This application claims the benefit of Taiwan application Serial No. 107143051, filed Nov. 30, 2018, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in, its entirety.
This disclosure relates to a clamping device and a clamping system using the same, and more particularly to a clamping device having driving holders and a clamping system using the same.
At present, the way of clamping a workpiece is to increase the clamping force, but the clamping force is constant. However, with the change in the geometric pattern of the workpiece in the machining process (a part of material is removed), the natural frequency of the overall system constituted by the machine tool and the workpiece also changes therewith. This adversely results in the sudden resonance phenomenon in the machining process. The resonance phenomenon inevitably deteriorates the surface qualities of the workpiece. Thus, how to propose a new clamping device is one of the directions of the industry's efforts.
According to one embodiment of this disclosure, a clamping device is provided. The clamping device includes a first holder and a second holder. The first holder includes a first abutting member and a first driving member. The first driving member is coupled to the first abutting member. The second holder includes a second abutting member. The first abutting member and the second abutting member are oppositely disposed and spaced apart from each other to receive a workpiece. The first driving member is coupled to the first abutting member to drive the first abutting member to move in a direction toward the second abutting member to clamp the workpiece between the first abutting member and the second abutting member.
According to another embodiment of this disclosure, a clamping system is provided. The clamping system includes the above-mentioned clamping device, a sensor and a processor. The clamping device is installed on a machine tool and clamps a workpiece, wherein the machine tool, the clamping device and the workpiece form a machine tool system. The sensor senses response signals of the machine tool system. The processor analyzes the response signals to obtain equation of motion of the response signals; introduces a first stiffness coefficient of the first abutting member and a second stiffness coefficient of the second abutting member into the equation of motion to obtain an optimum system's natural frequency corresponding to a first optimum stiffness coefficient and a second optimum stiffness coefficient; and controls the first driving member of the clamping device to drive the first abutting member to move in a direction toward the second abutting member to deform the first abutting member and the second abutting member, so that the first stiffness coefficient of the first abutting member satisfies the first optimum stiffness coefficient and the second stiffness coefficient of the second abutting member satisfies the second optimum stiffness coefficient.
The above and other aspects of this disclosure will become better understood with regard to the following detailed description of the preferred but non-limiting embodiments. The following description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.
The clamping device 110 is mounted on a machine tool 10 and clamps a workpiece 20. The clamping device 110 includes at least one first holder 111 and at least one second holder 112. The machine tool 10 includes a platen 11, a tool 12, a first clamping base 113a and a second clamping base 113b. The first clamping base 113a and the second clamping base 113b may be mounted on the platen 11. The first clamping base 113a and the second clamping base 113b may be moved relative to each other to clamp the workpiece 20 or release the workpiece 20. In addition, the first clamping base 113a, the second clamping base 113b and the clamping device 110 of the machine tool 10 and the workpiece 20 may constitute a machine tool system 10′. However, according to the actual situation, the machine tool system 10′ may further include at least one portion of platform 11, or further include at least a portion of platform 11 and other portions of the machine tool 10.
The first holder 111 and the second holder 112 are disposed in the first clamping base 113a and the second clamping base 113b, respectively. In another embodiment, positions of the first holder 111 and the second holder 112 of
The first abutting member 111a and/or the second abutting member 112a are/is, for example, a deformable material, whose damping coefficient and/or stiffness coefficient can be changed according to different deformation amounts. For example, as shown in
C
C1=SDC×St (1)
Regarding the specific material, the material of the first abutting member 111a may include magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), zirconium (Zr), iron (Fe), aluminum (Al), nickel (Ni), titanium (Ti) or a combination thereof, such as a manganese zirconium alloy, a manganese copper alloy, a copper aluminum nickel alloy, an iron manganese alloy, a nickel titanium alloy or a magnesium zirconium alloy.
In addition, a second damping coefficient C2 of the second abutting member 112a is similar to or the same as the first damping coefficient Cc1, and the material of the second abutting member 112a is selected from the material similar to or the same as the first damping coefficient Cc1, and detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted here.
