KR19980033447A - Automatic workpiece feed and take out device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an automatic workpiece supply and take-out apparatus, which is mounted on the upper side of the table (1) and pallet feeding means (5) for sequentially lowering one by one in a state of stacking a plurality of pallets (3), and the pallet Pallet take-out means 9 and a table mounted on the other end of the table 1 so as to face the supply means 5, and for raising the pallet 3 conveyed from the pallet supply means 5 one by one. Pallet horizontal transfer means 11, pallet horizontal transfer means 11, which are installed in the longitudinal direction of 1) and intermittently horizontally move the pallet 3 lowered by the pallet supply means 5 toward the pallet take-out means 9; Sensing means (53, 55) for detecting the presence or absence of the pallet transported by the movement, the fixed rail stand 57a fixed in the width direction of the table (1) and the fixed rail stand ( Horizontally along 57a) Including a movable rail stand 57b and a workpiece chucking means 13 installed to slide along the movable rail stand 57b, the workpiece is automatically chucked on a pallet moving sequentially and intermittently. In the meantime, the machine tool chucks the finished workpiece on the machine tool and automatically puts it back on the pallet on the table 1, thereby improving work efficiency.

Description

Apparatus for loading and unloading work piece automatically

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for automatically supplying and taking out workpieces, and more particularly, to an apparatus for automatically supplying a workpiece to a machine tool and automatically taking out a workpiece that has been processed in the machine tool.

Generally, in the work which processes a workpiece with a machine tool, the job of supplying or taking out a workpiece to a machine tool is performed by a worker by hand.

However, when the workpiece is supplied or taken out by such manual work, the time required per unit work becomes long, and thus there is a problem that the overall productivity decreases.

In order to solve this problem, the automation equipment is used to supply the workpiece to the machine tool or to take out the finished workpiece from the machine tool.However, after all the workpieces loaded on one pallet are processed, the next pallet is processed. The work to be moved to the position is to be done by the operator himself, it does not maximize the productivity because the entire work is not automated.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, by supplying the workpiece to the machine tool by biting the workpiece one by one from a pallet loaded with a plurality of workpieces, and also take out the finished workpiece from the machine tool and back onto the pallet On the other hand, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic workpiece supply and take-out apparatus which automatically performs all the operations of automatically taking out the pallet.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a pallet supply means for intermittently lowering the plurality of pallets by a certain height at a time by stacking a plurality of pallets accommodating a plurality of unprocessed workpieces in an aligned state, and Pallet take-out means, which is installed at a position opposite to the pallet supply means, carries out the pallet conveyed from the pallet supply means with intermittent upward movement at the same period and stroke as the pallet supply means, and removes the pallet upwards, the pallet supply means and the pallet Pallets dropped from the lower end of the pallet supply means by being installed along the horizontal longitudinal direction of the upper surface of the table on which the ejection means is mounted so as to intermittently move at the same cycle and stroke as the pallet supply means from the pallet supply means toward the pallet ejection means. Take the pallet above Pallet horizontal transfer means for horizontal intermittent movement toward the means, a fixed rail stand fixed in the width direction of the table, a movable rail stand installed to guide along the fixed rail stand, and a workpiece chucking means installed to slide along the movable rail stand And a pallet detection sensor for detecting whether there is a pallet in the pallet horizontal transfer means, and a pallet sequential transfer confirmation sensor for detecting a moving distance of the pallet transferred through the pallet horizontal transfer means.

According to the present invention, a plurality of pallets having a plurality of unprocessed workpieces configured as described above are lowered one by one by a pallet feeding means one by one above the pallet horizontal transfer means, and the pallets thus transferred are pallet horizontal transfer means and pallet detection. The intermittent transfer by means and the pallet sequential confirmation sensor, the workpiece chucking means moves along the rail stand to chuck the workpiece on the pallet which has been conveyed along the pallet horizontal transfer means, and then to the apparatus of the present invention. After moving to an adjacent machine tool and unloading the workpiece machined at the machine tool, the chucked workpiece was loaded onto the workbench of the machine tool and returned to the pallet of the pallet horizontal transfer unit to chuck. Place the workpiece on the pallet. Subsequently, the workpiece chucking means again chucks the unprocessed workpiece placed on the pallet, and then repeats the above operation process to load the workpiece into the machine tool one by one on the pallet and reload the finished workpiece in the machine tool. It will automatically repeat the task of returning it onto the pallet.

