WO2008107748A1

WO2008107748A1 - Machine and method for grinding, polishing and satinising tubes and/or metallic plates

Info

Publication number: WO2008107748A1
Application number: PCT/IB2008/000325
Authority: WO
Inventors: Angel Vilanova Carrion
Original assignee: Maquinaria Electronica, Esmerilado Y Pulido, S. A.
Priority date: 2007-03-02
Filing date: 2008-02-05
Publication date: 2008-09-12
Also published as: ES2323828A1; ES2323828B1; EP2050537A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a machine for grinding, polishing and satinising tubes having a circular, square or rectangular cross-section, and/or metal plates. Said machine comprises a plurality of grinding heads (10) and polishing heads (1) provided with different types of consumables, a plurality of elements for pulling (2) the metallic objects, transporting same along said heads (1, 10), and a plurality of elements (3) for positioning said metal objects, the grinding heads (10) being used to grind the tubes and metallic plates transversely or longitudinally. The machine according to the invention is characterised in that the polishing heads (1) are used to polish the tubes and plates in a different direction to that of the grinding, in a single pass and continuously. The polishing achieved is different from that of current methods, in that the polishing lines extend in a different direction to that of the grinding lines.

Description

MACHINE AND PROCEDURE FOR THE GRINDING, POLISHING AND SATINING OF PIPES AND / OR METAL PLATES

The present invention relates to a machine for grinding, polishing and satinizing metal tubes and / or plates, especially square, rectangular and / or circular section tubes, and / or plates of any metal and any length.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Currently, to perform grinding, polishing and satin operations of metal items, such as tubes and plates, it is necessary to use several machines, which implies a great loss of start-up time of each machine when the dimensions of the tubes are changed to work and when items are handled from one machine to another.

In conventional machines the square section tubes are ground and polished face to face, which means that the tube must be passed four times through the same machine, presenting the disadvantage that it deforms, by heating a single face and having to go through the machine several times. In addition, in the current machines the articles always go through the same area in contact with the elements of positioning and drag and with the consumables of the heads.

Another drawback is that in current machines the mechanisms must be manually corrected when used with articles of different dimensions, which implies a high period of inactivity.

For the circular section tube, the grinding is always performed radially, that is, the grinding lines extend in their transverse direction with respect to to the tube

For the polishing of the circular section tubes, normally the same working system as described in grinding is always used, that is, the tube is polished in the same direction as the previously made grinding.

There are machines with the possibility of polishing the tubes of circular section in a longitudinal direction, that is, against (90 ⁹ ) of the grinding lines. To polish with this system there is the great disadvantage that the polishing tubes must be held by the inner part of the ends. There is another drawback for polishing the small diameter tubes, for example D8, DIO, Dl5 mm, etc. due to the buckling they cause given their length, which is normally standardized at 6 meters.

To achieve an optimal polishing finish, in this system, the polishing heads or workpiece table have an alternative work cycle that consists of making several round trips on the tube with a high execution time.

For the square, rectangular or flat section tube, the grinding of the tube is carried out longitudinally.

Machines of similar configuration are used for polishing as in grinding, that is, the tubes and plates are polished in the same direction as the grinding lines.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With the machine of the invention, the aforementioned drawbacks are resolved, presenting other advantages that will be described.

The machine for grinding, polishing and satin finishing of tubes and / or metal plates of the present invention it comprises a plurality of grinding heads and polishing heads provided with a consumable, a plurality of entrainment elements of the metallic articles that transport said metallic articles along said heads, and a plurality of positioning elements of said metallic articles, being said grinding heads arranged to perform a transverse or longitudinal grinding in the metal tubes and plates, characterized in that said polishing heads are arranged to perform a polishing of the tubes and plates in a different direction from that of said grinding with a single pass and in a continuous process.

Thanks to this characteristic, a different polishing to the current procedure is achieved, that is, the polishing lines extend in a different way to the grinding lines, which allows the work on the tube or platen to be more efficient and that the finish is superior, because this system eliminates grinding lines.

This system allows polishing to be carried out continuously, without the need to hold the tube or plate by its ends.

When working on tubes of circular section, said grinding heads are preferably arranged transversely with respect to the direction of advance of the tubes and the polishing heads are arranged in a substantially longitudinal direction with respect to the direction of advance of the tubes.

