WO2008075929A1

WO2008075929A1 - Method and apparatus for automatic smoking of iron liners

Info

Publication number: WO2008075929A1
Application number: PCT/MX2006/000149
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gerardo PEÑA SALINAS; Mario Alberto Leon Quesada; Jesus Alejandro Arrambide Leal
Original assignee: Tenedora Nemak, S.A. De C.V.
Priority date: 2006-12-20
Filing date: 2006-12-20
Publication date: 2008-06-26

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for automatically applying, a uniform smoked layer on the surface of the iron liners used in the manufacture of monobloc castings for internal combustion engines. The apparatus comprises the following parts: a closed cabin which includes at least two trays designed for placing the iron liners, an automated robot with a burner which produces a flame of acetylene gas, a chimney so that the fumes produced by said flame leave the cabin, an automatic door for controlled access of the trays into the cabin, and a mechanical arm for removing the iron liners from the trays without impairing the smoked surface.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC SMOKING OF IRON SHIRTS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for automatically applying a uniform smoked layer to the surface of the iron liners used in the manufacture of monoblocks for internal combustion engines.

The invention also includes an apparatus for the placement of smoking, where an automated robot applies a flame of acetylene to two or more iron sleeves in a closed cabin to provide the iron sleeves with a uniform smoking.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the foundry industry it is of general knowledge that when a liquid metal comes into contact with a part or a mold that is at a lower temperature, the solidification of the metal occurs more rapidly in those areas that have contact with The piece or mold causing mechanical properties different from the rest of the empty part. In the aluminum casting industry for automotive parts, it is known that smoking helps reduce the coefficient of friction of the surface of the iron liners causing the liquid metal to fill the mold evenly. It is also known that when a layer of carbon greater than that necessary is applied, at the time of emptying the liquid aluminum bubbles are produced that are then trapped in the metal, deteriorating the mechanical properties of the emptied part. It is also possible to use carbon black in the form of paint, applying said paint to the iron sleeves to help generate uniform solidification.

The method of heating the iron liners before emptying the liquid aluminum works as an alternative method to smoking, however the maintenance and energy that this method requires causes a cost greater than the cost of smoking. In other industries besides the foundry of internal combustion engines, the application of a carbon or soot coating is used. Even though automated machines have already been used for the glass, steel and some other metal industry, one has never been used to automatically smoke the iron sleeves for aluminum monoblocks.

Some significant references for the present invention are described below:

Patent application US2002 / 0046822A1 published on April 25, 2002 in the United States of America for Philippe Meyer et al. describes that in the manufacture of some aluminum monoblocks it is required to place in

The piece is an insert whose surface is covered with carbon black in order to provide a suitable mechanical connection between the aluminum and the insert.

This document mentions that carbon black could be applied automatically, however, it does not specify any step or part of either the machine or the automatic device.

US Patent 5,002,008 issued on March 26, 1991 in States

United of America for Achim Kubon teaches a method to smoke a surface by means of a combustion of gases produced by a stoichiometrically balanced flame, where said surface is expected to come into contact with a liquid metal.

US Patent 1, 635,370 issued on July 12, 1927 in the United States of America for Harry S. Lee teaches a method to move a flame across a surface keeping the flame at a constant speed and at a constant distance from the surface, Ia which will be covered with carbon.

Although there are more patents and prior art publications that talk about applying a carbon coating to a surface that will come into contact with a liquid metal, no reference has been found on an automated machine that applies acetylene flame to iron liners. used in the manufacture of aluminum monoblocks.

The present invention has as innovations a burner specially adapted to smoke the aluminum sleeves, the use of a cabin specially designed for the application of the acetylene flame, an automated robot in charge of controlling the cycles and the uniformity of the smoking that will be applied to two or more iron sleeves at the same time.

OBJECTIVE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention aims to: provide a method and apparatus that uniformly flush the iron liners used in the manufacture of aluminum monoblocks, automate the smoking process of iron liners, and increase the safety of the personnel in charge of handling The flame and the acetylene gas produced by carbon black.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be described applied to the iron liners that are used in internal combustion engines in reference to the attached drawings.

