JP5623840B2 - Hot processing equipment for metal tubes - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a hot processing apparatus for a metal tube for bending the metal tube into a desired shape while being heated by a high-frequency heating coil.

  A metal tube delivery device that feeds the metal tube in the longitudinal direction, a bending fulcrum member that guides and supports the delivered metal tube, a high-frequency heating coil that locally heats the metal tube, and a heated portion of the metal tube is cooled And a metal tube hot working apparatus comprising: a cooling device that includes a bending device that applies a bending moment to a heated portion of the metal tube by sandwiching the metal tube with a roll that is rotatable along the longitudinal direction of the metal tube. This is known from Patent Document 1 below.

JP 2008-23573 A

  By the way, in such a hot working apparatus, it is inevitable that a slight bend (warp) is present in the metal pipe sent out from the metal pipe sending apparatus, so that the metal pipe coming out from the bending fulcrum member is inside the high-frequency heating coil. The gap between the outer periphery of the metal tube and the inner periphery of the high-frequency heating coil becomes non-uniform, and the temperature of the metal tube varies depending on whether the distance from the inner periphery of the high-frequency heating coil is near or far. There was a possibility that the accuracy of bending would decrease due to the difference.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to enable uniform heating of a metal tube by a high-frequency heating coil in a hot processing apparatus for a metal tube.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the invention described in claim 1, a straight metal pipe having a constant cross section in the longitudinal direction, which is manufactured by roll forming a steel sheet, a closed cross section and its The roof side rail and the front pillar of the automobile are integrally formed by heating and bending a metal tube having a pair of flange portions that extend from one end and the other end in the circumferential direction of the closed cross section and overlap each other. A hot working device for obtaining a member, comprising: a metal tube delivery device that feeds the metal tube along a longitudinal direction; and a guide hole that slidably guides the metal tube delivered from the metal tube delivery device. A bending fulcrum member formed, a high-frequency heating coil that surrounds the outer periphery of the metal tube that has passed through the guide hole, and heats the metal tube; Heated The result includes the bent bending device and added moment the bending fulcrum member around the metal tube, a movable frame to the metal tube is fixed to and the high frequency heating coil having a first opening capable of passing However, the floating support is provided via a floating support means on a fixed base having a second opening through which the metal tube can pass , and the high-frequency heating coil includes a coil body portion corresponding to the closed cross-section portion of the metal tube, The coil main body portion has a coil one end portion and a coil other end portion that extend in a predetermined radial direction from the circumferential end and the other end of the coil body portion and are parallel to each other with a gap between them, When passing through the high-frequency heating coil, a substantially constant gap is formed between the inner periphery of the coil body portion and the outer periphery of the closed cross-section portion of the metal tube, and the pair of flange portions in the gap A plurality of guide pins, each having a hemispherical sliding member made of ceramic that is in sliding contact with the outer periphery of the closed cross-section portion, are radially inward at the first opening of the movable mount. An apparatus for hot working a metal tube characterized by being fixed is proposed.

According to the invention described in claim 2, in addition to the structure of claim 1, the bending device is configured by a robot, and the floating support means is provided at four corners of the fixed mount , and the movable mount is A hot working apparatus for metal tubes is proposed, which is characterized by four elastic mounts that are movably connected.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the structure of the first aspect, the floating support means supports the movable gantry on the fixed gantry so as to be movable in the X and Y directions perpendicular to each other. hot working apparatus of a metal tube, which is a X-Y table is Ru been proposed.

According to the invention described in claim 4 , in addition to the configuration of any one of claims 1 to 3 , a flexible cable for supplying power to the high-frequency heating coil, and the high-frequency heating A hot working apparatus for a metal tube is proposed, which includes a flexible hose that supplies cooling water to the coil.

  The elastic mount 18 and the XY table 31 of the embodiment correspond to the floating support means of the present invention, and the guide pin 20 of the embodiment corresponds to the guide member of the present invention.

