JP2001105149A - Cleaning device for plasma torch - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning device for a plasma torch which removes a spatter stuck on the inner part of a gas passage. SOLUTION: The cleaning device 50 for a plasma torch, in which a plasma torch 30 for pressurized type plasma welding equipment is separable into the main body 32 of the torch and a pressurizing pad 34, is provided with a cleaning drill 70 furnished with upper and lower cleaning parts and located between the separated main body 32 of the torch and the pressurizing pad 34, cleaning brushes 82 and 83 located at a lower part of the pressurizing pad 34, a rotary driving means 61 which rotates the cleaning drill 70, a vertical driving means 56 which moves the cleaning drill 70 together with the rotary driving means 61 in the up and down directions, and a brush driving means 81 which operates the cleaning brushes 82 and 83. The cleaning drill 70 cleans the inside of the gas passage at the tip part of the main body 32 of the torch located at the upper position and the upper part of the inner periphery of the pressurizing pad 34 located at the lower position by moving in the up and down directions, and the cleaning brushes 82 and 83 clean the lower part of the pressurizing pad 34.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plasma torch cleaning device in a pressurized plasma welding machine for performing plasma welding while pressurizing a welding portion of a work, and more particularly, to a plasma torch cleaning device for automatically performing cleaning to a depth of a nozzle. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a spot welder is used for welding joints and the like in a vehicle body. However, a pressurized plasma welder is used in a portion where welding by a spot welder is difficult due to various welding conditions. It is used. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a main part of a general pressurized plasma welding machine. The pressurized plasma welding machine 200 is configured on a support base 201 attached to a hand of a welding robot (not shown). The support base 201 is vertically
1s is formed, and the rail 2
02 is fixed in the vertical direction. On the support base 201,
At the upper end of the rail 202, a spring receiving bracket 203 is fixed at right angles to the reference surface 201s. A slider 204 is slidably mounted on the rail 202, and a supporting member 205 is fixed to the slider 204 in parallel with the spring receiving member 203. A spring 206 that urges the slider 204 in a downward direction is mounted between the spring receiving member 203 and the supporting member 205.

[0003] A plasma torch 207 is suspended from a support bracket 205 which can be moved up and down with respect to the support gantry 201 so as to be parallel to the rail 202. Plasma torch 20
Numeral 7 is to generate a high-temperature plasma flow using arc discharge, jet the gas flow through a nozzle together with a working gas, and weld the plate-shaped workpiece W with the heat. In the center of the plasma torch 207, FIG.
Is provided. An electrode 211 for arc discharge is provided at the center of the nozzle 210,
A working gas passage 212 for passing a working gas is formed around the electrode 211. The nozzle 210
An opening 213 for discharging the high-temperature plasma flow and the working gas is formed at the tip.

A substantially cylindrical cap body 220 for forming a flow path for the shield gas is mounted around the nozzle 210, and a cap tip 230 for regulating the flow direction of the shield gas is provided at the tip of the cap body 220. Is screwed. A plurality of pins 231 for maintaining a constant dimension M from the surface of the plate-like work W to be welded to the tip end surface 214 of the nozzle 210 are fixed to the cap tip 230. Then, a wire guard 240 for supplying a welding wire is connected to a side surface of the cap tip 230 as shown in FIG. The cap body 220 is made of reinforced plastic, and the cap tip 230
Is made of brass, and the pin 231 is made of stainless steel.

[0005] The welding of the plate-like work W performed by using the pressurized plasma welding machine 200 is performed by a welding robot using a support base 2.
01 is moved to the welding position, and its tip, ie, the cap tip 23
0 is pressed to the welding point of the plate-shaped work W via the pin 231. The cap tip 230 is pressed against the plate-like work W with a force equal to the spring force of the spring 206, and the gap S (see FIG. 9) between the stacked plate-like works W is 0 to 1.2 mm suitable for plasma welding. It is adjusted to. Then, a high-temperature plasma flow is generated in this state, and both plate-shaped workpieces W
Is welded.