On the other hand, when working with tubes of quadrangular section, said grinding heads are preferably arranged longitudinally with respect to the direction of advance of the tubes and plates and the polishing heads are rotatable with respect to an axis substantially vertical between O ² and 360 ² .

Advantageously, said heads are associated in pairs, the heads of each pair being substantially facing each other. Thanks to this characteristic, two faces of the tubes and plates can be grinding, polishing and satining at the same time, so that the steps of the tubes and plates through the machine are reduced to achieve its complete finish. Advantageously, the heads are laterally and vertically movable, defining a reciprocating movement to achieve complete wear of the consumables.

In this way, it is avoided that the articles to be polished, ground and satin do not always pass through the same contact area, avoiding wear and accelerated deformation.

Furthermore, said consumables are advantageously removably mounted with a quick change system. Thus, consumables can be assembled and disassembled quickly, adapting them to the characteristics of the article to be ground and polished or to the type of finish that you want to achieve.

In this way, no fixing tools of the tubes are necessary, obtaining a polishing quality superior to the standard offered by the market, especially in the circular section tubes, apart from the squares.

This polishing system in the tubes of circular, quadrangular and rectangular section represents an innovation in terms of completely different quality compared to conventional systems in the market.

Advantageously, said heads and said positioning elements are laterally and vertically movable, so that they can be easily adapted to different dimensions. Preferably, said heads and said Positioning elements are connected to electronic, pneumatic or hydraulic control means of numerical control, programmable logic controller (PLC) or positioner with computer, which determine their placement and operation. These control means allow to automatically correct the position of the machine elements to adapt to the dimensions of the items that are ground and polished.

According to a preferred embodiment, said drive elements are a plurality of arranged wheels associated in pairs side by side, which also cause the rotation of a tube of circular section around its transverse axis and a plurality of conveyor belts that cause a linear advance of the square section tubes.

According to a second aspect, the present invention relates to a process for grinding, polishing and satinizing of metal tubes and plates, which is characterized by the fact that the grinding of metal tubes and plates is carried out in a first direction and the Polishing of metal pipes and plates is done in a second direction, different from said first direction.

When working on tubes of substantially circular cross-section, preferably grinding is carried out transversely in the tubes and polishing is carried out in a substantially longitudinal manner in said tubes, while the metal tubes move longitudinally.

In addition, during the polishing of tubes of circular cross-section, they rotate around their longitudinal axis.

When working on quadrangular cross-section tubes, preferably grinding is performed longitudinally in the tubes and plates and polishing is carried out in a substantially substantial manner. transverse in said tubes and plates, while the tubes and metal plates move longitudinally.

With the process of the present invention, in addition to the advantages mentioned above, a superior finish is achieved than with traditional polishing, with a single pass. In addition, it is not necessary to hold the ends of the tube or platen, since the process of the present invention is performed in a completely continuous manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To better understand how much has been exposed, some drawings are attached in which, schematically and only by way of non-limiting example, a practical case of realization is represented.

Figure 1 is a schematic front elevational view of the machine of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic side elevational view of the machine of the present invention; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a detail of the polishing process of a circular cross-section tube; Y

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a detail of the polishing process of a quadrangular cross-section tube or plate.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As can be seen in Figure 1, the grinding, polishing and satin machine of the present invention comprises:

- a plurality of grinding heads 10 or a plurality of grinding heads 1 provided with consumables; - a plurality of drag elements 2 of metal tubes and plates; Y

- a plurality of positioning elements 3 of said metal tubes and plates.

Heads 1, 10 perform the function of grinding, polishing and satinizing metal tubes and plates.

On the other hand, the drag elements 2 transport said tubes and plates along the machine, passing through said heads 1, 10, and the positioning elements 3 guarantee the correct positioning of the tubes and plates for the use of said heads 1, 10.

According to the invention, said grinding heads 10 are arranged to perform a transverse or longitudinal grinding in the metal tubes and plates, while said polishing heads 1 are arranged to perform a polishing of the tubes and plates in a different direction from that of Frosted said.

When the tubes or plates have a circular section, said grinding heads 10 are arranged transversely with respect to the direction of advance of the tubes and the polishing heads 1 are arranged in a substantially longitudinal direction with respect to the direction of advance of the tubes.

On the other hand, when the tubes or plates have a quadrangular cross section, said grinding heads 10 are arranged longitudinally with respect to the direction of advance of the tubes and plates and the polishing heads 1 are rotatable with respect to a substantially vertical axis between 0 ^a and 360 ⁹ , being preferably placed in a position in which they perform a substantially transverse polishing (in multiple directions).

