Machining time estimation apparatus for NC machine tool

A machining time estimation apparatus for a numerical control (NC) machine tool, which estimates the machining time of said NC machine tool, comprising:

• a program storage section for storing an NC program formed of a plurality of command blocks,
• a program analysis section for reading said NC program stored in said program storage section, for analyzing said NC program, block by block, and for outputting a control signal on the basis of the result of the analysis,
• a drive control section for receiving said control signal output from said program analysis section and for controlling the operation of each drive mechanism concerned with the axis movement and miscellaneous functions of said NC machine tool on the basis of the received control signal, wherein said machining time estimation apparatus further comprises:
• a database for storing the actual operation time data of said drive mechanism concerned with said miscellaneous functions,
• actual operation time calculation means for calculating the actual operation time of said drive mechanism concerned with at least said miscellaneous functions on the basis of said control signal output from said program analysis section and an operation completion signal obtained from said drive mechanism and for updating the data stored in said database by using data on the calculated actual operation time, and
• operation time estimation means for analyzing each block of said NC program stored in said program storage section, for calculating the estimated operation time of said drive mechanism concerned with said axis movement on the basis of the result of the analysis, for estimating the operation time of said drive mechanism concerned with said miscellaneous functions by searching said database on the basis of the result of the analysis, for calculating the estimated operation time of each block on the basis of the estimated operation time of said drive mechanism concerned with said axis movement and the estimated operation time of said drive mechanism concerned with said miscellaneous functions, and for calculating the estimated machining time by totalizing the estimated operation time of each block.