In the plasma welding machine 200, since the nozzle 210 is disposed at right angles to the work W for welding, for example, welding metal splashes (spatters) K1, K2, and K3 scattered from the work W are applied to the nozzle 210 and the cap. It adheres to the tip 230 and the like. The attached sputter K1
... induces the drift of the plasma gas, hinders the generation of a good plasma arc, and generates welding defects. For this reason, conventionally, for example, a device disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 25551847 has been used as a cleaning means for the sputters K1. Specifically, it has a cleaning station 300 shown in FIG. This is a plate-shaped bracket 3
01 is provided with a brush 302 and a suction duct 303,
An annular shield ring 304 is attached to the suction duct 303 around the opening, and an end of a negative pressure pipe 305 connected to a blower (not shown) is connected to the suction duct 303.

Therefore, the plasma welding machine 20 after welding is completed.
In the case of 0, cleaning is performed in a flow as shown in FIG. First, the tip of the plasma torch 207 is rubbed with the brush 302 to remove spatter K attached to the surface, and then the tip of the plasma torch 207 is fitted into the shield ring 304 of the suction duct 303. Since the blower connected to the suction duct 303 via the negative pressure pipe 305 is controlled to start operation when the plasma torch 207 approaches the suction duct 303, when the tip is fitted into the shield ring 304, Air is sucked from the suction duct 303 by the blower, and the remaining spatter K is sucked and removed from the tip fitted into the suction duct 303 and the nozzle 210 (see FIG. 9) therein.

[0008]

However, such conventional cleaning means cannot always perform sufficient cleaning. As shown in FIG. 9, spatters K1, K2, K3, etc. adhere to the inside of the cap tip 230, the tip of the nozzle 210, or the inside of the shield gas passage 221 inside the cap body 220, as shown in FIG. I do. Among them, spatter K1, K2
Can be removed by the above-mentioned cleaning means.
As described above, the gas that has entered the innermost part of the shield gas passage 221 could not be removed because it could not be sucked. for that reason,
Leakage occurs due to spatter remaining in the shield gas passage 221, causing a problem that plasma welding cannot be performed.

As described above, it is desired that spatter be removed irrespective of the location of adhesion. However, the plasma torch 207 of the conventional pressurized plasma welding machine 200 is
Since the cap 20 and the cap tip 230 are screwed, it takes time to disassemble, and it is not easy to clean the tip of the nozzle. For this reason, as shown in the figure, when removing the spatter K3 attached to the back of the shield gas passage 221, it is necessary to remove the cap tip 230 once, and to insert the cleaning means into the shield gas passage 221 for cleaning. Was. However, the cleaning operation efficiency is low, so that the cleaning operation cannot be performed frequently.
Troubles caused by accumulation of spatter were likely to occur.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a plasma torch cleaning apparatus capable of removing spatters attached to the inside of a gas passage in order to solve such a problem.

[0011]

A plasma torch cleaning apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that a plasma torch of a pressurized plasma welding apparatus for welding a work pressurized by the heat of a jet-flowed high-temperature plasma stream is combined with a torch body. A cleaning drill that is separable into a pressure pad and is provided between the separated torch body and the pressure pad and has upper and lower cleaning portions, and a cleaning drill disposed below the pressure pad. Brush for
A rotary drive unit for rotating the cleaning drill, a vertical drive unit for vertically moving the cleaning drill together with the rotary drive unit, and a brush drive unit for operating the cleaning brush; The drill is moved up and down to clean the inside of the gas passage at the top of the torch main body and the inside of the upper part of the lower pressure pad, and the cleaning brush is
The lower part of the pressure pad is cleaned. Therefore,
Since the cleaning drill is inserted into the gas passage for the torch body separated from the press pad, the spatter attached to the back of the gas passage can be removed. Sputtering can be effectively removed by cleaning from above and below with a brush.

