Plate processing equipment

Abstract

To provide a plate material processing device capable of producing efficiently, a good quality structure member.SOLUTION: When starting a cutting operation with respect to a plate material 13, the cutting operation is started from an upper side of the plate material 13 in a state in which, a cutting member restriction part 12a is positioned on both sides of a main body part 32 in a thickness direction, with respect to the main body part 32 of a cutting member 11, and when increasing a cutting amount of the plate material 13 by moving the cutting member 11 by a first movement mechanism 24a, the cutting member restriction part 12a is configured so that the cutting member restriction part can maintain a state in which, the same is arranged on one surface side of the plate material 13 by a second movement mechanism 24b. Therefore, deformation of the cutting member 11 by compression force between a part where the cutting member contacts the plate material 13, and a part where the cutting member is fixed to the upper fixing member 28a, can be avoided.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a plate processing device capable of cutting a plate. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a known configuration is to use a plate processing device that processes plate materials using a cutting member formed into a thin plate to manufacture components (structural members) that constitute a building. For example, insulating foam resin material with insulating properties may be used as structural members for the walls and floors of a house, and a plate processing device is used to process this insulating material to the required size. A method has been proposed for efficiently manufacturing structural members using a plate processing device that moves a cutting member in the thickness direction of a positioned plate material to create incisions in the plate material (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-053730 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, when moving the cutting member in the thickness direction of the plate to create the cuts in the plate, the cutting member needs to be rigid enough to prevent deformation due to the reaction force from the plate, and therefore the thickness of the cutting member needs to be set large. On the other hand, if the thickness of the cutting member is set large, the force with which the cutting member forcibly penetrates the plate in a positioned state increases, which may cause problems such as scraping off a portion of the surface of the cut surface of the plate or creating undulations on the surface of the cut surface. In other words, there is still room for improvement in the configuration for efficiently manufacturing high-quality structural members.

[0005] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has as its object to provide a plate processing device capable of efficiently manufacturing high-quality structural members. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] To achieve this object, the plate processing device according to claim 1 comprises: A plate processing device capable of cutting a plate formed to have a predetermined thickness by a cutting member formed in a thin plate shape, an attachment portion provided on one surface side in a thickness direction of the plate material with respect to a plate material placement portion where the plate material is placed when the plate material is cut by the cutting member, and to which the cutting member is attached; a first moving mechanism that allows the cutting member to move in the thickness direction of the plate material via the mounting portion; an attachment portion-side limiting member that is disposed on the attachment portion side when the plate material placement portion is used as a reference, and is positioned on both sides of a portion of the cutting member in a thickness direction of the portion, and is capable of limiting displacement of the portion; a second movement mechanism that allows the attachment portion side limiting member to move relative to the cutting member in the thickness direction of the plate material, The plate material can be cut by a cutting advancement operation in which the cutting member advances relative to the plate material in a cutting advancement direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the plate material, the cutting member has a main body portion formed to have a substantially constant thickness, a cutting edge capable of cutting the plate material, and an inclined portion formed so that the thickness decreases from the main body portion to the cutting edge, the attachment portion side limiting member is configured to have a size such that the attachment portion side limiting member is not positioned on the cutting member's side in the cutting progression direction, To the main body of the cutting member The attachment portion side limiting member is not present on the separation progression direction side, a cutting operation is started on one side of the plate material placed in the plate material placement section with the attachment portion side limiting members positioned on both sides of the main body portion in the thickness direction; When the cutting member is moved by the first moving mechanism to increase the amount of cutting into the plate material, the mounting portion side limiting member is configured to be able to maintain a position on one side of the plate material by the second moving mechanism.

[0007] According to the plate processing device of claim 1, when the cutting member is moved by the first movement mechanism to increase the cutting depth, the attachment-side limiting member is maintained in a state where it is positioned on one side of the plate by the second movement mechanism. Even if a part of the cutting member attempts to displace in the thickness direction of the part that has not yet penetrated the plate, the displacement is limited by the attachment-side limiting member. Therefore, it is possible to create a cut in the plate while the movement of both sides of the cutting member in the thickness direction is limited by the attachment-side limiting member at a position close to the plate.

[0008] The plate material processing apparatus according to claim 2 is the plate material processing apparatus according to claim 1, The cutting member The side of the direction of separation The cutting edge is provided on the edge portion on the first direction side. as the main cutting edge is provided over the entire section within the range of the thickness of the plate material, and the cutting edge is not provided within the range of the thickness of the plate material at an edge portion on a second direction side opposite to the first direction side, The main cutting edge is configured in a shape that continues obliquely with respect to the cutting direction and also continues obliquely with respect to the thickness direction of the plate material, The attachment portion side limiting member has a base portion located on the second direction side of the cutting member and limiting portions located on both sides of the main body portion of the cutting member in the thickness direction of the main body portion, and is characterized in that the base portion and the limiting portions are integrated into a single part. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the plate processing device of claim 1, when the cutting member is moved to increase the cutting depth of the plate, the mounting-side limiting member can limit the movement of the cutting member on both sides in the thickness direction at a position close to the plate. This makes it easier to avoid deformation of the cutting member due to compression force between the part in contact with the plate and the part fixed to the mounting member. Therefore, even if the cutting member is set to be thin, deformation and damage of the cutting member can be easily suppressed, and high-quality structural members can be efficiently manufactured using thin cutting members.

[0010] According to the plate material processing device of claim 2, in addition to the effect of the plate material processing device of claim 1, the movement of the cutting member in the thickness direction can be restricted by the attachment portion restricting member integrated as a single component. Therefore, there is an effect that the attachment portion restricting member can be molded into a small size using a single resin material, and an increase in cost due to the addition of a function using the attachment portion restricting member can be suppressed.

[0011] Furthermore, since the movement of the cutting member in the thickness direction can be restricted by utilizing the edge portion of the cutting member on the second direction side where there is no cutting edge, the position and shape of the edge portion where the movement is restricted can be freely determined without being related to the shape of the cutting edge. This makes it easy to set the shape of the cutting member to an edge portion suitable for restricting deformation of the cutting member, and has the effect of making it easy to restrict deformation of the cutting member even with a simple structure or a small attachment restricting member. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] Front view showing the plate processing device [Figure 2] Explanation of the operating mechanism of the upper operating unit [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the cutting member and the upper and lower limiting members; [Figure 4] An explanatory diagram showing the cutting operation [Figure 5] An explanatory diagram showing the dividing and advancing operation and the extraction operation DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a front view showing a plate processing apparatus 10 as an embodiment. Fig. 1 also shows a schematic configuration of the plate processing apparatus 10, with the electrical connections between the control device 23 and each drive mechanism indicated by solid lines with arrows and the plate operation mechanism 26 indicated by a dashed line. In Fig. 1, the movement directions of the parts operated by each drive mechanism are also indicated by arrows for ease of understanding.

[0014] The plate material processing device 10 is an apparatus capable of cutting a plate material 13 formed to have a certain thickness (for example, 100 mm) using a cutting member 11 formed in a thin plate shape, and is configured to be able to manufacture one or more structural members (for example, heat insulating material) from one plate material 13. As shown in Fig. 1, the plate material processing device 10 processes the plate material 13 as an object to be processed, by placing the plate material 13 on a support table 22 attached to a frame 21 placed on a floor surface F, and controlling the control device 23 to control the relative position and orientation of the plate material 13 and the cutting member 11.

[0015] The plate material processing device 10 is equipped with two limiting sections 12a, 12b as a characteristic configuration for enabling the production of high-quality structural members. Specifically, the plate material processing device 10 is equipped with a cutting member limiting section 12a that limits the displacement of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction, and a plate material movement limiting section 12b that limits the movement of the plate material 13. Below, the basic configuration of the plate material processing device 10 will be first described, and then the configuration of the two limiting sections 12a, 12b will be described.