According to the configuration of the first aspect, the metal pipe delivered from the metal pipe delivery device passes through the guide hole of the bending fulcrum member and is then induction-heated through the high-frequency heating coil, and the bending device guides the bending fulcrum member. Bending is performed by applying a bending moment around the hole. If the metal pipe that has passed through the bending fulcrum member is bent (warped), the gap between the outer circumference of the metal pipe and the inner circumference of the high-frequency heating coil becomes uneven, and the metal pipe partially becomes hot or cold. However, since the movable frame with the high-frequency heating coil fixed to the fixed frame via the floating support means is floatingly supported, and the movable frame is provided with a plurality of guide pins that contact the outer peripheral surface of the metal tube, the bending of the metal tube The high-frequency heating coil is centered together with the movable frame in accordance with (warp), and the gap between the inner periphery of the metal tube and the inner periphery of the high-frequency heating coil can be made uniform to uniformly heat the metal tube. In addition, the guide pin is provided with a ceramic sliding member that contacts the metal tube at the tip in order to ensure wear resistance, so that the guide pin does not wear due to contact with the metal tube, and the slide By making the member hemispherical, the frictional force with the metal tube can be reduced.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the floating support means is constituted by an elastic mount that movably connects the movable frame to the fixed frame, the movable frame is supported to be movable with respect to the fixed frame with a simple structure. be able to.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the floating support means is constituted by an XY table that supports the movable frame on the fixed frame so as to be movable in the X and Y directions perpendicular to each other, the floating structure is fixed with a simple structure. Ru can be movably supporting the movable frame against the frame.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, power is supplied to the high-frequency heating coil via a flexible cable, and cooling water is supplied to the high-frequency heating coil via a flexible hose. Will not hinder the movement of the movable mount.

The figure which shows the whole structure of the hot processing apparatus of a metal tube. (First embodiment) FIG. 2 is a two-direction enlarged arrow view of FIG. (First embodiment) FIG. 3 is a view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. (First embodiment) FIG. 4 is a four-direction arrow view of FIG. 3. (First embodiment) The figure corresponding to the said FIG. (Second Embodiment) FIG. 6 is a view in the direction of arrows 6 in FIG. 5. (Second Embodiment)

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1, metal tube W is a work of this embodiment, a roof side rail and the front pillar of the automobile a member constituting together, is manufactured by roll forming a steel sheet. As is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 3, the metal tube W includes a closed cross-section portion Wc and a pair of the cross-section portions Wc that extend outward from the circumferential direction one end and the other end and overlap each other. It has flange portions Wf and Wf.

The hot working device for heating and bending the metal tube W into a predetermined shape includes a metal tube delivery device 11 for delivering the metal tube W in the longitudinal direction thereof, and a bending fulcrum provided at the outlet of the metal tube delivery device 11. The member 12 includes a high-frequency heating coil 13 provided on the downstream side of the bending fulcrum member 12, a cooling device 14 provided on the downstream side of the high-frequency heating coil 13, and a robot provided on the downstream side of the cooling device 14. And a bending device 15. The metal tube W is a linear member having a constant cross section in the longitudinal direction. The metal tube W is heated by the high-frequency heating coil 13 and is bent into a predetermined shape by applying an external force with the bending device 15. Quenching is carried out by quenching with cooling water ejected from 14.

  As is apparent from FIGS. 2 to 4, the bending fulcrum member 12 is provided at or near the outlet of the metal tube delivery device 11, and has the same cross-sectional shape of the metal tube W at the center. A guide hole 12 a having a shape is formed, and the metal tube W fed from the metal tube feeding device 11 passes through the inner peripheral surface of the guide hole 12 a of the bending fulcrum member 12 while sliding.

