EP3572161B1 - Method and device for producing a product made of a flexible rolled strip material - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a method according to the preamble of claim 1 and an installation for manufacturing a product from flexibly rolled strip material. Flexibly rolled strip material has a variable thickness profile in the longitudinal direction of the strip. The separation of flexibly rolled strip material therefore requires an exact positioning of the separation area in order to obtain blanks with a defined target thickness profile.

From the CN 104551538 B a device and a method for separating flexibly rolled strip material are known. The strip material is fed from a reel over a first pinch roller and a strip straightening arrangement into a strip store. Behind the strip storage system, there are two more pinch rollers with integrated length measurement, with a strip thickness measurement in between, and behind them hydraulic shears for separating the strip material.

From the EP 3 181 248 A1 a method according to the preamble of claim 1 and a system for producing a sheet metal blank are known. The method comprises the steps of: flexible rolling of a strip material, a thickness profile with different sheet thicknesses being produced over the length of the strip material; Determination of a measurement thickness profile of several areas of the strip material lying one behind the other; Calculating a target position in the strip material for a sheet metal blank to be cut out of the strip material as a function of the generated measurement thickness profile of at least two areas of the strip material lying one behind the other; Cutting the flexibly rolled strip material by means of at least one cutting device along the target position for producing the sheet metal blank.

The production of shaped cuts or rectangular blanks from flexibly rolled metal strip, which are also referred to as Tailor Rolled Shapes or Tailor Rolled Blanks, is usually carried out by means of a suitable cutting device. Depending on the length and thickness profile of the blanks to be produced, efficient production is difficult. In particular, components with variable sheet metal thicknesses that have end sections of different thicknesses (also referred to as AB rolling in the present case) cannot be produced or can only be produced with considerable rejects. The reject arises from the fact that a transition ramp has to be rolled into the strip material between the final thickness of a first blank and the initial thickness of the subsequent blank, which ramp forms a reject.

The invention is based on the object of proposing a method and a system for manufacturing products from flexibly rolled strip material, which enables the efficient manufacture of blanks with high manufacturing accuracy even with unequal sheet metal thickness profiles in the strip material. The task is also to propose a corresponding system for the production of products from flexibly rolled strip material, which enables fast and cost-efficient processing with high manufacturing accuracy.

As a solution, a method for producing a product from flexibly rolled strip material is proposed, comprising the features of claim 1: providing a flexibly rolled metallic strip material which has a thickness profile with a variable thickness over the length of the strip material; Determining a measuring thickness profile of the strip material over the length of the strip material and calculating a target cutting position for a blank to be produced from the strip material as a function of the determined measuring thickness profile of the strip material and an associated target thickness profile of the blank to be cut from it; Severing a blank from the strip material along the target cutting position; Rotating the blank as a function of the measured thickness profile determined in such a way that the blank with its thickness profile is aligned in a defined processing position that differs from the separation position; and processing the blank in the processing position by means of a processing unit, the blank being processed into a product.

With this method, blanks with a variable thickness profile (Tailor Rolled Blanks), which have different sheet thicknesses at the opposite ends, and / or those which have an asymmetrical sheet thickness profile, or products made from them, can be produced efficiently and with high manufacturing accuracy. The blanks are correctly aligned before they enter the shape cutting tool so that the sheet thickness profile always matches the shape or the cutting contour in the tool. The correctly aligned blanks are clocked into the following tool and processed there to form shaped cuts. Because the blanks, which have a greater length than their width in the rolling direction, are rotated before further processing, the feed lengths of the blanks into the tool and during transport through the tool are shortened, so that shorter cycle times are achieved.

The blanks are further processed into a product in the subsequent processing device. In the context of the present disclosure, the term product is intended to include any intermediate or end product that has undergone further processing in a shape-changing manner from the raw blank. This can be, for example, shaped cut parts if the further processing comprises pure form cutting, or formed parts if the further processing includes a forming process, or combinations thereof if the further processing includes form cutting and forming.

The separation is carried out, in particular, in such a way that blanks with a length of less than 2500 mm, in particular less than 2000 mm, are separated from the strip material. Alternatively or in addition, the raw blanks can be separated from the strip material with a length of more than 400 mm, in particular more than 600 mm. According to one possible embodiment, the raw blanks can be separated from the strip material in such a way that a longest length of the raw blank in the feed direction of the strip is greater than the width of the strip material. It goes without saying that, depending on the technical requirements for the finished product and / or for technical reasons, raw blanks can also be cut off, the length of which in the target cutting position, i.e. in the direction of advance of the tape, is equal to or smaller than the width of the tape . The target cutting position is Understood the position in which the strip is advanced and positioned according to the determined measuring thickness profile in order to cut off the associated raw blank therefrom. The position or alignment of the blank after cutting and before turning is also referred to as the cutting position.

The strip material can have alternating strip areas with different or identical, symmetrical or asymmetrical strip thickness profiles over the length.

