Metal working – Plural diverse manufacturing apparatus including means for... – Common reciprocating support for spaced tools
Patent
1990-02-23
1991-06-04
Briggs, William
Metal working
Plural diverse manufacturing apparatus including means for...
Common reciprocating support for spaced tools
B23Q 3157
Patent
active
050202103
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
DESCRIPTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an automatic tool changer having a turret provided with a plurality of tool holders, and capable of turning the turret for indexing at a tool changing position and changing a tool attached to the spindlehead of the machine tool for a selected tool.
2. Background Art
A currently used automatic tool changer, on which present invention is based, has a structure as shown in FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C.
As shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C, a turret 3 provided with a plurality of tool holders 9 on the circumference thereof is suspended by a crank 6' pivotally supported on a support 5 for swing motion on a support shaft O.sub.1, the turret 3 is biased to and held at a standby position by extension springs 17' connected respectively to the extremities of the opposite upper arms of the crank 6', and a locking lever 11 mounted on the crank is biased always by a spring 42 so that a locking projection 41 provided thereon engages a turret gear 27 to restrain the turret 3 from rotation and so that the locking projection 41 is disengaged from the turret gear 27 when a pressure is applied to a roller 40 provided at the lower end thereof. Links 4' are supported pivotally respectively on support shafts O.sub.2 provided respectively on the opposite sides of the support 5 so that the upper ends of the links 4' engage rollers 30' provided on the crank 6'. Rollers 29' are provided respectively on the lower ends of the links 4' .
On the other hand, a spindlehead 22, which is vertically slidable along a linear rail R between a lower working position and an upper tool changing position, is provided with a spindle unit 1 for holding a tool 7 at the lower end thereof in the central portion of the front surface thereof. A cam 2 which engages the roller 40 to operate the locking lever 11 is attached to the middle of the front surface of the spindle unit 1. A pair of first cams 8' each having a concave cam surface 80' are attached respectively to the opposite side surfaces of the spindle unit to operate the rollers 29'. An L-shaped tool releasing lever 19 disposed in the central portion of the upper part of the spindle head is provided with a roller 39 at the upper end thereof, and an operating member E at the front end thereof. When the spindlehead is raised to the tool changing position, a second cam, not shown, acts on the roller 39 to make the operating member E of the tool releasing lever 19 operate a releasing mechanism H provided on top of the spindle unit to release the tool 7 held at the lower end of the spindle unit.
In FIG. 7A, the spindle head 22 is at the lower position for machining operation with the tool 7. When a tool change command is given, the spindle head 22 is raised from the position shown in FIG. 7A. Then, the first cams 8' come into engagement with the rollers 29', the concave cam surfaces 80' act on the rollers 29' to turn the links 4' in the direction of an arrow A.sub.1 so that the crank 6' is turned in the direction of an arrow B to advance the turret 3 so that the finger 91 of an empty tool holder 9 slides into a groove 71 formed in a tool arbor at the end of a section L.sub.1 of a path L' (FIG. 7C). Subsequently, after the engagement of the corners of the first cams 8' with the rollers 29', the finger moves along a curved path L.sub.c and, at the same time, the roller 39 of the tool releasing lever is subjected to the action of the upper second cam, not shown in FIG. 7A to bring the operating member E provided at the front end of the tool releasing lever into engagement with the releasing mechanism H provided at the upper end of the spindle unit 1 to release the arbor 70 from the spindle unit 1. As the spindle unit 1 is raised further, the finger 91 moves along the path L.sub.c and a path L.sub.2 (FIG. 7C) to remove the tool 7 from the spindle unit 1. As the spindle unit 1 is raised further after the tool 7 has been moved, a spindle gear 37 engages the turret gear 27 and, at the same time, the third cam 2 acts on the roller 29' to turn the locking lever 11 a
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patent: 4679296 (1987-07-01), Watanabe et al.
patent: 4813122 (1989-03-01), Watanabe et al.
patent: 4827600 (1989-05-01), Miyano
patent: 4835838 (1989-06-01), Hirose
patent: 4870744 (1989-10-01), Araki et al.
patent: 4873756 (1989-10-01), Yamane et al.
patent: 4955127 (1990-09-01), Suda et al.
Briggs William
Fanuc Ltd.
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