JPH07109272B2 - Two-stage operation automatic pipe connection device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for mechanically connecting and disconnecting one or more self-sealing type pipe joints. Especially, when the joint is separated, it is easy to align the male and female joints when it is necessary to increase the separation distance between the male joint and the female joint in the direction perpendicular to the axis due to the equipment mounting layout, and in a dust accumulation atmosphere. The present invention relates to an automatic pipe connecting device that can be used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional automatic pipe connecting device having a plurality of pairs of self-sealing type pipe joints (hereinafter referred to as joints) will be described below. The male block projecting the guide pin and the female block having the guide hole are relatively movable linearly in the perspective. Either of the guide hole and the guide pin is spring-biased and supported by a bearing such as a spherical surface, so that the guide hole and the guide pin are centered and have a degree of freedom regarding relative coordinate position, rotational position, and inclination. It should be noted that the size of this degree of freedom is limited to the minimum necessary in terms of structure in order to make the device compact. As the insertion depth of the guide pin into the guide hole becomes deeper, the relative coordinate position / rotational position / inclination gradually become coincident. At the same time,
The male core on the guide pin side and the female core on the female hole side on the guide hole side also have substantially the same wicks as each other,
The guide pin and the guide hole can be inserted. Therefore, the feature of the prior art is that the guide pin, the guide hole, and the joints are fitted / fitted by one operation between the male and female blocks.

As an example of the prior art, Japanese Patent Publication No. 52-475.
No. 80 publication, "auto coupling device" (see FIG. 9),
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-151687 “Automatic pipe attaching / detaching device”
(See FIG. 10). The outline of the auto coupling device of FIG. 9 will be described below. This auto-coupling device is mainly used for injecting an inert gas into a ladle of a continuous casting facility in a steel mill and for feeding a pressurized fluid into a cylinder for operating a sliding nozzle. In FIG. 9, A shows a male block and B shows a female block. A female joint 20a is formed in the male block, and a male joint 24a is formed in the female block on the supports 20 and 24, respectively. The guide pin 1 is fixed to the support 20, and the rotation positioning key 1a is fitted to the guide pin 1. The support 20 is tiltably supported by a spherical bearing fitted to a support pin 21. When applied as a continuous casting facility, the male block A is fixed to the ladle 23 by the projecting arm 22.

Further, the male joint support 2 having the guide hole 25 is provided.
4 is supported by the receiving frame 27 by the guide pin 26, and the receiving frame 27
Are supported on a fixed frame 30 by guide pins 28. While the guide pin is spring-biased and centered,
And it is flexible. The receiving frame 27 and the support frame 29 are
It is tiltably supported by a spherical bearing fitted in the support pin 31. When the ladle 23 is suspended by a crane, the guide hole 25 and the guide pin 1 are fitted and fitted together, and at the same time, the female joint 20a and the male joint 24a are also fitted and the pipe connection is completed.

Next, a brief description will be given of the "pipe automatic attachment / detachment device" shown in FIG. This device is often found in rolling equipment and the like, and the alignment of the joints and the alignment of the joints are performed by fitting the guide pin 1 and the guide hole 25 as in the vertical type. The male block A is composed of a fluid cylinder 41, a female joint and a support body 42 on which the guide pin 1 is projecting, a fixed frame 43, and the like. A guide rod 51 is planted in the fixed frame 43 to support the support body 42 in a parallel slidable manner. A male joint 46 is projectingly provided on the female block B, and a support body 44 having a guide hole 25 is centered and supported by the fixed frame 43 by a spring built-in type support member 55. As described above, the conventional method is characterized in that the pipes are connected or separated by the general operation.

[0006]

FIG. 11 shows a conventional automatic pipe connecting apparatus in which the guide pin 1 is inserted into the guide hole 25 to correct the position and inclination of the male joint support body, and the female joint 20.
The state which is trying to make the axis center of a and the male joint 24a match is shown. The fitting clearance between the guide pin 1 and the guide hole 25 is set to about 1/200 to 1/500 of the shaft diameter, but if the inclination of the male joint support body 24 is not corrected, they cannot be inserted into each other. Can not. This insertion force requires a very large force to correct the inclination of the male joint support 24. In the experience of the present inventor, planar position absorption ± 70
mm, absorption of relative inclination of guide pin and guide hole ± 3 ° Necessary insertion force in automatic pipe connecting device is 4000 kg to 600
It was 0 kg. In the case of FIGS. 9 and 11, this is the induction pin 2
8 is the spring biasing force, and in the case of FIG.
This means that the pressing force of 1 requires 4000 kg to 6000 kg, respectively, which causes the device to become large and increase the cost. It has also been a cause of wear and damage on the contact surfaces (a and b in FIG. 11) when correcting the inclination of the guide pin 1 and the guide hole 25. In addition, the guide pin and the key are parts that need to be replaced as consumables, which naturally causes wear and damage to the key.

