JP2002212701A - Thermal spraying method to three-dimensional article - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermal spraying method to three-dimensional articles, such as mufflers, which is capable of easily drawing characters or patterns by thermal spraying to the three-dimensional articles while maintaining decorativeness. SOLUTION: This thermal spraying method to the three-dimensional articles has a prepolishing process step S1 of subjecting the segments to be drawn as the character 4 of a blank 2 to buffing, a thermal spraying process step S4 of subjecting the segments buffed in the prepolishing process step S1 to surface preparation by a shot blasting process step S3, then drawing the characters 4 thereto by thermal spraying, a working process step S5 of subjecting the blank 2 thermally sprayed in the thermal spraying process step S4 to rolling to a three-dimensional shape, and a post polishing process step S6 of buffing the surface exclusive of the segments polished in the prepolishing process step S1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for spraying characters or patterns on a surface of a muffler attached to a motorcycle, for example, by spraying onto a three-dimensional article.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A muffler attached to a motorcycle has a function of discharging exhaust gas from an engine, etc.
In order to also have a decorative effect related to the appearance of the entire motorcycle, recently, various design innovations have been made to the material and shape, etc., from the viewpoint of improving such a design, the material is titanium. Something with a solid taste has been offered.

Further, in addition to using titanium as the material of the muffler as described above, conventionally, the surface of the muffler made of titanium is sprayed to draw characters, patterns, etc., thereby further improving the decorative effect, and further improving the decorative effect. There are also proposals for improving the heat resistance and weather resistance of characters and patterns. Such a muffler made of titanium has been obtained by spraying a blank surface made of titanium to draw desired characters or patterns, and then performing rolling, welding, or the like into a predetermined shape.

[0004]

However, the conventional method for manufacturing a muffler has the following problems. That is, the surface of the muffler is usually subjected to buffing, but the sprayed portion has a higher surface roughness than the surrounding surface, and the abrasive powder generated during buffing is more likely to adhere, When buffing is performed on a character or pattern drawn by thermal spraying, polishing powder adheres to the character or pattern and the appearance tends to deteriorate.

[0005] On the other hand, if the entire surface of the blank is subjected to buffing before the thermal spraying step, the above problem can be solved. However, this manufacturing method is difficult for the following reasons. That is, since polishing work for a rare metal such as titanium requires delicate skill of an operator, it is difficult to perform it with a general-purpose polishing apparatus. Pressing is performed, but when the object to be polished is in a blank state, it is deformed at the time of pressing, and proper buffing cannot be performed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has been developed for a three-dimensional article such as a muffler or the like, which can easily render characters or patterns by thermal spraying while maintaining decorativeness. It is to provide a thermal spraying method.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
What is claimed is: 1. A method for spraying a three-dimensional article by spraying a surface of an article to be processed into a three-dimensional shape from a blank to draw a decorative character or pattern, wherein a part of the blank for drawing the character or pattern is polished. A polishing step, a spraying step of spraying the portion polished in the pre-polishing step to draw the character or pattern, and a processing step of processing the blank sprayed in the spraying step into a three-dimensional shape, And a post-polishing step of polishing the surface of the three-dimensional article processed in the processing step other than the portion polished in the pre-polishing step.

According to such a configuration, a portion other than a portion where a character or a pattern is to be drawn is polished in advance, and the portion is drawn by thermal spraying to be processed into a three-dimensional shape. The part other than the part polished in the pre-polishing step of the three-dimensional article is further polished to obtain a three-dimensional article as a final product. In this case, the processing in the processing step includes processing for forming various three-dimensional shapes such as press processing and rolling processing, and the polishing in the pre-polishing step and the post-polishing step includes various processing for surface finishing of a blank or a three-dimensional article. Including polishing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the pre-polishing step comprises:
The three-dimensional article is formed, polished and thermally sprayed in the order of a processing step, a thermal spraying step and a post-polishing step.

The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the thermal spraying selects a kind of a substance to be heated and sprayed so as to draw a character or a pattern of a desired color.

The invention according to a fourth aspect is characterized in that the thermal spraying is performed by injecting a heated and melted ceramic to a desired portion of the blank.

The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the blank is made of titanium.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the article is a muffler attached to a motorcycle, wherein the polishing performed in the pre-polishing process and the post-polishing process is a buff polishing. , Rolling processing.