In this way, the workpieces in a row on the pallet are transferred to the machine tool one by one, and after completion of processing, and then returned to the place on the pallet, the pallet is advanced to the next workpiece row by the pallet horizontal conveying means to automatically supply the workpiece as described above. The automatic retrieval is repeated so that the automatic work of the workpiece supply and automatic retrieval can be fully automated without operator.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing the overall appearance of the automatic workpiece supply and take-out apparatus according to the present invention,

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the mechanism of the pallet supply means and take-out means according to the invention,

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the mechanism of the pallet horizontal transfer means according to the present invention,

4 is a view showing a pallet detecting means according to the present invention;

5 is a view showing a workpiece chucking means according to the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

1-Table 3-Palette

5-pallet feeder 7-pallet

9-Palette Feeding Means 11-Palette Horizontal Transfer

13-workpiece chucking means 19-upper axis of rotation

21-lower axis of rotation 25-lift

33-drive shaft 37-drive motor

41a, 41b-support shaft 45-transmission shaft

51-drive motor 53-pallet detection sensor

55-sequential feed confirmation sensor 59a, 59b-first vessel, second vessel

61-servo motor 63-reverse cylinder

67-lift cylinder 69-servo motor

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing the overall configuration of the automatic workpiece supply and take-out device according to the present invention.

Automatic workpiece supply and take-out apparatus according to the present invention, as shown in Figure 1, by stacking a plurality of pallets (3) for receiving a plurality of unprocessed workpieces (not shown) in a state aligned in front and rear Pallet supply means 5 for intermittently lowering these multiple pallets 3 by a certain height simultaneously, and are provided in the position which opposes the said pallet supply means 5 in the upper surface of the table 1, and the said pallet supply Pallet take-out means 9 for lifting the pallet 3 by lifting upward while supporting the pallet 3 conveyed from the pallet supply means 5 while intermittently rising and moving in the same period and stroke as the means 5; The pallet is provided along the horizontal longitudinal direction of the upper surface of the table 1 on which the pallet supply means 5 and the pallet takeout means 9 are mounted, so that the pallet is moved from the pallet supply means 5 toward the pallet takeout means 9. Pallet horizontal transfer means 11 for intermittently moving the pallet 3 dropped from the bottom of the pallet supply means 5 toward the pallet takeout means 9 by interlocking so as to intermittently move at the same period and stroke as the supply means 5. And a fixed rail stage 57a fixedly installed in the width direction on the table 1, and a movable rail stage 57b and the movable rail installed on the fixed rail stage 57a to be guided along the fixed rail stage 57a. A pallet detection sensor 53 which includes a workpiece chucking means 13 installed to slide along the table 57b, and detects whether the pallet 3 is in the pallet horizontal transfer means 11, and the pallet It includes a pallet position sensor 55 for detecting the moving distance of the pallet (3) conveyed via the horizontal transfer means (11).

As shown in FIG. 1, the pallet 3 is provided with a plurality of workpiece receiving portions 3a so that a plurality of workpieces can be aligned at regular intervals in front, rear, left and right.

The pallet supply means 5 and the pallet takeout means 9 are respectively provided at both ends of the upper part of the table 1, as shown schematically in FIG. 1, and the pallet supply means 5 are not processed. Horizontal pallet transfer means for pallets one by one while intermittently lowering by a certain height simultaneously in a state in which a plurality of pallets 3 having a plurality of workpieces (not shown) are stacked in each of the receiving grooves 3a in the vertical direction (11) to be supplied above.

The pallet takeout means 9 receives the pallets 3 which are filled with the workpiece processed by the pallet horizontal transfer means 11 while being interlocked with the same operation cycle and stroke as the pallet supply means 5, one by one. It is made to raise intermittently.

The detailed configuration of such pallet supply means 5 and pallet ejection means 9 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the pallet supply means 5 and the pallet takeout means 9 are identical in structure, and differ only in the direction of moving the pallet. In FIG. 2, only one pallet supply means 5 is shown. Explain.