[0016] In the following explanation, the area (region) where the plate material 13 is placed on the support base 22 is referred to as the plate material placement section 13a, and the operation of the cutting member 11 that cuts (divides) the plate material 13 to manufacture a structural member is described as follows: the operation of the cutting member 11 in which the cutting member 11 advances in the thickness direction of the plate material 13 to create a notch in the plate material 13 is referred to as a cutting operation; the operation of the cutting member 11 in which the cutting member 11 advances in the opposite direction to the cutting operation to remove the plate material 13 is referred to as a removal operation; and the operation of the cutting member 11 that advances relative to the plate material 13 with the direction that intersects (is perpendicular to) the thickness direction of the plate material 13 (i.e., the continuous direction in which the plate material 13 continues) as the traveling direction is referred to as a dividing advancement operation.

[0017] The plate material processing device 10 is configured to be able to cut the plate material 13 using only the dividing advancement operation. For example, the cutting member 11 can be moved from one end face of the plate material 13 (for example, the left end face of the plate material 13 in FIG. 1) to the opposite end face (for example, the right end face of the plate material 13 in FIG. 1) so as to divide the plate material 13 into two pieces, thereby cutting (dividing) the plate material 13 into two pieces. Furthermore, by performing the dividing advancement operation after the cutting operation, it is possible to divide a portion of the plate material 13 from a portion away from the end face of the plate material 13. Furthermore, by performing the extracting operation after the dividing advancement operation, it is possible to divide a portion of the plate material 13 up to a portion away from the end face of the plate material 13. The plate material processing device 10 is capable of manufacturing structural members by combining the cutting operation, the dividing and advancing operation, and the extraction operation, thereby reducing the amount of waste material that cannot be used as structural members, and also making it possible to manufacture structural members with contours that are not limited to rectangles but also other shapes such as trapezoids and triangles, while reducing the amount of movement of the cutting member 11. Therefore, by using the plate material processing device 10, a large number of structural members can be efficiently manufactured from a small number of plate materials 13.

[0018] 1, the plate material processing device 10 includes a cutting member 11, an upper limiting member 12, a lower limiting member 14, a control device 23, an upper operating mechanism 24, a lower operating mechanism 25, a plate material operating mechanism 26, and a plate material positioning mechanism 27. The upper limiting member 12 is a member that integrates a cutting member limiting section 12a and a plate material movement limiting section 12b, and is configured to be movable in the vertical direction by the upper operating mechanism 24.

[0019] The cutting member 11 is attached to an upper operating unit 28 (upper fixed member 28a), which is part of the upper operating mechanism 24. The upper operating unit 28 is slidable along rails provided in the vertical direction (up and down direction in FIG. 1) and the horizontal direction (left and right direction in FIG. 1), thereby allowing the cutting member 11 to move relatively to the plate material 13.

[0020] The plate material movement mechanism 26 is configured by combining a clamping mechanism that clamps the ends of the plate material 13 (front and rear ends in the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1), a movement mechanism for moving the clamping mechanism back and forth, and a drive motor that operates each mechanism, and is configured to be able to move the plate material 13 in one direction (the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1). The movement of the cutting member 11 by the upper movement mechanism 24 and the movement of the plate material 13 by the plate material movement mechanism 26 are controlled by a control device 23. By controlling this control device 23, the cutting member 11 can be positioned over the entire range of the plate material 13.

[0021] The plate material positioning mechanism 27 is a mechanism that restricts the movement of the plate material 13 to position the plate material 13. The plate material positioning mechanism 27 is configured to include a positioning member 27a that is movable along a direction in which the plate material 13 continues, intersecting the thickness direction of the plate material 13, and an operating mechanism that operates the positioning member 27a.

[0022] The positioning members 27a operate to contact and press against the peripheral edge surface of the plate material 13 from both sides, restricting movement of the plate material 13 when it is cut by the cutting member 11. The plate material 13 is cut into multiple structural members by the cutting member 11, and positioning is also required for the cut plate material 13, which is smaller than its original size. For this reason, multiple positioning members 27a are installed so that they can position the plate material 13 on both the front, back, left, and right sides relative to the arrangement position of the cutting member 11, and so that they do not come into contact with the cutting member 11.

[0023] The upper operating mechanism 24 is a mechanism that operates the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12 relative to the plate material 13. The cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12 are configured to be relatively movable in the up-down direction, and to move and rotate integrally in other directions.

[0024] The upper operating mechanism 24 is provided with an operating mechanism that enables the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12 to rotate 360 ​​degrees or more around the vertical direction along the rotation center axis C1, and is configured so that the orientation of the cutting member 11 relative to the plate material 13 can be changed under the control of the control device 23. This makes it possible to set the orientation of the cutting member 11 so that it can cut the plate material 13 in any direction along the surface of the plate material 13, and to cut the plate material 13 into various shapes.

[0025] The upper operating mechanism 24 includes a first moving mechanism 24a that can move the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12 in the up-down direction, which is the thickness direction of the plate material 13, and a second moving mechanism 24b that can move the upper limiting member 12 relative to the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction of the plate material 13. The first moving mechanism 24a is configured by combining a drive source that generates a drive force that can move the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12, and a slide mechanism that can move the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12 in the thickness direction of the plate material 13. The second moving mechanism 24b is configured by combining a drive source that generates a drive force that can move the upper limiting member 12 relative to the cutting member 11, and a slide mechanism that can move the upper limiting member 12 relative to the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction of the plate material 13.

[0026] The drive sources of the first and second moving mechanisms 24a and 24b can be configured as pneumatically or hydraulically operated cylinders or electrically operated drive motors, and the slide mechanism can be configured as a linear-acting moving mechanism that combines a guide portion and a movable portion that allows movement along the guide portion.

[0027] The first moving mechanism 24a is configured by a mechanism that can move the upper operating unit 28 in the up and down direction. The upper operating unit 28 is configured by integrating an operating unit main body 28b, a rotating body 28c that can be rotated relative to the operating unit main body 28b by a drive motor (not shown), the cutting member 11, the upper limiting member 12, and the second moving mechanism 24b. The upper fixing member 28a is configured as a part of the rotating body 28c.

[0028] Here, referring to FIG. 2, the up-and-down movement of the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12 by the first moving mechanism 24a and the second moving mechanism 24b will be described. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the movement mechanism of the upper operating unit 28, in which FIG. 2(A) shows the upper operating unit 28 in a state where it is positioned at its highest raised position, FIG. 2(B) shows the upper operating unit 28 in a state where it is positioned at its lowered position where it has been lowered from the raised position, and FIG. 2(C) shows the state where the upper limiting member 12 has moved upward relative to the cutting member 11 at the lowered position. Note that in FIG. 2, the first moving mechanism 24a is not shown, and the outer shapes of the upper operating unit 28 and the workpiece placement unit 13a are indicated by dashed lines. The amount of movement of the cutting member 11 and the upper operating unit 28 by the first moving mechanism 24a is indicated by the length of the downward arrow, and the amount of movement of the upper limiting member 12 by the second moving mechanism 24b is indicated by the length of the upward arrow.

[0029] The first moving mechanism 24a moves the entire upper operating unit 28 between a raised position and a lowered position. The second moving mechanism 24b moves the upper limiting member 12 between a standby position, where the upper limiting member 12 is positioned at the highest possible position relative to the cutting member 11, and an operating position, where the upper limiting member 12 is positioned lower relative to the cutting member 11 than the standby position. Preferably, both the first moving mechanism 24a and the second moving mechanism 24b are configured with a moving mechanism (e.g., an air cylinder) that only directs the drive direction and can be controlled by the control device 23 to move a movable part (e.g., a cylinder rod) toward either one side (upward) or the other side (downward). This allows the upper operating unit 28 to perform the required operation while minimizing costs.

