Automatic scraping device, automatic scraping method, information processing device, processing instruction data generation method, and processing instruction data generation program

The automatic scraping device controls the scraper's path and force to prevent over-digging by managing the scraper's direction perpendicular to the workpiece edge, addressing excessive scraping issues and ensuring precise scraping.

JP7748908B2Active Publication Date: 2025-10-03CITIZEN WATCH CO LTD
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Patent Information

Application Number
JP2022059943
Authority / Receiving Office
JP · JP
Patent Type
Patents
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2022-03-31
Publication Date
2025-10-03
Estimated Expiration
2042-03-31

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Automatic scraping devices face issues with over-digging when scraping the outer peripheral region of a workpiece surface, leading to excessive scraping due to transient changes in contact area and pressure during the scraping process.

Method used

An automatic scraping device equipped with a processing robot and control device that controls the scraper's path direction perpendicular to the outer edge of the workpiece surface, reducing pressing force at corners and corners where outer edges intersect, and generating processing instruction data to manage the scraper's path and force effectively.

Benefits of technology

The solution prevents over-scraping of the outer peripheral area, ensuring precise and controlled scraping without excessive material removal.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Patent Text Reader

Abstract

To provide a technique which is related to automatic scraping processing that automatically performs scraping processing to a processing object surface of a workpiece and suppresses the occurrence of excessive grinding of an outer peripheral region on the processing object surface.SOLUTION: An automatic scraping processing device comprises: a processing robot which is operated while holding a scraper that has a cutting blade; and a control device which controls the processing robot according to the processing instruction data. The control device controls the processing robot such that the processing pass direction of the scraper intersects the orthogonal direction toward the outer edge in the outer peripheral region when performing scraping processing on the outer peripheral region on the processing object surface.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1
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Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for automatically performing scraping. [Background technology]

[0002] Scraping (also called "scraping") is performed on the sliding surfaces of machine tools and other devices with moving parts in order to increase their flatness and reduce the coefficient of sliding friction. Scraping is a type of metalworking, and traditionally, the work involves painting the surface of the workpiece to be machined with red lead or a pigment, and then using a scraping tool with a wide, chisel-like tip (spatula-like) the worker manually scrapes away any protruding parts while checking the color difference.

[0003] The original purpose of scraping is to finish the sliding surface into a highly flat surface, but the minute micron-sized depressions formed on the sliding surface by this scraping process act as reservoirs for lubricating oil during sliding, improving the lubrication of the sliding surface and preventing ringing during sliding.However, manual scraping by an operator requires skill and is also very hard work.

[0004] In this regard, an automatic scraping device has also been proposed that scrapes the surface of a workpiece by automatically controlling the operation of a scraper (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 4). In addition, although not related to scraping, Patent Documents 5 and 6 are examples of documents that disclose techniques for performing cutting on the surface of a workpiece. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5954855 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-58285 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 05-123921 [Patent Document 4] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 07-246515 [Patent Document 5] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-199611 [Patent Document 6] Patent No. 3392569 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] When scraping the outer peripheral region of a workpiece surface using an automatic scraping device, for example, a scraper may be stroked so that the cutting edge of the scraper extends beyond the outer edge of the workpiece surface to avoid leaving any remaining material near the outer edge of the workpiece surface. However, if the cutting edge obliquely exits the outer edge of the workpiece surface during the scraper stroke, the contact area between the cutting edge and the workpiece surface is likely to transiently decrease until the entire cutting edge exits the outer edge. Even if the pressing force pressing the cutting edge toward the workpiece surface during the scraper stroke is controlled to a constant value, the transient decrease in contact area causes a transient increase in the cutting pressure applied by the cutting edge to the workpiece surface, which can result in excessive scraping of the workpiece surface. The term "cutting pressure" used here refers to the force applied by the cutting edge per unit area to the workpiece surface when the cutting edge cuts the workpiece surface.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and relates to an automatic scraping process for automatically scraping a surface of a workpiece to be processed, and The purpose is to provide a technology that makes it difficult for over-digging (deep digging) to occur. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] (Aspect 1) In order to solve the above problems, the automatic scraping device according to aspect 1 of the present invention is an automatic scraping device that automatically scrapes the surface of a workpiece to be processed, and is equipped with a processing robot that holds and operates a scraper having a cutting blade, and a control device that controls the processing robot in accordance with processing instruction data, and when scraping the outer peripheral region of the surface to be processed, the control device controls the processing robot so that the processing path direction of the scraper intersects perpendicularly toward the outer edge of the outer peripheral region.

[0009] (Aspect 2) In the above-mentioned aspect 1, when cutting a corner where a first outer edge and a second outer edge intersect in the outer circumferential region, if an overhang stroke is performed in a state in which a portion of the cutting blade extends beyond the second outer edge when controlling the processing robot so that the processing path direction is perpendicular to the first outer edge, the control device may reduce the pressing force of the scraper against the corner compared to when the overhang stroke is not performed.

[0010] (Aspect 3) An information processing device according to aspect 3 of the present invention is an information processing device having a processor that generates processing instruction data for controlling the processing robot described in aspect 1, and when generating outer peripheral processing instruction data for scraping the outer peripheral region of the surface to be processed, the processor sets the processing path direction of the scraper so that it intersects perpendicularly toward the outer edge of the outer peripheral region.

[0011] (Aspect 4) In the above-mentioned aspect 3, when cutting a corner where a first outer edge and a second outer edge intersect in the outer circumferential region, the processor may generate the outer circumferential region processing instruction data so that when an overhang stroke is made in a state in which a portion of the cutting blade extends beyond the second outer edge when controlling the processing robot so that the processing path direction is perpendicular to the first outer edge, the pressing force of the scraper against the corner is reduced compared to when the overhang stroke is not made.

[0012] (Aspect 5) A method for generating processing instruction data according to aspect 5 of the present invention is a method for generating processing instruction data executed by a processor of an information processing device, which generates processing instruction data for controlling the processing robot described in aspect 1, and when generating processing instruction data for the outer periphery for scraping the outer periphery of the surface to be processed, the processor sets the processing path direction of the scraper so that it intersects with the outer edge of the outer periphery in a perpendicular direction.

[0013] (Aspect 6) A processing instruction data generation program according to aspect 6 of the present invention causes a processor of an information processing device that generates processing instruction data for controlling the processing robot described in aspect 1 to set the processing path direction of the scraper so that it intersects perpendicularly toward the outer edge of the outer peripheral region when generating processing instruction data for the outer periphery for scraping the outer peripheral region of the surface to be processed.

[0014] (Aspect 7) The automatic scraping method according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is a method for automatically scraping a surface to be processed of a workpiece. An automatic scraping method executed by a control device of an automatic scraping device that performs scraping when controlling a scraping robot in accordance with processing instruction data, wherein the control device controls the processing robot so that, when scraping the outer peripheral region of the surface to be processed, the processing path direction of the scraper intersects perpendicularly toward the outer edge of the outer peripheral region. [Effects of the Invention]

[0015] According to the present invention, in an automatic scraping process that automatically scrapes the surface of a workpiece to be processed, a technique can be provided that makes it difficult to over-scrape the outer peripheral area of ​​the surface to be processed. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an automatic scraping device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a scraper unit held by a robot hand. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a side view of the scraper cutting blade cutting the workpiece surface. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control device. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the control device. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining surface height information of the surface to be processed. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a plurality of processing region layers in a convex portion on a processing target surface. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the processed region layer distribution information. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the planar distribution and height distribution of each processing region layer in the region shown in the enlarged view A of FIG. 8, and the cutting procedure of each processing region layer. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the cutting conditions information table. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the inner region and the outer periphery region of the surface to be machined. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the internal division pattern data. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining outer periphery division pattern data. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is a diagram schematically showing the internal partitioned regions of the cutting target. [Figure 15] FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of a cutting target outer peripheral sectioned region. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a situation in which the outer peripheral region of the surface to be processed is cut in the first embodiment. [Figure 17] FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a situation in which the outer peripheral region of the surface to be machined is cut in a comparative example. [Figure 18] FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating the control parameter information. [Figure 19] FIG. 19 is a flowchart executed by the processor of the control device. [Figure 20] FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a situation in which a corner of the outer peripheral region of the surface to be machined is cut. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that each configuration and their combinations in the embodiments are merely examples, and additions, omissions, substitutions, and other modifications of the configurations are possible as appropriate within the scope of the gist of the present invention. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments, but is limited only by the claims.