As shown in FIG. 3, the pallet supply means 5 and the pallet takeout means 9 are provided with support frames 15 and 16 at both ends of the upper end of the table 1, respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, upper and lower rotary shafts 19 and lower rotary shafts 21 are rotatably installed at the left and right ends of the upper and lower ends, respectively. Sprockets 17a and 17b are provided, and a pair of sprockets 17a and 17b facing up and down are wound with one chain 23 for interlocking these sprockets 17a and 17b. And a pair of chains 23 facing each other back and forth is fixed to a plurality of lifts (25) mounted on the pallet (3) to support the pallet 23 supported on it while lifting up as the chain 23 orbits It is supposed to elevate).

One bevel gear 27 is provided at one end of each of the lower rotary shafts 21 provided at the lower left and right ends thereof, and is engaged with each bevel gear 29 provided at both ends of the drive shaft 33. In addition, the bevel gear 31 is fixedly installed on the drive shaft 33 and engaged with another bevel gear 35 provided at the tip of the motor shaft of the drive motor 37 so that the drive motor 37 is rotated forward or reverse. As the drive shaft 33 rotates, the lower rotary shaft 21 is rotated through the bevel gears 27 and 29, and the upper rotary shaft 19 connected to the lower rotary shaft 21 via the chain 23 is also rotated. In addition, the chain 23 hanging on the sprockets 17b and 17a and the lift 25 attached to the chain 23 are orbitally moved.

The above-described components are equally applied to the pallet supply means 5 and the pallet takeout means 9, but the pallet feed means 5 and the pallet takeout according to the direction in which the drive shaft 33 of the drive motor 37 rotates. The operation of the means 9 will be different from each other.

In more detail, the drive motor 37 of the pallet supply means 5 is rotated counterclockwise when viewed from the front of FIG. 2 so that the left chain 33 and the right chain 33 are clockwise and counterclockwise, respectively. The lift 25 provided on the inside of the chain 33 is lowered downward to supply the pallet 3 mounted thereon while rotating downward. The drive motor of the pallet take-out means 9 rotates in the opposite direction to the drive motor 37 of the pallet feed means 5 so as to perform the opposite movement with the chain of the pallet feed means 5 side. In other words, the drive motor 37 in the case of the pallet takeout means 9 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 2 so as to lift out the lift 25 in the chain 33.

FIG. 3 shows the pallet horizontal transfer means 11 which is installed in the longitudinal direction of the table 1 and horizontally transfers the pallet 3 lowered by the pallet supply means 5 to the pallet takeout means 9.

That is, as shown in Figure 3, both ends are rotatably installed on the vertical inner wall of the table (1), provided with sprockets (39a, 39b) on both sides side by side at the top of both sides in the table (1) A pair of support shafts 41a and 41b facing each other, and both ends are rotatably installed on the vertical inner wall of the table 1, but the sprocket 39c and the transfer bevel gear 43 are provided at both sides. And a transmission shaft 45 positioned below the table 1 between the support shafts 41a and 41b.

3, the pallet 3 is horizontally moved in the longitudinal direction of the table 1 by meshing with the pair of support shafts 41a and 41b and the sprockets 39a, 39b and 39c of the transmission shaft 45, respectively. There is shown a transfer drive motor 51 having a transfer chain 47 and a drive bevel gear 49 engaged with the transfer bevel gear 43 on a drive shaft to orbitally move the transfer chain 47.

On the other hand, Figure 4 is a pallet detecting sensor 53 for detecting the presence or absence of the pallet (3) conveyed by the chain 47 of the pallet horizontal transfer means 11, the pallet 3 on the pallet 3 A pallet sequential confirmation sensor 55 is provided for detecting whether the position of the workpiece receiving portion 3a is accurately moved by the row so that the workpiece transfer pallet 3 is intermittently arranged by the horizontal transfer means 11. It is designed to detect whether it is moving.

That is, at the bottom surface of the pallet 3, the position display pins 3b are inserted and installed at the same interval as the workpiece placement intervals along the longitudinal direction of the pallet 3, so that the pallet sequential transfer confirmation sensor 55 is located at the position display pins. By receiving the reflected light from (3b), it is indirectly checked whether the pallet (exactly, the workpiece) correctly and sequentially transfers one row at a time. In addition, the pallet sensor 53 receives the reflected light from the bottom surface of the pallet 3 and detects whether the pallet 3 is being transferred along the pallet horizontal transfer means 11.

