Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B21—MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
  • B21L—MAKING METAL CHAINS
  • B21L99/00—Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60C—VEHICLE TYRES; TYRE INFLATION; TYRE CHANGING; CONNECTING VALVES TO INFLATABLE ELASTIC BODIES IN GENERAL; DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS RELATED TO TYRES
  • B60C27/00—Non-skid devices temporarily attachable to resilient tyres or resiliently-tyred wheels
  • B60C27/06—Non-skid devices temporarily attachable to resilient tyres or resiliently-tyred wheels extending over the complete circumference of the tread, e.g. made of chains or cables
  • B60C27/08—Non-skid devices temporarily attachable to resilient tyres or resiliently-tyred wheels extending over the complete circumference of the tread, e.g. made of chains or cables involving lugs or rings taking up wear, e.g. chain links, chain connectors

Definitions

• the invention relates to a device for the automatic joining of weldless chain-like structures with one to three-dimensional extension from chain elements and joining elements.
• weldless chain link pairings of chain elements and joining elements each of which has at least one opening and locks and baffles against unintentional opening, are known in a wide variety of embodiments.
• weldless chains, chain nets or three-dimensional structures made of weldless chain link pairs are suitable for a large number of applications, of which only exemplary applications, such as window grilles, room dividers, cladding, anti-glare and safety fences, safety grilles, reinforcement mats, flow grids, but Ball catching nets, anti-skid and traction chains for motor vehicles, etc. are also to be called, there is a great need for the automated production of such chains or multi-dimensional structures from weldless chain link pairs.
• the above exemplary mention of possible uses for weldless, chain-like structures also shows that weldless chain link pairs can consist of a wide variety of materials and, depending on the intended use, must also.
• the invention is therefore based on the object of specifying a device for joining chain link pairings and a simple and thus automatable method for automatically joining weldless chain-like structures with one to three-dimensional extension from almost any shape and consisting of any materials chain elements and joining elements.
• a device according to the invention that solves this problem is specified in claim 1.
• a simple and thus automatable method for joining chain nets or three-dimensional structures consisting of chain elements and joining elements is specified in the independent claim 16. Developments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.
• the invention is based on the basic idea that the joining movement required for joining a chain element and a joining element and extending in at least two directions should not be carried out by a single positioning unit of the device but by different device components, so that one component the device in particular executes a straight part of the joining movement, and another component of the device executes the part of the joining movement running in a different direction.
• two grippers are therefore provided, of which the first gripper holds the joining element in such a way that its opening or at least one of the openings of the joining element are freely accessible.
• the second gripper holds the chain element such that it is arranged approximately in the (respective) insertion plane of the joining element.
• the first gripper can be pivoted through an angle ⁇ ⁇ about an axis which lies in the plane of introduction of the chain element and includes an angle of 90 ° with the plane of the open joining element during the second gripper can be advanced in the direction of the first gripper.
• the invention further provides that the chain link in the second gripper by at least 180 ° about an axis in the Level of the chain link lies and an angle of about 90 ° with the feed direction of the second gripper includes, can be rotated. This makes it possible to "turn" the chain element after the joining of a chain element and a joining element in such a way that it can be joined into another joining element by the same sequence of movements. Further developments of the device according to the invention are specified in the subclaims.
• the movement sequence of the device according to the invention is further automated by the feed units for joining and chain elements claimed in claim 2, which can be a feed rail in the case of the joining elements, for example.
• the first gripper can be swiveled in any way - including passively.
• a first swivel unit swivels the first gripper by the angle .alpha..alpha must be "portable”.
• More complex joining movements can be realized according to claim 4 in that the second gripper can be displaced in the direction of the first gripper by a feed unit, and on the other hand, it can be swiveled by a second swivel unit by an angle ⁇ 0 around the feed direction.
• the embodiment of the device according to the invention characterized in claim 5, according to which the second gripper clamps the closed - for example annular or triangular - chain link on its outer contour, in particular in the region of a plane of symmetry of the chain link, has the advantage that not only the hooking-in process of the Chain element in the joining element is simplified, but in addition that the turning operation of the chain element, which is required for hanging the chain element in a further joining element, is also simplified by the further development specified in claim 6.
• This design of the second gripper can of course not only be used for the above-mentioned embodiments of the chain element, but also for complex chain elements. If necessary, the contact elements of the second gripper must be modified accordingly.
• Claim 7 specifies a particularly simple design of the first gripper, by means of which it is possible to clamp the joining elements easily and at the same time securely.
• Claims 8 to 10 specify a simple, stable and particularly functionally reliable design of the first swivel unit. According to claim 8, this has two piston / cylinder units, the longitudinal axes of which form an angle ⁇ > 0 °, and which are articulated on one side to a bearing block and on the other side to the first gripper. The functional safety is further increased by return springs and shock absorbers.
