FR2538285A1 - WELDING UNIT FOR THE WELDING OF CONTACTS, PREFERABLY PROFILES, ON A SUPPORT - Google Patents

Abstract

Welding unit for fixing by welding contacts, preferably profiled, to a support, in which the separate contacts are pushed through a guide tunnel with corresponding profile and engaged between a welding electrode and the support. The guide tunnel comprises a supply section 24 and an approach section 22 offset in height relative to the first and between which is installed a lifting punch which has a recess for receiving a contact 19 and a central slot opening into the latter. here for the passage of a slide 18 which serves for transport in the direction of the electrode and with respect to which it can move transversely by the value of the offset between the sections 24, 22 of the guide tunnel to lift a contact 19 of the supply section 24 and bring it to the level of approach section 22. (CF DRAWING IN BOPI)

Description

Welding unit for fixing by welding of contacts, preferably

profiles, on

a support.

  The invention relates to a welding unit for the welding attachment of contacts, preferably pro- files, to a support, in which the separate contacts

  are pushed through a guiding tunnel with corresponding profile.

  laying and engaged between a welding electrode and the support, this unit being for example used for the welding of

  ribbons with very fast welding rates.

  Known devices of the above type work

  for example by bringing contacts to support through

  This mode of operation leads, of course, to constructions of rather large dimensions and to the implementation of important kinetic energies to be controlled, which in turn affects the accuracy of the control. and the working speed In other welding units of the aforementioned type, the contacts are cut by a punch hardened from a wire

  forming the contact material, then are pushed onto the

  carried by the next wire section during the consecutive advance run. In the known systems, several contacts are therefore applied one behind the other, where the inconvenient that the spacing defects of the various contacts are added and that the slightest defect gap necessarily entails a disturbance the welding process, so that the welding unit only operates with relative reliability In another known system, a second longer advance stroke during a separate work cycle constantly pushes the contact beforehand

  obliquely separated under the electrode, which is effected

  to the detriment of speed and accuracy of work and, in particular in the case of very thin contact materials, carries the risk of buckling of

the effect of the push.

  The object of the invention is therefore to develop a welding unit of the aforementioned type which is capable of producing fast speeds and which is characterized at the same time by a very great compactness and a high degree of

reliability.

  This result is achieved according to the invention by the

  the guide tunnel includes a section of

  and an approach section offset in height from the first and between which is mounted a lifting punch which has a through recess corresponding to the profile of the contacts for successively receiving a contact and, on the side of the recess, a central slot opening therein for the passage of a slider which serves to transport towards the electrode and relative to which it can move transversely the value of the offset between the supply and approach sections of the guide tunnel to lift a contact of the feed section

  and bring it to the approach section.

  According to the invention, each contact is transported individually and in an exactly defined position through the approach section and is safely placed below the electrode on the support, which increases the

  accuracy of work and the reliability of the welding unit.

  The slot in the lifting punch allows for redes-

  as soon as the latter from the raised position when the

  transport slide is still in the immediate vicinity of

  welding point, so that even a very long travel of the transport slider does not have a negative effect on the working speed of the welding unit The movements of the transport slider and the lifting punch, after that the individual contact was raised at the approach section, no longer need to be mutually agreed, so that from then on the movements of these components can be executed simultaneously and independently of each other. In addition, the lifting punch immediately after the lifting of the individual contact can be lowered again and in this position already fulfill another function, so that the working speed or

  the rates achievable with the welding unit according to the in-

  The result is relatively small acceleration forces and, consequently, also relatively low loads on the moving part guides and the drive system. reliability of operation and the

  The service life of the welding unit is thus further increased.

  The placement of the individual contacts in the recess of the lifting punch and their support in the approach section ensure absolutely strict and definite guidance which

  is extremely uncomfortable with the narrow slit The neck-lis-

  transport bucket only needs to apply an extremely weak force on the individual contact in order to push it into the approach section, so that even in the case of very narrow execution of the transport slide,

  Excessive constraints are excluded.

