JPH01245977A - Device for supplying parts using to end plug welding apparatus for atomic fuel rod - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the constitution and to improve the reliability by parallel setting a spring put-in body and an end plug put-in body in sub-chamber, setting to the same axis of a coating tube by lining up them in order, inserting the coating tube into a main chamber with a pushing-out means and inserting the spring into the other pushing-out means. CONSTITUTION:The sub-chamber in a supplying device 200 is closely connected with the main chamber 100. The coating tube 12 pierced with a holded rotating device 400 and a rotating seal device 300, is inserted into the main chamber 100 only at filter metal tool side. After vacuum-venting the sub-chamber of a vacuum-venting device 500, the inner part of both chambers is substituted with low pressure helium gas by using a helium gas pressurizing device 600. The filter metal tool is pulled out with a filter metal tool pulling-out device 130 and discharged to out of the main chamber 100 with a filter metal tool discharging device 150. The spring 14 is inserted into the coating tube 12 with the supplying device 200. The end plug 15 is primarily pressed in the other end of the coated tube 12 with the supplying device 200. The end plug 15 is welded to the circumference of the coated tube 12 with a welding machine 110 while rotating the coating tube 12 with a holding and rotating device 400 and helium gas is discharged.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A. Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a parts supply device used in an end plug welding device for nuclear fuel rods.

B. Prior Art A nuclear fuel rod used in a nuclear reactor is made up of a plurality of nuclear fuel rod elements 10 shown in FIG. Each element 10 has a zirconium alloy or stainless steel cladding tube 12 plugged at one end with an end plug 11, into which the required number of pellets 13 are filled.

Further, after inserting the spring 14, the inside of the tube is replaced with an inert gas, and the other end of the cladding tube 12 is sealed with an end plug 15 in order to press and position the pellet 13 at the tube end by the force of the spring. Generally, the end plug 15 is welded to the tube end by TIG (tungsten inert gas welding) I welding or laser welding (for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-113198 or Japanese Patent Publication No. 53-38).
(See Publication No. 396).

In the case of manufacturing a fuel rod element in which a high-pressure (for example, 30 atm) inert gas is sealed inside the nuclear fuel rod element 10, end plug welding is performed by pressurizing the inside of the welding chamber to, for example, about 30 atm. In order to withstand pressure, it is necessary to carry out various operations with a minimum chamber volume, and to take into account the tightness of the chamber. For this reason, the inventors have previously proposed a spring member supply device that can insert the spring 14 into the cladding tube 12 from outside the welding chamber and press-fit the end plug 15.

This spring member supply device has a cylindrical body that can be moved into and out of the welding chamber, and the spring is inserted into the cylindrical body with the cylindrical body in a vertical state, and held coaxially with the cylindrical body by a spring holding member. Next, the cylindrical body is brought into close contact with the welding chamber in a horizontal state, and the inside of the welding chamber and the cylindrical body are replaced with helium gas. Thereafter, the end plug is inserted into the cladding tube by pushing the spring with a spring push rod attached to the tip thereof, and the end plug is press-fitted into the cladding tube.

C1 Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, 5 In this spring member supply device, the end plug moves together with the spring push rod within the cylinder before the holding member of the spring with a small outer diameter is expanded. The internal structure of the holding member etc. becomes complicated.

An object of the present invention is to provide a parts supply device for use in a nuclear fuel rod end plug welding device that solves these problems.

Means for Solving the D0 Problem The component supply device according to the present invention inserts a spring into a cladding tube whose one end is inserted into the main chamber, press-fits an end plug into the lower end of the cladding tube, and presses the end plug into the cladding tube, and then surrounds the end plug. The device is used for an end plug welding device for nuclear fuel rods to be welded, and includes a spring housing body that accommodates and holds a spring, and an end plug housing body that rotatably holds the end plug,
It has an indexing means for alternatively indexing one of the two containers to a position coaxial with the cladding tube, and a pushing member, and the spring is configured to push out the container indexed to a position coaxial with the cladding tube to a predetermined position in the main chamber. At least two spring extruding means, comprising: a housing pushing means for bringing the housing and the cladding tube close to each other and press-fitting the end plug into the cladding tube; and a spring pushing means for pushing and inserting a spring housed in the spring housing from the housing body into the cladding tube. It is provided with a sub-chamber in which the container is accommodated and communicated with the main chamber.

