A pallet system for changing pallets at a work station which has a carousel mounted on a base and has a trolley laterally moveable which supports a turntable that is rotatably moveable. Pallets which hold workpieces are mounted to rails on the turntable. Locking devices for the trolley, the turntable and the pallets are provided. Pivoted rails allow the pallets to be moved between the carousel and the work station.
A machine tool has a pallet changer at a front of a machine body for automatically changing a preceding-process pallet loaded with a machined workpiece thereon for a next-process pallet loaded with an unmachined workpiece thereon. A working space is provided between the machine body and the pallet changer. Thus, a machine tool, as well as a pallet changer used in the machine tool can be provided that allows a working space to be ensured without causing any complications for the structure and that has a wide range of applications.
An automatic pallet changing system for an automatic machine that has at least two pallet extenders which can be operated to place and remove pallets on a receiver moved by the carriage of the automatic machine so that the pallets can be changed when machine operators are not present.
The present invention provides an apparatus provided with a turn driving device rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the plane of a pallet and also movable in the direction of the axis, a sliding device disposed on only the lower side of the pallet, and a push-up device having a first guide portion for causing the pallet normally separate from the sliding device to abut against the sliding device and further, guiding the direction of movement of the pallet, wherein during pallet exchange, the turn driving device turns the pallet on the sliding device and exchanges the pallet.
An automatic pallet changer system in an automatic machining center has a first track for receiving a first pallet having a first workpiece thereon, and a second track for receiving a second pallet having a second workpiece thereon. The first and second tracks are side-by-side and extend from a region outside the enclosure to a region inside the enclosure adjacent the receiver. A linear drive unit is arranged between the first and second tracks and has a carriage which moves along a longitudinally extending carriage guide. The carriage has a member for engaging with the first or second pallet depending upon whether the linear drive unit is rocked to the left or to the right. A motor is connected to the linear drive unit for causing a movement of the carriage along the carriage guide. A rocker unit is connected to the linear drive unit for rocking the linear carriage unit to the left or to the right. A programmable logic control automatically controls overall operation of the system including the linear drive unit and detecting positions of the first or second pallet either within the machining enclosure or at the end of the linear drive unit adjacent the rocker unit.
A system and a method are provided for automatically loading and unloading pallets holding a workpiece for machining of the workpiece within a machining area. The pallets are loaded into the machining area by transfer of a pallet from the staging area to a machining area. Rails which maintain the pallets within each area are aligned. An arm having pins at each end engages passageways associated with the pallets and the machining area, respectively. As a result, the pallet may be transferred from the staging area to the machining area and back as the arm translates within the passageways.