1 shows a movable rail stage 57b for sliding the fixed rail stage 57a fixedly installed in the horizontal direction of the table 1 and slides along the movable rail stage 57b on the movable rail stage 57b. Workpiece chucking means 13 are shown. The chucking means 13 chucks the workpiece of the pallet 3 being transferred by the pallet horizontal transfer means 11 while moving on the movable rail stage 57b or sliding the movable rail stage 57b. Then, it moves to a machine tool (not shown) and supplies a workpiece to a worktable of the machine tool, or chucks a workpiece on which the machining operation of the machine tool is completed and conveys it back onto the pallet 3.

The motor 69 is installed in the fixed rail stand 57a fixedly installed across the table 1 in the width direction, and the motor 69 is engaged with the motor 69 as the motor 69 rotates forward or reverse. The movable rail stage 57b provided on the front side is slid through the track type timing belt (not shown).

In addition, the chucking means 13 slidably movable on the movable rail stand 57b includes a first chuck 59a and a first chuck 59a facing downward, as shown in FIG. 5. The second chuck 59b disposed at right angles with respect to the c) is installed on the motor shaft of the servomotor 61 which rotates intermittently by 180 degrees. The second chuck 59b rotates back and forth along the horizontal direction. A forward and backward cylinder 63 and a lift cylinder 67 for lifting and lowering the chucking means 13 in the vertical direction.

Here, the servomotor 61 for operating the workpiece chucking means 13 may be replaced with a rotary pneumatic cylinder.

The automatic workpiece supply and take-out apparatus of the present invention thus made operates as follows.

When the pallet 3 on which the unprocessed workpiece is placed in each of the receiving portions 3a of the pallet 3 is mounted on the empty lift 25 of the pallet supply means 5, the drive motor 37 of the pallet supply means 5 ) Rotates and sequentially descends the pallets 3 mounted on these lifts 25 and supplies them onto the pallet horizontal conveying means 11, and the pallet 3 conveyed by the horizontal conveying means 11 is the chucking means. If it is located below (13), it is stopped by the pallet sensor 53. At this time, the pallet sequential transfer confirmation sensor 55 places the pallet 3 at the correct position.

At the same time, the chucking means 13 descends toward the pallet 3 and grabs one workpiece on the pallet 3 with the first chuck 59a facing toward the pallet 3 and then operates the lifting cylinder 67. Then, the movable rail stage 57b rapidly moves the chucking means 13 to be located in front of the work bench of the machine tool.

In this state, the chucking means 13 advances toward the machine tool workbench, and the second chuck 59a located in the horizontal direction retreats in the state where the work is already finished in the machine tool and unloads the work piece. In this state, the servomotor 61 is operated to position the first chuck 59a chucking the unprocessed workpiece and the second chuck 59b chucking the finished workpiece.

Then, the forward and backward cylinder 63 is extended to advance the chucking means 13 toward the workbench of the machine tool. At this time, the first chuck 59a supplies and loads the workpiece that has been bitten to the workbench of the machine tool. will be loaded. In this state, the chucking means 13 moves backward toward the movable rail stage 57b, and then is loaded on the movable rail stage 57b to return to the pallet 3 on the horizontal transfer means 11. At this time, the second chuck 59b holding the work taken out from the workbench of the machine tool is accurately positioned in the receiving portion 3a of the empty pallet 3 of the workpiece loaded by the first chuck 59a on the machine tool. . As the lifting cylinder 67 operates in this state, the second chuck 59b lowers and holds the processed workpiece held in the container 3a of the pallet 3. Then, the second chuck 59b is lifted upward again by the lifting cylinder 67, and then moves to the side workpieces in the same row by the movable rail stand 57b, and through the above-described process, all the workpieces in one row are machine tools. It will automatically feed to the side.