The 86 working subchamber is connected in communication with the main chamber, and the indexing means first indexes the spring housing into a coaxial position with the cladding tube. The spring housing is inserted into the extrusion main chamber to a predetermined position by the housing pushing means. Next, the spring in the spring housing is pushed out by the spring pushing means and inserted into the cladding tube. returning the spring housing to its original position in the subchamber;
The end plug housing is indexed to a coaxial position with the cladding tube by the indexing means. The end plug container is inserted into the main chamber by the container pushing means and the end plug is press-fitted into the cladding tube.

Thereafter, the end plug is circumferentially welded to seal the tip of the cladding tube.

F. Embodiment One embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. In addition, the fourth
The same parts as in the figure are given the same symbols.

First, the configuration of the entire welding apparatus will be explained based on FIGS. 1(a), 1(b) to 3.

This welding device has a main chamber 100 into which the end of the cladding tube 12 is inserted in order to weld the end plug 15 in, for example, helium gas, and the following (1) to (
8) are provided and configured.

(1) Welding machine 110: As shown in Fig. 2, welding fil
lo is the laser head 111 and the laser power supply/control unit 1
A laser beam emitted from a laser head 111 is guided into the main chamber 100 through a quartz window 101 attached to the main chamber 100, and the end plug 15 is circumferentially welded. The laser head 111 has a laser power supply/control unit 112
controlled by

(2) Filter fitting extraction device 130: Cladding tube 12
This is a device for removing the filter fitting 16 (Fig. 3) temporarily fixed to the tip of the filter. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, this filter fitting extraction device 130 is swingably supported by a spherical seat 102 attached to the main chamber 100, and a gripper 131 at the tip is attached to the main chamber 100.
inserted within. The extracting device 130 is swung by a swinging device 140 to extract the filter fitting 16 gripped by the gripper 131 from the cladding tube 12 . This rocking device 1
40 is a bracket 1 attached to the main chamber 100
03, an output rod 142 thereof, and a lever 143 whose one end is connected to the output rod 142 and the other end is connected to the extraction device 130.
It consists of

(3) Filter metal fitting discharge device 150: Filter metal fitting discharge bag-11150 is the filter metal fitting extraction device 13
The filter fitting 16 removed at step 0 is inserted into the main chamber 10.
0 and is installed at the bottom of the main chamber 100. This ejection device i! 150, as shown in FIG.
The filter fitting 16 is discharged from the holder.

(4) Cooling/steady rest device 170: This is provided coaxially inside the main chamber 100 and includes the cladding tube 12 inserted.
supports the tip of the weld and cools the weld. This device 17
As shown in FIG. 3, the collet chuck 171 has a cooling/all-purpose collet chuck 171 that supports the cladding tube 12.
, 172b are rotated in opposite directions to advance and retreat in the axial direction of the cladding tube 12, thereby tightening and releasing the cladding tube.

(5) Positioning device 190: As shown in FIG. 3, it consists of a positioning member 191 that is attached to the lower part of the main chamber 100 and moves back and forth in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction of the cladding tube 12, and a pneumatic cylinder 192 for driving the positioning member 191. The positioning member 19
1 into the insertion path of the cladding tube 12 and abutting the tip of the cladding tube 12, positioning during welding is performed.

(6) Supply device 200: This device is attached to the right end of the main chamber 100, inserts the spring 14 into the cladding tube 12 inserted into the main chamber 100, and press-fits the end plug 15 into the end of the cladding tube 12. .

Here, 1 regarding the component supply device 200 according to the present invention.
This will be explained in detail with reference to figures (a) and (b).

This supply device 200 has a subchamber 201 that is sealed and communicated with the main chamber 100 .

Inside the subchamber 201, there are disks 202, 203 and an annular disk 204 arranged at a predetermined interval as shown in FIG. 1(b).
Tie rod 205A as shown.

205B so that they can rotate together. These disks 202 and 203 hold a spring cylinder (spring housing) 206 and an end plug cylinder (end plug housing) 2o7.

The spring cylinder 206 has a double structure of an outer cylinder 206A and an inner cylinder 206B, and a motor holding cylinder 2 is provided at the rear end of the outer cylinder 206A.
08 is provided, and a motor 209 is provided inside thereof. A threaded rod 210 inserted into the inner cylinder 206B is connected to the motor output shaft. The screw thread 210 is the inner cylinder 206B
The pin 212 is inserted into the elongated hole 211 of the pin 212 and screwed into the nut 213 which is prevented from rotating, and the nut 213 advances and retreats along the elongated hole 211 of the inner cylinder 206B as the screw stud 210 rotates.

