Granted Patent B2

US 12,358,122 · App. 17/524,780 · Granted Jul 15, 2025

Inventors: Alexander Zoller (Pleidelsheim, DE); Christian Pfau (Ingersheim, DE)

Assignee: E. Zoller GmbH & Co. KG Einstell-und Messgeraete

B25H3/04B23Q13/00B25H3/003

Abstract

Claims (40)

1. A loading device for a loading of an installation and/or a machine tool with tool holders and/or tool assemblies, the loading device comprising a rollable undercarriage unit and comprising a storage unit, arranged on the rollable undercarriage unit, for a storage of the tool holders and/or of the tool assemblies, wherein the storage unit comprises at least one holding device at least for an oblique-positioned holding of the tool holders and/or of the tool assemblies relative to a put-up direction of the storage unit,

wherein the put-up direction is a vertical direction that runs vertically from an underside of the storage unit to an upper side of the storage unit, wherein an angle of a rotary axis of a tool holder, of the tool holders, held in an oblique-positioned manner or of a tool assembly, of the tool assemblies, held in the oblique-positioned manner with respect to the put-up direction of the storage unit differs from 0° and differs from 90°, wherein the rotary axis of the tool holder or of the tool assembly is a rotary axis that is designated for a regular use of the tool holder or of the tool assembly, wherein the at least one holding device comprises at least three holding rails which are arranged above one another in a receiving space formed by the storage unit,

wherein within the receiving space, neighboring holding rails are offset from each other in a depth direction of the storage unit in a way that with increasing heights above a bottom of the receiving space, the holding rails are offset in the depth direction further inwards away from a loading and/or unloading opening of the storage unit, and

wherein the rollable undercarriage unit comprises a coupling apparatus for a coupling with an autonomously driving transport device.

2. The loading device according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one holding device comprises at least one holding place, which is implemented in such a way that an underside of the tool holder laid into the at least one holding device and/or of the tool assembly laid into the at least one holding device points at least partly toward the loading and/or unloading opening of the storage unit, which is arranged at least partly laterally on the storage unit.

3. The loading device according to claim 2 , wherein the at least one holding device comprises a plurality of holding places, which are implemented at least substantially identically to one another, wherein a first at least two holding places of the plurality of holding places are arranged at least substantially next to each other horizontally.

4. The loading device according to claim 1 , wherein the storage unit comprises at least one further holding device at least for an upright holding of tools.

5. The loading device according to claim 4 , wherein the at least one further holding device comprises at least one holding place, which is arranged in the put-up direction above a holding place of the at least one holding device.

6. The loading device according to claim 5 , wherein the at least one holding place of the at least one further holding device comprises a tool snap-holder, which can be loaded with different tools having different shaft diameters.

7. The loading device according to claim 6 , wherein the tool snap-holder comprises a clamping mechanism for a fixation of a tool of the tools in the holding place of the at least one further holding device, the clamping mechanism is operable via a movement of a robot arm of a handling robot along a movement path.

8. The loading device according to claim 1 , further comprising a fully automated and/or sensor-controlled docking device for a docking of the loading device in a place of the installation that is configured for the docking.

9. The loading device according to claim 8 , wherein the docking device comprises at least one docking sensor, which is configured to check whether the loading device is correctly positioned in a docking region of the installation, and wherein the at least one docking sensor is embodied as a camera, as a radar sensor, as a lidar sensor and/or as a contact sensor.

10. The loading device according to claim 9 , wherein the storage unit comprises the loading and/or unloading opening is arranged at least partly sidewise on the storage unit, and comprises a lockable closure unit closing the loading and/or unloading opening, wherein a locking state of the closure unit depends on a measurement signal of the at least one docking sensor.

11. The loading device according to claim 8 , wherein the docking device comprises a fixation unit that is arranged at least partly on the storage unit and/or on the rollable undercarriage unit and that comprises grippers, magnets, abutments or latch mechanisms for effecting a fixation, and wherein the fixation unit is configured, in a docking at the installation, to fix at least the rollable undercarriage unit and/or at least the storage unit in the place of the installation that is designated for the docking.

