MACHINE TOOL, ESPECIALLY FOR ALL-SIDED MACHINING OF TORIC WORKPIECES

Abstract

A machine tool includes a Z-slider with a main spindle rotating about a spindle axis, a main body on which the Z-slide is arranged, a machining table with a machining plane, a clamping device for clamping a workpiece, and a first drive to rotate the clamping device about an rotational axis. A support member is arranged on a pivot-axis housing on which the machining table is arranged. A second drive pivots the support member and the machining table about a pivot axis. The support member has first and second legs. The machining table is arranged on the first leg such that the support member and the housing form a U-shaped unit and provide an interspace between the second leg and the housing, into which interspace a toric workpiece clamped on the clamping device can project and is rotatable about the axis of rotation by the first drive.

Claims

1. A machine tool comprising: a Z-slider with a main spindle for a machine tool rotating about a spindle axis, a machine main body on which the Z-slider is arranged, a machining table having a machining plane, a clamping device for clamping a workpiece, and a first drive which is arranged in a housing and which is designed to execute a rotation of the clamping device of the machining table about a rotational axis, a support member which is arranged on a pivot axle housing and on which the machining table is arranged, wherein the support element is a one-sided hinged cantilever arm and having a substantially L-shaped form, a three-axis linear motion system having a first linear axis Y, a second linear axis Z and a third linear axis X to allow relative motion between the Z-slider with the main spindle and the machining table, a second drive, which is arranged to allow pivoting of the support member and the machining table about a pivot axis, wherein the support member has a first leg and a second leg, and wherein the machining table with the housing is arranged on the first leg at the free end of the first leg, such that the support member and the machining table can be pivoted about a pivot axis, that the support element and the housing substantially form a U-shaped unit and an interspace remains between the second leg and the housing, which interspace is designed as a workpiece receiving area for receiving a portion of the workpiece.

2. The machine tool according to claim 1, wherein the first drive is arranged in the machining table such that a drive axis of the first drive coincides with the rotational axis of the machining table.

3. The machine tool according to claim 1, wherein the support element, the machining table, the pivot axis housing, the first drive and the second drive form an assembly unit.

4. The machine tool according to claim 1, wherein the pivot axis of the support member is located in the machining plane of the machining table, or wherein the machining plane is located below the machining plane at a 0° position of the pivot axis.

5. The machine tool according to claim 1, wherein the pivot axis is perpendicular to the rotational axis.

6. The machine tool according to claim 1, wherein a diameter D1 of the housing of the machining table is greater than a width of the support element.

7. The machine tool according to claim 1, wherein the Z-slider is movable with the main spindle in the first linear axis Y and the second linear axis Z and/or wherein the Z-slider is oriented in the vertical direction.

8. Machine tool according to claim 1, wherein the workpiece is clampable to the clamping device by using a pallet, and wherein the workpiece is located substantially below the pallet in the 0° position of the swivel axis.

9. The machine tool according to claim 1, wherein the pivot axis housing is arranged on a carriage movable along the third linear axis X.

10. The machine tool according to claim 1, wherein a transition between the first leg and the second leg is arcuate.

11. The machine tool according to claim 1, wherein the housing of the machining table protrudes in the direction of the pivot axis beyond the free end of the first leg.

12. The machine tool according to claim 1, wherein a chamfer is formed at the free end of the first leg on a side opposite to the machining table.

13. The machine tool according to claim 1, wherein a cross section of the first leg of the support member is trapezoidal in shape such that a width at a top side where the machining table is arranged is wider than a width at an opposite bottom side.

14. The machine tool according to claim 1, wherein the housing of the machining table is cylindrical.

15. The machine tool according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the main spindle and a tool holding device mounted thereon including a tool is movable in the direction of the second linear axis below the pivot axis.

Description

[0029] In the following, a preferred embodiment of the invention will be described in detail while reference will be made to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

[0030] FIG. 1 is a schematic, perspective view of a machine tool according to a preferred embodiment of the invention in a first position,

[0031] FIG. 2 is a schematic, perspective view of the machine tool of FIG. 1 in a second position of the pivot axis rotated by 180°,

[0032] FIG. 3 is a schematic, perspective view of the machine tool of FIG. 1 in the first position with the workpiece clamped,

[0033] FIG. 4 is a schematic, perspective view of the machine tool of FIG. 2 in the second position with the workpiece clamped,

[0034] FIG. 5 is a schematic, partially cut side view of the machine tool of FIG. 1 with the workpiece clamped in the first position,

[0035] FIG. 6 is a schematic, perspective view of the machine tool of FIG. 2 in the second position with the workpiece clamped,

[0036] FIG. 7 is a schematic front view of the machine tool of FIG. 1 without workpiece in the first position, and

[0037] FIG. 8 is a schematic front view of the machine tool in a third position.

