The present invention relates to an electric-discharge machining control device that controls an electric-discharge machining device, and more particularly to optimal control of an electric-discharge machining control device that keeps a machining state of an electric-discharge machining device optimal.
An electric-discharge machining device that melt-processes a conductive material such as metal by utilizing a high-temperature energy of electric discharge is well-known. In this electric-discharge machining device, a predetermined voltage is applied between an electrode and a workpiece that are opposed to each other and a pulsed current generated at the time of dielectric breakdown in a minute gap between the electrode and the workpiece is used. In order to maintain the electric discharge by the pulsed current, it is important to adjust the above-mentioned minute gap between the electrode and the workpiece.
Generally, the workpiece is melted and removed by the high-temperature energy of the electric discharge generated in the gap between the electrode and the workpiece. When a distance between the electrode and the workpiece is fixed, as machining proceeds, an inter-electrode gap is extended and a state proceeds to a state where the electric discharge hardly occurs. When extension of the inter-electrode gap proceeds to a distance in which the electric discharge can not be maintained, machining stops. In order to prevent such a situation, control is made to maintain the inter-electrode gap to be optimal generally in electric discharge machining.
Machining dusts generated in a gap between electrodes during machining are generally washed away by an insulative machining fluid or the like. However, when the machining fluid cannot be sufficiently supplied to an electric discharge position or when the inter-electrode gap is small, the machining dusts may locally reduce insulation of the inter-electrode gap, resulting in an electrically conductive state. In this case, a voltage sufficient for generating electric discharge may not be applied to the gap, and thus the electric discharge may be stopped or an excessive current locally may flow to damage the electrode and the workpiece. For such a case, by expanding the inter-electrode gap, an insulation state is recovered or a flow path of the machining fluid is ensured.
In short, in the electric discharge machining, by executing control of continuously narrowing and expanding the inter-electrode gap, an averagely optimal distance is maintained. This ability of controlling the inter-electrode gap is a basic capability that greatly influences on the machining result of the electrode and the workpiece.
In this way, controlling and maintaining the inter-electrode gap are basic and important control contents in the electric discharge machining. However, it is not easy to directly measure the inter-electrode gap during electric discharge and is impossible in practice.
For this reason, generally by detecting a state amount for a distance between electrodes that can be regarded as equivalent to the inter-electrode distance, the inter-electrode gap is estimated and compared to an arbitrarily set state amount in terms of magnitude, so as to execute the control (see, for example, Patent Literatures 1 to 3).
Here, there is an attempt to consider the case where a drive device is operated to feed an electrode to keep the inter-electrode gap constant, in the situation that disturbance caused by a machining speed 5 enters this system and the inter-electrode gap is expanded.
The fact that the inter-electrode gap is expanded by machining appears as a fact of electric discharge hardly occurring in the inter-electrode voltage waveform through an inter-electrode phenomenon 6. When the electric discharge hardly occurs, the inter-electrode average voltage 9 is increased. A comparator 2 detects an error amount 10 representing a difference between the inter-electrode average voltage 9 and the inter-electrode set voltage 1. This error amount 10 is multiplied by a proportional gain 3 and the product is sent as a speed command 11 for driving a servomechanism 4. When the servomechanism 4 feeds the electrode by a distance by which the inter-electrode distance is expanded by machining, the inter-electrode gap becomes the original distance suitable for electric discharge, the inter-electrode average voltage becomes the voltage 9 and matches the inter-electrode set voltage 1 again.
For example, when the proportional gain 3 is set to an excessively large value, a response phase difference between a drive signal sent from the proportional gain 3 to the servomechanism 4 and a mechanical structure and a servomechanism or the like becomes larger, the drive device is operated by a distance equal to or longer than the inter-electrode gap expanded by machining, so that the inter-electrode gap is narrowed conversely. In this case, the inter-electrode average voltage becomes lower conversely and a signal for expanding the inter-electrode gap is sent to the servomechanism 4, so that the inter-electrode gap tends to be expanded again. However, the inter-electrode average voltage 9 and the servomechanism 4 become in an oscillation state, and depending on circumstances, fall in a hunting state where a short-circuit state and a release state are repeated in the inter-electrode gap. Conversely, when the proportional gain 3 is too small, a delay time required for recovering the system becomes larger, it is not possible to respond to disturbance entering the system as the machining speed 5 at a sufficiently high speed, and setting an idealistic space becomes difficult, thereby causing problems including decrease in machining speed.
