Wire-cut electric discharge machine with wire electrode cutting function

• US 8,759,708 B2
• Filed: 04/18/2012
• Issued: 06/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fanuc Corporation
• Original Assignee: Fanuc Corporation
• Inventors: Inaba, Harutora, Nishikawa, Ryou
• Primary Examiner(s): Ross, Dana
• Assistant Examiner(s): WARD, THOMAS JOHN
• Application Number:
  US13/449,577
• Publication Number:
  US 20120305530A1
• Time in Patent Office: 797 Days
• Field of Search: 219/69.12, 219/69.13, 219/69.18, 700/162
• US Class Current: 219/69.12
• CPC Class Codes: B23H 7/102 Automatic wire threading

Abstract

In a wire electric discharge machine in which chuck part electrodes that hold a wire electrode are provided on the upper side of an upper wire guide and electrodes of a detecting part are provided on a lower stream side of the chuck part electrodes, a part, which contacts with the chuck part electrodes, of a surface of the wire electrode is hardened by locally cooling down the part by air blowing during energization to the wire electrode. Accordingly, wire metal powder is hardly generated from the wire electrode even though the wire electrode rubs against the chuck part electrodes.

Claims

1. A wire-cut electric discharge machine having a function of cutting a wire electrode, the wire-cut electric discharge machine comprising:

an upper wire guide and a lower wire guide configured to guide the wire electrode on upper and lower sides of a workpiece, respectively;

a pair of first wire electrode cutting energizing electrodes provided on an upper side of the upper wire guide on a traveling path of the wire electrode and configured to clamp the wire electrode at a first portion;

a pair of second wire electrode cutting energizing electrodes provided on the upper side of the upper wire guide on the traveling path of the wire electrode and on a downstream side of the first wire electrode cutting energizing electrodes and configured to clamp the wire electrode at a second portion;

a tensile force imparting part configured to impart a predetermined tensile force to the wire electrode; and

a cooling part configured to cool down the first portion wherein

the first wire electrode cutting energizing electrodes and the second wire electrode cutting energizing electrodes are configured to energize the wire electrode, and

the tensile force imparting part is configured to impart the tensile force to the wire electrode while the wire electrode is being energized by the first wire electrode cutting energizing electrodes and the second wire electrode cutting energizing electrodes.

2. The wire-cut electric discharge machine according to claim 1, wherein the cooling part is configured to supply compressed air.

3. The wire-cut electric discharge machine according to claim 1, wherein the cooling part is configured to supply cooling water.

4. The wire-cut electric discharge machine according to claim 1, wherein the cooling part includes a heat pump exchanger.

5. The wire-cut electric discharge machine according to claim 1, wherein the tensile force imparting part is configured to impart the tensile force along a direction of the traveling path of the wire electrode.

6. The wire-cut electric discharge machine according to claim 1, wherein the wire electrode is cut at the second portion.

7. The wire-cut electric discharge machine according to claim 1, wherein the cooling part is configured to cool the first portion only when the wire electrode is heated by being clamped and energized by the first wire electrode cutting energizing electrodes.

8. The wire-cut electric discharge machine according to claim 1, wherein the cooling part is configured to stop cooling the first portion when cutting of the wire electrode is completed.

9. The wire-cut electric discharge machine according to claim 1, wherein the cooling part is configured not to cool the first portion when the wire electrode is not claimed by the first wire electrode cutting energizing electrodes.