Tool transport device

Abstract

To provide a tool transport device equipped with a highly reliable reverse insertion prevention mechanism. [Solution] The tool transport device comprises a hand 50 having a tool insertion portion 52b that opens in a first direction A1, which is the direction in which a tool T is inserted, and that engages with the circumferential groove of a tool inserted into the tool insertion portion to grip the tool, and a lever 54 that is provided on the hand so as to be movable between a standby position that protrudes into the tool insertion portion of the hand and a retracted position where it has retreated from the tool insertion portion, and when a tool is inserted into the hand in the correct phase, the lever 54 contacts the outer peripheral surface 204a of the tool at an inclined angle and is pushed out of the tool insertion portion to the retracted position, and when the tool is inserted upside down, it contacts the side surface 210a of the recess 210 in the first direction, thereby hindering insertion of the tool.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a tool transport device that prevents a rotary tool from being inserted at a phase shifted by 180 degrees from the correct phase around the central axis. [Background technology]

[0002] In machine tools in which a rotating tool is inserted into a spindle and machining is performed by moving a table with a workpiece attached relative to the spindle, tools such as boring cutters and back counterbore cutters must be inserted into the spindle at a predetermined rotational phase. For this reason, for example, Patent Document 1 describes a tool magazine that has a protrusion on the hand of a tool setup device that prevents the tool from being inserted in the wrong direction, thereby preventing reverse insertion of tools that are inserted at a phase shifted 180 degrees from the correct phase around the central axis of the rotating tool. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-177318 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The tool magazine described in Patent Document 1 functions adequately from the viewpoint of preventing reverse insertion of tools, but there is still room for improvement. For example, the reverse insertion prevention mechanism of the tool magazine described in Patent Document 1 has a relatively complex structure, which results in high manufacturing costs. Furthermore, if the reverse insertion prevention mechanism has a complex structure with many parts, the reverse insertion prevention mechanism occupies a large area, which limits the size of the tools that can be inserted in order to prevent unintended interference between the reverse insertion prevention mechanism and the tools.

[0005] The present invention aims to solve the problems of the conventional technology and to provide a tool transport device that has a simple structure and is equipped with a more convenient reverse insertion prevention mechanism. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, according to the present invention, there is provided a tool transport device for transporting tools to a tool magazine having a plurality of tool holding sections for holding tools having recesses for identifying rotational phases, the tool transport device comprising: a hand having a tool insertion section that opens in a first direction that is a direction in which the tool is inserted, and that engages with a circumferential groove of a tool inserted in the tool insertion section to grip the tool; and an obstacle provided on the hand so as to be movable between a standby position that protrudes into the tool insertion section of the hand and a retracted position where the hand has retreated from the tool insertion section, the obstacle being configured so that when the tool is inserted into the hand in an orientation in which there are no recesses, the obstacle comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the tool at an angle oblique to the first direction and is pushed out of the tool insertion section by the tool to the retracted position, and when the tool is inserted into the hand in an orientation in which there are recesses, the obstacle comes into contact with a side surface of the recess in the first direction, thereby obstructing the insertion of the tool. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent reverse insertion of a tool into a tool transport device with a simple structure, and it is possible to provide a low-cost, more reliable tool transport device. In addition, because of the simple structure, the space required for installation is reduced, and it is possible to mount a larger rotary tool. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a machine tool equipped with a tool magazine. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a front view of the machine tool of FIG. 1. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of the tool magazine shown with the tool setup device in a storage position. [Figure 4]FIG. 10 is a partial perspective view of the tool magazine shown together with the tool setup device in the extended position. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a tool holder. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of a hand according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a lever as an obstacle. [Figure 8] FIG. 7 is a front view of the hand of FIG. 6 shown with the tool inserted in the correct rotational phase. [Figure 9] FIG. 7 is a front view of the hand of FIG. 6 shown with the tool fully inserted in the correct rotational phase. [Figure 10] FIG. 7 is a front view of the hand of FIG. 6 shown with a tool inserted in the opposite direction in terms of rotation phase. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a schematic front view of a hand according to a modified example of the first embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a schematic front view of a hand according to a second embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a front view of the hand of FIG. 12 shown with the tool inserted in the correct rotational phase. [Figure 14] FIG. 13 is a front view of the hand of FIG. 12 shown with the tool fully inserted in the correct rotational phase. [Figure 15] FIG. 13 is a front view of the hand of FIG. 12 shown with a tool inserted in the opposite direction in terms of rotation phase. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 and 2, tool magazine 120 is provided adjacent to machine tool 100. Machine tool 100 is equipped with a bed 102 as a base fixed to the factory floor, a table 108 on the upper surface of the front portion (lower side in FIG. 1) of bed 102 so as to be reciprocable along Z-axis guide rails 110 and to which a workpiece W is fixed, a column 104 on the rear end side (upper side in FIG. 1) of bed 102 so as to be reciprocable along X-axis guide rails 106 on the upper surface of bed 102, a headstock 112 attached to the front of column 104 so as to be reciprocable along Y-axis guide rails 116, and a spindle head 114 attached to headstock 112 and rotatably supporting a spindle 118.