Further, in the plasma torch cleaning apparatus according to the present invention, the cleaning drill may include a torch cleaning blade having a plurality of cutting blades which can be inserted into the cylindrical gas passage on the same circumference. And a rotating body integrally formed by vertically hanging a cleaning brush made of a wire brush that can be inserted into a cylindrical pressure pad. Therefore, if the torch cleaning blade is securely inserted into the narrow gas passage, the spatter attached thereto can be effectively removed, and if the wire brush is pressed against the inner peripheral surface of the pressure pad and rotated, Sputters attached to the inner peripheral surface of the pressure pad including the slope can be effectively removed.

Further, in the plasma torch cleaning apparatus according to the present invention, the cleaning brush includes a first brush reciprocating in the same direction by a reciprocating linear motion of the brush driving means, and a reciprocating straight line of the brush driving means. A second brush that reciprocates in an orthogonal direction via a cam mechanism by movement, wherein the first brush and the second brush are alternately moved to the position of the pressure pad. The cam mechanism,
A slider that fixes the second brush and is movable in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the brush driving means; and a cam plate that moves in the same direction as the linear movement of the brush driving means and transmits the movement to the slider. It is preferable that the cam plate has a U-shaped cam groove formed therein, and the slider has a rolling element which is rotatably supported in the cam groove. Therefore, the spatters alternately enter the gaps in the orthogonal direction formed at the lower end of the pressure pad, and spatters attached to the pressure pad are effectively removed.

[0014]

Next, an embodiment of a plasma torch cleaning apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The plasma torch of the present embodiment is provided, for example, in a pressurized plasma welding machine for welding a joint of a vehicle body. Here, FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a main part of the pressurized plasma welding machine, and FIG. 2 is a detailed vertical sectional view of a plasma torch provided in the pressurized plasma welding machine. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a disassembled state of a plasma torch in a pressurized plasma welding machine (FIG. A).
FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view (FIG. B) of an assembled state (fitted state). 1 to 3, the following description will be made with the width direction of the support base 20 as the X-axis direction, the front-rear direction as the Y-axis direction, and the height direction as the Z-axis direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, the pressurized plasma welding machine 10 has a support base 20 having a plasma torch 30 attached to a hand of a welding robot (not shown). In the pressurized plasma welding machine 10, the plasma torch 30 is arranged at a welding location by a welding robot,
A high-temperature plasma flow is generated by using arc discharge, and this gas flow is jetted by passing the gas flow together with a working gas into a nozzle, and the heat is used to weld a joint (hereinafter, referred to as a plate-shaped work W) of a vehicle body. . Therefore, the configuration of the plasma torch 30 will be described first with reference to FIG. The plasma torch 30 includes a torch main body 32 and the torch main body 3.
And a detachable pressure pad 34 at the tip of the second. The torch main body 32 is a main part of the plasma torch 30, a cylindrical cap 36 is fitted around the nozzle 35, and a shield gas passage 36 h through which a shield gas flows through a gap between the nozzle 35 and the cap 36. Is formed.

The nozzle 35 is provided with an arc discharge electrode 35t at the center, and a cylindrical working gas passage 35h through which the working gas passes is formed around the electrode 35t. The working gas passage 35h has an outlet at a portion where the electrode 35t is arranged, and communicates with an injection port 35k opened at the tip of the nozzle 35. The pressure pad 34 that is continuous with the tip of the cap 36 is a cylindrical member whose diameter is reduced toward the plate-shaped work W, and has an annular step 34r to which the tip of the cap 36 is applied at the upper end surface. . At the tip of the pressure pad 34, the tip surface 35f of the nozzle 35
A pin 34p for maintaining a constant dimension M from to the plate-shaped work W is fixed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1, the support gantry 20 for supporting the plasma torch 30 is a rectangular gantry for supporting the plasma torch 30 and its attached units 42 and 44, and is vertically (Z-axis direction). The reference surface 22 is formed on the base. A torch cylinder 24 having a piston rod 24p projecting upward is mounted on the reference surface 22.
The torch part cylinder 24 is an air cylinder that raises and lowers the main body part 32 of the plasma torch 30, and has a stroke of about 100 mm. The torch mount 25 is attached to the piston rod 24p of the torch part cylinder 24, and the torch main body 32 is supported downward at the center of the lower plate 25d.

