Multiple piercing apparatus and method
AssigneeUshio Co., Ltd.
InventorMasakazu Kakimoto
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A multiple piercing apparatus for piercing a workpiece having a plurality of reference marks defining the piercing locations. A plurality of adjustably movable piercing unit cases are opposedly arranged on opposite sides of a machine bed. A piercing element, such as a twist drill or punching assembly, is mounted for movement with respect to the unit case to be aligned with a respective reference mark in response to data received from a sensor, such as a camera or photo-sensor.
Claims54
A multiple piercing apparatus for piercing a workpiece having reference marks defining the locations on the workpiece to be pierced, said workpiece being conveyed along a conveying path, said multiple piercing apparatus comprising:
- (a) a machine bed located along the conveying path of the workpiece;
- (b) a plurality of piercing units being opposedly arranged on both sides of said machine bed, each piercing unit being movable along the X-axis and Y-axis directions;
- (c) each of said plurality of piercing units including a work-space having an opening facing said machine bed, wherein the workpiece passes through respective workspaces of opposed piercing units;
- (d) piercing means located in each of said plurality of piercing units for piercing the workpiece at the reference marks;
- (e) sensing means for locating the reference marks;
- and
- (f) a drive mechanism for moving said piercing means with respect to a corresponding piercing unit in response to a reference mark being located by said sensing means.
A method of piercing a workpiece, the workpiece having reference marks defining the locations on the workpiece to be pierced, the method comprising:
- (a) conveying the workpiece along a conveying path;
- (b) providing at least one piercing unit having piercing means along said conveying path;
- (c) sensing a reference mark by sensing means and stopping the conveyance of the workpiece;
- (d) processing data from said sensing means to determine the coordinates of the reference mark;
- (e) moving a piercing means to the coordinates of the reference mark;
- and
- (f) piercing the workpiece.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.