JP5087305B2 - Expansion body and gripping device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cylindrical inflatable body that can be inflated by a fluid, and a gripping device that grips a component with the inflatable body by injecting fluid into a sealed space between a body body and the inflatable body.

  Conventionally, various proposals have been made on a gripping device for gripping parts or the like (for example, an engine cylinder block, a cylindrical pipe, a photosensitive drum). For example, by embedding a reinforcing cord inside the inflatable body that constitutes the gripping device, the range of use can be expanded (for example, it can be used even at high pressure), and a component having a large mass can be used. A transportable gripping device is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

For gripping devices, a reinforcement layer is generally used for the purpose of improving weather resistance such as ozone resistance and chemical resistance, or preventing damage due to exposure of the reinforcing cord and improving wear resistance. Although the outer layer of the same material (for example, chloroprene rubber (CR)) as that of 101 is provided, as shown in FIG. 6A, the outer layer 103 (for example, different from the reinforcing layer 101A and having different chemical resistance) By arranging ethylene-propylene rubber (EPDM)), the chemical resistance characteristics can be changed.
JP-A-8-333077 (2nd page-3rd page, Fig. 3)

  However, in the inflatable body 100 used in the above-described conventional gripping device, as shown in FIG. 6B, the reinforcing layer joint portions 101J joined together when the reinforcing layer 101 is formed into a cylindrical shape are end portions of each other. Since they are formed in a state of being bonded together, the outer skin layer 103 may invade the reinforcing layer joint portion 101J during vulcanization, and elongation or the like is likely to occur. As a result, the adhesiveness and durability of the reinforcing layer joint portion 101J are lowered, and the expansion body 100 may be damaged.

  Then, this invention is made | formed in view of such a condition, and provides the expansion body which can improve the adhesiveness and durability of a reinforcement layer joint part, and a holding apparatus provided with this expansion body. For the purpose.

  In order to solve the above situation, the present invention has the following features. First, the invention according to the first feature of the present invention is a cylindrical expansion body that is used in a gripping device for grasping a component and can be expanded by a fluid, and includes a reinforcement layer formed by an elastic body and a reinforcement cord, A barrier layer which is provided outside the reinforcing layer (outside in the radial direction) and covers at least the reinforcing layer joint part joined when the reinforcing layer is formed into a cylindrical shape; and provided outside the reinforcing layer and the barrier layer, and an elastic body The gist is to provide an outer skin layer made of

  Here, the components refer to various components such as engine cylinder blocks, cylindrical pipes, photosensitive drums, foods, cosmetics, and medical supplies.

  According to such a feature, the barrier layer covering the reinforcing layer joint portion is provided between the reinforcing layer and the outer skin layer, so that the outer skin layer enters the reinforcing layer joint portion during vulcanization. Since it can prevent, the adhesiveness and durability of a reinforcement layer joint part can be improved. As a result, it is possible to extend the life by suppressing the damage of the expansion body.

  Another aspect of the invention is characterized in that the barrier layer covers the entire reinforcing layer.

  According to this feature, even if the reinforcing cord protrudes from the reinforcing layer because the barrier layer covers the entire reinforcing layer, the reinforcing cord is covered with the barrier layer so that the reinforcing cord and the outer skin layer are separated from each other. It is possible to eliminate contact, and it is possible to eliminate the deterioration of the durability of the expansion body.

  Another aspect of the invention is characterized in that the barrier layer is made of the same material as the elastic body in the reinforcing layer.

  According to such a feature, even if the barrier layer is made of the same material as the elastic body in the reinforcing layer, even when the barrier layer penetrates into the reinforcing layer joint part during vulcanization, the reinforcing layer It is possible to eliminate the deterioration of the adhesiveness and durability of the joint portion.

  The gist of the invention relating to other features is that, in the cross section in the circumferential direction of the expanded body, the thickness (T) of the barrier layer is 0.2 mm or more and less than the thickness of the reinforcing layer.

