JP2000249647A - Depressed area-detecting device of flexible pipe - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically detect a depressed area defect during on-line transportation immediately after a flexible pipe has been manufactured by detecting a state where a part near the tip of a feeler does not touch a position where the flexible pipe should touch due to the depressed area defect. SOLUTION: A touch-type feeler retention ring 7 is arranged between a pair of centering guides 6 so that the center coincides with that of a transportation line. The touch-type feeler retention ring 7 is in structure where a feeler 7b is arranged radially in the circumferential direction of a retention ring 7a. A touch sensor is engaged to a touch ring 7c. A touch sensor detects that the feeler 7b has touches the touch ring 7c when the feeler 7b detects a depressed area defect and deviates from the ring part of a flexible pipe 2. Also, the touch sensor detects that the touch ring 7c has been touched and pressed by the feeler 7b, and a microswitch or the like that is a contact switch for detecting a small displacement can be applied.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dent defect detecting apparatus for detecting a dent defect generated in a ring portion of a flexible pipe periodically corrugated in the pipe axis direction, and more particularly to the manufacture of a stainless flexible pipe and the like. The present invention relates to an apparatus for detecting a dent defect of a flexible pipe suitable for automatically detecting the dent defect in a non-contact manner during online running immediately thereafter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG.
The flexible pipe manufacturing machine 3 is rotated around the raw pipe 1 as a raw material while moving straight, and is formed into a corrugated shape. The flexible tube 2 is formed by connecting a number of ring portions 4 and can be bent freely. For example, a stainless steel (SUS) flexible tube is well known.

[0003] In the flexible pipe manufactured in this way, when any abnormality occurs in the manufacturing process, the flexible pipe shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, a so-called dent defect 5 in which a part of the ring portion 4 is dented may occur. Inspection of such a dent defect cannot be automated conventionally because the shape of the flexible tube is complicated, and visual inspection has been performed exclusively.

[0004]

Conventionally, visual inspection is performed, so that dent defects are often overlooked, and the level of defect detection greatly varies depending on the degree of fatigue of the inspector. The present invention has been made in order to solve such a conventional problem, and a dent defect detection of a flexible tube that enables automatic detection of a dent defect during online conveyance immediately after a flexible tube manufacturing machine. An apparatus is provided.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a flexible tube for detecting on-line a dent defect in which at least a part of an outer circumferential direction of a flexible tube which is periodically corrugated in the tube axis direction is conveyed during the transfer of the flexible tube. A dent defect detection device for a pipe, the dent defect detection device comprising: a pair of centering guides for adjusting a center position of a flexible pipe conveyed continuously in a pipe axis direction to a center of a transfer line; and a pair of centering guides. Between the guide in the transfer direction, a holding ring installed with its center aligned with the center of the transfer line, and the holding ring is directed toward the center of the transfer line such that the vicinity of the tip abuts against the outer surface of the flexible tube. The plurality of arranged styluses, and among the styluses, the vicinity of the tip of the stylus does not come into contact with the position to be brought into contact with the flexible tube due to the dent defect. We had to solve the above problems by a flexible tube of indentation defect detection apparatus for a touch detector for detecting a state, in that they are composed of the features.

Further, the present invention provides a method for mounting the shake detector inside the holding ring, which does not normally contact any of the styluses, but is in contact with the flexible tube due to a dent defect. It is preferable to comprise a touch ring that does not abut against the stylus in a disengaged state, and a touch sensor that is engaged with the touch ring and detects contact of the stylus with the touch ring. It was found that.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a contact point in which the shake detector is individually provided for each of the styluses, and the contact is always in contact with the stylus and is turned on. The needle does not abut on the position of the flexible tube to be abutted, and is turned off when the needle comes off, and those contacts that are always on are turned off. It has been found that it is preferable to detect the dent defect by detecting the dent.

Further, the present invention applies optical means,
A flexible tube dent defect detection device for online detection of a dent defect in which at least a part of the outer peripheral direction of a flexible tube corrugated periodically in the tube axis direction is transported during the transport of the flexible tube, A pair of centering guides for adjusting the center position of the flexible pipe conveyed continuously to the center of the transfer line, and a holding member installed between the pair of centering guides such that the center position is aligned with the center of the transfer line. A ring and a laser reflection type arranged radially toward the center of the transport line so that the emitted laser beam is reflected on the curved portion of the outer peripheral surface of the flexible tube and can be received again in the circumferential direction of the holding ring. And the reflection direction of the emitted laser is changed due to the dent defect. A dent defect detection device for a flexible pipe, which detects a dent defect by detecting that the OFF time of the laser reflection type photoelectric switch in which the reflection cannot be received again continues for a set time set separately. The above problem has been solved.

