Turning – Lathe
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-29
2003-03-11
Nguyen, Kien T. (Department: 3712)
Turning
Lathe
C082S149000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06530300
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a machine tool which has a chip conveyor for collecting chips generated during machining of a workpiece and discharging the chips outside the machine tool.
2. Description of Related Art
One exemplary machine tool of the aforesaid type is shown in
FIG. 4
, which is a side view partly cutaway. The machine tool
50
illustrated in
FIG. 4
is a so-called horizontal machining center. The machine tool
50
includes: a bed
51
; a column
52
provided on the bed
51
; a spindle head
53
supported by the column
52
; a table
54
provided in a machining area A on the bed
51
for receiving a pallet
55
placed thereon with a workpiece (not shown) mounted on the pallet
55
; a pallet base
63
provided outside the machining area A in a work area B located on the left side of the bed
51
as seen in
FIG. 4
; a pallet changer
60
for replacing the pallet
55
placed on the table
54
with a pallet
55
placed on the pallet base
63
; and a chip conveyor
70
having a transport path provided below the machining area A as extending along a Z-axis. The column
52
is movable along an X-axis (extending perpendicularly to the paper face of FIG.
4
), and the spindle head
53
is movable along a Y-axis. The table
54
is movable along the Z-axis. The pallet base
63
and the pallet changer
60
are disposed on a supporting base
64
provided on the left side of the bed
51
as seen in FIG.
4
.
The pallet changer
60
includes a pivot arm
61
having pallet retainers
61
a
provided on opposite ends thereof, and pivot/lift means
62
for horizontally pivoting and vertically moving the pivot arm
61
. The pivot arm
61
is moved up to retain the pallets
55
on the pallet retainers
61
a
at the opposite ends thereof, then pivoted by 180 degrees, and moved down. Thus, the pallets
55
respectively placed in the work area B and in the machining area A are replaced with each other.
The chip conveyor
70
is a so-called scraper conveyor, which includes an endless chain, a plurality of plates
72
coupled to the chain, a plurality of scrapers
73
coupled to the chain in a properly spaced relation, and sprockets
71
around which the chain is stretched. The machine tool
50
has a center trough structure in which the chip conveyor
70
is disposed along a widthwise center line of the bed
51
(with respect to the X-axis).
In the machine tool
50
having the aforesaid construction, a pallet
55
mounted with a workpiece is placed and fixed on the table
54
in the machining area A, and then the spindle head
53
, the column
52
and the table
54
are each properly driven for machining the workpiece. Chips generated during the machining are collected on the chip conveyor
70
provided centrally of the bed
51
, and conveyed and discharged outside the machine tool
50
by the chip conveyor
70
.
The machining operation is thus performed and, upon completion of the machining operation, the pallet changer
60
replaces the pallet
55
placed on the table
54
in the machining area A with the pallet
55
placed on the pallet base
63
in the work area B. A predetermined workpiece to be next machined is mounted on the pallet
55
placed on the pallet base
63
during the current machining operation.
The machine tool
50
is usually adapted to supply a coolant to the vicinity of a machining part during the machining operation. Therefore, the chips generated during the machining are mostly washed away by the coolant thereby to be collected together with the coolant on the chip conveyor
70
, but partly left adhering to the workpiece and the pallet
55
and brought into the work area B by the pallet replacement. An operator removes the chips from the workpiece and the pallet
55
when dismounting the workpiece from the pallet
55
on the pallet base
63
and mounting the next workpiece on the pallet
55
. The chips are temporarily accumulated in an oil pan, then regularly removed from the oil pan, and discarded in a chip box disposed in a predetermined position.
However, it is a troublesome operation to manually discard the chips brought into the work area B outside the machine tool
50
. Due to operator's negligence in performing the troublesome operation, the chips may be less frequently removed from the oil pan, resulting in long-term accumulation of the chips in the oil pan. This is environmentally unfavorable, and may cause malfunction of surrounding drive mechanisms.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a machine tool which is adapted to discharge chips brought into the work area from the machining area outside the machine tool by a simpler operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention to solve the aforesaid drawback, there is provided a machine tool, which comprises a bed, a column provided on the bed, a spindle head supported by the column, a table provided in a machining area for receiving a pallet placed thereon with a workpiece mounted on the pallet, a pallet base provided in a work area located outside the machining area, a pallet changer for replacing the pallet placed in the machining area with a pallet placed in the work area, the spindle head and the table being movable relative to each other along three orthogonal axes, and a chip conveyor having a transport path located below the machining area and the work area for conveying chips, whereby chips generated in the machining area and chips brought into the work area from the machining area are collected on the chip conveyor, and conveyed and discharged outside the machine tool by the chip conveyor.
In the machine tool according to the present invention, the transport path of the chip conveyor is located below the machining area and the work area. Therefore, where chips adhering to the workpiece and the pallet spontaneously fall when the pallet is transported from the machining area into the work area by the pallet changer or when the workpiece is dismounted from the pallet, the chips are collected on the chip conveyor, and conveyed and discharged outside the machine tool by the chip conveyor.
In other words, an operator can clean the workpiece and the pallet simply by brushing down the chips from the workpiece and the pallet onto the chip conveyor when dismounting the workpiece. Therefore, the long-term chip accumulation can be prevented which may otherwise occur when the chips are less frequently removed due to operator's negligence in performing the conventional troublesome chip removing operation. Thus, the environmentally unfavorable problems and the adverse effects on the surrounding drive mechanisms can be prevented which may otherwise occur due to the accumulation of the chips.
The machine tool preferably further comprises an oil pan provided below the pallet base for receiving a coolant and chips falling out of the pallet placed on the pallet base, the oil pan having a discharge port communicating with the transport path of the chip conveyor.
With this arrangement, the coolant and the chips falling from the workpiece and the pallet are received in the oil pan, so that the operator does not have to be careful for prevention of scattering of the coolant and the chips around the pallet base during the cleaning operation. Thus, the cleaning operation can be performed very easily. The coolant and the chips received in the oil pan can be discarded outside the machine tool simply by discharging the coolant and the chips from the discharge port onto the chip conveyor. Thus, the environmentally unfavorable problems can be prevented which may otherwise occur due to the long-term accumulation of the chips in the oil pan in the conventional case.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4539876 (1985-09-01), Myers et al.
patent: 4821612 (1989-04-01), Myers
patent: 4955770 (1990-09-01), Kitamura
patent: 5318396 (1994-06-01), Babel et al.
patent: 5704262 (1998-01-01), Baumbush et al.
patent: 5947663 (1999-09-01), Egawa et al.
patent: 6120222 (2000-09-01), Hiramoto et al.
patent: 10-328968 (1998
Kamei Toshihide
Nakai Masateru
Oguma Masahiro
Yoshida Haruki
Armstrong Westerman & Hattori, LLP
Mori Seiki Co. Ltd.
Nguyen Kien T.
LandOfFree
Machine tool does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Machine tool, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Machine tool will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3013237