JP2002241833A - Apparatus for judging heat treatment of metal ring - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for judging whether a heat treatment is appropriate or not, which is able to judge without causing a damage to a metal ring subjected to the heat treatment. SOLUTION: The apparatus for judging whether the heat treatment is appropriate or not has a pressing means 5 for pressing a metal ring W made of maraging steel subjected to the heat treatment so as to deform it into a nearly elliptical shape, and a color identification means 29, which is provided at a position approaching to the nearly straight line part b of the metal ring W and identifies the surface color of the nearly straight line part b by irradiating the nearly straight line part b of the metal ring Wb with a beam of the prescribed light and receiving the reflected beam of the light, and a judging means 30 for judging whether the heat treatment is appropriate or not by comparing the surface color identified by the color identification means 29 with the prescribed standard color. The heat treatment mentioned above is a solution heat treatment.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat treatment determining method for determining the quality of a heat treatment of a metal ring which has been subjected to a heat treatment such as a solution treatment in a manufacturing process of a metal ring used for a continuously variable transmission or the like. It concerns the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a metal belt used for a continuously variable transmission or the like is manufactured as follows. First, a ring-shaped drum is formed by welding the ends of a thin sheet of maraging steel, and a solution treatment is performed on the drum to homogenize the hardness partially hardened by the heat at the time of the welding. Apply. Next, the solution-treated drum is cut into a predetermined width to form a metal ring, and the metal ring is rolled. Next, in order to recrystallize the rolled structure of the rolled metal ring and restore the shape of the metal structure deformed by rolling, a second solution treatment is performed. Correct to long. Then, after aging treatment and nitriding treatment are performed on the metal ring corrected to a predetermined circumferential length to improve hardness, a plurality of metal rings having different circumferential lengths are laminated little by little on each other, whereby the metal belt is formed. It is formed.

[0003] When the above-mentioned rolling or circumference correction is performed on a metal ring that has not been properly solution-solutioned, uniform processing cannot be performed, and the metal ring is deformed unevenly. In addition, there is a problem that a difference occurs between the left and right peripheral lengths. To solve the above problem, after each of the above solution,
It is necessary to determine the quality of the solution treatment.

[0004] As a method of judging the quality of the solution treatment, a method of performing a sampling inspection on the metal ring subjected to the solution treatment and measuring the hardness, or a method of visually inspecting the entire number thereof can be considered.

[0005] However, the method of measuring the hardness is generally performed by pressing a specific indenter which can be regarded as a rigid body into a test surface of a sample (in this case, a metal ring). . When the indentations reach the surface of the metal ring, there is a possibility that the metal belt in which a plurality of metal rings are stacked on each other cannot be used as a non-defective product when used in a continuously variable transmission. Further, since the maraging steel is expensive, if the metal ring used for the inspection is discarded, an increase in product cost cannot be avoided.

On the other hand, according to a visual inspection, if a normal steel is subjected to a heat treatment, a specific color called a tempered color (tempered color) appears on the surface due to oxidation of the components of the steel. By identifying the color, the quality of the heat treatment can be easily determined.
However, in the maraging steel, even when the heat treatment such as the solution treatment is performed, the temper color is hard to appear because the bluish gray called molybdenum blue is slightly observed. As a result, in the visual inspection, it is difficult to identify the surface color, and the reliability is low.

Therefore, it is desired to develop a technology capable of judging the quality of the solution treatment by performing a nondestructive inspection on the metal ring made of the maraging steel that has been subjected to the solution treatment without the indentation or the like. It is.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a heat treatment determination method capable of judging the quality of a heat-treated metal ring without damaging the metal ring. It is intended to provide a device.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a heat treatment judging device of the present invention presses a metal ring made of heat-treated maraging steel in a radial direction so as to be capable of releasing a pair of metal rings. Pressing means for deforming into a substantially elliptical shape consisting of a pair of chords which are substantially parallel to each other via a circular arc portion and both circular arc portions and have a substantially linear portion, and a position facing the substantially linear portion of the chord portion; Provided, the substantially linear portion is irradiated with a predetermined light beam, and by receiving the reflected light of the light beam, the color identification means for identifying the surface color of the substantially linear portion, and the color identification means is identified by the color identification means. A determination unit that compares the surface color with a predetermined reference color to determine whether the heat treatment is good or not.

In the heat treatment determining apparatus of the present invention, first, the metal ring subjected to the heat treatment is deformed into the substantially elliptical shape by the pressing means, and a substantially linear portion is formed in a part of the chord portion. You.