12. The loading device according to claim 8 , wherein the docking device comprises at least one interface, which is configured at least for a transmission of a drive energy for an opening and/or closing movement of a closure unit that closes the loading and/or unloading opening of the storage unit, and/or for an external controlling of the opening and/or closing movement of the closure unit,

wherein the storage unit, the rollable undercarriage or the installation comprises a drive motor for driving a movement of a closure element of the closure unit between an open state and a closed state,

wherein a mobile part of the loading device is free of an energy source and/or free of a control unit for an energy supply and/or for a controlling of the drive motor,

wherein the installation comprises at least one connection element, which is configured for a connection to the at least one interface for the transmission of the drive energy and/or of controlling signals for the drive motor, and wherein the installation comprises an energy source and/or a control unit, which is configured for an energy supply and/or for a controlling of the drive motor.

13. The loading device according to claim 8 , wherein the docking device comprises at least one identification element, which is configured to permit automatic identification of the respective loading device by the installation.

14. The loading device according to claim 1 , wherein the storage unit comprises, in addition to a primary loading and/or unloading opening, at least one manually openable and closable secondary loading and/or unloading opening.

15. The loading device according to claim 14 , further comprising a fully automated and/or sensor-controlled docking device for a docking of the loading device in a place of the installation that is configured for the docking, wherein the storage unit comprises a locking device, which is configured, in a state when the loading device is docked at the installation, to lock a closure unit that closes the secondary loading and/or unloading opening.

16. The loading device according to claim 1 , wherein viewed relative to the put-up direction, more than 50% of the coupling apparatus is arranged on an underside of the rollable undercarriage unit.

17. A method for loading an installation, comprising:

loading a tool by the loading device according to claim 1 .

18. The method according to claim 17 , further comprising establishing, in at least one docking step, a connection between interfaces of the loading device and interfaces of the installation and controlling, in an opening step following the at least one docking step, an opening of a closure unit closing a loading and/or unloading opening of the loading device via the connected interfaces and/or being supplied with drive energy via the connected interfaces.

19. The method according to claim 17 , further comprising identifying, in at least one identification step carried out before a first removal of a tool holder, of the tool holders, out of the loading device, all of the tool holders arranged in the loading device by a sensor of the installation, and registering positions of the tool holders.

20. The method according to claim 19 , further, in the at least one identification step, allocating the tool holders to different tool-chuck type categories, wherein each tool holder, of the tool holders, is allocated to one of the tool-chuck type categories on the basis of respectively used tool-clamping technology, and inserting, in feeding steps, each of the categorized tool holders by a handling robot into a suitable tool-clamping station of a plurality of tool-clamping stations of a multi-clamping and measuring and/or presetting station, or inserting, in alternative feeding steps, each of the categorized tool holders by the handling robot into a suitable tool place of a plurality of tool places of the machine tool.

21. The method according to claim 17 , further comprising gripping, in at least one loading step, a tool holder supported in the storage unit in an oblique position and/or a tool assembly supported in the storage unit in an oblique position by a handling robot of the installation on an underside of the tool holder and/or of the tool assembly and removing the tool holder and/or the tool assembly gripped by the handling robot out of the loading device.

22. The loading device according to claim 1 , wherein the installation is embodied as a multi-clamping and measuring and/or presetting station for tools and/or tool holders.

23. The loading device according to claim 1 , wherein the installation and/or the machine tool comprises at least one handling robot.