According to a first embodiment, the strip material can have a first strip area with a first thickness profile and an adjoining second strip area with a second thickness profile over the length, the first and second thickness profiles differing from one another in the strip material, with a first blank and from the first strip area a second blank can be separated from the strip material from the second strip area, the first blank and the second blank are rotated such that the first thickness profile and the second thickness profile are aligned in the same way in the processing position. The first thickness profile in the strip can be designed mirror-symmetrically to the second thickness profile in relation to a parting plane lying between the two strip areas. In the strip, the two thickness profiles are different over the length, that is, they are not congruent, but after being cut and turned, they do coincide. When turned, the two blanks are aligned with their respective thickness profiles and can be fed to the further processing tool. For this purpose, the first blank can be rotated in a first direction of rotation as a function of the measurement thickness profile and the second blank can be rotated in an opposite second direction of rotation as a function of the measurement thickness profile. This also applies to each subsequent first and second circuit board.

According to a further possibility, the successive strip areas and the blanks to be produced from them can also have start and end sections of the same thickness as one another, but have an asymmetrical sheet thickness profile with respect to a feed length center. In this case, too, the raw boards are Thickness profile rotated so that they have the same orientation before entering the further processing tool or in the tool. Of course, blanks with a symmetrical thickness profile can also be processed. Here the boards can always be turned in the same direction.

According to one embodiment, it is provided that, starting from the starting position, the blank is rotated through 80 ° to 100 °, in particular through 90 °, after being separated from the strip. The rotation takes place, as described above, depending on the thickness profile in the first or the opposite second direction of rotation around a vertical axis of the blank.

After turning, the identically aligned blanks that still have straight side edges after separation are fed to the further processing tool, cut to the desired contour and, if necessary, reshaped. The processing device can comprise, for example, one or more punching tools and / or one or more jet cutting tools and / or one or more forming tools or combinations thereof.

The method can further include advancing the strip material from a storage device by means of a feed device, in particular by means of a first feed unit and a second feed unit. The measurement thickness profile can be determined, for example, during the strip feed by continuously measuring the thickness of the strip material by means of a thickness measuring unit and continuously measuring the length of the strip material by means of a length measuring device. The measurement of the thickness is preferably carried out in the feed direction of the strip material in front of the first feed unit, and the measurement of the length in the feed direction of the strip material behind the first feed unit. On the basis of the measured thickness profile determined and a comparison with an associated nominal thickness profile of the raw blank, a feed length for the raw blank to be separated from the strip material can be determined. The strip material is then fed to the separating device by means of the first and second feed units on the basis of the calculated feed length.

After the process has been carried out, the strip material can be pulled out of the strip store by the position-controlled feed device. The thickness of the flexible rolled strip can be continuously measured by the thickness measuring unit. Here, the thickness measuring unit makes an assessment based on the measured thickness, taking into account the associated length measurement values, as to whether or not the flexible rolled strip corresponds to the required thickness tolerances. The comparison of the determined actual thickness profile with the specified target thickness profile also takes place, in particular, taking into account the associated tolerances of the target thickness profile, which can be represented by an envelope curve. In doing so, a computational check is carried out to determine whether the determined actual profile lies within the envelope curve of the target profile. The feed length for the strip or the blank to be separated from it can be calculated from the result of the comparison. The tape is divided into areas that are OK (so-called OK parts) and those that are not OK (so-called NOK parts). The position and length of these individual areas in the strip are passed on from the thickness measuring unit to the first feed unit. The first feed unit, and also the second feed unit coupled to it, can then carry out the feeds instructed by the thickness measuring unit and position the reference edges of the individual feed lengths precisely at the separation point of the separating device. The feed device can forward the information to the other parts of the system as to whether it is a feed length with an OK thickness profile or a not OK thickness profile.

According to a preferred method, the first length measuring device of the first feed is referenced at the starting point with the thickness measurement in terms of length. This can be done by continuously reporting the length measurement value from the first length measuring device to the thickness measuring device. The length measurement values can be reported absolutely or incrementally. The thickness measurement scales the thickness measurement values based on the reported length measurement values over the strip length. In this way, both measuring devices can work from exactly the same strip length zero point. According to one embodiment, the length measuring device can generate trigger signals and pass them on to the thickness measuring device, the trigger signals serving as triggers for performing thickness measurements of the thickness measuring device.

After the process has been carried out, a fixed distance can be set between the thickness measuring unit and the first feed unit. This distance is measured precisely, preferably with an accuracy of up to +/- 0.2 mm, and maintained during operation of the system. In this way, the length reference between the thickness measurement on the one hand and the feed or the length measurement on the other hand can be reliably guaranteed over the entire length of the strip material.

For positionally accurate positioning of a reference edge of a feed length on a reference separating point of the separating device, a fixed distance can be set between the thickness measuring device and the separating device according to a possible procedure. This distance is measured precisely, preferably with an accuracy of up to +/- 0.2 mm, and maintained during operation of the system.

According to one process, the second feed unit is operated synchronously with the first feed unit, in particular with the same length scale as the first feed unit and the thickness measuring unit. By regulating in such a way that the second feed unit advances slightly with respect to the first feed unit, the second feed unit generates a slight tension on the tape in the tape section that is located within the measuring section, which ensures a flat tape run.

