Toyoda Koki Kabushiki Kaisha

Shigeru Doi

Kenichi Munekata

Toshifumi Hasegawa

Isao Suzuki

Yoshio Doi

A tool transfer mechanism for transferring a tool between a gateway position of a tool storage magazine and an exchange position adjacent a spindle which includes a base mounted on a frame, an actuator for rectilinearly moving the base, and a holding arm mounted on the base resiliently biased toward the tool to hold the same. The holding arm is moved outwardly to release the tool when the base is at the gateway position. The base is rotated in accordance with its rectilinear movement to change the posture of the tool between a first posture where the tool is parallel with remaining tools stored in the magazine and a second posture where the tool is parallel with the spindle.

Tool transfer mechanism for machine tools

A numerical controller for a machining center comprising a microprocessor connected to a data input device, a CRT display device and a data storage device. The microprocessor prepares an NC program for a workpiece to be machined, based upon machining information manually input by the use of the data input device and stored in the data storage device. The debugging of the prepared NC program is then executed, wherein the microprocessor obtains by calculation a workpiece interference space defined outwardly from the outer periphery of the workpiece, based upon workpiece blank shape and dimension data and workpiece mounting position data stored in the data storage device. The microprocessor further calculates, based upon the NC program, a tool path along which a tool spindle of the machining center would be moved relative to a work table in accordance with the NC program. The microprocessor ascertains based upon the tool path, a tool interference space, defined outwardly from the outer periphery of each tool, and the workpiece interference space, whether or not the tool interference space would enter the workpiece interference space in any rapid feed movement if relative movement between the tool spindle and the work table were effected in accordance with the NC program. When detecting the entry of the tool interference space into the workpiece interference space, the microprocessor displays on the CRT screen a message informing an operator of the occurrence of an interference.

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Nagoya, Japan

Shigeru Doi