  According to such a feature, when the thickness (T) of the barrier layer is 0.2 mm or more and less than the thickness (A) of the reinforcing layer, the outer layer is formed on the reinforcing layer joint portion during vulcanization. When the barrier layer covers only the reinforcing layer joint part, of course, the thickness of the barrier layer is minimized to suppress variations in the flexibility of the expansion body. be able to. Further, when the barrier layer covers the entire reinforcing layer, the expansion body can be reduced (inhibition of the thickness of the expansion body 7 without deteriorating the folding property, which is the performance of easily folding the lower end portion of the expansion body). ) Can be realized.

  In another aspect of the invention, a fluid is injected into a sealed space between a cylindrical body body in which a passage through which a fluid passes is formed and a cylindrical expansion body that can be expanded by the fluid, thereby expanding the body. A gripping device that inflates the body and grips a component, and the expansion body is provided on the reinforcement layer formed by the elastic body and the reinforcement cord and on the outer side (radially outer side) of the reinforcement layer, and the reinforcement layer is molded into a cylindrical shape The gist of the present invention is to include a barrier layer that covers at least the reinforcing layer joint portions that are joined together, and an outer skin layer that is provided outside the reinforcing layer and the barrier layer and is made of an elastic body.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the expansion body which can improve the adhesiveness and durability of a reinforcement layer joint part, and a holding apparatus provided with this expansion body can be provided.

  Next, an example of the gripping device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description of the drawings, the same or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals. However, it should be noted that the drawings are schematic and ratios of dimensions are different from actual ones. Accordingly, specific dimensions and the like should be determined in consideration of the following description. Moreover, the part from which the relationship and ratio of a mutual dimension differ also in between drawings is contained.

(Configuration of gripping device)
First, the configuration of the gripping device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1A is a partially exploded perspective view showing an exhaust state of the gripping device according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a partially exploded view showing an air supply state of the gripping device according to the present embodiment. It is a perspective view.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a gripping device 1 includes a cylindrical body body 5 in which a passage 3 through which a fluid such as air passes is formed, and a cylindrical expansion body 7 (so-called tube) that can be expanded by the fluid. Is a device that inflates the expansion body 7 and injects a part (for example, an engine cylinder block or a cylindrical pipe) by injecting fluid into the sealed space.

  The passage 3 formed in the body body 5 is branched inside the body body 5, and includes an upper passage 3 </ b> A that extends to the top of the body body 5, a side passage 3 </ b> B that extends to the side of the body body 5, and the body It is comprised by the internal channel | path 3C extended to the sealed space of the main body 5 and the expansion body 7. FIG.

  The upper end portion of the expansion body 7 is sealed to the body body 5 by a caulking ring 9A. The lower end portion of the expansion body 7 is folded back toward the inside of the expansion body 7, and the folded portion is sealed to the body body 5 by the caulking ring 9 </ b> B.

  Such a gripping device 1 inserts the expansion body 7 (the entire tube) in the gripping device 1 into the hole of the component, for example, when gripping a component with a hole. Thereafter, the expansion body 7 is expanded by injecting a fluid through the passage 3 into a space in which the body main body 5 and the expansion body 7 are sealed. The component can be grasped by pressing the inner peripheral surface of the hole of the component with the outer peripheral surface of the expanded body 7 that has expanded.

(Configuration of the expansion body)
Next, the configuration of the above-described expansion body will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the expansion body according to the present embodiment in the circumferential direction of the expansion body, and FIG. 3 is a developed top view of the expansion body according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the expanding body 7 includes a reinforcing layer 11 made of an elastic body 11A and a reinforcing cord 11B, an inner elastic layer 13 made of the same material as the elastic body 11A, A barrier layer 15 that covers at least the reinforcing layer joint portion 11J that is provided outside the layer and is joined when the reinforcing layer 11 is formed into a cylindrical shape, and is provided outside the reinforcing layer 11 and the barrier layer 15, and is an elastic body 11A. And an outer skin layer 17 made of a different material (elastic body).

  The reinforcing cords 11B may be parallel to the axial direction of the body body 5 as shown in FIG. 3A (so-called radial cords), and as shown in FIG. A predetermined angle θ (for example, 20 degrees) may be inclined with respect to the axial direction of the body 5 so as to intersect (so-called bias code).