  Since, as already mentioned above, almost all the duration of the cycle remains available for the

  movement of the transport slide disengaged from the

  the lifting punch, its transport stroke may be

  very long, which gives the welding unit

  This is a universality characteristic, that is, it can be used for solder attachment of contacts to strips or carriers having a very wide range of width. The lifting punch does not have to obligatorily

  perform a simple lifting motion -It should be emphasized

  It should be understood that the invention also encompasses solutions in which the approach section is shifted in any way with respect to the guide tunnel feed section and the lifting punch receiving the individual contacts movable between two end positions. so that its recess can be alternately brought to the outcropping of the two profiled recesses of the two sections of the guide tunnel The lifting punch comprises in this general case a slot passing in the center of the recess and serving to receive a transport slider who is sized

  so as to be able to cross it freely during the -

displacement of the lifting punch.

  The lifting punch must always lift

  only one individual contact to bring it from the plane of the

  feed energy to that of the approach section, so that the energy it absorbs and also its kinetic energy can be kept very low. The very narrow

  very low mass, which has a favorable effect on the conditions

  dynamics in the welding unit.

  According to an advantageous characteristic of the invention,

  the shaped contact material arriving continuously

  the feed section is cut by the lifting punch.

  With this embodiment, there is the particular advantage that it is also not necessary to enlarge the welding unit if the lifting punch additionally fulfills the function of cutting tool In this case, the welding unit operates so that the lifting punch, shortly after the passage of the slider, is again brought back to its lower position so that, during the working movement of the transport slider, it can already receive in this position the material profiled contact having progressed by one step After the return of the transport slider to a position in which it is situated outside the slit, the punch of

  lifting goes up to make the cut of the contact material.

  In an advantageous embodiment of the invention,

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  the mobile electrode is fixed on a pivoting arm serving at the same time as a support for the lifting punch.

  of achievement further contributes to simplifying the unity of

  It should be noted that the cyclical hoisting movement in any case necessary for the electrode is at the same time used to periodically lift the lifting punch. In this case, the lifting punch corresponding to the profile of the contact is made with a certain amount of overhead. to ensure that this recess can receive the new contact material or a new individual contact even if the arm

  has not yet fully reached its final position of

  The control is preferably carried out in such a way that the pivoting arm together with the lifting punch, shortly after the start of the transport slide advance, are lowered into a position where the electrode is at a short distance. distance from its welding position This distance is given to the above-described surge of the recess so that in this position a placement of the material

  contact is already possible. It is in this posi-

  pivot arm-or electrode that the contact is pushed by the transport slide between the electrode of

welding and support.

  According to another advantageous characteristic of the invention, for the actuation of the pivoting arm as well as the device for advancing the material, cam curves are respectively used as return elements and springs as feed elements. , it is possible that the welding unit can be operated in any

  what position and orientation without its reliability of functioning

  The welding unit can by no means

  to be attached to a device so that the trans-

  port executes a vertical movement The clutching of the contacts in the tunnel sections ensures that the contacts are captively guided and without additional suction and positioning devices.

relative to the electrode.

  In another embodiment of the invention, the groove as well as the other curves are arranged on a single cam. The welding unit is thus even more compact and, moreover, simplified.

  only drive system is enough.

  It is also advantageous according to the invention that the lifting punch and the feed sections

  and approach constitute a single set of inter-

  This results in the additional benefit that medium-

  With simple manual interventions, it is easy to transform the welding unit to weld different contacts or to work with different contact materials. The invention will be better understood using the

  description of an embodiment taken as an example but

  non-limiting, and illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 shows the welding unit in longitudinal section; FIG. 2 is a partial section along II-II

of Figure 1.

  The welding unit comprises a frame 4 in which an arm 1 carrying an electrode 2 is rotatably mounted about an axis 3, preferably without friction. The arm 1 constitutes a part conducting the current of the welding unit. electrode which is not shown in detail is also connected to a contact of the welding current which is mounted

  isolated on the underside of the frame 4.

  In the frame 4 is installed a driven cam 5

  from the outside via a chain or everything.

  other drive mechanism and on which are found

  several control curve segments that are not represented

  individually, as well as a groove 7 machined in a

frontal face.

  The cam 5 controls the movements of advance and

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  cutting as well as the displacement of the electrodes following a

  sequence exactly determined in time.

  The periodic movement of the arm 1 is provided by a roller 15 which is schematized in the drawing by a dotted line and which is applied under prestressing

  elastic against a control curve of the cam 5.