[0038] In the following, a machine tool 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention will be described in detail while making reference to FIGS. 1 to 8.

[0039] As can be seen from FIG. 1, the machine tool 1 comprises a main machine body 10 which is substantially portal-shaped. It should be noted that other basic machine shapes are also possible.

[0040] The machine tool 1 comprises a Z-slider 2 with a main spindle 20. The main spindle 20 is arranged to receive a tool holding device 22 with a machine tool 21, for example a milling cutter (cf. FIGS. 5 and 6).

[0041] The machine tool 1 further comprises a machining table 3 with a machining plane 30, wherein a workpiece 7 can be clamped to the machining table 3 using a clamping device 31.

[0042] For mounting to the machining table 3, the workpiece 7 can be attached to a pallet 33 and the pallet 33 can be clamped to the machining table 3 using the clamping device 31 (cf. FIGS. 3 and 6). In the 0° position of the pivot axis A, the workpiece 7 is essentially located below the pallet 33 and thus in the machining plane 30. As a result, the machining table 3 is located within the workpiece 7. The machining plane 30 is preferably located in the pivot axis A or in the 0° position below the pivot axis A.

[0043] The machining table 3 has a first drive 5, which is rotatable 360° in both directions about a rotation axis B to rotate the clamping device 31 mounted on the machining table 3. The first drive 5 is completely accommodated in a cylindrical housing 34.

[0044] Furthermore, the machine tool 1 comprises a support member 4, which is arranged on a pivot axis housing 35 of the main machine body 10. The support member 4 is pivotable about a pivot axis A relative to the pivot axis housing 35 by means of a second drive 6.

[0045] As can be seen from FIGS. 1, 5 and 6, the support member 4 is an L-shaped cantilever arm with a first leg 41 and a second leg 42. The machining table 3 together with the first drive 5 is arranged at the free end of the first leg 41 (cf. FIGS. 1 and 2). Herein, the machining table 3 is placed on the first leg 41 of the L-shaped support.

[0046] As can especially be seen from the side view of FIG. 5, the machining table 3 with the housing 34, in which the first drive 5 is arranged, is arranged at the free end of the first leg 41 on the first leg 41. This results in a substantially U-shaped unit, comprising the support member 4 and the machining table 3. This results in an interspace 8 between the second leg 42 and the housing 34 of the machining table. This allows a toric workpiece 7 to be clamped to the clamping device 31 using a pallet 33 such that a portion of the workpiece 7 is located in the interspace 8 and can freely be rotated by means of the rotation axis B. A machining tool 21 mounted on the main spindle 20 can be moved into the machining plane 30 even if the pivot axis A is not at 0° or 180° (see FIG. 8). Thus, the toric workpiece 7 can be machined from all sides in a single clamping session.

[0047] A portion of the main spindle 20 and the tool holding device including the tool mounted thereto can be moved in the direction of the second linear axis Z to below the pivot axis A. In this way, for example, deep holes can also be realized in the workpiece 7.

[0048] As the support member 4 including the machining table 3 can also be rotated about the pivot axis A, machining of the workpiece 7 on the side of the workpiece 7 facing the support member 4 may also be smoothly performed. In this case, the workpiece 7 can also be rotated about the axis of rotation B so that the portions of the workpiece 7 which are covered by the support member 4 in this position can also be machined. It is also possible to machine the workpiece 7 in an inclined position, as indicated in FIG. 8.

[0049] To ensure the interspace 8 between the second leg 42 and the housing 34 to be maximally large, a transition between the first and second leg 42 is curved and the second leg 42 is very flat. Furthermore, the machining table is positioned on the first leg 41 such that the machining table protrudes in the direction of the pivot axis A beyond the free end of the first leg 41 (cf. FIG. 5). Herein, the first leg 41 has a top side 41a, facing towards the interspace 8, and an opposite bottom side 41b.

