The present application claims the priority of European Patent Application No. 09169933.0, which was filed on 10 Sep. 2009 and is incorporated herein by reference.
The object of the invention is a tool head for use in a multiaxis machine, a multiaxis machine having such a tool head, and the use of such a machine.
There is an entire array of specialized machines, which are designed and optimized for the processing of greatly varying materials and workpieces. The costs of such specialized machines are frequently relatively high. It is sometimes viewed as a disadvantage of these specialized machines that their capacity can only be ensured if large piece counts of identical or similar workpieces are to be processed.
There is an increasingly a demand to improve the capacity of the corresponding machines in that the machines are made more flexibly usable by add-ons or alterations. It can occur that the add-ons or alterations obstruct the actual use of the machine in the original specialized area, or the reliability or precision of the machine is impaired.
The object of the present invention is therefore to design a processing machine so that it is usable, on the one hand, as a gear cutting machine for manufacturing bevel gears, for example, but it can also be used for other processing methods or situations.
The object of the present invention is also to provide a tool head, which is flexibly and universally usable as part of a processing machine.
This object is achieved according to the present invention by a tool head, which is specially designed for use in a multiaxis machine. The tool head comprises a spindle body, which has two elements or assemblies, which are rotatably connected to one another via a corresponding coupling. The configuration is such that the first element of the two elements has a first longitudinal axis and the second element of the two elements has a second longitudinal axis, which are transferable depending on the rotational position from a concentric (stretched) position into an angled position. A first (main) drive is seated in or on the spindle body. A receptacle device is provided, which is situated on the second element. This receptacle device is designed for temporarily fastening a motor spindle, a motor, which is integrated in the motor spindle, being able to be supplied with energy (e.g., electrical power in the form of current) via the second element and connection means (e.g., electrical connection means) of the receptacle device. In addition, the receptacle device is designed for temporarily fastening a milling tool, the milling tool being drivable using the first drive.
The devices according to the invention are especially designed for the manufacturing of gearwheels and/or the processing of tooth flanks. The tools which are used are to be selected accordingly.
The most important advantage of the invention is seen in that a corresponding specialized machine equipped with the tool head according to the invention is more flexibly usable. In spite of the corresponding structural changes of the machine, the precision properties are not negatively impaired.
Further details and advantages of the invention are described hereafter on the basis of exemplary embodiments and with reference to the drawing. In the figures:
Terms are used in connection with the present description which are also used in relevant publications and patents. However, it is to be noted that the use of these terms is only to serve for better understanding. The ideas according to the invention and the protective scope of the patent claims are not to be restricted in their extent by the specific selection of the terms. The invention may be readily transferred to other term systems and/or technical fields. The terms are to be applied accordingly in other technical fields.
The invention relates to a novel tool head 110, which is shown in two extreme positions in
The tool head 110 comprises a spindle body 105, which has two elements or assemblies 101, 102, as schematically indicated in
Furthermore, the tool head 110 comprises a first drive A1 (also referred to as the main drive), which is seated in or on the spindle body 105. The first drive A1 drives the so-called main axis. This first drive A1 is preferably seated in the second element 102, as shown in
In addition, a receptacle device 120 (such as a clamping device) is provided, which is situated on the second element 102. The receptacle device 120 is shown in purely schematic form in the figures. It is designed for the mechanical fastening of a motor spindle 20, as shown in
1. The drive A1 is used as a drive of a tool, such as a frontal cutter head 30 for bevel gear milling. In this case, it is operated using high torque, relatively “low” speeds, and low dynamic response (speed and rotational direction change).
2. The drive A1 is used as a positioning drive (similarly to a “normal” CNC axis), e.g., to move the motor spindle 20. This is performed using high dynamic response.
The drive A1 is shown inverted in
Furthermore, the receptacle device 120 is designed so that alternatively also a milling tool 30 (preferably a cutter head) can be mechanically fastened. This milling tool 30 is drivable using the first drive A1. I.e., the receptacle device 120 not only ensures a fixed mechanical connection to the milling tool 30, but rather it also allows the drive coupling of the milling tool 30 to the first drive A1.
The novel tool head 110 is shown in
A machine 100 in which the tool axis WA1 is seated inclined slightly downward on a vertical surface 104 of the machine 100 (see
The coupling 103 is preferably designed in the form of a connection like a universal joint, in order to allow the (continuous) pivoting and adjustment of the element 102 in relation to the element 101.
A tool head 110 whose coupling 103 is implemented using two inclined surfaces 103.1, 103.2, which are continuously pivotable in relation to one another, is particularly preferred. The fundamental principle of such a coupling 103 is shown in a perspective view in
If the element 102 was pivoted in relation to the element 101 in
Furthermore, it is indicated in
Connection means 121, via which a control connection to an NC-controller 200 of the machine 100 is producible, or which are used for the power supply of the motor M1, may also be situated on the receptacle device 120 or in the area of the receptacle device 120. It is schematically shown in
In all embodiments, the receptacle device 120 is designed so that it can receive and mechanically fix either the motor spindle 20 (e.g., equipped with a milling cutter 21) or the milling tool 30. The receptacle device 120 can also receive a flange 50 according to
When the milling tool 30 is used, the receptacle device 120 must ensure a drive connection of the drive A1 to the milling tool 30. The drive connection can be performed mechanically (for example, employing a shaft or a gearing). However, it is also possible to provide a hydraulic or pneumatic drive connection.
