AUTOMATICALLY CHANGING TOOL HEADS

• Main Authors: DONALD DAVID HIPWELL, KLAUS RUDOLF MENZEL
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 07.06.1979
• Subjects: COMBINATIONS OR ASSOCIATIONS OF METAL-WORKING MACHINES, NOTDIRECTED TO A PARTICULAR RESULT; DETAILS, COMPONENTS, OR ACCESSORIES FOR MACHINE TOOLS, e.g.ARRANGEMENTS FOR COPYING OR CONTROLLING; MACHINE TOOLS; MACHINE TOOLS IN GENERAL CHARACTERISED BY THE CONSTRUCTION OFPARTICULAR DETAILS OR COMPONENTS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY CHANGING TOOL HEADS A method and apparatus for automatically changing interchangeable machining tool heads carried by a tool carrier. The tool heads are suspended from an overhead trolleyway by leading and trailing trolleys, with the leading trolley carrying a probe and a vertical finger and the trailing trolley carrying an inclined guide. The vertical finger selectively engages a block carried on an overhead moving chain for moving the tool head toward the tool carrier. The probe extends in the direction of tool head travel and is responsive to proximity of the probe to the inclined guide of another tool head or to a pneumatically-actuated stop for disengaging the vertical finger from the chain. A shuttle bar assembly simultaneously loads and unloads tool heads from the tool carrier by engaging a block on each of the tool heads and moving the tool heads horizontally to loaded and unloaded positions. The tool carrier, carrying a tool head and a portion of removable trackway, moves horizontally from a tool head loading station for performing machining on a workpiece. The tool carrier includes coupling elements for removably clamping the tool head to the carrier and a drive mechanism for operating a plurality of tool work elements carried on the tool head.