The spring 14 is inserted and accommodated between the threaded rod 210 and the inner cylinder 206B, and is pushed out by the advancing nut 213. A coupling 214 is provided at the rear end of the motor holding cylinder 208.

An end plug receiving hole 215 is bored at the tip of the end plug cylinder 207, and a thrust bearing 216 is provided at the bottom of the hole 215, and a spring 217 is inserted therein. Also, the accommodation hole 21
5 is also provided with a pair of needle bearings 218, 219. The end plug 15 has a needle bearing 218,
The cladding tube 12 is rotatably supported by the cladding tube 219, and the thrust load during press-fitting into the cladding tube 12 is supported by the thrust bearing 216. A coupling 220 is also provided at the rear end of this cylindrical body 207.

An internal gear 221 is attached to the annular disc 204, and a small gear 222 meshes with the internal gear 221.

This small gear 222 is connected to the output shaft of a motor 223 eccentrically installed on the rear end surface of the sub-chamber 201. Therefore, when this motor 223 is driven, the pinion 2
22, the internal gear 221 rotates, and the tie rod 205
The disks 202 to 204 integrated at A and 205B rotate together. This rotation causes the cylinders 206 and 20
7 is sequentially aligned with the axis of the cladding tube 12 inserted into the main chamber 100, and the spring 14 is inserted and the end plug 15 is inserted.
can be press-fitted.

An extrusion device 240 having a busher 241 coaxial with the cladding tube 12 is provided on the rear surface of the subchamber 201 . The tip of this bushing 241 is inserted into the subchamber 201, and a coupling 242 that engages with the couplings 214, 220 of the cylindrical bodies 206, 207 described above is provided at the tip. The bushing 241 is a threaded rod 24 whose rotation is prevented by a rotation stopping member 244 that engages with a long groove 243.
Connected to 5. This screw rod 245 is attached to the screw rod 245.
A ball holder 246 constituting a ball screw is also inserted. The timing gear 24 is attached to the ball holder 246.
7 is fixed, and the motor 2 is connected via the timing bell 248.
49 is transmitted, and this causes the ball holder 246 to rotate.
When the screw rotates, the screw 245 moves forward and backward due to the engagement between a ball (not shown) and the screw 245, and the pusher 241
advances and retreats.

(7) Rotary seal device 300: installed at the left end of the main chamber 100, inserts the cladding tube 12 into the main chamber 100, and rotates the cladding tube 12 and the main chamber 100 during welding.
At the same time, the inside of the main chamber 100, which fluctuates from vacuum to 30 atmospheres, is reliably sealed. For this reason,
As shown in FIG. 3, a Wilson seal 301, a mechanical seal 302, and a molded seal 303 are provided in this order from the inside of the chamber. The Wilson seal 301 and the mechanical seal 302 are connected to the cylindrical body 3 into which the cladding tube 12 is inserted.
04, and the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 304 and the main chamber 10
0.

This cylindrical body 304 is provided to accommodate cladding tubes 12 of various outside diameters, and rotates via a gear 305 in synchronization with the cladding tube 12 rotating during end plug welding.

The molded seal 303 is pressed with a suppression device 320 to ensure sealing. This suppression device 320 includes a pneumatic cylinder 321 attached to the main chamber 100, a cylinder rod 322 thereof, a lever 323 connected at one end to the cylinder rod 322, and a molded seal inserted into the cladding tube 12 by the lever 323. 303 and a suppressing member 324 that presses down.

(8) Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, this welding device includes a gripping/rotating bag @400 that grips and rotates the cladding tube 12, and a vacuum/exhaust device that evacuates the inside of the main chamber 100 and the supply device 20o. 500, and a helium gas pressurizing device 600 that pressurizes and seals helium gas inside the main chamber 100 and the supply device 200. In addition, the second
In the figure, 450 is a motor that rotates the cladding tube 12;
451 is a timing gear, 452 is a timing belt that transmits the rotation of the motor to the gripping/rotating bag [400], 453
is a timing gear, and 454 is a timing belt that transmits the rotation of the motor to the rotating seal group @300.

With the above configuration, the end plug 15 is attached to the cladding tube 12 in the following manner.
Weld to.

Now, in the previous process, one end of the cladding tube 12 was closed with the end plug 11.
It is assumed that the inside is filled with pellets 13 and the other end of the cladding tube 12 is sealed with a filter fitting 16 (FIG. 3). It is assumed that the spring 14 is externally inserted into the threaded rod 210 in the inner cylinder 206B, and the end plug 15 is held in the end plug receiving hole 215.

