JP6270664B2 - Spacer expander assembly method and assembly apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an assembling method and an assembling apparatus for assembling a spacer expander, which is one of components of a combined piston ring, into a ring groove of a piston. More specifically, the present invention relates to a spacer expander assembling method and an assembling apparatus for preventing occurrence of a phenomenon of climbing a joint portion of a spacer expander at the time of assembling.

  A spacer expander usually constitutes a combined piston ring with two side rails. In such a combined piston ring, the spacer expander has a role of pressing the side rail against the inner wall surface of the cylinder, that is, in the diameter increasing direction. For this reason, the circumference of the spacer expander is slightly longer than the circumference of the bottom of the ring groove to be mounted. For this reason, depending on the state of the assembling work, the both ends of the joint part may be mounted on the ring groove in a state where they overlap each other. Of course, this is a defective mounting. Correctly, both ends of the abutment part should be abutted so as not to overlap each other, and the entire spacer expander must be slightly lifted from the bottom of the ring groove.

  As an example of the prior art for assembling the spacer expander in a correct state as described above, an assembling apparatus described in Patent Document 1 can be cited. In the assembling apparatus of the same document, the “thin plate 66” is provided so as to be able to advance and retract in the radial direction of the piston to be assembled ([0023] of the same document, FIG. 2). The spacer expander is mounted in a state where the tip of the thin plate 66 is inserted into the ring groove of the piston ([0024], [0026] in the same document). For this reason, the thin plate 66 prevents one of the both ends of the joint portion from climbing on the other ([0026] of the same document). The thin plate 66 exits after the subsequent side rail is mounted.

JP-A-6-117536

  However, the conventional technique described above has the following problems. That is, a drive source for moving the “thin plate 66” back and forth is necessary. In Patent Document 1, a “second cylinder 64” is provided as a drive source for this purpose ([0023] of FIG. 2, FIG. 2). For this reason, the structure is complicated. There is also energy consumption by the drive source during assembly work.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a spacer expander assembling method and an apparatus therefor capable of assembling the spacer expander without overlapping the joint portion by a device having a simple structure.

  In the method of assembling the spacer expander in one aspect of the present invention, the abutment portion on the side opposite to the abutment portion in the spacer expander is spaced apart from the piston in the diameter-enlarging direction, the abutment portion is opened, and both ends thereof are ring Ring the entire spacer expander starting from both ends of the abutment that has been fitted in the ring groove first by releasing the separation from the piston at the opposite abutment position after the process of fitting the abutment into the groove. The piston ring spacer expander is assembled into the piston ring groove through a whole fitting process in which the both ends of the joint portion are fitted in the ring groove without overlapping each other.

The above assembly method includes a cylindrical magazine that holds the spacer expander of the combined piston ring on the outer peripheral surface, and a cup that is provided inside the magazine so as to be movable in the axial direction and to which the piston is pressed. a position corresponding to one portion of the edge of the piston in at least one of the magazine and the cup, the row with the assembling apparatus of the spacer expander projecting portion projecting in a direction opposite to a direction in which pressing the cup piston is formed Is called. That is , the spacer expander is held on the outer peripheral surface of the magazine, the piston is pressed against the magazine, and the spacer expander is supplied to the ring groove of the piston from the magazine in this state, and the spacer is formed by the protrusion. anti abutment position of the expander implement abutment joint fitting process by remain is separated from the piston, we implement the entire fitting process by retracting the subsequent assembly of the piston device.

  Thus, as described above, the spacer expander assembling apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention has a cylindrical magazine that holds the spacer expander of the combined piston ring on the outer peripheral surface, and is movable in the axial direction inside the magazine. And a protrusion that protrudes in a direction opposite to the direction in which the cup is pressed by the piston at a position corresponding to one position of the edge of the piston in at least one of the magazine and the cup. The configuration is formed. With this apparatus, the assembling method of the above aspect can be implemented with a simple configuration.

