JPH11347780A - Automatic sheet welding equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic sheet welding equipment which enables laser welding to have little thermal deformation, no stains from weld bead, simple post processing, and no burn through. SOLUTION: The equipment is provided with a clamp 2b for clamping the rear end of a coil and a clamp 2a for clamping the tip end of the coil; after the cutting by a cutter 3 at the end part, the moving side clamp 2aT, 2bT of each clamp 2a, 2b is brought close to the fixing side clamp 2aL, 2bL, with the ends of the sheet 1 projected and abutted on each other; and the groove positioned above a raising guide 5 is welded by a laser welding head 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic welding apparatus for welding a rear end and a front end of a thin plate by laser welding.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A thin sheet material (referred to as a coil) wound in a roll shape, which is, for example, an ultra-thin sheet material of about 0.1 mm, and has a rear end portion of a previous coil. In general, the connection between the coil and the tip of the next coil is performed by TIG welding or the like with the help of a worker.

[0003] However, in the case of such welding, since it is an extremely thin plate, there are problems that a large thermal strain is generated, the welding bead is dirty, and it takes time to correct in a post-process such as deburring after welding. , There is a problem in production efficiency or workability. Further, in some cases, there is a problem in that a thin plate is defectively burned off.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a thin plate automatic welding apparatus in which a welding bead having a small thermal strain is free from contamination, a post-welding process is simple, and there is no burn-through.

[0005]

The present invention that achieves the above object has the following matters specifying the invention. In the first invention,
A pair of clamps each comprising a combination of a movable clamp and a fixed clamp through which a thin plate is passed are provided on the upstream side and the downstream side along the passing direction with the movable clamps facing each other. The movable clamps are movable in the passing direction with respect to the fixed clamps, and each of the movable clamps is provided with a thin plate cutter. Are provided with a push-up guide and a laser welding head.

According to a second aspect, in the first aspect, a shaping roller and a trimming device are provided further downstream of the downstream clamp.

A third invention is the first invention, wherein the push-up guide is provided with cooling means.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 1 to 6 show the automatic welding with time, and the structure and function will be described with reference to these drawings. Unlike conventional TIG welding or the like, in laser welding according to the present invention, alignment of a welding groove is important, and therefore, in automatic welding, there is a problem of groove alignment and accuracy of the position. In this example, the structure is made in consideration of this point.

[0009] For example, in the step of extracting an ultra-thin plate of 0.1 mm or 0.08 mm from a coil (not shown), performing a predetermined process, and winding the same around the coil (not shown), There is a front end (start of winding) and a rear end (end of winding), and it is required to join the rear end of the coil before being pulled out in the process and the front end of the next coil to be drawn out. Here, in the present invention, joining is performed by, for example, laser welding using a YAG laser.

In FIG. 1, a pair of clamps 2a, 2b
Is arranged. The clamps 2a and 2b can grip and fix the passed ultrathin plate 1.
The fixed clamps 2aL and 2bL and the movable clamps 2aT and 2bT are combined with a and 2b, and are provided on the upstream side and the downstream side such that the movable clamps 2aT and 2bT face each other.

Each of the clamps 2a and 2b is arranged so as to be movable along the direction of passing the plate,
The moving-side clamps 2aT, 2bT are also arranged movably along the passing direction with respect to aL, 2bL. The movable clamps 2aT and 2bT are provided with a cutter 3 for cutting the ultrathin plate 1.

Further, the upstream and downstream clamps 2a,
2b, a laser welding head 4 is disposed on the front side (upper side) of the ultra-thin plate 1 so as to be able to move up and down, and a push is placed on the back side (lower side) of the ultra-thin plate 1 corresponding to the laser welding head 4. The lifting guide 5 is arranged to be able to move up and down.

In the structure shown in FIG.
In the normal passing state, the clamps 2a and 2b do not function, and the laser welding head 4 and the push-up guide 5 remain inactive. However, as shown in FIG.
When the rear end of the front coil approaches the front coil and the front end of the next coil passes through the clamp 2a, as shown in FIG. 2, the clamp 2a moves the front end of the next coil and the clamp 2b moves the rear end of the front coil. Clamp each. Specifically, the upper clamp is lowered and clamped. In this state, clamp 2
In FIGS. 2A and 2B, the movable clamps 2aT and 2bT are separated (extended) from the fixed clamps 2aL and 2bL. The feed of the ultra-thin plate 1 is stopped by stopping the feed rollers 8 before and after the clamps 2a and 2b.

