PUNCH PRESS

CROSS REFERENCE TO THE RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based on and claims Convention priority to Japanese patent application No. 2013-109586, filed May 24, 2013, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference as a part of this application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a punch press which performs a punching process on a sheet material and, more particularly, to improvements in die replacement work.

2. Description of the Related Art

By way of example, a turret punch press includes a die holder disposed in a lower turret, which defines an integrated die support body, and a die supported by the die holder, which defines a lower tool. When it comes to replacement of the die, a replacement work is carried out via an attendant worker's hand or a tool inserted between upper and lower turrets. This replacement work is difficult to accomplish because a die placement section of the die holder is hidden beneath the upper turret and is therefore not readily available within the sight. In particular, in the case of the die holder in which a plurality of dies are supported having been juxtaposed relative to each other in a radial direction of the lower turret, the attendant worker's hand would hardly reach, from below the lower turret, the die situated at a far deep side as viewed from an outer periphery of the lower turret and, hence, the replacement is substantially impossible to achieve.

In view of the above, so that the work to replace the die may be facilitated, suggestions have been made, for example, to make a portion of the die holder to be removable and to enable the die holder to be removable from the lower turret such as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2861928. Also, another suggestion has been made to enable the die holder to be removable from the lower turret and to use a mechanism for replacing the removed die holder with a die holder for a tool magazine that is provided separate from the lower turret such as disclosed in, for example, JP Laid-open Utility Model Publication No. H07-053777. In addition, Japanese Patent No. 2602176, for example, discloses that the lower turret has an outer diameter greater than the outer diameter of the upper turret so as to provide a space above the die for replacement purpose.

Removal of the die holder in part or whole of the die holder as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2861928 requires, in addition to the die replacement work, a heavy and arduous work to remove the die holder relative to the lower turret. Therefore, a substantial amount of time is required, and also the attendant worker is loaded too much. The use of the mechanism for replacement of the die holder such as disclosed in JP Laid-open Utility Model Publication No. H07-053777 tends to render the equipment to be bulky. In addition, according to Japanese Patent No. 2602176, the need is realized to increase the outer diameter of the lower turret to a value greater than the outer diameter of the upper turret.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing problems and inconveniences inherent in the prior art, preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a punch press that is simple in structure and make it possible to easily and efficiently perform the replacement of the die relative to an integrated die support body such as, for example, the lower turret.

A punch die according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of punches; a plurality of dies that perform a punching process in cooperation with the punches; an integrated punch support body, on which the punches are mounted; and an integrated die support body positioned below the integrated punch support body and having the dies mounted thereon. The integrated die support body has a structure such that the plurality of the dies are juxtaposed along a rim of the integrated die support body. The integrated die support body includes an integrated die support main body and an in-and-out moving body that enables at least a portion thereof to assume a condition emerging out of the rim of the integrated die support body while connection of the in-and-out moving body with the integrated die support main body is retained. In such case, some of the dies disposed in the integrated die support body are disposed in the in-and-out moving body.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, while at least a portion of the in-and-out moving body is brought out of the rim of the integrated die support body, the die mounted on the in-and-out moving body is replaced with a different die, or once the die is removed and is subjected to a process such as, for example, grinding, the die once removed is re-mounted. Since the in-and-out moving body is in position at the outside of the integrated die support body, a large space is available between upper and lower sides of the die mounting area of the die holder and, at the same time, the die is easily viewable via the worker's eyes. Therefore, the die replacement work is easily, assuredly and safely accomplished. Since the plurality of dies are mounted on the in-and-out moving body, bringing one in-and-out moving body out of the rim of the integrated die support body makes it possible to replace the plurality of dies, and the efficiency is hence good. The in-and-out moving body is held in a condition emerged out of the rim of the integrated die support body while the connection with the integrated die support body is maintained. Accordingly, unlike the type in which the in-and-out moving body is removed, the in-and-out moving body, brought to the outside of the integrated die support body, is able to be secured at a proper position and the die replacement work is able to be easily accomplished.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the integrated die support body may be a turret. In the case where the integrated die support body is a turret, a plurality of the dies are able to be mounted on the turret. Accordingly, one of the advantages of such a preferred embodiment of the present invention is that the replacement of the die relative to the integrated die support body such as, for example, the lower turret, is able to be easily and efficiently accomplished.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the in-and-out moving body referred to above may be rotatable about a traverse center shaft, provided in the integrated die support main body, to move in and out with respect to the rim of the integrated die support body. The construction in which the in-and-out moving body is able to traverse about the traverse center shaft, makes it possible for the in-and-out moving body to be precisely brought into and out of the rim of the integrated die support body, as compared with the construction in which the in-and-out moving body is selectively advanced and retracted in a linear direction. Also, a mechanism to bring the in-and-out moving body in and out is greatly simplified, and is thus able to be manufactured inexpensively.