[0018] <Embodiment 1> (Schematic configuration of processing device) Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an automatic scraping device 1 according to embodiment 1. As shown in Fig. 1, the automatic scraping device 1 includes a control device 100, a robot arm 200, a three-dimensional shape measuring device 300, and the like.

[0019] The automatic scraping device 1 is a device that automatically performs scraping on a workpiece surface 11 (machined surface) of a workpiece 10, which is an object to be processed. The workpiece 10 may be, for example, a metal sliding member that constitutes a machine tool or the like, and its sliding surface may serve as the workpiece surface 11. Scraping is a type of metal processing in which a scraper, which is a scraping tool (cutting tool), is used to scrape off convex portions of the workpiece surface 11, thereby increasing the flatness of the workpiece surface 11 and reducing the coefficient of sliding friction. The original purpose of scraping is to finish the sliding surface into a highly flat surface. However, in order to prevent the wringing phenomenon that occurs when the sliding surface slides, the scraping finishing process also forms numerous micron-sized depressions on the sliding surface as reservoirs of lubricating oil, thereby improving the lubricity of the sliding surface.

[0020] The robot arm 200 is, for example, a six-axis articulated robot arm, and is controlled by the control device 100. The robot arm 200 has a robot hand 210 at its tip end, and is capable of detachably holding (grasping) the scraper unit 20 and the hand chuck 30 on the robot hand 210. In other words, the scraper unit 20 and the hand chuck 30 can be selectively attached to the robot arm 200. The robot arm 200 can move the robot hand 210 to any position in an XYZ three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system by driving each joint (for example, the first to sixth axes) with a servo motor or the like.

[0021] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a scraper unit 20 held by a robot hand 210. The scraper unit 20 is an attachment including a holder 21 detachably attached to the robot hand 210 and a scraper 22, which is a scraping tool (cutting tool) integrally provided with the holder 21. The scraper 22 includes a scraper body 23 having a generally strip-like shape and made of a flexible metal material, and a cutting blade 24 attached to the tip of the scraper body 23. The cutting blade 24 is made of, for example, a cemented carbide alloy and is capable of cutting the workpiece surface 11 of the workpiece 10, which is made of, for example, a cast metal. The symbol W in the figure indicates the width of the cutting blade 24. The symbol 25 indicates the cutting edge of the cutting blade 24. Although the cutting edge 25 shown in FIG. 2 has a circular (rounded) shape, the shape of the cutting edge 25 is not particularly limited. For example, the cutting edge 25 may have a linear shape. Of course, when using a cutting edge 25 having an arc shape, the radius of curvature (tip radius of the blade) is not particularly limited. For example, the scraper unit 20 having different sizes, such as the width dimension W and radius of curvature (tip radius of the blade) of the cutting blade 24 (tip 25), can be attached to the robot hand 210.

[0022] The scraping of the surface 11 to be machined of the workpiece 10 is performed, for example, by fixing the workpiece 10 to a processing stand C1 shown in Fig. 1 and controlling the robot arm 200 with the scraper unit 20 held by the robot hand 210. The surface of the processing stand C1 is formed in a flat shape parallel to the XY plane.

[0023] 3 is a side view of the situation in which the cutting blade 24 of the scraper 22 is cutting the surface 11 to be machined of the workpiece 10. In scraping, the cutting edge 25 of the cutting blade 24 is placed at an angle against the surface 11 to be machined, and the robot hand 210 is driven in the -Z direction to press the cutting blade 24 against the surface 11 to be machined, and then the robot hand 210 is stroked parallel to the XY plane (hereinafter, this direction (white arrow in FIG. 3) will be referred to as the "stroke direction"), thereby cutting the surface 11 to a thickness on the order of microns or submicrons.

[0024] 3 is the angle formed by the cutting blade 24 and the XY plane when the cutting blade 24 cuts the workpiece surface 11 (hereinafter referred to as the "tool angle"). The robot arm 200, for example, adjusts the tool angle θ during scraping and the vertical pushing of the robot hand 210. By using the penetration amount (displacement amount in the -Z direction) δz as a control parameter, the cutting depth ΔDS and cutting width WC of the workpiece surface 11 cut per stroke of the scraper 22 can be adjusted. Here, the vertical penetration amount (displacement amount in the -Z direction) δz of the robot hand 210 is set, for example, using the height of a reference point on the workpiece surface 11 measured by the three-dimensional shape measuring device 300 as the reference height (zero point). The position (XY coordinates) of the reference point on the workpiece surface 11 is not particularly limited. For example, a corner of the workpiece surface 11 may be set as the reference point, and the surface height of that point may be used as the reference height. Since the scraper body 23 of the scraper 22 is flexible as described above, the workpiece surface 11 is cut while the scraper body 23 is bent. Therefore, while the cutting depth of the workpiece surface 11 is on the order of microns or submicrons, the vertical penetration amount δz of the robot hand 210 during cutting can be set as a displacement amount on the order of millimeters.

[0025] Next, the hand chuck 30 will be described. The hand chuck 30 is an attachment for gripping the workpiece 10 when moving the workpiece 10 between the pedestals, and is detachable from the robot hand 210. In the layout shown in Fig. 1, the hand chuck 30 is used, for example, when moving the workpiece 10 between the processing pedestal C1 and the measurement pedestal C2. That is, the robot arm 200 can freely move the workpiece 10 between the processing pedestal C1 and the measurement pedestal C2 by gripping the workpiece 10 with the hand chuck 30 attached to the robot hand 210.

[0026] The measurement stage C2 is a stage on which the workpiece 10 is placed when measuring the three-dimensional shape of the processing target surface 11 of the workpiece 10 using the three-dimensional shape measuring instrument 300. The surface of the measurement stage C2 is also formed into a flat surface parallel to the XY plane.

[0027] The three-dimensional shape measuring instrument 300 is, for example, a measuring instrument using a white light interferometer, and is capable of acquiring three-dimensional shape data (uneven shape data) of the workpiece surface 11 with high accuracy. However, the three-dimensional shape measuring instrument 300 is not particularly limited as long as it can measure the uneven shape data (height data) of the workpiece surface 11, and for example, a three-dimensional laser scanner or the like may be used. Furthermore, the three-dimensional shape measuring instrument 300 may be a "non-contact" measuring instrument that acquires the uneven shape data of the workpiece surface 11 without contact, or a "contact" measuring instrument that acquires the uneven shape data of the workpiece surface 11 by contacting a probe or the like with the workpiece surface 11. In addition, the automatic scraping device 1 may also be equipped with a tool mounting stand C3 for mounting the scraper unit 20, a hand chuck stand C4 for mounting the hand chuck 30, etc.

[0028] The robot arm 200 is also equipped with a force sensor 220. The force sensor 220 is a sensor that detects the load (resistance) acting on the scraper 22 during scraping. The control device 100 of the automatic scraping device 1 monitors the load state during scraping output by the force sensor 220, and can perform feedback control based on the strength of the load as necessary. Note that the above-described robot arm 200 is an example of a scraping robot according to the present invention, and scraping robots are not limited to the robot arm 200. The scraping robot according to the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it has a configuration that can automatically perform scraping on the processing target surface 11 of the workpiece 10 by operating the scraper it holds.