A pressing unit cylinder 26 having a piston rod 26p protruding downward is mounted below the reference surface 22 of the support base 20. The pressurizing unit cylinder 26
This is an air cylinder for pressing the press pad 34 of the plasma torch 30 against the welding portion of the plate-like work W. The air pressure can be adjusted by a pressure reducing valve (not shown). It is configured to be able to change between 100kgf. The stroke of the pressurizing section cylinder 26 is set to about 25 mm. At the tip of the piston rod 26p of the pressurizing unit cylinder 26, a pressurizing stand 27 is attached. The pressure base 27 supports the pressure pad 34 coaxially with the torch body 32.
A pressure pad 34 is fixed to the tip 27s.

Further, a welding wire supply device 44 is installed on the support base 20 behind the reference surface 22. A wire guard 44w for guiding the welding wire from the welding wire supply device 44 to the welding site is provided with a pressure pad 34. Connected to the sides. Therefore, the pressurized plasma welding machine 10 of the present embodiment has such a configuration of the plasma torch 30 and the support gantry 20, and the plasma torch 30 is attached to the main body 32 and the pressurized pad 34 as shown in FIG. Can be disassembled,
The pressure pad 34 can be arbitrarily attached to and detached from the main body 32.

Next, a description will be given of a cleaning device for removing spatters adhered to a plasma torch constituting such a pressurized plasma welding machine. FIG. 4 is a side view showing the plasma torch cleaning device. The cleaning device 50 of the present embodiment corresponds to the plasma torch 30 that can disassemble the main body 32 and the pressure pad 34 described above. The cleaning device 50 is formed on a gantry 53 in which an upper plate 51 and a middle plate 52 are horizontally fixed. Two rail rods 54 are vertically fixed to the upper plate 51 and the middle plate 52 at overlapping positions in the drawing.
The slider 55 fitted to the slider is slidably provided up and down. A lift cylinder 56 is fixed on the upper plate 51 so that the piston rod 56p projects downward through the upper plate 51. Piston rod 56p
A slider 55 is connected to the tip of the lift cylinder 5.
6, the height of the slider 55 can be adjusted.

A horizontally extending support plate 57 is fixed to the slider 55, on which a motor 61 and a gear box 6 are mounted.
2, and a cleaning drill 70 are attached. The motor 61 is disposed between the two rail rods 54 and 54, and is integrally formed with a gear box 62 having a reduction gear for transmitting the rotation of the motor 61 to the vertical shaft 63. A gear 64 is fixed to the vertical shaft 63, and an access gear 65 meshed with the gear 64 is rotatably supported by a support plate 57. Further, the drill gear 6 integrated with the cleaning drill 70
6 is rotatably supported by the support plate 57, and the access gear 6
5 is engaged.

The cleaning drill 70 comprises a torch cleaning blade 71 fixed above the drill gear 66 and a rotating brush 72 fixed below the same. The torch cleaning blade 71 has a cylindrical shape, and is formed by projecting four cutting blades upward from a flange portion screwed to the drill gear 66. In this embodiment, the torch cleaning blade 71 is made of tool steel, but a resin such as NC nylon may be used. On the other hand, the drill gear 66
A fixed disk 73 is screwed to a lower end of the disk, and a stainless steel wire brush (hereinafter, referred to as a “rotating brush”) 72 that is planted in a cylindrical shape is attached to the fixed disk 73.

Further, a pressing pad 34 is provided on the bottom surface of the lower plate 52.
The brush cylinder 81 for cleaning is fixed horizontally. Here, FIG. 5 shows the lower plate 52 with the arrow A in FIG.
It is the front view seen from the direction. The brush cylinder 81 is fixed to the right half of the tip of the lower plate 52 as shown in FIG. 5 so that the cylinder rod 81p is driven in the width direction of the lower plate 52. The tip of the lower plate 52 is a brush cylinder 81
The right half is fixedly protruding, and the left half is cut out. The brush cylinder 81 is a drive source for driving the wire brushes 82 and 83 that rub the spatter adhered to the pressure pad 34. One of the first brushes 82 is longer in the X1 direction, and the other second brush 83 is longer in the Y1 direction (see FIG. 4). The pressing pad 34 has four pins 34P, 34P,... Protruding downward, and the first brush 82 is formed by a difference in the width of a gap between the vertical direction and the horizontal direction.
Are formed larger than the second brush 83.