As explained above, the proportional gain 3 needs to be set to an optimal value.
However, in such electric discharge machining, unless control is always executed against disturbances such as the course of machining and generation of machining dusts and an inter-electrode gap suitable for electric discharge is maintained, efficient machining can not be expected. To this end, a proportional gain for a servomechanism that changes the inter-electrode gap needs to be set optimally.
However, in electric discharge machining, an optimal value of a proportional gain is not determined merely by the mechanical rigidity and characteristics of the servomechanism but is changed time to time depending on the machining contents and machining conditions. Therefore, it is difficult for an operator to manually set the proportional gain to an optimal value over the entire period of time during machining.
The present invention has been achieved in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electric-discharge machining control device in which the optimization is realized by determining an inter-electrode state based on electrical signal information of an inter-electrode voltage such as an amplitude of the inter-electrode voltage or a frequency of the inter-electrode voltage at the time of short-circuiting and automatically setting a factor of evaluation voltage data by which a proportional gain is to be multiplied, change of a state during machining can be flexibly handled, and optimal electric discharge machining is performed in an unattended manner without depending on the experience of an operator.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, one aspect of the present invention provides a control device for an electric-discharge machining device, which controls an electric-discharge machining device that applies a voltage to a minute gap between an electrode and a workpiece that are arranged to oppose to each other with a predetermined gap therebetween to generate electric discharge and performs machining utilizing a high-temperature energy of the electric discharge, with a speed command value of a servomechanism that drives the electrode being provided by multiplying a difference between a target voltage and an evaluation voltage by a proportional gain, the control device comprising: a machining power supply that applies a pulsed voltage to the minute gap; a state amount detector that detects an inter-electrode voltage in a minute gap between the electrode and the workpiece; an electrode-vibration-state detection unit that detects an amplitude of the inter-electrode voltage obtained by the state amount detector; an adjustment-factor setting unit that sets a factor by which an inter-electrode average voltage obtained by the state amount detector is to be multiplied, based on an amplitude of an inter-electrode voltage obtained by the electrode-vibration-state detection unit; and an evaluation-voltage setting unit that sets an evaluation voltage based on a factor outputted from the adjustment-factor setting unit.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a control device for an electric-discharge machining device, which controls an electric-discharge machining device that applies a voltage to a minute gap between an electrode and a workpiece that are arranged to oppose to each other with a predetermined gap therebetween to generate electric discharge and performs machining utilizing a high-temperature energy of the electric discharge, with a speed command value of a servomechanism that drives the electrode being provided by multiplying a difference between a target voltage and an evaluation voltage by a proportional gain, the control device comprising: a machining power supply that applies a pulsed voltage to the minute gap; a state amount detector that detects an inter-electrode voltage in a minute gap between the electrode and the workpiece; an electrode-vibration-state detection unit that detects a frequency of an inter-electrode voltage obtained by the state amount detector at the time of short-circuiting; an adjustment-factor setting unit that sets a factor by which an inter-electrode average voltage obtained by the state amount detector is to be multiplied, based on the frequency of the inter-electrode voltage obtained by the electrode-vibration-state detection unit at the time of short-circuiting; and an evaluation-voltage setting unit that sets an evaluation voltage based on a factor outputted from the adjustment-factor setting unit.
A further aspect of the present invention provides a control device for an electric-discharge machining device, which controls an electric-discharge machining device that applies a voltage to a minute gap between an electrode and a workpiece that are arranged to oppose to each other with a predetermined gap therebetween to generate electric discharge and performs machining utilizing a high-temperature energy of the electric discharge, with a speed command value of a servomechanism that drives the electrode being provided by multiplying a difference between a target voltage and an evaluation voltage by a proportional gain, the control device comprising: a machining power supply that applies a pulsed voltage to the minute gap; a state amount detector that detects an inter-electrode voltage in a minute gap between the electrode and the workpiece; an adjustment-factor setting unit that sets a factor by which an inter-electrode average voltage obtained by the state amount detector, is to be multiplied, based on a feedback amount; and an evaluation-voltage setting unit that sets an evaluation voltage based on the factor outputted from the adjustment-factor setting unit.
According to the electric-discharge machining control device of the present invention, an amplitude of an inter-electrode voltage, a frequency of an inter-electrode voltage at the time of short-circuiting, or an amplitude of a position feedback amount of a servo system is detected and an evaluation voltage is changed based on the detection result. Therefore, it is possible, as advantageous effects, to inexpensively realize an electric-discharge machining control device that can always perform machining with an optimal machining gain against variations in weight of a used electrode, machining area, machining shape, machining speed and machining current.