Such a cladding tube 12 is processed as follows.

■The sub chamber 201 of the supply device 200 is connected to the main chamber 10.
Connect hermetically to 0. For example, a coupling device capable of automatically attaching and detaching the main chamber 100 and the sub-chamber 201 can be provided so that when the sub-chamber 201 is pressed against the main chamber 100, the two are coupled and hermetically connected.

■First, loosen the molded seal 303. And grip/
The cladding tube 12 is inserted into the main chamber 100 only on the filter fitting side by passing through the rotation device 400 and the rotary seal device 300. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the tip of the cladding tube 12 does not reach the cooling/steady rest device 170, but is supported in a state slightly protruding from the cylindrical body 304 of the rotary seal device 300.

■Vacuum/exhaust equipment i! After the main chamber 100 and the sub-chamber 201 in the supply device 200 are evacuated by 500, both chambers 100 and 201 are replaced with low-pressure helium gas higher than atmospheric pressure by the helium gas pressurizing device 600.

(2) The filter metal fitting 16 is extracted by the filter metal fitting wave removal device 130, and after welding is completed, the removed filter metal fitting is discharged to the outside of the main chamber 100 by the filter metal fitting discharging device 150.

(2) Position the cladding tube 12 using the positioning device 190. That is, the positioning member 191 is projected into the path of the cladding tube 12 by the pneumatic cylinder 192 for positioning, and the cladding tube 12 is advanced by a conveying device (not shown) and brought into contact with the positioning member 191 to position its tip. After positioning, the molded seal 303 is pressed by the pressing device 320 to improve the sealing performance between the cladding tube 12 and the sealing cylinder 304.

(2) Insert the spring 14 into the cladding tube 12 using the supply device 200. This is done as follows.

(■-1) The small gear 222 is driven by the indexing motor 223.
．． The disks 202 to 204 are rotated via the internal gear 221, and the cylinder body 206 is rotated coaxially with the cladding tube 12 as shown in FIG.
Determine the state of a).

When the timing gear 247 is rotated by the motor 249 via the timing belt 248, the ball holder 24
6 rotates, the screw stud 245 moves forward, and the bushing 241 moves the cylindrical body 206 forward. When the tip of the cylindrical body 206 is inserted into the main chamber 100 and reaches a predetermined position close to the tip of the cladding tube 12, the bushing extrusion motor 249 is stopped, and the extrusion of the cylindrical body 206 is also stopped.

(■-2) When the threaded rod 210 to which the spring 14 is inserted is rotated by the spring pushing motor 209, the nut 213 moves forward and pushes out the spring 14. Since the cylindrical body 206 is coaxial with the cladding tube 12 and the tip of the cylindrical body 206 is close to and opposed to the tip of the cladding tube 12, the spring 14 pushed out from the cylindrical body 206 is inserted into the cladding tube 12. be done. When the spring 14 is inserted into the cladding tube 12, the spring pushing motor 209 rotates in the reverse direction, and the nut 213 returns to its original position. At the same time, the motor 249 for pushing out the bushings is reversed to
06 is retracted by the pusher 241 to open the subchamber 20.
Return to the predetermined position within 1.

(■-3) The small gear 222 is driven by the indexing motor 223.
When the annular disk 204 is rotated through
2 and when the annular disk 204 rotates 180 degrees, the bushing coupling 242 engages with the coupling 220 of the cylinder 207. At this time, the cylinder 207 is attached to the cladding tube 12.
is placed coaxially with.

(2) The end plug 15 is primarily press-fitted into the other end of the cladding tube 12 using the supply device [200]. This is done as follows.

(■-1) When the button pusher motor 249 is rotated again to advance the button 241, the cylindrical body 207 moves forward and is inserted into the main chamber 100, and the end plug 15 is moved by the spring 14.
is press-fitted into the tip of the cladding tube 12 while pressing. End plug 15
When the motor 249 is press-fitted to a predetermined position, the motor 249 stops.

Outer diameter of cylinder 207, main chamber 100 and sub chamber 20
The inner diameter of the passage 104 communicating with 1 is approximately equal to the 1 passage 1
Since a molded packing 105 is provided on the inner circumferential surface of 04, when the cylinder 207 is inserted into the main chamber 100, the main chamber 100 is isolated from the sub-chamber 201 and hermetically sealed.

The helium gas pressurizing device 600 pressurizes the inside of the main chamber 100 with helium gas to, for example, about 30 atmospheres.