• the design of the second gripper characterized in claim 11 allows a combined feed / swivel movement to be realized with a simple construction. This is further supported by the design of the feed unit specified in claim 12.
• inventive device described in claims 1 to 13 is particularly suitable for Production of chains, ie a one-dimensional arrangement of chain link pairings.
• these chains can be used to produce chain nets or three-dimensional chain-like structures in a simple and thus also automated manner.
• a corresponding method is specified in claim 14.
• chains are first produced from chain elements and joining elements. Then, in the chain elements, in which at least three joining elements are to be hooked in, in each case one further joining element is hooked in, chain elements of another chain are hooked in these joining elements, further joining elements are then hooked in the chain elements of this chain, etc., so that you get a two-dimensional arrangement.
• a device for performing the method according to the invention is characterized in claim 16.
• This device has a plurality of second grippers and is otherwise designed to match a device for producing one-dimensional chains.
• a prefabricated chain consisting of a row of chain elements and joining elements can be fed to every second gripper.
• first grippers are also provided, each of which a joining element can be fed (claim 17), so that the Joining of several connections of two chains can take place simultaneously.
• FIG. 1 shows the basic structure of a device according to the invention for joining a weldless chain
• the device has a base frame 1 with bearing blocks 2 for two grippers 4 and 10 described in more detail below.
• the first gripper 4 is designed as a clamping gripper, the clamping jaws 4a of which hold, for example, a C-shaped joining element or a profile web F in a form-fitting manner such that its opening is freely accessible.
• the profile web F is fed to the first gripper 4 by means of a feed rail 12.
• the first gripper 4 on a swivel bracket 3 can be swiveled about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the drawing by the angle ⁇ ⁇ by a first swivel unit.
• the first swivel unit has two piston / cylinder units 5, the longitudinal axes of which enclose an angle ⁇ > 0 °, and which are articulated on the bearing block 2 on one side and on the first gripper 4 on the other side.
• Return springs are provided for the piston / cylinder units 5 for resetting.
• each piston / cylinder unit 5 is assigned a shock absorber, not shown.
• the second gripper 10 is designed such that it holds the chain element or the circular ring K on its outer contour approximately in the middle of the circular ring K in such a way that it is arranged approximately in the insertion plane of the joining element. This is shown in more detail in the "inset drawing" below the side view, which shows a top view.
• the second gripper 10 is a parallel clamping jaw gripper, the clamping jaws of which clamp the round ring on its outer contour.
• a second feed unit 13 is provided, each of which feeds a round ring K to the second gripper.
• a feed unit 14 is provided, which moves the second gripper 10 in the direction of the first gripper 4, and a second swivel unit 8, which swivels it by an angle ⁇ 0 around the feed direction.
• the second gripper 10 has at least two guide pins 7 which are spaced apart in the feed direction and are guided in a longitudinal bearing 6, at the end of which facing the first gripper 4 there are two deflection segments 8 which are actuated by a control unit (not shown) and which alternate can be brought into operative connection with a guide pin 7. These elements form the second swivel unit.
• the feed unit is a piston / cylinder unit 14, the end of which is pivoted on the second gripper.
• a rotating device 15 which includes rotating the round ring K in the second gripper 10 by at least 180 ° about an axis which lies in the plane of the chain element and forms an angle of approximately 90 ° with the feed direction.
• the rotating device 15 rotates the contact elements 11 about their longitudinal axis. The mode of operation of the device shown in FIG. 1 will be described below with reference to FIG. 2.1:
• the feed unit 12 inserts a profile web F in the correct position into the form-fitting clamping jaws 4a. It is not shown that at approximately the same time the feed unit 13 inserts a round ring K in the correct position into the form-fitting rotary jaw insert 11.
• Fig. 2.2 shows how the drive unit 14 moves forward, so that the ring K is pushed into the profile web F up to the stop.
• the longitudinal bearing guide is located with its front end on the actively retracted lower deflection segment 8.
• the end stop on the extended cylinder 5 results in a pivoting angle ⁇ of the clamping gripper arm 4, which is designed such that when the jaws 4a opens, the profile web F with its inner roundness behind the chicane falls positively into the rounding of the round ring due to gravity.
• FIG. 2.7 shows how the rotating unit 15 pivots further until the round ring K is horizontal again and the profile web F is positioned vertically hanging in the round ring K.
• the chain strands are "networked" in such a way that a series of profile webs are arranged side by side at the same time, corresponding to the distance between the center axes of the round rings of the chain strand.
• the chain strand that is to say the round ring in the strand remains fixed in an exactly positive and non-positive manner, and the row of profile webs performs the corresponding movements. If the profile web row is hooked into the chain strand, the profile web row is now used as the "base”, ie it remains in place.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Automatic Assembly (AREA)
• Wire Processing (AREA)
• Medicines That Contain Protein Lipid Enzymes And Other Medicines (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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ID=6455739

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Citations (3)

• 1992
  • 1992-04-01 DE DE19924210871 patent/DE4210871C1/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 1993
  • 1993-03-25 WO PCT/DE1993/000276 patent/WO1993019869A1/de active Application Filing
  • 1993-03-25 CA CA 2133320 patent/CA2133320A1/en not_active Abandoned

Patent Citations (3)

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