Band saw machine chip disposal method, and band saw machine

Abstract

This band saw machine chip disposal method employs a band saw machine (91) capable of obliquely cutting a workpiece (W) by turning a turning member (T) through a prescribed angle, the turning member (T) including a cutting head (3) that circulates a band saw blade (34), and a conveyor unit (5) that is disposed in a direction perpendicular to the tooth tips of the band saw blade (34) which is facing the workpiece (W), and that operates so as to be capable of storing, accumulating or discharging chips generated during a cutting process, wherein, when the turning member (T) is at a first turning angle, the conveyor unit (5) is operated to discharge the stored and accumulated chips, and when the turning member (T) is at a second turning angle different from the first turning angle, the operation of the conveyor unit (5) is stopped, and chips generated during the cutting process are stored and accumulated.

Description

Method for processing chips from a band saw and a band saw

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a method for processing chips in a band saw and to a band saw.

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes a chip conveyor that is arranged below a band saw blade in a horizontal band saw machine, and that collects and discharges to the outside chips that are generated and fall when the band saw blade cuts a workpiece.

[0003] Patent No. 4602439

[0004] Generally, in cutting processes using a band saw, a storage box (hereinafter referred to as a chip box) is installed below one end of the chip conveyor to collect chips that are transported by the conveyor belt and fall from that end, and when a certain amount of chips has accumulated in the chip box, the worker moves the chip box to a discharge location to discharge the chips.

[0005] Some band saws have a cutting head that circulates the band saw blade through continuous rotation by a drive wheel and a driven wheel, and can rotate to cut long workpieces at an angle to the direction of their extension. Band saws capable of diagonal cutting generally have an integrated cutting head and chip conveyor. Therefore, the operator must reposition the chip box every time the cutting head's rotation angle changes, ensuring that the chip box is always positioned below the leading edge of the chip conveyor. This places a heavy burden on the operator, and the band saw must stop operation every time the chip box is repositioned, reducing processing efficiency and hindering long-term automatic operation.

[0006] Therefore, there is a need for a method for disposing of chips from a band saw machine and for a band saw machine that reduces the burden on the operator and enables automatic operation for long periods of time.

[0007] A first aspect of one or more embodiments is a band saw machine that can cut the workpiece obliquely by rotating a rotating member at a predetermined angle, the rotating member including a cutting head that circulates a band saw blade and a conveyor unit that is arranged vertically to the tip of the band saw blade facing the workpiece and operates to collect, accumulate, or discharge chips generated during cutting processing, and when the rotating member is at a first rotation angle, the conveyor unit is operated to discharge the collected and accumulated chips, and when the rotating member is at a second rotation angle different from the first rotation angle, the operation of the conveyor unit is stopped to collect and accumulate chips generated during cutting processing.

[0008] A second aspect of one or more embodiments includes a cutting head that circulates a band saw blade, a rotating member that can rotate at a predetermined angle and includes a conveyor unit that is arranged vertically to the tip of the band saw blade facing a workpiece and operates to collect, accumulate, or discharge chips generated during cutting, and the conveyor unit is configured to operate the conveyor unit to discharge the collected and accumulated chips when the rotating member is at a first rotating angle, and to stop the operation of the conveyor unit to collect and accumulate chips generated during cutting when the rotating member is at a second rotating angle different from the first rotating angle.

[0009] According to the first and second aspects of one or more embodiments, the burden on the operator is reduced and automatic operation for a long period of time is possible.

[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a band saw machine that performs a chip disposal method for a band saw machine according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a conveyor unit and a chip box provided on the band saw machine. FIG. 3 is a top view of the band saw machine with the cutting head at a first pivot angle. FIG. 4 is a top view of the band saw machine with the cutting head at a second pivot angle. FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view illustrating a conveyor unit and a chip accumulation body contained in the conveyor unit. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the band saw machine. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a chip volume ratio. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of cutting a long workpiece. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a flow of a basic chip disposal method in a chip disposal method for a band saw machine according to an embodiment. FIG. 10A is a diagram showing the first stage of a flow of a chip disposal method for automatic operation in a chip disposal method for a band saw machine according to an embodiment. FIG. 10B is a diagram showing the second stage of the flow shown in FIG. 10A. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a modified example of the conveyor unit.

[0011] The method for processing chips on a band saw machine according to the embodiment is performed by a band saw machine 91, which is a band saw machine according to the embodiment. The configuration of the band saw machine 91 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the band saw machine 91 that performs the method for processing chips on a band saw machine according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the conveyor unit 5 and chip box 8 provided on the band saw machine 91. FIG. 3 is a top view of the band saw machine 91 with the cutting head 3 at a first rotation angle. FIG. 4 is a top view of the band saw machine 91 with the cutting head 3 at a second rotation angle. FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view illustrating the conveyor unit 5 and the chip accumulation body CpG contained in the conveyor unit 5. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the band saw machine 91. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the chip volume ratio α. In the following description, the up, down, left, right, front, and rear directions are defined as the directions indicated by the arrows in FIG. 1 for convenience. 1 to 5 and 11, the right direction, left direction, up direction, down direction, front direction and rear direction are indicated by RT, LT, UP, DN, FR and RR, respectively.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 1, the band saw 91 includes a base 1, a base 6, a pair of support columns 2, a cutting head 3, a conveyor unit 5, a control device 7, and a chip box 8.

[0013] The base 1 is placed on the floor FL. The base 6 is supported by the base 1 so as to be rotatable about an axis CL3 extending in the vertical direction. The base 6 can be rotated manually by an operator, or, if the band saw 91 is equipped with a rotation motor 57 (see FIG. 6 ), by the rotation motor 57. A conveyor unit 5 is fixed to the upper part of the base 6, and a pair of support columns 2 are erected in parallel and extending in the vertical direction. The cutting head 3 is supported by the pair of support columns 2 and is raised and lowered by the operation of an elevation motor 37 (see arrow DR1). As a result, the base 6, the support columns 2 integrated with the base 6, the cutting head 3, and the conveyor unit 5 form a rotation member T that can rotate about an axis CL3 extending in the vertical direction relative to the base 1 (see arrow DR3).

[0014] The cutting head 3 includes a frame 35, a drive wheel 31, a driven wheel 32, a band saw blade 34, a blade motor 36, and an elevator motor 37. The frame 35 is formed as a slender skeletal member extending in the left-right direction and spanning a pair of support columns 2. The frame 35 is supported by the pair of support columns 2 so that it can be raised and lowered by the operation of the elevator motor 37 (see arrow DR1). The drive wheel 31 is provided at the left end of the cutting head 3 and is rotated by the blade motor 36. The driven wheel 32 is provided at the right end of the cutting head 3 and is driven by the rotation of the drive wheel 31 via the band saw blade 34. The band saw blade 34 is adjusted for tracking by applying tension between the drive wheel 31 and the driven wheel 32. As a result, when the drive wheel 31 and the driven wheel 32 are continuously rotated by the rotation of the blade motor 36, the band saw blade 34 circulates, for example, in the direction of arrow DR2 (clockwise in FIG. 1 ). Hereinafter, the blade motor 36 and the lift motor 37 may be collectively referred to as a cutting head drive unit M (see FIG. 6).

[0015] 1, a long workpiece W (hereinafter also referred to as long workpiece W) is supplied from the rear side below the cutting plate of the band saw machine 91 by a workpiece loading device (not shown) in an orientation extending in the front-to-rear direction. In a processing operation, the cutting head 3 descends from the elevated standby position shown in FIG. 1 and cuts the long workpiece W so as to have a cutting surface extending in the left-right and up-down directions.

[0016] The swivel member T can be swiveled between a first swivel angle at which the longitudinal direction of the cutting head 3 is in the left-right direction as shown in Figures 1 and 3, and a second swivel angle at which the longitudinal direction of the cutting head 3 is at an angle θa as shown in Figure 4 (see arrow DR3). When the cutting head 3 is at the first swivel angle, the long workpiece W arranged to extend in the front-to-rear direction is cut by the band saw blade 34, which runs with its teeth twisted up in a direction perpendicular to the long workpiece W, so that the cut surface is perpendicular to the extension direction (front-to-rear direction) of the long workpiece W.

[0017] 4 shows a state in which the swivel member T has been rotated from the first rotation angle shown in FIG. 3 to a second rotation angle of angle θa. The maximum angle θa is, for example, 45°. That is, the swivel member T can rotate within a range of angle θa, for example, 0°≦θa≦45°. By rotating the swivel member T from the first rotation angle to the second rotation angle of angle θa and cutting the long workpiece W, it is possible to perform oblique cutting of the long workpiece W such that the cut surface forms an angle θa with respect to a direction perpendicular to the extension direction of the long workpiece W.

[0018] Chips generated when cutting a long workpiece W with the band saw blade 34 fall from the tip of the band saw blade 34 at the cutting portion in the vertical direction (downward) of the tip of the tooth, scattering to some extent. The conveyor unit 5 has a width sufficient to collect chips Cp1 (see FIG. 5) that have fallen while scattering to some extent. Next, the conveyor unit 5 will be described mainly with reference to FIGS. 2 and 5.

[0019] The conveyor unit 5 includes a box panel 51, a drive motor 52, and a conveyor section 53. The box panel 51 is a box-shaped housing extending in the left-right direction and having a generally rectangular cross section perpendicular to the left-right direction, with the right end slightly inclined downward. An opening 55a is formed in the center of the top surface of the box panel 51 by forming opening edges 51a near the left and right side edges. The opening 55a is designed to encompass the area into which chips Cp1 generated by cutting with the band saw blade 34 fall. That is, as shown in FIG. 5 , chips Cp1 generated by cutting pass through the opening 55a into the box panel 51 and accumulate as chips Cp2 on the bottom surface 51b of the box panel 51.

[0020] The conveyor unit 53 is a scraper-type conveyor arranged inside the box panel 51. That is, the conveyor unit 53 has a pair of loop-shaped endless chain conveyors 531 arranged in the front and rear, and a plurality of scrapers 532 fixed to the chains of the pair of conveyors 531 at predetermined intervals.

[0021] The conveyor 531 is rotatable, with its left side engaged with a driven sprocket 522 and its right side engaged with a drive sprocket 521 connected to the drive motor 52. The trajectory of the conveyor 531 is defined by a guide 54. In the conveyor unit 5 having this configuration, when the drive motor 52 is driven, the conveyor 531 circulates counterclockwise as indicated by the arrow DR6 in FIG. 5. As the conveyor 531 circulates, the scraper 532 contacts the bottom surface 51b of the box panel 51 and slides to the right. Therefore, chips Cp2 accumulated on the bottom surface 51b are scraped by the scraper 532 and discharged to the outside as discharged chips Cp3 from a discharge port 55b opened at the right end of the bottom surface 51b.

[0022] 1 and 6, the control device 7 includes a control unit 71, an input unit 72, and an output unit 73. The control unit 71 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 711, a memory unit 712, and a chip amount estimation unit 713. The control unit 71 controls the overall operation of the band saw 91, including the operation of the drive motor 52 and the cutting head drive unit M.

[0023] The input unit 72 is a keyboard or touch panel, and allows the operator to input operation selections, setting values, etc. to the control unit 71. The output unit 73 outputs information such as the operating status and setting contents of the band saw machine 91 to the operator by voice or image. The memory unit 712 stores processing programs to be used in processing with the band saw machine 91, etc. The chip amount estimation unit 713 estimates the amount of chips Cp1 generated in the next processing from the program, conditions, etc. of the next processing stored in the memory unit 712.

[0024] The chip box 8 is a box with casters and has a capacity large enough to accommodate the discharged chips Cp3 discharged from multiple cutting processes. The chip box 8 can be moved by a person even when it contains the upper limit amount of discharged chips Cp3. The chip box 8 is placed on the floor FL below the discharge outlet 55b of the conveyor unit 5 by an operator. The chip box 8 may be removably attached to the base 1 so as to be located below the discharge outlet 55b of the conveyor unit 5 of the cutting head 3 at the first rotation angle, for example.

[0025] In the method for processing chips on a band saw machine according to the embodiment, which is executed using the band saw machine 91 described above, when cutting a long workpiece W, the amount of chips that can be accumulated in the conveyor unit 5 when the conveyor section 53 is not operating (when chips are not discharged) is determined in advance and stored in advance as one of the setting values ​​in the storage unit 712. The amount of chips that can be accumulated when the conveyor unit 5 is not operating is evaluated in terms of volume and is referred to as the allowable accumulated chip volume Qa.

[0026] The chip volume Q generated in one cut, which is the basis for the allowable chip cumulative volume Qa, is estimated based on the volume of the long workpiece W used for cutting, as shown in the following (Equation 1). In (Equation 1), A is the cross-sectional area of ​​the long workpiece W, d is the cutting allowance (length), and α is the chip volume rate. The angle θ is set to 0° in the direction perpendicular to the extension direction of the long workpiece W. Therefore, at the first rotation angle, θ = 0°, and at the second rotation angle, θ = θa. Q = (A / cos θ) × d × α (Equation 1)

[0027] 7 shows an example in which the long workpiece W is a square timber. In FIG. 7, A is the area of ​​the hatched rectangle. The area A2 of the inclined surface at angle θ is expressed as A / cos θ.

[0028] The chip volume ratio α is a ratio obtained by dividing the volume of space occupied by chips generated in actual cutting by the volume of the chip-forming portion of the long workpiece W before cutting. The chip volume ratio α varies depending on the material of the long workpiece W and the cutting conditions, and is therefore measured in advance for each material and cutting condition of the long workpiece W that may be cut by the band saw machine 91, and the result is stored in advance in the memory unit 712. The chip volume ratio α is about 7 to 8 under typical materials and conditions.

[0029] The operation of the chip disposal method for a band saw machine according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 8 to 10B. Figure 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of cutting a long workpiece W. Figure 9 is a diagram showing a flow FA of the chip disposal method that is the basis of the chip disposal method for a band saw machine according to the embodiment. Figure 10A is a diagram showing the first stage of a flow FB of the chip disposal method for automatic operation of the chip disposal method for a band saw machine according to the embodiment. Figure 10B is a diagram showing the second stage of the flow FB.

[0030] The cutting process of the long workpiece W by the band saw machine 91 will be described using an example shown in Fig. 8, which includes multiple straight cuts, which are perpendicular cuts to the extension direction of the long workpiece W, and multiple oblique cuts, which are oblique cuts. The control unit 71 of the band saw machine 91 executes a basic chip disposal operation according to flow FA in Fig. 9, based on the allowable chip accumulated volume Qa previously acquired and stored in the memory unit 712.

[0031] In this chip disposal operation, when the cutting head 3 is at the first pivot angle, the control unit 71 operates the drive motor 52 of the conveyor unit 5 to perform the chip discharge operation in addition to the cutting operation during the cutting process. When the cutting head 3 is at the second pivot angle, the control unit 71 controls the drive motor 52 to stop so as not to perform the chip discharge operation.

[0032] First, the control unit 71 operates the drive motor 52 to circulate the conveyor unit 53, and uses the scraper 532 to remove any remaining chips from previous processing that have accumulated on the bottom surface 51b of the box panel 51, thereby emptying the accumulated chips from the conveyor unit 53 (reducing the amount of accumulated chips to zero) (step S1).

[0033] After step S1 is executed, the repetition variable k is set to 0 (zero), and the chip volume Q generated in the kth cutting is calculated. ｋ is set to 0 (zero) (step S2).

[0034] The chip amount estimation unit 713 of the control unit 71 estimates the chip volume Q generated in the next machining from the various data of the next machining stored in the memory unit 712. ｋ＋１ Next, the chip amount estimation unit 713 assumes that chips from the previous machining have accumulated in the conveyor unit 5, and compares the chip volume obtained by adding the remaining accumulated amount of chips to the chip volume estimated to be generated in the next machining with the allowable chip cumulative volume Qa that is set in advance and stored in the storage unit 712, to determine whether or not chips generated in the next machining can be accumulated in the conveyor unit 5. That is, the chip amount estimation unit 713 compares Q ｋ +Q ｋ＋１ It is determined whether or not Qa is satisfied (step S4).

[0035] In the case of the first cutting process where k = 0, the allowable accumulated chip volume Qa is set to be sufficiently large relative to the chip volume Q for one cutting process, so the determination in step S4 will not substantially be negative. On the other hand, in the case of the second or subsequent cutting processes where k ≥ 1, the determination may be negative. If the determination is negative (NO in step S4), the control unit 71 operates the drive motor 52 to discharge the chip accumulation body CpG currently accumulated on the conveyor unit 5 (step S8).

[0036] Next, the control unit 71 executes cutting (step S9) and increments k (step S10). Then, the control unit 71 determines whether or not there is a next process (step S11). If the determination in step S11 is negative (NO), the control unit 71 ends flow FA, and if the determination in step S11 is positive (YES), the control unit 71 returns to step S3.

[0037] Based on the above-described flow FA, the cutting example shown in Figure 8 will be described. The cutting example shown in Figure 8 is an example in which cutting is performed on a long workpiece W made of H-beam steel (I-beam, H-beam) in order from the left side of Figure 8, where L represents straight cut and R represents diagonal cut. That is, a total of eight cutting operations are performed on the long workpiece W, and from the first cut to the next, the cutting operations are, in order, first straight cut (L1), first diagonal cut (R1), second straight cut (L2), second diagonal cut (R2), third straight cut (L3), third diagonal cut (R3), fourth diagonal cut (R4), and fourth straight cut (L4). Hereinafter, for convenience, these cutting operations will be referred to as L1 to L4 and R1 to R4, respectively.

[0038] First, as an initial state, the cutting head 3 is set at the first rotation angle, and the chip box 8 is set to a position below the discharge port 55b. Next, the control unit 71 executes the chip discharge operation of the conveyor unit 5 to discharge the chip accumulation body CpG accumulated on the conveyor unit 5 and empty the conveyor unit 5.

[0039] If the allowable chip cumulative volume Qa of the conveyor unit 5 allows the accumulation of chips from one diagonal cut but cannot accumulate chips from two diagonal cuts, the timings for causing the conveyor unit 5 to perform the chip discharge operation are after L1, L2, L3, and R3, and L4. In the straight cuts of L1 to L4, the chip discharge operation is performed along with the cutting process. This chip discharge operation continues for a certain period of time even after the band saw blade 34 has stopped, in order to discharge remaining chips from the conveyor unit 5 to the outside. This operation is performed automatically under the control of the control unit 71.

[0040] On the other hand, for the oblique cut R3, the cutting process does not involve a chip discharge operation. Therefore, after R3 is completed, the operator returns the cutting head 3 from the second swivel angle to the first swivel angle, and then issues a command via the input unit 72 to the control unit 71 to execute a chip discharge process and discharge the chips accumulated on the conveyor unit 5. Then, the operator returns the cutting head 3 to the second swivel angle again. If the band saw 91 is equipped with a swivel motor 57, this series of operations is automatically executed under the control of the control unit 71.

[0041] If the allowable chip cumulative volume Qa of the conveyor unit 5 allows the accumulation of chip volume equivalent to two oblique cuts but cannot accumulate chip volume equivalent to three oblique cuts, the discharge timings at which the conveyor unit 5 executes the chip discharge operation are L1, L2, L3, and L4. At each of these discharge timings, the chip discharge operation is automatically performed in conjunction with the straight cut processing.

[0042] Generally, in order to improve yield, steel frame component cutting is often performed by alternating straight cuts and diagonal cuts. Therefore, as in the first processing example described above, there are few cases where diagonal cuts are performed consecutively, and after the first diagonal cut, the cutting head 3 is returned to the first swivel angle to discharge chips, and then returned to the second swivel angle again. Therefore, such operations have a relatively small impact on the processing efficiency of actual product cutting.

[0043] A flow FB of the diagonal chip disposal operation, which generalizes the above-described cutting example including straight cuts and diagonal cuts, is shown in Fig. 10A and Fig. 10B, which are divided into a first stage and a second stage, respectively. That is, Fig. 10A is a diagram of the first stage of the flow FB of the chip disposal method for the band saw machine in automatic operation according to the embodiment. Fig. 10B is a diagram of the second stage of the flow FB.

[0044] The cutting process using flow FB involves continuous processing of a single long workpiece W, including both straight cuts at a first swing angle and oblique cuts at a second swing angle, and is intended for long-term continuous automatic operation. Therefore, the band saw 91 described here has a swing motor 57 that drives the swing of the cutting head 3. The swing motor 57 is included in the cutting head drive unit M (see FIG. 6), and the swing operation and swing angle are controlled by the control unit 71.

[0045] First, the band saw 91 is set to its initial state (step S21). In the initial state, the conveyor 53 is stopped, the chip accumulation body CpG accumulated in the conveyor unit 5 is empty (zero), and the cutting head 3 is at the first rotation angle. The control unit 71 sets the repetition variable k to 0 (zero), and calculates the chip volume Q generated in the kth cut. ｋ is set to 0 (zero) (step S22).

[0046] The control unit 71 determines, based on the processing program stored in the memory unit 712, whether the next processing is to be performed when the cutting head 3 is at the second rotation angle (step S23). If the determination in step S23 is negative (NO), i.e., if the cutting head 3 is at the first rotation angle, the control unit 71 starts the conveyor unit 53 to discharge chips (step S24) and performs cutting (step S25). Then, the control unit 71 stops the conveyor unit 53 after discharging the chips (step S26). If the control unit 71 does not want to end automatic operation (NO in step S27), it proceeds to step S23. If the control unit 71 wants to end automatic operation (YES in step S27), it resets the accumulated chip volume (step S28) and ends automatic operation (step S45).

[0047] On the other hand, if the determination in step S23 is positive (YES), the chip amount estimation unit 713 of the control unit 71 calculates the chip volume Q generated in the next machining (k+1th machining) from the machining program. ｋ＋１ Next, the chip amount estimation unit 713 assumes that chips from the previous machining have accumulated in the conveyor unit 5, and compares the chip volume, which is the sum of the remaining accumulated amount of chips and the volume of chips generated in the next machining, with the allowable chip cumulative volume Qa that is set in advance and stored in the storage unit 712, to determine whether chips generated in the next machining can be accumulated in the conveyor unit 5. That is, the chip amount estimation unit 713 ｋ +Q ｋ＋１ It is determined whether or not Qa is satisfied (step S30).

[0048] If the determination in step S30 is negative (NO), the control unit 71 sets the cutting head 3 to the first pivot angle (step S31). In step S31, if the cutting head 3 is already at the first pivot angle at this determination stage, the angle of the cutting head 3 is maintained, and if the cutting head 3 is at the second pivot angle, the cutting head 3 is pivoted to the first pivot angle.

[0049] The control unit 71 then starts the conveyor unit 53 to discharge the chips (step S32), and stops the conveyor unit 53 after the chips have been discharged (step S33). Next, the control unit 71 resets the integrated chip volume (step S34) and determines whether or not to end automatic operation (step S35). If the determination in step S35 is yes, the control unit 71 ends automatic operation (S45). If the determination in step S35 is no, the control unit 71 proceeds to step S23.

[0050] If the determination in step S30 is positive (YES), the control unit 71 sets the cutting head 3 to the second pivot angle (step S36). In step S36, if the cutting head 3 is already at the second pivot angle at this determination stage, the angle of the cutting head 3 is maintained, and if the cutting head 3 is at the first pivot angle, the cutting head 3 is pivoted to the second pivot angle.

[0051] The control unit 71 executes cutting (step S37). This cutting is performed when the cutting head 3 is at the second rotation angle, so the conveyor unit 53 is not in operation. After the cutting is completed, the control unit 71 executes Q ｋ =Q ｋ +Q ｋ＋１ (Step S38), increment k to k+1 (Step S39), and determine whether to end automatic operation (Step S40). If the determination in Step S40 is negative (NO), the control unit 71 proceeds to Step S23. If the determination in Step S40 is positive (YES), the control unit 71 rotates the cutting head 3 to the first rotation angle (Step S41) and starts the conveyor unit 53 (Step S42). Then, after the chips are discharged, the control unit 71 stops the conveyor unit 53 (Step S43), resets the integrated chip volume (Step S44), and ends automatic operation (Step S45).

[0052] As described above, according to the chip disposal method using the band saw machine 91 of the embodiment, the band saw machine 91 is configured to accumulate chips up to a predetermined allowable chip cumulative volume Qa when the conveyor unit 5 is stopped during cutting with the cutting head 3 at the second pivot angle. This allows the chip discharge operation in the conveyor unit 5 to be performed only when the cutting head 3 is at the first pivot angle, reducing the burden on the operator by eliminating the need to move the chip box 8 to a position corresponding to the cutting head 3 at the second pivot angle each time. Furthermore, even in automatic operation that combines straight and oblique cutting, the operator's burden is reduced because the operator does not have to move the chip box 8 to a position corresponding to the cutting head 3 at the second pivot angle, thereby enabling long-term automatic operation.

[0053] Although the conveyor unit 5 has been described with a configuration in which the discharge side is slightly inclined downward, this configuration is not limited. When a lubricating liquid is used for cutting, the chip accumulation body CpG contains a large amount of lubricating liquid. In this case, the conveyor unit 5 may be replaced with a modified conveyor unit 5A shown in FIG. 11 . The conveyor unit 5A includes a box panel 51A, an opening edge 51aA, a drive motor 52A, a conveyor 531A, a scraper 532A, and an outlet 55bA, which correspond to the box panel 51, opening edge 51a, drive motor 52, conveyor 531, scraper 532, and outlet 55b of the conveyor unit 5, respectively. The conveyor unit 5A includes an upwardly inclined inclined portion 56A on the right discharge side of the box panel 51A. The outlet 55bA is formed on the underside of the tip of the inclined portion 56A. This allows the chip accumulation body CpG to be drained and discharged into the chip box 8.

[0054] In the above example, the first swivel angle is the angle at which the cutting head 3 cuts the long workpiece W in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the long workpiece W, i.e., θa = 0°. However, this is not limited to this, and any swivel angle within the swivel angle range may be set. For example, if the processing to be performed involves many oblique cuts and few straight cuts, the swivel angle for oblique cuts may be set as the first swivel angle. Specifically, if there are many oblique cuts at θa = 30°, the first swivel angle may be set to a range of 30° ± β, and the other ranges may be set to the second swivel angle. The chip box 8 may be positioned to accommodate the discharged chips Cp3 within the range of 30° ± β. In this case, straight cuts are the second swivel angle, which is the swivel angle at which the chip box 8 is not installed.

[0055] The first rotation angle may have a certain angle range, such as ±β, as described above. Naturally, even a slight difference in angle will allow the discharged chips Cp3 to be accommodated in the chip box 8. β may be set to, for example, about 3°.

[0056] As described above in detail, the method for processing chips on a band saw machine according to the embodiment uses a band saw machine 91 that can cut the workpiece W at an angle by rotating a rotating member T at a predetermined angle, the rotating member T including a cutting head 3 that circulates the band saw blade 34 and a conveyor unit 5 that is arranged vertically to the tip of the band saw blade 34 facing the workpiece W and operates to collect, accumulate, or discharge chips Cp1 generated during cutting processing; when the rotating member T is at a first rotation angle, the conveyor unit 5 is operated to discharge the collected and accumulated chips Cp2, and when the rotating member T is at a second rotation angle different from the first rotation angle, the operation of the conveyor unit 5 is stopped to collect and accumulate chips Cp1 generated during cutting processing.

[0057] According to the above configuration, chips are accumulated on the conveyor unit 5 when the rotating member T is at the second rotation angle, and the accumulated chips are discharged when the rotating member T is at the first rotation angle. Therefore, the chip box 8 can be placed in the same position and does not need to be moved every time the cutting head 3 is rotated. This reduces the burden on the operator.

[0058] In the above embodiment, when the workpiece W has a longitudinal shape, the first pivot angle may be set to an angle at which the cutting head 3 cuts the workpiece W in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the workpiece W.

[0059] According to the above configuration, the discharge operation is performed in the direct cut, which generally involves a large number of cuts, and therefore the processing efficiency in automatic continuous operation is improved.

[0060] In the above embodiment, the volume of chips that can be accumulated in the conveyor unit 5 may be determined and stored in advance as the allowable chip cumulative volume Qa, the chip volume Q that will be generated in the next processing step may be estimated, the estimated chip volume Q may be compared with the stored allowable chip cumulative volume Qa, and depending on the result of the comparison, it may be determined whether or not to operate the conveyor unit 5 to discharge the accumulated chips Cp2 before the next processing step is performed.

[0061] According to the above configuration, it is possible to more accurately estimate the timing for discharging chips Cp2 accumulated on the conveyor unit 5. This minimizes the number of discharge operations in multiple consecutive cutting processes, improving processing efficiency.

[0062] The band saw machine according to the embodiment includes a cutting head 3 that circulates a band saw blade 34, a conveyor unit 5 that is arranged vertically to the tip of the band saw blade 34 facing the workpiece W and operates to collect, accumulate, or discharge chips Cp1 that are generated and fall when cutting the workpiece W, and a rotating member T that can rotate at a predetermined angle, and a control unit 71 that controls the circulation of the band saw blade 34 and the operation of the conveyor unit 5. When the rotating member T is at a first rotation angle, the control unit 71 controls the conveyor unit 5 to operate and discharge the collected and accumulated chips Cp2, and when the rotating member T is at a second rotation angle different from the first rotation angle, the control unit 71 controls the conveyor unit 5 to stop operation and collect and accumulate chips Cp1 generated during cutting.

[0063] According to the above configuration, chips are accumulated on the conveyor unit 5 when the rotating member T is at the second rotation angle, and the accumulated chips are discharged when the rotating member T is at the first rotation angle. Therefore, the chip box 8 can be placed in the same position and does not need to be moved every time the cutting head 3 is rotated. This reduces the burden on the operator.

[0064] In the above embodiment, when the workpiece W has a longitudinal shape, the first pivot angle may be an angle at which the cutting head 3 cuts the workpiece W in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the workpiece W.

[0065] According to the above configuration, the discharge operation is performed in the direct cut, which generally involves a large number of cuts, and therefore the processing efficiency in automatic continuous operation is improved.

