, of DIN, CAT, and HSK standard tools, so the phase of the tool A relative to the tool holding gripper 41 is in the normal state.

[0016] Next, a method of tool exchange between the spindle 101 of the horizontal machining center 100 and the rack 4 of the magazine body 2 of the tool magazine device 1 will be described.

[0017] During machining by the spindle 101 to which the first tool is attached, both tool gripping portions 62 of the tool change arm 61 of the automatic tool changer 6 are empty and are in a standby position with their longitudinal directions facing up and down. Also, during machining by the spindle 101, the tool standby pot 7 holds a second tool A to be used for the next machining, and the tool transport gripper 93 of the tool transport device 9 holds a third tool A to be used for the next machining after that. Also, both tool gripping portions 82 of the swivel arm 81 of the in-magazine tool changer 8 are empty and are in a standby position with their longitudinal directions facing up and down.

[0018] When machining by the first tool A attached to the spindle 101 is completed, the spindle 101 is moved to the tool change position, and the tool change arm 61 of the automatic tool changer 6 is rotated from the standby position so that the first tool A is grasped by one of the tool gripping portions 62, and the second tool A held in the tool standby pot 7 is grasped by the other tool gripping portion 62.

[0019] Next, the spindle 101 and the tool change arm 61, and the tool change arm 61 and the tool standby pot 7 move relatively in the Z-axis direction, so that the first tool A is withdrawn from the spindle 101 and the second tool A is withdrawn from the tool standby pot 7.

[0020] Next, after the tool change arm 61 is rotated, the spindle 101 and the tool change arm 61, and the tool change arm 61 and the tool standby pot 7 move relatively in the Z-axis direction, whereby the first tool A is held in the tool standby pot 7 and the second tool A is attached to the spindle 101. Since the first tool A is inverted by the tool change arm 61, the phase of the first tool A held in the tool standby pot 7 is inverted by 180 degrees from the phase of the first tool A attached to the spindle 101.

[0021] During machining of the spindle 101 using the second tool A, the swivel arm 81 of the in-magazine tool changer 8 is rotated, and the first tool A held in the tool standby pot 7 is gripped by one of the tool gripping units 82, and the third tool A held by the tool transport gripper 93 is gripped by the other tool gripping unit 82. Next, the swivel arm 81, the tool standby pot 7, and the tool transport device 9 move relatively in the Z-axis direction, whereby the first tool A is withdrawn from the tool standby pot 7 and the third tool A is withdrawn from the transport gripper 93 of the tool transport device 9.

[0022] Next, the swivel arm 81 is rotated to a tool exchange position with the tool standby pot 7 and the transport gripper 93, and then the swivel arm 81, the tool standby pot 7, and the tool transport device 9 move relatively in the Z-axis direction, whereby the first tool A is held by the transport gripper 93 of the tool transport device 9 and the third tool A is held by the tool standby pot 7. Since the swivel arm 81 turns the first tool A 180 degrees, the first tool A held by the transport gripper 93 has the same phase as the first tool A attached to the spindle 101.

[0023] When the first tool A is held by the transport gripper 93 of the tool transport device 9, the movable body 91 moves along the vertical guide rails 33, and the vertical guide rails 33 move along the horizontal guide rails 34, so that the tool transport device 9 moves to a position where the first tool A is to be transferred to the tool gripper 41 of either the front or rear rack 4 where the first tool A should be stored (see FIG. 8(a)). Next, the base 92 rotates about the rotation center, so that the deepest and widest tool phasing keyway of the first tool A faces the tool gripper 41 of the rack 4 (see FIG. 8(b)). Next, the air cylinder 94 moves the transport gripper 93 to the far side of the tool gripper 41, so that the V-flange portion of the first tool A is held by the tool gripper 41 (see FIG. 8(c)). As a result, the first tool A is held by the tool gripper 41 in the normal state, and the first tool A is stored in the tool gripper 41 of the rack 4 of the magazine body 2. Thereafter, the air cylinder 94 returns the transport gripper 93 to its original position, and the base 92 is also returned to its original position.

