TW201634162A - Friction stir welding device and method of friction stir welding - Google Patents

Abstract

A friction stir welding device is provided for welding stacked metallic boards together. The friction stir welding device includes a mounting seat and a plurality of welding heads. The mounting seat is defined with an axial direction. Each welding head has a shoulder portion and a stirring pin protruded from the shoulder portion. The welding heads are arranged along the axial direction and disposed on a bottom surface of the mounting seat. The welding heads can rotate along the axial direction. When a relative linear movement is applied between the welding heads and the stacked metallic boards, the shoulders of the welding heads produce friction covering areas which are covered partially along the linear movement direction, so that the friction covering areas by the welding heads form a planar welding region. The present disclosure also provides a method of friction stir welding for welding stacked metallic boards together.

Description

Friction stir welding device and friction stir welding method

The present invention relates to a friction stir welding apparatus, and more particularly to a device for welding a laminated metal plate by a friction stir welding technique; and, in addition, a friction stir welding method for welding a laminated metal plate.

The welding of two metal sheets is widely used in many industrial fields, in particular, welding metal sheets of two different metals, so that the characteristics of the two metals can complement each other. For example, in the field of heat dissipation, the combination of copper alloy sheets to aluminum alloy sheets can enhance heat transfer performance; in the vehicle industry, the combination of aluminum alloy reinforcing columns to magnesium alloy panels can enhance structural strength.

Friction stir welding has been gradually applied to joining the above two laminated metal sheets. Friction Stir Welding (FSW) has a friction stir tool that rotates at a high speed. The weld head includes a shoulder for rubbing the surface of the workpiece to generate heat, and a protruding stirrer. The welding pin protrudes into the inside of the workpiece for friction and agitation. The high-speed rotation of the welding head and the application of pressure along the axial direction generate mechanical heat by friction. After the material of the workpiece softens (plastically deforms), it slowly moves and continues. Rotate the friction stir to join the two sheets of metal.

Friction stir welding can be welded along the adjacent edges of the two workpieces, or welded along the surface of the upper workpiece along a straight line to be welded to the underlying workpiece. Friction stir welding also includes Friction Stir Spot Welding (FSSW) And spot welding is formed. However, when welding two sheets of laminated metal sheets, some are just friction stir spot welding, or only the edges of the metal sheets are welded. In this case of soldering, there is no positive joint between the two metal plates, and a gap may be generated to affect the heat transfer performance. For more intensive welding, another way is to weld the welding head along a straight line, bend it, and then weld it along a straight line to form a return-bending weld. This type of welding not only takes a lot of time, but the two adjacent straight-line welds are not necessarily well welded.

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a friction stir welding device for causing surface welding of the abutting faces of the laminated metal plates and reducing the gap between the metal plates.

In order to solve the above technical problems, according to one aspect of the present invention, a friction stir welding apparatus for welding a laminated metal plate is provided. The friction stir welding device includes a connecting seat and a plurality of welding heads. The connector defines an axis direction. Each of the welding heads has a shoulder portion and a stirring needle protruding from the shoulder portion. The welding heads are arranged along the axial direction and are disposed on the bottom surface of the connecting seat, and the welding heads are along the axial direction. Turn. Wherein the frictional coverage areas of the shoulders of the solder joints partially overlap along the linear movement direction when the plurality of welding heads and the laminated metal sheets are relatively linearly moved, such that the welding heads The friction covers the area forming a planar weld zone.

In addition, the technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a friction stir welding method for welding a laminated metal plate, comprising the steps of: providing a connecting seat and defining an axial direction at the connecting seat; a welding head, and the plurality of welding heads are rotatably disposed in parallel to the connecting seat along the axial direction, wherein each welding head has a shoulder and a stirring needle protruding from the shoulder; The plurality of welding heads and the laminated metal plates are relatively linearly displaced And partially overlapping the frictional covering regions of the shoulders of the soldering joints in a direction in which the linear movement moves, such that the frictional covering regions of the soldering joints form a one-sided soldering region.

The invention has the following beneficial effects: the invention can make the adjacent surface of the laminated metal plate face-like welding, reduce the gap between the metal plates, and strengthen the welding strength and the heat conduction performance. The invention can speed up the welding speed of the laminated metal plates.

In order to further understand the technology, method and effect of the present invention in order to achieve the intended purpose, reference should be made to the detailed description and drawings of the present invention. The drawings and the annexed drawings are intended to be illustrative and not to limit the invention.