The high-frequency heating coil 13 is disposed at a position separated from the bending fulcrum member 12 by a predetermined distance (for example, 100 mm) on the downstream side in the feeding direction of the metal tube W. Is supported in a floating manner so as to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the direction of delivery of the. The fixed base 16 fixed so as not to move is a plate-like member, and a circular second opening 16a through which the metal tube W can pass with a sufficient gap is formed at the center. The movable gantry 17 is a plate-like member arranged in parallel with the fixed gantry 16, and a circular first opening 17 a that faces the opening 16 a of the fixed gantry 16 is formed at the center thereof.

  The four corners of the movable gantry 17 are supported by the four corners of the fixed gantry 16 via four elastic mounts 18, and the movable gantry 17 moves in a plane parallel to the fixed gantry 16 by the deformation of the elastic mounts 18. Floating support is possible. The high-frequency heating coil 13 is fixed to the surface of the movable gantry 17 opposite to the bending fulcrum member 12 side via the mounting stay 19 so as to surround the outer periphery of the metal tube W.

  The movable mount 17 close to the high-frequency heating coil 13 is made of heat-resistant bakelite, glass epoxy, hard plastic or the like so as not to be damaged by being heated by the magnetic flux from the high-frequency heating coil 13. On the other hand, since the fixed base 16 far from the high-frequency heating coil 13 is hard to receive the magnetic flux from the high-frequency heating coil 13, the material is arbitrary.

A shall be composed of two turns of the coil of the high-frequency heating coil 13, the coil body portion 13c which surrounds the closed-section portion Wc formed in correspondence with the closed section portion Wc of the metal tube W, the coil The main body portion 13c includes a coil one end portion 13a and a coil other end portion 13b that extend in a predetermined radial direction from the one end and the other end in the circumferential direction and are parallel to each other with a gap S therebetween. When the metal tube W passes through the high-frequency heating coil 13 , a substantially constant gap is formed between the inner periphery of the coil body portion 13c and the outer periphery of the metal tube W, and the pair of flange portions are formed in the gap S. Three guide pins 20 extending toward the metal tube W are fixed inward in the radial direction at the opening 17a of the movable mount 17 so that Wf and Wf are positioned. Are provided in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface. The sliding members 21 are formed in a hemispherical shape so that the frictional force between the sliding members 21 and the metal tube W is small, and are made of ceramic in order to ensure wear resistance.

  Two cables 22 and 22 for supplying electric power to both ends of the high-frequency heating coil 13 are connected. The high frequency heating coil 13 has a water jacket formed therein, and two hoses 23 and 23 for supplying cooling water are connected to both ends of the water jacket. The cables 22 and 22 and the hoses 23 and 23 are both flexible so as not to hinder the movement of the movable mount 17.

  The cooling device 14 includes an annular cooling water tank 24 surrounding the outer periphery of the metal pipe W, four cooling water supply pipes 25 connected to the outer peripheral surface of the cooling water tank 24, and an inner peripheral surface of the cooling water tank 24. Are formed with a plurality of cooling water ejection holes 24a.

  Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention having the above configuration will be described.

  The metal tube W delivered from the metal tube delivery device 11 is gripped by a clamp arm of a bending device 15 made of a robot at a position that has passed through the bending fulcrum member 12, the high-frequency heating coil 13, and the cooling device 14. When a high frequency current is supplied to the high frequency heating coil 13 via the cables 22, 22, an eddy current is generated inside the metal tube W by a magnetic field formed around the high frequency heating coil 13, and the metal tube W is caused by Joule heat. Heated.

  In addition, although the high frequency heating coil 13 itself also generates heat due to energization, the temperature of the high frequency heating coil 13 can be prevented by supplying cooling water to the inside through the hoses 23 and 23.

  When the metal tube W is displaced in the bending direction by the bending device 15 in this state. Although a bending moment acts on the metal tube W in the vicinity of the bending fulcrum member 12, since the metal tube W is heated by the high-frequency heating coil 13 at the portion where the bending moment acts, the metal tube W is bent into a desired shape. Processed. The metal tube W bent in this way is quenched and quenched by cooling water ejected from the cooling water ejection holes 24a of the cooling water tank 24 of the cooling device 14, thereby bending the metal tube W. And quenching can be performed continuously.

