JPH06297222A - Work support device and machine tool using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a workpiece support device for highly efficient cutting of a thin plate-shaped material having a three-dimensional curved surface without setup change. In addition, it provides a machine tool that can perform continuous automatic operation and does not require conversion of machining programs. A work support mechanism 4 including a cylinder that expands and contracts according to the material shape of the work 2 and a sleeve that fixes the cylinder portion, a substrate 5 to which a plurality of the work support mechanisms 4 are attached, The rotating plate 6 is connected to the substrate 5 so as to swing in a cradle shape, and the axis 6a of the rotating body that swings during machining is aligned with the rotation center 2a of the workpiece 2 supported at both ends. .

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a work supporting device,
For example, the present invention relates to a work support device suitable for highly efficiently cutting a thin plate-shaped material having a three-dimensional curved surface such as a fan blade surface for a large-sized blower, and a machine tool using the work support device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a fan blade for a large blower has a thin plate-shaped blade portion and a boss portion for mounting. The blade surface is required to have a smooth three-dimensional curved surface shape for sending out the fluid with low resistance and high efficiency. Therefore, the material is preliminarily given a rough shape by forging and the like, and then the entire blade surface is subjected to cutting work to finish it into a desired blade shape.

Since the blade surface is a thin plate and is twisted by a three-dimensional curved surface, it cannot be stably fixed so as to be brought into close contact with a flat surface such as a table of a processing machine during processing. Therefore, it is difficult to suppress the vibration generated by the cutting process, and conversely, the thin plate-shaped material may even amplify the motion by the elastic effect like a leaf spring. This vibration not only deteriorates the machining accuracy and the machining efficiency, but also significantly affects the tool life.

Conventionally, in order to suppress such vibrations, a plurality of rod-shaped workpiece supports are fixed to the back surface of the surface to be machined by contacting them so as to follow the shape of a wing, and are thin plate-shaped and twisted. -The material is processed so that it can be fixed as stably as possible.

Further, an automatic device has been developed in which the workpiece support is pressed by air or a spring so as to follow the shape of the wing and then hydraulically fixed.

[0006]

However, such a conventional means has the following problems.

When the workpiece has a relatively large blade area,
The machining efficiency of the end mill is poor and it takes a lot of time to process. Therefore, in order to shorten the processing time, a milling cutter with a circular insert is used as a processing tool. However, the diameter of the cutter is extremely larger than the diameter of the ball end mill, and as shown in FIG. 2, interference occurs between the work and the cutter, which have surface kinks.

In order to prevent this interference, it is necessary to incline the workpiece to a position where it does not interfere with the cutter for machining. When the workpiece is tilted in this way, the attached workpiece support must be set up again each time, and the stroke for pressing so as to follow the wing shape also changes greatly, so many types Work piece support tool is required.

If the workpiece is only tilted, it can be easily automated by a multi-axis machine tool, but when a workpiece support tool is required, it is difficult to automate the machining.

In addition, in the case of a normal 5-axis machining center or the like, it is easy to install the work support, but if one axis is tilted to tilt the work, the coordinates of the other four axes will change. Therefore, there has been a problem that the coordinate value indicating each point sequence required for machining the three-dimensional curved surface must be recalculated each time the workpiece is tilted.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and is a work support device for highly efficiently cutting a thin plate material having a three-dimensional curved surface without setup change. The purpose is to provide.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a machine tool which is capable of continuous automatic operation and does not require conversion of machining programs.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, the most basic structure of a work supporting apparatus according to the present invention is to provide a work of a thin plate material having a three-dimensional curved surface with a machined surface. Work support means that supports at multiple places from the back side,
In a work supporting device having means for supporting the work at both ends, a plurality of extendable and retractable work supporting mechanisms that are automatically fixed to the material shape and then fixed are swingable in a cradle shape. It is attached to the board.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, a more concrete structure of the work supporting apparatus according to the present invention is that a plurality of thin plate-shaped workpieces having a three-dimensional curved surface are machined from the back surface of the workpiece. In a work supporting device provided with a work supporting means for supporting the work by means of and a means for supporting the work at both ends, a cylinder that expands and contracts in accordance with the shape of the material of the work and a sleeve that fixes the cylinder part A workpiece support mechanism provided, and a substrate on which a plurality of workpiece support mechanisms are attached,
A rotating body that swingably connects the substrate in a cradle shape is provided.