100, 100a, 100b‧‧‧ friction stir welding device

M1, M2‧‧‧ metal plate

M11‧‧‧ front edge

M12‧‧‧ rear edge

11, 12, 13, 14, 21, 22, 23‧‧‧ welding heads

11b, 12b, 13b, 21b, 22b‧‧‧ welding head

110, 120, 130, 210, 220‧‧‧ shoulders

111, 121, 131, 211, 221‧‧‧ stir needle

112‧‧‧Sub gear

113, 123, 133, 213, 223‧‧‧ power components

15, 16, 17, 25, 26‧‧‧ welding heads

150, 250‧‧‧ shoulder

151, 251‧‧‧ stir needle

A11, A21, A12, A22, A13, A23‧‧‧ Friss Covered Area

A15, A16, A17, A25, A26‧‧‧ Friss Covered Area

40, 40a, 40b‧‧‧ connectors

41, 42‧‧‧ Connecting institutions

411, 421‧‧‧ lifting device

44‧‧‧ Gear Set

46‧‧‧Chain

A‧‧‧ angle

C‧‧‧Overlapping area

D‧‧‧ power shaft

G‧‧‧ planetary gear set

P‧‧‧Back pad

R‧‧‧ Radius

X‧‧‧Axis direction

Y‧‧‧Direct movement direction

R1‧‧‧ first row

R2‧‧‧ second row

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing a welded metal plate of a friction stir welding apparatus of the present invention.

2 is a schematic plan view of the friction stir welding apparatus of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the welded laminated metal sheet of the present invention.

4 is a top plan view of a welded laminated metal plate of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a plan view showing a second embodiment of the friction stir welding apparatus of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is another schematic cross-sectional view showing the welded laminated metal sheet of the present invention.

Figure 7 is a front elevational view showing a third embodiment of the friction stir welding apparatus of the present invention.

Figure 8 is a top plan view showing a fourth embodiment of the friction stir welding apparatus of the present invention.

Figure 8A is a partial side elevational view of Figure 8 of the present invention.

9 to 11 are schematic plan views of the fourth embodiment of the friction stir welding apparatus of the present invention.

9A to 11A are respectively side views of the present invention shown in Figs. 9 to 11 .

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a friction stir welding device of the present invention for welding laminated gold. Schematic diagram of the board. The present invention provides a friction stir welding apparatus 100 for welding laminated metal sheets M1 and M2 for welding of laminated metal sheets (M1 and M2). The friction stir welding apparatus 100 includes a joint 40 and a plurality of welded joints 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23. The connector 40 defines an axial direction X which is substantially perpendicular to the laminated metal plates (M1 and M2).

In the welding process, the plurality of welding heads 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23 and the laminated metal plates M1, M2 are relatively linearly moved, in principle, the laminated metal plates M1, M2 It is rigidly fixed to the back pad P (see Figure 1). The friction stir welding apparatus 100 moves along a straight line (in the Y direction as shown in FIG. 2). During the welding process, the welding heads 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23 are rotated at a high speed and are moved relative to the metal plate M1 in the line direction of the metal plate M1.

Please refer to FIG. 2 for a schematic plan view of the friction stir welding apparatus of the present invention. The welding heads 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23 of this embodiment are divided into two rows R1, R2. However, the invention is not limited thereto, and the number of welding heads may be more, and the number of rows may be at least two. Taking the welding heads 11 and 21 as an example, each of the welding heads 11 and 21 has a shoulder portion 110, 210 and a stirring needle 111, 211 protruding from the shoulder portion 110, 210, and the welding heads 11, 12, 13 21, 22, 23 are arranged parallel to each other along the axial direction X and are disposed on the bottom surface of the connecting seat 40. The welding heads 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23 are rotated along the axial direction X. .

As shown in FIG. 3, it is a schematic view of a welded laminated metal plate of the present invention. Taking the welding heads 11 and 21 as an example, the stirring needles 111 and 211 of the welding heads 11 and 21 extend into the metal plates M1 and M2 for friction and agitation, and the shoulders 110 and 210 of the welding heads 11, 21 and the surface of the metal plate M1. Friction generates heat and is used to prevent the overflow of the plastic state material while providing the effect of removing the surface oxide film.

Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 , the friction covering areas A11 and A21 of the shoulders 110 and 210 of the welding heads 11 and 12 partially overlap along the linear moving direction Y, so that the welding heads 11 and 21 are The friction covers the areas A11, A21 forming a planar weld zone (as shown in Figure 4). The welding heads 11, 12, 13, 21 of the embodiment 22, 23 are arranged in two rows R1, R2, and the welding heads located in different rows are alternately arranged along the linear movement direction Y. That is, the welding heads 11, 12, 13 of the first row R1 and the welding heads 21, 22, 23 of the second row R2 are alternately arranged with each other. From another point of view, along the vertical cross-section with the weld head, the friction of the weld heads 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23 covers the areas A11, A21, A12, A22, A13, A23 along the friction stir The linear movement direction Y (shown in FIG. 2) of the welding apparatus 100 is partially overlapped to form a flat friction covering area (as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4). More specifically, the welding heads 21 of the second row R2 are alternately disposed with the welding heads 11, 12 of the first row R1, and the welding heads 22 of the second row R2 are alternately disposed with the welding heads 12, 13 of the first row R1. . The welding heads 13 of the first row R1 and the welding heads 22 and 23 of the second row R2 are alternately disposed.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, by the above arrangement of the embodiment, the plurality of shoulders of the solder joints 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23 located in different rows (R1, R2) are formed. The friction covering areas A11, A21, A12, A22, A13, and A23 are partially overlapped from left to right to form a plurality of overlapping areas C, or overlapped to form a planar welding effect. During the welding process, the friction stir welding device 100 only needs to move once along the linear moving direction Y (as shown in FIG. 2), and the superposed laminated metal plates M1 and M2 can be completed without moving back and forth. . The laminated metal plates M1, M2 of Fig. 4 are somewhat unwelded due to the staggered front and rear of the welding heads 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23, which can be subsequently removed by welding with a single welding head or by machining. Furthermore, the present invention may further comprise milling the surface of the plurality of friction covering regions with a milling cutter (not shown) such that the laminated metal sheets M1, M2 have a flat surface. Another approach of the present invention is to feed each weld head separately to reduce waste generation. The following embodiments will be described in detail.

Referring to FIG. 1, the manner in which the connector 40 of the present embodiment drives the plurality of soldering tips 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23 can be various. The connector block 40 includes a gear set 44 for power transmission to the plurality of welding heads 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23. Taking the welding head 11 as an example, the gear set 44 is engaged at the top end of the welding head 11. Counter gear 112. The connector 40 can be coupled to the power shaft D of the multi-axis vertical milling machine like a multi-axis. By connecting the connector 40 to the milling machine (not shown in figure, the power axis D is only partially illustrated), the gear set 44 is driven by a milling machine, which in turn drives the soldering heads 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23.

Referring to FIG. 2 again, the connecting base 40 can also transmit power to the plurality of welding heads 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23 by means of a chain 46, the chain 46 linking the plurality of welding heads 11, 12, 13, 21 22, 23 provide power for rotating the plurality of welding heads 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23 described above.

Please refer to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. FIG. 5 is a schematic top view of a second embodiment of the friction stir welding apparatus of the present invention; FIG. 6 is another schematic cross-sectional view of the welded laminated metal plate of the present invention. The connector of the present invention can be implemented in a variety of ways. The wiping and agitating welding apparatus 100a of this embodiment provides a circular connecting seat 40a in which the welding heads 15, 16, 17, 25, 26 are arranged in a ring shape. The connecting seat 40a includes a planetary gear set G to drive the welding heads 15, 16, 17, 25, 26. It is added that the welding heads 15, 25 of this embodiment have shoulders 150, 250 and agitating needles 151, 251. The shoulders 150, 250 have different areas to form different friction covering areas A15, A25. Under this arrangement, the weld heads 25, 26 provide a larger friction coverage area A25, A26 that partially overlaps the smaller friction coverage areas A15, A16, A17, between the weld heads 15, 16, 17 The distance can be more conveniently arranged as needed.

Please refer to FIG. 7, which is a front view of a third embodiment of the friction stir welding apparatus of the present invention. This embodiment illustrates that the present invention can also design a weld head that can be raised and lowered. The friction stir welding apparatus 100b of this embodiment includes a joint 40b including two sets of joint mechanisms 41, 42. The two sets of connecting mechanisms 41, 42 correspondingly hold the soldering heads 11b, 12b, 13b and 21b, 22b of the two rows. Each of the welding heads 11b, 12b, 13b, 21b, 22b has a power element 113, 123, 133, 213, 223, such as a motor, for driving the shoulders 110, 120, 130, 210, 220 and the stirring needle 111, 121, 131, 211, 221. One side of each of the connecting mechanisms 41, 42 is provided with a lifting device 411 and 421 for raising and lowering the connecting mechanisms 41, 42. With the above arrangement, The lifting and lowering welding head can make up for the unwelded area in FIG. 4, for example, after the welding heads 11b, 12b, 13b are welded for a certain distance, the connecting mechanism 42 and the welding heads 21b, 22b are lowered by the lifting device 421, along The edges of the laminated metal sheets M1, M2 start to be welded. The embodiment is not limited to the above, wherein the number of the connecting mechanisms may be at least two, and one side of the at least one connecting mechanism is provided with a lifting device.

