Machine Tool

Abstract

The present invention relates to a machine tool 1000, comprising: a machine table 200 pivotable about a pivot axis 230 for clamping a workpiece WS, a workpiece magazine 300 with a plurality of magazine locations 310 for receiving respective workpieces WS, and a workpiece changing device 400 for introducing or exchanging a workpiece WS on the machine table 200, wherein the pivotable machine table 200 is configured to pivot into a changing position for introducing or exchanging the workpiece WS on the machine table 200 by means of the workpiece changing device, and the workpiece changing device 400 is configured to introduce or exchange the workpiece on the machine table 200 pivoted into the changing position.

Claims

1. A machine tool, comprising: a machine table pivotable about a pivot axis for clamping a workpiece, a workpiece magazine with a plurality of magazine locations for receiving respective workpieces, and a workpiece changing device for introducing or exchanging a workpiece on said machine table, wherein said pivotable machine table is configured to pivot into a changing position for introducing or exchanging the workpiece on said machine table by means of said workpiece changing device, and said workpiece changing device is configured to introduce or exchange the workpiece on the machine table pivoted into the changing position.

2. The machine tool according to claim 1, characterized in that said workpiece magazine includes at least one rotational axis, wherein said workpiece magazine includes a plurality of radially oriented magazine locations arranged around said at least one rotational axis for receiving respective workpieces.

3. The machine tool according to claim 1, characterized in that said pivotable machine table includes a clamping device oriented perpendicular to said pivot axis for clamping a workpiece, wherein, in the changing position of said machine table, said clamping device of said machine table is oriented substantially in parallel and/or substantially identically to a magazine location of said workpiece magazine, from which the workpiece is removed by said workpiece changing device and introduced into said clamping device of said machine table or into which the workpiece is introduced from said clamping device of said machine table by said workpiece changing device.

4. The machine tool according to claim 1, characterized in that said workpiece changing device includes a gripper portion configured to grip the workpiece on said clamping device of said machine table and/or on one magazine location of the plurality of magazine locations of said workpiece magazine, wherein said workpiece changing device includes a rotational axis about which said gripper portion is rotatable and which, when the workpiece is gripped by said gripper portion, is arranged substantially in parallel to the orientation of said clamping device of said machine table and/or the corresponding magazine location of the plurality of magazine locations of said workpiece magazine.

5. The machine tool according to claim 4, characterized in that said workpiece changing device removes the workpiece from one magazine location of the plurality of magazine locations of said workpiece magazine or deposits the workpiece in one magazine location of the plurality of magazine locations of said workpiece magazine which is arranged in horizontal plane extending through said rotational axis of said workpiece magazine and/or which is arranged below the horizontal plane extending through said rotational axis of said workpiece magazine.

6. The machine tool according to claim 4, characterized in that said rotational axis of said workpiece changing device, about which said gripper portion of said workpiece changing device can be rotated, is arranged substantially horizontally.

7. The machine tool according to claim 4, characterized in that said rotational axis of said workpiece changing device, about which said gripper portion of said workpiece changing device can be rotated, is arranged substantially vertically.

8. The machine tool according to claim 4, characterized in that said rotational axis of said workpiece changing device, about which said gripper portion of said workpiece changing device can be rotated, is arranged substantially between a horizontal and a vertical arrangement.

9. The machine tool according to claim 1, characterized in that the workpiece can be received via a standardized interface, in particular an HSK interface or a steep-taper interface, or a user-specific interface from said clamping device of said machine table and/or from one magazine location of the plurality of magazine locations of said workpiece magazine.

10. The machine tool according to claim 1, characterized in that said workpiece changing device can be moved between said workpiece magazine and said pivotable machine table via a linear axis.

11. The machine tool according to claim 10, characterized in that said workpiece changing device, when the workpiece clamped by said machine table is introduced or exchanged, is configured to position said gripper portion of said workpiece changing device for gripping the workpiece on said clamping device of said machine table by moving said workpiece changing device along said linear axis and at the same time starting to position said gripper portion by rotating about said rotational axis of said workpiece changing device.

12. The machine tool according to claim 1, characterized in that said pivotable machine table is configured as a swivel rotary table.

