GB1378722A - Control of article selection from an article magazine - Google Patents

Abstract

1378722 Automatic control of tool changing SIEMENS AG 9 Feb 1972 [12 Feb 1971] 6146/72 Heading G3N A chain magazine 1 of a machine tool is associated with a magnetic core store 3 which is set, with tool indications, in unison with the loading of tools W1-W2 by a manual device 19, through a buffer store 5 and a core store buffer 4. Unoccupied tool positions in the magazine are indicated by a zero indication in the core store. During operation of the machine tool, a request from the control system, (not shown), on a line 20 is applied through a control device 6 to a coincidence stage 8. The core store 3 is simultaneously read out by timing pulses on a line 7 from the control device and the tool indications, through the buffer 4, are held in a device 5 and compared with the request in stage 8. The timing pulses are also fed to a pulse counter 10 through a line 9. At coincidence between request and readout the cycling of store 3 is stopped and the counter 10 is held by a pulse on a line 11. The contents of counter 10 is then compared with the total tool positions of the magazine 1 in a computing device 14 and the direction of movement of the magazine for shortest travel of the requested tool to a tool changing device 19 commanded. A tool position change is sensed by a transmitter 17 which actuates a counter 16 and when the contents are ascertained by the computing device to correspond to the requested tool being at the exchange position a switch-off command for the magazine 1 is issued. The tool is then extracted and introduced into the spindle, (not shown) of the machine-tool. The tool indication is then cancelled in the core store and transferred to a buffer store 5a; the indication being shown on a device 13. When a tool is exchanged the indication of the used tool is transferred from the buffer store 5a to the core store. The magnetic core store 3 can be replaced by shift registers. A standby battery is provided to maintain the register content in the event of a power failure.