The sensor 120 is used to sense a response signal R1 of the workpiece 20. The response signal R1 is, for example, a response amplitude change in the time domain or a response intensity change in the frequency domain. In an embodiment, the sensor 120 is, for example, a non-contact vibration sensor, such as a microphone, a laser displacement meter or a laser Doppler vibrometer.
The processor 130 is used to perform at least the following steps of (a) analyzing the response signal R1 to obtain an equation of motion of the response signal R1; (b) introducing a first stiffness coefficient Kc1 of the first abutting member 111a and a second stiffness coefficient Kc2 of the second abutting member 112a into the equation of motion to obtain an optimum system's natural frequency corresponding to a first optimum stiffness coefficient and a second optimum stiffness coefficient; and (c) controlling the first driving member 111b of the clamping device 110 to drive the first abutting member 111a to move in the direction of the second abutting member 112a to deform the first abutting member 111a and the second abutting member 112a, and thus to make the first stiffness coefficient of the first abutting member 111a satisfy the first optimum stiffness coefficient and make the second stiffness coefficient of the second abutting member 112a satisfy the second optimum stiffness coefficient.
The following is a further description of the operation process of the clamping system with reference to the flow chart of
In a step S110, before processing, the first clamping base 113a and the second clamping base 113b clamp a lower portion of the workpiece 20. Then, the sensor 120 senses the response signal R1 of the workpiece 20. For example, an excitation mode may be used (e.g., to input an instantaneous knocking force, such as a pulse signal, to the workpiece 20) to sense the response signal R1 of the workpiece 20. As shown in
In addition, before the sensor 120 senses the response signal R1 of the workpiece 20, as shown in
In a step S120, the processor 130 analyzes the response signal R1 to get the equation of motion of the response signal R1, as shown in the following equation (2). The equation of motion has, for example, a mathematical form of M{umlaut over (x)}+C{dot over (x)}+Kx=0, where M in the equation (2) denotes the system mass of the machine tool system 10′, C denotes the system's damping coefficient of the machine tool system 10′, and K denotes the system's stiffness coefficient of the machine tool system 10′. The equation (2) may be converted into the Fourier form vibration response H(w) as shown in the following equation (3), wherein as the absolute value of the vibration response H(w) gets smaller, the amplitude gets smaller; and on the contrary, the amplitude gets greater.
In the equation (3), ωn denotes the system's natural frequency of the machine tool system 10′, ω denotes the working frequency (upon processing), and p denotes the damping ratio.
In a step S130, the processor 130 introduces the first stiffness coefficient Kc1 of the first abutting member 111a and the second stiffness coefficient Kc2 of the second abutting member 112a into the equation (2) to obtain the optimum system's natural frequency ωn,B, which corresponds to the first optimum stiffness coefficient Kc1,B and the second optimum stiffness coefficient Kc2,B. That is, the first optimum stiffness coefficient Kc1,B and the second optimum stiffness coefficient Kc2,B constitute one of the prerequisites for obtaining the optimum system's natural frequency ωn,B. In an embodiment, the processor 130 may adopt the theory or equation of vibration. According to the equation (2), the equation (3) or any other required equation, the stiffness coefficient, the damping coefficient, the mass, frequency and/or the like are/is calculated to obtain the optimum system's natural frequency ωn,B. In addition, the optimum system's natural frequency ωn,B is, for example, the sum of the system's natural frequency ωn of the equation (3) and the adjustment frequency, the processor 130 determines (or calculates) the first optimum stiffness coefficient Kc1,B and the second optimum stiffness coefficient Kc2,B under the precondition of satisfying this sum. The adjustment frequency is a system's vibration frequency changed when the first stiffness coefficient Kc1 and the second stiffness coefficient Kc2 are adjusted to the first optimum stiffness coefficient Kc1, B and the second optimum stiffness coefficient Kc2,B. In an embodiment, the natural frequency ωn may be, for example, n modal natural frequencies, where n is, for example, a value ranging from 1 to 3, but may be greater or smaller.