[0029] Next, the control device 100 of the automatic scraping device 1 will be described. The control device 100 controls the robot arm 200 in accordance with the processing instruction data, and as a result, scraping processing is performed on the processing target surface 11 of the workpiece 10 in accordance with the processing instruction data. The control device 100 also generates processing instruction data for controlling the robot arm 200. In other words, the control device 100 functions as a device that controls the robot arm 200, and also as an information processing device (processing instruction data) for generating processing instruction data used when controlling the robot arm 200. The control device 100 functions as an information processing device (processing instruction data generating device) for controlling the robot arm 200. However, the processing instruction data for controlling the robot arm 200 may be generated by an information processing device (processing instruction data generating device) separate from the control device 100. In this case, the control device 100 acquires the processing instruction data generated by the information processing device (processing instruction data generating device), and controls the robot arm 200 according to the acquired processing instruction data. Note that the transmission of the processing instruction data from the information processing device (processing instruction data generating device) to the control device 100 may be performed by either wired communication or wireless communication.

[0030] 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control device 100. The control device 100 is, for example, a general-purpose computer. The computer constituting the control device 100 includes a communication interface (communication I / F) 101, a storage device 102, an input / output device 103, and a processor 104, which are connected via a communication bus 105.

[0031] The communication I / F 101 may be, for example, a network card or a communication module, and communicates with other computers, devices, etc. based on a predetermined protocol. For example, the control device 100 receives three-dimensional shape information of the processing target surface 11 of the workpiece 10 from the three-dimensional shape measuring device 300 via the communication I / F 101.

[0032] The storage device 102 includes, for example, a primary storage device such as a random access memory (RAM) or a read-only memory (ROM), and an auxiliary storage device (secondary storage device) such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), or a flash memory. The primary storage device temporarily stores programs read by the processor 104 and information exchanged with other computers, and also secures a working area for the processor 104. The auxiliary storage device stores programs executed by the processor 104 and information exchanged with other computers. The auxiliary storage device may also include removable media (portable recording media). Removable media is, for example, a USB memory, an SD card, or a disc recording media such as a CD-ROM, a DVD disc, or a Blu-ray disc. The storage device 102 (e.g., the auxiliary storage device) stores an operating system (OS), various programs, various information tables, and the like.

[0033] The input / output device 103 is a user interface, such as an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse, an output device such as a monitor, or an input / output device such as a touch panel.

[0034] The processor 104 is an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), and executes a program to perform the functions of the present embodiment. For example, the processor 104 loads a program stored in the auxiliary storage device of the storage device 102 into the main storage device and executes it, thereby realizing various processes such as processing instruction data generation processing for generating processing instruction data as described below.

[0035] The control device 100 does not necessarily have to be realized by a single physical configuration, but may be configured by a plurality of computers that cooperate with each other.

[0036] Next, the functional configuration of the control device 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the control device 100. The control device 100 has a processing instruction data generation unit 110 and a control unit 111 as functional units. The processor 104 of the control device 100 loads a program stored in the auxiliary storage device of the storage device 102 into the main storage device and executes it, thereby realizing each of the functional units described above. The processing instruction data generation unit 110 executes a processing instruction data generation process that generates processing instruction data. The control unit 111 acquires the processing instruction data generated by the data generation unit 110 and controls the robot arm 200 in accordance with the processing instruction data.

[0037] Next, each process related to scraping by the automatic scraping device 1 will be described. Here, as an example of scraping on the workpiece 10, a planarizing process is performed to cut convex portions of the workpiece surface 11 so that the flatness of the workpiece surface 11 satisfies a predetermined target flatness, and a finishing process is performed to form depressions for oil reservoirs on the workpiece surface 11 after the planarizing process. In this way, when scraping on the workpiece surface 11 of the workpiece 10, the processing efficiency can be improved by performing the planarizing process and the finishing process separately.

[0038] Here, a process (flat surface processing instruction data generation process) for generating processing instruction data (hereinafter referred to as "flat surface processing instruction data") used when the control device 100 executes flat surface processing will be described.

[0039] When generating the planarization processing instruction data, the processing instruction data generation unit 110 acquires surface height information of the processing target surface 11 based on the measurement data of the three-dimensional shape measuring instrument 300. Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating the surface height information of the processing target surface 11. The surface height information is information that indicates the height (Z coordinate) corresponding to each coordinate (each measurement point) in the planar direction (XY plane direction) of the processing target surface 11.

[0040] The processing instruction data generation unit 110 acquires convex portions of the processing target surface 11 based on the surface height information of the processing target surface 11. The convex portions of the processing target surface 11 are, for example, portions that are relatively raised with respect to the position where the height (Z coordinate) of the processing target surface 11 is lowest. For example, the processing instruction data generation unit 110 models the shape of the processing target surface 11 before the processing target surface 11 is subjected to the flattening processing based on the surface height information of the processing target surface 11, and acquires this as an initial shape S1. Then, the difference shape between this initial shape S1 and a target plane (target shape) S2 of the processing target surface 11 to be formed after the flattening processing may be acquired as a convex portion S3 of the processing target surface 11 (a portion to be cut in the flattening processing). The target plane S2 of the processing target surface 11 may be set as a planar shape that passes through the position where the height (Z coordinate) of the processing target surface 11 is lowest and is parallel to the XY plane.

[0041] The processing instruction data generating unit 110 divides the convex portion S3 on the processing target surface 11 in the height direction by processing planes parallel to the XY plane, and sets a plurality of processing region layers CR.

[0042] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating multiple machining region layers CR in the convex portion S3 on the machining target surface 11. FIG. 7 schematically shows the shape of the convex portion S3 on the machining target surface 11 on X=X1 (X1 is the coordinate on the X axis). Symbol S0 in FIG. 7 is an imaginary plane that passes through the highest position (Z coordinate) of the convex portion S3 on the machining target surface 11 and is parallel to the XY plane. Symbol VP in FIG. 7 is an imaginary machining plane that divides the convex portion S3 in the height direction. The machining plane VP is parallel to the imaginary plane S0 and the target plane S2 (i.e., parallel to the XY plane) and is set at an interval between these planes S0 and S2. FIG. 7 illustrates an example in which the convex portion S3 is divided into five machining region layers CR1 to CR5 by four machining planes VP.

[0043] Next, the processing instruction data generating unit 110 generates processing area layer distribution information that shows the planar distribution of each processing area layer CR on the processing target surface 11 in the form of contour lines. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the processing area layer distribution information. In FIG. 8, for the purpose of drawing, the distribution of each processing area layer CR is shown in the form of contour lines for only a part of the processing target surface 11 (see enlarged view A). The contour lines shown by solid lines in enlarged view A of FIG. 8 show the boundary positions between each processing area layer CR1 to CR5, and the boundary position between the processing area layer CR5 located at the bottom and the target plane S2. In other words, the contour lines shown in enlarged view A show the boundary positions of the processing target surface 11 by each processing plane VP and the target plane S2. This coincides with the cut when the protrusion S3 is virtually cut.

[0044] 9A and 9B are diagrams illustrating the planar distribution of each machining area layer CR in the area shown in the enlarged view A of FIG. 8, the corresponding height distribution, and the cutting procedure for each machining area layer CR. (A) shows the planar distribution of each machining area layer CR, and (B) shows the height distribution of each machining area layer CR. Also, (C) shows the cutting range of the machining area layer CR1, and (D) shows the cutting range of the machining area layer CR2. The blackened area in (C) represents the area outside the cutting range of the machining area layer CR1. The blackened area in (D) represents the area outside the cutting range of the machining area layer CR2. In the flattening process according to this embodiment, the convex portion S3 of the machining target surface 11 is cut sequentially for each machining area layer CR, from the uppermost machining area layer CR (machining area layer CR1 in the examples shown in FIGS. 7 and 9) to the lowermost machining area layer CR (machining area layer CR5 in the examples shown in FIGS. 7 and 9). Therefore, the processing instruction data generating unit 110 generates planarizing processing instruction data used when cutting the convex portion S3 of the processing target surface 11 for each processing region layer CR.

[0045] 7 and 9 indicates an allocation height when dividing the convex portion S3 of the work surface 11 into a plurality of machining area layers CR. For example, the allocation height ΔH of each machining area layer CR is set to a dimension corresponding to the cutting depth ΔDS per stroke of the scraper 22. As a result, when cutting the convex portion S3 in the flattening process, a thickness equivalent to one machining area layer CR can be cut with each stroke of the scraper 22.

