Sheet metal processing machines having a chip suctioning device and a control device are provided. The chip suctioning device has a chip space connected to a die orifice of a punching die for collecting chips, wherein the chip space is provided with a chip flap and a extraction line, and the extraction line comprises at least one sieve, a vacuum generator, e.g., an extraction fan, connected to the extraction line for generating a vacuum in the chip suction device, and a vacuum sensor, connected to the extraction line between the downstream last sieve and the vacuum generator, being configured to supply signals to the control device.

A method for supplying cutting oil in a machine tool for cutting work pieces, including the steps of retaining cutting oil in a minimum reference quantity or an initial reference quantity in the cutting-oil tank, measuring a supply quantity per unit time q of the cutting oil flowing out from the cutting-oil tank and supplied to a cutting area of work pieces, either supplying the cutting oil to the cutting-oil tank by a quantity per unit time q larger than q and the supply is stopped in the case where the cutting-oil tank is filled, and the supplying and stopping are repeated as necessary, or supplying the cutting oil to the cutting-oil tank by a quantity per unit time equal to the supply quantity per unit time q.

A machine tool includes a tool and a workpiece machined by the tool, and sensors configured to detect a position of the tool and/or the tool holder holding the tool in a spatially and time resolved manner A method for offline and/or online identification of a state of the machine tool includes: a) detecting or providing positions p.sub.i of the tool and/or of the tool holder at a series of points in time i, i=1 . . . n; b) determining for the series of points in time i a series of position changes ?m.sub.i according to the formula ?m.sub.i=p.sub.i/p.sub.i-1 and a series of speed changes ?v.sub.i according to the formula ?v.sub.i=v.sub.i/v.sub.i-1 with $v_i=\frac{P_i-P_{i-1}}{t_i-t_{i-1}}$
and formula $v_{i-1}=\frac{P_{i-1}-P_{i-2}}{t_{i-1}-t_{i-2}};$
c) identifying the state of the tool, the tool holder, the machine tool and/or the workpiece machined in the machine tool based on the position changes ?m.sub.i and the speed changes ?v.sub.i.

Apparatus for monitoring and providing visual representations of the operating conditions of machine tool parameters, in particular for program-controlled turning, milling, and drilling machines, which have a machining unit displaceable in a plurality of coordinate axes, in which a work spindle for exchangeable receiving a machining tool and an electric motor for driving the work spindle are mounted. The machine tool includes a control unit and means for monitoring the operating state of the machine tool. The monitoring apparatus has at least one sensor for detecting at least one operating parameter of the machine tool. An evaluating unit is connected to both the sensor and the control unit and processes the measurement values detected by the sensor. An optical display is provided in the direct viewing range of the operator, which viewing range includes the machine operating spindle, tool holder, tool, and workplace. The optical display can display a normal, a critical, and a dangerous operating state of the machine tool in accordance with the data from the evaluating unit.

A machine tool according to the present invention is provided with a door opening/closing device including a movable door, a door opening/closing drive motor configured to drive the movable door, a power transferring mechanism configured to transfer power of the door opening/closing drive motor to the movable door. The machine tool includes a disturbance torque estimation unit configured to estimate a disturbance torque applied to the door opening/closing drive motor at an opening/closing operation of the movable door, a torque comparison unit configured to compare the disturbance torque estimated by the disturbance torque estimation unit to a predetermined first upper limit and a predetermined first lower limit, and a motor stop unit configured to stop the opening/closing operation of the movable door when the torque comparison unit determines that the disturbance torque is larger than the first upper limit or smaller than the first lower limit.

A motor drive system enabling detection of cutting fluid deposited at a housing of electronic components. A housing holding electronic components of a motor drive system has top faces slanted with respect to the horizontal plane so as to guide the deposited cutting fluid. The housing further includes storage parts collecting the cutting fluid guided along the top faces. The storage parts may be graduated so as to enable the collected amount of the cutting fluid to be measured. The storage parts may be configured to be detachable from the housing.

A machine tool includes: a cover body defining a processing area inside the machine tool; an ejection part configured to eject a coolant into the processing area; a mist collector configured to collect a substance included in air as a result of the coolant being ejected from the ejection part into the processing area; a sensor provided outside the processing area and configured to detect the substance; and a mist collector control unit configured to cause the mist collector to start collection processing for collecting the substance when the substance is detected by the sensor.

Disclosed herein is a cyclonic system for performing subtractive machining in microgravity systems. The cyclonic system comprises: an enclosure, a blower, and a debris collection module to collect the debris from the milling machine. The enclosure includes a top plate, a base plate, and a tapered side wall joining the top plate to the base plate. The enclosure defines a chamber to house a milling machine having a cutter tool. The blower generates an airstream that induces a cyclonic airflow to achieve cyclonic separation of debris within the enclosure. In operation, the cyclonic airflow urges the debris from the milling machine toward the base plate and into the milling machine.

A machine tool includes a drive unit driving a tool for machining a workpiece, and a control unit controlling the drive unit. The machine tool further includes an abnormality determining unit that determines whether machining can be continued, based on operation information of the drive unit, and a power failure detection unit that switches the power source of the control unit from a normal power supply unit to an emergency power supply unit if power failure is detected, and switches the power source from the emergency power supply unit to the normal power supply unit if recovery of power supply is detected after power failure. The control unit stops operation of the drive unit when power failure is detected, and thereafter, if recovery of power supply is detected, and the abnormality determining unit determines that machining can be continued, the control unit drives the drive unit, thereby automatically resuming machining.

Provided is an abnormality diagnosis device for a machine tool, and an abnormality diagnosis method, whereby it is possible to diagnose the degree of damage to a spindle system due to a collision. An abnormality diagnosis device (40) for a machine tool (1) has: a displacement sensor (36) for detecting the amount of displacement of a spindle bearing (30); an acceleration sensor (38) for detecting the acceleration of a ram (28); a collision determination unit (46) for determining whether the ram or a spindle (32) has collided with a work piece, on the basis of at least the amount of displacement of the spindle bearing detected by the displacement sensor or the acceleration of the ram detected by the acceleration sensor; and a damage determination unit (50) for determining the degree of damage to the spindle bearing on the basis of at least the amount of displacement of the spindle bearing, the acceleration of the ram, or a frequency characteristic of vibration of the ram due to rotation of the spindle obtained from the acceleration of the ram, when the collision determination unit determines that the ram or the spindle has collided with the work piece.