JPH06305028A - Manufacture of cylindrical element and vessel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate use of expensive reinforcing resin to an unnecessary part and to prevent an increase in a material cost by interposing a conductive member between a cylindrical thermoplastic resin first member and a second member formed similarly to the first member, induction heating them to fusion- bond them when the first member and the second member are opposed, end faces of both are fusion-bonded to manufacture a cylindrical element. CONSTITUTION:A conductive member 19 is interposed between a cylindrical thermoplastic resin first member 7 and a cylindrical thermoplastic resin second member 8. A high frequency induction coil 18 is so disposed as to surround the member 19. A high frequency voltage is applied to the coil 18 to supply a high frequency current to heat the member 19. Thus, opposed ends of the upper and lower members 7, 8 are fusion-bonded at entire peripheries. In this manner, non-reinforcing resin can be used except the member 19 of a connecting part, and expensive reinforcing resin is not used to an unnecessary part, and hence an increase in a material cost can be prevented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for producing a tubular body made of a thermoplastic resin and a container which can be produced by this method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a main body of an oil tank used in a hydraulic circuit of a hydraulic power steering apparatus is manufactured by welding end surfaces of cylindrical upper and lower members made of a thermoplastic resin which face each other. Therefore, the end surface of the upper member and the end surface of the lower member are brought into contact with each other, and in this contact state, the two members are relatively vibrated or relatively rotated to generate frictional heat so that the opposite end surfaces are welded to each other. Is being carried out. Further, the opposing end faces of the upper and lower members are melted by a hot plate, and in the molten state, the end faces are brought into contact with each other to be welded.

[0003]

However, when the upper and lower members are oscillated relative to each other or rotated relative to each other as in the prior art, there is a problem that the relative positional accuracy of the both members is lowered. Further, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, in order to weld the opposite end faces of the upper and lower members over the entire circumference, it is necessary that the opposite end faces be on one plane. However, if both the opposite end faces are on one plane, the welding area is reduced and the welding strength is reduced when the diameters of the upper and lower members are small. In addition, there is a problem that design restrictions increase. For example, in a liquid container such as the oil tank, it is desirable to interpose a transparent member between the upper and lower members in order to check the amount of oil stored in the liquid container. If they are on one plane, it becomes difficult to interpose another member between both members.
Also, in the case of an oil tank for a hydraulic power steering device, it is necessary to improve the strength of the connecting part because the tank body is connected to the vehicle body and the oil inflow / outflow hose is connected. Therefore, the glass fiber etc. Although a reinforced resin mixed with is used, the material cost increases if such a reinforced resin is used in a large amount. Therefore, it is desirable to use non-reinforced resin except for the connecting portion, but when the opposing end surfaces of the upper and lower members are on one plane, the shapes of both members are limited, so that the reinforced resin is applied to unnecessary portions. There is the problem of having to use it.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a tubular body and a container which can solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.

[0005]

In the method for manufacturing a tubular body according to the present invention, the end faces of the tubular thermoplastic resin first member and the tubular thermoplastic resin second member facing each other are welded. At the time of manufacturing the tubular body with, the conductive member is sandwiched between the opposed end surfaces of the first member and the second member, and the conductive member is induction-heated to thereby cause the opposed end surfaces of the first member and the second member. Are welded to each other.

The container according to the present invention is a cylinder manufactured by welding end faces of a cylindrical first upper member made of a thermoplastic resin and a cylindrical second lower member made of a thermoplastic resin, which are opposed to each other. In a container provided with a main body, a conductive member is sandwiched between opposed end surfaces of the first member and the second member, and the conductive member is induction-heated to oppose the first member and the second member. The end faces are welded to each other.

[0007]

According to the method of the present invention, the tubular member can be manufactured by welding the first member and the second member without moving them relative to each other.
Even if the opposite end surfaces of the first member and the second member do not lie on a single flat surface over the entire circumference, by sandwiching the conductive member between the opposite end surfaces of both members, the opposite end surfaces of the first member and the second member are completely surrounded. Can be welded to each other.