[0046] For example, the processing instruction data generating unit 110 may set the allocated height ΔH of each processing area layer CR to a predetermined fixed value (for example, about 1 μm). Alternatively, the allocated height ΔH of each processing area layer CR may be set uniformly according to the maximum height difference of the convex portion S3 (the height difference in the Z-axis direction between the lowest and highest points of the height (Z coordinate) of the processing target surface 11). However, it is not necessary to set the allocated height ΔH of each processing area layer CR to the same value, and different values ​​may be set as the allocated height ΔH of each layer. For example, the allocated height ΔH of each processing area layer CR may be set to gradually decrease from the upper side (+Z direction side) of the convex portion S3 to the lower side (-Z direction side).

[0047] Furthermore, the processing instruction data generating unit 110 may set an allocation height ΔH when dividing the convex portion S3 in the height direction using a value designated by the user. In this case, for example, before the start of the scraping process, an input operation by the user may be accepted via the output device 103, and input information (setting information) including the allocation height ΔH may be stored in the storage device 102. Of course, the processing instruction data generating unit 110 may automatically set the allocation height ΔH of each processing area layer CR.

[0048] As described above, the cutting depth ΔDS per stroke of the scraper 22 correlates with the relationship between the tool angle θ and the vertical plunge depth δz. Therefore, the processing instruction data generation unit 110 may automatically set the allocated height ΔH of each machining area layer CR based on a cutting condition information table such as that shown in FIG. 10. The cutting condition information table contains data indicating the relationship between the tool angle θ, the vertical plunge depth δz, the cutting width WC, and the cutting depth ΔDS. The cutting width WC and cutting depth ΔDS fields contain values ​​of the cutting width WC and the cutting depth ΔDS corresponding to the combination of the tool angle θ and the vertical plunge depth δz. The cutting condition information table may be a database table or a file in a predetermined format such as CSV (Comma Separated Values). Such a cutting condition information table may be stored in advance in the storage device 102. The processing instruction data generation unit 110 may read the cutting condition information table, extract the value registered in the cutting depth ΔDS field of the cutting condition information table, and set the extracted value as the allocated height ΔH of each machining area layer CR.

[0049] Next, the processing instruction data generating unit 110 first calculates the planar shape of the processing target surface 11 as shown in FIG. The surface area (XY plane area) is divided into an internal area 11A and an outer peripheral area 11B, and plane division pattern information is generated including internal division pattern data and outer peripheral division pattern data in which the internal area 11A and the outer peripheral area 11B are each divided by a predetermined division pattern, as shown in Figures 12 and 13.

[0050] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an internal region 11A and an outer peripheral region 11B of the surface 11 to be machined. The symbol BL in the figure indicates the boundary position between the internal region 11A and the outer peripheral region 11B. The internal region 11A is located inside the boundary position BL, and the annular outer peripheral region 11B is located on the outer peripheral side of the boundary position BL. The outer peripheral region 11B is an area set to include the outer edge 11C of the surface 11 to be machined. The internal region 11A is located inside the outer peripheral region 11B and does not include the outer edge 11C of the surface 11 to be machined. Furthermore, the symbol 11D is an external region located outside the surface 11 to be machined. The external region 11D is a virtual region, and is an area outside the range of the surface 11 to be machined that is located outside the outer edge 11C of the surface 11 to be machined in the XY plane.

[0051] FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating interior division pattern data in which the interior region 11A of the surface 11 to be machined is divided by a predetermined division pattern (hereinafter referred to as the "interior division pattern") DI. The interior division pattern DI divides the interior region 11A of the surface 11 to be machined by a grid pattern (shown by chain lines in FIG. 12) in which a large number of rectangular regions are arranged in a grid pattern in the interior region 11A of the surface 11 to be machined. The individual regions assigned by dividing the interior region 11A of the surface 11 to be machined by the interior division pattern DI are called interior divided regions RIA. In FIG. 12, the portions corresponding to each interior divided region RIA are hatched.

[0052] In this embodiment, as an example, when as many internal partitioned areas RIA as possible, each having a certain width and length, are arranged in a grid pattern without gaps on the planar area of ​​the surface 11 to be processed, the area assigned to the internal partitioned area RIA is set as the internal area 11A, and the other marginal areas (other than the internal area 11A) are set as the outer peripheral area 11B.

[0053] As shown in FIG. 12 , in the interior division pattern DI, a stroke path PS (shown by a dashed line in the figure) of the cutting blade 24 is set for each interior segmented area RIA. The stroke path PS is a planar path through which the center of the width of the cutting blade 24 passes when the cutting blade 24 strokes along the XY plane during cutting of the workpiece surface 11. That is, when cutting the workpiece surface 11, the cutting blade 24 strokes along the stroke path PS while pressing the cutting edge 25 against the workpiece surface 11, thereby cutting the corresponding segmented area RA. Note that, as will be described later, when cutting the workpiece surface 11, the cutting blade 24 may stroke the entire stroke path PS, or may stroke only a portion of the stroke path PS. In the interior division pattern DI, the stroke path PS for each interior segmented area RIA may be set in any manner, but in the example shown in FIG. 12 , all of the stroke paths are oriented in the same direction. Furthermore, the pattern in which the interior division pattern DI divides the interior region 11A of the surface 11 to be processed is not particularly limited.

[0054] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating outer periphery division pattern data in which the outer periphery region 11B of the surface 11 to be machined is divided by a predetermined division pattern (hereinafter referred to as the "outer periphery division pattern") DO. The outer periphery division pattern DO divides the outer periphery region 11B of the surface 11 to be machined in a pattern in which a large number of rectangular regions are arranged in a ring shape. The individual regions assigned by dividing the outer periphery region 11B of the surface 11 to be machined by the outer periphery division pattern DO are called outer periphery division regions ROA. The outer periphery division region ROA is formed so as to surround the periphery of the internal region 11A. In FIG. 13, the portions corresponding to the outer periphery division regions ROA are hatched.

[0055] As shown in FIG. 13, each of the outer peripheral areas ROA is set as a rectangular area. 13, each outer periphery segmented area ROA is set to include a part of the outer periphery region 11B and a part of the outer region 11D of the surface 11 to be processed.

[0056] Also, in the outer peripheral segmented region ROA, as in the inner segmented region RIA, a stroke path PS (shown by a dashed line in the figure) of the cutting blade 24 is set for each outer peripheral segmented region ROA. Here, as can be seen from FIG. 13, the stroke path PS in each outer peripheral segmented region ROA is set to extend in a direction perpendicular to the outer edge 11C of the workpiece surface 11. In the example shown in FIG. 13, the inner end E1 of the outer peripheral segmented region ROA is located on the boundary position BL between the inner region 11A and the outer peripheral region 11B of the workpiece surface 11. Furthermore, the outer end E2 of the outer peripheral segmented region ROA is located in the outer region 11D.

[0057] The stroke path PS set for each of the inner segmented area RIA and the outer segmented area ROA starts at one end of the long side of each segmented area RIA, ROA and ends at the other end. The stroke path PS is set at a position that passes through the center of the short side (width) of each segmented area RIA, ROA. The size of each segmented area RIA, ROA is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, a few millimeters in width and a length (long side) perpendicular to the width of about 10 mm. Note that in Figures 12 and 13, each segmented area RIA, ROA is shown schematically, and the relative size of each segmented area RIA, ROA to the surface 11 to be machined is different from the actual size.

[0058] As described above, the planarization processing according to this embodiment performs cutting in units of machining area layers CR, starting from the upper machining area layer CR. Therefore, as described below, among the divided areas RIA and ROA allocated to the planar area of ​​the workpiece surface 11, the divided areas RIA and ROA to be cut are identified for each machining area layer CR, and the divided areas RIA and ROA to be cut for each machining area layer CR are cut. When cutting the divided areas RIA and ROA, the cutting blade 24 strokes along a stroke path PS defined for each divided area RIA and ROA. However, the cutting blade 24 does not necessarily stroke the entire section from the start point to the end point of the stroke path PS. For example, if the entire area of ​​each divided area RIA and ROA overlaps with the machining area layer CR to be cut, a stroke section (a machining path PT, described below) is set so that the cutting blade 24 strokes the entire section of the stroke path PS in that divided area RIA and ROA. On the other hand, when only a portion of the divided areas RIA, ROA overlaps with the machining area layer CR to be cut, the stroke section is set so that the cutting blade 24 strokes only a portion of the stroke path PS in the divided areas RIA, ROA.