[0024] The tool transport device 9, which has stored the first tool A in the tool holding gripper 41 of the rack 4 of the magazine body 2, moves to a position where it can be transferred to the tool holding gripper 41 of the rack 4 holding the fourth tool A to be used for the next processing, by the movable body 91 moving along the vertical guide rail 33 and the vertical guide rail 33 moving along the horizontal guide rail 34.The fourth tool A is then removed from the tool holding gripper 41 by rotating the base 92 and moving the transport gripper 93 using the air cylinder 94, and the tool transport device 9 then moves to a position where it can be transferred to the tool A exchange device 8 within the magazine.

[0025] By repeating the above-described operations, the horizontal machining center 100 performs machining using the spindle 101 and various tools A.

[0026] According to the tool magazine device described in Patent Document 1, by determining the arrangement of racks in the tool axial direction of tools held by tool holding grippers according to the tool length and tool diameter, it is possible to efficiently store a wide variety of tools and prevent phase errors when attaching tools to the tool holding grippers on both the front and rear racks of the magazine body. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0027] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2023-145949 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0028] There is a constant demand for miniaturization of tool magazine devices, but with the device disclosed in Patent Document 1, it was difficult to miniaturize the tool transport device because it was necessary to avoid interference with large-diameter tools.

[0029] In view of the above situation, the object of the present invention is to provide a tool magazine device in which the front-to-rear width of the tool transport device is narrowed, thereby realizing the challenge of miniaturization of the tool magazine device, in accordance with the tool magazine device of Patent Document 1, which has the effect of preventing phase errors when attaching tools to the tool holding grippers of the front and rear racks of the magazine body. [Means for solving the problem]

[0030] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises the following aspects.

[0031] 1) The magazine includes a magazine body having a plurality of front and rear racks that hold a plurality of tools with the tool axis direction facing the Z-axis direction, which is the spindle axis direction; and a tool transport device that is provided on the magazine body so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction and the longitudinal direction of the front and rear racks, and that removes tools from the front and rear racks and attaches tools to the front and rear racks, the tool transport device comprises a movable body disposed between the front and rear racks and movable in the Z-axis direction and in the longitudinal direction of the front and rear racks; a base provided on the movable body so as to be rotatable about an axis extending in the Z-axis direction; a transport gripper movably attached to the base within a plane perpendicular to the Z-axis direction and holding a tool with the tool axis direction facing the Z-axis direction; and an actuator attached to the base and causing the transport gripper to move forward and backward within the plane to move it to a tool attachment / detachment position, wherein the tool transport device is configured to hold a tool in the tool holding gripper at the tool attachment / detachment position by performing a movable body moving step in which the movable body moves to a position to hand over the tool to the tool holding gripper, a base turning step in which the base turns around a turning center at the handover position to face the tool toward the tool holding gripper, and an actuator operating step in which the actuator moves the transport gripper forward; A tool magazine device characterized in that a large diameter tool is held by at least one of the tool holding grippers of either the front or rear rack, and only small diameter tools are held by the tool holding gripper of the other of the front or rear racks, and the forward and backward directions of the actuator in the moving body movement process are inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the front or rear racks so that the end farther from the center of rotation approaches the other of the front or rear racks where only the small diameter tools are held. [Effects of the Invention]

[0032] According to the tool magazine device described in 1), the tool holding gripper of either the front or rear rack holds only small-diameter tools, allowing the front and rear racks to be moved closer together by the amount necessary to avoid interference with large-diameter tools. However, simply moving the front and rear racks closer together would result in interference between the large-diameter tools held in the rack and the large-diameter tools held in the transport gripper. To avoid this interference, the actuator's forward and backward directions are inclined relative to the longitudinal direction of the front and rear racks so that the end of the actuator farther from the base's rotation center approaches the rack holding only small-diameter tools. This avoids interference on either rack side, allowing the distance between the front and rear racks to be narrowed. This allows for a tool magazine device that can be made smaller without incurring any disadvantages while maintaining the effects of conventional tool magazine devices (specifically, Patent Document 1). [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0033] [Figure 1] 1A and 1B are diagrams showing an embodiment of a tool magazine device of the present invention in comparison with Patent Document 1, where (a) shows the embodiment of the present invention and (b) shows the one in Patent Document 1. [Figure 2] 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a tool magazine device of the present invention, illustrating a method for loading and unloading tools into and from a rack of the tool magazine device by a tool transport device in the order of steps. FIG. [Figure 3] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing another embodiment of the tool magazine device of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a partially omitted plan view showing the schematic configuration of a horizontal machining center equipped with a conventional tool magazine device. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional tool magazine device with a portion thereof omitted. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a right side view showing a magazine body and a tool transport device of a conventional tool magazine device. [Figure 7]FIG. 1 is an enlarged right view showing an automatic tool changer that changes tools attached to the spindle of a conventional horizontal machining center, and an in-magazine tool changer and tool transport device of a tool magazine device. [Figure 8] 10A to 10C are diagrams showing a method for attaching and detaching tools to and from a rack of a tool magazine device by a conventional tool transport device in the order of steps. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0034] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The embodiment of the present invention is based on the conventional tool magazine device 1 shown in Figures 4 to 8, with its tool transport device 9 modified. In the following, the same components as those in the conventional device will be assigned the same reference numerals as those shown in Figures 4 to 8, and their description will be omitted.