[0030] 2 illustrates an example in which an air cylinder 24c is used as the second movement mechanism 24b. When the upper operating unit 28 is in the raised position, the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12 are positioned above the upper end 13b of the workpiece placement unit 13a, as shown in FIG. 2(A). When the upper operating unit 28 is in the raised position, the second movement mechanism 24b is controlled by the control device 23 to move the upper limiting member 12 as far downward as possible relative to the cutting member 11 (lower positioning state). When the control device 23 controls the first movement mechanism 24a to move the upper operating unit 28 downward, the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12 move toward their lowered positions.

[0031] When the cutting member 11 is in the lowered position, as shown in Fig. 2(B), the lower end 31 of the cutting member 11 protrudes downward from the lower end 13c of the workpiece placement section 13a, and the upper end of the cutting edge 33 of the cutting member 11 is positioned above the upper end of the workpiece placement section 13a. Therefore, the cutting member 11 moves horizontally relative to the workpiece 13, thereby cutting the entire thickness range of the workpiece 13. Here, when the cutting member 11 is in the lowered position, the downward movement of the upper limiting member 12 is limited by the surface (top surface) of the workpiece 13, and the upper limiting member 12 stops at a position higher than the position shown in Fig. 2(B); the operation of this upper limiting member 12 will be described later.

[0032] When the control device 23 controls the second moving mechanism 24b to move the cylinder rod 24d upward, the upper limiting member 12 connected to the cylinder rod 24d via the moving body 24e moves upward relative to the cutting member 11, as shown in Fig. 2(C). Here, Fig. 2 illustrates a state in which the vertically long, cylindrical moving body 24e is guided by guides 24f installed spaced apart from each other above and below so as to move straight in the vertical direction.

[0033] The cylinder rod 24d moves upward a distance determined by the movable amount of the air cylinder 24c. When the cylinder rod 24d reaches its upper position, where it has moved upward to its maximum extent, the upper limiting member 12 stops. The movable amount of the upper limiting member 12 upward is set to a length that positions the lower end of the upper limiting member 12 above the upper end 13b of the plate material placement section 13a. This ensures that when the plate material 13 is cut by the cutting member 11, the upper limiting member 12 is not positioned within the thickness range of the plate material 13, allowing the plate material 13 to be cut smoothly.

[0034] The first moving mechanism 24a and the second moving mechanism 24b are controlled by the control device 23. By controlling this control device 23, the height positions of the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12 relative to the workpiece placement section 13a (workpiece 13), and the height position of the upper limiting member 12 relative to the cutting member 11 can be set to height positions required for cutting processing as needed.

[0035] Furthermore, the second moving mechanism 24b has a function of stopping the upper limiting member 12 at the contact position when the upper limiting member 12 comes into contact with the plate material 13 from above. The operating force of this second moving mechanism 24b is set to a pressing force that does not significantly deform the plate material 13 upon contact with the plate material 13 (for example, a pressing force that does not cause plastic deformation of the plate material 13, or a pressing force that does not cause cracks or breakage on the surface of the plate material 13). This makes it possible to avoid a situation in which a part of the plate material 13 used as a structural member is unsightly due to contact with the upper limiting member 12.

[0036] The first moving mechanism 24a and the second moving mechanism 24b are not limited to the above configuration and may have other configurations. For example, the upper limiting member 12 may be installed as a vertically movable component separate from the upper operating unit 28, with the first moving mechanism 24a moving the cutting member 11 in the vertical direction and the second moving mechanism 24b moving the upper limiting member 12 in the vertical direction. The mechanism for moving the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12 relative to the plate material 13 is not limited to the above configuration and other mechanisms may be used. For example, the plate material 13 may be cut by attaching the second moving mechanism 24b to an articulated robot having a first moving mechanism 24a that can move the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12 about multiple rotation axes. In addition, the plate material processing device 10 may be configured to include other general components used when cutting the plate material 13 with the cutting member 11, such as limiting rollers (not shown) that limit the displacement of the plate material 13 in the vertical direction when cutting the plate material 13, and rotating rollers (not shown) that smooth the movement of the plate material 13 supported on the support base 22.

[0037] The control device 23 is a device that performs various controls, including control for relatively displacing the cutting member 11, the upper limiting member 12, the lower limiting member 14, and the plate 13 when processing the plate 13. The control device 23 is configured, for example, by a personal computer, and is equipped with a ROM as a storage device for storing processing programs (programs for controlling the operation of each component, including the upper operating mechanism 24, the lower operating mechanism 25, the plate operating mechanism 26, and the plate positioning mechanism 27), a RAM for temporarily storing processing data, a CPU as an arithmetic processing device, an information input device for inputting processing data necessary for processing the plate 13 to manufacture parts, a keyboard, a mouse, a display, etc. The displacement operation means for relatively displacing the cutting member 11, the upper limiting member 12, the lower limiting member 14, and the plate 13 is configured by part of the function of the control device 23, which controls each mechanism based on the program stored in the ROM. The control device 23 does not necessarily have to be configured as a single personal computer; instead, or in addition, it may be configured to use a device such as a sequencer that uses a relay circuit, or it may be configured so that control is shared among multiple computers.

[0038] Next, the configuration of the cutting member limiting portion 12a, which is formed by a part of the upper limiting member 12, and the plate material movement limiting portion 12b will be described mainly with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3(A) is an exploded perspective view showing the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12, and Figs. 3(B) and 3(C) are perspective views showing the lower end portion 31 of the cutting member 11 and the lower limiting member 14. Fig. 3(B) shows a state in which the lower end portion 31 of the cutting member 11 is disposed between the lower limiting members 14 and movement is not restricted, and Fig. 3(C) shows a state in which movement of the lower end portion 31 of the cutting member 11 is restricted by the lower limiting member 14. In addition, in Figure 3(A), in order to make it easier to understand the relative positional relationship between the cutting member limiting portion 12a and the plate material movement limiting portion 12b with respect to the cutting member 11, the outer shape of the part of the cutting member 11 where the cross section of the cutting member limiting portion 12a and the plate material movement limiting portion 12b is located is shown by a dotted line.

[0039] The cutting member 11 is fixed to the upper fixing member 28a by fixing devices 28d such as screws. The cutting member 11 is made of a thin metal plate and has a main body 32 formed to have a substantially constant thickness, a cutting edge 33 capable of cutting the plate material 13, and an inclined portion 34 formed so that the thickness decreases from the main body 32 to the cutting edge 33. The cutting member 11 is sandwiched between the upper fixing members 28a on both sides in the thickness direction of the upper part of the main body 32, and is fastened to the upper fixing member 28a by fixing devices 28d such as bolts.

[0040] The cutting edge 33 of the cutting member 11 is formed so as to be able to maintain a sharp state by polishing the inclined portion 34. The cutting edge 33 is composed of a main cutting edge 33a which is made up of a long continuous portion on the diagonally downward side, and a sub-cutting edge 33b which is a short continuous portion extending from the bottom end of the main cutting edge 33a in the opposite direction (diagonally upward) from the main cutting edge 33a.

[0041] When the cutting member 11 cuts the plate material 13 by the advancing cutting operation, the main cutting edge 33a forms an edge portion on the side in the direction of advancement of the cutting member 11 relative to the plate material 13. The length of the main cutting edge 33a is set to a length that covers the entire section within the range of the thickness of the plate material 13 during the advancing cutting operation.