One of the first brushes 82 has an L fixed to a cylinder rod 81p of the brush cylinder 81.
The support plate 84 is provided on a letter-shaped support plate 84, and the support plate 84 is fixed to a fixing plate 85 fixed to the cylinder rod 81p, and is arranged at a position protruding from the lower plate 52 as shown in FIG. Therefore, if the cylinder rod 81p reciprocates, the first brush 82 moves in the same direction (X shown in FIG. 5).
(One direction).

The other second brush 83 is provided on an L-shaped support plate 86 as shown in FIG. 4 and moves via a cam so as to reciprocate in the Y1 direction perpendicular to the X1 direction as follows. It is configured. The support plate 86 provided with the second brush 83 is fixed to the slide plate 87, and the slide plate 8
7, two cam followers 88a and 88b are protrudingly provided on the bottom side along the Y1 direction. A linear rail groove 89a in the Y1 direction is formed in a rail plate 89 which is stacked below the slide plate 87 and fixed on the lower plate 52, and cam followers 88a, 88 are formed in the rail groove 89a.
b is freely rolling. The slide plate 87 has a cam follower 89 projecting from the upper surface thereof, and the cam follower 89 is engaged with the cam plate 90. Here, FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the cam plate 90. FIG. As shown in the figure, the cam plate 90 has a cam groove 90a formed in the shape of a "H", into which a cam follower 89 rolls freely. Then, the end of the cam plate 90 is fixed to the fixing plate 9.
1 and the fixing plate 91 is fixed to the cylinder rod 81p of the brush cylinder 81.

Next, a chuck cylinder 101 is horizontally fixed on the upper surface of the upper plate 51 shown in FIG. When the piston rod of the chuck cylinder 101 is driven, the distance between the two torch chucks 102 changes via a gear mechanism (not shown), and the plasma torch 3
0 is configured to be gripped and released. A support plate 105 for positioning the chuck cylinder 101 is provided upright at the tip of the upper plate 51, and a stopper 106 for determining a lowering position of the plasma torch 30 is fixed to a plate protruding horizontally from the upper end thereof. .

Next, the welding operation of the pressurized plasma welding machine and the cleaning operation by the plasma torch cleaning device will be described. Therefore, first, the operation of the pressurized plasma welding machine will be described. In the pressurized plasma welding machine 10 in the welding preparation stage (see FIG. 1), the torch part cylinder 24 extends and raises the piston rod 24p, and the one pressurizing part cylinder 26 contracts and raises the piston rod 26p. . At this time, the plasma torch 30 in the welding preparation stage is
As shown in FIG. 3A, the torch main body 32 is
4 The air pressure in the pressure section cylinder 26 that holds the pressure pad 34 is adjusted according to the gap S between the plate-shaped works W.

Next, when the torch part cylinder 24 contracts and descends the piston rod 24p, the plasma torch 3
The torch body 32 of FIG.
As shown in (B), it is pressed against the pressure pad 34.
Since the torch part cylinder 24 has a stroke of about 10 mm, the cap 36 is pressed against the
Even if 4 is lowered by about several millimeters, the torch main body 32 will descend following the pressure pad 34. When the plasma torch 30 is assembled by pressing the cap 36 against the pressure pad 34 in this manner, the welding of the plate-shaped work W is performed according to the following procedure.