Figure 1 schematically illustrates a side view of the elements used in the apparatus for automatic smoking of iron sleeves.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a top view of a burner for 4 iron shirts in line designed to apply the flame of acetylene to the surfaces of said iron shirts.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a side view of the burner showing the movement performed by it to provide a uniform smoking to the iron sleeves.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to Figure 1, numeral 10 designates a closed chamber where the smoothing operation of the shirts is performed. The chamber 10 is provided with a chimney 12, which can have means to extract the fumes generated by the combustion of acetylene that generates the carbon black for coat the shirts. The chamber 10 has a door 14 that opens and closes by means of some actuator mechanism, for example a hydraulic cylinder 16, operated by means of some automatic system or by the smoker process operator.

Within the chamber 10, there is a robot 18 programmed to carry out the smoking operation of the jackets within the internal smoke environment of the chamber which is protected by a plastic cover 20 (or of any suitable material so that the black of smoke does not affect its operation). The robot 18 has an arm 22 that holds a smoke black dispensing device 24 that has the appropriate shape to surround the cylinder liners 26 (which is best illustrated in Figure 2) so that the carbon black is uniformly deposited on the outer surface of the sleeves 26 by a movement in the vertical direction of said device 24. A flexible hose or duct 28 conducts acetylene from a suitable source at a regulated flow rate and pressure to generate the carbon black by combustion with air in the outlet holes of the distributor mechanism 24.

The iron sleeves 26 to be coated with carbon black are introduced into the chamber in groups placed in predetermined positions on sliding trays 30 so that when they are inside the chamber 10, the distributor mechanism 24 moved by the robot 18 match those positions. In order to automate the operation, two levels of sliding trays are arranged on rails or bases 32 and 34, one on the other so that when a sliding tray of the upper level 32 is inside the chamber 10, another sliding tray of the lower level 34 is outside the chamber where the robot 36 manipulates an arm 38 that holds a mechanism for holding shirts 40 to place the shirts 26 on the trays 30 and to remove said shirts after being coated with carbon black. In a preferred embodiment, the trays 30 move on an upper level 32 and a lower level 34, but in another preferred embodiment, this operation can be performed by placing the rails 32 and 34 side by side, on the same horizontal level, so that when the tray on the left is inside, the tray on the right is outside the chamber 10. In another embodiment of the invention instead of the trays having a reciprocating level from outside to inside the chamber 10, it can be arranged a continuous band that moves a plurality of trays 20 on said band entering chamber 10 on one side of it and leaving on the opposite side. In each case the movement of the robot 18 will be programmed according to the arrangement and the direction of the movement of the trays 30.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the carbon black dispensing device 24 has a suitable way to surround as much as possible the outer surface of the sleeves 26 and has a plurality of holes 42 where the flame of acetylene fed by The flexible hose or duct 28. The vertical movement 44 of the device 24 made by the robot 18 thus produces a uniform coating of carbon black on the sleeves 26, automatically and with physiological safety for the operators of the smoking process. The programming of the robot 18 ensures that the amount of carbon black deposited on the surface of the shirts 26 is uniform.

Having described the invention, it is considered to have novelty and inventive activity. It will be evident to those skilled in the art that only some preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in this specification and that modifications and adaptations thereof can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which will be defined by The following claims.

Claims

1. A method to programmatically smoke a plurality of iron sleeves that are inserted into the internal combustion engines of aluminum alloys and that form the internal surface of the cylinders of said engines, comprising: introducing the iron sleeves to a closed chamber, apply a carbon black coating by means of a distributor device with a burner controlled by a robot, remove the smoked iron liners with a mechanical arm to avoid damaging the smoked applied.

2. A device for smoking on a scheduled basis for at least 2 iron jackets used in internal combustion engines that includes a closed chamber for smoking, a carbon black distributor that surrounds the outer surface of the iron jackets, a robot programmed to control the movement of the burner, and an arm that helps remove smoked iron liners without damaging the previously applied layer.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein the smoking is carried out by means of a flame produced by the combustion of a gas containing acetylene gas.

4. A method according to claim 1 wherein the mechanical arm used to remove the smoked iron sleeves is made of a ferrous alloy or aluminum.

5. A method according to claim 1 wherein to introduce the iron sleeves to the cabin a tray is used on which said iron sleeves are placed.

6. An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said closed chamber has a chimney for the smoke produced by the flame used to smoke to escape.

7. An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the trays or trays for the iron sleeves are placed on the same level, side by side, and smoked in a continuous cycle.

8. An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the trays or trays for the iron sleeves are placed on two different levels, one below the other, and alternate in the smoking cycle.

9. An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the iron sleeves are smoked inside the chamber placed in a continuous conveyor belt.

10. An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the robot that is inside the closed chamber has a cover that protects it from heat and the effects of the flame used to smoke.