According to this configuration, a portion other than a portion where a character or a pattern is to be drawn is polished in advance, and the portion is drawn by thermal spraying to be rolled into a muffler shape. A portion other than the portion buffed in the pre-polishing step of the muffler is further buffed to obtain a muffler as a final product. In this case, the blank material may be titanium or another metal, and a desired material can be selected as a material to be sprayed by spraying.

The invention according to claim 7 is characterized in that the surface of the article processed in the processing step forms a curved surface and is sprayed by a manipulator or a robot hand which can move relative to the surface three-dimensionally. I do.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. The three-dimensional article to which the present embodiment is applied is a muffler 1 made of titanium attached to a motorcycle as shown in FIG. 8, and characters as shown in the figure are drawn on the surface of the muffler 1.
Such characters are drawn by thermal spraying, and the design of the motorcycle can be improved by adding patterns such as figures in addition to the characters.

The embodiment according to the present invention relates to a method for spraying a muffler 1 for forming a decorative character or pattern by spraying onto the surface of a muffler 1 which is processed into a three-dimensional shape from a blank, as shown in FIG. In addition, a pre-polishing step S1, a masking step S2, a shot blasting step S3, a thermal spraying step S4, a processing step S5, and a post-polishing step S6 are sequentially performed to manufacture the muffler 1 having an excellent design.

As shown in FIG. 2, the pre-polishing step S1 is a step of buffing only the area a (in the area surrounded by the dotted line in FIG. 2) which is a portion of the blank 2 where characters are drawn. The blank 2 is a single plate made of titanium, but may be a material to which predetermined impurities or the like are added in order to obtain desired rigidity and strength, or other metal (stainless steel, aluminum alloy, or the like). You may.

Here, the buff polishing is a method in which an abrasive is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical buff made of cloth, leather, or the like, and is pressed against the blank 2 while rotating in this state to polish the surface. The purpose is to improve the smoothness and glossiness of the surface and improve the design of the material.
Although it is one of the finish polishing, the range a may be polished by another method. As the buff in the buff polishing, for example, No. 150 endless, No. 240 endless, No. 240 uniflap, No. 320 sisal, or the like can be used.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the masking step S2, a blank M which has been polished in the pre-polishing step S1 is a mask M having cutouts Ma equivalent to characters or patterns to be drawn on a muffler as a final product. This is a step of fixing within the range a. The mask M is preferably made of a material that can withstand the thermal spraying heat in the thermal spraying step S4, and has a viscous back surface and can be adhesively fixed to the blank 2. Note that a general-purpose adhesive tape may be attached so that a gap similar to the cutout Ma is generated.

The shot blasting step S3 is a step of performing shot blasting on the blank 2 from above the mask M fixed in the masking step S2 to increase the surface roughness of a portion of the blank 2 exposed by the cutout Ma. That is, steel grains projected at a high speed by shot blasting process the surface of the blank 2 in the cutout Ma. By such a process, the surface roughness can be increased along the characters to be drawn or the like.
When the ceramics are sprayed in step 4, the adhesion of the ceramics to the blank 2 can be improved.

The thermal spraying step S4 is a step of drawing characters by plasma spraying in a range a which is a part buffed in the pre-polishing step S1. As shown in FIG. The spraying is performed by a thermal spraying apparatus including a nozzle 3 for jetting and a supply pipe 3a opened near the jet port of the nozzle 3. Here, thermal spraying refers to a process in which a predetermined substance is heated and melted and sprayed onto the surface of a target article, and the adhered substance is cooled to form a film. (This may be a desired pattern).

The plasma spraying performed in the present embodiment
Plasma gas (N₂+ H ₂・ Ar + He ・ A
r + H₂) And ionize it to create a high-temperature inert atmosphere.
After obtaining the atmosphere, a powdered ceramic such as alumina
(Ceramic powder) from the supply pipe 3a.
While being performed by injecting the plasma gas.
You. The gas flow (plasma jet)
Particles are irradiated at high speed in the molten state,
After attaching to the cutout Ma, it is cooled and solidified.
A predetermined character or pattern (in the case of the present embodiment, “SHI
The character “NBA” 4) will be depicted.

The spraying conditions can be appropriately changed in consideration of the material of the muffler to be sprayed, the ambient temperature, and the like, and the character 4 is always drawn under the optimum spraying conditions. As a specific example, the voltage applied in the arc is 75 V, the current is 650 A, and the particle size of the ceramic powder is 10 to 10 V.
Thermal spraying conditions include a thickness of about 44 μm and a thickness of about 0.1 mm formed by thermal spraying.