[0042] The auxiliary cutting edge 33b is provided on the side opposite to the moving direction of the cutting member 11 when cutting the plate material 13 by the advancing cutting operation (hereinafter also referred to as the side without the cutting edge 33) with respect to the main cutting edge 33a. The length of the auxiliary cutting edge 33b is set to a length that allows the entire range to protrude downward from within the thickness range of the plate material 13 during the advancing cutting operation.

[0043] The shapes of the major cutting edge 33a and the minor cutting edge 33b are not limited to being linear, and may be other shapes, such as having a curved portion or being formed in a broken line. The minor cutting edge 33b is not necessarily provided, and the cutting edge may be comprised of only the major cutting edge 33a. The length of the minor cutting edge 33b does not necessarily have to be such that it is not within the thickness range of the sheet material 13 when cutting the sheet material 13, and the minor cutting edge 33b may be formed to a length that allows it to fit within the thickness range.

[0044] The upper limiting member 12 has a vertically elongated cutting member limiting portion 12a and a plate-shaped plate material movement limiting portion 12b. The cutting member limiting portion 12a and the plate material movement limiting portion 12b are integrated with each other by integration means (not shown) such as screws or adhesive. The lower end portion of the moving body 24e (see FIG. 2) of the second movement mechanism 24b is connected and fixed to the upper portion of the cutting member limiting portion 12a by fasteners (not shown) such as screws.

[0045] The cutting member limiting portion 12a is disposed so as to be located above the minor cutting edge 33b of the cutting member 11, and has limiting portions located on both sides of a portion of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction to limit movement in the thickness direction, so that it is possible to limit the amount of displacement in the thickness direction within a certain range. The cutting member limiting portion 12a is provided with a base portion 41 located on the side of the cutting member 11 where the cutting edge 33 is not located, and a protruding portion 43 that protrudes from the base portion 41 toward the cutting member 11, separated by a vertically long gap portion 42. The protruding portion 43 functions as a limiting portion that limits movement of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction.

[0046] The base 41 and the protrusion 43 are integrally molded as a single component using synthetic resin. Therefore, even if the cutting member 11 applies a pressing force to one of the protrusions 43, the protrusion 43 on the opposite side, connected via the base 41, remains hooked on the cutting member 11, thereby efficiently suppressing deformation. Therefore, even a small cutting member limiting part 12a can limit the displacement of the cutting member 11 with high rigidity, minimizing the restriction on the movable range of the cutting member 11, and it is possible to add functions using the cutting member limiting part 12a at low cost.

[0047] The protrusions 43 are located on both sides of the main body 32 of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction of the main body 32. The gap width of the gap 42 formed between the protrusions 43 is slightly larger than the thickness of the main body 32 of the cutting member 11, for example, 0.2 mm on each side. When the resistance force of the plate material 13 is applied to the cutting member 11 during processing of the plate material 13, the main body 32 tends to deform from its flat shape, and this deformation becomes more likely the thinner the main body 32 is. However, because the protrusions 43 can limit the displacement of the main body 32, deformation can be avoided even with a thin cutting member 11, making it possible to process high-quality structural members with high precision.

[0048] It should be noted that the base 41 and the protrusion 43 do not necessarily have to be formed as integrally molded parts; the base 41 and the protrusion 43 may be formed as separate parts and integrated together, or the configuration may be such that there is no base 41 and the portions corresponding to the protrusion 43 are positioned relative to the cutting member 11 on both sides of the main body 32 in the thickness direction.

[0049] The gap width of the gap 42 formed between the protrusions 43 may be set to be approximately the same as the thickness of the main body 32 of the cutting member 11, or may be set to be smaller than the thickness of the main body 32, and may contact at least one side of the main body 32 to press the cutting member 11. The portion of the protrusion 43 (gap 42) that contacts the main body 32 does not necessarily have to be flat, but may have undulations so that the portion that contacts the main body 32 is limited. A movement mechanism that enables the protrusion 43 to move in the thickness direction of the main body 32 may be added, and the gap width of the gap 42 formed between the protrusions 43 may be configured to be variable by the control device 23, and the movement of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction of the main body 32 may be limited by reducing the gap width.

[0050] The protrusion 43 (gap 42) may be configured to have a low frictional force between its surface and the surface of the cutting member 11. For example, the protrusion 43 (gap 42) may be configured to have a separate member made of a different material that has a lower frictional force when in contact with the cutting member 11 than the base 41. At least one of the contacting portions between the protrusion 43 (gap 42) and the cutting member 11 may be subjected to a surface treatment (e.g., fluorine coating) that reduces frictional force. Alternatively, rotating rollers may be provided on both sides of the protrusion 43 (gap 42) in the thickness direction of the cutting member 11, with the cutting member 11 positioned between the rotating rollers, allowing the rotating rollers to limit displacement of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction, and reducing frictional force when the rotating rollers rotate during the cutting operation.

[0051] Here, the periphery 35 of the main body 32 on the side without the cutting edge 33 is formed into a shape that is continuous in the vertical direction. The direction in which this periphery 35 continues coincides with the direction in which the upper limiting member 12 can move relatively to the cutting member 11 by the second movement mechanism 24b. The upper limiting member 12 may move relatively to the cutting member 11 during the cutting operation and the extraction operation, and the periphery 35 on the side without the cutting edge 33 is formed into a shape that is continuous in the vertical direction to allow this relative movement.

[0052] The lower end 31 of the cutting member 11 is located below the peripheral edge 35 on the side without the cutting edge 33. The lower end 31 of the cutting member 11 is the part of the cutting member 11 that is the farthest from the upper fixing member 28a among the parts where the cutting edge 33 is provided, and the area of ​​the main body 32 near the peripheral edge 35 on the side without the cutting edge 33 is most likely to deform. In this embodiment, the peripheral edge 35 in this part where deformation is likely to be large is formed linearly, and the cutting member limiting portion 12a of the upper limiting member 12 is configured as a vertically elongated shape that is continuous in the vertical direction so as to have the same cross-sectional shape. As a result, even when the second moving mechanism 24b moves the cutting member 11 and the cutting member limiting portion 12a relative to each other, the cutting member limiting portion 12a can always limit the thicknesswise displacement of the cutting member 11 with the same combination of cross-sectional shapes. Therefore, even if the part of the cutting member 11 where displacement in the thickness direction is suppressed and the shape and size of the cutting member restricting portion 12a are configured to be small and simple, it is possible to create a structure that can efficiently restrict the displacement of the cutting member 11.

[0053] The plate material movement restricting portion 12b is a portion that comes into contact with the upper surface of the plate material 13 near the cutting member 11 during the operation of extracting the cutting member 11, restricting a portion of the plate material 13 from moving upward together with the cutting member 11. The foam resin used for the plate material 13 is soft and easily deformed, and even if the cutting member 11 moves even a little away from the point where the plate material 13 is positioned, the plate material 13 may deform during the extraction operation. The provision of the plate material movement restricting portion 12b makes it possible to suppress deformation of the plate material 13 near the cutting member 11 during the extraction operation, thereby maintaining high processing accuracy of the plate material 13 and making it easier to avoid a situation in which the cutting edge 33 comes into contact with the cutting surface of the plate material 13 during the extraction operation and damaging the cutting surface.

[0054] The plate material movement limiting portion 12b is formed to have a larger outer shape when viewed from above than the cutting member limiting portion 12a. This makes it possible to reduce the pressure when the plate material movement limiting portion 12b comes into contact with the plate material 13 from above, and to prevent the surface of the plate material 13 from being dented or damaged. Note that the plate material movement limiting portion 12b does not necessarily have to be provided separately from the cutting member limiting portion 12a, and the lower end surface of the plate material movement limiting portion 12b may be configured as the cutting member limiting portion 12a.

