Bar feeder provided with bar facing device

Abstract: A bar feeder for feeding an automatic lathe (10), comprising a bar magazine (2) and a guide (3) supplied by the magazine, a facing device (12) being associated with the end of the magazine that lies opposite to the end that is adjacent to the lathe (10) and being suitable to machine the rear end of the bar on which the bar pusher engages.

Description: The present invention relates to a bar feeder provided with a bar facing device (see, for example, US-A-3 774 753). As it is known, in feeders used for feeding automatic lathes, the bar to be machined is taken from a magazine and placed in a guiding channel along which a pusher element, known as bar pusher, moves. Said bar pusher acts on the rear end of the bar and causes it to advance in successive steps which are equal in length to the machined parts to be obtained. With these feeders it is not possible to machine the last portion (end segment) of the bar; since said portion cannot be gripped by the collet of the lathe because the bar has been used up, it is allowed to drop, causing problems for removing it from the lathe. Bar feeders are also known in which the end portion of the bar can be recovered by fitting the bar pusher with a specifically provided collet suitable to grip the rear end of the bar inserted in the guiding channel. Thereby, when the bar is used up, the end portion remains attached to the collet and can be recovered when the bar pusher is retracted. However, in said bar feeders the outside dimensions of the collet must be greater than the diameter of the bar and therefore there are considerable problems in providing the guide in order to prevent vibrations and noise due to knocking inside said guide. It should also be noted that the bars are available with opposite ends that have uneven regions due to cropping. These uneven regions, in order to avoid off-centering upon engagement of the bar pusher, are often removed by subjecting the bar to preliminary facing in a machine tool, hence with considerable additional costs. The aim of the present invention is to provide a feeder equipped with a device which is suitable to perform the facing of the rear end of the bars within the machining cycle of said bars and therefore with a significant reduction in machining costs. Within this aim, an object of the present invention is to provide a feeder equipped with a device which is suitable to prepare the rear end of the bars so as to allow to use a bar pusher provided with a collet having diametrical dimensions that do not exceed the dimensions of the bar to be machined thereby allowing to recover the end portion of the bar and also eliminate vibration and noise. This aim and this object are achieved with a bar feeder for feeding an automatic lathe, comprising a bar magazine and a guide supplied by said magazine, characterized in that a facing device is associated with the end of said magazine that lies opposite the end that is adjacent to said lathe and is suitable to machine the rear end of the bar on which the bar pusher engages. Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become better apparent from the following description illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a schematic elevation view of a bar feeder according to the invention; Figure 2 is a sectional view, taken along the line II-II of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a sectional view, taken along the line III-III of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a perspective view of the facing device according to a first embodiment; Figure 5 is a partial perspective view of the device; Figure 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the device; Figure 7 is a perspective view of the footing of the device; Figures 8 and 9 are two perspective views, taken from opposite sides, of a unit of the device; Figures 10, 11 and 12 are axial sectional views, taken along the lines X-X, XI-XI, XII-XII of Figure 6; Figure 13 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the device according to the invention; Figure 14 is a longitudinal sectional view of the device of Figure 13; Figure 15 is a plan view of a device according to a further variation; Figure 16 is a transverse sectional view of a modified bar feeder. With reference to Figures 1 to 3, 1 generally designates a conventional bar feeder; its magazine 2 for the bars B to be machined and the guide 3 along which the bars are guided to the lathe in which they are subjected to the intended machining are pointed out in order to clarify the present invention. The expression "bars B" is understood to designate solid rods having a circular or polygonal cross-section and pipes. The magazine 2 comprises an inclined surface 4 for supporting the bars B which is supported by the frame 5 of the bar feeder, which rests on the ground by means of posts 6. By way of known singling-out means, not shown, the lowermost bar B is released from the magazine in order to be inserted in the guide 3. In order to receive the bar, the guide 3 is composed of two half-shells 7 and 8 which