13. The machine tool according to claim 12, characterized in that said pivotable machine table includes a rotational axis which is oriented perpendicular to said pivot axis and about which said clamping device of said machine table can be rotated for clamping the workpiece, and said machine table is configured to position said clamping device of said machine table by rotating to allow for the workpiece clamped by said clamping device of said machine table to be gripped by said gripper portion of said workpiece changing device.

14. The machine tool according to claim 9, characterized in that said machine table is configured to position said clamping device of said machine table depending on the interface of the workpiece, via which the workpiece can be received from said clamping device of said machine table and/or from one magazine location of the plurality of magazine locations of said workpiece magazine, by rotating in order to allow for the workpiece clamped by said clamping device of said machine table to be gripped by said gripper portion of said workpiece changing device, or said machine table is configured to position said clamping device of said machine table depending on the interface of the workpiece, via which the workpiece can be received from said clamping device of said machine table and/or from one magazine location of the plurality of magazine locations of said workpiece magazine, and depending on the relative position of the interface to said gripper portion of said workpiece changing device by rotating in order to allow for the workpiece clamped by said clamping device of said machine table to be gripped by said gripper portion of said workpiece changing device.

15. The machine tool according to claim 11, characterized in that said workpiece changing device includes a vertical axis configured for the vertical movement of said gripper portion and said rotational axis of said workpiece changing device, wherein, when changing the workpiece clamped on said machine table, for gripping the workpiece on said clamping device of said machine table, said workpiece changing device is configured to move said gripper portion and said rotational axis of said workpiece changing device along said vertical axis in order to allow for the workpiece clamped by said clamping device of said machine table to be gripped by said gripper portion of said workpiece changing device.

16. The machine tool according to claim 4, characterized in that said gripper portion includes a controllable lifting mechanism by means of which said gripper portion can be moved translationally in the direction of said rotational axis of said workpiece changing device, so that the workpiece can be removed from said clamping device of said machine table and/or from the corresponding magazine location of the plurality of magazine locations of said workpiece magazine and/or the workpiece can be introduced into said clamping device of said machine table and/or into the corresponding magazine location of the plurality of magazine locations of said workpiece magazine.

17. The machine tool according to claim 1, characterized in that said workpiece magazine includes at least one workpiece magazine portion, preferably a plurality of workpiece magazine portions, which are substantially rotatable about said rotational axis of said workpiece magazine and which each include a plurality of radially oriented magazine locations for receiving respective workpieces.

18. The machine tool according to claim 1, characterized in that said workpiece magazine is configured as a wheel magazine.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0050] FIG. 1 schematically shows an embodiment of the machine tool according to the invention in a traveling column design with a vertically arranged work spindle and a pivotable machine table;

[0051] FIG. 2 schematically shows a further embodiment of the machine tool according to the invention as a horizontal processing machine with a horizontally arranged work spindle and a pivotable machine table;

[0052] FIG. 3 schematically shows a further embodiment of the machine tool according to the invention in a traveling column design with a vertically arranged work spindle, a pivotable machine table and an obliquely arranged workpiece changing device;

[0053] FIG. 4 schematically shows a further embodiment of the machine tool according to the invention as a horizontal processing machine with a horizontally arranged work spindle, a pivotable machine table and a workpiece changing device arranged below a workpiece magazine;

[0054] FIG. 5 schematically shows a further embodiment of the machine tool according to the invention in a traveling column design with a partition of the work space of the machine tool from the workpiece magazine and the workpiece changing device;

[0055] FIG. 6 schematically shows a further embodiment of the machine tool according to the invention in a traveling column design and a workpiece magazine with a plurality of workpiece magazine portions;

[0056] FIG. 7 schematically shows various combinations of movements of the workpiece changing device and the machine table for gripping the workpiece clamped on the machine table by the gripper portion of the workpiece changing device;

[0057] FIG. 8 schematically shows a further embodiment of the workpiece changing device with a further movement for introducing or exchanging the workpiece clamped on the machine table;

[0058] FIG. 9 schematically shows different variants of workpiece carriers with different interfaces.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS AND PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0059] In the following, examples and exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the accompanying figures. Identical or similar elements in the figures can be denoted by the same reference symbols, but sometimes also with different reference symbols.

