Toyoda Koki Kabushiki Kaisha

Takeshi Ohta

Tetsuro Yamakage

Kunimichi Nakashima

Kenichi Munekata

Hiroshi Nakamura

Yoshio Sakakibara

Yoji Kamiya

Mitsuyoshi Taniguchi

Kazushi Murata

Susumu Ohshima

A pallet exchange apparatus for a machine which includes a base, a pallet exchange arm rotatably mounted on the base, a turntable rotatably mounted on the base, an engaging mechanism provided on the turntable and a pallet guide mounted on the turntable. The pallet guide is shifted between a first position where a pallet supported thereon engages with an engaging portion of the pallet exchange arm and disengages from the engaging mechanism and a second position where the pallet engages with the engaging mechanism and disengages from the engaging portion of the exchange arm. The pallet exchange arm is rotated so as to exchange the pallets engaged with the engaging portion thereof between the turntable and a table of the machine.

Pallet exchange apparatus

A pallet changing system for a machine tool including a pallet changing device which is horizontally rotatable for exchanging a pallet on the work table of the tool with another pallet in a standby station. A plurality of pallet storing shelves are arranged in a plurality of concentric circular arrays and each shelf has a plurality of pallet supporting racks located one above another. The standby station forms a part of those circular arrays defining a central space surrounded by the racks. A rotary table is rotatably disposed in the center of that space. A pair of guide posts are upstanding from the rotary table. A structure is vertically movably supported on the posts. A pallet handling fork is provided on the structure horizontally movably to and away from the standby station. A pair of guide rails guide the horizontal movement of the fork. The fork has one end defining a pallet supporting portion. The system further includes a device for rotating the rotary table in an indexed way, a device for moving the vertically movable structure vertically and a device for moving the fork horizontally.

Pallet changing system for a machine tool

A tool and workpiece change system adapted to a machining center with a tool magazine and a pallet pool having a pallet change station and a pallet loading and unloading station and associated with a pallet change apparatus for replacing a pallet on a worktable in the machining center with another pallet successively positioned at the pallet change station. The system comprises a replaceable hand support arranged adjacent the loading and unloading station to detachably support a first replaceable hand for grasping a workpiece and a second replaceable hand for grasping a cutting tool, a workpiece support arranged adjacent the hand support, a tool support arranged adjacent the workpiece support to detachably support a plurality of spare cutting tools, and a robot arranged to be movable between first and second spaced positions. The robot is equipped with the first replaceable hand in the first position for replacing a finished workpiece on a pallet unloaded to the loading and unloading station with a fresh workpiece on the workpiece support and is further equipped with the second replaceable hand in the first position and moved to the second position for replacing a defective or damaged cutting tool in the tool magazine with a spare cutting tool of the same type on the tool support.

Tool and workpiece change system

Life of a tool used in a machining center having various sorts of tools can be detected by steps that a tool selection code at every execution of NC program is detected and the current-use tool number is stored, the machining distance of each tool is calculated, the machining distance is accumulated per each tool, the cumulative machining distance is compared with predetermined machining life distance to indicate the life of each tool, and then the life of each tool is determined on the basis of a result obtained in the comparing step.

Method of detecting lift of tool based upon cumulative machining distance

In a grinding machine, a grinding wheel is digitally fed toward a workpiece being supported by a rest apparatus. Means is provided to measure a diametral dimension of the workpiece during a grinding operation. A taper amount of the workpiece ground under the support of the rest apparatus being positioned at its advanced position is calculated at the time when the measuring means generates a signal for finishing a grinding operation on the workpiece. An advanced position of the rest apparatus is compensated for a next grinding operation in response to the calculated taper amount.

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Nishio, Japan

Takeshi Ohta