are mutually pivoted and actuated by appropriate actuators, which are known and therefore are not illustrated, between an open position (shown in dashed lines in Figure 2), which allows the released bar to enter the guide, and a closed position, in which the two half-shells 7 and 8 define a closed channel 9 which allows a bar pusher to make the bar advance in steps towards the lathe 10. A side wall 11 is rigidly coupled to the surface 4, at the opposite end with respect to the lathe 10, and a device 12 is mounted thereon: said device performs the facing of the bars arranged on the surface 4. It should be noted that the term "facing" is used to designate any machining performed on the end of the bar which entails chip-forming, such as turning, boring, or drilling. The device 12 (Figures 4 and 6) comprises a footing being shaped like a half-box 13 (Figure 7) rigidly coupled to a plate 14 by means of which it is fixed with screws 15 to the side wall 11 so as to cantilever out. The half-box 13 has two parallel walls, on the upper edges whereof two parallel rails 16 are fixed; the sliders 17 (Figures 4 and 5) of a movable unit 18 slide on said rails. Said unit 18 comprises a cylindrical shell 19 inside which a sleeve 22 (Figure 10) is rotatably supported according to the axis A by means of bearings 20 and 21. An interspace 23 remains between the sleeve 22 and the cylindrical shell 19 and accommodates, in an intermediate position, a ring gear 24 with internal teeth which is fixed to an internal collar of the shell 19. The sleeve 22 encloses a cylindrical cavity 25 whose axis C is eccentric with respect to the axis A. A hollow shaft 28 is rotatably supported in said cavity 25 by means of bearings 26 and 27, and a gear 29 is keyed on said shaft. The keying of the gear 29 on the shaft 28 is rotationally provided by means of a key 30 and is axially provided by means of spacer bushes 31 and 32 which lie between the gear 29 and the bearings 26 and 27. The gear 29 meshes with the gear 24 by means of an opening 33 which covers an arc of the sleeve 22. The hollow shaft 28 has an end, the right one in Figure 6, which protrudes out of the sleeve, and a pulley 34 is rotationally rigidly coupled thereon. A belt 35 is wound around the pulley 34 and is closed in a loop around a second pulley 36 keyed on the output shaft of a motor 37 mounted on a flange 38 which rises from the cylindrical shell 19. The transmission composed of the belt 35 and the pulleys 34, 36 is covered by a housing 39 which is fixed to the flange 38 by means of screws 39a. The hollow shaft 28, at the end that lies opposite the pulley 34, is preset for the coupling of a tool 40 which, in the illustrated example, is of the type suitable to perform the external machining of a bar B which is aligned with the axis A, transferred from the magazine 2 and is arranged in front of it. The bar B is machined by combining the axial movement of the unit 18 with the rotation of the tool 40. Axial movement is actuated by a fluid-actuated jack 41 accommodated in the half-box 13 below the unit 18 and in which the cylinder is rigidly coupled to the head wall 42 of the half-box and the stem acts on a lug 43 which protrudes downwards from the shell 19. By activating the jack 41, the unit 18 is moved axially along the rails 16. At the same time, the rotation imparted to the hollow shaft 28 by the motor 37 determines, due to the eccentricity of the axis C of the shaft 28 with respect to the axis A of the sleeve 19 and due to the meshing of the gears 24, 29, an orbital movement of the hollow shaft 28 and therefore of the tool 40 and the gradual removal of an outer layer S of the end of the bar B. The chips formed during this machining are collected by a housing 44 which surrounds the tool 40, leaving a front opening for the bar B, and are collected in a container 45 fixed below the half-box 13. In order to position the bar B in front of the tool 40, the described device 12 provides for a translatory assembly 46, which picks up the bar B from the magazine 2 and moves it toward the tool by a preset extent, and a locking assembly 47 which keeps the bar locked during machining. The translatory assembly 46 comprises (Figures 8 and 9) two rods 48 which are parallel to the axis A and are fixed to the plate 14 so as to cantilever out. The rods 48 are connected one another by a cross-member 49 on which an actuator 50 is fitted; said actuator is constituted by a fluid-actuated jack whose stem 51 is connected to a carriage 52 which can slide on the rods 48. Two pivots 53 and 54 are pivoted in the carriage 52 and are perpendicular to the rods; on the opposite sides of the carriage, said pivots support respective arms 55, 56 and 57, 58. The arms 57, 58 are articulately connected to a block 59 which is fixed to the stem 60 of a jack 61 whose axis is parallel to the rods 48. The jack 61 is coupled, by means of a flange, to an L-shaped element 62 being fixed laterally to the carriage 52. The arms 55, 56 have, at their ends, jaws 63, 64 which are constituted by cylinders which are parallel to the pivots 53, 54. As will become