[0010] The tool magazine 120 includes an annular member 122 having a plurality of tool pots 124 for receiving and holding tool holders 200 with tools T inserted therein. The annular member 122 is rotated by a servo motor 126 about a rotation axis O parallel to the Z axis of the machine tool 100. tm An automatic tool changer 140 is disposed between the machine tool 100 and the tool magazine 120.

[0011] The machine tool 100 and the tool magazine 120 are housed in a cover 130. A partition wall 132 is provided inside the cover 130 between the machine tool 100 and the automatic tool changer 140. The partition wall 132 divides the inside of the cover 130 into a machining chamber in which the machine tool 100 is disposed and a tool storage chamber in which the tool magazine 120 is disposed. A sliding door 134 is provided in the partition wall 132, and when a tool is to be changed, the sliding door 134 is opened to transfer the tool between the automatic tool changer 140 and the spindle 118 of the machine tool 100.

[0012] An example of a tool holder used in the present invention is shown in Figure 5. Tool holder 200 in Figure 5 is a two-face constraint type tool holder conforming to the HSK standard, and has a tapered shank 202 to be inserted into a tapered hole formed at the tip of spindle 118, a flange portion 204, a circumferential groove 206 formed in the outer peripheral surface 204a of flange portion 204, a U-groove 208 also formed in the outer peripheral surface 204a of flange portion 204, and a V-notch 210 as a recess for identifying the rotational phase.

[0013] 5 shows one U-shaped groove 208, but two U-shaped grooves 208 are formed on the outer peripheral surface 204a of the tool holder 200. The two U-shaped grooves 208 are aligned with the central axis O such that the bottom surfaces 208a are parallel to each other. th The V-notch 210 has an abutment surface 210a that extends perpendicular to the bottom surface 208a of the U-groove 208. As will be described later, the abutment surface 210a is a plane that is perpendicular to the tool insertion direction into the hands 50, 60 when the V-notch 210 is attached to the tool setup device 10 as a tool transport device.

[0014] A tool setup device 10 is provided on one side of the cover 130 as a tool transport device for inserting tools into the tool magazine 120 and removing tools from the tool magazine 120. As shown in FIG. 1, the tool transport device for the tool magazine 120 can be arranged on the left side (solid line) or the right side (dashed line) as viewed from the operator facing the tool magazine 120. In such cases, the rotational phase of the tools changes by 180° depending on the arrangement of the tool transport device relative to the tool magazine 120.

[0015] The tool setup device 10 as a tool transport device has frames 12, 14, 16, 18 fixed to the sides of a cover 130, a support plate 20 attached so as to be slidable in the front-to-rear direction relative to the frames 12, 14, 16, 18, a hollow shaft 22 that slides in the front-to-rear direction together with the support plate 20, a door 24 connected to the hollow shaft 22, and a lever 28 connected to the hollow shaft 22 and attached so as to be rotatable together with the hollow shaft 22 relative to the door 24. A hand 50 or 60 that engages with a circumferential groove 206 of a tool holder 200 is attached to the hollow shaft 22.

[0016] The support plate 20, hollow shaft 22, and door 24 function as a carrier that moves the hand 50 or 60 between the magazine side position shown in Fig. 3 and the operator side position shown in Fig. 4. The frames 12 to 16 are aligned along the rotation axis O of the annular member 122. tm The door 24 extends parallel to the upper end of the door 24 and functions as a guide for the carrier. The carrier can be moved together with the hand 50 or 60 between a stored position stored inside the cover 130 shown in Fig. 3 and a protruding position pulled out outside the cover 130 shown in Fig. 4 by an operator gripping and operating a handle 26 attached to the upper end of the door 24.