  On the left side of FIG. 1, a contact material 14 arriving, for example, in the form of a strip or unwound from a coil, is brought to the welding unit. This strip-shaped contact material is then directed by means of an advance mechanism 8 to 13 described below to a cutting station in which are made the various individual contacts which, for the execution of the actual welding process, are pushed between the electrode 2 and a The welding unit operates in such a way that during a work cycle there is an advance movement of the contact material, a cutting movement and a

  transport movement of the individual contact.

  The contact material 14 in the welding unit is first grasped between a clamping element 11 and a feed carriage 9 which works in cooperation with an interchangeable stop 23. The displacement of the feed carriage 9 and the production of the clamping force of the element 11 are respectively ensured by the mechanism 8 to 13 controlled by cam, this mechanism being itself actuated by curves of the cam 5 The members of the cam-controlled mechanism of

  the feed carriage 9 and the clamping element 11 are

  in the direction of the respective control curves of the

  cam 5, by springs 13 and 10 adjustable from the outside.

  Thus, for example, the spring 10 sets the force required in advance and the spring 13 the force to be applied between the feed carriage 9 and the clamping element 11 The contact material 14 is transported by the mechanism of 8 to 13 in a feed section 24 which is made in the form of a matrix or a guide tunnel.

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  cross section of this guide tunnel is adapted to the respective cross section considered of the profiled contact material 14 The feed section 24 terminates at a lifting punch 21 which has a recess 211 passing substantially corresponding to the profile of contact as can be seen especially on the

  Figure 2 The lifting punch 21 can be moved transversely

  at the feeding section 24 in a

  and-between two end positions, its recess 211 at the end position shown in Figure 1 being in alignment with the feed section 24, and in the other end position, in the alignment of a section d Approach 22 of the welding unit The approach section 22 is offset with respect to the feed section 24 by a distance V which exactly corresponds to the working stroke of the lifting punch 21. The approach section 22 is realized so that its lower limit line coincides with the plane of the

support 20.

  Preferably, the approach section 22 is arranged parallel to and above the supply section 24 as shown in FIG. 1. The recess 211

  of the lifting punch 21 on the side facing the section of ap-

  near 22 is transformed into a narrow central slot 212 whose length is dimensioned so that at the lower end position of the lifting punch 21 it does not cover an equally narrow guide slot 221 of the approach section 22. alignment of this guide slot 221 and above the feed section 24 is arranged a transport slider 18 which can perform a back and forth movement in the direction of the guide slot 221 This transport slider also presents two final positions of work In one of those final positions which

  is shown in FIG. 1, the front end of the slide

  transport bucket 18 is substantially set back from the slot 212 In the other end position which is shown

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  by a dashed line in Figure 1, the front end of the transport slider 18 is in a position in which it engages the solder contact 19

  exactly below the electrode 2.

  The transport slide 18 is also driven by the cam 5, via the groove 7. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the lifting punch 21 is made in the form

  a cutting punch which, when carrying out its movement,

  the work plane from the feed section to that of the approach section 22, causes a cutting of the feed material

  profile contact 14 The separation of contacts has

  take place during lifting of the lifting punch 21.

  In the raised position of the individual contact then occurs, if the recess of the lifting punch 21 is in alignment with the approach section 22, the engagement of the front end of the transport slide 18 in the slot 212 , so that the individual contact driven from the recess 211 enters the approach section 22 and, exactly guided through the latter, is placed between the welding electrode 2

and the support 20.

  The feed section 24, the lifting punch 21 and the approach section 22 always form a set of interchangeable elements which is preferably fixed

  easily removable on the upper face of the frame 4.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the lifting punch 21 is not driven separately, but simultaneously with the arm 1 of the electrode 2. For this purpose, the lifting punch 21 with a plate claw 25 is connected in isolation by a friction connection to the pivoting arm 1 In the area of the lifting punch 21, the swivel arm has a recess

  in which is placed a tie rod 27, whose lower end

  upper fork-shaped fork the lifting punch 21 and the feed section 24 and is pivotally fixed in the

  bpati 4 via a removable pin 6.

  The upper end of the tie rod 27 is provided with a thread on which is screwed an adjustment nut 26 between which and a pressure plate, which is supported in the recess of the

  pivoting arm 1, is inserted a spring 16 exerting the pressure

  This spring 16 presses the pivoting arm via the roller 15 against the surface

  associated curves or bosses of the cam 5.

