Patent ID: 8360945

Claim:
An automatic tool storing mechanism comprising: at least one magazine holding a number of pots, each said pot provided with a respective tool; transporting means for transporting one of the pots provided with a respective one of the tools, one by one, between a magazine-side position proximal to the at least one magazine and a waiting position distal to the at least one magazine and proximal to a main spindle, the main spindle being spaced from the at least one magazine in a first direction; and a tool exchanging arm to take out an unused tool from the one pot when the one pot is waiting at the waiting position and attach the unused tool to the main spindle and remove a used tool from the main spindle and place the used tool in the one pot; and wherein the transporting means comprises: a pot guide installed between the magazine-side position and the waiting position proximal to the main spindle; and pot moving means for moving the one pot provided with a respective one of the tools, called a tool-mounted pot, along the pot guide; and wherein the pot guide comprises: a first linear guide having a longitudinal axis extending in the first direction, the first linear guide being proximal to the at least one magazine; and a second linear guide which guides the tool-mounted pot from the first linear guide to the waiting position, the second linear guide also having a longitudinal axis extending in the first direction, the second linear guide being offset from the first linear guide in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, the pot moving means being configured to move the tool-mounted pot along the first linear guide in the first direction, to move the tool-mounted pot in the second direction from the first linear guide to the second linear guide at an entry position of the second linear guide, and to move the tool-mounted pot in the first direction from the entry position of the second linear guide to the waiting position.