To solve the above-mentioned object, a system for producing a product from flexibly rolled metallic strip material is also proposed, comprising the features of claim 11: a feed device for feeding in flexibly rolled metallic strip material, which has a thickness profile with different sheet thicknesses over the length of the strip material wherein areas of the flexibly rolled strip material lying one behind the other each correspond to an associated nominal thickness profile of a die cut blank to be produced therefrom; a measuring device for determining the thickness of the strip material over the length of the strip material; a separating device for producing individual blanks from the flexibly rolled strip material, the separating device being spaced apart from one part the measuring device, which corresponds to at least twice that of a blank to be separated; a rotating device for rotating a severed blank into a desired processing position, the rotating device being controllable by an electronic control unit in order to rotate a severed blank depending on the measured thickness profile of the blank into the desired processing position; a processing device which is designed to produce a product, in particular a shaped cut part, from the blank in the processing position.

The overall advantages for the device are analogous to those for the method. The device enables blanks with a variable thickness profile (Tailor Rolled Blanks), which have different sheet metal thicknesses at the opposite ends, and / or those which have an asymmetrical sheet metal thickness profile, to be produced efficiently and with a high level of manufacturing accuracy. It goes without saying that all procedural features can be applied to the system, and vice versa, all system-related characteristics to the process.

The electronic control unit can be designed to determine a first rotational movement from a first band area with a first thickness profile and to determine a second rotational movement that deviates from the first rotational movement from a second band area with a second thickness profile. For example, on the basis of the measured thickness profile of the metal strip or the thickness profile of the raw blank separated therefrom, the control unit can derive how the raw blank is to be aligned relative to the following tool in order to be further processed into the desired product.

The processing device can comprise one or more cutting groups, which cut the blank from the blank in one or more successive stages, and / or one or more forming tools in order to reshape the blank into a sheet metal part.

The system can also have a transport device for transporting the strip material through the measuring device and the cutting device up to the rotating device exhibit. The transport device can have a plurality of rolling elements on which the strip material rests and is continued.

In front of the feed device, a storage device for temporarily storing the flexibly rolled strip material can also be provided. The feed device can comprise a first feed unit, which is arranged behind the storage device in the feed direction of the strip material, and a second feed unit, which is arranged behind the first feed unit and in front of the separating device. The first and second feed units are designed to move the strip material from the storage device to the separating device as a function of the thickness measurement and the length measurement. The measuring device can comprise at least one length measuring unit for continuously measuring the length of the strip material, and a thickness measuring unit for continuously measuring the thickness of the strip material along the length. The thickness measuring unit is preferably arranged between the storage device and the first feed unit in the feed direction of the strip material. The length measuring unit is preferably arranged behind the first feed unit in the feed direction of the strip material.

In front of the storage device, the plant can furthermore have a reel for unwinding the flexibly rolled strip material and one or more straightening units arranged in series for straightening the flexibly rolled strip material. It is provided in particular that the feed device for separating the strip material into raw blanks is designed in terms of control technology independently of a feed of the reel and the straightening unit.

Overall, the system and the method advantageously enable testing, precise positioning and separation of flexibly rolled strip material to form Tailor Rolled Blanks and the subsequent further processing into shaped cuts and / or pressed parts.

Figur 1

ein erfindungsgemäßes Verfahren beziehungsweise Anlage zum Herstellen eines Produkts aus flexibel gewalztem Metallband in einer ersten Ausführungsform;

Figur 2

ein erfindungsgemäßes Verfahren beziehungsweise Anlage zum Herstellen eines Produkts aus flexibel gewalztem Metallband in einer abgewandelten Ausführungsform;

Figur 3

den Dickenverlauf einer beispielhaften Platine, die mit dem Verfahren und der Anlage gemäß Figur 1 beziehungsweise Figur 2 herstellbar ist;

Figur 4

Teile der Anlage aus Figur 1 in dreidimensionaler Darstellung zur Herstellung von Platinen gemäß Figur 3;

Figur 5

den Dickenverlauf einer weiteren beispielhaften Platine, die mit dem Verfahren und der Anlage gemäß Figur 1 beziehungsweise Figur 2 herstellbar ist;

Figur 6

den Dickenverlauf einer weiteren beispielhaften Platine, die mit dem Verfahren und der Anlage gemäß Figur 1 beziehungsweise Figur 2 herstellbar ist;

Figur 7

Teile der Anlage aus Figur 1 in dreidimensionaler Darstellung zur Herstellung von Platinen gemäß Figur 6;

Figur 8

weitere optionale Anlagenteile einer erfindungsgemäßen Anlage schematisch in dreidimensionaler Darstellung.