[0050] A chamfer 9 is formed on the bottom side 41b at the free end of the first leg 41. Especially in the position starting from the 0° position of the pivot axis A, which is shown in FIG. 5, collision-free machining of the workpiece 7 by the tool 21 may be performed due to the chamfer 9 located in a position pivoted by 180° about the pivot axis A (FIG. 6). By combining the chamfer 9 with the machining table 3 projecting beyond the free end of the first leg 41 in the direction of the pivot axis A, machining on an inner side of the toric workpiece 7 can also be realized. The chamfer 9 prevents collision between the main spindle 20 and the support member 4.

[0051] As can further be seen from FIG. 7, a cross-section of the first leg 41 of the support member 4 is trapezoidal in shape. Herein, a width at the upper side 41a on which the machining table 3 is arranged is wider than a width at the opposite lower side 41b. This results in the support member 4 to be slimmer on the bottom side 41b, so that in the machining position shown by 180° in FIG. 6, especially lateral machining of the toric workpiece 7 will be simplified.

[0052] It is preferred that the first and second drives 5, 6 are torque motors with a high torque. In this case, the support member 4 and the machining table 3 together with the first and second drive 5, 6 are provided as a pre-assemblable unit.

[0053] As further indicated in FIG. 1, the Z-slider 2 is movable in two directions, namely a first linear axis Y and a second linear axis Z perpendicular thereto. Furthermore, the pivot axis housing 35 is arranged on a carriage 32. The carriage 32 is movable along a third linear axis X. It should be noted that, alternatively, the linear axes for relative movement between pivot axis housing 35 with support member 4 and machining table 3 and Z-slider 2 with main spindle 20 can also be divided differently, for example, pivot axis housing 35 together with support member 4 and machining table 3 can also be movable in the three directions X, Y, Z.

[0054] The tool holding device 22 mounted on the main spindle 20 is rotatable about a spindle axis 23. The spindle axis 23 is aligned in the vertical direction. The main spindle 20 is attached to the Z-slider 2.

[0055] As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2 or 3 and 4, the working plane 30 can be tilted to any position by rotation about the pivot axis A in a working space of the machine tool 1. In FIG. 7, a pivot angle of the pivot axis A is schematically shown starting from the 0° position in a range from +45° to −195°, especially starting from a horizontal plane. It should be noted, however, that the pivot angle about the pivot axis A can also be provided differently, depending on the area of application of the machine tool 1. Preferably, stops for limiting the pivot movement about the pivot axis A are provided at a starting point and an end point, respectively.

[0056] Thus, a 5-axis machine tool 1 is provided in which the machine tool 21 can additionally be rotated about the spindle axis 23. As can be seen especially from FIGS. 3 to 6, which show a workpiece 7 clamped with a pallet 33 onto the clamping device 31 at the machining table 3, machining of the workpiece 7 can be performed in a single clamping session by designing the support member 4 as an L-shaped support arm according to the invention. FIGS. 3 and 5 show a first position for machining in which the workpiece 7, which in this embodiment is a flow component having a plurality of circumferentially arranged buckets, is arranged in the horizontal plane at a 0° position of the pivot axis A. The workpiece 7 can be machined in a single clamping session This allows, for example, machining of the workpiece 7 from above by means of the machine tool 21 clamped in the main spindle 20 by a tool holding device 22 without restriction.

[0057] FIGS. 4 and 6 show a second machining position in which the machining table 3 and the support member 4 have been rotated 180° about the pivot axis A by rotation by means of the second drive 6. As a result, by means of the machining tool 21 clamped into the main spindle 20 by tool holding device 22, machining of the workpiece 7 on its underside can be made possible without having to reclamp the workpiece 7. Since the pivot axis A is preferably located in the machining plane 30, the position of the workpiece 7 relative to the linear axes X, Y and Z in the working space of the machine tool 1 hardly changes due to the 180° rotation of the pivot axis A. The workpiece 7 is located in the working space of the machine tool 1. It is in approximately the same location, only rotated 180°. In addition, machining of the workpiece 7 is possible at other pivot angles of the pivot axis A, since the machine tool 21 can be moved well below the pivot axis A, see FIG. 8.

[0058] Since the machining table 3 is located essentially within the workpiece 7 and the L-shaped support member 4 is provided as a cantilever arm which is pivotally mounted on the pivot axis housing 35 only in the region of the second leg 42, the workpiece 7 can be machined all around. Especially the clamping device 31 is rotatable on the machining table 3 by the first drive 5 about the axis of rotation B, which is perpendicular to the machining plane 30, so that the workpiece 7 can be machined from all sides without any problems. The interspace 8 between the second leg 42 and the housing 34 of the machining table 3 allows the workpiece 7 to partially protrude into the interspace 8. As a result, the machining plane 30 is located within the toric workpiece 7. The first drive 5 is thereby completely accommodated in the housing 34 of the machining table 3, so that the first leg 41 of the support member 4 can be designed to be very slim and flat.

