Sheet metal part machining system

A machining station for machining parts from a sheet metal workpiece, comprising:

• a pair of parallely-spaced table beams for supporting said sheet metal workpiece therebetween;
• an upper carriage beam, fixedly connected to said table beams, and positioned transversely across said table beams, in a manner so that said upper carriage beam is normally positioned above said workpiece, said upper carriage beam including at least one horizontally-extending guide rail, said guide rail extending along substantially the length of said upper carriage beam;
• a spindle carriage mounted to said upper carriage beam, in a manner so as to be movable therealong, said spindle carriage carrying a cutting tool that is operable to machine said sheet metal workpiece, and said spindle carriage being further operable to adjust the position of said cutting tool relative to said workpiece;
• an upper clamp carriage also mounted to said upper carriage beam, but in a manner so as to be movable along said carriage beam independently of the movement of said spindle carriage, said upper clamp carriage carrying a downwardly-thrusting clamping tool that is operable to stabilize the position of at least a portion of said workpiece relative to said machine tool from a location above said workpiece, said upper clamp carriage further including a first clamp support member that is generally vertically upstanding and slidingly mounted to said horizontally extending guide rail, and horizontal rack and pinion gear drive means for horizontally moving said first clamp support member along said guide rail, for corresponding adjustment of the position of said downwardly-thrusting clamping tool relative to said sheet metal workpiece, and a pair of parallel, but vertically extending guide rails mounted to said first clamp support member, and a second clamp support member slidingly mounted to such vertically extending guide rails, and vertical rack and pinion gear drive means for drivingly moving said second clamp support member along such vertically extending guide rails, for corresponding vertical adjustment of the position of said downwardly-thrusting clamping tool relative to said sheet metal workpiece, and still another pair of parallel guide rails, mounted to said second clamp support member, and extending transversely relative to said horizontally and vertically extending guide rails, and a third clamp support member slidingly mounted to such transversely extending guide rails, and transverse rack and pinion gear drive means for drivingly moving said third clamp support member along such transversely extending rails, for corresponding transverse adjustment of the position of said downwardly-thrusting clamping tool relative to said workpiece;
• a lower carriage beam, also positioned transversely across said table beams, but in a manner so as to be normally below said workpiece;
• and
• a lower clamp carriage mounted to said lower carriage beam, in a manner so as to be movable along said lower carriage beam independently of the movement of said spindle carriage and said clamp carriage which are mounted to said upper carriage beam, said lower clamp carriage carrying an upwardly-thrusting clamping tool that is operable to stabilize said workpiece from a position that is below the same.

A machining station for machining parts from a sheet metal workpiece, comprising:

• a pair of parallelly-spaced table beams for supporting said sheet metal workpiece therebetween;
• an upper carriage beam, fixedly mounted to said table beams and positioned transversely across said table beams, in a manner so that said beam is normally positioned above said workpiece;
• a spindle carriage mounted to said upper carriage beam, in a manner so as to be movable therealong, said spindle carriage carrying a cutting tool that is operable to machine said sheet metal workpiece, and said spindle carriage being further operable to vertically adjust the position of said cutting tool relative to said workpiece;
• an upper clamp carriage also mounted to said upper carriage beam, but in a manner so as to be movable along said carriage beam independently of the movement of said spindle carriage, said upper clamp carriage carrying a downwardly-thrusting clamping tool that is operable to stabilize the position of at least a portion of said workpiece relative to said machine tool from a location above said workpiece;
• a lower carriage beam, also fixedly connected to said table beams and positioned transversely across said table beams, but in a manner so as to be normally below said workpiece;
• a lower clamp carriage mounted to said lower carriage beam, in a manner so as to be movable along said lower carriage beam independently of the movement of said spindle carriage and said clamp carriage which are mounted to said upper carriage beam, said lower clamp carriage carrying an upwardly-thrusting clamping tool that is operable to stabilize said workpiece from a position that is below the same;
• and further including
• a clamping rail slidably mounted to each table beam, for gripping one side of said workpiece, said clamping rails cooperatively suspending said workpiece both across the space defined between said table beams and between said upper and lower carriage beams, and a separate clamp rail rack and pinion gear drive means for driving each clamping rail relative to its respective table beam, and for adjustably moving each clamping rail along at least part of the length of its respective table beam, to correspondingly move said workpiece relative to said upper and lower carriage beams during a machining operation, each clamp rail rack and pinion gear drive means having its own drive motor that is independently operable relative to the drive motor of the other clamp rail rack and pinion gear drive means, so that each clamp rail rack and pinion gear drive means is independently operable of the other.

A machining station for machining parts from a sheet metal workpiece, comprising:

• a pair of parallely-spaced table beams for supporting said sheet metal workpiece therebetween;
• an upper carriage beam, positioned transversely across the table beams in a manner so that said upper carriage beam is positioned above the location of said workpiece;
• an upper carriage mounted to said upper carriage beam, in a manner so as to be movable along said carriage beam, said upper carriage carrying a downwardly-thrusting clamping tool that is operable to stabilize said workpiece from above said workpiece;
• a lower carriage beam, also positioned transversely across said table beams, but in a manner so as to be below the location of said workpiece;
• and
• a lower carriage mounted to said lower carriage beam, in a manner so as to be movable along said lower carriage beam independently of the movement of said upper carriage, said lower carriage carrying an upwardly-thrusting clamping tool that is operable to stabilize said workpiece from below the same.