That is, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to automate the detection of a dent defect in a flexible tube, which has not been conventionally provided with an appropriate method, due to the complexity of its shape. An object of the present invention is to develop a device that can easily and automatically detect a dent defect by using a contact-type optical means.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, first and second embodiments to which a contact type stylus means is applied will be described, and then a third embodiment to which a non-contact type optical means will be applied will be described. I do. A first embodiment to which a contact-type stylus means is applied will be described with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 1, the flexible pipe 2 conveyed in the direction of the arrow is centered by a pair of centering guides 6 so that the center thereof is aligned with the center of the conveying line. Then, the touch-type stylus holding ring 7 applied to the first embodiment of the present invention is arranged between the pair of centering guides 6 so that the center thereof is aligned with the center of the transport line.

The touch type stylus holding ring 7 is a holding ring.
The stylus 7b is arranged radially in the circumferential direction of 7a, and a touch ring 7c is provided inside the holding ring 7a. In the present embodiment, the number of the stylus arranged radially is 36 every 10 degrees.However, the number of the stylus is not limited to this, and may be determined according to the size of the flexible tube, the size of the dent defect to be detected, and the like. Is determined as appropriate.

As shown in FIG. 2, a touch sensor 11 (not shown in FIG. 1) is engaged with the touch ring 7c. The touch sensor 11 detects that the stylus 7b has touched the touch ring 7c when the stylus 7b detects the dent defect 5 and comes off the ring portion 4 of the flexible tube 2. Here, when there is no dent defect 5, the stylus 7b is always in contact with the ring portion 4 of the flexible tube 2, and does not touch the touch ring 7c.

The touch sensor 11 includes a touch ring 7c
Is to detect that is touched and pressed by the stylus 7b, and a microswitch or the like, which is a contact switch capable of detecting a minute displacement, can be applied. Similarly, a predetermined potential may be applied to the touch ring 7c, and when the stylus 7b that has been grounded in advance touches the touch ring 7c, it may be detected that the potential drops to the ground level. It is only necessary to detect that the stylus touches the touch ring even for a moment.

Further, it is necessary that the tip of the stylus 7b is slightly brought into contact with the outer surface of the flexible tube 2 and it is necessary to replace the stylus 7b according to the size change of the flexible tube 2. . Usually, the size of the flexible tube is three types of 10A, 15A and 20A, and a touch type stylus holding ring 7 corresponding to the size is prepared. The operation of replacing the touch type stylus holding ring can be easily automated, and the details thereof will not be described here. However, in the present embodiment, the touch type touch stylus holding ring is set up by setting up the size change information from the host computer that controls the line. The needle holding ring is automatically replaced.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the dent defect detection information detected as described above is taken into the data processor 13 together with the tracking information from the tracking sensor 12, and the dent defect position information and the like are obtained. Data collection is performed. However, in the first embodiment,
The position of the dent defect in the circumferential direction of the flexible tube cannot be specified, and the position of the flexible tube in the axial direction can only be specified.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 3, the application of the contact type stylus means is the same as in the first embodiment, and the arrangement of the centering guide 6 is also the same as in the first embodiment. The second embodiment is characterized in that a contact 8c is provided for each of the styluses 8b. The stylus 8b is disposed on the holding ring 8a, and the individual contact type stylus holding ring 8 is formed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the stylus 8b and the contact 8c corresponding to each stylus are connected to the contact signal repeater 14 as a pair. The contact point of the stylus in contact with the normal ring portion 4 of the flexible tube 2 is always ON and a closed circuit is formed. Even if the flexible tube 2 is displaced and moved, the contact is separated and turned OFF. It will not be. However, if there is a dent defect 5, the stylus 4 comes off the ring portion 4 of the flexible tube 2, the contact 5 is turned off, and the circuit is opened.

A signal indicating a change in the state of the circuit is taken into the data processing device 13 via the contact signal repeater 14. Second
In the embodiment, since the contact point is individually provided for each circumferential stylus, not only the tube axis direction of the flexible tube 2 but also the circumferential dent defect occurrence position can be specified.