  By the way, the metal pipe W before bending sent out from the bending fulcrum member 12 is originally a linear member, but it is unavoidable that some bending (warping) exists due to an error in manufacturing. Therefore, when the metal tube W passes through the high-frequency heating coil 13, the gap between the inner periphery of the high-frequency heating coil 13 and the outer periphery of the metal tube W becomes uneven, and the metal tube heated by the high-frequency heating coil 13. There is a possibility that temperature unevenness occurs in W and the accuracy of the bending process is lowered.

  However, according to the present embodiment, even if the metal tube W is slightly bent (warped), the guide pins 20 with the sliding members 21 in contact with the outer periphery of the metal tube W are bent. By following the (warp), the movable mount 17 that is floatingly supported by the fixed mount 16 via the elastic mounts 18 is automatically centered, and the position of the high-frequency heating coil 13 with respect to the metal tube W is automatically corrected. The As a result, the gap between the inner periphery of the high-frequency heating coil 13 and the outer periphery of the metal tube W is maintained uniformly, and the entire metal tube W can be uniformly heated to increase the accuracy of bending.

  Further, since the floating support means for movably connecting the movable base 17 to the fixed base 16 is constituted by the elastic mounts 18, the structure of the floating support means can be simplified. Further, since the guide pins 20 are provided with ceramic sliding members 21 that are in sliding contact with the metal tube W, the guide pins 20 are not worn by sliding contact with the metal tube W. Furthermore, since electric power is supplied to the high-frequency heating coil 13 via the flexible cables 22 and 22 and cooling water is supplied to the high-frequency heating coil 13 via the flexible hoses 23 and 23, the cables 22, 22 and the hoses 23 and 23 do not hinder the movement of the movable mount 17.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIG. 5 and FIG.

  In the first embodiment, the elastic mounts 18 are used for floating support of the movable mount 17 on the fixed mount 16, but the second embodiment replaces the elastic mounts 18 with an XY table. 31 is used.

  The XY table 31 includes a pair of first guide rails 32 and 32 fixed in the horizontal direction (X direction) on the upper and lower portions of the surface of the fixed frame 16 on the movable frame 17 side, and the fixed frame 16 side of the movable frame 17. Are arranged between a pair of second guide rails 33, 33 fixed in the vertical direction (Y direction) on both the left and right sides of the surface, and the fixed mount 16 and the movable mount 17, and are slidable on the first guide rails 32, 32. A frame member 36 having first sliders 34 to be engaged and second sliders 35 to be slidably engaged with the second guide rails 33 and 33. The frame member 36 is formed with a circular opening 36a through which the metal tube W passes loosely.

  The movable gantry 17 is suspended and supported by the frame member 36 via a pair of coil springs 37, 37, so that the weight of the movable gantry 17 and the high-frequency heating coil 13 does not act on the metal tube W.

  Therefore, when the guide pins 20 receive a vertical load from the metal tube W, the movable base 17 and the high-frequency heating coil 13 move in the vertical direction along the second guide rails 33 and 33, so that the metal tube W is bent. (Warp) is absorbed, and when the guide pins 20 receive a horizontal load from the metal tube W, the frame member 36, the movable mount 17 and the high-frequency heating coil 13 are moved horizontally along the first guide rails 32, 32. By moving, the bending (warping) of the metal tube W can be absorbed.

