Patent Application
20090282956
1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to turret lathes and more particularly to such a turret lathe with improved characteristics including opposite chucks, chips directly falling into chip pan, etc.
2. Description of Related Art
Chip removal has always been an important issue in the design phase of lathe. Also, workpiece fastening has always been an important issue to be considered in the design phase of lathe. Moreover, how to effect smooth rectilinear movements along one straight line and along the other straight line perpendicular thereto on a horizontal plane has always been an important issue to be considered in the design phase of lathe.
There have been numerous suggestions in prior patents for turret lathe with chip removal mechanism. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,690 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,518 both discloses a turret lathe. Thus, continuing improvements in the exploitation of turret lathe are constantly being sought.
It is therefore one object of the invention to provide a turret lathe comprising opposite chucks for effecting a reliable fastening of a workpiece, a chip removal mechanism for cause chips to be able to directly fall into a chip pan, and a tailstock capable of effecting smooth rectilinear movements along one straight line and along the other straight line perpendicular thereto on a horizontal plane.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
A stand 10 is mounted on the ground. A turret assembly 20 is provided on a bed 19 on the top of the stand 10. An L-shaped headstock 30 is provided on the bed 19. A tailstock 40 is provided under the horizontal portion of the headstock 30.
A chip pan 14 is formed on the bed 19. Chip removal equipment (not shown) for removing collected chips is provided in the chip pan 14. A raised seat 11 is provided besides the chip pan 14. Two parallel bed ways 12 are provided on the seat 11. Note that the moving direction of the turret assembly 20 along the bed ways 12 is defined as Z-axis. A first servo motor 13 is provided at one end of the seat 11. A carriage 15 is slidably provided on the bed ways 12 and is driven by the first servo motor 13. A first guard 16 having a gabled top and a telescopic second guard 17 are provided at both ends of the carriage 15. The provision of the guards 16, 17 not only can prevent chips from falling onto the bed ways 12 in machining operation but also can guide chips into the chip pan 14. A second servo motor 18 is provided at the other side of the carriage 15.
The turret assembly 20 has an X-axis slide 21 on the bottom. The X-axis slide 21 is slidably provided on two parallel ways (not numbered) on the top of the carriage 15 and is driven by the second servo motor 18. Thus, the turret assembly 20 driven by the second servo motor 18 is adapted to move along X-axis (i.e., the moving direction perpendicular to the Z-axis on the horizontal plane). That is, the turret assembly 20 is adapted to translate rectilinearly either in Z-axis direction when the first servo motor 13 activates or in X-axis direction when the second servo motor 18 activates.
The horizontal portion of the headstock 30 is above the chip pan 14 by a distance. A first chuck 31 is extended from the vertical portion of the headstock 30 to be disposed above the chip pan 14. A first hydraulic cylinder 32 is provided on the vertical portion of the headstock 30 opposite the first chuck 31. The first hydraulic cylinder 32 can activate to cause the first chuck 31 to clamp one end of a workpiece (not shown). A third servo motor 33 is provided at an open end of the horizontal portion of the headstock 30. The third servo motor 33 is adapted to drive the tailstock 40 via a belt 34.
The tailstock 40 comprises a housing 41, a second chuck 43 provided at one end of the housing 41 aligned with the first chuck 31, and a second hydraulic cylinder 42 provided at the other end of the housing 41. The second hydraulic cylinder 42 can activate to cause the second chuck 43 to clamp the other end of the workpiece which has one end being clamped by the first chuck 31.
The tailstock 40 further comprises a Z-axis slide 45 fixedly provided on the top of the housing 41, a threaded shaft 46 through the Z-axis slide 45 rotatably secured to the third servo motor 33, and two parallel racks 47 on both sides of the Z-axis slide 45. The racks 47 are also provided on the bottom of the horizontal portion of the headstock 30 so that the Z-axis slide 45 (i.e., the tailstock 40) can translate rectilinearly along the Z-axis to cause the second chuck 43 to clamp the other end of the workpiece when the third servo motor 33 activates in machining operation.
Most importantly, the turret assembly 20 and the tailstock 40 are disposed above the chip pan 14 so that the chip pan 14 may collect chips machined from a workpiece without being interfered. Further, the second chuck 43 can be manipulated to translate rectilinearly so as to clamp the other end of the workpiece which has one end being clamped by the first chuck 31. In brief, it is envisaged by the invention that both lathe removal and workpiece clamping are done successfully.
As shown in
Referring to
The tailstock 50 further comprises an X-axis slide 54 fixedly provided on the top of the housing 51, a first threaded shaft 55 through the X-axis slide 54, two parallel first racks 56 on the X-axis slide 54, a Z-axis slide 57 moveably provided on the first racks 56, a second threaded shaft 58 through the Z-axis slide 57 rotatably secured to the third servo motor 33, and two parallel second racks 59 on both sides of the Z-axis slide 57. The second racks 59 are also provided on the bottom of the horizontal portion of the headstock 30.
The tailstock 50 further comprises a fourth servo motor 60 at the other side of the Z-axis slide 57. The fourth servo motor 60 is adapted to drive the first threaded shaft 55 so as to cause the X-axis slide 54 to translate rectilinearly along the X-axis in machining operation. Moreover, the third servo motor 33 is adapted to drive the second threaded shaft 58 so as to cause the Z-axis slide 57 to translate rectilinearly along the Z-axis in machining operation.
Further, a column 70 is between the open end of the horizontal portion of the headstock 30 and the bed 19. The column 70 is adapted to give an increased support to the horizontal portion of the headstock 30 so as to prevent the headstock 30 from vibrating abnormally in machining operation.
While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.