At this time, the inside of the cladding tube 12 is also replaced with helium gas at 30 atmospheres. In this state, wait until the inside of the cladding tube stabilizes at the required pressure, and then press-fit the upper end plug for the final time. Note that in this step, the interior of the supply device 200 is isolated from the interior of the main chamber 100, and therefore is not pressurized.

(2) While the cladding tube 12 is rotated by the gripping/rotating device 400, the end plug 15 is circumferentially welded to the cladding tube 12 by the welding machine 110.

At this time, the tip of the cladding tube 12 is
0, and the collet chuck 171
Because it absorbs the heat during welding.

Welding is performed with appropriate penetration depth. Moreover, the main chamber 100 is reliably sealed by the rotary seal device 300.

(2) The helium gas in the main chamber 100 at 30 atmospheres is exhausted, and the cladding tube 12 is extracted from the main chamber 100, and the entire production process is completed.

In the configuration of the above embodiment, the motor 223° pinion 2
22. The internal gear 2219 and discs 202 to 204 serve as indexing means, and the extrusion device 240 serves as container extrusion means.
Motor 209. The screw 210 and the nut 213 constitute a spring pushing means.

Note that the indexing device is not limited to rotational indexing as in the embodiment, but may be a device that performs indexing by shifting vertically or horizontally. In addition, the spring 14 to the subchamber 201
In order to carry in the end plug 15, the subchamber 201 may be rotated in the horizontal plane as shown in FIG. 1(a), or
It is possible to rotate the image by 90 degrees within the plane of the paper, or to implement various forms.

G0 Effect of the Invention According to the present invention, the spring housing body and the end plug housing body are placed side by side in the subchamber, indexed sequentially and arranged coaxially with the cladding tube, and the coaxial housing body is placed on the common axis. Inserted into the main chamber by pushing with a pushing means.

The spring is further extruded from the container and inserted into the cladding tube by a separate extrusion means.

There is no need for a complicated spring holding member as in the past, simplifying the configuration and improving reliability.

In addition, as in the embodiment, when the container is inserted into the main chamber in order to pressurize the end plug to the cladding tube, the main chamber is inserted between the outer peripheral surface of the container and the inlet passage of the main chamber. If the main chamber is sealed, the pressure inside the sub-chamber will not be affected by the main chamber even if the pressure in the main chamber is increased, and the pressure resistance of the sub-chamber can be lower than that of the main chamber.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 3 illustrate one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1(a) is a detailed cross-sectional view of the parts supply device according to the present invention, FIG. 1(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line b-b, and FIG. 2 is a welding device equipped with the parts supply device according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a detailed sectional view of the main chamber side, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a nuclear fuel rod element. 12: Cladding tube 13: Pellet 14: Spring
15: Upper end plug 100: Main chamber 110
: Welding device 130: Filter fitting extraction device 150: Filter fitting discharging device 170: Cooling/steady rest device 190: Positioning device 200: Parts feeding device 201:
Sub-chamber 202, 203: Disc 204: Annular disc 205A, 205B: Tie rod 206: Cylinder 206A: Outer cylinder 206B: Inner cylinder 207 Two cylinders 209: Spring extrusion motor 210: Screw 213: Nut 214.220
, 242: Coupling 215: End plug accommodation hole 221
: Internal gear 222: Small gear 223: Indexing motor 240: Extrusion device 241: Pusher 245: Screw bar 246: Ball holder 249: Extrusion motor 300: Rotating seal device 400: Gripping/rotating device 500: Vacuum/exhaust device 600 : Patent applicant for helium gas pressurization device Patent applicant for Shimadzu Corporation Patent attorney for Hitachi Ltd. Fuyuki Nagai

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a component supply device used for a nuclear fuel rod end plug welding device, which inserts a spring into a cladding tube whose one end is inserted into a main chamber, press-fits an end plug into one end of the spring, and welds the end plug circumferentially, the spring is an indexing means for holding a spring housing for housing and holding and an end plug housing for rotatably holding the end plug, and for selectively indexing one of the housings to a coaxial position with the cladding tube; and an extrusion member. and pushing out the housing body indexed coaxially with the cladding tube to a predetermined position in the main chamber to bring the spring housing body and the cladding tube close to each other and press-fitting the end plug into the cladding tube. a spring extrusion means for pushing out and inserting a spring housed in the spring housing from the housing into the cladding tube; and a subchamber housing at least the two housing bodies and communicating with the main chamber. 1. A parts supply device used for a nuclear fuel rod end plug welding device, comprising: