Rotary Table Brake Control for Stable Clamping Under Air Pressure Fluctuation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional machine tools face challenges in maintaining consistent clamping force of rotary tables due to fluctuations in air pressure, leading to potential wear and increased maintenance needs, which can affect machining accuracy and quality.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a controller that determines whether to rotate the rotary table based on signals from a pressure switch, ensuring the brake is only activated when air pressure meets a predetermined set value, and adjusting machining process timing in a machining system to prevent air pressure drops across multiple tools.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the brake is actuated by supply air to hold the rotary table at a predetermined indexed position, then the rotary table can be clamped reliably, but fluctuations in air pressure cause inconsistent clamping force leading to wear and maintenance issues
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates a pressure switch that continuously monitors air pressure and provides feedback to the controller. When pressure drops below a threshold, the controller receives this feedback and prevents rotation until pressure is restored, ensuring consistent clamping force throughout operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The pressure switch detects air pressure conditions in advance before rotation is attempted. The controller uses this preliminary information to determine whether rotation should be executed, preventing operations that would occur with insufficient clamping force.
2Ease of operation
If air pressure is used to actuate the brake, then the system remains simple and responsive, but unintentional decreases in clamping force occur due to pressure fluctuations
Solution Approach 1:
The pressure switch provides continuous feedback on air pressure status, enabling the controller to make informed decisions about rotation execution, thereby maintaining reliable clamping force despite the simplicity of pneumatic actuation.
3Productivity
If multiple machine tools share a common air supply, then resource utilization is optimized, but air pressure drops occur affecting simultaneous operation of multiple tools
Solution Approach 1:
Each machine tool equipped with the pressure switch and controller combination independently monitors its own air pressure conditions. This decentralized feedback mechanism allows multiple tools to operate reliably from a shared air supply by preventing rotation when local pressure conditions are insufficient.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution maintains consistent clamping force, reduces wear, and enhances machining accuracy by preventing unintentional decreases in clamping force and frequency of maintenance, while optimizing air usage across multiple machine tools.
Implementation Method 1
a controller that controls the motor and the valve, wherein the controller determines whether or not rotation of the rotary table by the motor should be executed on the basis of a signal from a pressure switch of a regulator provided between the fluid supply source and the valve
Implementation Method 2
a brake that places the rotary table in a clamping state or an unclamping state; a valve that controls fluid supplied from a fluid supply source to the brake for placing the brake in the clamping state or the unclamping state
Data Source
AI summary
A machine tool including a rotary table to which a workpiece to be subjected to machining is attached, a motor that rotates the rotary table, a brake that places the rotary table in a clamping state or an unclamping state, a valve that controls fluid supplied from a fluid supply source to the brake for placing the brake in the clamping state or the unclamping state, and a controller that controls the motor and the valve, where the controller determines whether or not rotation of the rotary table by the motor should be executed on the basis of a signal from a pressure switch of a regulator provided between the fluid supply source and the valve.