  The spacer expander assembling apparatus of the above aspect is provided at a circumferential position facing the protrusion on the outer peripheral surface of the magazine, and positions the joint portion of the spacer expander held in parallel with the axial direction. It is preferable to have a member. As a result, the circumferential rotation of the spacer expander held on the outer peripheral surface of the magazine is prevented. For this reason, the process of fitting the joint portion can be performed while the position of the spacer joint of the spacer expander supplied from the magazine is reliably caught on the protrusion.

  According to the present configuration, there is provided a spacer expander assembling method and an apparatus therefor that can perform a spacer expander assembling operation without overlapping the abutment portions with a device having a simple structure.

It is a perspective view of the assembly apparatus of the spacer expander of this form. It is sectional drawing of the assembly apparatus of the spacer expander of this form. It is a front view which shows the drive mechanism of a raising member. It is a perspective view which shows the whole shape of a spacer expander. It is sectional drawing which shows the detail of the shape of a spacer expander, and the relationship with a ring groove. It is front sectional drawing which shows the state into which only the both ends vicinity of the abutment part approached the ring groove. It is a fragmentary top sectional view which shows the state into which only the both ends vicinity of the abutment part approached the ring groove. It is front sectional drawing which shows the state by which the whole spacer expander was assembled | attached to the ring groove. It is a fragmentary top sectional view which shows the state by which the whole spacer expander was assembled | attached to the ring groove. It is a fragmentary sectional view which shows the example which provided the projection part in the magazine.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments embodying the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, a spacer expander assembling apparatus according to this embodiment will be described. The assembling apparatus 1 of this embodiment is shown in the perspective view of FIG. 1 and the cross-sectional view of FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the assembling apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes a cylindrical magazine 10 and a cup 20 provided therein.

  The inner diameter of the magazine 10 is larger than the outer diameter of the piston 90 that is the assembly target. The magazine 10 holds a spacer expander 80 as an assembly part on its outer peripheral surface. In FIG. 1, it is depicted that only one spacer expander 80 is held, but in reality, a large number of spacer expanders 80 are held. The upper end 11 of the magazine 10 is formed so as to form a flat annular shape. Further, a vertical positioning member 12 is fixedly provided at one place on the outer peripheral surface of the magazine 10. The positioning member 12 is for positioning the position of the joint portion in the spacer expander 80.

  The cup 20 is supported by a spring 21 from below, and can move in the axial direction of the magazine 10, that is, in the vertical direction. A piston receiving surface 22 for receiving the piston 90 is formed on the upper surface of the cup 20. A cylindrical portion 23 extending upward is formed on the edge of the piston receiving surface 22. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the length of the cylindrical portion 23 is a length that covers two of the three ring grooves 93 formed in the piston 90 and exposes one. This is because the target position where the spacer expander 80 is assembled is the third ring groove 93 in the piston 90, as will be described later. In addition, a protruding portion 24 that protrudes upward is formed at one location on the upper end of the cylindrical portion 23. The protrusion 24 and the positioning member 12 are on opposite sides of the position where the piston 90 is received.

  Further, a substantially annular lifting member 13 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the magazine 10. The lifting member 13 is in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the magazine 10 except for the position where the positioning member 12 is located. Further, the lifting member 13 is provided with a driving mechanism shown in FIG. That is, the assembling apparatus 1 is provided with a servo motor 14 for driving the lifting member 13. Thereby, the lifting member 13 can be moved up and down along the outer peripheral surface of the magazine 10. This is because the spacer expander 80 held on the outer peripheral surface of the magazine 10 is supplied to the piston 90 one by one.

  A piston 90 that is an assembly target in the present embodiment is a piston in a reciprocating engine such as an internal combustion engine, and has a top surface 91 and a cylindrical portion 92. The top surface 91 is a portion facing the combustion chamber of the engine, and the cylindrical portion 92 is a portion on the side where the connecting rod is attached. Further, three ring grooves 93 are formed on the side surface.