Therefore, the axis of the rotary shaft that swings during machining is aligned with the center of rotation of the workpiece supported at both ends.

Further, in order to achieve the above-mentioned other objects,
A configuration of a machine tool according to the present invention is such that a rotary shaft of a rotating body that connects a substrate in a cradle-like manner in the workpiece supporting device is aligned with a rotation center of a workpiece on a machining program. It is attached to a machine and enables program operation as a control axis of the machine tool.

[0017]

The function of the above technical means is as follows.

After automatically setting the workpiece support mechanism, the workpiece support mechanism can be swung with the workpiece. Further, the workpiece can be tilted on the rotation axis that coincides with the rotation axis on the program, and coordinate conversion on the three-dimensional curved surface machining is unnecessary.

Thus, it is possible to obtain a work supporting device and a machine tool capable of suppressing vibrations caused by machining, preventing interference between a tool and a workpiece, and using a large-diameter cutter for high-efficiency machining and continuous automatic operation. it can.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a work supporting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a wing surface machining method by the work supporting apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a wing machining dedicated machine using the workpiece support device of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of the workpiece support device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows the overall structure of a work supporting device 1, to which a work 2 which is a thin plate fan blade material having a three-dimensional curved surface is attached. The workpiece 2 is securely fixed to the workpiece support device 1 by chucking the boss portions at both ends with the work chucks 3.

On the back side of the work surface of the workpiece 2,
There is a supporting substrate 5 having sufficient rigidity to withstand the vibration of cutting.

The supporting substrate 5 is expanded and contracted by a spring force,
A plurality of workpiece support mechanisms 4 each having a cylinder portion that automatically follows the three-dimensional curved surface shape of the workpiece 2 and a sleeve that fixes the cylinder portion by hydraulic pressure are attached.

Further, the support substrate 5 is attached to a rotary plate 6 of a rotary body having a cylinder 6a so as to be vertically movable by a constant stroke. Work chuck 3
Is also attached to the rotary plate 6, and has a structure in which the workpiece 2 can be gripped and the work chuck 3 alone can rotate while the rotary plate 6 is fixed. The rotating plate 6 is fixed to an indexing table 7 having an arbitrary angle indexing function and a rotation clamp function for performing a swinging operation.

The work chuck 3, rotating plate 6 and indexing table 7 are provided at both ends of the apparatus.
The large-diameter boss side and the small-diameter boss side of the workpiece 2 are similarly fixed. These integrally swing in a cradle shape, and can be rotationally moved at any angle or fixed at a certain angle. In addition, the rotation axis (axis 6a) of these rotating bodies is
As shown in FIG. 1, the rotary shaft of the work chuck 3 (axial center 3
This coincides with a), and also coincides with the rotation center 2a (see FIG. 2) of the workpiece 2 gripped by the work chuck 3.

However, since it is difficult to drive the indexing table 7 in synchronization with both the large-diameter boss side and the small-diameter boss side by two motors, only the large-diameter boss side is the driving side.
The small boss side is the driven side. Further, the work chuck 3 on the side of the small-diameter boss has a structure capable of moving back and forth to prevent mutual interference when the work piece 2 is attached to or detached from the work chuck 3.

As shown in FIG. 3, the work support device 1 constituted by each of these mechanisms is installed within the workable range of the multi-axis machine tool 8 which is a machine dedicated to blade processing. The workpiece rotation axis of the workpiece support device 1 is numerically controlled like each axis of the multi-axis machine tool 8.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the operation of each part during fan blade processing, and the procedure of the operation will be described below by writing the step numbers shown in FIG. 4 in parentheses.

In the initial state of the workpiece support device 1, the workpiece support mechanism 4 and the small-diameter boss side work chuck 3 are pulled out of the interference area in order to prevent interference when the workpiece 2 is attached. Further, the cylinder 6a of the rotary plate 6 extends to allow the support substrate 5 to escape downward.