First, the tip of the plasma torch 30 is positioned at a height of about 2 mm above the welding point of the plate-like work W by the welding robot. And the pressurizing section cylinder 2
6 extends the piston rod 26p downward, and the cap tip 34 of the plasma torch 30 descends to press the welding point of the plate-shaped work W. As a result, the gap S between the stacked plate-shaped works W (see FIG. 2) is reduced to a dimension (0 to 1.2 mm) at which plasma welding is possible. At this time, the main body 32 follows the cap tip 34 that directly presses the plate-shaped work W, and the plasma torch 30 has the cap tip 34 and the main body 32 integrated. The gap S of the plate-shaped workpiece W is reduced to a dimension (0 to 1.2 mm) at which plasma welding is possible, and the welding point is plasma-welded. The pressurizing unit cylinder 2 pressurizes the plate-like work W.
The force of No. 6 acts on the pressing pad 34 via the pressing pedestal 27, so that no pressing reaction force from the plate-like work W is applied to the torch main body 32 of the plasma torch 30.

When welding is completed, the pressurizing section cylinder 26 contracts the piston rod 26p upward, so that the pressurizing pad 34 moves up to a predetermined reference position. At this time, the pressing force (acting upward) acting on the pressurizing portion cylinder 26 is sufficiently larger than the pressing force (acting downward) acting on the torch portion cylinder 24. Thus, the pressing pad 34 can be raised together with the main body 32. Then, the plasma torch 30 separated from the plate-shaped work W is moved to the second welding point by the welding robot, and the above-described procedure is repeated to execute welding. Thereafter, the respective welding points are sequentially welded.

When the welding of all the welding points is completed, the torch part cylinder 24 is moved to the torch main body 32 of the plasma torch 30.
And the torch body 32 separates from the pressure pad 34. Then, cleaning for removing the spatter adhered to the nozzle 35 and the pressure pad 34 is subsequently performed. After welding, the plasma torch 30 is carried by the welding robot to a position where the cleaning device 50 is installed as shown in FIG. The plasma torch 30 has a pressure pad 34 separated from the main body 32 and a cleaning drill 70.
Are located between them so that they are all coaxial. First, the main body 32 of the plasma torch 30 carried to the cleaning device 50 is lowered downward by the torch cylinder 24 and is brought into contact with the stopper 106, and the height thereof is determined. Next, the torch chucks 102, 10 are driven by the operation of the chuck cylinder 101.
2, the main body 32 is sandwiched and positioning is performed to prevent lateral displacement.

Therefore, the positioned plasma torch 3
The rotating cleaning drill 70 is inserted into and removed from the main body 32 of the zero, and spatter attached to the shield gas passage 36h in the cap 36 surrounding the nozzle 35 is removed. First, the motor 61 is started, and its rotation is transmitted to the gear 64 via a gear in the gear box 62, and further, the rotation of the gear 64 is transmitted to the drill gear 66 via the access gear 65. By rotating the drill gear 66, the torch cleaning blade 71 and the rotary brush 72 constituting the cleaning drill 70 integrated therewith are rotated. The rotation of the cleaning drill 70 causes the slider 55 to move upward by the drive of the lift cylinder 56, and the cutting blade of the torch cleaning blade 71 enters into the shield gas passage 36h while rotating, thereby removing attached spatter. Then, the cleaning drill 70 is put in and out of the shield gas passage 36h about five times while rotating the torch cleaning blade 71, and the cleaning of the main body 32 of the plasma torch 30 is completed.

On the other hand, the cleaning of the pressure pad 34 is performed in parallel with the cleaning of the main body 32 as described above. Pressurized pad 3 carried to cleaning device 50 by welding robot
4, the pin 34p at the lower end has the first brush 82 and the second
It is arranged at the height of the brush 83 (see FIGS. 4 and 5). Then, the brush cylinder 81 repeats a reciprocating motion of expanding and contracting the cylinder rod 81p. Thus, as shown in FIG. 5, when the cylinder rod 81p is contracted, the first brush 82 is separated from the pressure pad 34, and the second brush 83 is disposed at a position overlapping the pressure pad 34. At this time, the cam follower 89 of the slide plate 87 is located at the portion A at the end of the cam groove 89a shown in FIG.

