Toyoda Koki Kabushiki Kaisha

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Yasuhiro Okada

Hidekazu Hirano

Fumio Sakamoto

Yasuhiro Hattori

Minoru Enomoto

Hiroyuki Takahara

Takeo Kondo

Kengo Yoshioka

Masashi Ito

Fuyuhiko Yoshikura

Katsumi Isogai

Takeshi Nishikayama

Yukio Hoshino

Noritaka Ise

Sentaro Sugita

Shoji Inagaki

A horizontal machine tool has a spindle head which supports a horizontal tool spindle. The spindle head is guided on a top surface portion of a base such that the spindle head is movable in two horizontal directions X and Z. A workpiece support for supporting a workpiece on its upper end is guided on the vertical front face portion of the base for movement in a vertical direction Y. When the spindle head is located at a machining position at the center in the X direction, a pair of guide portions of each of a front/back guide mechanism for the spindle head and a vertical guide mechanism for the workpiece support body take symmetrical positions with respect to a vertical plane including the axis of the tool spindle. A first index member and a second index member for supporting the workpiece are provided on the workpiece support body. Therefore, all surfaces of the workpiece excepting an attachment surface can be machined while being directed to a tool on the tool spindle. The horizontal machine tool has an automatic tool change apparatus including a tool change arm unit, a tool magazine, and an intermediate transport unit. The tool magazine is disposed on the front side of the machine tool and on one side of the workpiece support body in the X direction, and is designed such that a plurality of tools can be stored into and removed from the magazine from the front side thereof.

Horizontal machine tool

An automatic transfer apparatus includes a plurality of transfer units which are disposed to face machining units aligned with spacing. Each transfer unit comprises a support base having a workpiece supporting surface and a workpiece positioning mechanism provided on the workpiece supporting surface, an elevation member supported by the support base for vertical movement, an elevating mechanism for lifting and lowering the elevation member between first and second positions, a transfer member supported on the elevation member for movement in a transfer direction and having a workpiece supporting portion, and a reciprocating mechanism for reciprocating the transfer member. The reciprocating mechanism includes a speed doubling mechanism which is composed of a stationary rack gear provided on the elevation member, a movable rack gear provided on the transfer member, a pinion gear engaged with both rack gears, and a feed mechanism for moving the pinion gear in the transfer direction by a distance roughly corresponding to half the distance between midpoints of adjacent machining units.

Automatic transfer apparatus

A pallet exchange apparatus has a bed and an arm assembly supported on the bed to be rotatable between a workpiece loading-and-unloading station and workpiece machining station. A pair of cylindrical holes are formed at both ends of the arm assembly for receiving the pallets. The apparatus is further provided with driving means for rotating the arm assembly, a turntable rotatably mounted on the bed at a position corresponding to the workpiece machining station, first engagement portions formed at the ends of the arm assembly, second engagement portions formed on the pallets so as to be engaged with the first engagement portions for preventing the rotation of the pallets, and a moving device disposed on the turntable for moving the pallet located at the workpiece machining station in the vertical direction. When the pallet is lowered by the moving device, the pallet is separated from the turntable and the second engagement portion of the pallet is engaged with the first engagement portion. When the pallet is raised, the pallet is thrust against the turntable and the second engagement portion is disengaged from the second engagement portion.

Pallet exchange apparatus

A clamping device which holds a workpiece at a predetermined position during a machining operation of the workpiece comprises a clamper for clamping a workpiece, a feed device for moving the clamper in the axial direction, a load sensor which is fixed to the clamper and detects a clamping force acting on the workpiece, and a memory in which a target clamping force corresponding to the shape of the workpiece and a method of machining operation is stored. The control device compares the clamping force detected by the load sensor with the target clamping force stored in the memory and controls the clamper in response to the deviation between the detected clamping force and the target clamping force. The clamping device also has a position detecting means for detecting the axial position of the clamper. The control device compares the present position detected by the position detecting means with a stop position which is detected during the initial clamping and is stored in the memory, and controls the clamper in proportion to the deviation between the detected position and the stored stop position.

Device for clamping a workpiece

Growing community of inventors

Nagoya, Japan

Yasuhiro Okada