[0059] Next, the processing instruction data generation unit 110 sets a cutting target segmented area corresponding to each processing area layer CR based on the processing area layer distribution information and plane division pattern information generated as described above. Specifically, the processing instruction data generation unit 110 acquires the planar distribution range (forming range) of each processing area layer CR on the processing target surface 11 from the processing area layer distribution information. Furthermore, the processing instruction data generation unit 110 sets a cutting target inner segmented area RIB and a cutting target outer segmented area ROB (described in detail in Figures 14 and 15) based on the inner division pattern data and outer periphery division pattern data included in the plane division pattern information and the planar distribution range (forming range) of each processing area layer CR. In this embodiment, a cutting target inner segmented area RIB and a cutting target outer periphery segmented area ROB are set for each processing area layer CR, and when cutting each processing area layer CR, the cutting target inner segmented area RIB and cutting target outer periphery segmented area ROB set corresponding to that processing area layer CR are cut.

[0060] The cutting target internal divided area RIB is, when cutting the processing target surface 11 for each processing area layer CR, It refers to the internal segmented areas RIA allocated to the internal region 11A of the processing target surface 11 that correspond to the cutting target. When identifying the cutting target internal segmented areas RIB corresponding to each processing area layer CR, the processing instruction data generation unit 110 superimposes the planar distribution range of each processing area layer CR on the processing target surface 11 with the internal segmented areas RIA allocated to the internal region 11A of the processing target surface 11. Then, for each processing area layer CR, the internal segmented areas RIA that overlap with the processing area layer CR in a planar manner are identified as the cutting target internal segmented areas RIB corresponding to the processing area layer CR. Here, "overlapping in a planar manner" does not require that the entire individual internal segmented areas RIA overlap with the target processing area layer CR in a planar manner, but rather that at least a portion of the area overlaps with the processing area layer CR in a planar manner.

[0061] 14 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of an arbitrary machining area layer CR and the cutting target internal partitioned area RIB corresponding to the machining area layer CR. The grid-like chain lines shown in FIG. 14 indicate the partition positions where the planar area of ​​the machining target surface 11 is partitioned into a grid by the internal partitioning pattern DI, and each rectangular area partitioned by the internal partitioning pattern DI corresponds to an internal partitioned area RIA. The solid curve in the figure indicates the boundary between the machining area layer CR (herein described as the machining area layer CR1) that is the target for identifying the cutting target internal partitioned area RIB and another machining area layer CR (herein described as the machining area layer CR2). In FIG. 14, the upper side of the boundary line is the in-range area of ​​the target machining area layer CR1, and the lower side is the out-of-range area of ​​the machining area layer CR1.

[0062] 14, the hatched portion of the internal segmented area RIA corresponds to the internal segmented area RIA that does not overlap in plan with the target machining area layer CR1, and is illustrated as the internal segmented area RIC that is not to be cut. On the other hand, the non-hatched portion of the internal segmented area RIA overlaps at least partially with the target machining area layer CR1 in plan, and is therefore set as the internal segmented area RIB to be cut that corresponds to the machining area layer CR1.

[0063] When cutting the cutting area layer CR1, the non-cutting-target internal segmented area RIC shown in FIG. 14 is not cut, but part or all of the cutting-target internal segmented area RIB is cut. In this embodiment, for each cutting-target internal segmented area RIB, a cutting (cutting) start point Ps, which is the start point of the cutting path PT followed by the cutting blade 24 during cutting, and a cutting (cutting) end point Pe, which is the end point, are set on the stroke path PS (shown by dashed lines in the figure). In FIG. 14, the cutting paths PT are indicated by arrows, and the start point (circle in the figure) of each arrow corresponds to the cutting start point Ps, and the end point (tip of the arrow in the figure) corresponds to the cutting end point Pe. The cutting path PT is a line connecting the cutting start point Ps and the cutting end point Pe set on the stroke path PS, and therefore is naturally set on the stroke path PS. The cutting path PT corresponds to the section on the stroke path PS along which the cutting blade 24 strokes when cutting the cutting-target internal segmented area RIB.

[0064] In the example shown in FIG. 14, only a portion of each cutting target internal segmented area RIB overlaps with the target machining area layer CR (here, machining area layer CR1). In this case, as shown in FIG. 14, a machining path PT is set only in a partial section of the stroke path PS in each cutting target internal segmented area RIB. The section of the stroke path PS in which the machining path PT is set corresponds to the section in which each cutting target internal segmented area RIB overlaps with the target machining area layer CR (here, machining area layer CR1) in a planar manner. In other words, a machining start point Ps and a machining end point Pe are set on the stroke path PS so that the machining path PT is set in the section in which each cutting target internal segmented area RIB overlaps with the target machining area layer CR (here, machining area layer CR1) in a planar manner. Note that when the entire cutting target internal segmented area RIB overlaps with the machining area layer CR (included in the area of ​​the machining area layer CR), a machining path PT is set in the entire section of the stroke path PS in that cutting target internal segmented area RIB.

[0065] In the example shown in FIG. 14, the machining area layer CR1 and the corresponding cutting target inner divided area RIB are described, but the corresponding cutting target inner divided areas RIB are set in the same manner for the other machining area layers CR.

[0066] Next, the setting of the cutting target outer peripheral segmented area ROB will be described. The cutting target outer peripheral segmented area ROB refers to the outer peripheral segmented area ROA assigned to the outer peripheral area 11B of the cutting target surface 11 that corresponds to the cutting target when cutting the cutting target surface 11 for each cutting area layer CR. When identifying the cutting target outer peripheral segmented area ROB corresponding to each cutting area layer CR, the processing instruction data generation unit 110 superimposes the planar distribution range of each cutting area layer CR on the cutting target surface 11 with the outer peripheral segmented area ROA assigned to the outer peripheral area 11B of the cutting target surface 11. Then, for each cutting area layer CR, the outer peripheral segmented area ROA that overlaps with the cutting area layer CR in plan is identified as the cutting target outer peripheral segmented area ROB corresponding to that cutting area layer CR. Here again, "overlapping in plan" does not require that the entire outer peripheral segmented area ROA overlaps with the target cutting area layer CR in plan; it is sufficient that at least a portion of that area overlaps with the cutting area layer CR in plan.

[0067] 15 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of an arbitrary machining area layer CR and a cutting target outer peripheral segmented area ROB corresponding to the machining area layer CR. The two-dot chain lines in the grid shown in FIG. 15 indicate the division positions where the planar area of ​​the machining target surface 11 is divided into a grid by the outer peripheral division pattern DO, and each rectangular area divided by the outer peripheral division pattern DO corresponds to an outer peripheral segmented area ROA. The solid curve in the figure indicates the boundary between the machining area layer CR (herein described as machining area layer CR1) that is the target for identifying the cutting target outer peripheral segmented area ROB, and another machining area layer CR (herein described as machining area layer CR2). In FIG. 15, side A of the boundary line is the out-of-range area of ​​the target machining area layer CR1, and the opposite side is the in-range area of ​​the machining area layer CR1.

[0068] In Fig. 15, the hatched portions of the outer peripheral segmented area ROA correspond to the outer peripheral segmented area ROA that does not overlap in plan with the machining area layer CR1, which is the target machining area layer, and are illustrated as non-cutting target outer peripheral segmented areas ROC. On the other hand, the non-hatched portions of the outer peripheral segmented area ROA overlap at least partially with the target machining area layer CR1 in plan, and are therefore set as cutting target outer peripheral segmented areas ROB corresponding to the machining area layer CR1. In Fig. 15 as well, the machining paths PT that are set in some or all sections on the stroke path PS (shown by dashed lines in the figure) in each cutting target outer peripheral segmented area ROB are illustrated with arrows.