Embodiments of an electric-discharge machining control device according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to these embodiments.
An electric-discharge machining device applies a voltage to a minute gap between the electrode 23 and the workpiece 24 arranged to oppose to each other with a predetermined space therebetween to generate electric discharge (
Furthermore, as compared to the conventional electric-discharge machining control device 201, the electric-discharge machining control device 101 according to the present embodiment includes, as shown in
In the electric-discharge machining control device 101 according to the present embodiment, the state amount detector 8 detects the inter-electrode voltage in a minute gap between an electrode of the electric-discharge machining device and a workpiece. The state amount detector 8 then outputs the inter-electrode average voltage 9A to the evaluation-voltage setting unit 15 and an inter-electrode voltage 9B to the evaluation-voltage setting unit 15. The electrode-vibration-state detection unit 13 detects an amplitude 13A of the inter-electrode voltage obtained by the state amount detector 8.
The electrode-vibration-state detection unit 13 has a storage device (not shown) that stores therein the inter-electrode voltage 9B outputted from the state amount detector 8 and detects the amplitude 13A of the inter-electrode voltage from the inter-electrode voltage 9B stored in the storage device in a time-oriented manner.
In the following, operations of the electric-discharge machining control device 101 according to the present embodiment is explained. First, an inter-electrode gap is set to be optimal and a pulsed voltage is applied from the machining power supply 18 to a gap between electrodes. As electric discharge machining proceeds, the position of a machined surface is changed. The state amount detector 8 detects the state amount (the inter-electrode voltage waveform) 7 that changes according to change in the inter-electrode gap. The amplitude of the inter-electrode voltage of the state amount (the inter-electrode voltage waveform) 7 mentioned above is then measured by the electrode-vibration-state detection unit 13, a value is selected in the adjustment-factor setting unit 14 from a parameter table of factors set in advance as shown in
As explained above, according to the electric-discharge machining control device 101 of the present embodiment, the electrode-vibration-state detection unit 13 detects the amplitude of the inter-electrode voltage 9B by the state amount detector 8 to detect a vibration state of the gap between electrodes, so as to change the evaluation voltage 16. Accordingly, it is possible to inexpensively realize an electric-discharge machining device that can always perform machining with an optimal machining gain against variations in weight of a used electrode, machining area, machining shape, machining speed, machining current or the like.
In the parameter table shown in
The electrode-vibration-state detection unit 13 has a storage device (not shown) that stores therein the inter-electrode voltage 9B outputted from the state amount detector 8 and detects the frequency 13B of the inter-electrode voltage at the time of short-circuiting from the inter-electrode voltage 9B stored in the storage device in a time-oriented manner.
In the parameter table shown in
It is noted that the present embodiment may be applied to the second embodiment and the factor may be calculated from the frequency of the inter-electrode voltage using the predetermined formula instead of the parameter table. As explained above, because the factor is in an approximate inverse-proportional relationship that as the frequency of the inter-electrode voltage is increased, its value is increased. Therefore, an approximate value of the factor can be obtained from the predetermined formula. According to the present embodiment, finer optimization control can be realized as compared to a parameter-table parameter system of the first or second embodiment.
According to the present embodiment, the control can be easily realized even in software. So, when there is no problem in a case where the frequency of optimization is about a communication frequency of a servo system, it is possible to inexpensively realize an electric-discharge machining device that can always perform machining with an optimal machining gain against disturbance elements such as the machining contents and machining conditions.
As explained above, according to the electric-discharge machining control devices of the first to fourth embodiments, an amplitude of an inter-electrode voltage, a frequency of an inter-electrode voltage at the time of short-circuiting, or an amplitude of a position feedback amount of a servo system is detected and an evaluation voltage is changed based on the detection result. Accordingly, it is possible to inexpensively realize an electric-discharge machining device that can always perform machining with an optimal machining gain against variations in weight of a used electrode, machining area, machining shape, machining speed, machining current or the like.
As described above, the electric-discharge machining control device according to the present invention is suitable for an electric-discharge machining device that applies a predetermined voltage between an electrode and a workpiece to generate a pulsed current in a minute gap between the electrode and the workpiece and performs melt processing utilizing a high-temperature energy of electric discharge.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2010-0060535 | Jun 2010 | KR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/JP2010/060538 | 6/22/2010 | WO | 00 | 12/19/2012 |