In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the punch press may further include a plurality of die holders removably secured to the in-and-out moving body, in which case the plurality of the dies are mounted individually or in a plural number on each of the die holders. The number of the dies that are able to be mounted on one die holder is not specifically limited. If the die is mounted on the in-and-out moving body through the die holder, a variety of types of dies are able to be mounted on the in-and-out moving body by replacing the die holder with that appropriate to the die.

Any combination of at least two constructions, disclosed in the appended claims and/or the specification and/or the accompanying drawings should be construed as included within the scope of the present invention. In particular, any combination of two or more of the appended claims should be equally construed as included within the scope of the present invention.

The above and other elements, features, steps, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a punch press according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the punch press with a portion removed.

FIG. 3 is a schematic top plan view of a lower turret used in the punch press.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a lower turret of the punch press with one of in-and-out moving bodies emerged out of the rim of the lower turret.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an in-and-out moving body disposed portion of the lower turret.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view showing a traversing support unit of the in-and-out moving body in the lower turret.

FIG. 7A is a schematic top plan view showing a fixture unit for the in-and-out moving body.

FIG. 7B is a cross sectional view taken along the line VIIB-VIIB in FIG. 7A.

FIG. 7C is a cross sectional view taken along the line VIIC-VIIC in FIG. 7A

FIG. 8A is a schematic top plan view showing a portion of the lower turret.

FIG. 8B is a cross sectional view taken along the line VIIIB-VIIIB in FIG. 8A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described in detail in connection with a preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings. In particular, FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a punch press in its entirety according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the punch press with a portion thereof removed. The illustrated punch press preferably is of a type having upper and lower turrets 2 and 3, for example. It is to be noted that the upper turret 2 is not shown in FIG. 2 for the sake of brevity. Each of the upper and lower turrets 2 and 3 is of a substantially flat round configuration, and those upper and lower turrets 2 and 3 are supported respectively by upper and lower horizontal frame sections 1a and 1b of a press frame structure 1 for rotation coaxially about associated vertical shafts. The upper turret 2 defines an integrated punch support body and has a plurality of punches 4 arranged in line along a rim of the upper turret 2. On the other hand, the lower turret 3 defines an integrated die support body and includes a plurality of dies 5 arranged in a line along a rim of the lower turret 3. It is to be noted that the term “rim” referred to above and hereinafter indicates an outer peripheral edge of each of the turrets 2 and 3.

When the upper and lower turrets 2 and 3 are synchronously driven by a motor (not shown), a pair of a punch 4 and a die 5 are successively indexed to assume a processing station P. When the punch 4, which are brought to the processing station P, is driven via a ram 7 by a punch drive source 8 such as, for example, a drive motor so as to lower to a descended position, the punch 4 cooperates with the die 5 to perform a punching process on a sheet material W.

As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet material W is fed, by a sheet material feeding unit 13, on a table in a forward and rearward direction and/or in a leftward and rightward direction so that a portion of the sheet material W to be processed is able to be brought to the processing station P. The sheet material feeding unit 13 includes a carriage 15 movable in the forward and rearward direction (Y direction) , a cross slide 16 movable in the leftward and rearward direction (X direction), which slide 16 is mounted on the carriage 15, and a work holder 17 that holds one end of the sheet material W, which holder 17 is mounted on the cross slide 16.

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic top plan view of the lower turret 3, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the lower turret 3 in a condition different from that shown in FIG. 3. The lower turret 3 includes a lower turret main body 21 which defines an integrated die support main body, and a plurality of, for example, four in-and-out moving bodies 22 juxtaposed one after another in a circumferential direction along the rim of an upper surface of the lower turret main body 21. A plurality of die holders 23 are removably secured to the upper surface of the lower turret main body 21 or the in-and-out moving bodies 22, and the dies 5 are disposed respectively in each of the die holders 23. In the present preferred embodiment, one or two dies 5 preferably are disposed on one die holder 23, for example, but three or more dies 5 may be disposed on one die holder 23.