With reference to FIG. 11, the reason why the conventional automatic pipe connecting device must require a large insertion force will be described. In order to correct the inclination of the male joint support 24, the correction moment M must be generated. The correction moment M is a couple of forces F ₁ and F ₂ generated by the insertion force.
Is born by. By the way, since the clearance between the guide pin 1 and the guide hole 25 is as small as about 0.2 to 0.5 mm, the distance l between the couples becomes extremely small. Therefore, in order to obtain the necessary correction moment, the couples F ₁ and F ₂ are increased, and the insertion force is increased. As a result of the above, there was a need to develop an automatic pipe connecting device that can reduce the insertion force between the guide pin and the guide hole, ensure a smooth insertion, and reduce damage troubles such as the guide pin.

Further, when the automatic pipe connecting device is installed in a dust atmosphere, it is desirable that the guide pin be hung vertically. This is because there is almost no dust accumulation on the guide pins, and troubles such as defective fitting are unlikely to occur. Even in such a place, the relative operation of the male block side and the female block side is often required to be horizontal in terms of the fitting as seen from the whole apparatus. For example, there is a strong need for an automatic pipe connecting device between a ladle and a truck in a steelmaking plant. That is, the above-mentioned needs cannot be satisfied by the one-step operation type automatic pipe connecting device which does not operate in the conventional method shown in FIGS. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic pipe connecting device which can realize the needs of vertically arranging a guide pin and making relative movement between male and female blocks horizontal.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a relative perspective linear movement in which one or more male or female self-sealing couplings are provided so as to form a pair between blocks. It consists of a free pair of male and female blocks,
One of them, the male block, has a guide pin that is bored almost at right angles to the relative movement direction between the blocks, and the other female block has a guide pin axis perpendicular to the male block guide pin. Direction, a V-shaped concave guide that is fitted / positioned by relative insertion / movement to the side surface of the guide pin, a universal support with parallel links that rotatably and centerably supports the concave guide, and the support A two-stage structure comprising a traveling device for carrying out relative movement between blocks and a coupling attachment / detachment device movably supported in the concave guide in a direction parallel to the male block guide pin axis. An actuated pipe connection device is provided.

[0010]

In the two-stage actuated automatic pipe connecting device of the present invention, the first stage of the pipe connecting operation is to operate the traveling cylinder of the traveling device so that the guide pin hung on the male block is provided with the female block concave guide. , The guide pin is guided in the direction perpendicular to the axis, and the V-shaped groove is fitted and fitted in the guide pin, so that the axial centers of the joints are aligned. In that state, the second-stage joint attachment / detachment cylinder is operated to complete the fitting and connection of the joints. The order of deactuation is reversed, and the first stage actuates the joint attachment / detachment cylinder in the detachment direction. The second stage operates the traveling cylinder in the releasing direction to separate the blocks from each other. As described above, the operation of the joint attachment / detachment cylinder provided on the traveling cylinder at a substantially right angle is combined to perform the attachment / detachment operation of the joint.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a two-stage automatic pipe connecting device according to the present invention. The present apparatus is roughly divided into a male block A having a guide pin 1 suspended therein and a female block B equipped with a V-shaped concave guide (hereinafter referred to as a concave guide 4). The configuration of the male block A includes a guide pin 1, a female joint holder 2 in which one or more self-sealing female joints 2a are implanted, a fixed pipe 3 connected to the female joint 2a, and the like. The guide pin is fitted with a key 1a for determining the rotational position around the pin axis. Female block B is
A universal support 8 that supports the concave guide 4 so as to be tiltable in all directions, a joint attachment / detachment unit 5 that is fixedly installed on the side of the concave guide frame 4b (see FIG. 5), and a parallel that supports the universal support 8 freely in the Y-axis direction. The link unit 9, a centering unit 10 for centering the parallel link 9a, a traveling carriage unit 12 for freely operating the female block in the X-axis direction (relative direction between male and female blocks), and the like.