Next, a third method using a non-contact type optical means is described.
The embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 5, the flexible pipe 2 conveyed in the direction of the arrow is centered by a pair of centering guides 6 so that the center thereof is aligned with the center of the conveying line. The laser reflection type photoelectric switch holding ring 9 applied to the third embodiment of the present invention is disposed between the pair of centering guides 6 so that the center thereof is aligned with the center of the transport line. .

Laser reflection type photoelectric switch holding ring 9
Is a laser reflection type photoelectric switch in the circumferential direction of the retaining ring 9a.
9b is a radially arranged structure. The number of the radially arranged laser reflection type photoelectric switches 9b is ten in the illustrated example, but is not limited to this, and is appropriately determined according to the size of the flexible tube, the size of the dent defect to be detected, and the like. Will be arranged. The optical axis of the reflective photoelectric switch 9b is installed so as to intersect with the central axis of the holding ring 9a for mounting the sensor. It is preferable that the optical axis of the reflective photoelectric switch 9b and the central axis of the holding ring 9a intersect at an angle of about 40 °, but this intersection angle is appropriately changed according to the specifications of the ring portion of the flexible tube to be processed. Is done.

Each of the reflection-type photoelectric switches 9b is disposed so as to face the ring portion 4 of the flexible tube 2, and detects reflection of laser light from the ring portion. Here, as shown in FIG. 6, the laser light is normally reflected from the normal ring portion 4 and re-received by the reflective photoelectric switch 9b, so that the reflective photoelectric switch 9b is turned on.
However, if the dent defect 5 is present, irregular reflection occurs due to the lack of the ring portion at the reflection position, the light cannot be received again by the reflection type photoelectric switch 9b, and the reflection type photoelectric switch 9b is turned off. .

In the third embodiment, a dent defect is detected by utilizing such a change in the ON / OFF state of the reflection type photoelectric switch 9b. The ON / OFF state of the reflection type photoelectric switch 9b is taken into the data processing device 13 via the laser reflection type photoelectric switch signal repeater 15. However, since the flexible tube 2 is conveyed and is constantly moving, even in a normal portion, irregular reflection of the laser light occurs at the moment when the laser beam hits the vertex of the ring portion 4 of the flexible tube 2, and the reflection type Light cannot be received by the photoelectric switch 9b.

For this reason, the reflection type photoelectric switch 9b is turned ON / OFF intermittently according to the transport speed of the flexible tube 2.
F will be repeated. On the other hand, since the ring portion has disappeared by one peak at the site of the dent defect, the OFF time of the reflection type photoelectric switch 9b continues for one lost peak. The third embodiment is characterized by utilizing this fact. That is, the state in which the reflection direction of the laser light emitted from the laser light projecting portion 9c of the reflection type photoelectric switch 9b changes in the dent defect, and the laser reflection cannot be received again by the laser light receiving portion 9d, is a setting that has been set in advance. When the time exceeds the threshold time, the dent defect is detected.

Here, the set time (threshold time) is set up in advance in the data processing device 13 from the host computer not shown in FIG. 6 as a part of the product information of the material to be processed. Also, instead of directly setting up the set time, the pitch interval information of the ring portion 4 is set up as a part of the product information of the material to be processed, and the actual transport speed of the flexible pipe 2 detected by the tracking device 12 is set. The set time (threshold time) may be determined from the pitch interval information. in this case,
The effect of reducing erroneous detection due to line speed fluctuation is great.

In the third embodiment of the present invention, erroneous detection which cannot be avoided when using the reflection type photoelectric switch 9b can be effectively avoided, and ON / OFF is performed in a normal ring portion. It is possible to completely eliminate the effect that the signal changes in accordance with the pitch of the ring portion.
Further, in the third embodiment, since a non-contact reflection type photoelectric switch is used as a sensor, the size can be changed only by changing the setting condition of the reflection type photoelectric switch simply, and 10A, 15A and 20A can be realized. The present invention is characterized in that all the flexible tubes 2 can be commonly used without replacing the laser reflection type photoelectric switch holding ring itself.

In each of the first to third embodiments described above, the position of a dent defect is specified by the data processing device 13 based on the input of a tracking signal from the tracking device. FIG. 7 shows a flow of processing performed in the data processing device 13. In the flow of FIG. 7, when a dent defect is detected by the dent defect detection sensor input processing unit 100 and the dent defect detection / determination unit 110 determines that a dent defect is detected, the tracking signal input processing unit 120 that is taken in parallel Based on the tracking information from the CPU, the dent defect position specifying processing unit 130 specifies the position of the dent defect in the flexible pipe axis direction.