  The barrier layer 15 covers the entire reinforcing layer 11 and is made of the same material (elastic body) as the elastic body 11A in the reinforcing layer 11. Specifically, the elastic body 11A, the inner elastic layer 13, and the barrier layer 15 are preferably selected from chloroprene rubber (CR) or the like. The reinforcing cord 11B is preferably selected from nylon, steel cord and the like. Further, the outer skin layer 17 is preferably selected from ethylene-propylene rubber (EPDM) or the like.

  In the cross section in the circumferential direction of the expanded body, the thickness (T) of the barrier layer 15 is preferably 0.2 mm or more and less than the thickness (A) of the reinforcing layer 11.

  If the thickness (T) of the barrier layer 15 is smaller than 0.2 mm, it is insufficient to cover the reinforcing layer joint portion 11J, and the reinforcing layer joint portion 11J may open, and the reinforcing layer joint The adhesion and durability of the part 11J may not be improved. Further, if the thickness (T) of the barrier layer 15 is larger than the thickness (A) of the reinforcing layer 11, the barrier layer 15 becomes too thick, and the folding is performed so that the lower end portion of the expansion body 7 can be easily folded. In some cases, it may be difficult to reduce the size of the expansion body 7.

  Here, the reinforcing layer joint portion 11J has the inner joint portion 13J and the barrier layer 15 joined together when the inner elastic layer 13 is molded into a cylindrical shape in order to further improve the durability of the expansion body 7. It is preferable that the barrier joint part 15J joined when molding and the outer joint part 17J joined when molding the outer skin layer 17 into a cylindrical shape are preferably shifted in the circumferential direction.

  In order to manufacture the expansion body 7 as described above, in order to fold the expansion body 7 outward, first, the outer skin layer 17 is wound around a molding drum (not shown). Next, the barrier layer 15 is wound so as to cover the outer skin layer 17. Next, the reinforcing layer 11 is wound so as to cover the barrier layer 15. Next, the tubular elastic body 7 is manufactured by winding the inner elastic layer 13 so as to cover the reinforcing layer 11 and vulcanizing the unvulcanized expanded body with a vulcanizer (not shown). Can do.

(Action / Effect)
According to the inflatable body 7 and the gripping device 1 according to the present embodiment described above, the barrier layer 15 that covers the reinforcing layer joint portion 11J is provided between the reinforcing layer 11 and the outer skin layer 17, thereby Since it is possible to prevent the outer skin layer 17 from entering the reinforcing layer joint portion 11J at the time of sulfuration, the adhesiveness and durability of the reinforcing layer joint portion 11J can be improved. As a result, it is possible to extend the life by suppressing the damage of the expansion body 7.

  Further, since the barrier layer 15 is made of the same material as the elastic body 11A in the reinforcing layer 11, even when the barrier layer 15 has penetrated into the reinforcing layer joint portion 11J during vulcanization, the reinforcement is performed. It becomes possible to eliminate the deterioration of the adhesiveness and durability of the layer joint portion 11J.

  Further, since the barrier layer 15 covers the entire reinforcing layer 11, even when the reinforcing cord 11B protrudes from the reinforcing layer 11, the reinforcing cord 11B is covered with the barrier layer 15 and the outer side of the reinforcing cord 11B. Contact with the skin layer 17 can be eliminated, and the durability of the expandable body 7 can be prevented from decreasing.

  Further, since the thickness (T) of the barrier layer 15 is 0.2 mm or more and less than the thickness (A) of the reinforcing layer 11, the outer skin layer 17 is formed on the reinforcing layer joint portion 11J during vulcanization. As a matter of course, it is possible to realize the reduction of the expansion body 7 (the suppression of the thickness of the expansion body 7) without deteriorating the folding property and the like.

  Further, the reinforcement layer joint portion 11J is arranged so as to be displaced from the inner joint portion 13J, the barrier joint portion 15J, and the outer skin joint portion 17J in the circumferential direction of the inflating body, so that each joint portion overlaps in the inflating body radial direction. The durability of the expandable body 7 can be further improved.

(Modification 1)
Although the barrier layer 15 constituting the expansion body 7 according to the above-described embodiment has been described as covering the entire reinforcing layer 11, it can be changed as follows. In addition, the part which is different from the expansion body 7 which concerns on embodiment mentioned above is mainly demonstrated. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the expansion body according to the first modification in the circumferential direction of the expansion body.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the barrier layer 15 covers only the reinforcing layer joint portion 11J. Even in this case, the maximum thickness (T) of the barrier layer 15 is 0.2 mm or more and less than the thickness (A) of the reinforcing layer 11 in the circumferential section of the expanding body. preferable.