[0059] Furthermore, due to the L-shaped support member 4, the pivot axis A can be arranged such that it always is located in the machining plane 30 of the machining table 3 or, for the position 0° of the pivot axis A, this is located below the clamping device 31. This can be seen in detail in FIGS. 6 and 7.

[0060] As can be seen from FIG. 5, the housing 34 of the machining table 3 has a diameter D1. The diameter D1 is slightly larger than a width 40 of the support member 4 (cf. FIGS. 4 and 7). This allows the toric workpiece 7 to be clamped to the machining table 3 such that a drive axis of the first drive 5 is located in the center of the toric workpiece 7.

[0061] As can be seen from FIG. 5, the housing 34 of the machining table 3 has a diameter D1. The diameter D1 is slightly larger than a width 40 of the support member 4 (cf. FIGS. 4 and 7). This allows the toric workpiece 7 to be clamped to the machining table 3 such that a drive axis of the first drive 5 is located in the center of the toric workpiece 7.

[0062] The L-shape of the support member 4 thus allows sufficient space for the toric workpiece 7 by providing the interspace 8, in particular between the second leg 42 and the housing 34 of the machining table 3, for clamping the workpiece 7 in the direction of the machining plane. The lengths of the first and second legs 41, 42 of the L-shaped support member 4 will thereby be adapted according to the requirements of the workpiece 7 to be machined, so as to be able to securely clamp it in the direction of the machining plane 30. The L-shaped support member 4 with arcuate transition between the first and second legs 41, 42 thus creates a free-standing machining table 3, so that a toric workpiece 7, as shown in FIG. 5, can be clamped such that the machining table 3 is substantially within the toric workpiece 7. In other words, the toric workpiece 7, for example, can be slipped over the machining table 3.

[0063] The L-shaped support member 4 is designed to be sufficiently stable, since it must support not only the workpiece 7, the pallet 33 and the clamping device 31, but also the first drive 5 for the machining table 3. In this case, the width 40 of the L-shaped support member 4 is selected to be smaller than the diameter D1 of the housing 34 of the machining table 3, so that there is optimum accessibility from all sides to the workpiece 7 to be machined. It should be noted that the first leg 41 is usually longer than the second leg 42, preferably at least twice as long as the second leg 42.

[0064] It should be noted that the L-shaped support member 4 and a housing 34 of the machining table 3 with integrated first drive 5 can be realized as two separate components or can be a single component unit. The L-shaped support member 4 may also have an integral flange to allow easy attachment to a shaft of the pivot axis A in the pivot axis housing 35.

[0065] Thus, according to the invention, a machine tool 1 can be provided which allows workpieces 7 machining, in particular toric workpieces 7 such as flow components, in particular BLINGs, in one clamping session using a support member 4 cantilevering a machining table 3. In this case, the support element 4 and the machining table 3 arranged on the support element 4 form a U-shaped unit with the interspace 8 between the second leg 42 and the housing 34 of the machining table 3, such that the workpiece 7 can also be clamped onto the machining table 3 deeply protruding into the interspace 8, and having the advantages set forth above during machining. This can significantly improve machining accuracy of such workpieces 7. Reduction in machining time may also be obtained as a result.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0066] 1 Machine tool [0067] 2 Z-slider [0068] 3 Machining table [0069] 4 Support member [0070] 5 First drive [0071] 6 Second drive [0072] 7 Workpiece [0073] 8 Interspace [0074] 9 Chamfer [0075] 10 Machine main body [0076] 20 Main spindle [0077] 21 Machine tool [0078] 22 Tool holder [0079] 23 Spindle axis [0080] 30 Machining plane [0081] 31 Clamping device [0082] 32 Carriage [0083] 33 Pallet [0084] 34 Housing [0085] 35 Pivot axis housing [0086] 40 Width of support member [0087] 41 First leg [0088] 41a Top side [0089] 41b Bottom side [0090] 42 Second leg [0091] A Pivot axis [0092] B Rotational axis [0093] D1 Diameter [0094] Y First linear axis [0095] Z Second linear axis [0096] X Third linear axis