Patent ID: 7131940

Claim:
A machine tool comprising: a bed; a saddle disposed on said bed to be movable in a forward and backward (Y-axis) direction in a front view of the machine tool; a table disposed on said saddle to be movable in right and left (X-axis) direction; a column in a gate shape that is bridged over a travel range of said table and has right and left legs fixed on said bed and a beam connecting tops of the right and left legs, the right and left legs having an identical shape and the beam being displaced from the right and left legs toward a back face side of the machine tool; a spindle head disposed on said column to support a spindle and movable in a vertical (Z-axis) direction; an automatic tool changer disposed on a back face side of said column, wherein said column has an opening which allows the back face side and a front face side of said column to communicate with each other, wherein the beam includes a recess on the front face of the beam for housing said spindle head, and wherein said automatic tool changer replaces a tool on said spindle side by a tool on a tool magazine side through the opening.