[0066] In the above embodiment, the control unit 71 may have a memory unit 712 and a chip amount estimation unit 713. The memory unit 712 may store in advance, as an allowable chip cumulative volume Qa, a previously determined volume of chips that can be accumulated in the conveyor unit 5. The chip amount estimation unit 713 may estimate a chip volume Q that will be generated in the next machining operation, compare the estimated chip volume Q with the stored allowable chip cumulative volume Qa, and determine, based on the comparison result, whether to operate the conveyor unit 5 to discharge the collected and accumulated chips Cp2 before executing the next machining operation.

[0067] According to the above configuration, it is possible to more accurately estimate the timing for discharging chips Cp2 accumulated on the conveyor unit 5. This minimizes the number of discharge operations in multiple consecutive cutting processes, improving processing efficiency.

[0068] The method for processing chips in a band saw machine according to the embodiment uses a band saw machine 91 that can cut a workpiece W obliquely by rotating a rotating member T at a predetermined angle, the rotating member T including a cutting head 3 having a circulating band saw blade 34 and a conveyor unit 5 that is arranged below the band saw blade 34 and can accommodate and discharge chips Cp1 that are generated and fall when cutting the workpiece W, and the volume of chips that can be accumulated in the conveyor unit 5 is grasped and stored in advance as an allowable chip cumulative volume Qa, the chip volume Q that will be generated in the next processing is estimated, and the estimated chip volume Q is ｋ＋１and the chip volume Q accumulated in the conveyor unit 5 at that time. ｋ and the total chip volume is compared with the stored allowable chip cumulative volume Qa, and if the total chip volume exceeds the stored allowable chip cumulative volume Qa, the conveyor unit 5 is operated to collect and discharge the accumulated chips before the next processing is performed.

[0069] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the descriptions and drawings that form part of this disclosure should not be understood to limit the present invention. Various alternative embodiments, examples, and operating techniques will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.

[0070] The entire contents of Patent Application No. 2023-184600 filed with the Japan Patent Office (filing date: October 27, 2023) are incorporated herein by reference.

Claims

1. A method for processing chips on a band saw machine, which uses a rotating member that rotates at a predetermined angle to cut the workpiece at an angle, the rotating member including a cutting head that circulates a band saw blade, and a conveyor unit that is arranged vertically to the tip of the band saw blade facing the workpiece and operates to collect, accumulate, or discharge chips generated during cutting, and when the rotating member is at a first rotation angle, the conveyor unit is operated to discharge the collected and accumulated chips, and when the rotating member is at a second rotation angle different from the first rotation angle, the operation of the conveyor unit is stopped to collect and accumulate the chips generated during cutting.

2. A method for processing chips on a band saw as described in claim 1, wherein, when the workpiece has a longitudinal shape, the first rotation angle is set to an angle at which the cutting head cuts the workpiece in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the workpiece.

3. A method for processing chips on a band saw as described in claim 1 or 2, which comprises: pre-memorizing the volume of chips that can be accumulated in the conveyor unit as an allowable chip cumulative volume; estimating the volume of chips generated in the next processing step; comparing the estimated chip volume with the stored allowable chip cumulative volume; and, depending on the comparison result, determining whether or not to operate the conveyor unit to discharge the stored chips before executing the next processing step.

4. A band saw machine comprising: a cutting head which circulates a band saw blade; a conveyor unit which is arranged vertically to the tip of the band saw blade facing the workpiece and operates to collect, accumulate or discharge chips generated during cutting processing; a rotating member which can rotate at a predetermined angle; and a control unit which controls the circulation of the band saw blade and the operation of the conveyor unit, wherein the control unit controls the conveyor unit to operate and discharge the collected and accumulated chips when the rotating member is at a first rotation angle and to stop the operation of the conveyor unit to collect and accumulate chips generated during cutting processing when the rotating member is at a second rotation angle different from the first rotation angle.

5. The band saw according to claim 4, wherein, when the workpiece has a longitudinal shape, the first swivel angle is an angle at which the cutting head cuts the workpiece in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the workpiece.

6. A band saw machine as claimed in claim 4 or claim 5, wherein the control unit has a memory unit and a chip amount estimation unit, the memory unit pre-stores the volume of chips that can be accumulated in the conveyor unit as an allowable chip accumulated volume, the chip amount estimation unit estimates the volume of chips generated in the next processing step, compares the estimated chip volume with the stored allowable chip accumulated volume, and determines, depending on the comparison result, whether or not to operate the conveyor unit to discharge the stored chips before performing the next processing step.

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