Electrical transmission or interconnection systems – Electromagnet or highly inductive systems
Patent
1996-09-11
1998-05-05
Shoop, Jr., William M.
Electrical transmission or interconnection systems
Electromagnet or highly inductive systems
307 17, 336DIG3, 295921, 363 95, B23Q 3155
Patent
active
057478945
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a Factory Automation (FA) connector for contactless transmission of electric power and signals which minimizes, in a machine tool working preparation system wherein a clamping or chucking operation of an object work is performed not manually but automatically using a fluid pressure such as a hydraulic pressure or a pneumatic pressure on a rotary member such as a circular table or a body which separately moves such as a work pallet for a machining center, the numbers of automatic couplings and external pipes for supply of fluid and allows fully automated remote control of solenoid valves.
2. Discussion of Background
Although operations of a so-called preparation step wherein an object work is clamped or chucked on a rotary member such as a circular table or an autonomous movable body such as a work pallet for a machining center prior to machining have been conventionally relying much upon the manpower, as the working time decreases, the ratio of the preparation time occupying in the total process time is gradually increasing. Further, shortage of the manpower and transition to a production method of many kinds by small quantities in recent years further increase the necessity for full automation of the preparation step.
In this connection, a connector (coupler) for automatically connecting or disconnecting a hydraulic pressure or a pneumatic pressure has been recently developed, and this facilitates supply of power for clamping or chucking a work on a rotary member or an autonomous movable body. In a situation in which it is forecast that loading and unloading of a work will be performed by a robot in the future, a demand to automate all of centering, positioning, clamping and unclamping operations of a work is increasing. Although the automatic connector described above has made it possible to supply fluid (particularly a hydraulic pressure) as pressure sources for performing such operations, transmission of signals for controlling the pressure sources by means of solenoid valves to drive actuators on a rotary member or a separate movable body must be performed solving the problem of bad circumferential environment of presence of oil water and swarf.
Generally, a work clamp on a rotary table or a movable pallet in almost all cases includes a plurality of hydraulic (or pneumatic) actuators which operate independently of each other for one work and besides includes a plurality of works. As the number of actuators involved increases in this manner, also the number of automatic couplings and the number of pipes on the fixed side increase. An increase of the number of automatic couplings not only makes positioning for fitting difficult but also results in increase of the size of the coupling section and in deterioration of the reliability, and an increase in number of pipes gives rise to a problem in regard to an equipment arrangement.
Accordingly, in order to eliminate these drawbakcs, the number of fluid supply paths between the rotary member or movable body and the fixed section must be minimized by mounting a plurality of solenoid valves for controlling the individual actuators independently of each other on the rotary member or movable body. In this instance, the point is how signals are communicated with power supplies for driving those solenoid valves.
One of candidates which allows this is a conventional multiple contact type connector. However, in environment of a working site of a machine tool to which the present invention is directed, the conventional multiple contact type connector does not allow stable power supply, signal transmission and control for a long period of time because of presence of oil for generation of a hydraulic pressure, cutting oil, water, swarf and so forth.
Meanwhile, a contact type power feeder apparatus which is formed integrally with a manifold in which hydraulic pipes are arranged is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. 290113/87. While this apparatus is constructed such that
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patent: 4809426 (1989-03-01), Takeuchi
patent: 4837556 (1989-06-01), Matsushita et al.
patent: 4855982 (1989-08-01), Orlicki
patent: 5412253 (1995-05-01), Hough
patent: 5422519 (1995-06-01), Russell
Hiraga Yoshiji
Hirai Junji
Nomura Kenji
Ganjian Peter
Kabushiki Kaisha Yaskawa Denki
Shoop Jr. William M.
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