Tool Magazine Locking Detection for Misheld Machine Tools
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Solution Overview
Problem
Machine tools face breakdowns and damage due to improper tool holding in tool magazines, which existing solutions do not adequately address.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method featuring tool holding mechanisms with gripping arms, urging members, and locking mechanisms that detect deviations from proper tool positioning using a common detector, allowing for timely failure determination and prevention of machine tool damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If tools are held in a tool magazine over time, then the machine tool can perform various machining operations, but the tools may not be held properly due to degradation, causing breakdowns or damage
Solution Approach 1:
The detector checks tool holding status before machining operations begin. The locking member prevents the tool from being released if improper holding is detected, proactively preventing potential breakdowns or damage rather than reacting after failure occurs
Solution Approach 2:
The detector continuously monitors the tool holding status and provides feedback to the locking member. When tool degradation or improper holding is detected, the system receives feedback signal and the locking member responds by preventing tool release, creating a closed-loop control system that maintains reliability
2Reliability
If a detection system is added to monitor tool holding status, then tool holding failures can be prevented, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tool holding mechanism performs self-detection through the detector monitoring the position of the locking member and tool. The system uses its own operational components (locking member movement, detector positioning) to detect holding status without requiring external complex detection equipment
Solution Approach 2:
The detector serves multiple functions: it detects tool holding status, monitors locking member position, and provides feedback for the locking control system. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated components for each detection task, simplifying the overall system
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is an apparatus for detecting a failure in holding a tool of a machine tool that includes, in each of a plurality of tool holding mechanisms in a tool magazine, a locking member provided to have different self-displacement positions for a case where a tool is held at a proper held position between tool gripping portions of a pair of holding arms and a case where the tool is held with deviation from the proper held position, and that detects a holding failure state of the tool in the tool holding mechanism by detecting the position of a detection target portion that moves integrally with the locking member with a predetermined detector provided in the machine tool. The apparatus makes it possible to effectively prevent a risk of a breakdown of and damage to the machine tool.