[0017] The hollow shaft 22 is aligned with the rotation axis O of the annular member 122. tm A rotation axis O parallel to tls The lever 28 is attached to the support plate 20 and the door 24 so as to be rotatable about the hollow shaft 22. The lever 28 is rotatable together with the hollow shaft 22 relative to the door 24 and the support plate 20 between a release position shown in Fig. 3 and an engagement position shown in Fig. 4. By rotating the lever 28 between the engagement position and the release position, the hand 50 or 60 moves toward or away from the tool pot 124 attached to the annular member 122, and engages with or disengages from the circumferential groove 206 of the tool inserted in the tool pot 124.

[0018] The hand 50 according to the first embodiment has a main body 52 formed from a thin plate and a pair of fingers 52a extending in parallel from the main body 52. ​​A U-groove-shaped tool insertion portion 52b is formed between the pair of fingers 52a to hold a tool T (hereinafter simply referred to as a tool) attached to a tool holder 200. The tool is inserted into the hollow shaft 22 along the rotation axis O of the hollow shaft 22, as shown by the arrow A1 in FIG. tls and the rotation axis O of the annular member 122 tm The tool is inserted between the pair of fingers 52a in a direction perpendicular to the central axis O of the tool holder 200. th The rotation axis O of the hollow shaft 22 and the annular member 122 tm The hand 50 holds the rod 52 parallel to the rod 52.

[0019] The tool setup device 10 inserts the tool into the hand 50 in the reverse direction, i.e., the central axis O of the tool holder 200 th A lever 54 is provided as an obstacle that prevents the insertion of a tool with a 180-degree opposite rotation phase. The lever 54 is attached to the main body 52 so that its tip protrudes into the tool insertion portion 52b. The lever 54 is aligned with the rotation axis O of the hollow shaft 22. tls 7 and a retracted position shown in FIG. 9. In this embodiment, the lever 54 is attached by the rotation shaft 56 to the outer side surface of the main body 52, i.e., the side surface facing the door 24, but it may also be attached to the opposite side surface, i.e., the side surface facing the annular member 122.

[0020] 7, the lever 54 has a stop surface 54a and a sliding surface 54b. The stop surface 54a and the sliding surface 54b are formed on the tip portion of the lever 54 that protrudes into the tool insertion portion 52b when the lever 54 is in the standby position. The stop surface 54a is located at a position where the rotation axis O of the hollow shaft 22 is perpendicular to the stop surface 54a. tlsand the tool insertion direction A1. The stop surface 54a and the sliding surface 54b are preferably connected by a connecting surface 54c made of a smoothly curved surface. The sliding surface 54b can be formed by a flat or curved surface that comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface 204a of the flange portion 204 of the tool holder 200 of the tool to be inserted when the lever 54 is in the standby position, thereby generating a torque that rotates the lever 54 to the retracted position.

[0021] In this embodiment, a biasing member is provided to bias the lever 54 to a standby position so that the tip portion of the lever 54 can protrude into the tool insertion portion 52b when a tool is not inserted in the tool insertion portion 52b. The biasing member is made of an elastic member connected to the rear end portion of the lever 54, opposite the tip portion where the stop surface 54a and the sliding surface 54b are formed. The elastic member has one end 58a attached to the main body 52 and an opposite end 58b attached to the rear end portion of the lever 54. As an example, the elastic member may be a coil spring. The elastic member may also be a helical spring (not shown) arranged around the rotation axis 56.

[0022] When an operator inserts a tool between the pair of fingers 52a in a first direction, which is a tool insertion direction indicated by arrow A1, the edge of the tool insertion portion 52b engages with the circumferential groove 206 of the tool holder 200, and the tool holder 200 and the tool inserted in the tool holder are aligned with the rotation axis O of the annular member 122. tm At this time, the tool is held parallel to the central axis O of the tool holder 200. th When the lever 54 is inserted into the hand 50 at the correct rotation phase with respect to the first direction A1, as shown in FIG. 8, the sliding surface 54b of the lever 54 or the connecting surface 54c between the stop surface 54a and the sliding surface 54b comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface 204a of the tool holder 200 at an angle inclined with respect to the first direction A1, and as shown in FIG. 9, the tip portion of the lever 54 moves in the direction of retraction from the tool insertion portion 52b, r , the tool insertion portion 52b is allowed to engage with the circumferential groove 206, and the tool is completely inserted into the hand 50 and held therein.