[0055] The plate movement restricting portion 12b is formed of a plate-like member having a substantially semicircular outer shape when viewed from above and a thickness direction in the vertical direction. A gap 42 into which a part of the cutting member 11 can fit is formed in the plate movement restricting portion 12b at a portion corresponding to the center of the radius of the arc-shaped outer periphery. The outer shape of the plate movement restricting portion 12b viewed from above is not limited to a substantially semicircular shape, but may be other shapes such as a substantially rectangular or triangular shape. The lower surface of the plate movement restricting portion 12b is not limited to a flat surface, but may have an undulating shape, or may have only a portion (for example, the outer periphery along the outer shape) protruding downward.

[0056] The lower end 31 of the cutting member 11 is located below the gap 42. Therefore, a portion of the main body 32 located vertically above the lower end 31 of the cutting member 11 is surrounded on three sides, including both sides in the thickness direction of the cutting member 11 and one side (the side without the cutting edge 33) where the plate movement limiting portion 12b is located. As a result, when the plate movement limiting portion 12b comes into contact with the plate material 13, the upward movement of the plate material 13 above the lower end 31 can be suppressed by dispersing pressure over almost the entire area around the portion of the plate material 13 where displacement is large. This makes it possible to efficiently suppress dents and damage to the surface of the plate material 13.

[0057] The plate material movement limiting parts 12b do not necessarily have to be provided on three sides of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction, including both sides and the side where the plate material movement limiting parts 12b are located (the side where the cutting edge 33 is not present), but may be provided on at least one side around the cutting member 11. For example, the plate material movement limiting parts 12b may not be provided on both sides of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction, and may be configured to be sized so that the plate material movement limiting parts 12b are located only on the side where the plate material movement limiting parts 12b are located (the side where the cutting edge 33 is not present), or the plate material movement limiting parts 12b may be located only on one side of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction, or the plate material movement limiting parts 12b may be located on all four sides of the cutting member 11 so as to surround the cutting member 11.

[0058] The lower limiting members 14 are positioned on both sides of the lower end 31 of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction and limit the amount of displacement of the lower end 31 in the thickness direction within a certain range. As shown in FIG. 3(B), the lower limiting members 14 are provided at a height position that allows the lower end 31 of the cutting member 11 to enter. The lower limiting members 14 are formed, for example, by cutting a metal piece and have planar contactable surfaces 14a that form the gap between two symmetrically shaped members. The contactable surfaces 14a are configured to be positionable on both sides of the lower end 31 of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction. Note that in FIGS. 3(B) and 3(C), only a portion of the lower limiting member 14, including the contactable surfaces 14a, is shown, and the entire structure and mechanism are not shown.

[0059] The contactable surface 14a is configured to be movable in the thickness direction of the cutting member 11, specifically, to be movable between a separated position where it is separated from the cutting member 11 and an operating position where it is closer to or in contact with the cutting member 11 than the separated position. The movement of the lower limiting member 14 is configured by an operating mechanism (not shown) that can operate the lower limiting member 14, for example, by rotating about a rotation center axis C2 set in the lower part of the lower limiting member 14, and the operation of the operating mechanism is controlled by the control device 23.

[0060] The lower limiting member 14 is placed in the operating position only when the cutting member 11 is placed in the lowered position by the first moving mechanism 24a. During the cutting progress operation in which the cutting member 11 cuts the plate material 13, the lower limiting member 14 is placed in the operating position and limits the displacement of the lower end portion 31 of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction. This limits the displacement of the lower end portion 31 of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction beyond a certain level, making it easier to process the plate material 13 with high precision.

[0061] When the lower limiting member 14 is placed in the operating position, the contactable surface 14a forms a limiting portion that limits the movement of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction. The gap width of the contactable surface 14a as a limiting portion is set smaller than the thickness of the main body 32 of the cutting member 11, so that the cutting member 11 can be easily maintained in a clamped state positioned toward the designed center position by the operating force of the operating mechanism. Note that the gap width of the contactable surface 14a when placed in the operating position does not necessarily have to be set smaller than the thickness of the main body 32 of the cutting member 11; it may be set slightly larger than the thickness of the main body 32. Even in this case, it is possible to easily position the lower end 31 of the cutting member 11 in the designed center position.

[0062] The lower limiting member 14 is attached to the lower operating mechanism 25 (see FIG. 1) and is configured to be operable in synchronization with the movement of the cutting member 11 by the upper operating mechanism 24. Specifically, the lower limiting member 14 is slidable in the horizontal direction (left and right in FIG. 1) along rails provided on the lower operating mechanism 25, and is also configured to be rotatable 360 ​​degrees or more around the vertical direction, similar to the cutting member 11. The movement and rotation of the lower limiting member 14 by the lower operating mechanism 25 are also controlled by the control device 23, and the lower limiting member 14 operates synchronously below the cutting member 11 in accordance with the position and orientation of the cutting member 11, so that its rotation center axis C1 (see FIG. 1) coincides with that of the cutting member 11.

[0063] The lower limiting member 14 does not necessarily have to be configured to be movable in the thickness direction of the cutting member 11. For example, an integrated lower limiting member 14 may be configured to have a gap portion at a fixed interval as a limiting portion and a gap portion (guiding portion) that gradually widens on one side (e.g., the upper side) of the limiting portion, so that the gap width of the limiting portion does not fluctuate, and the cutting member 11 may enter the limiting portion from the guiding portion relative to this lower limiting member 14, thereby restricting the movement of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction. Furthermore, the limiting portion does not necessarily have to be configured as a flat surface, and may be configured in other shapes, such as one that includes a curved portion.

[0064] Here, the size of the protrusion 43 (gap 42) in the cutting member limiting portion 12a and the size of the limiting portion (contactable surface 14a) of the lower limiting member 14 relative to the cutting member 11 arranged in the lowered position may be such that the inclined portion 34 and the cutting edge 33 overlap in the thickness direction of the cutting member 11, but it is preferable that the size is such that the cutting edge 33 does not overlap. This makes it easier to avoid a situation where the inclined portion 34 of the cutting member 11 comes into contact with the limiting portion or the cutting edge 33 when cutting the plate material 13, resulting in deformation of the inclined portion 34 of the cutting member 11 or damage to the cutting edge 33.

[0065] Next, the operation of the cutting member 11 when a structural member is manufactured from a plate material 13 by the plate material processing device 10 will be described with reference to Figures 4 and 5. Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the cutting operation, and Figure 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the cutting advancement operation and the extraction operation. In Figures 4 and 5, the direction in which the upper limiting member 12 is controlled to be movable by the second movement mechanism 24b (the direction in which a pressing force is generated) is indicated by a thick arrow, and the direction in which the cutting member 11 is controlled to move is indicated by a thin arrow.

[0066] When the cutting operation starts, as shown in Fig. 4(A), the lower end 31 of the cutting member 11 protrudes below the upper limiting member 12, and the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12, in a state where they are integrated, descend to a position where the cutting member 11 contacts the surface (top surface) of the plate material 13. This descending operation is performed by the control device 23 controlling the first moving mechanism 24a, which lowers the upper operating unit 28, in which the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12 are integrated, from the raised position (see Fig. 2(A)) to the lowered position (see Fig. 2(B)).

[0067] During the cutting operation, the cutting member limiting portions 12a of the upper limiting member 12 are positioned on both sides in the thickness direction of the main body portion 32 of the cutting member 11. In this state, the cutting operation of the plate material 13 placed in the plate material placing portion 13a starts from one side of the plate material 13.