The container according to the present invention comprises a first body
Since the conductive member is sandwiched between the opposing end surfaces of the member and the second member, the conductive member can be induction-heated to be welded without relative movement of both members.
Even if both opposing end surfaces of both members are not on one plane over the entire circumference, the respective opposing end surfaces can be welded to each other over the entire circumference.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 4 show an oil tank (container) 1 provided in a hydraulic circuit of a hydraulic power steering system. This oil tank 1 includes a tank body (cylindrical body) 2
And a pipe 5 forming an oil inlet 3 to the tank body 2, and an oil outlet 4 from the tank body 2.
And a pipe 6 that forms The tank body 2
Is made of synthetic resin, and is manufactured by welding the end faces of the tubular thermoplastic resin upper member (first member) 7 and the tubular thermoplastic resin lower member (second member) 8 that face each other. Has been done. The lower member 8 is integrally formed with the pipes 5 and 6. A fuel filler port 20 is formed at the upper end of the upper member 7, and the fuel filler port 20 is opened and closed by a cap 22 via an annular seal 28. The peripheral wall 1 is provided on the bottom wall of the lower member 8.
0 is integrally molded, and an oil outflow chamber 11 surrounded by the peripheral wall 10 is formed. The upper opening of the oil outflow chamber 11 is covered with a planar oil filter 12. The inflow port 3 opens to the side wall of the tank body 2 outside the oil outflow chamber 11, and the outflow port 4 communicates with the oil outflow chamber 11.

The oil tank 1 is supported by the vehicle body via a bracket 40 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The bracket 40 includes a side plate 41 facing the outer peripheral surface of the container 1, and a pair of left and right fitting portions 45 and 46 are formed on the side plate 41. In the fitting portions 45 and 46, the tank body 2
A pair of left and right fitted parts 57, 58 provided on the lower member 8 of
Is fitted from above, the tank 1 is attached to the bracket 4
Supported by 0. That is, each fitting portion 45, 46 has supporting pieces 45a, 46a projecting from the left and right ends of the side plate 41 toward the lower member 8, and the inner surfaces 45a ', 46a' of each supporting piece 45a, 46a are the lower members. Inclination with respect to the vertical plane such that they approach each other toward 8 and approach each other toward below. Also, the fitted parts 57, 5
Reference numeral 8 denotes supported pieces 57a and 58a projecting from the outer periphery of the lower member 8 toward the side plate 41, and the outer surface 57 of each supported piece.
a 'and 58a' are the inner surfaces 45 of the support pieces 45a and 46a.
It is inclined with respect to the vertical plane along a ', 46a'. The supported piece 5 is provided between the left and right sides of the support pieces 45a and 46a.
The tank 1 is supported by the bracket 40 by fitting 7a and 58a from above. In order to prevent the tank 1 from coming out of the bracket 40 upward, the tank 1 is provided with an abutting portion 61, and cantilevered by an upper portion of the inner edge of the opening 42 formed in the side plate 41 of the bracket 40. A stop piece 43 is provided. The lower end of the retaining piece 43 comes into contact with the upper surface of the contact portion 11 from above to prevent the tank 1 from being removed from the bracket 40 upward. Further, the retaining piece 43 is attached to the tool insertion hole 43a.
By inserting a tool into the lower member 8 and pulling it in a direction away from the lower member 8 to elastically and elastically displace it, the stopper piece 43 and the contact portion 11 are released from contact with each other, so that the tank 1 is attached to the bracket. It is possible to pull out from 40.