  According to the expansion body 7 and the gripping device 1 according to the modified example 1 as described above, the barrier layer 15 is not only prevented from entering the reinforcing layer joint portion 11J during vulcanization. It is possible to suppress variations in the expansion body 7 such as flexibility by minimizing the wall thickness portion.

[Other Embodiments]
Although the contents of the present invention have been disclosed through the embodiments of the present invention as described above, it should not be understood that the descriptions and drawings constituting a part of this disclosure limit the present invention.

  Specifically, the expansion body 7 has been described as being used in the gripping device 1 that grips a part by press-contacting the inner peripheral surface of the hole of the part. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, FIG. As shown, the expansion body 7 may of course be used in the gripping device 21 that grips a component by pressing the outer peripheral surface of the component.

  The gripping device 21 includes a ring-shaped body body 25 in which a passage 23 through which a fluid such as air passes is formed, and a cylindrical expansion body 7 (so-called tube) that can be expanded by the fluid. ing. The upper end portion of the expansion body 7 is folded back toward the outside of the expansion body 7, and the folded portion is sealed to the body main body 23 by the caulking ring 27 </ b> A. Similarly, the lower end portion of the expansion body 7 is folded back toward the outside of the expansion body 7, and the folded portion is sealed to the body main body 23 by the crimping ring 27B.

  From this disclosure, various alternative embodiments, examples and operational techniques will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is defined only by the invention specifying matters according to the scope of claims reasonable from the above description.

It is a partially exploded perspective view which shows the holding apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment. It is an expanded body circumferential direction sectional drawing of the expanded body which concerns on this Embodiment. It is an expansion | deployment top view of the expansion body which concerns on this Embodiment. It is an expanded body circumferential direction sectional drawing of the expanded body which concerns on the example 1 of a change. It is a partially exploded perspective view which shows the holding device which concerns on other embodiment. It is an expanded body circumferential direction sectional drawing of the expanded body which concerns on background art.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Grab apparatus, 3 ... Passage, 3A ... Upper passage, 3B ... Side part passage, 3C ... Internal passage, 5 ... Body main body, 7 ... Expansion body, 9A, 9B ... Clamping ring, 11 ... Reinforcement layer, 11A ... 11B: Reinforcement cord, 11J: Reinforcement layer joint part, 13 ... Inner elastic layer, 13J ... Inner joint part, 15 ... Barrier layer, 15J ... Barrier joint part, 17 ... Outer skin layer, 17J ... Outer skin joint part, 21 ... grabbing device, 23 ... passage, 25 ... body body, 27A, 27B ... caulking ring

Claims (4)

A cylindrical expansion body that is used in a gripping device that grips a part and is expandable by a fluid,
A reinforcing layer formed of an elastic body and a reinforcing cord;
A barrier layer that is provided outside the reinforcing layer and covers the entire reinforcing layer including a reinforcing layer joint portion that is joined when the reinforcing layer is molded into a cylindrical shape;
An inflatable body provided with an outer skin layer made of an elastic body and provided outside the reinforcing layer and the barrier layer. The inflatable body according to claim 1 , wherein the barrier layer is made of the same material as the elastic body in the reinforcing layer. In the expansion body circumferential section, the thickness of the barrier layer (T) is 0.2mm or more, and, according to claim 1 or claim, wherein the less than the thickness of the reinforcing layer (A) 2. The expanded body according to 2 . A component that inflates the expansion body by injecting the fluid into a sealed space between a cylindrical body body in which a passage through which the fluid passes is formed and a cylindrical expansion body that can be expanded by the fluid. A gripping device for grabbing
The inflatable body is
A reinforcing layer formed of an elastic body and a reinforcing cord;
A barrier layer that is provided outside the reinforcing layer and covers the entire reinforcing layer including a reinforcing layer joint portion that is joined when the reinforcing layer is molded into a cylindrical shape;
A gripping device comprising an outer skin layer made of an elastic body and provided outside the reinforcing layer and the barrier layer.

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