Next, the cylinder rod 8 of the cylinder 81
When 1p is extended, as shown in FIG.
Is placed on the pressure pad 34, and the second brush 83 is separated from the pressure pad 34 as shown in FIG. At this time, the cam follower 89 of the slide plate 87 fits in the cam groove 9 shown in FIG.
0a has moved from the A section to the B section at the intermediate position. Therefore, when the cam plate 90 moves in the X1 direction by driving the cylinder 81, the cam follower 89 moves linearly from the position A to the position B in the Y1 direction without changing the position in the X1 direction. Further, when the cylinder rod 81p of the cylinder 81 is extended, although not shown, the first brush 82 passes through the pressure pad 34, and the second brush 83 returns again and is stacked on the pressure pad 34. At this time, the cam follower 89 of the slide plate 87 has moved from the portion B of the cam groove 90a shown in FIG.

Accordingly, when the cam plate 90 moves in the X1 direction by driving the cylinder 81, the cam follower 89 moves to the X1 direction.
The linear movement is performed in the Y1 direction without changing the position in the one direction. Therefore, when the cylinder brush 81p extends and the first brush 82 passes the pressure pad 34 once, the second brush 83
Before and after the first brush 82 passes the pressure pad 34,
Is placed on the pressure pad 34. Also, when the cylinder brush 81p is contracted and the first brush 82 returns to the state of FIG. 5, the cam follower 89 moves the cam groove 90a from the portion C to the portion B and then to the portion A, so that the second brush 83 Is overlapped on the pressure pad 34 twice before and after the first brush 82 passes the pressure pad 34. As described above, the first brush 82 and the second brush 83 are brushed alternately without interference, and the spatter attached to the pressure pad 34 and the pin 34p is scraped off in two directions.

Next, when the cleaning drill 70 finishes cleaning the main body 32 of the plasma torch 30 as described above,
Subsequently, the upper opening of the pressure pad 34 is cleaned by the cleaning drill 70. This is the first cleaning drill 7
0 descends with the slider 55 by driving the lift cylinder 56, and the pressing pad 34 receives the rotating brush 72 of the cleaning drill 70 which is raised and lowered by the pressing unit cylinder 26. For this reason, the rotating brush 72 is pressed against the inner peripheral surface of the pressure pad 34 and scrapes off the attached spatter while rotating. The rotating brush 72 is pressed against the pressing pad 34 for 3 seconds, after which the cleaning drill 70 is raised by the lift cylinder 56, and the pressing pad 34 is lowered by the pressing unit cylinder 26 to separate them. During this time, the lower end portion of the pressure pad 34 is located at a position where the second brush 83 and the first brush 82 are in contact with each other, and the cleaning by these members is continued.

Thus, when the cleaning drill 70 is raised, a series of cleaning operations is completed, the torch chuck 102 is opened, the plasma torch 30 is opened, the motor 61 stops rotating, and the brush cylinder 81 is connected to the cylinder rod 81p. Reciprocation is stopped. Thereafter, in the pressurized plasma welding machine 10, the plasma torch 30 is carried by the welding robot out of the interference region with the cleaning device 50, where the main body 32 is pressed against the pressurizing pad 34 to be integrated. It will stand by in the form of the plasma torch 30.

As described above, the plasma torch 30 to be cleaned by the cleaning device 50 according to the present embodiment can separate the torch main body 32 from the pressure pad 34 by itself, and the tip portion of the nozzle 35 Is configured to facilitate cleaning. Then, the cleaning device 50 of the present embodiment
This makes it possible to automatically clean the plasma torch 30 having such a configuration. The cleaning device 50 arranges a cleaning drill 70 between the separated torch main body 32 and the pressure pad 34, and effectively removes spatter in the shield gas passage 36h by cleaning the torch cleaning blade 71. As a result, troubles caused by sputtering can be avoided. Similarly, the pressing pad 34
The upper part of the rotary brush 72 of the cleaning drill 70
Thus, by cleaning the lower portion with the first brush 82 and the second brush 83, spatter can be effectively removed, and troubles caused by spatter can be avoided.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment,
An air cylinder was used as the pressing mechanism and moving mechanism,
However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a ball screw and a nut may be used instead of the air cylinder. Although the description has been made of the pressurized plasma welding machine using a welding wire as an example, the present invention can be applied to a pressurized plasma welding machine that does not use a welding wire for cleaning a torch. The rotating brush 72 and the first brush 82
The shape of the second brush 83 may be different from the aforementioned cylindrical shape or rectangular parallelepiped shape.

