JPH04122536A - Tool management method in machining system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To maintain high machining quality and to remarkably improve workability of tool preparation and so on by monitoring life of the tool necessary for executing a predetermined machining schedule and by instructing necessity of its replacement properly and promptly. CONSTITUTION:A tool managing device 1 is constituted by a first comparing means 2, a second comparing means 3 and a display device 4. The first comparing means 2 puts out information that replacement of a tool is unnecessary concerning the tool which may be used beyond a set life value (coherent life of the tool) during machining, while it judges whether the tool has an enough life value concerning the tool which must not be used beyond the set life value. The second comparing means 3 compares an accumulated time with a predetermined set value of the tool on which the information that tool replacement is necessary was not put out by the first comparing means 2, and puts out information on necessity of the tool replacement. The display means 4 puts out an output display on necessity of the tool replacement before carrying-in of a work to an NC machine tool to a monitor or a piece of paper.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides a method for executing a machining schedule assigned to a predetermined NC machine tool in a machining system having at least one NC machine tool with a tool magazine. This invention relates to a method for managing tools to be provided.

[Conventional technology]

In NC machine tools, it is necessary to prepare in advance tools for machining the workpiece placed on the next pallet from the viewpoint of production efficiency and the like. Specifically, whether or not the NC program can be executed with the tools currently stored in the tool magazine (including any tools taken out from the tool magazine to the spindle for machining), in other words, the current It is necessary to judge whether or not the tool in possession satisfies the tool conditions (life) of the tool to be used during program execution.

The above-mentioned process of determining whether or not tool replacement is necessary is normally carefully performed by an operator over time.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention 2] However, the above-mentioned process of determining whether or not tool replacement is necessary for all tools to be used when executing the NC program is a laborious and extremely troublesome task. Moreover, in practice, this work is unfavorable in terms of production efficiency, as it is processed after the pallet is set on the NC machine tool. For this reason, there is a need for a drastic solution that can be processed mechanically, easily, quickly, proactively, and without relying on human hands, and in a manner that requires careful judgment.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention manages tools to be used in executing a machining schedule assigned to a predetermined NC machine tool in a machining system having at least one NC machine tool with a tool magazine. The method includes: grasping the remaining life of each tool used in the machining schedule as the machining progresses, reserving the scheduled usage time of each tool for each machining process in the machining schedule, and prior to the execution of the machining process. The configuration is characterized in that a tool exchange request is output when the remaining life of the tool currently held in the tool magazine is small compared to the scheduled tool use time for the relevant machining process.

[For production]

Before carrying a workpiece to be machined into an NC machine tool in a machining system, an output is displayed as to whether or not tool replacement is necessary. When tools need to be replaced, the tools in the tool magazine can be replaced in advance, and the NC machine tool does not needlessly stop to prepare tools.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic principle of a tool management device for realizing a tool management method in a machining system according to the present invention.

The tool management device 1 of this embodiment basically consists of a first comparison means 2, a second comparison means 3, and a display means 4.

The first comparison means 2 outputs information that tool replacement is not necessary for tools that are allowed to be used beyond a set life value (tool-specific life time) during machining; For tools that are not allowed to be used beyond their lifespan value, it is determined whether they have a sufficient lifespan value, in other words, their remaining life or remaining life (from the set life value, the accumulated time consumed up to now (Exh Time)) The time minus (Life Time) - (Exh
The tool compares the expected usage time (Ctime) required for future machining, and outputs information indicating that the tool needs to be replaced if the latter exceeds the former.

The second comparison means 3 calculates the cumulative consumption time (Ex, h
Time) and a predetermined setting value and outputs information on whether tool replacement is required or not.

Based on the information from the first and second comparing means 2.3, the display means 4 creates a tool, exchange form, etc. in a format that is easy to understand for the operator, and outputs it on a monitor or a piece of paper.

The tool management device 1 explained above can basically be configured with a supervising computer capable of controlling a plurality of NC machine tools. And the cumulative consumption time of each tool (Exh Time)
is updated by the time meter included in the NC machine tool,
Setting life value (Life Time) and scheduled usage time (C
time), etc. are generally input from a terminal device (not shown) consisting of a monitor and a keyboard.

Next, the method of this embodiment will be explained below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the conditions of the tools to be used in one NC program (tool number used, set life value, and scheduled use time (Ctime)) are extracted one by one (step 103), and this is done for all tools used. Extraction and loop processing starting from step 107 are performed (step 105).

In step 107, it is determined whether the tool can be used beyond its lifespan during machining.

Specifically, read the status of the flag (F) that has been individually attached to each tool used, and if F = 1 (YES)
is a tool or process for which machining can be continued even if the tool reaches the end of its life.In other words, it is a step that determines whether the cumulative time consumed at the start of machining exceeds a set value A, which will be described later. 108, and if it does not exceed the limit, it is recorded and registered as there is no need to change the tool (
Step 109). If YES in step 108, the tool life has been exceeded and the tool needs to be replaced, so the process advances to step 113.