  The spacer expander 80, which is an assembly part assembled in the ring groove 93 of the piston 90, constitutes a combined piston ring together with two side rails. A combined piston ring composed of the spacer expander 80 and two side rails is usually used as an oil ring. As shown in FIG. 4, the spacer expander 80 has an annular overall shape having a joint portion 81 at one place. In FIG. 4, the abutting portion 81 is shown in a slightly opened state, but in the actual assembled state, both end portions 82 </ b> A and 82 </ b> B are abutted and the abutting portion 81 is closed. Such an oil ring is mounted in the ring groove farthest from the top surface 91 among the three ring grooves 93. Note that another type of piston ring called a compression ring is assembled in the other ring groove.

  The cross-sectional view of FIG. 5 shows the mounting state of the spacer expander 80. Thus, the detailed shape of the spacer expander 80 will be described. The spacer expander 80 has a belt portion 84 and a wave-like portion 83. The wavy portion 83 is wavy when the spacer expander 80 is viewed from the outside in the radial direction. In addition, when the spacer expander 80 is correctly mounted in the ring groove 93, the spacer expander 80 slightly floats outward with respect to the bottom surface 94 of the ring groove 93 as shown in FIG. 5. That is, the total length of the spacer expander 80 is slightly longer than the total length of the bottom surface 94. However, the outer peripheral length of the magazine 10 is shorter. FIG. 5 shows a state where the side rails 85 are also mounted. As can be seen, the spacer expander 80 spreads the side rail 85 in the diameter-expanding direction by the belt portion 84 and presses it against the wall surface of the engine cylinder 100. Further, the side rail 85 is pressed against the wall surface 95 of the ring groove 93 by the wavy portion 83.

  The spacer expander 80 may have other detailed shapes such as the one described in [0012] of Patent Document 1 in addition to the shape described above.

  Next, a method for assembling the spacer expander 80, which is performed by the assembling apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, will be described. First, as a preparation stage, the spacer expander 80 is held in the magazine 10. That is, the spacer expander 80 is mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the magazine 10. At this time, the spacer expander 80 is in a state in which the joint portion 81 is open. Further, since the positioning member 12 exists on the outer peripheral surface of the magazine 10, both end portions 82 </ b> A and 82 </ b> B of the spacer expander 80 are in contact with the side surface of the positioning member 12. Thereby, the rotation of the spacer expander 80 in the circumferential direction is prevented. When holding the spacer expander 80, the lifting member 13 is lowered in advance. The spacer expander 80 held in the magazine 10 is naturally positioned above the lifting member 13. The spacer expander 80 in FIG. 2 is thus held in the magazine 10.

  Then, the piston 90 is placed on the cup 20. As shown in FIG. 2, the piston 90 is turned upside down so that the top surface 91 faces downward and the cylindrical portion 92 faces upward. The top surface 91 is positioned on the piston receiving surface 22 of the cup 20. That is, the axial directions of the piston 90 and the magazine 10 are parallel to each other. Then, the piston 90 is slightly pressed downward. In this state, the cylindrical portion 23 of the cup 20 does not completely enter the inside of the magazine 10, and a part projects upward from the upper end 11 of the magazine 10. The movement of the piston 90 may be performed manually or may be automated by an appropriate robot.

  In this state, the lifting member 13 is slightly lifted by the servo motor 14. As a result, the uppermost one of the spacer expanders 80 held in the magazine 10 is pushed upward. The extruded spacer expander 80 moves from the outer peripheral surface of the magazine 10 to the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 23 of the cup 20. Even in this state, the joint portion 81 of the spacer expander 80 remains open. Then, the piston 90 is further pressed downward so that the portion of the cylindrical portion 23 of the cup 20 other than the protruding portion 24 just enters the inside of the magazine 10. By this movement, the spacer expander 80 on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 23 of the cup 20 is pushed out by the upper end 11 of the magazine 10 and detached from the cylindrical portion 23. As a result, the spacer expander 80 is fitted into the ring groove 93 which is the assembly position. This state is shown in FIG.