Preferred embodiments are explained below with reference to the drawing figures. Herein shows:

Figure 1

a method or system according to the invention for manufacturing a product from flexibly rolled metal strip in a first embodiment;

Figure 2

a method or system according to the invention for manufacturing a product from flexibly rolled metal strip in a modified embodiment;

Figure 3

the thickness profile of an exemplary blank produced with the method and the system according to Figure 1 respectively Figure 2 can be produced;

Figure 4

Parts of the system Figure 1 in three-dimensional representation for the production of blanks according to Figure 3 ;

Figure 5

the thickness profile of a further exemplary blank that was produced with the method and the system according to FIG Figure 1 respectively Figure 2 can be produced;

Figure 6

the thickness profile of a further exemplary blank that was produced with the method and the system according to FIG Figure 1 respectively Figure 2 can be produced;

Figure 7

Parts of the system Figure 1 in three-dimensional representation for the production of blanks according to Figure 6 ;

Figure 8

further optional system parts of a system according to the invention are shown schematically in three-dimensional representation.

The Figures 1 to 8 are described together below with reference to particularities of individual figures.

In Figure 1 is a method according to the invention and individual plant parts of a plant 2 according to the invention for producing a product from flexibly rolled material Metal band shown. The method comprises the steps of providing S1 a flexibly rolled strip material 3, determining S20 a measured thickness profile D3 of the strip material 3 and calculating a target cutting position for a blank 4 to be separated from the strip material, and feeding S10 the strip material 3 into the target cutting position, severing S30 the blank 4 from the strip material 3 along a target cutting line 32 in the target cutting position, turning S40 the blank 4 depending on the determined measurement thickness profile in a defined processing position P50 for further processing and processing S50 the blank 4 to the product 5. The associated system parts are one Feed device 10, a measuring device 20, a separating device 30, a rotating device 40 and a further processing device 50.

In the present case, a flexibly rolled strip material is understood to mean a metal strip which has a variable sheet metal thickness over its length. A variable sheet metal thickness profile can be produced in that a strip material with an essentially constant starting sheet metal thickness is rolled by means of rolling with a dynamic change in the roll gap. The strip material is given different thicknesses D3 over the length L3 in the rolling direction. After flexible rolling, the strip material 3 can be wound up into a coil 1 so that it can be fed to the next processing step.

The feed device 10 can have one or more feed units 11, of which the strip material is moved in the feed direction R3. A feed unit can have two feed rollers, between which the strip material 3 is passed and is moved in the feed direction by rotating the feed rollers 11.

The measuring device 20 can comprise at least one length measuring unit 21 for the continuous measurement of the length L of the strip material 3, and a thickness measuring unit 22 for the continuous measurement of the thickness D3 of the strip material 3 along the length. The calculation of the desired cutting position for the blank 4 to be separated then takes place as a function of the determined measuring thickness profile D3 of the strip material 3 and the associated nominal thickness profile of the blank 4 to be cut out of it. The length measuring unit 21 can comprise a measuring wheel 23, which is in contact on one side of the strip material 3, and optionally a support wheel 24, which acts as a counter bearing for the measuring wheel with the opposite side of the strip material 3 is in contact with the system.

The length measuring unit 21 and the thickness measuring unit 22 can be metrologically coupled to one another. A fixed distance A1 is set between the thickness measuring unit 22 and the first feed unit 11 to reliably maintain the length reference over the strip length between the thickness measurement 22 on the one hand and the first feed 11 or the first length measurement 21 on the other. This distance A1 is measured precisely, preferably with an accuracy of up to +/- 0.2 mm, and maintained during operation of the system. In this way, the length reference between the thickness measurement on the one hand and the feed and / or the length measurement on the other hand can be reliably guaranteed over the entire length of the strip material. During the operation of the system 2, the length measuring unit 21 can generate trigger signals B1 and pass them on to the thickness measuring unit 22. Each trigger signal B1 serves as a trigger for a thickness measurement, so that with each trigger signal of the length measuring unit 21 a thickness measurement value is generated and assigned to a corresponding length measurement value. In this way, data sets are generated from pairs of length and thickness values, from which the actual thickness profile of the blank 4 to be cut from the strip material 3 can be determined.

The separating device 30 can be selected according to the requirements of the flat product 4 to be separated and, for example, comprise a cross-cutting shear 31, as shown schematically here, or a cross-cutting beam cutting unit, in particular a laser cutting unit. A blank 4 is severed from the strip material 3 along a desired cutting edge 32 in the desired cutting position P30, into which the band has been advanced and positioned by the feed device 10. In this case, with the present method and system, in particular raw blanks 4 are produced, the longest length L4 of which is greater than the width B3 of the strip material 3, which corresponds to the width B4 of the blank 4 to be separated. In particular, it is also provided that raw blanks 4 with a length L4 of less than 2500 mm, in particular less than 2000 mm, and / or with a length of more than 400 mm, in particular more than 600 mm, are separated from the strip material.

The distance A2 between the thickness measuring unit 22 and the separating device 30 is preferably at least twice the board length L4 of the board 4 to be cut out of the strip material 3. In particular, the distance A2 is at least twice the board length plus the feed path that the strip material 3 for during the computing time a blank 4 to be cut back.