[0040]

According to the present invention, a plasma torch of a pressurized plasma welding apparatus is separable into a torch main body and a press pad, and is disposed between the separated torch main body and the press pad. A cleaning drill provided with a cleaning unit at the top and bottom, a cleaning brush arranged below the pressure pad, a rotation driving unit for rotating and driving the cleaning drill, and the cleaning drill being vertically moved together with the rotation driving unit. And a brush driving means for operating the cleaning brush, wherein the cleaning drill moves up and down in the gas passage at the tip of the torch main body, and pressurizes downward. The present invention provides a plasma torch cleaning device capable of cleaning the inner periphery of an upper portion of a pad and the cleaning brush for cleaning a lower portion of a pressure pad. It has become possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a plasma torch and a support base for supporting the plasma torch of a pressurized plasma welding machine according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall vertical sectional view of a plasma torch of a pressurized plasma welding machine according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view (A) showing a disassembled state of a plasma torch of the pressurized plasma welding machine according to one embodiment of the present invention.
Figure), longitudinal sectional view showing the assembled state (fitted state) (Figure B)
It is.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a plasma torch cleaning device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the lower plate 52 viewed from the direction of arrow A in FIG. 4;

6 is a plan view showing a cam plate 90. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the lower plate 52 viewed from the direction of arrow A in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a view showing a main part of a conventional pressurized plasma welding machine.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view of a nozzle in a conventional pressurized plasma welding machine.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a conventional cleaning station for removing spatters attached to a plasma torch.

FIG. 11 is a view showing a procedure of plasma torch cleaning by a conventional cleaning station.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Pressurization type plasma welding machine 24 Torch part cylinder 26 Pressurization part cylinder 30 Plasma torch 32 Torch main body 34 Pressurizing pad 35 Nozzle 36 Cap 36h Shield gas passage 50 Cleaning device 56 Lift cylinder 61 Motor 70 Cleaning drill 71 Torch cleaning blade 72 rotating brush 81 brush cylinder 82 first brush 83 second brush 90 cam plate

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plasma torch of a pressurized plasma welding apparatus for welding a work pressurized by the heat of a jet-flowed high-temperature plasma flow, wherein the plasma torch can be separated into a torch main body and a pressurizing pad. Cleaning drill provided with upper and lower cleaning parts disposed between the torch body and the pressure pad, a cleaning brush disposed below the pressure pad, and a rotary drive for rotating the cleaning drill Means, vertical driving means for moving the cleaning drill in the vertical direction together with the rotary driving means, and brush driving means for operating the cleaning brush, wherein the cleaning drill moves up and down to the upper torch. A cleaning device for cleaning a plasma torch, wherein the inside of a gas passage at a front end portion of a main body and an inner periphery of an upper portion of a pressurizing pad below are cleaned, and the cleaning brush cleans a lower portion of the pressurizing pad. 2. The torch cleaning blade according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning drill includes a plurality of cutting blades that can be inserted into the cylindrical gas passage on the same circumference. A cleaning body made of a wire brush that can be inserted into a cylindrical pressure pad, and a cleaning brush is vertically formed downward to integrally form a rotating body. 3. The plasma torch cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning brush reciprocates in the same direction by a reciprocating linear motion of the brush driving unit, and reciprocates the brush driving unit. A second brush that reciprocates in an orthogonal direction through a cam mechanism by a linear motion that moves, wherein the first brush and the second brush alternately move to the position of the pressure pad. apparatus. 4. The plasma torch cleaning device according to claim 3, wherein the cam mechanism fixes the second brush, and the slider is movable in a direction orthogonal to a direction of movement of the brush driving means, and the brush. A cam plate that moves in the same direction as the linear motion of the driving means and transmits the motion to the slider, wherein the cam plate is formed with a cam groove having a U-shape, and the cam is formed on the slider. A plasma torch cleaning device, wherein a rolling element moving in a groove is supported by a shaft.