To mount the workpiece 2, first, the workpiece 2 is moved to the mounting position of the workpiece support device 1. Next, the small-diameter boss side work chuck 3 advances to a position where the work chucks 3 at both ends of the device can grip the boss portions at both ends of the workpiece 2,
The workpiece 2 is fixed by closing the chuck 3 (S
1). After that, the cylinder 6a of the rotary plate 6 contracts (S
2) After the support substrate 5 is brought close to the workpiece 2, the workpiece support mechanism 4 extends until it comes into contact with the back side of the work surface of the workpiece 2 due to spring force or the like (S3), and after contact, it is strong due to hydraulic pressure. (S4).

After machining is started, the machining program is executed on the rotary shaft 6a of the work supporting device 1 as one of the control axes of the multi-axis machine tool 8 shown in FIG. 3 (S5), and as shown in FIG. In order to prevent the interference between the cutter 9 and the workpiece 2, the workpiece 2 is swingably rotated together with the workpiece support mechanism 4.

When the machining on one side is completed (S6), the hydraulic fixing of the workpiece support mechanism 4 is released (S7), the cylinder portion is opened and lowered (S8), and the cylinder 6 of the rotary plate 6 is released.
a extends and allows the support substrate 5 to escape downward (S9). As a result, the workpiece 2 can be rotated by 180 ° without interference with the device, and by rotating the work chuck 3 with the rotary plate 6 fixed, a position where the surface on the back side of the workpiece 2 can be processed can be processed. Can be reversed (S10). After that, the workpiece support mechanism 4 is automatically set again, and the machining of the other surface is started (S11).

According to this embodiment, the rotary shaft for preventing the interference between the large-diameter cutter 9 and the workpiece 2 for efficiently processing the three-dimensional curved surface shape, and the rotary shaft integrally rotating with the rotary shaft. By the work support mechanism 4 that suppresses vibration during cutting, a fan blade having a thin plate-shaped three-dimensional curved surface can be processed with high efficiency, and setup change is eliminated. Continuous automatic operation becomes possible.

Further, the workpiece can be tilted on the rotary axis that coincides with the rotary axis on the program, and the program coordinate conversion associated with the tilt of the workpiece is unnecessary, and the program can be easily created.

In the above embodiment, the cylinder in the work support mechanism 4 which expands and contracts in accordance with the material shape of the work has been described as expanding and contracting due to the spring force. Needless to say, it can be done.

[0037]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, there is provided a work support device for highly efficiently performing a cutting process on a thin plate material having a three-dimensional curved surface without setup change. You can

Further, it is possible to provide a machine tool which is capable of continuous automatic operation and does not require conversion of machining programs.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a work support device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a wing surface processing method by the workpiece support device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a wing machining dedicated machine using the workpiece support device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of the work support device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Work piece support device 2 Work piece 3 Work chuck 4 Work piece support mechanism 5 Support substrate 6 Rotating plate 7 Indexing table 8 Multi-axis machine tool 9 Cutter

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Minor Sasaki Minoru Sasaki, 603 Jinritsucho, Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A workpiece comprising a workpiece supporting means for supporting a workpiece made of a thin plate-shaped material having a three-dimensional curved surface at a plurality of positions from the back surface of the machining surface, and means for supporting the workpiece at both ends. In the support device, a plurality of expandable and contractible work support mechanisms that are automatically fixed after being imitated by the material shape are attached to a cradle-like swingable substrate. 2. A workpiece including means for supporting a workpiece made of a thin plate-shaped material having a three-dimensional curved surface at a plurality of positions from the back surface of the machining surface, and means for supporting the workpiece at both ends. In the supporting device, a workpiece support mechanism including a cylinder that expands and contracts according to the material shape of the workpiece, a sleeve that fixes the cylinder portion, a substrate to which a plurality of workpiece support mechanisms are attached, and a substrate A workpiece support device, comprising: a rotating body swingably connected in a cradle shape. 3. The workpiece according to claim 1, wherein an axis of a rotating body that swings during machining is matched with a center of rotation of a workpiece supported at both ends. Support device. 4. The work support device according to claim 1, wherein a rotation axis of a rotating body that connects the substrate so as to swing like a cradle coincides with a rotation center of the work on a machining program. A machine tool characterized in that it is attached to a machine tool as described above, and is configured to allow programmed operation as a control axis of the machine tool.