The system and the method are designed in particular in such a way that the thickness profiles determined by means of the measuring device 20 are compared with the desired nominal thickness profile. The control unit 26 evaluates whether or not the flexible rolled strip 3 corresponds to the required thickness tolerances. The feed length for the strip 3 or the blank 4 to be cut out of it can be determined from the result of the comparison. The tape can be divided into areas that are OK (so-called OK parts) and those that are not OK (so-called NOK parts). The position and length of these individual areas in the strip 3 is passed on from the thickness measuring device 20 to the feed device 10, which executes the specified feeds accordingly and positions the reference edges of the individual feed lengths precisely at the separating point 32 of the separating device 30. The feed unit 10 can forward the information to the other parts of the system (30, 40, 50) as to whether it is a feed length with an OK thickness profile or a not OK thickness profile.

After the raw blank 4 has been severed, it is rotated in the rotating device 40 about a vertical axis A40. The rotating device can be designed and designed to meet the requirements of the blanks to be rotated. For example, the rotating device 40 can comprise a plurality of suction cups 41 which are fastened to a movable carrier 42. By means of the rotating device 40, the blank 4 is moved from the starting position P30 after it has been separated from the strip 3, in which the blank 4 is still in Extension direction R3 of the tape 3 is aligned, rotated depending on the determined measurement thickness profile D3 so that it is aligned with its thickness profile D4 in a defined processing position P50. In particular, it is provided that one or more tools of the further processing device 50 are aligned transversely to the tape feed direction R so that the blanks 4 are each rotated by 90 ° from the severing position P30 into the processing position P50.

After turning S40, the identically aligned blanks 4 are fed to the further processing device 50. The further processing device 50 is selected according to the requirements of the product 5 to be manufactured. In one embodiment described in the Figures 1 , 4th and 7th As shown, the device 50 is designed in the form of a cutting device. In the cutting device 50, the edges of the blank 4 are cut off in order to produce a shaped blank 5 with a desired outer contour. According to one possible embodiment, the cutting device 50 can comprise a lower tool part 51 and an upper tool part 52 movable for this purpose. The lower tool part 51 can be positioned and fixed on a table 53. The upper tool part 52 can be fastened to a press ram 54 which is movably guided relative to the table 53 via guide bushes 55.

According to a second embodiment, which is shown in Figure 2 As shown, the further processing device 50 comprises a cutting and forming tool. The structure and functionality are similar to those of the cutting device described above. The same details are therefore given the same reference symbols as in FIG Figure 1 . The only difference is that, in addition to producing the shaped cut, the intermediate product is formed into a three-dimensional component 5 in a forming tool. The components produced in this way can also be referred to as molded parts or stamped parts. To produce the molded parts 5, the device 50 can have a combined cutting and forming tool (punching tool) with which the molded part is produced in one step. As an alternative, the device 50 can also comprise several processing stages arranged one behind the other with corresponding tools, which the component to be produced passes through one after the other. In particular, at least one cutting tool, in which the blank 4 is cut to form a die-cut blank, and at least one downstream forming tool can be provided in which the die-cut blank is formed into the compression molding part 5.

The strip material 3 can have alternating strip areas with different or identical, symmetrical or asymmetrical strip thickness profiles D3 over the length L3.

In the Figures 3, 5 and 6 Various forms of raw blanks 4 to be produced from the strip material 3 are shown, with FIG Figure 4 one for processing raw blanks 4 according to the Figures 3 and 5 suitable process management, as well as in FIG. 7 one for processing raw blanks 4 according to Figure 6 suitable process management are shown.

In Figure 3 shows an exemplary raw blank 4 in the form of a rectangular blank with an asymmetrical thickness profile D4 over the length L4 of the blank and with end sections of the same thickness. Specifically, starting from the first end 6, the plate 4 has different sections 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d with different thicknesses D7a, D7b, D7c, D7d, the first section 7a and the last section 7d at the second end 8 having the same thickness (D7a = D7d ) exhibit. Between two sections 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d of constant thickness, which can also be referred to as plateaus, a transition section 9a, 9b, 9c with variable thickness is formed, which can also be referred to as ramps. In the Figure 3 The rectangular blank 4 shown is produced by simply cutting the strip material 3 brought to the correct cutting position P30 by the feed device 10, for example by means of cut-off shears 31.

Figure 4 shows a corresponding procedure for processing raw blanks 4 with sheet thickness profile according to FIG Figure 3 by means of a system 2 according to the invention. Here, the different thicknesses D7a, D7b, D7c, D7d = D7a of the blank are shown Figure 3 shown in simplified form only with a, b, c, a. It can be seen that starting from the separating position P30, the raw blanks 4 are all rotated uniformly in the same direction of rotation R40, here counterclockwise, into the further processing position P50. At the same time, the blank 4 can also be moved in the feed direction V40.

After the blanks 4 have been rotated, they are all arranged uniformly transversely to the strip feed direction 10, specifically with the same orientation of the sheet thickness profiles a, b, c, a. In the cutting or punching tool 50, the rotated blanks 4 are cut in cycles to form shaped cuts 5 with a desired peripheral contour. Parts identified by the control unit as "NOK" blanks can be discharged between the cutting device 30 and the processing device 50 and scrapped. This can be carried out by means of the rotating device 40 or a separate discharge device. The "OK" products 5 can be stacked behind the device 50 by means of a stacking system (not shown).