While repeating the above operation, the automatic workpiece supply and take-out apparatus of the present invention is supplied to the machine tool after a plurality of workpieces arranged in the first row of the receiving portion (3a) of the pallet (3) and processed again to the pallet (3) When conveyed and returned to the empty container portion 3a of the pallet 3 again, the pallet horizontal transfer means 11 moves the pallet 3 forward and forward, and repeats the above work supply and take-out operation. All workpieces on the pallet 3 will be replaced with machined workpieces.

After all the workpieces on one pallet 3 are processed in this way, the horizontal transport means 11 transfers the pallet 3 toward the pallet takeout means 9, and the pallet takeout means 9 sends the pallet 3 ), The pallet takeout means 9 automatically takes out the pallet 3 filled with the processed work piece upwards by lifting it up one level and repeating this operation.

Therefore, according to the present invention described above, after the machine tool is installed next to the table 1, the pallet 3 on which the worker or the robot arranges the workpiece is placed on the uppermost lift 25 of the pallet supply means 5. When it is put in, the workpiece is automatically supplied to the machine tool or the finished work is returned from the machine tool onto the pallet (3), and then the cycle of automatically taking out the pallet (3) is repeated to automatically supply and take out the work. This is done completely automatically.

According to the apparatus for automatically supplying and taking out workpieces according to the present invention described above, while automatically supplying a workpiece to a machine tool, a work of automatically transferring a work finished on a pallet onto a pallet is also performed by automatically supplying and taking out a workpiece. By realizing the work automatically, it is possible to improve the work productivity, and furthermore, there is an effect that the entire plant can be an unmanned automatic process.

Claims (3)

Pallet supply means for intermittently lowering the plurality of pallets 3 by a certain height simultaneously by stacking a plurality of pallets 3 accommodating a plurality of unprocessed workpieces (not shown) arranged in front, rear, left, and right directions ( 5); On the upper surface of the table 1, it is provided at a position opposite to the pallet supply means 5, and has been conveyed from the pallet supply means 5 while intermittently raising and lowering at the same period and stroke as the pallet supply means 5. Pallet ejection means 9 for lifting the pallet 3 by lifting upward while supporting the pallet 3; It is installed along the horizontal longitudinal direction of the upper surface of the table 1 on which the pallet supply means 5 and the pallet takeout means 9 are mounted, and the pallet is supplied from the pallet supply means 5 to the pallet takeout means 9. Pallet horizontal transfer means (11) for intermittently moving the pallet (3) dropped from the lower end of the pallet supply means (5) toward the pallet takeout means (9) by interlocking so as to intermittently move at the same period and stroke as the means (5). ; And The fixed rail stand 57a fixed to the table 1 in the width direction, and the movable rail stand 57b and the movable rail stand installed on the fixed rail stand 57a to be guided along the fixed rail stand 57a. Workpiece chucking means 13 installed to slide along 57b); A pallet detection sensor 53 for detecting whether the pallet 3 is in the pallet horizontal transfer means 11; And, Automatic feed and take out device including a pallet position sensor (55) for detecting the moving distance of the pallet (3) conveyed via the pallet horizontal transfer means (11). The pallet supply means (5) and the pallet takeout means (9) are provided with support frames (15, 16) at both ends of the upper end of the table (1), respectively. The upper rotary shaft 19 and the lower rotary shaft 21 are rotatably installed at the left and right ends of the 16, respectively, and a pair of sprockets 17a and 17b are provided at both ends of each of the rotary shafts 19 and 21, respectively. A pair of sprockets 17a and 17b which are installed and opposed to each other up and down are wound with one chain 23 for interlocking these sprockets 17a and 17b, and a pair of chains 23 that face each other before and after the pallet. (3) a plurality of lifts (25) mounted and supported are fixedly installed so that the chain (23) moves up and down to lift and lift the pallet (3) supported thereon. Device. 3. The workpiece chucking means (13) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the workpiece chucking means (13) has a first chuck (59a) facing downward and a second chuck (59b) arranged at a right angle with respect to the first chuck (59a). It is provided on the motor shaft of the servomotor 61 which rotates intermittently by an angle, and the forward and backward cylinder 63 and the vertical direction which advance and retreat the said 1st chuck 59a and the 2nd chuck 59b simultaneously horizontally. Automatic lifting and take-off device, characterized in that it comprises a lifting cylinder (67) for lifting up and down.