[0060] It should be emphasized that the present invention, however, is in no way limited or restricted to the exemplary embodiments described below and implementation features thereof, but rather further comprises modifications of the exemplary embodiments, and in particular those that result from modifications of the features of the examples described or from combinations of one or more of the features of the examples described are included within the scope of protection of the independent claims.

[0061] FIG. 1 schematically shows an embodiment of the machine tool 1000 according to the invention in a traveling column design with a vertically arranged work spindle 100 and a pivotable machine table 200.

[0062] FIG. 1 shows the machine tool 1000 according to the invention in two views (here view a) and view b)) in order to better explain the configuration and the characteristics of the machine tool 1000 according to the invention.

[0063] View a) shows, in addition to the work spindle 100, which can be fed along the x, y and z axes, the machine bed 1100 and the pivotable machine table 200, a workpiece magazine 300 (here in this specific case a wheel magazine, but this is not is to be understood as restricting, since it can also be, for example, a chain magazine or the like) and a workpiece changing device 400.

[0064] The workpiece changing device 400 includes a linear axis 420 and a gripper portion 450 rotatable about a rotational axis 410 of the workpiece changing device 400. In the embodiment shown, the gripper portion 450 is configured as a fork gripper, but this is again not to be understood as restricting; other designs, such as a hook gripper, for example, may also be provided as the gripper portion.

[0065] As shown, the linear axis 420 is configured as a spindle-driven moving unit and thus enables the changer unit (comprising the gripper portion 450, the rotational axis 410 and a lifting unit 440 for positioning the gripper portion 450 along the rotational axis 410) moved thereon to be positioned very quickly and precisely.

[0066] The pivotable machine table 200 includes an substantially U-shaped support 210 which can be pivoted into various positions via a pivot axis 230, wherein the position shown in views a) and b) illustrates the changing position to which the pivotable machine table 200 or the substantially U-shaped carrier 210 is pivoted so that the workpiece changing device 400 can interact with the pivotable machine table and the workpiece WS received or clamped by the machine table 200 can be introduced or exchanged.

[0067] Here, however, it should be pointed out once again that, in addition to a pivotable U-shaped machine table 200, various other forms of swivel tables/swivel rotary tables may also be used. For example, the machine table may be mounted on two sides, regardless of whether the carrier (bridge) is U-shaped or, for example, straight.

[0068] Furthermore, machine tables mounted on one side may also be provided in the machine tool 1000, as are described, for example, in the patent applications DE 10 2004 049 525 B3 and DE 10 2012 201 736 B3. These can also be pivoted into a corresponding changing position by means of their pivot axis and thus be equipped with workpieces WS by the workpiece changing device 400.

[0069] The U-shaped machine table 200 selected by way of example is therefore not to be understood as restricting. The configurations of the machine table 200 mentioned or described below may also be used/provided on other machine tables (mounted on both sides/on one side; straight, U-shaped or L-shaped supports 210).

[0070] The pivotable machine table 200 may also include a clamping device 220 that can be positioned by rotating about a rotational axis 240, so that the clamped workpiece WS and/or possibly also a workpiece carrier 10 (pallet) with an existing interface 12a, 12b, 12c (not shown here, see FIG. 9), which might allow the clamping of the workpiece WS in the clamping device 220 in the first place, can be positioned by rotating.

[0071] View b) shows the workpiece magazine 300, which includes a large number of magazine locations 310 in order to receive workpieces WS accordingly, in more detail. In this case, complete blanks, that is to say completely unmachined workpieces WS, may be received by the workpiece magazine 300 or workpieces WS already machined by another machine tool or in a previous machining step may be received.

[0072] In order to provide the respectively required workpiece WS or magazine location 310 in a changing position in which the workpiece magazine 300 can interact with the workpiece changing device 400, the workpiece magazine 300 can be positioned by rotating about a rotational axis 320. This allows for the desired workpiece WS to be gripped (and removed) from the workpiece magazine 300 by the gripper portion 450 of the workpiece changing device 400 or the workpiece WS carried by the gripper section 450 to be deposited at the corresponding magazine location 310 in the first place.