[0012] Here, what is important is the function of matching the positions and inclinations of the female cores of the male joint and the male joint. The guide pin of the male block and the base of the female joint, and the concave guide groove of the female block and the base of the male joint are parallel to each other, and the relative distance between them is set to be equal. Therefore, when the fitting of the guide pin and the recessed guide groove portion is completed, the bases of both of them coincide, and the cores of the female joint and the male joint also coincide with each other.

The male / female joint connection operation is as follows. When the traveling cylinder 13 operates in the pushing direction, the female block relatively approaches the male block (X-axis direction). When the inclined portion of the concave guide 4 and the guide pin 1 come into contact with each other, the concave guide becomes
The parallel link unit 9 works so that it can be positioned in the Y-axis direction. Then, the key 1a fitted to the guide pin 1 comes into contact with the slope (see FIG. 2) of the key receiving guide 4a provided in the deepest groove portion of the concave guide, and further, the position and inclination of the key receiving guide 4a are corrected. When the key 1a is approached, the fitting of the key 1a and the key receiving guide 4a is finally completed. Then, the attachment / detachment cylinder 6a of the joint attachment / detachment unit 5 operates the coupling support 5a in the attaching direction,
The mounting of the male joint 5b and the female joint 2a is completed. The joint removing operation is the reverse of the above, and the detachable cylinder 6a is moved in the detaching direction to complete the separation. Then, the traveling cylinder 13 is moved in the retreating direction to complete the separation between the male block and the female block.

As for the guide pin 1, the inclination in all directions and the rotational position error of the key 1a around the pin axis exist within the allowable range. If these errors cannot be absorbed, the above fitting will not be established. In FIG. 1, if the concave guide can rotate about the X-axis, the Y-axis, and the Z-axis, it is possible to absorb the inclination / rotational position error of the guide pin 1 described above. FIG. 5 is a view showing a cross section BB of FIG. 3, and shows that the concave guide 4 is supported by a U-shaped frame 8b so as to be rotatable around the Y axis. Further, in FIG. 4, the U-shaped frame 8b is moved around the X axis by the housing 8a (see FIG. 4), and the housing 8a is moved by the connecting link 9e.
It is shown that they are rotatably supported around the shaft. As described above, the concave guide 4 can freely rotate in the X and Y directions and rotate around the three axes of X, Y and Z, so that the tilt and rotation position errors of the guide pin 1 in all directions can be absorbed. . Then, the fitting between them is established, and the axes of the shafts match. As a result, the axial centers of the female joint and the male joint are aligned, and both can be inserted and fitted.

6 (a), (b) and (c) show progressive state diagrams in which the concave guide 4 and the guide pin 1a are fitted and fitted as described above. By the way, if the concave guide is not centered, when it approaches the guide pin,
The blurring is large and it may come off the guide pin.
Centering in the Y direction is performed by two centering cylinders 11 as shown in FIG. FIG. 2 shows stopper fittings 14X and 14Z with stopper rubbers for centering around the X axis and centering around the Z axis.
Further, FIG. 5 shows a stopper fitting 14Y for centering around the X axis. With the above function of the centering member,
The concave guide 4 and the key receiving guide 4a can surely grasp the guide pin 1 and the key 1a, respectively.

Next, FIG. 5 shows the structure of the male joint mounting portion. When the fitting of the concave guide 4 and the guide pin 1 is completed, the cores of the male and female joints almost coincide with each other, but there are some errors. Therefore, in order to absorb the error, the male joint 5b is attached to the rubber ring 5
While being centered by f, some direction perpendicular to the axis
The inclination is free. Thereby, the male and female joints can be securely inserted.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show another embodiment of a fitting / fitting progress diagram when the concave guide has a guide pin of another shape. FIG. 7A is a view showing a state in which the concave guide 4 is trying to grasp the twin type guide pin 1. A female joint 2a is provided on the guide pin 1 side, and a male joint 5 is provided on the concave guide 4 side.
b is attached respectively. (B) shows a state in which the guide pin and the concave guide are completely fitted, and the axial centers of the male joint and the female joint are aligned. FIG. 8 shows a guide pin and a concave guide having different shapes, (a) shows a progress state diagram in which the concave guide 4 is fitted in the guide pin 1, and (b) shows a fitting completion diagram. In short,
It is sufficient that the groove shape of the deepest end portion of the concave guide is a concave shape which is substantially equal to a part of the axial cross-sectional shape of the pin.

