JP2618132B2 - Pipe insertion direction control method for pipe joining device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling a pipe insertion direction in a pipe joining apparatus for joining pipes when laying the pipes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when laying a pipe in a groove, a pipe joining apparatus for sequentially joining pipes arranged in an opening groove is used. As this pipe joining apparatus, a wire rope type apparatus is used. Representative. In this method, a wire rope was hung over both a pipe to be joined and a pipe to be joined, and this was pulled by a lever block or the like. In this case, there is a problem that the work of centering and joining the two tubes requires skill.

[0003] To solve this problem, a pipe joining apparatus having a configuration as shown in FIG. 5 has already been proposed. In this pipe joining device, a first clamp device is fixed to a frame, a second clamp device is provided to be able to approach and separate from the first clamp device, and a side to be joined to the second clamp device is provided. Clamps the tube connected to the first clamping device, moves the second clamping device in a direction approaching the first clamping device, and inserts the tube on the side to be joined. Is inserted into the socket of the tube to be joined and joined.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 1 denotes a frame arranged along the pipe axis direction of the pipe 2; 3 denotes a first clamp device having a centering function fixed to one end of the frame 2; A second clamp device 6 with a centering function, movably attached along a slide rail 5 parallel to the tube axis direction fixed to the end, is provided at the lower end of the first clamp device 3, A pair of tube clamp pawls 7 for holding and positioning the tube 2 while being close to and separated from each other in the horizontal direction by an appropriate mechanism in the clamp device 3 are provided at the lower end of the second clamp device 4, and similarly, the second A pair of tube clamp pawls 8 for holding and positioning the tube 2 while being close to and separated from each other in the horizontal direction by an appropriate mechanism in the clamp device 4 are interposed between the frame 1 and the second clamp device 4, and Of the first clamping device 4 A hydraulic cylinder for moving to the side of the flop device 3.

When a pipe is joined using the pipe joining apparatus having such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 6A, the pipe 2 on the side to be joined by the pipe clamp pawls 6 of the first clamp apparatus 3 is used. The receiving port 9 is clamped, the insertion port 10 of the pipe 2 to be joined is clamped by the pipe clamping pawl 7 of the second clamping device 4, and then the hydraulic cylinder 8 is moved as shown in FIG. Is driven to move the second clamp device 4 to the first clamp device 3 side, and the insertion opening 10 is inserted into the receiving opening 9 and joined. At this time, the insertion opening 10 and the reception opening 9 are in a state of being centered by the tube clamp claws 7, 6, and the joining thereof can be performed only by moving the second clamp device 4.

[0006]

However, in the pipe joining apparatus having the above structure, centering of the receiving side and the inserting side is not strictly possible, and as shown in FIG. A part of the pipe end of the insertion port 10 inserted in the pipe 9 hits one end of a rubber ring 28 attached to the socket 9 before the pipe is joined, so that the rubber ring 28 is “knotted”.
As a result, there is a problem that the insertion opening 10 cannot be inserted or the rubber ring 28 is dropped from the mounting position. In such a case, in the case of joining by human power, while inserting the opening 10 while releasing the `` broke '' state by trial and error while swinging the opening 10 up and down and left and right, the pipe joining device In the case of automatic joining, this could not be performed.

[0007] The present invention solves the above-mentioned problem, and in a pipe joining apparatus as proposed above, automatically determines the "braking" state of a pipe when an insertion port is inserted and avoids this. It is an object of the present invention to provide a tube insertion direction control method that enables insertion of a tube by rotating an insertion clamp device in such a manner.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a pipe insertion direction control method according to the present invention is directed to a pipe joining apparatus, comprising: It is made to be able to rotate up and down, and the magnitude and direction of the force acting on the cylinder device via the insertion clamp device at the time of pipe joining is detected, and when the force components in the left and right direction and the up and down direction are large, the cylinder device The amount of correction of the insertion direction of the insertion clamp by the insertion clamp device is determined from the relationship previously obtained between the detection result of the force acting on the insertion clamp device and the rotation control amount of the insertion clamp device, and the insertion clamp device is operated in accordance with this correction amount. The insertion direction of the insertion opening is corrected by turning left and right and up and down.

[0009]

According to the above construction, when the insertion end hits the rubber ring at the time of pipe joining, the magnitude and direction of the force acting on the cylinder device are detected by, for example, a 6-component force meter, and the horizontal direction and the vertical direction at that time are detected. When the force component in the direction is large, it is determined to be in a “cold” state, and the insertion clamp device is rotated left and right and up and down in response to the force component, so that the “cold” state is automatically avoided. The same effect as the conventional trial and error operation can be obtained.

[0010]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1A and 1B are a partially cutaway plan view and a partially omitted side view showing an example of a pipe joining apparatus used in a pipe insertion direction control method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram for explaining connection between a hydraulic cylinder and an insertion clamp device in the pipe joining device, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control system in the pipe joining device.

In FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), 11 is a frame, 12 is a tube, 13 is an inlet clamp device, 14 is an insertion clamp device, 15
Is a slide rail, 16 and 17 are pipe clamp claws, 18 is a hydraulic cylinder, 19 is a receiving port, and 20 is an insertion port, corresponding to 1 to 10 in FIGS.