[0073] Furthermore, a defined and reproducible changing position of the workpiece magazine 300 may also be required so that the workpiece WS can be gripped smoothly by the gripper portion 450, in particular in the case of interfaces (which can be gripped by the gripper portion 450, for example) as shown in FIG. 9b). Such interfaces require a specific position relative to the gripper portion 450 in order to be able to be gripped. If this is not the case, the workpiece WS, the interface (here, for example, 12b), the gripper portion 450 and/or even the workpiece magazine 300 may be jammed or, in worse cases, even damaged.

[0074] Therefore, it is also important for workpiece changing processes such as carried out by the machine tool 1000 according to the invention that a very precise alignment of the corresponding magazine location 310 of the workpiece magazine 300, the gripper portion 450 of the workpiece changing device 400 and the clamping device 220 of the pivotable machine table 200 (or of the machine table 200 itself or the carrier 210 thereof) to one another is carried out.

[0075] For this reason, the corresponding magazine location 310 (orientation 330), the rotational axis 410 of the gripper portion 450 and the clamping device 220 (illustrated by the rotational axis 240) are oriented substantially parallel to one another (as shown, e.g., in FIG. 7) when the workpiece WS is being introduced or exchanged on the machine table 200, wherein the corresponding magazine location 310 and the clamping device 220 may even be oriented in the same way, but do not have to, which may be dependent on the structure of the machine tool 1000 and/or dependent on the available degrees of freedom of the workpiece changing device 400.

[0076] The same orientation (with parallelism) of the magazine location 310 and the clamping device 220 is said to exist when the workpiece WS (and, for example, a hollow shank cone as interface 12c (see FIG. 9)) can be inserted into the corresponding magazine location 310 and into the clamping device 220 when the workpiece WS (and the interface 12c) is displaced along the three spatial directions (x, y, z directions) and possibly rotated in the rotational symmetry axis of the hollow shaft cone.

[0077] FIG. 2 schematically shows a further embodiment of the machine tool 1000 according to the invention as a horizontal processing machine with a horizontally arranged work spindle 100 and a pivotable machine table 200.

[0078] The shown configuration of the machine table 200 on the machine bed 1100, the workpiece magazine 300 and the workpiece changing device 400 with the lifting unit 440 is substantially the same as the already described configuration shown in FIG. 1. Only the position of the work spindle 100 has changed from a vertical arrangement to a horizontal arrangement, supposedly making it clear that the invention may also be used for different designs of machine tools.

[0079] Moreover, the machine tool 1000 in FIG. 2 further comprises a tool magazine 500 and a tool changing device 600, which, however, are substantially configured comparably to the workpiece magazine 300 and the workpiece changing device 400. Here, it should be pointed out that a tool magazine 500 and a corresponding tool changer 600 may also be used in the machine tool 1000 according to FIG. 1, but due to the changed position of the work spindle 100 in a correspondingly changed position relative to the tool magazine 500.

[0080] Furthermore, it should be pointed out here that it is entirely possible to equip the workpiece magazine 300 with tools WZ and to equip the tool magazine 500 with workpieces WS so that the workpiece WS to be machined can be received by the work spindle 100 and the tool WZ can be received by the pivotable machine table 200.

[0081] In addition, the “swapping” of the equipment in the workpiece magazine 300 and the tool magazine 500 may also be used to allow the workpiece WS to be transferred between the machine table 200 and the work spindle 100. For this purpose, the workpiece WS may be clamped in a corresponding clamping device (for example a jaw chuck; not shown here) on the machine table, wherein the tool WZ received by the work spindle 100 is now exchanged for another clamping device, and the workpiece WS is transferred from the machine table 200 to the work spindle 100 by appropriate positioning of the work spindle 100 and the machine table 200.

[0082] Subsequently, the clamping means received by the machine table 200 could now be exchanged for a tool WZ, and thus the side of the workpiece WS not yet machined yet can be machined. This would allow 6-sided machining of the workpiece WS, which could take place completely automatically (without direct intervention by a user, e.g. by reclamping the workpiece WS) on the machine tool 1000

[0083] Furthermore, FIG. 2 shows how the gripping portion 450 of the workpiece changing device 400 turns between the two legs of the substantially U-shaped carrier 210, in particular beginning or starting during (simultaneously with) the displacement movement of the gripper portion 450 via the linear axis 420 so that the gripper portion 450 can grip the workpiece WS clamped by the clamping device 220 (or the corresponding interface 12a, 12b, 12c). In this context, reference is again made to FIG. 7, which describes several possible displacing or positioning movements.