[0023] The tool is rotated in the opposite direction, i.e., along the central axis O of the tool holder 200. th 10 , when the tool is inserted into the hand 50 with a rotation phase 180 degrees opposite to that of the tool holder 200, the stop surface 54a of the lever 54 abuts against the abutment surface 210a of the V-notch 210 of the tool holder 200 in the first direction A1, preventing the tool from advancing further in the first direction A1 and making it impossible to attach the tool to the hand 50.

[0024] In the previously described embodiment, the lever 54 is biased toward the standby position by the biasing member 58, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the lever 54 can be configured to wait for the insertion of a tool at the standby position without using a biasing member. For example, referring to FIG. 11 , which shows a modified example of the first embodiment, the tool setup device 10 according to the modified example includes a lever 54′. Like the lever 54 in the previously described embodiment, the lever 54′ is attached to the main body 52 by a pin-like rotation shaft 56 so as to be rotatable between a standby position and a retracted position.

[0025] Like the lever 54 of the previously described embodiment, the lever 54' has a stop surface 54a', a sliding surface 54b', and a stop surface 54a'. The stop surface 54a' and the sliding surface 54b' are formed on the tip portion of the lever 54' that protrudes into the tool insertion portion 52b when the lever 54' is in the standby position. The stop surface 54a' and the sliding surface 54b' are preferably connected by a connecting surface 54c' formed of a smoothly curved surface. The tool setup device 10 of the modified example does not include a biasing member that biases the lever 54' to the standby position, but the lever 54' is arranged to be arranged in the standby position. More specifically, when a tool is not inserted in the hand 50, the lever 54' is arranged to be arranged in the standby position by gravity, particularly immediately before a tool is inserted into the hand 50. For this reason, the lever 54' is attached to the main body 52 by the rotation shaft 56 at a position closer to the rear end than to the tip. The lever 54' can be rotated in the retraction direction A. r A protrusion or stop 55 may be provided extending from the surface of the body 52 to rotatably hold the body 52 in a standby position.

[0026] The hand 60 according to the second embodiment, like the hand 50 according to the first embodiment, has a main body 62 formed from a thin plate and a pair of fingers 62a extending parallel to the main body 62 and forming a tool insertion portion 62b that engages with the circumferential groove 206 of the tool holder 200 to hold the tool holder. In the second embodiment, a tool is inserted into the hand 60 in the reverse direction, that is, the central axis O of the tool holder 200 is aligned with the main body 62. th A key 64 is provided as an obstacle to prevent the tool from being inserted with the phase 180 degrees reversed.

[0027] The key 64 is attached to the main body 62 so that its tip protrudes into the tool insertion section 62b. The key 64 is reciprocatable along the surface of the main body 62 in a direction perpendicular to the first direction A1, which is the direction in which a tool is inserted into the tool insertion section 62b. The key 64 is reciprocatable between a standby position shown in FIG. 12 and a retracted position shown in FIG. 14. More specifically, a bracket 70 is attached to the main body 62, and a pair of guide bars 66 are attached to the bracket 70, extending along the surface of the main body 62 in a direction perpendicular to the first direction A1. The key 64 is attached to the guide bar 66 so as to be movable linearly along the guide bar 66. To hold the key 64 at the standby position so as to be movable in the second direction A2, which is the retracted direction, the guide bar 66 may be provided with a stop portion 66a, such as a washer, protruding from the surface of the guide bar 66. In this embodiment, the key 64 is attached to the outer side of the main body 62, i.e., the side facing the door 24, but it may also be attached to the opposite side, i.e., the side facing the annular member 122.

[0028] The key 64 has a stop surface 64a and a sliding surface 64b, similar to the lever 54 of the first embodiment. The stop surface 64a and the sliding surface 64b are formed on the tip portion that protrudes into the tool insertion portion 62b when the key 64 is in the standby position. The stop surface 64a is located at a position where the rotation axis O of the hollow shaft 22 is in contact with the tip portion of the key 64 that protrudes into the tool insertion portion 62b when the key 64 is in the standby position. tlsand the tool insertion direction A1. The stop surface 64a and the sliding surface 64b are preferably connected by a connecting surface 64c made of a smoothly curved surface. The sliding surface 64b can be formed by a flat or curved surface that comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface 204a of the flange portion 204 of the tool holder 200 of the tool to be inserted when the key 64 is in the standby position, and generates a force that moves the key 64 to the retracted position.

