Machine tool

Details Machine tool Machine tool

2000-04-25

2001-11-13

Tsai, Henry (Department: 3722)

Turning

Lathe

C082S122000, C082S149000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06314847

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a machine tool in which a saddle is reciprocally movably disposed on a fixed bed. More particularly, the invention relates to the structure of the saddle.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Among conventional machine tools there is, for example, a composite machining lathe in which one tool post is used for both lathe turning and rotating-tool machining. In this composite machining lathe, as shown in
FIG. 4
, on top of a fixed bed
200
, a saddle
201
is disposed so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction (the perpendicular direction with respect to the plane of the drawing) by two linear guides
202
. On top of the saddle
201
, a column
204
is disposed so as to be movable by two linear guides
203
in a direction which is perpendicular to the Z-axis and in which the height increases with decreasing distance to the front (the direction indicated by arrow “a”).
Further, on a front sloping surface
204
a
of the column
204
, a tool post
205
is disposed so as to be movable in the X-axis direction and rotationally indexable to a specified angle. In addition, a headstock
206
is fixed to the fixed bed
200
, and an automatic tool exchanger
207
is disposed on a sidewall of the column
204
.
The saddle
201
is formed into a rectangular shape, as seen in a side view, with a height dimension (plate thickness) t unchanged from the front to the rear so that a line B interconnecting the linear guides
202
for the saddle and an axis line C of the linear guides
203
for the column are parallel to each other. Also, since heavy articles such as the column
204
, the tool post
205
and the automatic tool exchanger
207
are mounted on the saddle
201
, it is common practice to set the plate thickness t as large as possible to increase support.
However, increasing the plate thickness t of the saddle
201
as in the conventional lathe causes the height position of the tool post
205
to increase as well. As a result, the height h of the axis of the headstock
206
would become higher, which may deteriorate workability and machining precision.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above problems in machining lathes, an object of the invention is to provide a machine tool capable of improving the support rigidity for the saddle without increasing the height of the axis of the headstock.
In order to achieve the above and other objects, the present invention provides a machine tool comprising a fixed bed, a headstock disposed on the fixed bed, a saddle movably disposed on top of the fixed bed, a column disposed on the saddle, and a tool post disposed on the column so that the tool post is movable relative to the headstock. The saddle includes a first portion disposed closer to the headstock and a second portion disposed further from the headstock than the first portion and they are dimensioned so that a height of the second portion is larger than a height of the first portion.
In a further embodiment, the machine tool as described above includes a tool magazine, where one or more tools are mounted, is fitted to the portion of the saddle located toward the rear side of the tool.
According to the machine tool of this invention, since the saddle dimensions are set so that its rear-side height dimension is larger than its front-side height dimension, the saddle has increased rigidity to support such heavy articles as the column and the tool post without increasing the height dimension of the whole saddle. Therefore, the height of the axis of the tool post and the height of the axis of the headstock do not have to be increased. Thus deterioration in workability and machining precision can be prevented.
Also, in proportion to the degree to which the height dimension of the rear side portion of the saddle is increased, the area of the rear side wall can be enlarged, making it possible to attach, for example, an automatic tool exchanger to the rear side wall of the saddle having high rigidity. In such a case, the weight load of the column supporting the tool post can be reduced.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4409869 (1983-10-01), Berly
patent: 4831906 (1989-05-01), Sugimoto et al.
patent: 5117552 (1992-06-01), Babel
patent: 5429020 (1995-07-01), Hack et al.

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