INSPECTION SYSTEM FOR WIRE ELECTRICAL DISCHARGE MACHINE

• US 20170256050A1
• Filed: 02/27/2017
• Published: 09/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fanuc Corporation
• Original Assignee: Fanuc Corporation
• Inventors: NAKAYAMA, Kazutaka
• Granted Patent: US 10,475,176 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/188 characterised by special applications and not provided for in the relevant subclasses, (e.g. making dies, filament winding)
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4065 Monitoring tool breakage, life or condition
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/37243 Tool breakage by comparing tool image, length before and after machining
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/45043 EDM machine, wire cutting
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30164 Workpiece; Machine component
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0008 checking presence/absence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/001 using an image reference approach
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/758 Involving statistics of pixels or of feature values, e.g. histogram matching
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/759 Region-based matching

Abstract

Provided is an inspection system for a wire electrical discharge machine, capable of automatically performing inspection of a constituent element and the like. The inspection system for a wire electrical discharge machine is provided with the wire electrical discharge machine, a robot for inspecting the constituent element of the wire electrical discharge machine, an image pickup device provided on a movable part of tee robot and configured to image the constituent element, an image processing unit configured to acquire an image of the constituent element by means of the image pickup device, and a maintenance necessity determination unit configured to determine the necessity of maintenance of the constituent element based on the image acquired by the image processing unit.

Claims

1. An inspection system for a wire electrical discharge machine, which comprises the wire electrical discharge machine, a robot for inspecting a constituent element of the wire electrical discharge machine, and an image pickup device provided on a movable part of the robot and configured to image the constituent element, the inspection system further comprising:

an image processing unit configured to acquire an image of the constituent element by means of the image pickup device; and

a maintenance necessity determination unit configured to determine the necessity of maintenance of the constituent element based on the image acquired by the image processing unit.

2. The inspection system for a wire electrical discharge machine according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit configured to store a reference image of the constituent element, wherein the maintenance necessity determination unit determines the maintenance necessity of the constituent element by comparing the reference image and the image acquired by the image processing unit.

3. The inspection system for a wire electrical discharge machine according to claim 2, wherein the reference image is an image of the constituent element in a brand-new state.

4. The inspection system for a wire electrical discharge machine according to claim 2, wherein the reference image is an image of the constituent element just before the attainment of the serviceability limit thereof.

5. The inspection system for a wire electrical discharge machine according to claim 2, wherein the maintenance necessity determination unit determines the maintenance necessity by comparing the respective color densities of the reference image and the image acquired by the image processing unit and determining the degree of contamination of the constituent element.

6. The inspection system for a wire electrical discharge machine according to claim 2, wherein the maintenance necessity determination unit determines the maintenance necessity by comparing the respective shapes of the reference image and the image acquired by the image processing unit and determining the degree of wear of the constituent element.

7. The inspection system for a wire electrical discharge machine according to claim 1, wherein the maintenance necessity determination unit determines the maintenance necessity by determining the presence of wire tangling according to whether or not a bent portion of a wire is included in a predetermined area of- the side surface of a cylindrical portion of a wire bobbin, based on the image acquired by the image processing unit.

8. The inspection system for a wire electrical discharge machine according to claim 1, wherein the maintenance necessity determination unit determines the maintenance necessity by determining the presence of wire slack according to whether or not a wire exists outside a predetermined area of the side surface of a cylindrical portion of a wire bobbin, based on the image acquired by the image processing unit.

9. The inspection system for a wire electrical discharge machine according to claim 1, further comprising a means for accepting an input of setting of a determination reference for the determination of the maintenance necessity.

10. The inspection system for a wire electrical discharge machine according to claim 1, further comprising a means for outputting the result of the determination by the maintenance necessity determination unit to the outside.

11. The inspection system for a wire electrical discharge machine according to claim 1, wherein the robot cleans or replaces the constituent element of the wire electrical discharge machine if the maintenance necessity determination unit determines that the constituent element requires maintenance.

12. The inspection system for a wire electrical discharge machine according to claim 1, wherein the image processing unit acquires again an image of the constituent element by means of the image pickup device if the constituent element of the wire electrical discharge machine is cleaned or replaced by the robot, the maintenance necessity determination unit determines the maintenance necessity of the constituent element based on the image acquired by the image processing unit, and the wire electrical discharge machine resumes machining if it is ascertained that maintenance of the constituent element is unnecessary.