[0069] 13, in this embodiment, the stroke path PS in each outer periphery segmented region ROA is set to extend in a direction perpendicular to the outer edge 11C of the surface 11 to be machined. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 15, the machining path PT in the cutting object outer periphery segmented region ROB is also set to extend in a direction perpendicular to the outer edge 11C of the surface 11 to be machined, similar to the stroke path PS. Furthermore, the machining path PT in the cutting object outer periphery segmented region ROB extends from the inner end E1 toward the outer end E2 of the cutting object outer periphery segmented region ROB.

[0070] 15, the machining end point Pe of the machining path PT in the cutting object outer periphery segmented region ROB is set outside the outer edge 11C of the cutting object surface 11, that is, at a point on the outer region 11D. Specifically, the machining end point Pe of the machining path PT in the cutting object outer periphery segmented region ROB is set to the position of the outer edge E2 in the cutting object outer periphery segmented region ROB.

[0071] In addition, in FIG. 15, the machining area layer CR1 and the corresponding cutting target outer periphery divided area ROB are explained, but the same method can be used for the other machining area layers CR. The region ROB is set.

[0072] As described above, in this embodiment, the machining path PT of each outer peripheral partitioned region ROB to be cut extends from the inner end E1 toward the outer end E2 located in the outer region 11D, and the machining end point Pe is also set in the outer region 11D. According to this, when the automatic scraping device 1 cuts the outer peripheral region 11B of the surface 11 to be cut for each machining region layer CR, the cutting edge 25 of the cutting blade 24 moves out (protrudes) from the outer edge 11C of the surface 11 to the outside (outer region 11D) midway through the stroke of the scraper 22.

[0073] In this embodiment, the machining path PT of each cutting target outer peripheral segmented region ROB extends in a direction perpendicular to the outer edge 11C of the surface 11 to be machined. Figure 16 is a diagram illustrating the cutting of the outer peripheral region 11B of the surface 11 to be machined in embodiment 1. (A) schematically shows the state before the cutting edge 25 of the cutting blade 24 enters the outer edge 11C of the surface 11 to be machined. (B) schematically shows the state when the cutting edge 25 of the cutting blade 24 reaches the outer edge 11C of the surface 11 to be machined. (C) schematically shows the state after the cutting edge 25 of the cutting blade 24 has completely exited the outer edge 11C of the surface 11 to be machined and entered the external region 11D.

[0074] 16, when cutting the outer peripheral region 11B of the surface 11 to be processed, the robot arm 200 can be controlled so that the processing path direction of the scraper 22 intersects perpendicularly toward the outer edge 11C of the outer peripheral region 11B. This allows the widthwise central portion 25A of the cutting edge 25 and the widthwise contact region end portions 25B and 25C to advance into the outer edge 11C of the surface 11 to be processed at approximately the same time, and the cutting blade 24 can be stroked so that these portions exit into the outer region 11D at approximately the same time.

[0075] Here, the widthwise contact area ends 25B, 25C are the widthwise ends of the cutting edge 25 that come into contact with the workpiece surface 11 during cutting. As explained in FIG. 2, when cutting is performed using a cutting blade 24 in which the cutting edge 25 has an arcuate shape, the widthwise end of the cutting edge 25 may stroke without contacting (floating from) the workpiece surface 11. The symbol AE in the figure is located inside the widthwise contact area ends 25B, 25C of the cutting blade 24 and is an area that substantially contributes to cutting the workpiece surface 11 (hereinafter referred to as the "effective cutting area"). Note that the cutting width WC when cutting the workpiece surface 11 with the cutting blade 24 is substantially equal to the width dimension of the effective cutting area AE. Furthermore, even if the width dimension W of the cutting blade 24 is the same, if the tool angle θ or the vertical plunge amount δz is changed, the width dimension of the effective cutting area AE, i.e., That is, the cutting width WC is changed. Note that FIG. 16 illustrates an example in which the effective cutting area AE (cutting width WC) during cutting of the workpiece surface 11 is smaller than the width W of the cutting blade 24, but depending on the cutting conditions, the width of the effective cutting area AE (cutting width WC) may be substantially equal to the width W of the cutting blade 24. For example, when the vertical push-in amount δz during cutting of the workpiece surface 11 is large, the width of the effective cutting area AE (cutting width WC) is likely to be substantially equal to the width W of the cutting blade 24. Of course, the cutting edge shape of the cutting blade 24 to which the present invention is applied is not limited to an arc shape and may be linear. Needless to say, the cutting width WC during cutting of the workpiece surface 11 may be substantially equal to the width W of the cutting blade 24.

[0076] FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating the cutting of the outer peripheral region 11B of the surface 11 to be machined in a comparative example in which the machining path PT of each outer peripheral segmented region ROB to be machined is set to extend obliquely relative to the outer edge 11C of the surface 11 to be machined. In FIG. 17, (A) schematically shows the state before the cutting edge 25 of the cutting blade 24 enters the outer edge 11C of the surface 11 to be machined. (B) schematically shows the state when the widthwise contact region end 25B of the cutting edge 25 of the cutting blade 24 reaches the outer edge 11C of the surface 11 to be machined. (C) schematically shows the state when the widthwise contact region end 25C of the cutting edge 25 of the cutting blade 24 reaches the outer edge 11C of the surface 11 to be machined. (D) 10A and 10B show a state after the cutting edge 25 of the cutting blade 24 has completely exited the outer edge 11C of the surface 11 to be machined and entered the outer region 11D.

[0077] In the comparative example shown in FIG. 17, when cutting the outer peripheral region 11B of the surface 11 to be processed, the cutting edge 25 of the cutting blade 24 is C Since the cutting edge 24 approaches the outer peripheral region 11B at an angle, the contact area of ​​the cutting edge 25 with respect to the surface 11 to be machined (i.e., the effective cutting area AE) gradually decreases from the time when the end 25B of the widthwise contact area of ​​the cutting edge 25 reaches the outer edge 11C until the end 25C of the widthwise contact area reaches the outer edge 11C. In this comparative example, if the pressing force with which the robot hand 210 presses the scraper 22 (cutting edge 24) downward (to the surface 11 to be machined) is constant before and after the cutting edge 25 of the cutting blade 24 approaches the outer peripheral region 11C of the surface 11 to be machined at an angle, the cutting pressure of the cutting blade 24 (cutting edge 25) increases due to a change (decrease) in the contact area of ​​the cutting edge 25 with respect to the outer peripheral region 11B (i.e., the effective cutting area AE). The cutting pressure of the cutting blade 24 (cutting edge 25) refers to the amount of pressure that the cutting edge 24 applies to the surface 11 to be machined per unit area when the surface 11 to be machined is cut by the cutting blade 24. 24 17, the cutting edge 25 partially protrudes into the outer region 11D during the stroke of the cutting blade 24, which may cause a transient increase in cutting pressure of the cutting blade 24 (cutting edge 25), resulting in a concern that the workpiece surface 11 (outer peripheral region 11B) may be cut too deeply.

[0078] In contrast, according to this embodiment, the phenomenon of the cutting edge 25 partially protruding into the outer region 11D can be suppressed in the process of cutting the outer peripheral region 11B of the work surface 11, and therefore the contact area of ​​the cutting edge 25 with the work surface 11 (outer peripheral region 11B) (i.e., effective cutting area AE) can be suppressed from changing. Therefore, the cutting pressure of the cutting blade 24 (cutting edge 25) can be maintained constant in the process of cutting the outer peripheral region 11B of the work surface 11. As a result, when cutting the outer peripheral region 11B of the work surface 11, it is possible to suppress cutting the outer peripheral region 11B too deeply.

[0079] After the cutting target inner divided area RIB and cutting target outer divided area ROB are identified for each machining area layer CR in the above manner, the machining instruction data generating unit 110 generates control parameter information for each machining area layer CR. The control parameter information is information including the control values ​​of each control parameter when cutting the convex portion S3 of the machining target surface 11 for each machining area layer CR by the robot arm 200 of the automatic scraping device 1, and can be generated for each machining area layer CR.