In
A corresponding tool head 110 is shown equipped with a milling tool 30 (in the form of a cutter head here), which is driven on the machine side, in
The constellation is shown in the stretched configuration in
An NC-controlled multiaxis machine is preferably used as the machine 100. The controller 200 of the machine 100 and the constellation of the tool axes allows great flexibility, which is required by the adjustability of the axes and usability of the tools 20, 30. The elements 101, 102 may be adjusted horizontally and/or vertically and/or laterally by adjustment movements 11 of one or more slides or carriages, for example. In addition, the angle of the axes WA1 and WA2 to one another can be adjusted by pivoting the element 102 in relation to the element 101.
Optionally, the self-drivable motor spindle 20 can be rotated around the shaft 22, as indicated in
Finally, the tool 21 (such as an end milling cutter) completes a rotational movement around the auxiliary axis R1. The milling tool 30, in contrast, completes a rotational movement around the tool axis WA2, which runs coaxially to the rotational axis R2 of the shaft 32 (see
The torque demand around the tool axis WA2 in the equipment with the self-drivable motor spindle 20 is less than in the direct equipment with the milling tool 30. Therefore, a lesser torque is sufficient in the second case than in the first case.
The self-drivable motor spindle 20 is flexibly usable and can be used, for example, for reworking a workpiece. The productivity of the tool 21 of the self-drivable motor spindle 20 is less than that of the milling tool 30. In contrast, if the milling tool 30 is used, the machine 100 can be used as a gear-cutting machine having greater productivity.
Milling refers here to the chip-removing processing of metals. According to the invention, for example, a cylindrical milling cutter 21 can be used as the tool (see
The milling tool 30, in contrast, can be equipped with a bar cutter set (for example, as a frontal cutter head). The individual bar cutters of the bar cutter set have cutting edges which are used for chip-removing processing.
The processing movement which is required for chip generation or removal is generated by rotation of the tool 21 (for example, in relation to a pre-finished tooth flank) around the auxiliary axis R1 or by rotation of the milling tool 30 around the rotational axis R2 (=WA2). The feed movement required for the shaping is generated by relative movement of the tools 20 or 30 in relation to the workpiece. The corresponding movements may be caused by the NC-controller 200 of a multiaxis machine 100. Rotating processing is also conceivable, in which the tool is fixed and the workpiece rotates.
The tool 21 and/or the milling tool 30 may be used running in the same direction or in the opposite direction as the workpiece.
According to the invention, a rotationally driven, cylindrical milling cutter 21 is preferably used as part of the self-drivable motor spindle 20. The auxiliary axis R1, as shown in
The motor M1, which is integrated in the motor spindle 20, is used as the drive for the milling cutter 21. It is therefore an autonomous, i.e., self-drivable spindle 20, as already expressed by the designation motor spindle.
The milling tool 30 is designated, in contrast thereto, as a tool driven by the machine, because its drive A1 is seated on the machine side in the element 101, 102 or in the machine 100.
In summary, it can be stated that a tool axis WA2 on a machine 100 according to the invention is used once as a drive spindle having high torque demand and a rotational direction for operating a cutter head 30, for example, for milling bevel gears, and once as a positioning and movement axis, but with variable velocities or directions for an auxiliary spindle (called motor spindle 20 here). This motor spindle 20 carries the tool 21 and forms an autonomously drivable and flexibly usable tool together therewith.
The effectively active tool axis is implemented as “multiaxial” (i.e., composed of multiple partial axes WA1 and WA2) in this case, and is movable or settable in relation to the workpiece. The effectively active tool axis is composed here of the two tool axes WA1 and WA2, which stand in relation to one another in a specialized manner and are adjustable to one another. The adjustment of the tool axes WA1, WA2 can be performed continuously.
A corresponding controller (preferably an NC-controller 200) is provided for coupling the axial movements. The particular tool 20, 30 can thus be guided along programmed movement paths.
In a further preferred embodiment, the entire tool head 110 is fastened so it is rotatable in the transition area 111 between tool head 110 and machine 100. I.e., the tool head 100 can be pivoted around the tool axis WA1 in relation to the machine 100. Positions in which the second element 102 points upward, as indicated in
Through such rotation in the area 111, as indicated in
In another embodiment, a pivot capability is provided in the area of the receptacle device 120 or on the shaft 22 of the motor spindle 20.
In a particularly preferred embodiment, a positioning drive S1 is provided in or on the tool head 110, as indicated in
Details of a further embodiment are shown in
A constellation is shown in
In
A further embodiment is shown in
A further embodiment is shown in
The change between milling tool 30 and motor spindle 20 can be performed automatically. In this case, the receptacle device 120 is designed for automated operation.
The first drive A1 and the receptacle device 120 are preferably dimensioned for torque forces which are greater than 1500 Nm, in order to be able to use the drive A1 as the drive of 30, for example, for bevel gear milling, in the first case.
The various embodiments may be readily combined with one another in order to allow further constellations.
The tool head 110 is used as an intelligent (electromechanical, hydraulic-mechanical, or pneumatic-mechanical) interface of the machine 100 and can make a multiaxis machine 100 more flexibly usable. By attaching the motor spindle 20 having integrated motor M1, the machine 100 is expandable by a further NC axis. An optimized specialized machine 100 (such as a bevel gear cutting machine) may thus become a universally usable processing center.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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09169933.0 | Sep 2009 | EP | regional |