Rotatable pallet changing apparatus, system and method
AssigneeMidaco Corporation
InventorMalcolm E. Keith
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rotatable pallet changing apparatus, a system and a method are provided in which the rotatable pallet changing system has a rotatable bed having a first pallet and a second pallet side-by-side and set on tracks. A first and a second workpiece may be set upon a first pallet and a second pallet, respectively. As the first pallet with the first workpiece is drawn into a machining center to be worked upon, the second workpiece may be added to the second pallet. When the first workpiece on the first pallet is finished being worked upon, it is withdrawn from the machining center and placed upon the rotatable bed. The rotatable bed then rotates, allowing the second pallet to be fed into the machining center and further allowing the first workpiece to be off-loaded from the first pallet.
Claims20
A rotating automatic pallet changing apparatus for automatically moving a pallet, the apparatus comprising:
- a rotatable bed having a surface wherein the surface has an area that only accommodates a first pallet and a second pallet thereon;
- and
- a powered linear drive unit having a carriage that moves along a longitudinally extending carriage guide wherein the carriage engages and selectively moves each of the first pallet and the second pallet.
A rotatable pallet changing system comprising:
- an automatic pallet changer having a rotatable bed, the rotatable bed having a first pallet and a second pallet thereon;
- a powered linear drive unit having a carriage that moves along a longitudinally extending carriage guide, the carriage engages and selectively moves each of the first pallet and the second pallet;
- a machining area having a platform that receives the first pallet and the second pallet wherein the machining area directly receives the first pallet and the second pallet from the rotatable bed;
- and
- a control means associated with the system wherein the control means selectively cycles the first pallet and the second pallet into and out of the machining area.
A method of changing a pallet in an automatic machining system, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a rotatable bed having a first pallet and a second pallet thereon;
- placing a first workpiece on the first pallet;
- and
- providing a machining area having a platform that directly receives the first pallet and the second pallet from the rotatable bed wherein the machining area has a carriage that moves along a longitudinally extending carriage guide that engages and selectively moves each of the first pallet and the second pallet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.