In addition, the first damping coefficient Cc1 of the first abutting member 111a also increases after deformation, and the second damping coefficient Cc2 of the second abutting member 112a also increases after deformation, so that the damping ratio p of the equation (3) can be increased, and thus the system's natural frequency ωn of the machine tool system 10′ of the equation (3) can approach the optimum system's natural frequency ωn,B.
As shown in
In addition, as shown in
In addition, the clamp control method of the embodiment of this disclosure is suitable for processing a thin workpiece 20. In an embodiment, a ratio (i.e., W1/T1) of a width W1 (shown in
Then, as shown in
In the continuous processing process, the clamping system 100 may repeatedly perform the steps S110 to S140 to instantly respond to changes in the geometry of the workpiece 20 (because of cutting) and to actively control the clamp mode (e.g. correspondingly change the clamping force, the stiffness coefficient and/or the damping coefficient), so that the working frequency of running the tool 12 and the system's natural frequency ωn (or the optimum system's natural frequency ωn,B) are held within the security frequency range, and that the occurrence of resonance can be effectively avoided in the whole processing process.
In the processing process, at a first time point, the processor 130 uses the above equations (2) and (3) or any other required equation according to the first damping coefficient Cc1, the second damping coefficient Cc2, the first stiffness coefficient Kc1 and the second stiffness coefficient Kc2 at that time to re-calculate the optimum system's natural frequency ωn,B at a second time point (e.g., the next time point). In the process of calculating the optimum system's natural frequency ωn,B, the processor 130 may integrate the first damping coefficient Cc1 and the second damping coefficient Cc2 at that time (e.g., at the first time point) with the system's damping coefficient C of the equation (2), integrate the first stiffness coefficient Kc1 and the first stiffness coefficient Kc1 at that time (e.g., at the first time point) to the system's stiffness coefficient. K of the equation (2), and then calculate the system's damping coefficient C at that time, the system's stiffness coefficient K at that time, the system mass M and the security frequency range to obtain the optimum system's natural frequency ωn,B. At the second time point, the clamping system 100 changes the clamp state of the holder on the workpiece, so that the system's natural frequency is changed to the optimum system's natural frequency ωn,B. In the processing process, the calculation methods for neighboring two time points are respectively the same as those for the first time point and the second time point.
In addition, in other embodiments, the first driving member 111b may be a fluid-controlled driving member, such as a pneumatic cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder, and the second driving member 112b may be a fluid-controlled driving member, such as a pneumatic cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder. The relative motion of the abutting members may be controlled through the control of the fluid.
In another embodiment, one or two of the first clamping set 110A, the second clamping set 1106 and the third clamping set 110C may be omitted in the clamping device 110.
Several clamping sets of the clamping device 110 of this embodiment are arranged in a straight line L1, and can clamp the flat workpiece 20 accordingly. Specifically speaking, a gap SP1 is formed between the second holders 111 and the second holder 112 of each clamping set, and several gaps SP1 of several clamping sets are arranged in a straight line L1 so that the flat workpiece 20 can be clamped. However, the embodiment of this disclosure is not restricted thereto.
In summary, the clamping device according to the embodiment of this disclosure may include N clamping set(s), where N is an arbitrary positive integer equal to or greater than 1. Each clamping set includes at least two holders, and at least one of the holders of each clamping set is the driving holder, such as a piezoelectric holder or fluid-controlled holder. Each clamping set clamps the workpiece between the holders, and the force exerting directions of the holders on the workpiece intersect at a common point or are substantially parallel to each other (in a fully overlapped manner or a staggered manner), for example. A gap is present between these holders to receive the workpiece. The holder on one side of the gap is the driving holder, and the holder on the other side of the gap may be the driving holder or fixed holder.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed embodiments. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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107143051 | Nov 2018 | TW | national |