[0068] When the lower end of the cutting member 11 comes into contact with the plate material 13, a reaction force from the plate material 13 generates stress between the lower end of the cutting member 11 and the upper fixing member 28a, which causes buckling in the cutting member 11 and causes deformation in the thickness direction of the plate material 13. The amount of displacement in the thickness direction of the main body 32 due to deformation of the cutting member 11 tends to be large near the periphery 35 on the side without the cutting edge 33, which corresponds to the portion between the upper fixing member 28a and the lower end of the cutting member 11, and in terms of height, tends to be large at a height portion near the center between the upper fixing member 28a and the lower end of the cutting member 11.

[0069] However, even if the main body 32 of the cutting member 11 attempts to displace in the thickness direction, the displacement in the thickness direction in the portion between the upper fixing member 28a and the cutting member 11 is prevented by the cutting member limiting portion 12a (projection 43) of the upper limiting member 12. Therefore, the stress generated in the cutting member 11 does not exceed a certain value, and deformation of the cutting member 11 is also suppressed. Therefore, even if the thickness of the cutting member 11 is set thin in order to manufacture high-quality structural members, deformation or damage to the cutting member 11 that would hinder high-precision processing can be suppressed.

[0070] Furthermore, when the cutting member 11 penetrates into the plate material 13 during the cutting operation, the surface portion of the plate material 13 where the cut is made is pushed out in the thickness direction of the cutting member 11 by an amount equivalent to the thickness of the cutting member 11. At this time, if the upper limiting member 12 is in contact with the surface of the plate material 13 before the cut is made in the plate material 13, the cutting member 11 may have difficulty progressing into the plate material 13, which may increase the stress generated inside the cutting member 11. Furthermore, if the cutting member 11 advances into the plate material 13 while the surface of the plate material 13 remains in contact with the upper limiting member 12, the surface portion of the plate material 13 may move in the thickness direction of the cutting member 11, which may cause scratches on the surface of the plate material 13.

[0071] In contrast to this, in this embodiment, during the cutting operation, the cutting member 11 comes into contact with the plate material 13 before the upper limiting member 12 comes into contact with the surface of the plate material 13, and the upper limiting member 12 comes into contact with the surface of the plate material 13 after the cutting member 11 has penetrated into the plate material 13 by a certain amount. Therefore, by keeping the reaction force from the plate material 13 low when the cutting starts to be made and keeping the stress generated inside the cutting member 11 at a low value, it is possible to keep deformation of the cutting member 11 small and also to avoid a situation in which the upper limiting member 12 comes into contact with the surface of the plate material 13 and scratches are caused.

[0072] 4(B) shows a state in which the upper limiting member 12 is in contact with the surface of the plate material 13. In this state, the lower end of the main body 32 of the cutting member 11 has entered the inside of the plate material 13. Furthermore, in the portion where the protruding portion 43 of the upper limiting member 12 is located, the main body 32 is configured to enter the inside of the plate material 13 first below the protruding portion 43. Therefore, after the upper limiting member 12 comes into contact with the plate material 13, the contact portion between the upper limiting member 12 and the plate material 13 does not expand even if the cutting member 11 moves downward, and the occurrence of scratches can be prevented.

[0073] When the cutting member 11 is moved further downward by the control of the first moving mechanism 24a (see FIG. 1) by the control device 23, the cutting depth of the plate material 13 increases. When this cutting depth is increased, the cutting member limiting portion 12a of the upper limiting member 12 is maintained in a state where it is positioned on one side (upper side) of the plate material 13 by the second moving mechanism 24b (see FIG. 2). Therefore, even if a portion of the cutting member 11 attempts to displace in the thickness direction of the cutting member 11, the displacement continues to be limited by the upper limiting member 12. Therefore, it is possible to create a cut in the plate material 13 while the movement of both sides of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction is limited by the cutting member limiting portion 12a at a position close to the plate material 13.

[0074] In this way, even when the cutting member 11 is moved by the cutting operation to start cutting into the plate material 13 or when the cutting depth is increased, the upper limiting member 12 (cutting member limiting portion 12a) is maintained in a state where it is positioned on one side (upper side) of the plate material 13 by the second moving mechanism 24b, thereby restricting displacement of a portion of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction. This makes it possible to avoid a situation in which the cutting member 11 is deformed by a compressive force between the portion in contact with the plate material 13 and the portion fixed to the upper fixing member 28a during the process of creating the cut. Therefore, even if the cutting member 11 is set to a thin thickness, deformation of the cutting member 11 can be suppressed, and high-quality structural members can be efficiently manufactured using thin cutting members 11.

[0075] Furthermore, the upper limiting member 12 (cutting member limiting portion 12a) is configured to limit the movement of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction at the edge portion on the side of the cutting member 11 where the cutting edge 33 does not exist (the side where the periphery 35 is provided). Therefore, the position and shape of the edge portion where the periphery 35 is provided and whose movement is limited can be made a part with a high degree of freedom that is not related to the shape of the cutting edge 33.

[0076] In this embodiment, the cutting member 11 is shaped so that the peripheral edge 35 extends linearly vertically upward from the lower end of the cutting member 11, and displacement of the edge portion where the peripheral edge 35 is provided can be limited by a small, thin cutting member limiting member 12a. In other words, by utilizing a portion of the cutting member 11 that does not affect the shape of the cutting edge 33, deformation of the cutting member 11 can be efficiently limited using a small, simply structured upper limiting member 12 without reducing the function of the cutting member 11.

[0077] It is not necessary that the cutting member 11 contacts the plate material 13 while protruding downward relative to the upper limiting member 12. For example, the downward movement of the upper limiting member 12 may be controlled and stopped by the control device 23 within the movable range thereof, and the downward movement of the upper limiting member 12 may be stopped before the upper limiting member 12 contacts the surface of the plate material 13, so that the cutting member 11 contacts the plate material 13 first. In this case, the position at which the downward movement of the upper limiting member 12 is stopped may be determined based on the thickness of the plate material 13 being fed, or the movement of the upper limiting member 12 may be stopped by a sensor that detects the position of the top surface of the plate material 13.

[0078] Furthermore, the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12 may be configured to contact the plate material 13 at the same time, or the lower end of the cutting member 11 may be positioned higher than the lower end of the upper limiting member so that the upper limiting member 12 contacts the plate material 13 first. Even in this case, providing the upper limiting member 12 can suppress deformation of the cutting member 11, so a thin cutting member 11 can be selected. By being able to select a thin cutting member 11, movement of the surface of the plate material 13 caused by the cutting member 11 entering the inside of the plate material 13 can be reduced, and scratches on the surface of the plate material 13 can be suppressed.

[0079] Furthermore, the cutting member limiting portion 12a of the upper limiting member 12 has a protrusion 43 (gap portion 42) that suppresses deformation of the cutting member 11, and is provided over substantially the entire vertical area of ​​the periphery 35 of the main body 32 of the cutting member 11 on the side where the cutting edge 33 is not present, so that the cutting member limiting portion 12a is able to limit displacement of the cutting member 11 up to the height position of the upper fixing member 28a. This makes it possible to reliably suppress deformation of the cutting member 11 over the entire vertical area.

[0080] The protrusion 43 (gap 42) that suppresses deformation of the cutting member 11 does not need to be provided continuously over substantially the entire vertical area of ​​the periphery 35 on the side where the cutting edge 33 is not present. It may be configured to be shorter than the length of the periphery 35 or to be provided intermittently at two or more locations in the vertical direction. In this case, it is preferable that, when the incision starts to be made, the protrusion 43 (gap 42) is located in a portion corresponding to the center in the height direction between the upper fixing member 28a and the lower end of the cutting member 11, and that a portion above this portion does not include the protrusion 43 (gap 42), thereby making the cutting member limiting portion 12a compact. Furthermore, when the center in the height direction of the portion between the upper fixing member 28a and the lower end of the cutting member 11 is used as a reference, it is preferable that the protrusion 43 (gap 42) is provided over a longer area on the side where the plate material 13 is located (lower side) than on the opposite side (upper side).

