An automatic machine for drilling and milling substantially flat glass sheets includes a machine body; an input conveyor provided with a motorized roller conveyor or roller belt that conveys the glass sheet by its lower edge; an input conveyance surface provided with idle gliding wheels; an output conveyor provided with a motorized roller conveyor or motorized belt that conveys the glass sheet by means of its lower edge; and an output conveyance surface provided with idle gliding wheels. The machine further includes at least one carriage provided with synchronous horizontal motion along the longitudinal axis X2; and at least one pair of working heads provided independently with a synchronous vertical motion for adjustment and feeding along the axes Y1 and Y2, wherein, each head bears a tool provided with rotary motion (cutting) and feeding motion along the axes Z1 and Z2.

A tool changer includes at least one tool changer unit, wherein the at least one tool changer unit includes: a tool holder that receives and holds a tool; a base member that supports the tool holder so that the tool holder can be slid along a longitudinal direction of the tool; and a moving mechanism that slides the tool holder relative to the base member.

Apparatus that is particularly suited for machining hard dense ceramic materials comprises a vertical milling machine within an enclosure. The machine has a plurality of slides for moving a spindle holding an end mill in the x, y, and z directions. The x and y slides are located above the elevation of the work table and any workpiece held thereon. Air flows downwardly from the region of the x and y slides and through gaps associated with two fabric shields which have horizontal portions that translate respectively in the x axis and y axis directions. The shields inhibit coolant that contains work piece particulates from traveling upwardly toward the x and y slides. A tool changer system comprises a tool holding tray (30) mounted adjacent the work table within a housing having a movable cover. The housing enables the tool tray to be removed from the enclosure through an access door while the machine tool is operating and coolant is flowing.

The present invention is a novel lanyard system for a piece releaseably connected to a tool by a piece receiver that includes a lanyard assembly with a two ended strap and a retraction system fixed to the tool in a storage region of the tool. In particular, one end of the strap is connected to the piece and the other strap end is connected to one end of the retraction system. The other end of the retraction system is connected to the tool. The strap is of sufficient length for the retraction system to retract a piece to the storage region after disconnection from the piece receiver. It is contemplated that the retraction system includes at least one spring (coil or helical) to cause the lanyard system to remain under tension while the piece is mounted in a piece receiver, thereby preventing or at least reducing the strap from interfering with the task at hand, the piece, the piece receiver or tool itself. The retraction system has sufficient tensional force to cause the retraction of a piece to the storage region once released from the work region of the tool.

A machine tool includes: a spindle that allows a tool to be detachably mounted thereon; a tool changing device that holds a plurality of the tools, and attaches and detaches any of the tools to and from the spindle; a date and time storage unit that stores date and time when operation of the spindle is stopped last; and a calculation unit that calculates unused time of the spindle on the basis of the date and time stored in the date and time storage unit, when the tool is to be detached from the spindle, wherein in a case where the unused time calculated by the calculation unit is longer than a predetermined threshold value, the tool changing device performs detaching motion of the tool from the spindle for longer time compared to a case where the calculated unused time is at or less than the threshold value.

A machining system including a base; multiple work modules arranged in an arrangement direction on the base, at least one of the multiple work modules being a processing module, which processes a work with a tool, provided with a main shaft head including a main shaft on which a tool is attached and a main shaft rotating device that rotates the main shaft; a head raising and lowering device that moves the main shaft head in a vertical direction; a head moving device that moves the main shaft head in a horizontal plane by moving it in two perpendicular directions; and a work table that holds a work; the processing module being configured so as to be pulled from the base along a path extending in an intersecting direction, which is a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction.

A tool changer for a machine tool is provided with a command unit for outputting a change command for a tool storage position to a control unit, which turns a tool magazine with a tool mounted on a spindle and controls an index unit to index a predetermined tool grip portion to a tool change position on receiving the change command for the tool storage position from the command unit.

A machining center including a machine main body, an upper section of which supports a head moving device and a head raising and lowering device, configured such that tool magazine 120 is stored inside the machine main body, and with a magazine moving device configured to move tool magazine 120 such that, during tool exchange, tool magazine 120 is advanced to protrude from a side of the machine main body, so that, from the multiple tool holders, the tool holder used for exchange is positioned inside the movement range of the main shaft by the head moving device, and wherein the entire tool magazine 120 is able to be moved beyond the movement range of the tool magazine by the magazine moving device to a position outside of the machine main body and detached from the machine main body.

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 spindle includes a housing, a bearing housed in the housing, a main shaft rotatably supported by the bearing, a collet chuck extending into a through hole of the main shaft to grip a machining tool and movable in an axial direction of the main shaft, a draw bar connected to the collet chuck, an air inlet above the bearing and through which air is introduced into the housing, an air passage defined in the housing such that the air introduced into the housing through the air inlet flows below the bearing, and an air outlet in the housing and below the bearing and through which the air flowing below the bearing is discharged out of the housing.