  Also according to the second embodiment, it is possible to achieve the same effect as that of the first embodiment.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but various design changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

For example , the reason why the gap between the inner periphery of the high-frequency heating coil 13 and the outer periphery of the metal tube W is not uniform is not only the bending (warping) of the metal tube but also the bending of the metal tube W by the bending device 15. Also occurs. Therefore, if the position of the movable gantry 17 can be arbitrarily controlled by the drive source and the position of the movable gantry 17 is controlled in conjunction with the operation of the bending device 15, the inner circumference of the high-frequency heating coil 13 and the outer circumference of the metal tube W can be controlled. Can be made more uniform.

Further, in the embodiment, the bending fulcrum member 12 is provided at the outlet of the metal tube delivery device 11, but the bending fulcrum member 12 can also be provided downstream of the outlet of the metal tube delivery device .

S gap W metal tube
Closed section of Wc metal tube
Wf metal tube flange 11 Metal tube delivery device 12 Bending fulcrum member 12a Guide hole 13 High frequency heating coil
Coil body part of 13c high frequency heating coil
One end of 13a high frequency heating coil
13b The other end 15 of the high frequency heating coil 15 Bending device 16 Fixed stand
16a Second opening 17 Movable mount
17a First opening 18 Elastic mount (floating support means)
20 Guide pin (guide member)
21 Sliding member 22 Cable 23 Hose 31 XY table (floating support means)

Claims (4)

A straight metal tube (W) having a constant cross section in the longitudinal direction, which is manufactured by roll forming a steel plate, from a closed cross section (Wc) and one end and the other end in the circumferential direction of the closed cross section (Wc) By heating and bending a metal tube (W) having a pair of flange portions (Wf, Wf) that extend and overlap each other, a member that integrally forms a roof side rail and a front pillar of an automobile is obtained. A hot working device for
A metal tube delivery device (11) for delivering the metal tube (W) along the longitudinal direction, and a guide hole (12a) for slidably guiding the metal tube (W) delivered from the metal tube delivery device (11). ) Formed with a bending fulcrum member (12), a high-frequency heating coil (13) that surrounds the outer periphery of the metal tube (W) that has passed through the guide hole (12a), and heats the metal tube (W). A bending device (15) for applying a bending moment around the bending fulcrum member (12) to the metal tube (W) heated through the high-frequency heating coil (13) ,
A movable frame (17) having a first opening (17a) through which the metal tube (W) can pass and to which the high-frequency heating coil (13) is fixed has a first position through which the metal tube (W) can pass. a fixed frame having a second opening (16a) (16) is floatingly supported through the floating support means (18, 31),
The high-frequency heating coil (13) includes a coil main body portion (13c) corresponding to the closed cross-section portion (Wc) of the metal tube (W), and predetermined ones from the circumferential end of the coil main body portion (13c) and the other end. The coil one end (13a) and the other coil end (13b) that are parallel to each other with a gap (S) therebetween.
When the metal tube (W) passes through the high-frequency heating coil (13), it is between the inner periphery of the coil body portion (13c) and the outer periphery of the closed cross-section portion (Wc) of the metal tube (W). In the first opening (17a) of the movable gantry (17), the first opening (17a) of the movable gantry (17) is arranged so that a substantially constant gap is formed and the pair of flange portions (Wf, Wf) are positioned in the gap (S). A metal tube characterized in that a plurality of guide pins (20) each having a ceramic hemispherical sliding member (21) in sliding contact with the outer periphery of the closed section (Wc) are fixed radially inward. Hot processing equipment. The bending device (15) is composed of a robot, the floating support means, said four elastic mounts provided at four corners connecting movably the movable frame (17) of the fixed frame (16) (18) The hot processing apparatus for a metal tube according to claim 1, wherein: The floating support means is an XY table (31) that supports the movable gantry (17) on the fixed gantry (16) so as to be movable in X and Y directions perpendicular to each other. hot working equipment of the metal tube according to claim 1. A flexible cable (22) for supplying electric power to the high-frequency heating coil (13) and a flexible hose (23) for supplying cooling water to the high-frequency heating coil (13) are provided. The hot processing apparatus for a metal tube according to any one of claims 1 to 3 .

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