Numeral 21 denotes a 6-component force meter for detecting the magnitude and direction of the force acting on the hydraulic cylinder 18 at the time of pipe joining.
As shown in (b), one end is connected to the rod of the hydraulic cylinder 18, and the other end is connected to the insertion clamp device 14 by the universal joint 22, and x, y, z obtained from the detected force. Outputs signals about the directional forces and moments respectively. The insertion clamp device 14 is movable on a slide rail 15 so that it can rotate left and right and up and down around a fulcrum A by a universal joint 22.
The moving body 23 can be followed by the movement of the insertion clamp device driven by the hydraulic cylinder 18. Alternatively, the moving body 23 may be moved directly in conjunction with the rod of the hydraulic cylinder 18.

As shown in FIG. 1A, reference numeral 24 denotes a left-right rotating cylinder interposed between the moving body 23 and one of the left and right ends of the insertion clamp device 14. Can be rotated right and left around the fulcrum A by the universal joint 22. 25, as shown in FIG. 1 (b),
The insertion clamp device 14 can be rotated up and down around the fulcrum A by the universal joint 22 by a vertical rotation cylinder interposed between the moving body 23 and the center lower end of the insertion clamp device.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 31 denotes an amplifier for amplifying the output of the 6-component dynamometer 21;
A D converter 33 is a CPU (AI system) in which the relationship between the detection result of the force acting on the hydraulic cylinder 18 and the rotation control amount of the insertion clamp device 14 is input in advance, and the A / D converter 32 The / D-converted 6-component force meter 21 output is input, and a control signal for controlling the amount of rotation of the insertion port clamp device 14 is output to the servo amplifier 34. Reference numeral 35 denotes a servo valve, which opens the valves of the left-right rotation cylinder 24 and the up-down rotation cylinder 25 by the output of the servo amplifier 34, and presses the left-right rotation cylinder 24 and the up-down rotation cylinder 25 by hydraulic oil from the hydraulic unit 36. Drive. Reference numerals 37 and 38 denote rotation angle detectors, which detect the left and right rotation angles and the vertical rotation angles of the insertion clamp device 14 by the left and right rotation cylinders 24 and the vertical rotation cylinders 25, respectively.
When the rotation angle coincides with the rotation amount control signal output from the CPU 33 for the left-right rotation cylinder 24 and the up-down rotation cylinder 25, the valves of the respective rotation cylinders 24, 25 are closed.

Next, a method of controlling the tube insertion direction by the CPU will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Hydraulic cylinder
Insertion of the tube is started by extension of 18 (step 41), contact of the tip of the insertion port with the rubber ring 28 is detected based on the indicated value of the 6-component force meter 21 (step 42), and control of the tube insertion direction is started (step 42). Step 43). Next, the indication value of the 6-component force meter 21 is read (step 44), and it is determined whether the force components in the left-right direction and the up-down direction are large (step 45). If large, C
From the relationship between the detection result of the force of the 6-component force gauge 21 and the rotation control amount of the insertion clamp 14 that have been input to the PU 33 in advance,
The correction amount of the pipe insertion direction is determined (step 46), and the pipe insertion direction is corrected using the left / right rotation cylinder 24 and the up / down rotation cylinder 25 (step 47), and the process returns to step 44. If the horizontal and vertical force components are not large, continue tube insertion (step 48) and use an ultrasonic probe or the like to
Judge whether the insertion opening has reached the specified insertion amount (Step 4
9) If not reached, return to step 44; if reached, stop insertion (step 50).

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, the "brake" state of the pipe at the time of pipe joining is automatically determined, and the insertion clamp device is rotated left and right and up and down so as to avoid this. Therefore, a trial-and-error operation can be performed in the same manner as when inserting manually, and automatic pipe joining by the pipe joining apparatus becomes possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view and a partially omitted side view showing an example of a pipe joining apparatus in a pipe insertion direction control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining connection between a hydraulic cylinder and an insertion clamp device in the pipe joining device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control system in the pipe joining apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a pipe insertion direction control method.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional pipe joining device.

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining centering and pipe insertion operations at the time of pipe joining by a conventional pipe joining apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a “cold” state due to an opening at the time of pipe joining.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 Pipe 13 Receptacle Clamping Device 14 Insertion Clamping Device 15 Slide Rail 18 Hydraulic Cylinder 21 6-Component Force Gauge 22 Universal Joint 23 Moving Body 24 Cylinder for Left / Right Rotation 25 Cylinder for Vertical Rotation

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A receiving port clamping device for clamping a pipe receiving port, a receiving port clamping device which clamps a pipe receiving port so as to be able to approach / separate from the receiving port clamping device, and a cylinder for driving the receiving port clamping device A pipe insertion direction control method for a pipe joining device having a device, wherein the magnitude and direction of the force acting on the cylinder device at the time of pipe joining are detected, and when the force components in the left-right direction and the up-down direction are large, From the relationship between the detection result of the force acting on the cylinder device and the previously determined relationship between the amount of rotation control of the insertion clamp device, the amount of correction in the insertion direction by the insertion clamp device is determined. A pipe insertion direction control method for a pipe joining apparatus, in which the apparatus is rotated right and left and up and down to correct the insertion direction of an insertion port.