A center portion of the lower turret main body 21 is provided with a sheet material feeding table 24 having its upper surface level or substantially level with an upper surface of each of the dies 5. It is to be noted that two of the in-and-out moving bodies 22, which are depicted on an upper portion of the figure of FIG. 3, are shown as in a condition having no die holder 23 provided therein.

As shown in FIG. 5, the in-and-out moving body 22 is supported by the lower turret main body 21 for rotation about a traverse center shaft 25 that is positioned in the vicinity of one circumferential end of the in-and-out moving body 22. The in-and-out moving body 22 is switchable between a use position (shown by the solid line in FIG. 3), at which the whole thereof is inside of the rim of the lower turret 3, and a replacement position (shown by the double dotted line in FIG. 3) at which a major portion thereof is outside of the rim of the lower turret 3. At the use position, the in-and-out moving body 22 is positioned having been brought into contact with a positioning member 26 provided in the upper surface of the lower turret main body 21 so as to protrude therefrom. A fixture unit 27 that fixes the in-and-out moving body 22 in the use position in the vicinity of the circumferentially opposite end of the in-and-out moving body 22 extends between the lower turret main body 21 and the in-and-out moving body 22.

At the replacement position, the die 5 mounted on each of the die holder 23 provided in the in-and-out moving body 22 is held in condition having been emerged out of the rim of the lower turret 3. It is, however, to be noted that all of the dies 5 mounted on the corresponding die holders 23 provided in the in-and-out moving body 22 may not be necessarily brought out of the rim of the lower turret 3 and a portion of the dies 5 may be positioned inside of the rim of the lower turret 3. In the present preferred embodiment, with the in-and-out moving body 22 held at the use position, the single die 5 (shown by 5X in FIG. 3), which is positioned in the vicinity of the traverse center shaft 25, is positioned inside of the rim of the lower turret 3, but the position thereof is so close to the rim that an attendant worker's hand can easily access the die 5X from the outer periphery of the lower turret 3. Therefore, no problem will arise during execution of a die replacement work as will be discussed later.

As discussed above, where a plurality of dies 5 are mounted on the in-and-out moving body 22, at the replacement position one or some of the dies 5 may be positioned inside of the rim of the lower turret 3 as long as the attendant worker's hand is able to access them from the outer periphery of the lower turret 3. It is to be noted that the wording “one or some of the dies 5” indicates not all of the dies 5 regardless of the number of the dies used.

FIG. 6 illustrates a sectional view of a traverse support unit for the in-and-out moving body 22 about the traverse center shaft 25. The traverse center shaft 25 preferably is in the form of a stepped shaft including a large diameter portion 25a and a reduced diameter portion 25b. The large diameter portion 25a is engaged in a recessed area 30 defined in the upper surface of the lower turret main body 21. The reduced diameter portion 25b is rotatably engaged in a throughhole 31, defined in the in-and-out moving body 22, through a bushing 32. The traverse center shaft 25 is fixed to the lower turret main body 21 when a bolt 33 inserted from a bolt insertion hole defined in the bottom surface of the lower turret main body 21 is threaded into an internally threaded hole defined in the large diameter portion 25a. In this way, the in-and-out moving body 22 is supported for traversal movement (i.e., rotation) about the traverse center shaft 25.

The bushing 32 referred to above includes an upper portion including a collar 32a located on a counter sunken portion defined in an upper portion of the throughhole 31, and is fixed to the in-and-out moving body 22 via a bolt 34 inserted into the collar 32a. The reduced diameter portion 25b of the traverse center shaft 25 includes an outer peripheral surface provided with a plurality of circumferentially extending grease reserving grooves 35.

Also, a restraint member 36 is fitted from above to the traverse center shaft 25 via a bolt 37, and the restraint member includes a collar portion 36a located on an upper surface of the collar 32a of the bushing 32, such that the in-and-out moving body 22 and the bushing 32 are prevented from separating from the traverse center shaft 25. It is to be noted that, in a condition in which the restraint member 36 is in contact with an upper end surface of the traverse center shaft 25, a minute dimension is provided between the collar 36a of the restraint member 36 and the bushing 32.

