Patent ID: 8167781

Claim:
A multi-spindle head exchangeable machine tool, comprising: an overall main body; an annular rail surrounding the overall main body; a plurality of multi spindle heads movably mounted on the annular rail; and a machining unit that is connected to one of the multi spindle heads and is operable to drive tools on the one multi spindle head, wherein others of the multi spindle heads are out of use; wherein the overall main body includes: a first main body including the machining unit; and a second main body being movable from the first main body by a driving source on the first main body, wherein the second main body is disposed such that the machining unit is disposed between the second main body and the one multi spindle head connected to the machining unit, the annular rail is dividable into: a first stationary rail mounted on the first main body; and a second stationary rail mounted on the second main body, the first stationary rail and the second stationary rail cooperating to encircle the overall main body, when the machining unit drives the tools on the one multi spindle head to machine a workpiece, the multi spindle heads being out of use are detached from the machining unit, wherein the second main body includes a multi-spindle head locking unit, which is disposed in the vicinity of the second stationary rail and locks rollers of a suspension mechanism for movably suspending the multi spindle heads, and the multi-spindle head locking unit is operated to lock a movement of the multi spindle heads when the first main body and the second main body are moved relatively toward or away from each other and to permit movement of the multi spindle heads when the first main body and the second main body are stationary with respect to one another.