Here, as described in detail in the first to third embodiments, the dent defect detection sensor input 100 system includes the (contact type) touch ring system (1a),
It is preferable to apply any one of the (contact type) individual contact type (1b) and the laser reflection type photoelectric switch type (2). In the process of specifying the defect position, the two methods of the individual contact method (1b) and the laser reflection type photoelectric switch method (2) are used to specify the dent defect position not only in the tube axis direction but also in the tube circumferential direction. Can also be performed.

[0029]

According to the present invention, it is possible to easily and automatically detect a dent defect in a flexible tube. Further, the device of the present invention is also excellent in maintainability, and in the first and second embodiments of the present invention, the size can be changed only by replacing the holding ring of the stylus. In the embodiment, even when the size is changed, only the setting condition of the apparatus is changed, and the size change is virtually free.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of a dent defect detection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the device of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the dent defect detection device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the device of the second embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a third embodiment of the dent defect detection device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an apparatus according to a third embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a dent defect detection process according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a manufacturing process of the flexible tube.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a dent defect generated in a flexible tube.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 original pipe 2 flexible pipe 3 flexible pipe making machine 4 ring part 5 dent defect 6 centering guide 7 touch type stylus holding ring 7a holding ring 7b stylus 7c touch ring 8 individual contact type stylus holding ring 8a holding ring 8b stylus 8c Contact 9 Laser reflection type photoelectric switch holding ring 9a Holding ring 9b Laser reflection type photoelectric switch 9c Laser light emitting part 9d Laser light receiving part 9e Laser light 11 Touch sensor 12 Tracking sensor 13 Data processing device 14 Contact signal repeater 15 Laser reflection type Photoelectric switch signal repeater 100 dent defect detection sensor input processing unit 110 dent defect detection determination unit 120 tracking signal input processing unit 130 dent defect position identification processing unit

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshinori Anabuki 1-chome, Kawasaki-dori, Mizushima, Kurashiki-shi, Okayama Pref.

Claims (4)

[Claims] An apparatus for detecting a dent defect of a flexible pipe, which is formed at least partially in an outer circumferential direction of the flexible pipe periodically corrugated in the pipe axis direction while the flexible pipe is being conveyed. The dent defect detection device adjusts the center position of the flexible tube continuously conveyed in the tube axis direction to the center of the conveyance line.
A pair of centering guides, a holding ring disposed between the pair of centering guides in the conveying direction, the center of which is aligned with the center of the conveying line, and the vicinity of the tip of the holding ring contacts the outer surface of the flexible pipe. A plurality of styluses arranged toward the center of the transport line so as to be in contact with each other, and of the styluses, a portion near the tip of the stylus abuts on a position to be abutted on the flexible tube due to the dent defect; An apparatus for detecting a dent defect in a flexible pipe, comprising: a run-out detector for detecting a state of no dent. 2. The deflection detector is installed inside the holding ring, and does not normally contact any of the styluses, but contacts a position of the flexible tube to be contacted by a dent defect. A touch ring that contacts only the stylus in a disengaged state, and a touch sensor that is engaged with the touch ring and detects contact of the stylus with the touch ring. A dent defect detecting device for a flexible pipe according to the above item. 3. A contact point, wherein the shake detector is individually provided for each of the styluses, and the contact is always in contact with the stylus and is turned on. It is characterized in that it does not come into contact with the position where the pipe should come into contact, and turns off when it comes off, and detects that those contacts that are always on are turned off. The dent defect detecting device for a flexible pipe according to claim 1, wherein the dent defect is detected. 4. A dent defect detecting apparatus for a flexible pipe, which detects a dent defect in which at least a part of an outer peripheral direction of a flexible pipe periodically corrugated in a pipe axis direction is concavely conveyed while the flexible pipe is being conveyed. A pair of centering guides for adjusting the center position of the flexible tube conveyed continuously in the pipe axis direction to the center of the transfer line, and the center position between the pair of centering guides is set to the center of the transfer line. With the retaining ring installed together,
In the circumferential direction of the holding ring, a laser reflection type photoelectric switch radially arranged toward the center of the transport line, so that the emitted laser is reflected on a wave portion on the outer peripheral surface of the flexible tube and can be received again. In the laser reflection type photoelectric switch, the OFF time of the laser reflection type photoelectric switch in which the reflection direction of the projected laser changes due to the dent defect and the laser reflection cannot be received again is set separately. A dent defect detection device for a flexible pipe, wherein the dent defect is detected by detecting that the dent defect lasts longer than a set time.