In the clamped state shown in FIG. 2, the end of the ultra-thin plate 1 is cut by the cutter 3, for example, by running a roller cutter. Next, as shown in FIG.
L and 2bL clamps remain as they are,
Loosen aT, 2bT and move (clamp) the moving side clamps 2aT, 2bT closer to the fixed side clamps 2aL, 2bL.
Re-clamp and project the end of the ultra-thin plate 1. The amount of protrusion is required for a dimension that can be welded by the laser welding head 4.

Next, as shown in FIG.
2b are brought closer to each other and the lifting guide 5 is raised to bring the cut surfaces of the ultra-thin plate 1 together. The groove contacted in this state is located directly above the push-up guide 5 and directly below the laser welding head 4. In this way, the welding of the groove is performed without fail while lowering the laser welding head 4 and moving in the width direction of the ultra-thin plate 1 while keeping the groove in contact with high accuracy. In this case, the weld bead is clean in laser welding, and the finish of the weld is extremely good in the case of an extremely thin plate, with only slight swelling. Also in this case, configure push-up guide 5 itself to the heat sink in order to dissipate heat during welding, or a push-up guide 5 itself and the nozzle of the cooling gas (N ₂ and A _r, inert gas Ne, etc.) In addition, the provision of the cooling means and other cooling means enables better welding.

A shaping roller 6 for shaping a weld bead is provided further downstream of the downstream clamp 2b as shown in FIG. The shaping roller 6 is for pressing the weld bead from both the front and back sides of the ultra-thin plate 1 and has a function of flattening the ultra-thin plate without a slight swell as described above. As a result, even if the ultra-thin plate 1 is wound again in a roll shape, the welded portion is smoothly wound without being identified, and the swelling does not adversely affect the next process.

Further, a trimming device 7 is provided downstream of the shaping roller 6, as shown in FIG. 6, and the welding portion is trimmed by lowering the trimming cutter 7a. In this case, trimming by a laser beam is also applicable. 5 and 6, the welding has been completed, and the clamps 2a and 2b are naturally released.

As described above, automatic welding becomes possible by incorporating the clamps 2a and 2b, the shaping roller 6, and the trimming device 7 on various production lines. Also, by including processes such as cleaning and inspection, an automatic manufacturing line can be constructed. Furthermore, even if the material and thickness of the plate are changed, the welding conditions can be changed, and by inputting and controlling the conditions related to the controller, it is possible to perform fully automatic welding by specifying the material and thickness of the roll. Become.

[0019]

According to the present invention as described above, the following effects can be obtained. In the first invention, a pair of clamps, each of which is a combination of a movable clamp and a fixed clamp through which a thin plate is passed, are provided on the upstream side and the downstream side along the passing direction with the movable clamps facing each other. The clamps are respectively movable in the passing direction, and the movable clamps are also movable in the passing direction with respect to the fixed clamp. Each of the movable clamps is provided with a thin plate cutter. Since the push-up guide and the laser welding head are provided between the clamps so as to correspond to the front and back of the thin plate, laser welding is reliably performed, welding with less thermal distortion is possible, and contamination of the welding bead is prevented. And the post-welding process is simplified, and automatic welding without burn-through is possible.
Automatic welding can be incorporated into the production line to improve production efficiency and workability. Further, in the second invention, in addition to the first invention, a shaping roller and a trimming device are provided further downstream of the downstream clamp, so that a thin plate having no adverse effect due to welding can be obtained. Further, in the third invention, in addition to the first invention, the push-up guide is provided with the cooling means, so that the welding accuracy can be further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a structure of a welding apparatus and a state before clamping.

FIG. 2 is a cutting state diagram by a cutter.

FIG. 3 is a projection view of an extremely thin plate.

FIG. 4 is a state diagram before welding.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a shaping roller.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a trimming device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ultra thin plate 2a, 2b Fixed side clamp 2aL, 2bL Fixed side clamp 2aT, 2bT Moving side clamp 3, 7a Cutter 4 Laser welding head 5 Push-up roller 6 Shaping roller 7 Trimming device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A pair of clamps comprising a combination of a movable side clamp through which a thin plate is passed and a fixed side clamp are provided on the upstream side and the downstream side along the passing direction with the movable side clamps facing each other. The clamps are respectively movable in the passing direction, and the movable clamps are also movable in the passing direction with respect to the fixed clamp. Each of the movable clamps is provided with a thin plate cutter, An automatic thin plate welding apparatus provided with a push-up guide and a laser welding head corresponding to the front and back of the thin plate between the clamps. 2. The automatic thin plate welding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a shaping roller and a trimming device further downstream of the downstream clamp. 3. The automatic thin plate welding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the push-up guide is provided with cooling means.