  However, at this time, the entire spacer expander 80 is not inserted into the ring groove 93, but only the vicinity of both end portions 82 </ b> A and 82 </ b> B of the joint portion 81 is inserted into the ring groove 93. This is because the opposite side of the joint portion 81 is still caught by the protrusion 24. At that position, the insertion into the ring groove 93 is prevented, and the piston 90 is separated from the piston 90 in the diameter increasing direction. FIG. 7 shows a partial cross-sectional view seen from above at this point. In FIG. 7, the outer surface of the piston 90 is indicated by a broken line 86. As shown in FIG. 7, the joint portion 81 of the spacer expander 80 is still open at this point. The vicinity of both end portions 82 </ b> A and 82 </ b> B of the joint portion 81 is in contact with the bottom surface 94 of the ring groove 93. However, the spacer expander 80 on the opposite side is outside the dashed line 86. It should be noted that the joint portion 81 of the spacer expander 80 does not get caught at the protrusion 24 and does not get caught. This is because the rotation of the spacer expander 80 held in the magazine 10 is blocked by the positioning member 12 as described above.

  When the piston 90 is raised and separated from the magazine 10 or the cup 20, the spacer expander 80 is also detached from the protrusion 24. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, the spacer expander 80 is detached from the projecting portion 24 when the ring groove 93, which is the assembly target position, has escaped from the projecting portion 24. Thereby, the separation from the piston 90 on the opposite side of the joint portion 81 is released. For this reason, the portion shown on the right side in FIG. 7 of the spacer expander 80 is also fitted into the ring groove 93. At this time, since the portions near both end portions 82A and 82B previously inserted into the ring groove 93 act as a guide, the remaining portion of the spacer expander 80 is smoothly inserted into the ring groove 93 without being violated.

  Further, at this time, the both end portions 82A and 82B slide on the bottom surface 94 to approach each other and abut each other. For this reason, one of the end portions 82A and 82B does not ride on the other. After the end portions 82A and 82B are brought into contact with each other, the entire spacer expander 80 is slightly lifted from the bottom surface 94. This is because the total length of the spacer expander 80 is slightly longer than the total length of the bottom surface 94. This state is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 9, in this state, both end portions 82A and 82B of the abutment portion 81 of the spacer expander 80 are closed without overlapping. This is the correct assembly state of the spacer expander 80. As described above, according to this embodiment, the spacer expander 80 can be reliably assembled without being in a defective mounting state. The side rail 85 is mounted thereafter.

  In the above description, the protrusion 24 may be provided in the magazine 10 instead of being provided in the cylindrical portion 23 of the cup 20. An example is shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 10, a protrusion 15 is provided at one location on the upper end 11 of the magazine 10. The position of the protrusion 15 with respect to the positioning member 12 is opposite to the position where the piston 90 is received with respect to the positioning member 12, as in the case of the protrusion 24.

  Even in the example of FIG. 10, the method of assembling the spacer expander 80 is basically the same. However, in the case of the configuration of FIG. 10, when one spacer expander 80 is supplied to the ring groove 93, the upper end of the magazine 10 (excluding the protruding portion 15) and the upper end of the cylindrical portion 23 of the cup 20 are The cup 20 is pushed in with the piston 90 until it matches (as shown in FIG. 6). By doing so, both ends 82 </ b> A and 82 </ b> B of the abutting portion 81 can be fitted into the ring groove 93 while the opposite side of the abutting portion 81 of the spacer expander 80 is caught by the protrusion 15.

  In addition, the timing at which the spacer expander 80 is detached from the projection 15 is slightly different from the timing at which the spacer expander 80 is detached from the projection 24. That is, in the case of the protrusion 24, the spacer expander 80 is detached from the protrusion 24 when the piston 90 is separated from the cup 20, as described above. However, in the case of the protrusion 15, the spacer expander 80 comes off from the protrusion 15 at a point of time when the pushing of the cup 20 by the piston 90 is eased.

