EP2191906A1

EP2191906A1 - Roller profiling machine

Info

Publication number: EP2191906A1
Application number: EP08380327A
Authority: EP
Inventors: D. José María Valle Cayón
Original assignee: Valle Perfiladoras y Lineas Especiales SL
Current assignee: Valle Perfiladoras y Lineas Especiales SL
Priority date: 2008-11-28
Filing date: 2008-11-28
Publication date: 2010-06-02
Anticipated expiration: 2028-11-28
Also published as: RU2518019C2; CN102186610A; DE602008004175D1; WO2010072857A8; JP2012510370A; BRPI0921954A2; RU2011111188A; CN102186610B; WO2010072857A1; JP5588456B2; ES2358629T3; US20110226030A1; EP2191906B1; ATE492358T1; KR20110097756A; CA2736934A1

Abstract

Roller profiling machine that comprises several forming stations which progressively shape a given material until obtaining a pre-designed profile with a section variable along the length of said profile, wherein, each forming station is placed over a head (2) that comprises at least:
- first means arranged for a translation movement, horizontal and perpendicular to the direction in which the profile is advanced; and
- second means arranged for a rotation movement;
wherein, said head (2) is also inclined in a certain angle (α) with respect to the horizontal; being said angle configured to avoid a collision between the forming material and the rollers,
wherein the machine also comprises at least one horizontal wheel (13) installed in a side structure facing the forming stations (2) configured to support the forming material that protrudes from the roller line and to record the movement and circulation speed of the forming material, being said movement synchronized and transmitted to its own gauging media, and
wherein the information from the gauging media and from the first and second movement means is received by control media set to calculate the position of each head (2) during the whole profiling process and to command the positions for each one of said means.

Description

The present invention relates to a roller profiling machine which comprises several roller stations arranged in mobile heads and which allows the production of metal profiles with variable sections.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Profiling machines base their operation on the formation of metal sheets by means of several roller shaping stations. These stations are normally constituted by pairs of rollers mounted over horizontal axles, although they can have other layouts. The sheet undergoes a deformation as it passes between different rollers, deformation which gradually, when passing through several roller stations, gives shape to the material until the profile with the desired section is obtained.
This type of machines is conceived for large scale production since they have the capacity to produce a big quantity of profiles with constant section. The versatility of profiling machines is based on the possibility of mounting several roller sets on the same machine. Another method for achieving flexibility is to use fast changeable structures of the "cassette" type, where the roller stations are mounted. Other machine structures such as the "turret" type or those that offer automated changes are less used.
Profiling machines allow for the inclusion, in the same productive line, of other tools that impact the metal to perform operations such as die-cutting, stamping, punching, bending, welding, cutting, marking, etc. Thus, it is possible to obtain finished pieces, in a continuous process, in accordance to requirements.
Mainly from the automotive sector, there is an increasing demand of profiles with variable section along the whole length of said profiles. These types of pieces are obtained by means of other metal deformation processes, mainly press stamping using a mould and die. Despite this system being very well-known and used by industries, it has very low versatility since any change in the final piece demands the use of a different tool. The advantage of the constant production of the same profile also entails greater limitation of the profiling machines.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The roller profiling machine which is the object of the present invention is intended to solve the technical problem posed by the fabrication of metal profiles with variable section along the entire length of said profile. It is an object of the present invention to obtain the profiles through profiling with rollers, wherein the section of said profiles has a variable length. A profiling machine of this kind comprises several heads fitted with servo-controlled movement in at least two directions, rotation and translation that is horizontal and perpendicular to the direction in which the profile is advanced. Furthermore, over each head, a forming station is also installed provided with two parallel axles to house a pair of shaping rollers. A reduction motor provides rotation movement to the inferior axle, and it is transmitted to the superior axle by a simple gear system.
Every forming station can optionally use an independent structure that houses the superior axle. This structure is symmetrically built to allow for two mountings, one at 180° from the other. It is therefore possible to install an axle with a two-way outlet, and in each one of them a superior roller can be installed, which, for example, can make it possible to process material of two different thicknesses. This system avoids using processes of adjustment or mounting of new pieces. The head is placed with a certain inclination to the horizontal to avoid collisions between the rollers and the profiled material when a rotation is made. The whole set of servo-motors is lead by a numerical control that defines and controls the position and movements of each head.
Furthermore, the machine also has a multiple counting wheels system; whereby upon making contact, the wheels record the movement of the material as it is profiled. The synchronization through movement belts of all these wheels makes it possible for the machine to process cut formats. In the case that the elaboration started from a continuous tread from a coil, a single counting wheel would be enough. In either case, the movement of the counting wheel or wheels is transmitted to an encoder that sends the information to the numeric control.
A piece start detection system is used in the case of profiling pre-cut formats which establishes the point of origin of the variable path.
Throughout the description and the claims the word "comprises" and its variants do not exclude other technical characteristics, additional elements, components or steps. For experts on the subject matter, other objects, advantages and characteristics of the invention will be derived partly by the description and partly by the application of the present invention. The following set of accompanying examples and drawings are presented by way of example and are not to limit the present invention. Furthermore, the present invention covers all possible combinations of specific and preferred embodiments hereby set forth.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a profiling machine unit to make variable section profiles.
FIG. 2 shows an elevation view of a profiling head, from the entrance of the piece.
FIG. 3 shows a perspective and detailed view of the counting wheels used in the pre-cut format process.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The perspective representation of figure 1 shows a roller profiling machine according to the present invention; wherein said machine comprises at least a main bedplate (1) which consists of a platform, several legs and several base plates, over which various heads (2) are placed, which support the different forming stations.
In the example represented in this figure, the roller profiling machine comprises eleven independent heads (2) coupled to the bedplate (1) on their lower side. The material to be profiled circulates, according to figure 1, from left to right, and the finished piece exits at the right end.
The servo-motors are located in the lower area of each head (2) and they provide rotation movement (3) and translation (4) movement, the latter being horizontal and perpendicular to the direction in which the profile is advanced. Each one of these servo-motors comprises an internal encoder so that the position of the head (2) is known at all times. On the upper side of said heads (2) there is reduction motor (5) that transmits the rotation movement to the rollers.
Figure 2 shows the head (2) mounted on the main bedplate (1) where the translation servo-motor (4) is fixed to the base plate of the main bedplate and, by means of a spindle, transmits the lineal translation movement (from left to right according to figure 2) to the plate that supports the head (14). This plate (14) is in turn settled on some linear rails (10). On the other hand, the support plate (14) also houses the rotation trunnion (9) which has a worm wheel on its lower part, activated by the rotation servo-motor (3). The spinning plate (15) is fixed to the trunnion (9) and is responsible for supporting the forming station. This forming station is placed with a certain inclination to the horizontal, such as to avoid a collision between the forming rollers and the material to be profiled. This possible collision would take place when making the necessary turn to profile in a perpendicular direction to the defined path.
The forming station is divided in two structures. The first one supports the axle of the inferior roller (8). This axle is the one that receives the necessary rotation movement, from the reduction motor (5), to make the profiled material circulate through the rollers. Each reduction motor is in turn directed by a frequency converter. The second structure, located over the first one, supports the superior roller axle. The inferior axle rotation movement is transmitted to the superior one by gears (11).
The higher structure shown in figure 2 has the special feature of being built in a symmetrical way with respect to the position of the gear (11) and the seats. This allows for two mounting possibilities, one at 180° from the other. Thereby, and by mounting a superior axle with a double side outlet, it is possible to mount both superior rollers (6, 7). Then, it would be possible to provide the machine with the capacity for profiling materials with two different thicknesses by mounting a superior roller or another according to the specific needs. The joint of both the upper and lower structure, is carried out by several fast clamping flanges.
Figure 3 shows a view of the initial part of the profiling machine. In such view the counting wheel system (13) can be appreciated; in this case three of them are visible. The first forming head is represented with a discrete trace, resembling transparency. The layout of several counting wheels is necessary to profile pre-cut formats in their length.
These wheels have a double function, since on the one hand, they support the forming material that protrudes from the profiling rollers, and on the other hand, they record the forming material movement through the machine. This material is adjusted with one or several rollers to ensure that there is no skid between it and the counting wheels. There is the possibility of placing as many wheels as deemed necessary to obtain a reliable reading of the piece from the point where its head gets in the first forming station until the tail goes out of the last one. The counting wheels are supported by a side structure (16) facing the forming stations. On the rear side of the figure, in the side structure, there is a system of pulleys integral to each wheel, synchronized by belts. At the same time, this belt system transmits the movement to an encoder that sends the speed and position signal to the numerical control. The accuracy of this gauging is essential to accurately adjust the path that defines each head according to the requirements.
In the case that the forming material is continuously profiled from a coil, for example, a single counting wheel with direct transmission to the encoder would be enough.
The machine object of the present invention can be used independently or incorporated to a production line that adds other operations onto the forming material. Additionally, it can function as a feeder that performs material forwarding and stop operations so that other tools - located before or after the forming - can perform other operations.