The present invention provides a friction stir welding method for welding the laminated metal plates M1 and M2 based on the above-mentioned friction stir welding device. Taking FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 as an example, the method includes the following steps: providing a connecting seat 40, and The connecting seat 40 defines an axial direction X; a plurality of welding heads 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23 are provided, and the plurality of welding heads 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23 are rotatably along The axial direction X is disposed in parallel with the connecting seat 40, wherein each of the welding heads 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23 has a shoulder portion (110, 210, the rest is not labeled) and a protruding portion of the shoulder portion Stir the needles (111, 211, the rest are not labeled).

Then, when the plurality of welding heads 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23 and the laminated metal plates M1, M2 are moved in a relative straight line; and then, the welding heads 11, 12, 13 are made The frictional coverage areas A11, A21, A12, A22, A13, A23 of the shoulders (110, 210, the remaining unnumbered) of 21, 22, 23 partially overlap in the direction Y of the linear movement, so that the friction covers The regions A11, A21, A12, A22, A13, and A23 form a one-sided weld zone as shown in FIG.

The arrangement of the soldering heads 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23 includes the following steps, and the soldering heads 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23 may be arranged in at least two rows R1, R2. The welding heads 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23 located in different rows are arranged offset with each other such that the shoulders of the welding heads 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23 of different rows The friction covering regions (A11, A21, A12, A22, A13, A23) formed by the portions (110, 210, the remaining unnumbered) partially overlap each other. Of course, the soldering heads can also be arranged in a ring shape according to the manner of FIG. In addition, the welding head can be arranged according to Figure 7. A connector block 40b is provided, and the connector block 40b includes at least one liftable connection mechanism for lifting the soldering tip.

Please refer to FIG. 8 , which is a schematic diagram of another welding head of the present invention. This embodiment takes five welding heads 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 as an example, and the welding heads 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 are arranged in a differential arrangement, in other words, with respect to the front edge M11 and rear of the metal plate M1. The edge M12 is arranged in a diagonal line (the metal plate M2 is superposed on the metal plate M1). The spacing between the center points of each of the bonding heads 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 along the front edge M11 of the metal plate M1 is preferably the radius R of the bonding head. For example, a 30 mm diameter solder joint is used, and the spacing between the soldering tip 11 and the soldering tip 12 is 15 mm.

Please refer to FIG. 8A , which is an angle side view of the welding head of the present invention when subjected to agitation welding. When the five welding heads 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 are subjected to the agitation welding, or "lower knife", the lower knives may be simultaneously performed, that is, simultaneously abutting against the metal plates M1 and M2 for the agitation welding. The angle at which the welding head of the present invention is subjected to the agitation welding is schematically illustrated by a welding head 11, and the direction of movement of the bottom surface of the shoulder portion 110 of the welding head 11 facing away from the metal plates M1 and M2 is preferably inclined upward by an inclination angle A. . The tilt angle A may be between 1 and 5 degrees, preferably about 2 degrees. The advantage of this method is that the resistance of the welding head when the lower knife is just touching the metal plate M1 can be reduced.

In addition, the directions of rotation of two adjacent welding heads (e.g., 11, 12) may be opposite to each other, which may reduce the lateral component and the axial load.

Referring to FIG. 9 to FIG. 11A, the plurality of soldering tips of the present invention may preferably be independently lifted and lowered. The plurality of welding heads are separated in turn for a time to abut against the metal plates M1 and M2 for the agitation welding, and the welding heads 11, 12, and 13 are taken as an example for explanation. Each of the welding heads of this embodiment can be a single spindle with separate power and can be lifted and lowered by itself.

As shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 9A, the metal plates M1 and M2 move toward the left side of the drawing, and the metal plates M1 and M2 first reach the lower side of the welding head 11, and the welding head 11 first abuts against the top surface of the metal plate M1 for stirring. weld.

As shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 10A, the metal plates M1 and M2 continue to move to the left and move to the lower side of the welding head 12, and the welding head 12 then abuts against the top surface of the metal plate M1. Stir welding. As seen from Fig. 10, the agitation welding of the welding head 11 and the welding head 12 can be started by the front edge M11 of the metal plate M1. The friction covering areas A11, A21 are aligned with the front edge M11 of the metal plate M1.