According to the plasma spraying of this embodiment, the maximum 2,500 to 300 obtained by the oxygen acetylene flame can be obtained.
Although a high-temperature atmosphere of 5000 to 6000 ° C. higher than 0 ° C. can be preferably obtained, the muffler may be described by another known spraying method instead of the plasma spraying. Before spraying the ceramic particles, the mask M
It is preferable that a binder is applied through the substrate and ceramic particles are adhered thereon, since the adhesion of characters and the like by thermal spraying can be further improved.

Further, the type of the substance to be heated and sprayed can be arbitrarily selected in order to draw characters of a desired color, and the decorative effect of the muffler 1 can be further improved, and the taste of the designer and the user can be improved. Can be provided. As a material to be sprayed, a metal such as stainless steel or tungsten can be used in addition to the ceramic or the like as in the present embodiment. Here, since the muffler 1 is always exposed to the outside air and is heated to a high temperature, the characters 4 may be peeled off due to rain, rain or high temperature. However, if the material to be sprayed is ceramics such as alumina, heat resistance and weather resistance are reduced. Excellent character 4 can be obtained.

The processing step S5 includes the range a in the thermal spraying step S4.
In this step, the blank 2 (see FIG. 5) on which the characters 4 are sprayed is rolled into the shape of the muffler 1 (that is, a three-dimensional shape). As shown in FIG. 2b is welded or the like to form a substantially cylindrical shape. In addition to such rolling, press working or coining may be performed to add a predetermined shape, or shot peening or embossing may be performed to improve the strength of the material.

The post-polishing step S6 is a step of buffing the surface of the muffler 1 which has been rolled in the processing step S5, except for the portion polished in the pre-polishing step S1. That is, in the pre-polishing step S1, only the area b indicated by the dotted line shown in FIG.
Buffing is performed in this step for muffler 1
After finishing polishing the whole, muffler 1 as final product
(See FIG. 7).

The buff polishing is also performed by rotating the buff to which the abrasive is fixed as described above. The difference from the method of the pre-polishing step S1 is that the buff is formed into a three-dimensional shape by rolling. The point is that the worker holds the finished muffler by hand and presses the surface of the polished area b of the muffler against the rotating buff. That is, in the state of the blank 2, since the strength in the thickness direction is insufficient, the rotating buff is pressed after the blank 2 is placed on a floor surface or the like. Since the strength in the direction is improved, the above-described method is performed as a method that facilitates buffing.

Thus, a series of manufacturing steps in the method for spraying mufflers according to the present embodiment is completed. According to the present thermal spraying method, characters and the like can be drawn on a plane formed by the blank 2, so that accurate characters or patterns as designed can be easily attached as compared with a case where characters are drawn on a three-dimensional curved surface. can do.

Further, a pre-polishing step S
The formation of the muffler 1, buffing, and thermal spraying may be performed in the order of 1, processing step S5, masking step S2, shot blasting step S3, thermal spraying step S4, and post-polishing step S6. In this case, since the spraying is performed on the surface of the muffler that forms a curved surface, it is preferable to perform the spraying with a manipulator or a robot hand that can move three-dimensionally relative to the surface.

That is, when performing thermal spraying on the surface of the blank 2 forming a plane, the nozzle 3 is moved two-dimensionally (blank 2).
May be moved within a plane separated from the surface by a predetermined distance), but when drawing a character or a pattern on a curved surface, the operation of the nozzle 3 in consideration of the curvature is required. In order to realize this operation simply and reliably, the manipulator and the robot hand are three-dimensionally moved according to a predetermined program.

According to the above embodiment, only the area a to which the character 4 is attached is buffed in advance, the character 4 is drawn in the area a by thermal spraying, and then formed into a three-dimensional shape by rolling. Since the other range b is subjected to the buffing, the buffing on the character 4 is not required, and the character 4 can be prevented from peeling off by the buffing or being stained by the abrasive powder. Therefore, it is possible to easily spray the muffler while maintaining the decorative effect of the character 4.

Although the present embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to three-dimensional articles other than the muffler. For example, when the present invention is applied to a metal cup, only a predetermined area of a blank made of aluminum or the like is polished in advance, and a desired character or pattern is drawn in the area by thermal spraying. After that, it is processed into a cup shape, and the area other than the depicted portion is polished, so that a cup having an excellent decorative effect can be obtained.