Next, the color identification means identifies the surface color of the substantially linear portion by irradiating the substantially linear portion with a predetermined light beam and receiving reflected light of the light beam. Since the color identification means is provided at a position facing the substantially linear portion, the reflected light can be reliably received, and the surface color can be accurately identified.

[0012] Then, the determining means compares the surface color identified by the color identifying means with a predetermined reference color, and determines the quality of the heat treatment.

In the maraging steel, a temper color hardly appears even after the heat treatment. However, according to the heat treatment determining apparatus of the present invention, since the identification of the surface color and the determination of the quality of the heat treatment are performed by the color identification unit and the determination unit, compared with a visual inspection by an operator. High reliability can be obtained, and 100% inspection can be easily performed during the manufacturing process.

The heat treatment determining apparatus according to the present invention can be applied to a metal ring that has been subjected to a solution treatment as the heat treatment.

[0015]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory plan view of the heat treatment determining apparatus of the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the heat treatment judging device of the present embodiment is provided at the end of a conveying path 1 such as a conveyor for transferring a metal ring W subjected to a solution treatment as a heat treatment to a rolling device or a circumference correction device. A positioning table 2 connected to the
Ring holding means 3 for holding and transferring the metal ring W on the positioning table.

The positioning table 2 pulls in the metal ring W conveyed to the end of the conveying path 1 onto the positioning table 2, and the metal ring W drawn onto the positioning table 2 by the pulling means 4 from one side. Pressing means 5 for pressing and deforming into a substantially elliptical shape. A guide block 6 is provided on the side facing the pressing means 5, and a contact block 7 is provided at a position where the metal ring W is retracted by the retracting means 4. The guide block 6 has an inclined guide surface 8 inclined toward the transport path 1,
The positioning table 2 is provided with a guide plate 9 extending parallel to the inclined guide surface 8. Further, the positioning table 2 is provided with a plurality of ring detection sensors 10 for detecting a metal ring W located at the end of the transport path 1 and a plurality of ring detection sensors 11 for detecting a metal ring at the retracted end position.

The retracting means 4 comprises a latching member 13 which can extend and retract from a slit 12 extending through the positioning table 2 and a cylinder 14 for moving the latching member 13 along the slit 12. Have been. The latching member 13 is provided via a driving mechanism 16 such as a cylinder provided at the tip of a piston rod 15 of the cylinder 14, and is driven by the driving means 16.

The pressing means 5 is an advancing / retracting block 17 which comes into contact with one side of the metal ring W and presses the metal ring W, and a guide 1 which guides the advancing / retreating block 17 in the advancing / retreating direction.
It is constituted by a pair of guide rods 18 and a cylinder 19 that drives the advance / retreat block 17 to advance / retreat. The two guide rods 18 are integrally connected by a connecting member 20, and the connecting member 20 is provided with a limit switch 21 for detecting a forward position of the advance / retreat block 17.

The reciprocating block 17 includes a metal ring W
A chord forming surface 22 that abuts flatly on one side to form a linear chord a on the metal ring W, and a recess 25 that can accommodate the claw member 24 of the ring gripping means 3 are formed. . On the other hand, the guide block 6 facing the forward / backward block 17 has
A chord forming surface 26 that abuts the other side of the metal ring W flatly to form a linear chord b on the metal ring W in the same manner as the reciprocating block 17, and a claw member 24 of the ring gripping means 3.
Is formed, and the chord portion forming surface 26 is connected to the inclined guide surface 8.

The guide block 6 has a window 28 penetrating in a direction perpendicular to the straight chord b of the metal ring W formed in contact with the chord forming surface 26. The positioning table 2 is provided with a color identification sensor 29 for identifying the surface color of the chord b at a position facing the straight chord b through the window. Then, the color identification sensor 29 is connected to the determination device 30 that determines the surface color of the chord b.

As the color identification sensor 29, a red LE
A spot light is emitted to the chord b from a light source constituted by D, a green LED, and a blue LED, and a color identification sensor or the like for identifying a surface color based on a color component, a received light amount, or the like can be used. Further, the determination device 30 compares a reference color registered in advance as a surface color of the metal ring W subjected to the heat treatment with a color identified by the color identification sensor 29, and determines whether the degree of coincidence with the reference color is a predetermined value. Is determined to be non-defective when it is within the range, and is determined to be bad when it is out of the predetermined range.

A light-shielding plate (not shown) is attached to a top surface of the window portion 28 which is an optical path of the color identification sensor 29.
The influence of external light rays on the light rays irradiated and received by the color identification sensor 29 is avoided.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of the present embodiment will be described.