In Figure 5 Another embodiment of a rectangular plate 4 is shown, which in contrast to Figure 3 has a symmetrical thickness profile D4 over the length L4. It can be seen that the thickness profile D4 of the blank 4 is designed with mirror symmetry in relation to a central plane E. The raw blank 4 shown here can be analogous to that in FIG Figure 3 circuit board shown in Figure 4 Process shown can be processed, which is why reference is made to the above description to avoid repetitions.

In Figure 6 an embodiment of blanks is shown, the end portions of which each have a different thickness. For this reason, two successive circuit board areas 3A, 3B are arranged in the band 3 in a mirrored manner. Over the length L3 of the strip 3, a first strip area 3A, from which a first blank 4A is to be separated, and a second strip area 3B, from which a second blank 4B is to be separated, alternate. The profile of the first band area for a first blank 4A corresponds to the profile of the band area for a second blank 4B with regard to the profile shape, but not with regard to the alignment. The blanks 4A, 4B shown here also each have an asymmetrical thickness profile D4A, D4B over the respective length L4A, L4B. It can be seen that the thickness profile D4A of the blank 4A is mirror-symmetrical in relation to a center plane EAB to the thickness profile D4B of the subsequent blank 4B. Starting from the first end 6A, the circuit board 4A has a first section 7Aa with a first thickness, a second section 7Ab with a second thickness, and a third section 7Ac with a third Thickness and a fourth section 7Ad with a fourth thickness which is not equal to the first thickness of the first section 7Aa. Between the sections 7Aa, 7Ab, 7Ac and 7Ad, which each have a constant thickness over the length, there are in each case transition sections 9Aa, 9Ab, 9Ac and 9Ad with a variable thickness over the length. The second board 4B is constructed symmetrically to the first board 4A. A first circuit board 4A in turn adjoins the second circuit board 4B, and so on.

Figure 7 shows a corresponding procedure for processing raw blanks 4A, 4B with sheet thickness profiles according to FIG Figure 6 . Here the different thicknesses D7a, D7b, D7c, D7d of the blanks 4A, 4B are made Figure 6 shown in simplified form only with a, b, c, d. The rectangular blanks 4A, 4B are cut to length by means of the separating device 30 by cutting the strip material 3 brought to the correct cutting position 32 by the feed device 10 and then rotated into the desired position P50. A special feature here is that the thickness profiles D4A and D4B differ from one another in that they are not congruent in their arrangement in the strip material. So that the successive first and second blanks 4A, 4B receive the same alignment for further processing, the first and second blanks 4A, 4B are individually rotated by the rotating device 50 according to their respective profile alignment. For this purpose, the first blanks 4A are rotated in a first direction of rotation R40A (here counterclockwise) depending on the measurement thickness profile D4A and the second blanks 4B in the opposite second direction of rotation R40B (here clockwise) depending on the measurement thickness profile D4B. After rotating and positioning in the processing position P50, the first and second blanks with their respective thickness profiles are now aligned in the same way and are therefore uniform. In this orientation, the blanks 4 are fed to the further processing device 50, which can be designed according to one of the embodiments described above.

With the method and the system, blanks 4 with a variable thickness profile (Tailor Rolled Blanks), which have different sheet thicknesses at the opposite ends, and / or those which have an asymmetrical sheet thickness profile, can be produced efficiently and with high manufacturing accuracy. The blanks 4, 4A, 4B are correctly aligned before entering the die cutting tool so that the sheet thickness profile always matches the shape or cut contour in the tool. The correctly aligned blanks 4 are clocked into the subsequent tool 50 and processed there to form shaped cuts or molded parts. Because the blanks 4, 4A, 4B, which have a greater length L4 than width B4 in the rolling direction, are rotated before further processing, the feed length of the blanks into or through the tool is shortened, so that overall shorter cycle times are achieved.

In Figure 8 further optional system parts of a system according to the invention are shown in three-dimensional representation.

An unwinding and straightening group 60, a storage device 70 and an exemplary embodiment for a subsequent feeding and separating group 15 are shown. The starting material is a coil 1 of flexibly rolled metal strip, which is unwound from a reel 61 and then passes through a straightening unit 62 with a plurality of rollers. An infeed driver 63 can be provided between the reel 61 and the straightening unit 62, which pulls the strip material 3 off the reel and feeds it to the straightening unit 62. In the direction of passage of the strip behind the straightening unit 62, a take-off roller 64 can be arranged which transmits a feed force to the strip material 3. The operation of the system components: reel, infeed driver, straightening unit and take-off roller can be synchronized with one another via controllers and operated with one another in speed control or torque control. Each of the units can be operated individually, i.e. independently of the others, as a generator or as a motor. In the Figure 1 the moments M61, M62, M63, M64 that can be transmitted to the strip material 3 by the respective components 61, 62, 63, 64 are shown.