[0029] In this embodiment, a biasing member is provided to bias the key 64 to a standby position so that the tip portion of the key 64 can protrude into the tool insertion portion 62 b when no tool is inserted in the tool insertion portion 62 b. The biasing member may be an elastic member, particularly a coil spring 68, disposed between the bracket 70 and the key 64.

[0030] When an operator inserts a tool between the pair of fingers 62a in a first direction, which is a tool insertion direction indicated by arrow A1, the edge of the tool insertion portion 62b engages with the circumferential groove 206 of the tool holder 200, and the tool holder 200 and the tool inserted in the tool holder are aligned with the rotation axis O of the annular member 122. tm At this time, the tool is held parallel to the central axis O of the tool holder 200. th 13, the sliding surface 64b of the key 64 or the connection surface 64c between the stop surface 64a and the sliding surface 64b comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface 204a of the tool holder 200 at an angle inclined with respect to the first direction A1, and then, as shown in FIG. 14, moves in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, that is, to the left as indicated by arrow A2 in FIG. 14, and the tip portion of the key 64 retracts from the tool insertion portion 62b, allowing the tool insertion portion 62b to engage with the circumferential groove 206, and the tool is completely inserted into and held in the hand 60.

[0031] The tool is rotated in the opposite direction, i.e., along the central axis O of the tool holder 200. th15, when the tool is inserted into the hand 60 at a rotational phase 180 degrees opposite to that of the tool holder 200, the stop surface 64a of the key 64 abuts against the abutment surface 210a of the V-notch 210 of the tool holder 200 in the first direction A1, preventing the tool from advancing further in the first direction A1 and making it impossible to attach the tool to the hand 60.

[0032] In the above-described embodiment, the tool transport device is the tool setup device 10 for the tool magazine 120, but the tool transport device is not limited to this and may be a tool transport robot (not shown) that transports and loads tools into the tool magazine 120. In this case, the hands 50, 60 can be used as end effectors (not shown) provided at the tip of the arm (not shown) of the tool transport robot. [Explanation of symbols]

[0033] 10 Tool setup device 50 hands 52 Main body 52a Finger 52b Tool insertion part 54 Lever 54a Stop surface 54b Sliding surface 54c connection surface 55 Stop part 56 Rotation axis 58 biasing member 58a one end 58b End 60 hands 62 Main body 62a Finger 62b Tool insertion part 64 keys 64a Stop surface 64b Sliding surface 64c connection surface 66 Guide bar 66a Stop 70 Bracket 200 tool holder 202 tapered shank 204 Flange 204a Outer surface 206 Circumferential groove 208 U-groove 208a Bottom 210 V-notch 210a Contact surface

Claims

1. A tool transport device transports tools to a tool magazine having a plurality of tool holding portions for holding tools each having a recess for identifying a rotation phase, a hand having a tool insertion portion that opens in a first direction that is a direction in which a tool is inserted, and that engages with a circumferential groove of a tool inserted into the tool insertion portion to grip the tool; an obstacle provided on the hand so as to be movable between a standby position where the hand projects into the tool insertion portion and a retracted position where the hand retracts from the tool insertion portion; Equipped with a tool transport device characterized in that, when the tool is inserted into the hand in an orientation where there is no recess, the obstacle contacts the outer surface of the tool at an angle inclined to the first direction and is pushed by the tool from the tool insertion portion to a retracted position, and when the tool is inserted into the hand in an orientation where there is a recess, the obstacle contacts the side of the recess in the first direction and obstructs insertion of the tool.

2. 2. The tool transport device according to claim 1, wherein, in the standby position, the obstacle has a stop surface formed on the portion that protrudes into the tool insertion portion that is perpendicular to the first direction, and the stop surface abuts against a side surface of the recess of the tool to hinder insertion of the tool.

3. 3. The tool transport device according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle is a lever rotatably attached to a side surface of the hand.

4. 3. The tool transport device according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle is a key that is attached to a side surface of the hand and is capable of linearly reciprocating in a direction perpendicular to the first direction.

5. 2. The tool transport device according to claim 1, further comprising a biasing member for biasing the obstacle toward the standby position.

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