[0081] Next, the dividing and advancing operation and the extraction operation after the cut is generated will be described.

[0082] 4(C) shows the state in which the upper operating unit 28 is disposed in the lowered position (the state in FIG. 2(B)). When the upper operating unit 28 is disposed in the lowered position, the lower end of the cutting member 11 protrudes below the plate material 13 and reaches a height position where the contactable surface 14a of the lower limiting member 14 is provided. After this state is reached, the cutting member 11 advances in the horizontal direction relative to the plate material 13, and the cutting advancement operation of the cutting member 11 begins.

[0083] 5(A) shows a state in which, after the upper operating unit 28 is placed in the lowered position, the direction in which the second moving mechanism 24b controls the movement of the upper limiting member 12 is reversed, and the upper limiting member 12 moves upward and away from the plate material 13. Here, it is preferable to set the control of the control device 23 so that the upper limiting member 12 moves upward and away from the plate material 13 before the cutting and advancing operation is started. This makes it possible to prevent scratches on the plate material 13 caused by relative movement between the surface of the plate material 13 and the upper limiting member 12 while they are in contact with each other during the cutting and advancing operation.

[0084] It is not necessary to move the upper limiting member 12 upward before the dividing and advancing operation. For example, if the downward pressing force of the upper limiting member 12 is low, scratches on the plate material 13 will hardly occur, and in this case, upward movement may be omitted. The upper limiting member 12 may also be configured to have low friction between the surface of the plate material 13 and that of the plate material 13. For example, the portion of the upper limiting member 12 that comes into contact with the plate material 13 may be made of a combination of materials that have low friction when in contact with the plate material 13, or a surface treatment (e.g., fluorine coating) that reduces friction may be applied to either the plate material 13 or the lower end surface of the upper limiting member 12, or a rotating roller may be provided on the lower end surface of the upper limiting member 12 so that rotation of the rotating roller during the dividing and advancing operation reduces friction.

[0085] Furthermore, after the upper operating unit 28 is placed in the lowered position, the lower limiting member 14 is displaced from the standby position (see FIG. 3(B)) to the operating position (see FIG. 3(C)) before the cutting and advancing operation starts. This allows the lower limiting member 14 to limit the amount of displacement of the lower end 31 of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction within a certain range during the cutting and advancing operation. This makes it easier to maintain high cutting accuracy during the cutting and advancing operation using the cutting member 11.

[0086] 5(B) shows the state where the cutting and advancing operation is completed and the extraction operation is started. When the cutting and advancing operation is completed, the lower limiting member 14 is displaced from the operating position (see FIG. 3(C)) to the standby position (see FIG. 3(B)). This releases the state where the lower limiting member 14 has restricted the displacement of the lower end 31 of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction.

[0087] After the cutting advancement operation is completed but before the extraction operation is started, the direction in which the second movement mechanism 24b controls the movement of the upper limiting member 12 is reversed to the downward direction, as shown by the arrow in Figure 5(B). As a result, the upper limiting member 12 moves downward and comes into contact with and presses against the surface of the plate material 13. Therefore, when the cutting member 11 rises during the extraction operation, a portion of the plate material 13 is kept pressed downward by the plate material movement limiting portion 12b of the upper limiting member 12, preventing the plate material 13 from rising together with the cutting member 11.

[0088] Here, the plate material movement limiting part 12b is disposed so as to be located vertically above the position of the lower end 31 of the cutting member 11, and its upper part comes into contact with the plate material 13, surrounded on three sides, including both sides in the thickness direction of the cutting member 11 and one side where the plate material movement limiting part 12b is located (the side without the cutting edge 33) (see FIG. 3(A)). The vertical length of the contact between the cross section of the plate material 13 and the cutting member 11 is greatest at the part where the lower end 31 of the cutting member 11 is located, so the force with which the cutting member 11 pulls the plate material 13 upward is likely to be greatest at the part where the lower end 31 is located. Since the rise of the part where the lower end 31 is located can be limited by the plate material movement limiting part 12b located above the lower end 31, the rise of the plate material 13 can be efficiently suppressed using a small plate material movement limiting part 12b.

[0089] Even as the cutting member 11 begins to rise, the control device 23 continues to control the operation of the air cylinder 24c of the cylinder rod 24d of the second movement mechanism 24b so as to move the upper limiting member 12 (sheet material movement limiting portion 12b) downward. Therefore, the cylinder rod 24d maintains a constant height position, and the cutting member 11 rises while the sheet material movement limiting portion 12b remains in contact with the upper surface of the sheet material 13. As a result, the lower end 31 of the cutting member 11 and the lower end surface of the upper limiting member 12 approach each other. When the cylinder rod 24d of the second movement mechanism 24b reaches its limiting position, the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12 enter a state in which relative movement between them is disabled (lower position). Once this relative movement is disabled, the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12 begin to rise together, and the upper limiting member 12 rises, separating from the sheet material 13. This completes one cutting process, which includes the cutting operation, the cutting advancement operation, and the extraction operation.

[0090] Here, during the removal operation, when the upper limiting member 12 is positioned as far below the cutting member 11 as possible and is unable to move relative to it (lower position), the upper end of the minor cutting edge 33b and the lower end of the plate material movement limiting portion 12b are positioned close to each other (see FIG. 2(A)). In the lower position, it is preferable that the main body 32 of the cutting member 11 hardly protrudes below the plate material movement limiting portion 12b, and that the protruding area of ​​the inclined portion 34 from the main body 32 is greater. This makes it easier to prevent the plate material 13 from rising together with the cutting member 11, even if the upper limiting member 12 rises together with the cutting member 11 after the lower position is reached during the removal operation. In addition, when the lower position is reached during the removal operation, the plate material movement limiting portion 12b may be positioned at a height position where the main body 32 of the cutting member 11 does not protrude at all below the plate material movement limiting portion 12b, or the plate material movement limiting portion 12b may be positioned at a height position where the lower end portion 31 of the cutting member 11 does not protrude below the plate material movement limiting portion 12b.

[0091] In this way, with the plate material processing device 10, structural members can be manufactured by utilizing a withdrawal operation in which the cutting member 11 is moved from a state in which a part of the cutting edge 33 of the cutting member 11 protrudes downward from the plate material 13 (plate material placement section 13a) due to the dividing advancement operation to a side where a part of the cutting edge 33 is positioned within the plate material 13. Therefore, when cutting the plate material 13, it is possible to reduce the restriction that, after starting cutting of the plate material 13, it is necessary to cut to the end of the plate material 13. Therefore, it is possible to cut the plate material 13 efficiently, making it easier to perform cutting processing with a high yield.

[0092] During the extraction operation, the second movement mechanism 24b maintains the plate material movement restricting unit 12b positioned on one side (top side) of the plate material 13, and the plate material movement restricting unit 12b comes into contact with the plate material 13, thereby restricting the plate material 13 from moving toward the upper fixing member 28a together with the cutting member 11. This makes it easier to avoid a situation in which a portion of the plate material 13 moves together with the cutting member 11 while the surface of the cutting member 11 is stuck to the cutting surface of the plate material 13. This makes it easier to avoid a situation in which the plate material 13 is deformed due to a portion of the plate material 13 moving together with the cutting member 11 during the extraction operation of the cutting member 11, or a situation in which the cutting surface is damaged due to the cutting edge 33 coming into contact with the cutting surface of the plate material 13 when the portion of the plate material 13 rises and then falls back to its original position.