[0084] FIG. 3 schematically shows a further embodiment of the machine tool 1000 according to the invention in a traveling column design with vertically arranged work spindle 100, pivotable machine table 200 and obliquely arranged workpiece changing device 400. Here again, reference is made to the explanations relating to FIG. 1 regarding the description of the work spindle 100, the machine table 200 on the machine bed 1100, the workpiece magazine 300 and the workpiece changing device 400 with the lifting unit 440.

[0085] It is apparent that the workpiece changing device 400 is provided lower in the machine tool 1000 than the workpiece changing device 400, as shown in FIG. 1, and/or the workpiece magazine 300 was placed higher in the machine tool 1000 with respect to the workpiece changing device 400. This may be necessary, for example, when particularly long workpieces WS are to be received by the workpiece magazine 300, for example in order to have enough space available with respect to the hall floor or the floor of the machine tool 1000.

[0086] This may mean that the workpiece changing device 400 can no longer pick up the workpiece WS from a horizontal position in the workpiece magazine 300 (or deposit it), but can only use magazine locations 310 for this purpose that are arranged below the horizontal position or below a horizontal plane extending through the rotational axis 320 of the workpiece magazine 300. The workpiece changing device 400 must therefore be positioned/angled at a certain angle with respect to the machine bed 1100 so that the gripper portion 450 can grip the workpiece WS (or the interface 12a, 12b, 12c) as usual (substantially parallel arrangement of the orientation 330 of the corresponding magazine location 310 and the rotational axis 410 of the workpiece changing device 400.

[0087] If the workpiece WS carried by the workpiece changing device 400 is now to be inserted/clamped in the clamping device 220 of the pivotable machine table 200, the changing position of the machine table 200 (a corresponding pivoting movement of the carrier 210 around the pivot axis 230) must be adapted to the angle of incidence of the workpiece changing device 400, so that the rotational axis 240 of the clamping device 220 of the machine table 200 is again arranged substantially in parallel to the rotational axis 410 of the workpiece changing device 400. As a result, an interaction between the machine table 200 and the workpiece changing device 400 for introducing or exchanging the workpiece WS is again possible.

[0088] FIG. 4 schematically shows a further embodiment of the machine tool 1000 according to the invention as a horizontal processing machine with a horizontally arranged work spindle 100, a pivotable machine table 200 and a workpiece changing device 400 arranged below a workpiece magazine 300.

[0089] The machine tool in FIG. 4 again includes the known elements of the work spindle 100 (here in a horizontal arrangement), a pivotable machine table 200, a workpiece magazine 300, a workpiece changing device 400, a tool magazine 500 and a tool changing device 600.

[0090] A special feature of said machine tool 1000 compared to the previously described machine tools is the relative position of the workpiece changing device 400 to the workpiece magazine 300 and correspondingly to the pivotable machine table 200. In the present embodiment, the workpiece changing device 400 is arranged below the workpiece Magazine 300. This may be useful, for example, in the case of unusually long workpieces WS, in order to still realize the most compact structure possible for the remainder of the machine tool 1000 (work spindle 100, machine table 200 and, if necessary, tool magazine 500 and tool changing device 600).

[0091] As a result, it may therefore make sense for the gripper portion 450 to pick up or deposit the workpiece WS at the lowest/bottom point of the workpiece magazine 300. The corresponding magazine location 310 is arranged substantially vertically (see orientation 330 of the corresponding magazine location 310).

[0092] If the workpiece WS carried by the workpiece changing device 400 is to be inserted/clamped in the clamping device 220 of the pivotable machine table 200, the changing position of the machine table 200 must be adjusted accordingly so that the rotational axis 240 of the clamping device 220 of the machine table 200 is not only arranged substantially in parallel to the orientation 330 of the corresponding magazine location 310 (and also substantially in parallel to the rotational axis 410 of the workpiece changing device 400), but, as in the present case, the clamping device 220 also has the same orientation as the corresponding magazine location 310. For this purpose, for example, the carrier 210 of the machine table 200 can be turned/pivoted “upside down”, as shown in FIG. 4. The workpiece WS can thus be transferred from the gripper portion 450 to the clamping device 220 of the machine table 200 without any problems.