[0018]

According to the present invention, the above effects are remarkable. (1) The concave guide of the female block tilts in all directions,
Since it is supported by a universal support and a parallel link unit so that it can be positioned freely, and is inserted into the guide pin in a direction perpendicular to the axis, the required centering moment and positioning force can be made extremely small. In the actual machine of the automatic pipe connecting device according to the present invention, the horizontal plane absorption allowance ± 70 m
m, the guide pin tilt absorption allowance ± 2 °, and the pushing force of the concave guide and guide pin by the running cylinder was about 200 kg. That is, compared with the conventional method, 1/20 to 1/30
The positioning force of the above can contribute to the compactness of equipment and cost reduction. (2) Since the relative perspective moving direction between the male and female blocks can be made horizontal and a sufficient separation distance can be secured between the blocks, it is possible to secure a clearance between the male block female member and the female block female member. It will be easy. Therefore, when it is necessary for both members to move toward and away from each other,
The fitting condition of both members can be made advantageous, and the equipment layout design can be made reasonable. Under the above conditions, since the guide pin can be hung vertically, dust is less likely to be accumulated on the guide pin especially in a dust atmosphere, that is, when the guide pin and the concave guide are not fitted properly. It is possible to realize a device with less trouble.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a plan view showing a fitted state of the main part of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a side view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

5 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, 6E, 6F, 6G, 6F, 6G, 6H, 6H, 6I, 6I, and 6H are views showing the fitting and fitting progress of the guide pin and the concave guide in this embodiment.

7 (a) and (b) show, as another embodiment, a fitting / fitting progress view of a pair of guide pins and a concave guide.

8 (a) and (b) show a fitting / fitting progress view of a guide pin of another embodiment.

FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of a conventional automatic pipe connecting device.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of another conventional automatic pipe connecting device.

FIG. 11 shows a state in which guide pins and guide holes are fitted in a conventional automatic pipe connecting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A Male block 1 Guide pin 1a Key 2 Female joint holder 2a Female joint 3 Piping B Female block 4 Recessed guide 4a Key receiving guide 4b Recessed guide frame 4c Key receiving guide mounting bolt 5 Joint attaching / detaching unit 5a Male joint holder 5b Male Joint 5c Guide rail 5d Pressing ring 5e Hole retaining ring 5f Rubber ring 6a Detachable cylinder 6b Cylinder tip fitting 6c Stop fitting 6d Guide roller 7 Flexible hose 7a Piping 8 Universal support 8a Housing 8b Co-frame 8X X-axis 8X1 X-axis bearing 8X2 X-axis bearing Outer ring retainer 8X3 X-axis bearing Inner ring retainer 8Y Y-axis 8Y1 Y-axis bearing 8Y2 Keeper plate 8ZU Z-axis (upper) 8ZD Z-axis (lower) 8ZU1 Z-axis (upper) bearing 8ZD1 Z-axis (lower) bearing 8ZU2 Z Bearing cover (upper) 8ZD2 Z bearing Push lid (bottom) 9 Parallel link unit 9a Parallel link 9b Bearing 9c Bearing push lid 9d Bearing retaining ring 9e Connection link 10 Centering unit 10a Push rod 10b Roller 11 Centering cylinder 12 Traveling carriage unit 13 Traveling cylinder 14X X-axis rotation stopper 14Y Y-axis rotation stopper 14Z Z-axis rotation stopper 14Z1 Z-axis rotation stopper rubber

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pair of male and female blocks in which one or more self-sealing type pipe joints are arranged so as to form a pair of male and female between the blocks, and the male block is arranged in the moving direction between the blocks. The guide block is provided at a right angle, and the other female block has a V-shaped concave guide that is guided and positioned with respect to the guide pin, and supports the concave guide rotatably around three axes. The universal support is attached to a parallel link unit that supports positionally, the parallel link unit is mounted on a traveling device that performs relative perspective movement between blocks, and the pipe joint attaching / detaching device is operably attached to the concave guide. A two-stage actuated automatic pipe connection device characterized by being supported.