[0080] FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating control parameter information. The control parameter information shown in FIG. 16 is data in the form of a list in which each control parameter, such as the machining path PT, tool angle θ, vertical plunge amount δz, etc., is associated with each machining point number. The machining point number is the serial number of the machining path PT included in the target machining area layer CR, and corresponds to the total number of strokes of the cutting blade 24 when cutting the machining area layer CR. The data regarding the machining path PT is data that defines the machining start point Ps and machining end point Pe of the machining path PT, and may define, for example, the machining start point coordinates (XY coordinates), machining path direction DT, and machining path length LT at each machining point. Of course, the machining start point coordinates (XY coordinates) and machining end point coordinates (XY coordinates) of the machining path PT may also be defined as data regarding the machining path PT.

[0081] As described above, the cutting depth ΔDS and cutting width WC per stroke of the scraper 22 correlate with the combination of the tool angle θ and the vertical indentation amount δz. Therefore, when generating control parameter information for each machining area layer CR, the machining instruction data generating unit 110 may use the allocated height ΔH and the width dimensions of the divided areas RIB, ROB set in the target machining area layer CR as the required cutting depth ΔDS and cutting width WC, respectively, and set the combination of the tool angle θ and vertical indentation amount δz that meets the conditions of the cutting depth ΔDS and cutting width WC as the tool angle θ and vertical indentation amount δz of each machining point. In this case, the combination of the tool angle θ and vertical indentation amount δz that meets the conditions of the cutting depth ΔDS and cutting width WC is , can be acquired from the cutting condition information table described in Fig. 10. The processing instruction data generation unit 110 generates such control parameter information for each processing area layer CR. Then, processing instruction data for flattening including the control parameter information of each processing area layer CR is generated and stored in the storage device 102.

[0082] <Scraping processing flow> Next, we will explain the scraping process flow executed by the control device 100. Fig. 19 is a flowchart executed by the processor 104 of the control device 100. The scraping process flow is started, for example, when the control device 100 receives a scraping start request from the user via the input device of the input / output device 103.

[0083] First, in step S101, the processing instruction data generation unit 110 executes the above-described flat surface processing instruction data generation process to generate flat surface processing instruction data. The flat surface processing instruction data generated by the processing instruction data generation unit 110 is stored in the storage device 102.

[0084] Next, in step S102, the control unit 111 acquires processing instruction data for flattening from the storage device 102. Then, in accordance with the acquired processing instruction data for flattening, the control unit 111 controls the robot arm 200 to execute flattening processing on the processing target surface 11 of the workpiece 10. That is, the control unit 111 controls the cutting blade 24 of the scraper 22 to cut the convex portion S3 of the processing target surface 11.

[0085] In the flattening processing instruction data generation process of this embodiment, the processing instruction data generation unit 110 acquires the convex portion S3 of the workpiece surface 11 based on the surface height information, divides the convex portion S3 in the height direction to set multiple processing area layers CR, and sets a processing path PT for the scraper 22 for each processing area layer CR. In this process, the processing instruction data generation unit 110 sets the processing path PT of the scraper 22 so that it intersects with the outer edge 11C of the outer peripheral region 11B of the workpiece surface 11 in a direction perpendicular to the outer peripheral region 11B. This allows the robot arm 200 to control the processing path direction of the scraper 22 so that it intersects with the outer edge 11C of the outer peripheral region 11B in a direction perpendicular to the outer peripheral region 11B when cutting the outer peripheral region 11B of the workpiece surface 11 during the flattening processing. As a result, the blade pressure of the cutting blade 24 (cutting edge 25) can be maintained constant during the process of cutting the outer peripheral region 11B of the workpiece surface 11, thereby preventing the outer peripheral region 11B from being cut too deeply.

[0086] In step S102, when cutting of all the machining area layers CR is completed, the flattening process ends and the process proceeds to step S103. In step S103, the control unit 111 acquires surface height information of the machining target surface 11 after the flattening process and determines whether the flatness of the machining target surface 11 after the flattening process satisfies a predetermined target flatness. The surface height information of the machining target surface 11 is acquired based on measurement data from the three-dimensional shape measuring instrument 300. The "flatness" here can be defined as "the magnitude of deviation from a geometrically correct plane (geometric plane) of a planar shape" as specified in, for example, JIS B 0621 "Definition and Display of Geometric Deviation." Then, in the machining target surface 11 after the flattening process, if the difference in height (Z coordinate) in the Z-axis direction between the highest point (most protruding point) and the lowest point (most recessed point) is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, it may be determined that the flatness of the machining target surface 11 satisfies the predetermined target flatness.

[0087] If it is determined in step S103 that the flatness of the processing target surface 11 satisfies the target flatness, the process proceeds to step S104. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S103 that the flatness of the processing target surface 11 does not satisfy the target flatness, the process returns to step S101, and the flatness processing instruction data generation process and the flatness processing process are executed again. In other words, the flatness processing process is performed until the flatness of the processing target surface 11 satisfies the target flatness.

[0088] In step S104, the processing instruction data generation unit 110 executes a finishing processing instruction data generation process to generate finishing processing instruction data. The finishing processing instruction data is processing instruction data used by the control device 100 when executing the finishing processing. The finishing processing instruction data is generated based on input information input in advance by the user via the input device of the input / output device 103, for example. The input information includes, for example, a contact area ratio and a number of contact points specified by the user. Here, the contact area ratio may be expressed as a ratio of the area of ​​contact surfaces (convex portions) formed by the finishing processing on the processing target surface 11 of the workpiece 10. Furthermore, the number of contact points may be expressed as the number of contact surfaces (convex portions) formed by the finishing processing on the processing target surface 11.

[0089] The processing instruction data generation unit 110 generates finishing processing instruction data that matches the conditions of the parameters included in the input information entered by the user. The finishing processing instruction data is a list of control parameters, such as the processing path PT, tool angle θ, vertical push-in amount δz, etc., used when cutting the workpiece surface 11 with the scraper 22, associated with each processing point number. The finishing processing instruction data generated by the processing instruction data generation unit 110 is stored in the storage device 102.

[0090] Next, in step S105, the control unit 111 acquires finishing processing instruction data from the storage device 102, controls the robot arm 200 in accordance with the acquired finishing processing instruction data, and executes finishing processing on the processing target surface 11 of the workpiece 10. That is, the processing target surface 11 after the flattening processing is cut by the scraper 22, and a depression for an oil reservoir is formed. When the finishing processing on the processing target surface 11 is completed, the scraping processing flow ends.

[0091] In the scraping processing flow described above, an example has been described in which the flattening processing instruction data generation process, the flattening processing process, the finishing processing instruction data generation process, and the finishing processing process are executed in a single flow, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the flattening processing instruction data generation process and the finishing processing instruction data generation process may be executed prior to the scraping processing flow and stored in the storage device 102 in advance.

[0092] <Modification> Next, a description will be given of a modified example of embodiment 1. The schematic configuration of the automatic scraping device in the modified example is the same as that of embodiment 1 described above.

[0093] FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a situation in which a corner 11E of the outer peripheral region 11B of the surface to be machined 11 is cut. As shown in FIG. 20, the corner 11E is a portion formed by the intersection of a pair of outer edges 11C in the outer peripheral region 11B, and can also be called a corner of the surface to be machined 11. In FIG. 20, reference numeral 11C1 denotes a first outer edge in the outer peripheral region 11B. Reference numeral 11C2 denotes a second outer edge in the outer peripheral region 11B. The corner 11E is formed by the intersection of the first outer edge 11C1 and the second outer edge 11C2. The corner 11E is a region that constitutes part of the outer peripheral region 11B and is included in the outer peripheral region 11B.