[0035] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a tool magazine device of the present invention in comparison with a conventional one, where FIG. 1(a) shows an embodiment using a tool transport device 10 of the present invention, and FIG. 1(b) shows an embodiment using a conventional tool transport device 9.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 1(b), the tool transport device 9 in the conventional tool magazine device includes a movable body 91 that moves in the Z-axis direction and in the longitudinal direction (up and down direction) of the front and rear racks 4A, 4B, a base 92 that is attached to the movable body 91 so as to be able to rotate freely around an axis extending in the Z-axis direction, a transport gripper 93 that is attached to the base 92 so as to move within a vertical plane perpendicular to the Z-axis direction and that holds the large-diameter tool 104B with the tool axis direction facing the Z-axis direction, and an air cylinder 94 that is attached to the base 92 and serves as an actuator that moves the transport gripper 93 within the vertical plane perpendicular to the Z-axis direction.

[0037] The center of the transport gripper 93 is located above the pivot center 92a of the base 92, and the pivot center 92a of the base 92 and the center of the transport gripper 93 are both located exactly in the center between the front and rear racks 4A, 4B. Therefore, the line connecting the pivot center 92a of the base 92 and the center of the transport gripper 93 coincides with a vertical line located in the center between the front and rear racks 4A, 4B. The air cylinder 94 is provided adjacent to the rear side of the transport gripper 93 so that the transport gripper 93 can be moved toward or away from the pivot center 92a of the base 92. The rear edge of the air cylinder 94 protrudes rearward from the rear surface of the movable body 91.

[0038] The longitudinal positional relationship between the tool transport device 9 and the front and rear racks 4A, 4B is such that even when a large diameter tool 104A is held by the tool holding grippers 41 of the front and rear racks 4A, 4B and a large diameter tool 104B is also held by the transport gripper 93 of the tool transport device 9, the large diameter tool 104A held by the front and rear racks 4A, 4B and the large diameter tool 104B held by the transport gripper 93 of the tool transport device 9 do not interfere with each other.

[0039] In Figure 1(b), the distance indicated by C is the distance in the front-to-rear direction from the center of the tool holding gripper 41 of the front and rear racks 4A and 4B to the center of the transport gripper 93 of the tool transport device 9 or the rotation center 92a of the base 92, and this distance C must be the same value on the front rack 4A side and the rear rack 4B side. Therefore, in FIG. 1(b), when the rear rack 4B is used in such a manner that only the small diameter tool 105 is held thereon, it is possible to reduce C when only considering the interference on the rear rack 4B side, but it is not possible to reduce C on the front rack 4A side, and therefore it is not possible to reduce C after all.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 1(a), the tool transport device 10 of this embodiment, like the conventional one, comprises a movable body 11 that moves in the Z-axis direction and in the longitudinal direction (up and down direction) of the front and rear racks 4A, 4B, a base 12 that is attached to the movable body 11 so as to be able to rotate freely around an axis extending in the Z-axis direction, a transport gripper 13 that is attached to the base 12 so as to move within a vertical plane perpendicular to the Z-axis direction and that holds the large-diameter tool 104B in a position where the tool axis direction faces the Z-axis direction, and an air cylinder 14 that is attached to the base 12 and serves as an actuator that moves the transport gripper 13 within a vertical plane perpendicular to the Z-axis direction.