As described above, since the lower member 8 of the tank body 2 is connected to the bracket 40, and the oil inflow and outflow hoses are connected to the pipes 5 and 6 integrated with the lower member 8, glass fiber or the like is used. The lower member 8 is formed of a reinforced resin such as polyamide mixed with the reinforced fibers of. On the other hand, the upper member 7 is not required to have the same strength as the lower member 8, so that the reinforcing fibers are not mixed therein, but it is formed of a transparent resin such as polyethylene terephthalate so that the amount of oil in the tank 1 can be confirmed. Further, since the material cost of the resin in which the reinforcing fibers are mixed is large, the shape of the lower member 8 is larger in the vertical direction in the fitted portions 57 and 58 and the portions where the pipes 5 and 6 are formed than in other portions. Therefore, the material cost is reduced. Further, the shape of the upper member 7 is such that the upper portion of the fitted portions 57 and 58 and the pipes 5 and 6 has a smaller vertical dimension than the other portions. As a result, the opposite end surfaces of the upper member 7 and the lower member 8 are not located on one plane over the entire circumference, and therefore the upper member 7 and the lower member 8 are welded to each other so as to be welded to each other. A conductive member is sandwiched between the opposed end surfaces of 8 and the conductive member is induction-heated.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, a flange 7'is formed on the outer periphery of the lower end of the upper member 7, and an annular melting margin 7 "is formed on the lower surface of the flange 7 '. A flange 8'is formed on the outer periphery of the upper end of the member 8, and an annular groove 8 "is formed on the upper surface of the flange 8 '. Between the melting margin 7 ″ on the lower surface of the flange 7 ′ of the upper member 7 and the groove 8 ″ of the flange 8 ′ of the lower member 8,
An annular conductive metal mesh (conductive member) 19 is sandwiched, and as shown in FIG. 1, a high frequency induction heating coil 18 is arranged so as to surround the metal mesh 19, and a high frequency current is applied to the coil 18. That is the metal mesh 19
Is heated, and the respective facing end surfaces of the upper member 7 and the lower member 8 are welded to each other over the entire circumference.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, as shown in the first modification of FIG.
The facing end surfaces of the upper member 7 and the lower member 8 may be located on the same plane, and in this case, the relative alignment accuracy of the upper member 7 and the lower member 8 can be improved, and in this case, they are used. The conductive metal mesh 19 'is formed in a disk shape instead of an annular shape so as to serve also as an oil filter, and the oil introduction pipe 5 is positioned above the metal mesh 19' and the oil discharge pipe 6 is positioned below the metal mesh 19 '. Therefore, the number of parts and man-hours can be reduced. Others are the same as the above-mentioned embodiment, and the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals. Further, as shown in the second modified example of FIGS. 9 and 10, the upper member 7 and the lower member 8 are made of an opaque material, and the amount of oil made of a transparent material made of a thermoplastic resin is provided between both members 7, 8. The confirmation window member 30 is sandwiched, and the metal mesh 19 ″ is sandwiched not only between the upper and lower members 7 and 8 but also between the window member 30 and the upper member 7 and the lower member 8 to guide the metal mesh 19 ″. By heating, it becomes possible to interpose the window member 30 between the upper member 7 and the lower member 8. Others are the same as the above-mentioned embodiment, and the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals. In addition, although the metal mesh is used as the conductive member in the above-described embodiment, any conductive member may be used, and for example, a metal single wire may be used. Also,
In the above embodiment, the oil tank 1 for the hydraulic power steering device is shown as the container, and the method of the present invention is applied to manufacture the tank main body 2. However, the tubular upper first member and the tubular member made of thermoplastic resin are used. The present invention can be applied to any container provided with a tubular main body manufactured by welding end surfaces of a lower second member made of a thermoplastic resin, which face each other, to each other,
Further, the method of the present invention can also be applied to the case where a tubular body other than the thermoplastic resin container body is manufactured by welding two tubular members.

[0015]

According to the method for manufacturing a tubular body of the present invention, the first member and the second member are welded together without moving relative to each other, and the opposing end faces of the first member and the second member are the entire circumference. It is possible to weld the opposing end faces to each other over the entire circumference even if they are not on one plane. Since the container of the present invention can be manufactured by the method for manufacturing a tubular body of the present invention, the relative positioning accuracy of the first member and the second member constituting the container main body can be improved, and each of both members can be improved. Since the opposing end faces are not on one plane over the entire circumference, the welding area can be increased to improve the welding strength, and the restriction on the design can be reduced, for example, with the first member. Reduction of material cost by interposing another member such as a transparent member for internal confirmation with the second member, or by using reinforced resin only in necessary parts and making non-reinforced resin in unnecessary parts Will be possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an oil tank according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front sectional view of an oil tank according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of an oil tank according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan sectional view of a lower member of an oil tank according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view of an essential part of the oil tank of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a bracket according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the bracket according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a front view of an oil tank according to a first modified example of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of an oil tank according to a second modified example of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a lower member and a window member of an oil tank according to a second modified example of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 oil tank 2 tank body 7 upper member 8 lower member 19, 19 ', 19 "metal mesh

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. When manufacturing a tubular body by welding end surfaces of a tubular thermoplastic resin first member and a tubular thermoplastic resin second member facing each other, the first member and the first thermoplastic resin are welded to each other. Two
A method for manufacturing a tubular body, comprising sandwiching a conductive member between opposed end surfaces of a member and inductively heating the conductive member to weld the opposed end surfaces of the first member and the second member to each other. 2. A tubular main body manufactured by welding end surfaces of a tubular first upper member made of a thermoplastic resin and a tubular second lower member made of a thermoplastic resin facing each other. In the container provided, a conductive member is sandwiched between the opposed end surfaces of the first member and the second member, and the conductive member is induction-heated to weld the opposed end surfaces of the first member and the second member to each other. A container characterized by being