FIG. 7A illustrates a schematic top plan view showing a fixture unit 27 for the in-and-out moving body 22 and FIGS. 7B and 7C are a cross sectional view taken along the lines VIIB-VIIB and VIIC-VIIC in FIG. 7A, respectively. The fixture unit 27 includes a female screw member 41 engageable in a recess 40, defined in the upper surface of the lower turret main body 21, a bolt insertion member 42 provided in the in-and-out moving body 22, and a fixing bolt 43. It is to be noted that FIGS. 7A and 7C illustrate the fixture unit 27 with no fixing bolt 43 included.

The female screw member 41 is fixed to the lower turret main body 21 by a bolt 45 inserted from a bottom surface of the lower turret main body 21. The bolt insertion member 42 includes a lower portion defining a mounting area 42a, which preferably has a flat plate shape, and is fixed at the mounting area 42a to the in-and-out moving body 22 by a bolt 46. The female screw member 41 and the bolt insertion member 42 are respectively provided with a threaded hole 47 and a bolt insertion hole 48 that are held in coaxial relation with each other. The threaded hole 47 and the bolt insertion hole 48 are inclined inwardly from the outer periphery of the lower turret in a radial direction of the lower turret. When the fixing bolt 43 is inserted from the lower turret outer diametric side into the bolt insertion hole 48 and a threaded portion thereof is then threaded into the threaded hole 47. By so doing, the in-and-out moving body 22 is fixed to the lower turret main body 21.

As described above, the structure is provided in which, when the in-and-out moving body 22 is turned about the traverse center shaft 25, the in-and-out moving body 22 is able to be moved selectively inside and outside of the rim of the lower turret 3. Accordingly, the in-and-out moving body 22 is able to be precisely brought in and out, and also a mechanism that draws the in-and-out moving body 22 in and out is greatly simplified and is therefore assembled inexpensively. Also, since the fixture unit 27 is of such a design that the fixing bolt 43 is able to be advanced and retracted in a diagonally downward direction, an operation to loosening and fastening the fixing bolt 43 from the lower turret outer diametric side is easily accomplished. It is to be noted that the traverse center shaft 25 referred hereinbefore may be fixed to the in-and-out moving body 22, but rotatable relative to the lower turret 3.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are a schematic top plan view and a schematic sectional view, both showing a portion of the lower turret 3 and, specifically, a mounting area for the die holder 23 shown by the outline arrow in FIG. 3. The die holder 23 preferably is of a type designed to support two dies 5 (5A and 5B) with respect to the in-and-out moving body 22. For example, the die 5A preferably has a round or substantially round shape in top plan representation and includes a rectangular or substantially rectangular perforating hole 5Aa defined in a center portion thereof. Also, the die 5B preferably has a round or substantially round shape in top plan representation and includes a round or substantially round perforating hole 5Ba defined in a center portion thereof . The die holder 23 preferably is of a generally sector shape flaring in a direction radially outwardly of the lower turret 3, and is secured to the in-and-out moving body 22 preferably via a plurality of bolts 50 inserted from a bottom surface of the in-and-out moving body 22.

Each of the dies 5 is engaged in a die holding recess 51 preferably in the form of a counter sunken bore defined in an upper surface of the die holder 23, and is seated on an annular bottom surface of the die holding recess 51 with its upper end protruding outwardly beyond the upper surface of the die holding recess 51. A slug discharge hole 52 of a diameter smaller than the die holding recess 51 extends downwardly from the bottom surface of the die holding recess 51. The slug discharge hole 52 is communicated with a slug dropout hole 53 defined in the in-and-out moving body 22 and also with a slug dropout hole 54 defined in the lower turret 3.

A flat plate shaped table 56 is provided on an upper portion of the die holder 23, and a plurality of brushes 57 are implanted in the table 56 so as to be oriented upwardly to support the sheet material W from below. Also, brushes 58 similar to the brushes 57 are also implanted on the table 24 of the lower turret main body 21 so as to be oriented upwardly. It is, however, to be noted that in place of those brushes 57 and 58, ball bearings (not shown) may be used and disposed on the tables 24 and 56.