In the direction of tape feed behind the unwinding and straightening group 60, a storage device 70 is provided which is designed to temporarily store a respective section of the tape 3. A feed movement of the unwinding and straightening group 60 is decoupled from a feed movement of the following system parts (10-50). The unwinding and straightening group 60 conveys the strip 3 into the strip store 70, which makes the flexibly rolled strip 3 available for further processing in the separating group 15. The conveying or unwinding speed of the unwinding and straightening group 60 can be regulated by means of a level sensor 71 of the belt storage unit 70. The level sensor 71 can comprise, for example, an ultrasonic sensor or an optical sensor, which senses the depth of the tape loop hanging in the tape storage device and forwards a corresponding signal to the controller for the unwinding and straightening group.

Behind the storage device 70, the above-described system parts feed device 10, measuring device 20 and separating device 30 are provided. In the present embodiment, the feed device 10 comprises a first feed unit 11 and a second feed unit 12, which are arranged at a distance from one another. Furthermore, the measuring device comprises a further length measuring unit 25 in addition to the thickness measuring unit 22 and the length measuring unit 21. It can be seen that the thickness measuring unit 22 for continuous measurement of the thickness D3 of the strip material 3 in front of the first feed unit 11 and the first length measuring unit 21 for continuous measurement of the length L3 of the strip material 3 are arranged behind the first feed unit 11. The second length measuring unit 25 is assigned to the second feed unit 12 and is arranged behind it in the feed direction R10.

The two feed devices 11, 12 are operated synchronously and are designed to move the strip material 3 from the storage device 70 to the separating device 30 as a function of the thickness measurement and the length measurement. The two feeders 11, 12 each exert a feed force on the strip material in order to move it. So that the strip material is kept flat between the two feed devices 11, 12, the second feed device 12 can be driven with a slight advance relative to the first feed device 11.

List of reference symbols

1

Coil

2

investment

3

Tape material

4th

Raw board

5

product

6th

The End

7th

section

8th

The End

9

Transition section

10

Feeding device

11

Feed unit

12

Feed unit

13

Feed roller

15th

Singling group

20th

Measuring device

21st

Length measuring unit

22nd

Thickness measuring unit

23

Measuring wheel

24

Support wheel

25th

Length measuring unit

30th

Separating device

31

Cut-to-length shear

32

40

Rotating device

41

Mammal

42

carrier

50

Further processing device

51

Tool base

52

Tool head

53

Press table

54

Press bear

55

Guide bushes

60

Unwinding and straightening group

61

reel

62

Straightening unit

63

Inlet driver

64

Take-off roller

70

Storage facility

71

Level sensor

A.

distance

B.

Trigger signal

D.

thickness

E.

level

L.

length

M.

Torque

P

position

R.

direction

S.

step

Claims (15)

1. Method of producing a product from flexibly rolled strip material, comprising:

   providing (S1) a flexibly rolled strip material (3) of a metallic material having a thickness profile with a variable thickness (D3) over the length (L3) of the strip material;

   determining (S20) a measured thickness profile of the strip material over the length of the strip material and calculating a desired cutting position for a raw blank (4) to be produced from the strip material depending on the determined measured thickness profile of the strip material and a respective desired thickness profile of the blank (4) to be cut therefrom, and feeding the strip material (3) to the desired cutting position;

   cutting (S30) a raw blank (4) from the strip material (3) in the desired cutting position, the raw blank (4) being arranged in a cut-off position (P30) after cutting;

   characterised by

   rotating (S40) the raw blank (4) depending on the determined measured thickness profile such that the raw blank (4) is positioned with its thickness profile in a defined processing position (P50) that is different from the cut-off position (P30);