better apparent hereinafter, by activating the jack 61 the jaws 63, 64 are actuated so as to grip the end of a bar B which is arranged between them, whereas by activating the jack 50 the bar B performs an advancement stroke towards the tool 40 through an opening of the side wall (not shown in the drawings) and an opening 65 (Figure 7) of the plate 14. After passing through the plate 14, the bar B is gripped by the assembly 47, which as shown more clearly in Figure 12 comprises two sliders 66 and 67 which can slide in respective guides 68 and 69 rigidly coupled to the plate 14 and have mutually opposite jaws 70 and 71. The sliders 66 and 67 are moved in opposite directions one another by means of two levers 72 and 73 which are pivoted in a rocker-like manner on pivots 74 and 75 rigidly coupled to the plate 14. The levers 72 and 73 have an arm which is pivoted in the sliders 66 and 67 and another arm which is pivoted in an element 76 rigidly coupled to the end of the stem 77 of a double-acting fluid-actuated jack 78 which is fitted inside the half-box 13, between the plate 14 and the housing 44. The operation of the described bar feeder is evident from the above description and can be summarized as follows. By virtue of an appropriate singling-out unit of a type widely used in the manufacture of bar feeders, the last bar, i.e. the bar B1, i.e. the lowest among the ones arranged on the inclined surface 4 of the magazine 2, is spaced from the others and aligned with the jaws 63 and 64 of the translatory assembly 46. In a first step, the carriage 52 is actuated into a position in which the jaws 63 and 64, when the jack 61 is activated, grip the end of the bar B1 and then, when the jack 50 is activated, transfer it in front of the tool 40. In this position, the jack 78 is activated and locks the bar by actuating the jaws 70 and 71. The subsequent step provides for the advancement of the unit 18 by means of the jack 14 and the facing of the bar by means of the tool 40. Once said machining has ended, the return of the unit 18 is actuated and the jaws 70 and 71 are released, so as to allow to reposition the bar in the magazine. It is evident that the invention fully achieves the intended aim and object. In particular, it should be noted that the facing of the bar occurs while another bar is being machined in the lathe, i.e., with a considerable cost saving. Another considerable advantage is the use of a facing device which, by virtue of the orbital motion of the tool, forms small chips which as such are easy and practical to remove. The invention is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims. Figures 13 and 14 illustrate a facing device in which the components that are identical or equivalent to those of the device of Figures 4-12 are designated by the same reference numerals increased by 100. The assemblies 146 and 147 are fully identical. The differences consist in that the advancement of the tool 140 is achieved not by moving the unit 118, as in the preceding example, but by rotatably supporting the shaft 128 coaxially in the sleeve 122 and guiding said sleeve axially into the shell 119 without turning about its own axis. For this purpose, the sleeve 122 is externally provided with an axial groove 79 which is engaged by a pin 80 protruding inside the shell 119. In order to allow the movement of the sleeve 122, on the outside of said sleeve there is a collar 81 which slides sealingly in a seat 82 provided in the internal wall of the shell 119. The collar 81 constitutes, in practice, a piston which divides the seat 82 into two chambers which are connected to the delivery and the return of a pressurized liquid, so as to determine the advancement of the sleeve 122 and of the tool 140 toward the bar B in order to perform facing and then retract the tool once facing has been completed. Another variation of the device of Figures 13 and 14, shown in Figure 15, entails machining the bar directly on the surface 4 of the magazine 2, so that the translatory assembly 146 is no longer necessary. In this variation, the locking assembly 147 is arranged on the opposite side of the plate 114 so that its jaws can move at right angles to the surface 4 in order to allow, in the open condition, the ends of the bars to pass between them and allow, in the closed condition, the bar to be machined to stop in alignment with the axis A. Once the bar has been locked, the unit 118 can be made to advance in order to perform facing. The device of Figure 15 is particularly suitable for performing facings consisting of a simple axial hole of the bar, which can be provided by means of a drilling tool 83. Still another variation of the invention, shown in Figure 16, uses on the surface 4 of the magazine 2 a toothed spacer 84 which is suitable to maintain mutual separation of the bars B arranged on the surface 4, in order to allow the arrangement of the translatory assembly 46 and the machining of the bar that lies upstream of the lowermost bar. Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the scope of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.

