Spring manufacturing apparatus and tool selection apparatus

#The present invention relates to a spring manufacturing apparatus and tool selection apparatus, and more particularly, to a spring manufacturing apparatus and tool selection apparatus for manufacturing various shapes of springs by forcefully bending, winding, or coiling a wire with a tool while continuously feeding the wire to be formed into a spring.

#For instance, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-85377 discloses a configuration of providing plural types of tools at the end portion of a tool axis which is arranged opposite to a wire to be formed into a spring and is made movable along a plane orthogonal to the wire axis line.

#However, according to the conventional spring manufacturing apparatus, since various tools are concentrated at the end portion of the tool axis, the end shape of the tool axis is complicated. In addition, special processing is necessary to produce a tool shape which corresponds to the motion of the tool axis, thus requiring a high cost. Moreover, since the tool axis is moved vertically and rotated on an axis at the time of tool selection, the motion of tool axis is complicated. The same problem occurs when the fine and small adjustment of the tool positioning is performed by the tool axis. Furthermore, in order to prevent a wire being formed from interfering with other tools which are not involved in wire forming, complicated control needs to be performed. Moreover, when a tool is exchanged, tools which are not necessary to be changed must be removed, which is a cumbersome operation.

#The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

#FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a spring manufacturing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG. 1;

#Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail in accordance with the accompanying drawings.

#[Overall Construction of Spring Manufacturing Apparatus According to First Embodiment]

#FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a spring manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a top view of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a side view of FIG. 1 seen from the left.