Claims

Roller profiling machine that comprises several forming stations which progressively shape a given material until obtaining a pre-designed profile with a variable section along its whole length; characterized in that, each forming station is in turn placed over a head (2) that comprises at least:
- first means arranged for a translation movement that is horizontal and perpendicular to the direction in which the profile is advanced, and

- second means arranged for a rotation movement,
wherein said head (2) is also inclined in a certain angle (α) with respect to the horizontal;
Wherein the machine also comprises at least one horizontal wheel (13) installed in a side structure facing the forming stations (2) configured to support the forming material that protrudes from the roller line and to record the movement and circulation speed of the forming material, being said movement synchronized and transmitted to its own gauging media,
Wherein the information from the gauging media and from the first and second movement means is received by control media set to calculate the position of each head (2) during the whole profiling process and to command the positions for each one of said means,
Machine according to claim 1, wherein the first means arranged for a translation movement, horizontal and perpendicular to the direction in which the profile is advanced comprise a first activation (3), which transmits its movement to a support plate (14) mounted over a plurality of linear rails (10).
Machine according to claims 1 and 2, wherein the second means arranged for a rotation movement comprise a second activation (4), which transmits its movement to a rotation trunnion (9) that supports the base plate (15).
Machine according to the preceding claims, wherein the heads (2) lie over the base plate (15).
Machine according to the preceding claims, wherein the head (2) comprises axles mounted on independent structures; wherein, the lower structure supports an activation (5) that gives movement to the lower axle, whereas, the higher structure houses the superior axle and is built and configured to house at least two different mountings; wherein, said mountings are in turn configured to house a plurality of superior rollers.
Machine according to claim 5, wherein each one of the superior rollers (6,7) is used to profile material of a plurality of different thicknesses and wherein, each position would correspond to the necessary adjustment for each thickness.
Machine according to claims 5 and 6, wherein said higher structure is clamped to the inferior structure through a fast clamping flange system to reduce the adjusting times of the machine.
Machine according to the preceding claims, wherein several wheels (13) allow for the processing of forming material pre-cut in its whole length.
Machine according to claims 1 to 7, wherein a single wheel (13) allows for the continuous processing of the forming material from a coil.