24. A transport system with a loading device for a loading of an installation and/or a machine tool with tool holders and/or tool assemblies, the loading device comprising a rollable undercarriage unit and comprising a storage unit, arranged on the rollable undercarriage unit, for a storage of the tool holders and/or of the tool assemblies, wherein the storage unit comprises at least one holding device at least for an oblique-positioned holding of the tool holders and/or of the tool assemblies relative to a put-up direction of the storage unit,

wherein the put-up direction is a vertical direction that runs vertically from an underside of the storage unit to an upper side of the storage unit, wherein an angle of a rotary axis of a tool holder, of the tool holders, held in an oblique-positioned manner or of a tool assembly, of the tool assemblies, held in the oblique-positioned manner with respect to the put-up direction of the storage unit differs from 0° and differs from 90°, and wherein the rotary axis of the tool holder or of the tool assembly is a rotary axis that is designated for a regular use of the tool holder or of the tool assembly, and with the transport system further comprising an autonomous driving transport device or a remote-controlled transport device which is operatively couplable with the loading device and is operatively separable from the loading device.

25. A loading device for a loading of an installation and/or a machine tool with tool holders and/or tool assemblies, the loading device comprising a rollable undercarriage unit and comprising a storage unit, arranged on the rollable undercarriage unit, for a storage of the tool holders and/or of the tool assemblies, wherein the storage unit comprises at least one holding device at least for an oblique-positioned holding of the tool holders and/or of the tool assemblies relative to a put-up direction of the storage unit, wherein the put-up direction is a vertical direction that runs vertically from an underside of the storage unit to an upper side of the storage unit, wherein an angle of a rotary axis of the tool holder held in an oblique-positioned manner or of the tool assembly held in the oblique-positioned manner with respect to the put-up direction of the storage unit differs from 0° and differs from 90°, and wherein the rotary axis of the tool holder or of the tool assembly is a rotary axis that is designated for a regular use of the tool holder or of the tool assembly, the loading device further comprising a fully automated and/or sensor-controlled docking device for a docking of the loading device in a place of the installation that is configured for a docking, wherein the docking device comprises at least one docking sensor, which is specially designed to check whether the loading device is correctly positioned in a docking region of the installation, and wherein the docking sensor is embodied as a camera, as a radar sensor, as a lidar sensor and/or as a contact sensor, and

wherein the storage unit comprises a loading and/or unloading opening, which is arranged at least partly sidewise on the storage unit, and comprises a lockable closure unit closing the loading and/or unloading opening, wherein a locking state of the closure unit depends on a measurement signal of the docking sensor.

26. A loading device for a loading of an installation and/or a machine tool with tool holders and/or tool assemblies, the loading device comprising a rollable undercarriage unit and comprising a storage unit, arranged on the rollable undercarriage unit, for a storage of the tool holders and/or of the tool assemblies, wherein the storage unit comprises at least one holding device at least for an oblique-positioned holding of the tool holders and/or of the tool assemblies relative to a put-up direction of the storage unit, wherein the put-up direction is a vertical direction that runs vertically from an underside of the storage unit to an upper side of the storage unit, wherein an angle of a rotary axis of the tool holder held in an oblique-positioned manner or of the tool assembly held in the oblique-positioned manner with respect to the put-up direction of the storage unit differs from 0° and differs from 90°, and wherein the rotary axis of the tool holder or of the tool assembly is a rotary axis that is designated for a regular use of the tool holder or of the tool assembly, the loading device further comprising a fully automated and/or sensor-controlled docking device for a docking of the loading device in a place of the installation that is configured for a docking,

wherein the docking device comprises at least one interface, which is configured at least for a transmission of a drive energy for an opening and/or closing movement of a closure unit that closes a loading and/or unloading opening of the storage unit, and/or for an external controlling of the opening and/or closing movement of the closure unit,

wherein the storage unit, the rollable undercarriage or the installation comprises a drive motor for driving a movement of a closure element of the closure unit between an open state and a closed state,

wherein a mobile part of the loading device is free of an energy source and/or free of a control unit for an energy supply and/or for a controlling of the drive motor,

wherein the installation comprises at least one connection element, which is configured for a connection to the interface for the transmission of the drive energy and/or of controlling signals for the drive motor, and

wherein the installation comprises an energy source and/or a control unit, which is configured for an energy supply and/or for a controlling of the drive motor.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (37)