[0093] FIG. 5 schematically shows a further embodiment of the machine tool 1000 according to the invention in a traveling column design with a partition 700 of the work space of the machine tool 1000 from the workpiece magazine 300 and the workpiece changing device 400.

[0094] The partition 700 also has a closable opening 710 through which the workpiece changing device 400 can be moved into the work space of the machine tool 1000 in order to then carry out the workpiece change in the work space of the machine tool 1000.

[0095] The partition 700 of the work space and the area of workpiece storage and the workpiece changing device 400 has the great advantage that various contaminations that are generated during the (cutting) machining of the workpiece WS in the work space of the machine tool 1000 can spread in the work space, while almost no contamination of the partitioned area occurs.

[0096] Furthermore, the partition 700 offers the great advantage that the workpiece magazine 300 can, for example, be further equipped by an operator, even while a workpiece WS is being machined by the work spindle 100, without the operator being at risk from material chips flying around or getting too close to moving machine parts (such as the work spindle 100 or the machine table 200/carrier 210).

[0097] FIG. 6 schematically shows a further embodiment of the machine tool 1000 according to the invention in a traveling column design and a workpiece magazine 300 with a plurality of workpiece magazine portions 350.

[0098] Here, the workpiece magazine 300 used for the machine tool 1000 can theoretically be expanded by any number of workpiece magazine portions 350, depending on the requirements placed on the number of stored workpieces WS.

[0099] In some cases, a kind of subdivision of the workpiece magazine sections 350 may exist, for example in such a way that a certain number of workpiece magazine portions 350 store the blanks and the remaining workpiece magazine portions 350 receive the workpieces WS coming from the machining on the machine tool 1000.

[0100] FIG. 7 schematically shows various combinations of movements of the workpiece changing device 400 and the machine table 200 for gripping the workpiece WS clamped on the machine table 200 by the gripper portion 450 of the workpiece changing device 400.

[0101] View a) shows the simplest form of the positioning movement of the workpiece changing device 400 with respect to the machine table 200 in order to change the clamped workpiece WS.

[0102] For this purpose, a combination of a linear movement LB.sub.WWE of the workpiece changing device 400 along the linear axis 420 and a rotational movement RB.sub.WWE of the Gripper Portion 450 of the Workpiece Changing Device 400 is carried out.

[0103] In particular, first a workpiece WS is taken from the corresponding magazine location 310 of the workpiece magazine 300 and picked up by the gripper portion 450, which is in a horizontal orientation here. The workpiece changing device 400 is then moved via the linear axis 420 in the direction of the machine table 200, wherein the machine table 200 (or the carrier 210) is pivoted to the changing position about the pivot axis 230 or already is already there.

[0104] As soon as the free end of the gripper portion 450 has been moved beyond the workpiece magazine-side leg of the substantially U-shaped carrier 210, the gripper portion 450 of the workpiece changing device 400 begins a rotational movement RB.sub.WWE about the rotational axis 410 already during this movement (linear movement LB.sub.WWE) so that the free end of the gripper portion 450 approaches the clamping device 220 between the two legs of the substantially U-shaped carrier 210 of the machine table 200.

[0105] This combination of the linear movement LB.sub.WWE and the rotational movement RB.sub.WWE is continued until the free end of the gripper portion 450 can grip the workpiece WS clamped in the clamping device 220. The clamping device 220 can now release the clamping of the workpiece WS and the gripper portion 450 can pull the workpiece WS out of the clamping device 220 with a lifting movement along the rotational axis 410.

[0106] The combination of the linear movement LB.sub.WWE and the rotational movement RB.sub.WWE may therefore also be carried out in order to compensate/overcome the height offset h (see view a)) between the corresponding magazine location 310 (or the workpiece changing device 400) and the workpiece WS clamped in the clamping device 220.

[0107] The advantage of this solution is that a vertical axis on the workpiece changing device 400 for compensating the height offset h (see also view c)) can be omitted, whereas the sequence of movements for gripping the workpiece WS clamped on the clamping device 220 becomes more complex (superposition of two movements LB.sub.WWE and RB.sub.WWE).