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate only one of a plurality of die holders 23 for the purpose of illustration, but except for number of the dies 5 mounted, the dimension and shape, the remaining die holders 23 are basically similar in structure to that shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the lower turret 3 includes the die holders 23, fixed to the lower turret main body 21, and the die holders 23 fixed to the in-and-out moving body 22. In the present preferred embodiment, the number of the die holders 23 fixed to the lower turret main body 21 preferably is two, and those two die holders 23 are disposed on respective sides opposite to each other with respect to the center O of the lower turret 3, for example. Those two die holders 23 are each used to accommodate a relatively large die 5. The number of the in-and-out moving bodies 22 preferably is four, and each of the four in-and-out moving bodies 22 preferably includes six or eight die holders 23 fixed thereto, for example.

The two in-and-out moving bodies 22 including the six die holders 23 fixed thereto are disposed at respective positions opposite to each other with respect to the center of the lower turret 3. Similarly, the two in-and-out moving bodies 22 including the eight die holders 23 fixed thereto are also positioned at respective positions opposite to each other with respect to the center of the lower turret 3. Also, each of the in-and-out moving bodies 22 is capable of traversing about the traverse center shaft 25 on the same side of a lower turret circumferential direction. In other words, each of the in-and-out moving bodies 22 and each of the die holders 23 are preferably disposed in point symmetry, for example. While the number and the disposition of the foregoing is one example shown and described for the purpose of illustration, the in-and-out moving bodies 22 and/or the number and the disposition of the die holders 23 provided in the in-and-out moving bodies 22 are not limited to those shown and described. For example, the number of the in-and-out moving bodies 22 used may preferably be within the range of one to three or not smaller than five.

In the punch press of the construction hereinabove described, during use, all of the in-and-out moving bodies 22 are positioned at the use position and are fixed in position via the fixing units 27. When it comes to the replacement of the die 5, the in-and-out moving body 22 having mounted thereon the die 5 desired to be replaced is positioned at the replacement position. Since at the replacement position, a relatively large space is available between upper and lower sides of the die mounting portion of the die holder 23 and, also, the die mounting portion is easily and completely viewable and ascertainable via the worker's eyes, the replacement of the die 5 is easily, assuredly and safely accomplished.

Since a plurality of dies 5 are preferably mounted on the in-and-out moving body 22, a plurality of dies 5 are able to be replaced with only one in-and-out moving body 22 brought to the replacement position, and, therefore, the efficiency is high. Since the in-and-out moving body 22 is held in the position emerged out of the rim of the lower turret 3 while the connection thereof with the lower turret main body 21 is maintained, the in-and-out moving body 22 then at the replacement position is able to be secured at a proper position, and therefore, the work to replace the die 5 is easily accomplished.

If the die holder 23, in which the dies 5 tending to be replaced at a high frequency are provided, is collectively mounted on the same in-and-out moving body 22, the frequency of the in-and-out moving body 22 brought in and out is significantly reduced, allowing the efficiency of the work to replace to be increased. Also, even when the dies 5, which are used in processing one product, are collectively provided in the same in-and-out moving body 22, the efficiency of the replacement work is similarly increased.

If, as is the case with the above described preferred embodiment, the dies 5 are disposed on the lower turret main body 21 of the lower turret 3 or the in-and-out moving body 22 through the die holders 23, replacement of the die holders 23 with ones appropriate to the dies 5 makes it possible that a variety of dies 5 are disposed on the lower turret 3 which defines the integrated die support body. It is, however, to be noted that without the die holders 23, the dies 5 may be disposed directly on the lower turret main body 21 or the in-and-out moving body 22.

Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings which are used only for the purpose of illustration, those skilled in the art will readily conceive numerous changes and modifications within the framework of obviousness upon the reading of the specification herein presented of the present invention. Although, in describing the preferred embodiments of the present invention, reference has been made to the turret punch press, the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto and can be applicable to any punch press other than the turret type. For example, the present invention can be equally applicable to a punch press of the type in which each of the integrated punch support body and the integrated die support body is of a rectangular or substantially rectangular configuration.

Accordingly, such changes and modifications are, unless they depart from the scope of the present invention as delivered from the claims annexed hereto, to be construed as included therein.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it is to be understood that variations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention, therefore, is to be determined solely by the following claims.

PUNCH PRESS

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