[0093] Additionally, the upper limiting member 12, which can be moved by the second moving mechanism 24b, is integrally provided with a cutting member limiting section 12a that can limit the displacement of the cutting member 11 in the thickness direction, and a plate material movement limiting section 12b that can limit the movement of the plate material 13. Therefore, the function of efficiently manufacturing high-quality structural members by using the two limiting sections 12a and 12b can be added at low cost using a single common moving mechanism.

[0094] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is easily conceivable that various improvements and modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention, and for example, the present invention may be implemented in the following modified form.

[0095] In the above embodiment, the displacement of a portion of the cutting member 11 can be limited by the cutting member limiting portion 12a of the upper limiting member 12 and the lower limiting member 14. However, one or both of the cutting member limiting portion 12a of the upper limiting member 12 and the lower limiting member 14 may be omitted. Even in this case, the sheet material movement limiting portion 12b of the upper limiting member 12 can be used to perform the extraction operation, enabling cutting with a high yield and making it easier to avoid damage to the cut surface of the sheet material 13.

[0096] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the case where the sheet metal movement limiting portion 12b of the upper limiting member 12 is used to perform the extraction operation has been described, but the sheet metal movement limiting portion 12b may be omitted, and a configuration may be adopted in which the upward movement of the sheet metal 13 during the extraction operation is not limited. Even in this case, the cutting operation can be performed using the cutting member limiting portion 12a of the upper limiting member 12, and high-quality structural members can be efficiently manufactured using the cutting member 11 which is set to be thin.

[0097] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the upper limiting member 12 is disposed above the plate material 13, the cutting member 11 starts the cutting operation from the upper surface side of the plate material 13, and the plate material 13 is disposed with the thickness direction in the up-down direction, but this is not limiting, and other arrangements are also possible, such as the cutting member limiting portion 12a and plate material movement limiting portion 12b of the upper limiting member 12 being positioned below the plate material 13, and the cutting member 11 starting the cutting operation from the lower surface side of the plate material 13. That is, the cutting operation may be performed by rising and the extraction operation may be performed by falling, the plate material 13 may be disposed obliquely rather than horizontally, or the plate material 13 may be disposed vertically, and the cutting member 11 and the cutting member limiting portion 12a and plate material movement limiting portion 12b of the upper limiting member 12 may move horizontally to perform the cutting operation and the extraction operation.

[0098] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a case has been described in which the movement direction of the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12 by the first moving mechanism 24a and the second moving mechanism 24b is aligned with the thickness direction of the plate material 13, but these directions do not necessarily have to be aligned. For example, the movement direction of the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12 by the first moving mechanism 24a and the second moving mechanism 24b may be set to a direction slightly inclined with respect to the thickness direction of the plate material 13, and the movement direction does not necessarily have to be set linearly; instead, or in addition, the movement direction may be configured to include a section in which the cutting member 11 and the upper limiting member 12 can move in a curved or broken line.

[0099] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the second moving mechanism 24b is described as being capable of movement control by the control device 23, but the configuration does not necessarily require movement control. For example, instead of the air cylinder 24c of the second moving mechanism 24b, an elastic body (e.g., a compression spring) that generates a force that urges the upper limiting member 12 downward may be provided, so that during the cutting operation, the upper limiting member 12 moves downward together with the cutting member 11 until the upper limiting member 12 contacts the plate material 13. After the upper limiting member 12 contacts the plate material 13, the elastic body deforms, so that the upper limiting member 12 does not descend, and only the cutting member 11 moves downward. Even with this configuration, the functions of the cutting member limiting unit 12a and the plate material movement limiting unit 12b can be fulfilled.

[0100] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the plate material processing device 10 has been described as processing insulating material made of foamed resin, but this is not limited to this, and the plate material formed from other materials may also be processed, and the plate material may also be processed to add functions other than insulation (for example, soundproofing functions).

[0101] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the plate material 13 to be processed by the plate material processing device 10 is described as being made of a single material, but this is not limited to this, and the plate material may be made of multiple types of materials by stacking multiple layers, or may be a laminated plate material that includes one or more functional layers on at least one side in the thickness direction, such as a reflective layer such as aluminum foil that can reflect light and heat, or a waterproof layer such as a resin film that can block water.

[0102] In the above embodiment, the cutting member 11 and the lower limiting member 14 are made of metal, and the upper limiting member 12 is made of synthetic resin. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The cutting member 11, the upper limiting member 12, and the lower limiting member 14 may be made of other materials, such as ceramic for the cutting member 11, synthetic resin for the lower limiting member 14, and metal for the upper limiting member 12. [Industrial Applicability]

[0103] As described above, the present invention is suitable for a plate material processing device capable of cutting a plate material. [Explanation of symbols]

[0104] 10: plate material processing device, 11: cutting member, 12: upper limiting member, 12a: cutting member limiting portion (mounting portion side limiting member), 12b: plate material movement limiting portion (plate material movement limiting member), 13: plate material, 13a: plate material placement portion, 14: lower limiting member, 23: control device, 24: upper operating mechanism, 24a: first moving mechanism, 24b: second moving mechanism, 28a: upper fixing member (mounting portion), 31: lower end portion, 32: main body portion, 33: cutting edge, 33a: main cutting edge, 33b: sub-cutting edge, 34: inclined portion, 41: base portion, 42: gap portion, 43: protruding portion (limiting portion)

Claims

1. A plate processing device capable of cutting a plate formed to have a predetermined thickness by a cutting member formed in a thin plate shape, an attachment portion provided on one surface side in a thickness direction of the plate material with respect to a plate material placement portion where the plate material is placed when the plate material is cut by the cutting member, and to which the cutting member is attached; a first moving mechanism that can move the cutting member in the thickness direction of the plate material via the mounting portion; an attachment portion-side limiting member that is disposed on the attachment portion side when the plate material placement portion is used as a reference, and is positioned on both sides of a portion of the cutting member in a thickness direction of the portion, and is capable of limiting displacement of the portion; a second movement mechanism that allows the attachment portion side limiting member to move relative to the cutting member in the thickness direction of the plate material, The plate material can be cut by a cutting advancement operation in which the cutting member advances relative to the plate material in a cutting advancement direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the plate material, the cutting member has a main body portion formed to have a substantially constant thickness, a cutting edge capable of cutting the plate material, and an inclined portion formed so that the thickness decreases from the main body portion to the cutting edge, the attachment portion side limiting member is configured to have a size such that the attachment portion side limiting member is not positioned on the cutting member's side in the cutting progression direction, a cutting operation is started on one side of the plate material placed in the plate material placement section in a state where the attachment portion side limiting member is not present on the cutting progression direction side of the main body portion of the cutting member and the attachment portion side limiting members are positioned on both sides of the main body portion in the thickness direction, A plate material processing device characterized in that, when the cutting member is moved by the first moving mechanism to increase the amount of cutting into the plate material, the mounting portion side limiting member is configured to be able to maintain a position positioned on one side of the plate material by the second moving mechanism.

2. The cutting member has a shape in which a main cutting edge as the cutting edge is provided over the entire section within the thickness range of the plate material at an edge portion on a first direction side corresponding to the cutting progression direction side, and the cutting edge is not provided within the thickness range of the plate material at an edge portion on a second direction side opposite to the first direction side, The main cutting edge is configured in a shape that continues obliquely with respect to the cutting direction and also continues obliquely with respect to the thickness direction of the plate material, The plate processing device described in claim 1, characterized in that the mounting portion side limiting member has a base portion located on the second direction side of the cutting member and limiting portions located on both sides of the main body portion of the cutting member in the thickness direction of the main body portion, and the base portion and the limiting portions are integrated into a single part.

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