A tool changer comprises a turret with a plurality of grips for holding tools such that the turret is turned to index a desired tool to change the tools. The front and rear surfaces of the turret are covered by front and rear covers, respectively. A projection or a recess which defines a passage for cutting fluid is formed in an outer rear surface portion of the rear cover at portions above and/or on each lateral side of a turret mechanism portion.

A tool changer comprises a turret with a plurality of grips for holding tools such that the turret is turned to index a desired tool to change the tools. The front and rear surfaces of the turret are covered by front and rear covers, respectively. A projection or a recess which defines a passage for cutting fluid is formed in an outer rear surface portion of the rear cover at portions above and/or on each lateral side of a turret mechanism portion.

A vertically sliding manual opening and closing door with good one-handed operability, including: a plate-like door member configured to open and close an opening section by being slid vertically; a support member configured to guide the vertical sliding of the door member by a support section configured to support left and right end sections of the door member; and a lock mechanism configured to position the door member that has been raised.

This machine tool is provided with an arm for exchanging a tool between a main shaft in a machining chamber and a secondary tool standby position in a tool holding chamber, a shutter which is provided in an opening defined in a wall which partitions between the machining chamber and the tool holding chamber, a first motor for opening and closing the shutter, a shutter position detector which can detect the position of the shutter in the entire range between the fully open position and the fully closed position, a storage device which stores a prescribed position of the shutter associated with a prescribed operation of the arm and a control device which is configured to perform a prescribed operation of the arm on the basis of the position of the shutter detected by the shutter position detector and the prescribed position of the shutter stored in the storage device.

This machine tool is provided with an arm for exchanging a tool between a main shaft in a machining chamber and a secondary tool standby position in a tool holding chamber, a shutter which is provided in an opening defined in a wall which partitions between the machining chamber and the tool holding chamber, a first motor for opening and closing the shutter, a shutter position detector which can detect the position of the shutter in the entire range between the fully open position and the fully closed position, a storage device which stores a prescribed position of the shutter associated with a prescribed operation of the arm and a control device which is configured to perform a prescribed operation of the arm on the basis of the position of the shutter detected by the shutter position detector and the prescribed position of the shutter stored in the storage device.

The invention discloses a multiple-spindle full-automatic vertical machining center, which comprises an actuator, a lathe bed, a feeding area, a tooling area, a machining area and a tool changer area. The actuator comprises a ram, a saddle and a sliding table, the feeding area crosses the lathe bed, and the feeding area and the tool changer area are respectively located on two opposite sides of the machining area, the feeding area is located at a forefront end of the machining center, and the actuator moves above the feeding area, the tooling area, the machining area and the tool changer area. Compared with the prior art, a conveyor belt is arranged in front of the whole machine tool and crosses the machine tool, a length of the conveyor belt may be increased or decreased as required, and by increasing the length of the conveyor belt, more raw materials and finished parts may be stored, so labor is saved.

The machining apparatus includes: a cover including a side plate, a projecting portion disposed below the side plate, a rectangular shaped front opening, and a semicircular shaped planar opening; a first door body including a first drum disposed in a first side of a mating surface, a first abutting surface connected to the first drum, and a first top plate, and accommodated inside the cover by rotated about a first axis; and a second door body including a second drum disposed in the second side of the mating surface, a second abutting surface abut to the first abutting surface on the mating surface, and a second top plate, and accommodated inside the cover by rotated about a second axis.

A measurement apparatus for mounting within an enclosure of a machine is described. The apparatus includes a measurement device and a protection means for protecting the measurement device from contaminants present within the machine enclosure. The protection means is switchable between at least a first mode that protects the measurement device from contaminants and a second mode that provides less protection of the measurement device from contaminants than the first mode. A contaminant sensor is used for sensing contamination within the machine enclosure and thereby determining when the protection means can adopt the second mode. A corresponding method is also described.

A machine tool including a fixed cover and a movable cover for covering at least part of a machining region includes a cover control device that includes a driving circuit for driving the movable cover, an abnormality detection device that detects an abnormality while the movable cover is driven, a self-diagnosis device that performs evaluation on whether the abnormality detection device is normal, and an output device that outputs a result of the evaluation by the self-diagnosis device. The self-diagnosis device is configured to perform the evaluation on whether the abnormality detection device is normal based on an operating state of the abnormality detection device at a time when a pseudo abnormality is generated on the movable cover by driving the movable cover via the driving circuit.

An automation unit for handling component carriers has an enclosure for arranging components carriers within a first, a second and a third stacking space. The enclosure has a loading opening for the first stacking space, a transfer device for transferring component carriers between the stacking spaces, and a separating device to selectively separate or release the first stacking space inwardly. A safety system for an intervention area is at the loading opening to interrupt the operation of the automation unit if it detects an intervention. The safety system may switch to partial monitoring mode, to full monitoring mode after completion of an automated loading process or deactivate in a manual loading mode when the separating device separates the first stacking space. The safety system may switch to full monitoring mode before the separating device releases the first stacking space. The automation unit can be loaded both automatically and manually safely.