[0041] In comparison with the conventional tool transport device 9, the components indicated by the symbols 11, 12, 13, and 14 in FIG. 1(a) are the same size as the components indicated by the symbols 91, 92, 93, and 94 in FIG. 1(b), whereas in the embodiment of the tool transport device 10 shown in FIG. 1(a), the distance B from the center of the tool holding gripper 41 of the front and rear racks 4A and 4B to the rotation center 12a of the base 12 of the tool transport device 10 is smaller than the distance indicated by C in FIG. 1(b). That is, by taking advantage of the fact that only small diameter tools 105 are held by the tool holding gripper 41 of the rear rack 4B, the distance between the front and rear racks 4A and 4B is made narrow.

[0042] If the distance C in Figure 1(b) is reduced, interference will occur between the large diameter tool 104A held on the front rack 4A and the large diameter tool 104B held by the transport gripper 93 of the tool transport device 9. To avoid this interference, the tool transport device 10 of the embodiment shown in Figure 1(a) is further different from the conventional tool transport device 9 in that, like the movable body 91 shown in Figure 1(b), the longitudinal direction of the movable body 11 is the same as the longitudinal direction of the front and rear racks 4A and 4B, and the base 12 is inclined with the transport gripper 13 and air cylinder 14 attached thereto.

[0043] The positional relationship in FIG. 1(a) will be explained in more detail as follows. The rotation center 12a of the base 12 is located exactly in the center between the front rack 4A and the rear rack 4B, whereas the center of the transport gripper 13 is located above and toward the rear of the rotation center 12a of the base 12. As a result, the line connecting the rotation center 12a of the base 12 and the center of the transport gripper 13 is inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction (the vertical line located in the center between the front and rear racks 4A and 4B). The air cylinder 14 is in the same positional relationship with respect to the transport gripper 13 as in the conventional case, and is provided adjacent to the rear side of the transport gripper 13 so that the transport gripper 13 can be moved toward or away from the rotation center 12a of the base 12. The line connecting the rotation center 12a of the base 12 and the center of the transport gripper 13 is inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction, so that the forward and backward directions of the air cylinder 14 are also inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction, and as a result, the upper end of the rear edge of the air cylinder 14 protrudes furthest from the rear surface of the movable body 11.

[0044] The method of attaching and detaching tools to and from the front and rear racks 4A and 4B using the tool transport device 10 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1(a) will be described in the order of steps below.

[0045] As shown in Figure 2(a), when a large diameter tool 104B is held by the transport gripper 13 of the tool transport device 10, the movable body 11 moves in the Z-axis direction and the longitudinal direction of both racks, causing the tool transport device 10 to move to a transfer position to the tool holding gripper 41 of either the front or rear rack 4A, 4B (front rack 4A in the illustrated example) where the large diameter tool 104B should be stored (movable body movement process).

[0046] During the movement in Figure 2(a), the base 12 is inclined relative to the moving body 11 with the transport gripper 13 and air cylinder 14 attached, so there is no interference between the large diameter tool 104B held by the tool transport gripper 41 and the large diameter tool 104A stored in the front rack 4A, and there is also no interference between the tool transport device 10 and the small diameter tool 105.

[0047] Next, as shown in Figure 2(b), the base 12 rotates around the rotation center 12a, so that the deep and wide tool phase determination key groove in the large diameter tool 104B is directed toward the tool holding gripper 41 of the front rack 4A (base rotation process). The positional relationship between the moving body 11 in FIG. 2(b) and the base 12 to which the transport gripper 13 and the air cylinder 14 are attached is the same as in the conventional case (see FIG. 8(b)).

[0048] 2(c), the air cylinder 14 moves the transport gripper 13 to the rear side of the tool holding gripper 41, and the large diameter tool 104B is held by the tool holding gripper 41 (actuator actuation step). As a result, the large diameter tool 104B is held by the tool holding gripper 41 in the normal state, and the large diameter tool 104B is stored in the tool holding gripper 41 of the front rack 4A of the magazine body. Thereafter, the air cylinder 14 returns the transport gripper 13 to its original position, and the base 12 is also returned to its original position.