  By turning the adjustment nut 26, it is possible

  also, as previously described with reference to

  spells 13 and 10, proceed from the outside to a fine tuning of

  the clamping force between the roller and the cam 5, i.e.

say of the welding pressure.

  With the exception of the sliding drive system

  transport bucket 18 for which is used a sliding control with forced coupling of a guided rod 17, the movements of the other moving parts of the welding unit are constantly effected by means of springs 10, 13 and 16 as 'advance elements and cam curves as

that recall items.

  We will describe below how the differences

  The movements of the functional elements of the welding unit are mutually tuned in time: during the rotation of the cam 5, the segment of the control curve associated with the pivoting lever 12 goes down, so that the spring 13 by means of the clamping element 11 and the pivoting lever 12 presses the contact material 14

against the feed truck 9.

  The curve segment associated with the feed carriage 9 now also goes downhill, so that the pivoting lever 8 controlling the feed carriage under the action of the spring 10 feeds the contact material 14. advance can be changed by changing the stop 23 The contact material 14 is pushed through the section

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  24, in the form of a matrix, of the guide tunnel, and enters the lifting punch 21 which is close to its lower end position and which,

  as mentioned above, has along its entire length L a recess

  adapted to the profile of the contact material and made with a certain surge The length of the contact 19 to bring

  finally to the electrode is predetermined by the stop 23.

  The length L of the lifting punch 21, which is made in the form of a cutting punch in this embodiment, is dimensioned so that the longest contact to

  solder with the device can lodge there.

  The third curve segment of the cam 5 associated with the roller 15 now goes up and, against the force of the pressure spring 16, raises the arm 1 at the same time as the electrode 2 and the lifting punch 21 until the contact 19 cut and separated during the upward movement of the punch is in alignment with the approach section 22 of the guide tunnel The lifting punch 21 then executes the stroke V (FIG. that the lower edge of the recess 211 comes to be placed in

  the sliding plane of the transport slide 18.

  When the lifting punch 21 has reached its upper end position, the rod 17 guided by the groove 7 initiates the beginning of the advance of the transport slide 18 through the recess 211 of the lifting punch 21 and the approach section 22, during this movement, the contact 19 located in the recess 211 is pushed onto the support

  to where the weld is to be made.

  Immediately after the contact 19 has left the recess 211 of the lifting punch 21, the arm 1 and by

  therefore electrode 2 following the third segment

  curve which cooperates with the roller 15, and under the action of the pressure spring 16, descend until between the support 20 and the lower face of the electrode 2 there remains only one slot of about 0, 1 mm The contact 2 r 538285

  individual 19 is pushed into this slot through

  In view of the large gear ratio of the pivoting arm 1, the lifting punch 21 already occupies a position at this moment which is approximately 0.05 mm above its final position. lower, -Because of the previously described surplus of the recess 211, a new race in advance

  can already be started in this position.

  During the return of the transport slider 18 and during the forward movement of the carriage 9, the electrode 2, due to another descent of the third curve segment cooperating with the equation 15, is placed on the

  contact 19 with the pressure determined by the force of

  fate 16 The welding process is started at this time, the electrode 2 being still slightly lowered from the value

of the melting zone.

  Due to the sufficient height of the slot 212, even this phase of the work cycle can still be used for the return of the transport slide 18 As soon as the transport slide 18 comes out of the recess

  211, another work cycle can begin again.

  By means of the nut 26 of the tie rod 27 rotatably mounted in the frame 4, it is possible to adjust the spring 16 in accordance with the necessary welding pressures, while taking into account the gear ratio resulting from the different

  distances to the axis of rotation 3.

  For subsequent transport of the support 20 is

  during one cycle, one third of the total cycle time is available, because often the contacts 19 fixed by welding are sufficiently close to each other so that the new contact can be brought below the electrode 2 as soon as possible.

  that previously welded contact has progressed a whole step.

  In the welding unit which has just been described, however, thanks to the lifting punch or the slitting punch 21, all the displacements of the device are superimposed and

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  succeed continuously, so that during a period

  welding time of 20 ms about 800 cycles are possible.