[0108] Once this has been done, the gripper portion substantially carries out a rotation by 180° about the rotational axis 410, and thereby brings the workpiece WS taken from the workpiece magazine 300 into a position opposite the clamping device 220, so that the gripper portion 450 can insert the workpiece WS to be machined into the clamping device 220 by means of a lifting movement along the rotational axis 410 towards the clamping device 220.

[0109] After completed clamping, the gripper portion 450 moves out of the engagement position again by a combination of the linear movement LB.sub.WWE and the rotational movement RB.sub.WWE, but in the opposite direction, and may then be rotated back about the rotational axis 410 to its horizontal orientation and may then again deposit the workpiece WS taken from the clamping device 220 in the workpiece magazine 300 in one of the magazine locations 310.

[0110] View b) shows a further sequence of movements, which substantially corresponds to that shown in view a), but with an additional rotational movement RB.sub.MT of the clamping device 220 and thus a rotational movement of the workpiece WS.

[0111] Such an additional rotational movement RB.sub.MT of the clamping device 220, as shown in view b), may be required, for example, when a workpiece WS or an interface (for example, such as 12b in FIG. 9) has notches for gripping the gripper portion 450 only at certain points on the circumference. If this additional rotational movement RB.sub.MT would not take place, the gripper portion 450 could grip the workpiece WS or the interface 12b to some extent, but if the combination of LB.sub.WWE and RB.sub.WWE were continued, the gripper portion 450 would collide with the workpiece WS or the interface 12b, and this may sometimes lead to damage to machine parts, in particular the gripper portion 450.

[0112] It should be noted here that the rotational movement RB.sub.WWE and the rotational movement RB.sub.MT must always be in the same direction in order to prevent the gripper portion 450 from colliding with the workpiece WS or the interface 12b.

[0113] Furthermore, with such interfaces, as shown for example in view b) of FIG. 9, it may be necessary for the machine control of the machine tool 1000 to store in which of the magazine locations 310 of the workpiece magazine 300 such interfaces are used on the workpieces WS or are in use so that, when these workpieces WS/these interfaces are introduced, the machine control system can control the additional rotational movement RB.sub.MT accordingly.

[0114] View c) shows, as already indicated above, the linear movement LB.sub.WWE of the workpiece changing device 400 and the rotational movement RB.sub.WWE of the gripper portion 450 as well as a vertical movement VB.sub.WWE of the workpiece changing device 400 (substantially also a linear movement, only in the vertical direction) via a linear axis not shown here in more detail in order to compensate/overcome the height offset h between the corresponding magazine location 310 (or the workpiece changing device 400) and the workpiece WS clamped in the clamping device 220.

[0115] The advantage of this variant is that the mentioned movements no longer necessarily have to be combined with one another in the form of a combined simultaneous movement of all three or at least two movements. In the simplest case, the linear movement LB.sub.WWE moves the workpiece changing device 400 as far as necessary towards the machine table 200, whereupon the gripper portion 450 is substantially rotated by 90° by the rotational movement RB.sub.WWE, so that the free end of the gripper portion 450 is positioned above the workpiece WS clamped on the machine table 200. The workpiece changing device 400 is then lowered in the vertical direction by the vertical movement VB.sub.WWE, so that the free end of the gripper portion 450 comes into engagement with the workpiece WS clamped on the machine table 200.

[0116] The further processes and steps for changing the workpiece WS clamped on the machine table 200 have been sufficiently described above and are therefore not repeated at this point.

[0117] FIG. 8 schematically shows a further embodiment of the workpiece changing device 400 with a further movement for introducing or exchanging the workpiece WS clamped on the machine table 200 (in the views a) to c)).

[0118] In addition to the linear axis 420, the workpiece changing device 400 includes a second linear axis 470 moving in the horizontal direction (see in particular view b)), which moves the gripper portion 450 in the direction or in the opposite direction of the clamping device 220 of the machine table 200 during a workpiece change.

[0119] Moreover, the workpiece changing device 400 may also have its own pivot axis 460 in order to pivot a pivot portion 430, which includes the rotation axis 410 and the gripper portion 450, about the pivot axis 460 (see in particular view c)) and thus to compensate/overcome the height offset h (as already described above) between the corresponding magazine location 310 (or the workpiece changing device 400) and the workpiece WS clamped in the clamping device 220.