[0049] After the steps shown in Figures 2(a) to (c), the tool transport device 10 moves further to a position where the tool to be used in the next processing is transferred to the tool holding gripper 41 of the front and rear racks 4A, 4B, which hold the tool, by moving the movable body 11 along the vertical guide rail 33 and the vertical guide rail 33 moving along the horizontal guide rail 34, and then the tool is removed from the tool holding gripper 41 by rotating the base 12 and moving the transport gripper 13 by the air cylinder 14, and then moves further to a tool transfer position with the in-magazine tool changer 8 (see Figures 5 to 7).

[0050] By repeating the above-described operations, the horizontal machining center 100 (see FIG. 4) equipped with the tool transport device 10 of the above-described embodiment can perform machining by the spindle 101 using various tools.

[0051] According to the tool transport device 10 of the above embodiment, only small diameter tools 105 are held by the tool holding gripper 41 of the rear rack 4B, and the base 12, with the transport gripper 13 and the air cylinder 14 attached, is tilted relative to the movable body 11 so that the upper end of the air cylinder 14 approaches the rear rack 4B, which holds only the small diameter tools 105. This makes it possible to avoid interference on either the front or rear rack 4A, 4B side and narrow the distance between the front and rear racks 4A, 4B. As a result, it is possible to obtain a tool magazine device that can be made smaller without incurring any disadvantages while maintaining the effects of the tool magazine device 1 shown in Figures 4 to 8.

[0052] Fig. 3 shows an embodiment capable of holding extra-large diameter tools 106A, 106B larger than the large diameter tools 104A, 104B. That is, the front and rear racks 4A, 4B and the transport device 10 are the same as those shown in Fig. 1(a), and when the extra-large diameter tool 106A is held on the front rack 4A, if the extra-large diameter tool 106B is also held by the transport gripper 13, the tool transport device 10 will interfere with the rear rack 4B when the base 12 is turned. Therefore, in the embodiment shown in Fig. 3, the portion of the rear rack 4B facing the portion of the front rack 4A holding the extra-large diameter tool 106A is removed, and a space S for base turning is formed.

[0053] According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, in a tool magazine device in which both the front and rear racks 4A, 4B are normally capable of storing large diameter tools 104A, 104B, it is necessary to increase the distance between the front and rear racks 4A, 4B to be able to store extra-large diameter tools 106A, 106B. However, by removing the corresponding portion of the other rack (rear rack) 4B that faces the portion of the rack (front rack) 4A that holds the extra-large diameter tool 106A, it is possible to narrow the distance between the front and rear racks 4A, 4B, and so even in a tool magazine device equipped with the above-mentioned tool transport device 10, it is possible to store extra-large diameter tools 106A, 106B. [Explanation of symbols]

[0054] 4A: Front rack 4B: Rear rack 10: Tool transport device 11: Mobile 12: Bass 12a: Center of rotation 13: Transfer gripper 14: Air cylinder 41: Tool holding gripper 104A, 104B: Large diameter tools 105: Small diameter tools

Claims

[Claim 1] The magazine includes a magazine body having a plurality of front and rear racks that hold a plurality of tools with the tool axis direction facing the Z-axis direction, which is the spindle axis direction; and a tool transport device that is provided on the magazine body so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction and in the longitudinal direction of the front and rear racks, and that removes tools from the front and rear racks and attaches tools to the front and rear racks, the tool transport device comprises a movable body disposed between the front and rear racks and movable in the Z-axis direction and in the longitudinal direction of the front and rear racks; a base provided on the movable body so as to be rotatable about an axis extending in the Z-axis direction; a transport gripper movably attached to the base within a plane perpendicular to the Z-axis direction and holding a tool with the tool axis direction facing the Z-axis direction; and an actuator attached to the base and causing the transport gripper to move forward and backward within the plane to move the transport gripper to a tool attachment / detachment position, wherein the tool transport device is configured to hold a tool in the tool holding gripper at the tool attachment / detachment position by performing a movable body moving step in which the movable body moves to a position to hand over the tool to the tool holding gripper, a base turning step in which the base turns around a turning center at the handover position to face the tool toward the tool holding gripper, and an actuator operating step in which the actuator moves the transport gripper forward, a tool magazine device in which a large diameter tool is held by at least one of the tool holding grippers of either the front or rear rack, and only small diameter tools are held by the tool holding gripper of the other of the front or rear racks, and the forward and backward directions of the actuator during the moving body movement process are inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the front or rear racks so that the end farther from the center of rotation approaches the other of the front or rear racks that holds only the small diameter tools.

Images