  The welding unit previously described can also be advantageously used when it is desired to bring the lifting punch 21 already prefabricated contacts of any shape. In this case, the lifting punch is provided with a loading recess which is oriented transversely to the direction of movement of the transport slider 18 and which is connected to an outward loading channel for the individual-contacts With its reciprocating movement, the lifting punch 21 does not always grip a single contact 19 and brings it to a position which is in alignment with the approach section 22 and in which

  the transport slide 18 can engage in the recess

  211 and the slot 212 Even in this case, the contact 19 along its entire path leading to the weld point is guided in a perfectly safe manner and in a well-defined position so that the reliability of the welding unit can be kept as high as possible If the lifting punch 21 is connected to the loading channel for the individual contacts, it can certainly be realized in addition to serve as a cutting tool to separate the

  different contacts of a strip of contact material.

  The structure of the welding unit which has just been described makes it very easy to adapt to welding

  different forms of contact The interplay of elements

  changeable constituted by the feed section 24, the lifting punch 21 and the approach section is easily accessible It is seen that by pivoting the arm 1 about the axis 3, can be completely released the two sections of the tunnel In order to transform the welding unit, it is sufficient to remove from the frame 4 the pin 6 ensuring the pivotable mounting of the fork-shaped end of the tie rod 27 and loosening the plate 25 surrounding in the shape of a claw the punch of lifting 21, the pressure of the spring 16 being

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  preferably slightly reduced beforehand.

  Since the distance from the lifting punch 21 to the axis of rotation 3 of the arm 1 is relatively large, the lifting punch 21 at the transition with the approach section 22 does not need to be made with -

a cylindrical guide surface.

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Claims (11)

  1 welding unit for fixing by welding-   of contacts, preferably profiled, on a support, in which the separated contacts are pushed through a corresponding profile guide tunnel and engaged between a welding electrode and the support, characterized by the   the guide tunnel comprises a section of food   tation (24) and an approach section (22) offset in height with respect to the first and between which is installed a lifting punch (21) which has a through recess (211) corresponding to the profile of the contacts for successively receiving a contact (19) and, on the recess side, a central slot (212) opening therein for the   passage of a slider (18) which serves for direct   of the electrode and relative to which it can move transversely the value of the offset between the guide tunnel sections (24, 22) to lift a contact (19) of the feed section (24) -and the bring to the level of approach section (22).   Welding unit according to Claim 1, characterized in that the shaped contact material (14) continuously arrives via the feed section (24).   is cut by the lifting punch (21).   Welding unit according to Claim 1, characterized in that individual contacts (19)   arriving one behind the other by the section of food   (24) are fed to the lifting punch (21) and, through the latter, delivered individually to the section approach (22).   4 Welding unit according to any one of   claims 1 to 3, characterized in that in addition   a feed section (24) located in the alignment of the approach section (22) is provided with a loading channel for the individual contacts placed at right angles to said sections and terminating transversely at the level of the section 2538285. lifting punch (21).   Welding unit according to any one of   Claims 1 to 4, wherein the moving electrode is   fixed on a pivoting arm, characterized in that the pivoting arm (1) serves at the same time as a support for the punch lifting (21).   Welding unit according to Claim 5, characterized in that the lifting punch (21) is connected in isolation to the arm by frictional connection.   in a plate (25) in the shape of a claw.   Welding unit according to Claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the transport slide (18) independently of the position of the arm (1) can be inserted into the slot (212) of the lifting punch (21) and pushed through it.   8 Welding unit according to any one of   preceding claims, characterized in that the   transport slide (18) is controlled via a groove (7).   9 Welding unit according to any one of   preceding claims, characterized by the fact that   for the actuation of the swivel arm (1) and the arrangement   in advance of the material (8 to 13), the respective   cam curves as a reminder and   springs (10, 13, 16) as advance elements.   Welding unit according to Claim 9, characterized in that the groove (7) and the   curves are arranged on a single cam (5).   Welding unit according to Claim 9 or 10, characterized in that all the springs (10, 13,   16) are individually adjustable from the outside.   12 Welding unit according to any one of   claims 9 to 11, characterized in that the provision   Feeder (8 to 13) has a feed carriage (9)   cooperating with an interchangeable stop (23).   2538285 i 13 Welding unit according to any one of   claims 1 to 12, characterized by the fact that   lifting point (21) and the approach and   (22, 24) form a set of interchangeable elements   geable. 14 Welding unit according to any one of   9 to 13, characterized in that the spring   (16) of the arm (1) is supported on a removable tie (27) which fork-shaped the lifting punch (21) and is   pivotably mounted on a removable pin (6).