In addition, characters and patterns are drawn by spraying on various articles that are processed into a three-dimensional shape from blanks, as represented by daily necessities such as pots and kettles, and bodies of vehicles such as automobiles and trains. Can be applied in case. That is, the processing in the processing step of the present invention is not limited to the rolling processing of the embodiment, but includes various processing modes for forming a three-dimensional shape, such as press processing such as stretch forming or bending.

[0036]

According to the first or second aspect of the present invention,
Since only the portion where the character or pattern is drawn is polished in advance before thermal spraying, polishing on the character or pattern can be eliminated. Therefore, the character or pattern can be prevented from being stained by the polishing powder during the polishing process, and the character or pattern can be easily drawn by thermal spraying while maintaining the decorativeness of the three-dimensional article.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, characters or patterns of a desired color can be described by selecting the type of the material to be sprayed at the time of thermal spraying, so that a decorative effect can be obtained in consideration of the color of the entire target article. .

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the material to be heated and melted at the time of thermal spraying is made of ceramics such as alumina, it is possible to draw characters or patterns having excellent heat resistance and weather resistance.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the object to be sprayed is titanium, characters or patterns can be drawn on a heavy article to further enhance the decorative effect.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to obtain a decorative effect on a muffler which has a significant effect on the design of a motorcycle, while rendering characters or patterns by thermal spraying while maintaining the decorativeness. be able to. In addition, if the blank material is made of titanium or a desired material is selected as a material to be sprayed by spraying, a muffler that matches the taste of the designer and the user can be provided.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, since the thermal spraying is performed by the manipulator or the robot hand, a character or a pattern as designed can be drawn on the surface which is processed and forms a curved surface. It is possible to spray a three-dimensional article of various shapes only by changing a program or the like for controlling the operation of the robot hand.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a method for spraying a three-dimensional article according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a blank applied to a method for thermal spraying a three-dimensional article according to an embodiment of the present invention and a target range of a pre-polishing step.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a state in which a blank applied to the method for thermal spraying a three-dimensional article according to the embodiment of the present invention is masked.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a state in which a blank applied to the method for spraying a three-dimensional article according to the embodiment of the present invention is sprayed.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a state after thermal spraying is applied to a blank applied to the method for thermal spraying a three-dimensional article according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a state where rolling processing is applied to a blank after thermal spraying applied to a method for thermal spraying a three-dimensional article according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a muffler to which a method for spraying a three-dimensional article according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a muffler to which a method for thermal spraying a three-dimensional article according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied is attached to a motorcycle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Muffler 2 ... Blank 2a, 2b ... End part 3 ... Nozzle 4 ... Letter M ... Mask Ma ... Cutout

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A method of spraying a three-dimensional article by spraying a surface of an article to be processed into a three-dimensional shape from a blank to draw a decorative character or pattern, comprising: a portion of the blank for drawing the character or pattern. A pre-polishing step of polishing, a spraying step of spraying the portion polished in the pre-polishing step to draw the character or pattern, and processing the blank sprayed in the spraying step into a three-dimensional shape. A method for spraying a three-dimensional article, comprising: a processing step; and a post-polishing step of polishing a surface of the three-dimensional article processed in the processing step other than a portion polished in the pre-polishing step. 2. A three-dimensional object comprising forming, polishing and spraying the three-dimensional article in the order of the pre-polishing step, the processing step, the thermal spraying step and the post-polishing step instead of the processing order according to claim 1. Spraying method for articles. 3. The method for spraying a three-dimensional article according to claim 1, wherein the spraying is performed by selecting a kind of a substance to be heated and sprayed so as to draw a character or a pattern of a desired color. . 4. The thermal spraying on a three-dimensional article according to claim 1, wherein the thermal spraying is performed by injecting a heat-melted ceramic to a desired portion of the blank. Method. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the blank is made of titanium. 6. The article is a muffler attached to a motorcycle, wherein the polishing performed in the pre-polishing processing and the post-polishing processing is buff polishing, and the processing in the processing step is a rolling processing. The method of spraying a three-dimensional article according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: 7. The article processed in the processing step has a curved surface, and the article is thermally sprayed by a manipulator or a robot hand which can move relative to the surface three-dimensionally. Spraying method for 3D articles.