As shown in FIGS. 11 and 11A, the metal plates M1 and M2 continue to move to the left and move to the lower side of the bonding head 13, and the bonding head 13 and then the lower blade abut against the top surface of the metal plate M1 for stirring welding. As seen from Fig. 11, the agitation welding of the welding head 13 and the welding heads 11, 12 is started by the front edge M11 of the metal plate M1. The friction covering areas A11, A21, and A13 are aligned with the front edge M11 of the metal plate M1. The metal plates M1 and M2 continue to move to the left, and the friction covering areas A11, A21, A13 can be completely covered by the front edge M11 to the rear edge M12, and no additional cutting work is required. This embodiment can reduce the generation of waste by separately feeding each welding head.

The feature and function of the present invention is that the adjacent surfaces of the laminated metal sheets M1 and M2 can be surface-welded, the gap between the metal sheets can be reduced, and the welding strength and heat conduction efficiency can be enhanced. In particular, the present invention can speed up the welding speed of the laminated metal sheets M1, M2, and can save a lot of time compared to the welding method in which the single welding head of the prior art is bent back and forth. In addition, it is ensured that the friction covering areas overlap each other to ensure the welding quality.

The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all changes and modifications made to the scope of the present invention should be within the scope of the present invention.

100‧‧‧ friction stir welding device

M1, M2‧‧‧ metal plate

11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23‧‧‧ welding heads

110, 210‧‧‧ shoulder

111, 211‧‧‧ stir needle

112‧‧‧Sub gear

40‧‧‧Connecting seat

44‧‧‧ Gear Set

X‧‧‧Axis direction

D‧‧‧ power shaft

R1‧‧‧ first row

R2‧‧‧ second row

P‧‧‧Back pad

Claims (14)

A friction stir welding device for welding a laminated metal plate, comprising: a connecting seat defining an axial direction; and a plurality of welding heads each having a shoulder and a protrusion protruding from the shoulder a stirring pin, the welding heads are arranged along the axial direction and are disposed on a bottom surface of the connecting seat, the welding heads are rotated along the axial direction; wherein the plurality of welding heads and the laminated metal plate When the relative linear movement occurs, the friction covering regions of the shoulders of the welding heads partially overlap along the linear moving direction, so that the plurality of friction covering regions of the welding heads form a one-sided welding region. The friction stir welding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the welding heads are arranged in at least two rows, and the welding heads located in different rows are arranged offset with each other, and the shoulders of the welding heads of the different rows are formed. The frictional coverage areas partially overlap each other. The friction stir welding apparatus of claim 2, wherein the connecting base comprises at least two connecting mechanisms, the at least two connecting mechanisms correspondingly holding the at least two rows of the soldering joints, at least one side of the connecting mechanism is provided with a The lifting device lifts the welding heads. The friction stir welding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the connecting base comprises a gear set, and each of the welding heads is provided with a pair of gears at a top end thereof, and the gear set is meshed with the pin gears. The friction stir welding apparatus of claim 4, wherein the connecting base is coupled to a milling machine that drives the gear set. The friction stir welding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the connecting base comprises a chain that links the welding heads to provide power for rotation of the welding heads. The friction stir welding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the welding heads are arranged in a ring shape. The friction stir welding apparatus of claim 7, wherein the connecting base comprises a A planetary gear set to drive the welding heads. The friction stir welding apparatus of claim 7, wherein the shoulders of the weld heads have different areas to form different frictional coverage areas. The friction stir welding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the welding heads are arranged in a difference row manner, arranged obliquely with respect to an edge of the metal plate, and a spacing between center points of each of the welding heads is along the The edge of the metal plate is the radius of the weld head. A friction stir welding method for welding a laminated metal plate, comprising the steps of: providing a connecting seat and defining an axial direction at the connecting seat; providing a plurality of welding heads and rotating the plurality of welding heads Disposed in parallel with the connecting seat in the axial direction, wherein each soldering head has a shoulder and a stirring pin protruding from the shoulder; and when the plurality of welding heads and the laminated metal plate A relative linear movement is generated; and the frictional covering regions of the shoulders of the welding heads are partially overlapped in the direction of the linear movement, such that the plurality of frictional covering regions of the welding heads form a one-sided welding zone. The friction stir welding method of claim 11, wherein the arrangement of the solder joints comprises the steps of: arranging the solder joints into at least two rows; and disposing the solder joints located in different rows with each other in a wrong manner The frictional covering regions formed by the shoulders of the different rows of the soldering tips are partially overlapped with one another. The friction stir welding method of claim 11, further comprising milling the surface of the plurality of friction covering regions with a milling cutter. The friction stir welding method of claim 11, wherein the rotational directions of the two adjacent welded joints are opposite to each other to reduce the lateral component and the axial load.