Claims: A bar feeder for feeding an automatic lathe (10), comprising a magazine (2) for the bars (B) and a guide (3) supplied by said magazine, characterized in that a facing device (12) is associated with the end of said magazine (2) that lies opposite the end that is adjacent to said lathe (10) and is suitable to machine the rear end of the bar on which a bar pusher engages. The bar feeder according to claim 1, characterized in that said facing device (12) comprises a footing (14, 42) which is mounted on a side wall (11) of said bar feeder (1) and supports a unit (18) for motorizing a tool (40), a translatory assembly (46) provided with grip means (63, 64) being actuated between a position for taking a bar (B) from said magazine (2) and a stop position in which the end of said bar is arranged in front of said tool (40), an assembly (47) for locking said bar (B) in said stop position, said tool (40) being movable between an inactive position and a position for machining said end. The bar feeder according to claim 1, characterized in that said facing device (12) comprises a footing (14, 42) which is mounted on a side wall (11) of said bar feeder (1) and supports a unit (18) for motorizing a tool (40) and an assembly (47) for locking said bar (B) in said bar feeder (1), said tool being movable between an inactive position and a position for machining said end. The bar feeder according to one of claims 2 and 3, characterized in that said unit (1) comprises a cylindrical shell (19), a gear (24) with internally arranged teeth which is fixed inside said cylindrical shell (19), a sleeve (22) being coaxially and rotationally supported inside said shell (19) so that it can rotate about an axis (A), a shaft (28) being supported inside said sleeve (22) on an axis (C) which is eccentric with respect to the axis (A) of said sleeve, a gear (29) being keyed on said shaft (28) and meshing with said gear (24) which is fixed inside the shell through an opening (33) of said sleeve, a coupling being provided, at one end of said shaft which is directed towards said side wall (11), for a tool (40) suitable to machine said bar (B), a driven pulley (34) being provided at the opposite end and being connected, by way of a transmission belt (35), to a driving pulley (36) keyed on the shaft of an actuation motor (37) which is supported on said shell (19). The bar feeder according to one of claims 2 and 3, characterized in that said unit (118) comprises a cylindrical shell (119), a sleeve (122) which is supported inside said shell (119) so that it can slide axially but is rotationally rigidly coupled, a shaft (128) being supported so that it can rotate coaxially inside said sleeve (122), a coupling for a tool (140) suitable to machine said bar being provided at the end of said shaft that is directed toward said side wall, a driven pulley (134) being provided at the other end and being connected by way of a transmission belt (135) to a driving pulley (136) which is keyed on the shaft of a driving motor (137) supported on said shell, said sleeve (122) being externally provided with a collar (81) which can slide sealingly in a seat (82) provided inside said cylindrical shell (119) and defining a piston which divides said seat into two chambers which are connected to the delivery and the return of a pressurized fluid, so as to cause the advancement of said tool (140) for facing the bar and the retraction of said tool once facing has been completed. The bar feeder according to one of claims 3, 4 and 5, characterized in that said translatory assembly (46) comprises a carriage (52) slideable on rods (48) which are fitted on said footing and are parallel to said shaft (28), grip jaws (63, 64) which are fitted on said carriage (52) and are actuated by an actuator (61) also fitted on said carriage, an actuator (50) being further provided in order to actuate said carriage (52) between a position in which said jaws grip a bar taken from said magazine and a stop position in which the end of said bar is arranged in front of said tool. The bar feeder according to one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that said jaws (63, 64) are mounted at the ends of levers (55, 56) which are supported so that they oscillate on said carriage (52) and are actuated in opposite directions one another by said actuator (61). The bar feeder according to one of claims 4 to 7, characterized in that said unit (18) comprises two jaws (70, 71) rigidly coupled to sliders (66, 67) which can move in opposite directions driven by two levers (72, 73) which are pivoted in a rocker-like fashion in said footing (14), said levers (72, 73) having a first arm being articulately connected to a respective slider (66, 67) and a second arm being controlled by an actuator (78). The bar feeder according to claim 8, characterized in that said locking assembly (47) is arranged between said translatory assembly (46) and said unit (18). The bar feeder according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a bar spacer (84) arranged on said magazine (2).

Inventors: GELLINI SAVERIO, GELLINI, SAVERIO
Applicants: IEMCA GIULIANI MACCHINE ITALIA, IEMCA GIULIANI MACCHINE ITALIA S.P.A.
Application year: 2000
Main classification: B23B13
IPC codes: B23B13, B23B49