  As described in detail above, according to the present embodiment, the assembling apparatus 1 having the magazine 10 and the cup 20 and provided with the protrusion (24 or 15) on at least one of them is used. As a result, both ends 82 </ b> A of the joint part 81 in the opened state are provided with the position opposite to the joint part 81 of the spacer expander 80 being spaced apart from the piston 90 by the protrusion (24 or 15) in the diameter increasing direction. 82B is to be fitted into the ring groove 93. After that, by releasing the separation from the piston 90 at the position opposite to the abutment portion 81, the entire spacer expander 80 is made into a ring groove starting from both end portions 82A and 82B fitted in the ring groove 93 first. It fits in. As a result, an assembling method and an assembling apparatus capable of abutting both end portions 82A and 82B of the abutment portion 81 without overlapping each other in the ring groove 93 are realized. Here, the configuration corresponding to the drive source for the forward / backward movement of the “thin plate 66” in Patent Document 1 is not required, and the structure is simple accordingly.

  Note that this embodiment is merely an example, and does not limit the present invention. Therefore, the present invention can naturally be improved and modified in various ways without departing from the gist thereof. For example, the positioning member 12 is better if it is present, but is not necessarily essential. Alternatively, the piston 90 may be pushed down by the cylindrical portion 92 without the piston 90 being inverted when the piston 90 is placed on the cup 20. However, it is better to face the top surface 91 to the cup 20 as in this embodiment. This is because the cylindrical portion 92 generally has a connecting rod mounting shape and the like, and is easy to handle by automatic operation by a robot. Further, in terms of the general position of the ring groove 93, the amount of push-in can be reduced by pushing in the top surface 91. Further, the positional relationship between the positioning member 12 and the protrusion (24 or 15) may not be exactly 180 ° opposite.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Assembling apparatus 10 Magazine 12 Positioning member 20 Cup 24,15 Protrusion part 80 Spacer expander 81 Joint part 82A, 82B Both ends 90 Piston 93 Ring groove

Claims (3)

In the method of assembling the spacer expander of the combined piston ring in the ring groove of the piston,
A cylindrical magazine that holds the spacer expander of the combined piston ring on the outer peripheral surface;
A cup provided in the magazine so as to be movable in the axial direction and having a piston pressed against it;
A spacer expander assembling apparatus in which a protrusion projecting in a direction opposite to a direction of pressing the cup with the piston is formed at a position corresponding to one position of an edge of the piston in at least one of the magazine and the cup. Use
Anti abutment position opposite to the abutment portion of the spacer expander remains moved away from the piston diameter direction, the abutment portion fitting process of fitting both end portions in the ring groove open abutment portion,
A spacer expander is held on the outer peripheral surface of the magazine,
With the piston pressed against the magazine,
In this state, the spacer expander is supplied from the magazine to the ring groove of the piston, and the protrusion of the spacer expander is kept away from the piston by the protrusion.
After that, by releasing the separation from the piston at the counter-abutment position, the entire spacer expander is fitted into the ring groove starting from both ends of the abutment part previously fitted in the ring groove. the method of assembling the spacer expander, characterized that you carried out by retracting the entire fitting process to match without overlapping one another in a ring groove, the piston from the assembly apparatus. A cylindrical magazine that holds the spacer expander of the combined piston ring on the outer peripheral surface;
A cup provided in the magazine so as to be movable in the axial direction and having a piston pressed against it;
A spacer expander having a protrusion projecting in a direction opposite to the direction in which the cup is pressed by the piston at a position corresponding to one position of an edge of the piston in at least one of the magazine and the cup. Assembly equipment. In the assembly apparatus of the spacer expander of Claim 2 ,
A spacer extractor having a positioning member parallel to the axial direction for positioning a joint portion of a spacer expander which is provided at a circumferential position facing the projection on the outer peripheral surface of the magazine. Panda assembly device.

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