By the way, it is not inherently desirable to use a tool of a machine tool beyond its lifespan (with no remaining life). However, depending on the extent of the problem, there may be no particular problem in terms of safety or practicality even if the tool is used beyond its service life. For example, when performing rough machining using a specified tool, there is no problem in using it somewhat beyond its service life; on the other hand, the tool can be mechanically removed immediately at the end of its service life, or mechanically while it has remaining life. If they are replaced, the operating rate of the machine tool will be extremely reduced, and it is also not a good idea from a tool economical point of view. In view of these points, step 10
In step 7, it is determined whether the tool can be used beyond its service life.

If F=Q in step 107 (0), the tool is a tool that cannot be used beyond its life, so the process proceeds to step 111, where it is determined whether the tool has sufficient remaining life. In other words, the remaining life of the tool, i.e. ((Life Time) - (ExhTime))
It is determined whether or not the time exceeds the scheduled usage time (Ctime).

In step 111, ((Life Time)
- (ExhTime)) < (Ctime) if (
(N), the tool life will end in the middle of machining, and therefore the tool must be replaced, so this fact is recorded and registered (step 113).

On the other hand, in step 111 ((Life Tim
e) If (Eth Time)) ≧ (Ctime) (
YES) There is no formal problem with the tool life, so there is no need to replace the tool.

However, even if the tool life is not exceeded, it may not be desirable to use the tool until the end of its life in terms of accuracy, etc. Therefore, if a certain time limit is set and the tool is exceeded, caution should be taken. It is desirable to display a message to that effect or point out that tool replacement is necessary.

Therefore, in step 115, it is determined whether the cumulative consumption time (Exh Time) of the tool exceeds a predetermined set value A or not. This set value A is, for example, the product of the set life time of the tool by a predetermined value α (for example, a value of about 0.95 that can be obtained empirically depending on the user's purpose, etc.), that is, A =
(LifeTime) It is sufficient to uniformly obtain it using the formula xα.

If (Exh Time)≧A (YES), for example, it is necessary to change the tool, and vice versa (N
O) Record and register that tool replacement is unnecessary (steps 117 and 119).

Steps 103, 105, and 107 explained above. ...
, and if the loop process returning to step 103 has been performed for all tools used in the NC block, that is, if YES in step 105, the process proceeds to step 121. In step 121, a message indicating that the tool should remain even though its life has expired (step 10
9), that it should be replaced because it has reached the end of its service life (Step 1)
13), that the cumulative consumption time exceeds the set value (step 1)
17) and the information that the set value will not be exceeded (step 119), a tool exchange form is created in a format that is easy for the operator to understand, and is displayed on a monitor or on a piece of paper.

Note that the cumulative consumption time (Exh Time) is the set value (A
) and cases in which it is not exceeded may be displayed in a format that is easy to visually understand - 1, for example, by lighting up the former in red and the latter in blue.

In addition to this set value (A), a second set value lower than this, a set value (B) in which the coefficient If the setting value (B) is exceeded, it is displayed as "yellow", that is, a multi-stage display of red, yellow, and blue is displayed, which is preferable in practice because it can further draw the operator's attention to the tool exchange timing.

As explained above, according to the device of this embodiment, it is determined that tools that are allowed to be used beyond their service life during machining do not need to be replaced, and tools that cannot be used require tool replacement. It is possible to make an appropriate judgment as to whether or not the tool is defective by comparing it with a lifespan value or a predetermined setting value, that is, it is possible to make an overall plan to use (replace) the right tool in the right place. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate unnecessary repeated tool changes, and to effectively solve problems such as quality deterioration and interruption time loss caused by inadvertently expiring the tool life during machining, thereby improving quality and production. Significant effects can be expected in terms of

Moreover, regardless of the operation of the NC machine tool itself, for example, before setting a pallet on which a work is placed on the machine tool, this device can process the work on the pallet using the tools stored in the tool magazine. It is possible to quickly, effectively and efficiently check in advance whether or not the tool can be replaced (necessity of tool replacement), and the conventional labor that had to be spent on such tasks can be significantly reduced or eliminated. can.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to monitor the tools necessary for carrying out a predetermined addition process from the viewpoint of their service life, and to promptly and specifically instruct whether or not they need to be replaced. This makes it possible to maintain high machining quality while at the same time significantly improving the workability of tool preparation and the like.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic principle of a tool management device for realizing the tool management method in a machining system according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the present invention in detail. 1... Tool management device, 2... First comparison means, 3.
...Second comparison means; 4.Display means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for managing tools to be used in executing a machining schedule assigned to a predetermined NC machine tool in a machining system having at least one NC machine tool with a tool magazine. The remaining life of each tool used in the machining schedule is grasped as the machining progresses, the expected usage time of each tool for each machining process in the machining schedule is given in advance, and the current tool magazine is checked before the machining process is executed. 1. A tool management method in a machining system, characterized in that a tool exchange request is output when the remaining life of a tool held in the machining process is small compared to the scheduled tool use time for the machining process. 2. Even if the remaining life of the tool runs out during machining, identification is given in advance for each machining process as to whether or not it is okay to continue the machining process, and the tool exchange request is output only if it is not possible to continue. A tool management method in a machining system according to claim 1.