[0120] Here, the pivot movement about the pivot axis 460 can be carried out in combination with the already mentioned movements LB.sub.WWE, RB.sub.WWE, RB.sub.MT or VB.sub.WWE or otherwise separately from one another.

[0121] FIG. 9 schematically shows different variants of workpiece carriers 10 (pallets), on each of which at least one workpiece WS can be clamped, with different interfaces 12a, 12b, 12c.

[0122] The use of workpiece carriers 10 offers the advantage that a wide variety of workpieces WS can be received by a clamping device 220 (provided on the machine table 200) without having to carry out a separate clamping for each different workpiece WS.

[0123] It should therefore be pointed out here that the already described change of the workpiece WS is not necessarily only carried out with the actual workpiece WS, but rather also includes the change of a workpiece WS on such a workpiece carrier 10 (pallet). Therefore, some or all of the magazine locations 310 of the workpiece magazine 300 may also be configured to receive the workpiece carriers 10 via the corresponding interfaces 12a, 12b, 12c.

[0124] View a) shows a user-specific embodiment of a workpiece carrier 10 with a circumferential groove provided on the outer circumference of the workpiece carrier 10, which groove can be used by a workpiece changing device 400 to grip the workpiece carrier 10. In order to clamp the workpiece carrier 10 in the clamping device 220, this embodiment also has a user-specific interface 12a.

[0125] View b) shows a user-specific embodiment of a workpiece carrier 10, wherein grooves are provided in sections on the outer circumference of the interface 12b, which grooves can be used by a workpiece changing device 400 to grip the workpiece carrier 10. For this purpose, however, the grooves and the gripper portion 450 of the workpiece changing device 400 must be aligned with one another in such a way that it is possible for the gripper portion 450 to engage the grooves of the interface 12b. A corresponding rotation of the interface 12b (for example by means of a clamping device 220 that can be positioned on the machine table 200 by rotating) could be necessary for this purpose. Here, too, the interface 12b is user-specific.

[0126] View c) shows a user-specific embodiment of a workpiece carrier 10 with a circumferential groove provided on the outer circumference of the interface 12c, which groove can be used by a workpiece changing device 400 to grip the workpiece carrier 10. In order to clamp the workpiece carrier 10 in the clamping device 220, this embodiment further includes a standardized interface 12a in the form of a hollow shank taper (HSK), wherein the interface may also be configured as a steep taper. The two variants mentioned are not to be understood as restricting and may be replaced by any other standardized interface.

[0127] Examples and exemplary embodiments of the present invention and their advantages have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying figures.

[0128] It should be emphasized again that the present invention, however, is in no way limited or restricted to the exemplary embodiments described above and implementation features thereof, but rather further comprises modifications of the exemplary embodiments, in particular those that result from modifications of the features of the described examples or by combining one or more of the features of the examples described are included within the scope of protection of the independent claims.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

[0129] 10 workpiece carrier [0130] 12a-c interface [0131] 100 work spindle [0132] 200 (pivotable) machine table [0133] 210 U-shaped carrier [0134] 220 clamping device of the machine table [0135] 230 pivot axis of the machine table [0136] 240 rotational axis of the clamping device [0137] 300 workpiece magazine [0138] 310 magazine location [0139] 320 rotational axis of the workpiece magazine [0140] 330 orientation of the magazine location [0141] 350 workpiece magazine portion [0142] 400 workpiece changing device [0143] 410 rotational axis of the gripper portion [0144] 420 linear axis of the workpiece changing device [0145] 430 pivot portion of the workpiece changing device [0146] 440 lifting unit of the gripper portion [0147] 450 gripper portion [0148] 460 pivot axis [0149] 470 linear axis of the workpiece changing device [0150] 500 tool magazine [0151] 600 tool changing device [0152] 700 partition [0153] 710 opening (closeable) in the partition [0154] 1000 machine tool [0155] 1100 machine bed [0156] LB.sub.WWE linear movement of the workpiece changing device [0157] RB.sub.MT rotational movement of the clamping device [0158] RB.sub.WWE rotational movement of the workpiece changing device [0159] VB.sub.WWE vertical movement of the workpiece changing device [0160] WS workpiece [0161] WZ tool