Referring to FIG. 1, when a metal ring W subjected to a solution treatment as a heat treatment is conveyed to the end of conveyance path 1, a hook member is provided in accordance with detection of metal ring W by ring detection sensor 10. The metal ring W is hooked by the hook member 13 on the inner peripheral side. Next, the piston rod 15 is contracted by driving the cylinder 14,
The locking member 13 is moved to the end of the slit 13. Along with this, the metal ring W hooked on the hooking member 13 is drawn between the advancing / retreating block 17 of the pressing means 5 and the guide block 6 along the inclined guide surface 8 and the guide plate 9, and the contact block 7 and is positioned.

Metal ring W in contact with contact block 7
Is detected by the ring detection sensor 11, and the cylinder block 19 is driven in accordance with this detection to move the reciprocating block 17.
Is advanced to the stop position by the limit switch 21. As a result, the metal ring W is moved to the reciprocating block 17.
And between the guide block 6 and a substantially elliptical shape. At this time, as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 1, the metal ring W has a substantially straight chord a which is opposed in parallel by the chord forming surface 22 of the advance / retreat block 17 and the chord forming surface 26 of the guide block 6. , B are formed via a pair of arc portions c, d, and a substantially linear chord b is brought into contact with the window 28 of the guide block 6.

When the chord b is brought into contact with the window 28, the chord b is irradiated with spot light from the color identification sensor 29 via the window 28, and the color identification sensor 29 reflects the spot light. Light is received, and the surface color of the chord b is identified based on the color component of the reflected light, the amount of received light, and the like. Next, the color identification sensor 2
9 outputs the data of the surface color of the chord portion b identified as described above to the determination device 30, and the determination device 30 uses the reference color registered in advance as the surface color of the metal ring W subjected to the heat treatment. And the color identified by the color identification sensor 29 is compared, and the quality of the heat treatment is determined based on the degree of coincidence with the reference color.

When the judgment by the judging device 30 is completed, the ring gripping means 3 provided on the positioning table 2 is lowered toward the metal ring W by a cylinder or the like. The ring gripping means 3 includes four claw members 24, three of which are accommodated in the recess 25 of the advance / retreat block 17 and the recess 27 of the guide block 6, and the metal ring W together with the other claw member 24. Abut on the outer peripheral surfaces of the chords a and b.

Next, when the reciprocating block 17 is retracted by driving the cylinder 19, the pressing of the metal ring W by the reciprocating block 17 is released.
, The substantially elliptical shape is maintained.
At this time, since the metal ring W has a restoring elasticity, the metal ring W comes into pressure contact with the claw members 24 and is held by each claw member 24.

When the metal ring W is judged to be non-defective by the judging device 30, the metal ring W is gripped by the ring gripping means 3 and transferred to a rolling device or a circumference correcting device in the next step. . Further, when the metal ring W is determined to be defective by the determination device 30, the metal ring W is gripped by the ring gripping means 3 and discharged out of the device.

In this embodiment, the surface color of the metal ring W is identified only at one location of the chord b, but the surface color may be identified at a plurality of locations.

In this embodiment, the metal ring W is transferred to the next step by the ring gripping means 3 or the metal ring W is discharged to the outside of the apparatus. You may make it perform manually based on it.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory plan view showing one embodiment of a heat treatment determining apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

5: pressing means, 29: color identification means, 30: determination means.

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yuji Narizaki 1-10-1 Shinsayama, Sayama-shi, Saitama F-term (reference) in Honda Engineering Co., Ltd. 2G020 AA08 DA05 DA22 DA31 DA34 DA52 2G055 AA03 BA07 BA15 BA18 DA08 DA11 DA17 DA24 FA01 FA02 4K034 DB02 DB08 GA07 GA18 4K042 AA23 EA01 EA03

Claims (2)

[Claims] A metal ring made of a heat-treated maraging steel is releasably pressed in a radial direction to have a pair of circular arc portions and a substantially linear portion opposed to each other substantially in parallel via both circular arc portions. 1
Pressing means for deforming into a substantially elliptical shape consisting of a pair of chords, provided at a position facing the substantially linear portion of the chord, irradiating the substantially linear portion with a predetermined light beam, and reflecting light of the light beam And a color identification unit that identifies the surface color of the substantially linear portion by receiving light, and a determination unit that compares the surface color identified by the color identification unit with a predetermined reference color to determine the quality of the heat treatment. And a heat treatment determining apparatus. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heat treatment is a solution treatment of the metal ring.