   processing (S50) the raw blank (4) in the processing position (S50) by a processing unit (50), wherein the raw blank (4) is processed into a product (5).
2. Method according to claim 1,
   characterised in
   that the strip material (3) has a first strip region (3A) with a first thickness profile (D3A) and an adjoining second strip region (3B) with a second thickness profile (D3B) over the length, wherein the first and second thickness profiles differ from each another in the strip material,
   wherein a first raw blank (4A) is separated from the first strip region (3A) and a second raw blank (4B) is separated from the strip material (3) from the second strip region (3B),
   wherein the first raw blank (4A) and the second raw blank (4B) are rotated such that the first thickness profile (D3A) and the second thickness profile (D3B) are equally arranged in the processing position (P50).
3. Method according to claim 1 or 2,
   characterised in
   that the first raw blank (4A) is rotated in a first direction of rotation (R40A) depending on the measured thickness profile, and the second raw blank (4B) is rotated in an opposite second direction of rotation (R40B) depending on the measured thickness profile.
4. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
   characterised in
   that the raw blank (4) is rotated by 80° to 100°, in particular 90°, starting from the cut-off position (P30).
5. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
   characterised in
   that the processing device (50) comprises a punching tool or a beam cutting tool.
6. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
   characterised in
   that the raw blank (4) is separated from the strip material (3) with a length (L4) of less than 2500 mm, in particular of less than 2000 mm,
   and/or
   that the raw blank (4) is separated from the strip material (3) with a length (L4) of more than 400 mm, in particular more than 600 mm.
7. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
   characterised in
   that the raw blank (4) is cut off with a length (L4) that is greater than the width (B3) of the strip material (3).
8. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
   characterised in
   that the strip material (3) is fed from a buffer device (70) to a measuring device (20) by a feeding device (10);
   wherein determining (S20) the measured thickness profile comprises continuously measuring the thickness (D3) of the strip material (3) by a thickness measuring unit (22) and continuously measuring the length (L3) of the strip material (3) by a length measuring unit (21), while the strip material (3) is being fed, wherein measuring of the thickness (D3) in the feed direction (R3) of the strip material is carried out upstream the feeding device (10), and measuring of the length (L3) in the feed direction of the strip material is carried out behind a first feed unit (11) of the feeding device (10);
   calculating a feed length for the raw blank (4) to be separated from the strip material (3) on the basis of the determined measured thickness profile and comparing with a respective desired thickness profile of the raw blank; feeding (S10) the strip material (3) to the separating device (30) by the feeding device (10) on the basis of the calculated feed length.
9. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
   characterised in
   that the first length measuring unit (21) is referenced at a starting point with the thickness measuring unit (22) with respect to the length, wherein it is provided in particular that the length measuring unit (21) generates trigger signals and transmits them to the thickness measuring unit (22), with the trigger signals serving as triggers for performing thickness measurements of the thickness measuring unit (22).
10. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
    characterised in
    that the separating device (30) comprises a first feed unit (11) and a second feed unit (12) for feeding the strip material (3),
    wherein a fixed first distance (A1) is set between the thickness measuring unit (22) and the first feed unit (11), and/or
    wherein a fixed second distance (A2) is set between the thickness measuring unit (22) and the separating device (30),
    wherein the first distance (A1) and/or the second distance (A2) are measured with an accuracy of in particular up to +/- 0.2 mm.
11. Apparatus for producing a product from flexibly rolled metallic strip material, in particular for carrying out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, comprising:

    a feeding device (10) for feeding flexibly rolled metallic strip material (3), which has a thickness profile with different sheet thicknesses (D3) along the length (L3) of the strip material (3), wherein successive regions of the flexibly rolled strip material (3) correspond to a respective desired thickness profile of a shaped blank (4) to be produced therefrom;

    a measuring device (20) for determining the thickness of the strip material (3) over the length of the strip material (3);

    a separating device (30) for producing individual raw blanks (4) from the flexibly rolled strip material (3), with the separating device (30) having a distance (A2) from a thickness measuring unit (22) of the measuring device (20) which corresponds to at least twice the distance of a raw blank (4) to be separated;

    a rotating device (40) for rotating a separated raw blank (4) into a desired processing position (P50), wherein the rotating device is controllable by an electronic control unit in order to rotate a separated raw blank (4) into the desired processing position (P50) depending on the determined measured thickness profile of the raw blank;

    a processing device (50) which is designed to produce a product (5) from the raw blank (4) in the processing position (P50).
12. Apparatus according to claim 11,
    characterised in
    that the electrical control unit is configured to determine a first rotational movement (R40A) from a first strip region (3A) with a first thickness profile (D3A), and to determine a second rotational movement (R40B), which differs from the first rotational movement, from a second strip region (3B) with a second thickness profile (D3B).
13. Apparatus according to claim 11 or 12,
    characterised in
    that the processing device (50) has at least one cutting tool which cuts a shape-cut blank (5) out of the blank (4).
14. Apparatus according to any one of the claims 11 to 13,
    further comprising:

    a buffer device (70) for temporarily buffering the flexibly rolled strip material (3); a first feed unit (11), which is arranged downstream the buffer device (70) in the feed direction (R3) of the strip material (3);

    at least one length measuring unit (21, 25) for continuously measuring the length (L3) of the strip material (3), wherein the length measuring device (21, 25) is arranged downstream the first feed unit (11) in the feed direction of the strip material (3);

    a thickness measuring unit (22) for continuously measuring the thickness (D3) of the strip material (3) along the length (L3), wherein the thickness measuring unit (22) is arranged between the buffer device (70) and the first feed unit (11) in the feed direction of the strip material (3);

    a second feed unit (12), which is arranged downstream the first feed unit (11) and upstream the separating device (30);

    wherein the first feed unit (11) and the second feed unit (12) are designed to move the strip material (3) from the buffer device (70) to the separating device (30) in dependence on the thickness measurement and the length measurement.
15. Apparatus according to any one of the claims 11 to 14,
    further comprising:
    a decoiler (61) for unwinding the flexibly rolled strip material (3) and a straightening unit (62) for straightening the flexibly rolled strip material (3), which are arranged upstream the buffer device (70), wherein the first feed unit (11) and the second feed unit (12) for the separating device (30) are controlled independently of a feed of the decoiler (61) and the straightening unit (62).

Images