[0094] As described above, in the first embodiment, when cutting the outer peripheral region 11B of the workpiece surface 11 during flattening processing, the robot arm 200 is controlled so that the processing path direction of the scraper 22 intersects perpendicularly toward the outer edge 11C of the outer peripheral region 11B. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 20, when cutting the corner 11E of the outer peripheral region 11B, when the robot arm 200 is controlled so that the direction of the processing path PT (processing path direction) is perpendicular to the first outer edge 11C1, the cutting blade 24 intersects with the second outer edge 11C2, and as a result, a part of the cutting edge 25 of the cutting blade 24 protrudes from the second outer edge 11C2 into the outer region 11D. Hereinafter, such an event will be referred to as a "cutting edge protrusion stroke."

[0095] 20 denotes a region (hereinafter referred to as "cutting edge protrusion region") that protrudes into the outer region 11D when cutting the corner 11E in the width direction of the cutting edge 25. The larger the cutting edge protrusion region 25D, the more likely it is that the blade pressure of the cutting edge 25 will increase during cutting, compared to when the cutting edge 25 does not protrude.

[0096] Therefore, in this modification, when the processing instruction data generating unit 110 of the control device 100 executes the above-described processing instruction data generating process for flattening, it identifies the cutting target outer peripheral segmented region ROB, where a cutting tip protrusion stroke in which part of the cutting tip 25 protrudes into the external region 11D when cutting the corner 11E, as the corner outer peripheral segmented region ROD. Then, when generating control parameter information, the processing instruction data generating unit 110 sets a smaller control value for the corner outer peripheral segmented region ROD than for the normal cutting target outer peripheral segmented region ROB. The normal cutting target outer peripheral segmented region ROB here refers to the cutting target outer peripheral segmented region ROB in which the above-described cutting tip protrusion stroke is not performed when cutting the outer peripheral region 11B.

[0097] As described above, the vertical push-in amount δz is set to a smaller value for the corner outer peripheral segmented region ROD than for the normal cutting target outer peripheral segmented region ROB. Therefore, when the control device 100 controls the robot arm 200 to cut the corner 11E of the workpiece surface 11, even if the cutting blade 24 performs a cutting edge protrusion stroke, the pressing force of the scraper 22 (cutting blade 24) against the workpiece surface 11 (corner 11E) can be reduced compared to when the cutting edge protrusion stroke is not performed (i.e., compared to when the cutting blade 24 does not intersect with the second outer edge 11C2). As a result, even if the cutting edge protrusion stroke is performed when cutting the corner 11E of the workpiece surface 11, the blade pressure of the cutting edge 25 during cutting can be prevented from increasing compared to when the cutting edge protrusion stroke is not performed, thereby preventing the corner 11E from being cut too deeply.

[0098] In this modification, the larger the cutting edge overhang region 25D during cutting of the corner 11E, the smaller the pressing force of the scraper 22 (cutting blade 24) during the cutting edge overhang stroke. For example, the greater the ratio of the dimension of the cutting edge overhang region 25D to the width dimension of the cutting edge 25 of the cutting blade 24 (hereinafter referred to as the "cutting edge overhang ratio"), the greater the degree of reduction in the vertical push-in amount δz of the corner outer peripheral compartment region ROD relative to the normal cutting target outer peripheral compartment region ROB. This allows the degree of reduction in the pressing force of the cutting blade 24 against the corner 11E during the cutting edge overhang stroke compared to when the cutting edge overhang stroke is not performed to be appropriately adjusted according to the cutting edge overhang ratio. In other words, the greater the cutting edge overhang ratio, the greater the degree of reduction in the pressing force of the cutting blade 24. This allows for more precise adjustment of the pressing force during the cutting edge overhang stroke, thereby more accurately preventing overcutting of the corner 11E.

[0099] <Other embodiments> The above-described embodiment and modifications are merely examples, and the present disclosure may be modified as appropriate within the scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the processes and means described in the present disclosure may be freely combined and implemented as long as no technical contradiction occurs.

[0100] Furthermore, a process described as being performed by one device may be shared and executed by multiple devices. Alternatively, a process described as being performed by different devices may be executed by a single device. In a computer system, the hardware configuration that realizes each function can be flexibly changed.

[0101] The present disclosure can also be realized by providing a computer program implementing the functions described in the above embodiments to a computer, and having one or more processors in the computer read and execute the program. Such a computer program may be provided to the computer via a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium connectable to the computer's system bus or via a network. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media include any type of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions, such as any type of disk, including magnetic disks (e.g., floppy disks, hard disk drives (HDDs), etc.), optical disks (e.g., CD-ROMs, DVDs, Blu-ray disks), read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), EPROM, EEPROM, magnetic cards, flash memory, or optical cards. [Explanation of symbols]

[0102] 1...Automatic scraping processing equipment 10. Work 11. Machining surface 100 Control device 104 Processor 110 Processing instruction data generation unit 111 Control unit 200···Robot arm 300...3D shape measuring instrument

Claims

1. An automatic scraping device that automatically scrapes a surface to be processed of a workpiece, a processing robot that holds a scraper having a cutting blade and strokes the scraper along the processing target surface in accordance with a processing path while pressing the cutting blade against the processing target surface; a control device that controls the processing robot in accordance with processing instruction data; Equipped with the control device controls the processing robot so that, when scraping the outer peripheral region of the processing target surface, a processing path direction, which is the direction of the processing path of the scraper, intersects perpendicularly toward the outer edge of the outer peripheral region, and so that the cutting blade exits from the outer edge to the outside midway through the stroke of the scraper, which strokes in one direction toward the outer edge of the outer peripheral region. Automatic scraping processing equipment.

2. When cutting a corner where a first outer edge and a second outer edge intersect in the outer circumferential region, if an overhang stroke is performed in a state in which a part of the cutting blade protrudes outside the second outer edge when controlling the processing robot so that the processing path direction is perpendicular to the first outer edge, the control device reduces the pressing force of the scraper against the corner compared to when the overhang stroke is not performed. The automatic scraping device according to claim 1.

3. 2. An information processing device comprising a processor that generates processing instruction data for controlling the processing robot according to claim 1, The processor: When generating outer peripheral portion processing instruction data for scraping the outer peripheral region of the processing target surface, the processing path direction of the scraper is set so as to intersect with the direction perpendicular to the outer edge of the outer peripheral region. Information processing device.

4. When cutting a corner portion where a first outer edge and a second outer edge intersect in the outer circumferential region, the processor controls the machining robot so that the machining path direction is perpendicular to the first outer edge, and when the processor controls the machining robot so that the cutting path direction is perpendicular to the first outer edge, ... and when the processor controls the machining robot so that the cutting path direction is perpendicular to the first outer edge, the cutting blade does not protrude beyond the second outer edge. generating the outer periphery processing instruction data so that, when the protruding stroke is performed, the pressing force of the scraper against the corner portion is reduced compared to when the protruding stroke is not performed; The information processing device according to claim 3 .

5. 2. A method for generating processing instruction data for controlling the processing robot according to claim 1, the method being executed by a processor of an information processing device, the method comprising: The processor: When generating outer peripheral portion processing instruction data for scraping the outer peripheral region of the processing target surface, the processing path direction of the scraper is set so as to intersect with the direction perpendicular to the outer edge of the outer peripheral region. A method for generating processing instruction data.

6. A processor of an information processing device that generates processing instruction data for controlling the processing robot according to claim 1, When generating outer peripheral portion processing instruction data for scraping the outer peripheral region of the processing target surface, a processing path direction of the scraper is set so as to intersect with an orthogonal direction toward an outer edge of the outer peripheral region. Processing instruction data generation program.

7. An automatic scraping method executed by a control device of an automatic scraping device that automatically scrapes a surface to be processed of a workpiece when controlling a processing robot in accordance with processing instruction data, comprising: The automatic scraping method performs scraping by stroking the scraper held by the processing robot along the surface to be processed in accordance with a processing path while pressing a cutting blade of the scraper against the surface to be processed, the control device controls the processing robot so that, when scraping the outer peripheral region of the processing target surface, a processing path direction, which is the direction of the processing path of the scraper, intersects perpendicularly toward the outer edge of the outer peripheral region, and so that the cutting blade exits from the outer edge to the outside midway through the stroke of the scraper, which strokes in one direction toward the outer edge of the outer peripheral region. Automatic scraping method.

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