Said heads 1, 10 are preferably associated in pairs, being placed substantially facing each other, facing each other, as can be appreciate in figure 1, one over the other, or one next to the other, or in any suitable way. It should be noted, however, that it is not essential that said heads 1 be associated in pairs, but that they could be simple. Said heads 1 are laterally movable, defining a reciprocating movement to wear out the entire consumable, and vertically, to adjust to the dimensions of the tubes and plates to be polished and ground. It should be noted that this sway should not be confused with the sway of consumables, which also carries it for square and flat section tubes regardless of the working position of the consumables.

In figure 2 the two drive means of said movements of the heads 1, 10 can be seen. Specifically, the machine comprises a first motor 4 that drives the vertical movement of said heads 1, 10, and a second motor 5 which actuates the reciprocating movement of said heads 1, 10. As stated above, said reciprocating movement prevents the tubes and the plates from always being in contact in the same area of the head consumable, allowing uniform wear of the consumable of the head 1, 10. In addition, the consumables of said heads 1,

10 are removably mounted, that is, they can be easily placed and removed whenever desired.

The positioning elements 3 are vertically and laterally movable, to adapt to the dimensions of the tubes and plates.

All the movable elements of the machine, such as the heads 1, 10, the drag elements 2 and the positioning elements 3 are connected to electronic or pneumatic numerical control means of control, programmable logic controller (PLC), positioner with computer (not shown), or pneumatically that automatically determine the positioning and movement of all these elements depending on the parameters entered, for example the dimensions of the articles to be ground and polished.

It should be noted that several machines of the present invention can be grouped to achieve a complete grinding, polishing and / or satin cycle without changing the consumables of the heads. It should also be noted that the figures show a machine ¹ - in which the heads are placed vertically, however, it should be understood that the arrangement of the heads and the rest of the machine components can be any suitable one. It should be noted that there is the possibility of grinding machines only or polishing machines only. This last option has the great advantage, that in addition to being able to make a circular tube polishing machine or another square tube polishing machine, a machine can be made that polishes all sections, that is to say circular section tubes and quadrangular section tubes at once .

Although not shown in the figures, it is envisioned that the machine of the present invention may comprise a loader, a bagger and a tube and plate unloader, allowing said tubes and plates to be stacked.

In Figures 3 and 4 two alternative embodiments of the machine of the present invention are shown. The embodiment of Figure 3 is for grinding and polishing tubes of circular cross-section and the embodiment of Figure 4 is for grinding and polishing tubes or plates of square cross-section.

In Figure 3 a tube 6 of circular cross-section placed on the elements can be seen of drag 2, which in this case are a plurality of wheels, associated in sets, being arranged side by side in each set and facing the opposite set. In this way, the tube 6 rotates around its longitudinal axis and, at the same time, travels longitudinally thanks to the action of said wheels and drive groups.

In Figure 4 it can be seen that the drag elements 2 are conveyor belts, and in this case the tube does not rotate around its longitudinal axis, due to the quadrangular shape of its cross section.

Also in Figure 4 it can be seen that the heads 1 are rotatable between 0 ⁹ and 360 ^g , as seen by arrow A in said figure.

According to a second aspect, the present invention also relates to a grinding, polishing and satin process, which is performed with the machine described above. In said procedure, the grinding of the metal tubes and plates is carried out in a first direction and the polishing of the metal tubes and plates is carried out in a second direction, different from said first direction.

When the tubes have a circular cross-section, the grinding is done transversely in the tubes and the polishing is carried out in a substantially longitudinal manner in said tubes, while the metal tubes move longitudinally.

On the other hand, when the tubes or plates have a quadrangular cross-section, the grinding is carried out longitudinally in the tubes and plates and the polishing is carried out in a substantially way transverse in said tubes and plates, while the tubes and metal plates move longitudinally.

Although reference has been made to a specific embodiment of the invention, it is apparent to one skilled in the art that the described machine is susceptible to numerous variations and modifications, and that all the mentioned details can be replaced by other technically equivalent ones, without departing from the scope of protection defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. Machine for grinding, polishing and satinning of tubes of circular, quadrangular or rectangular section and / or metal plates, comprising a plurality of grinding heads (10) and polishing heads (1) provided with different types of consumables, a plurality of dragging elements (2) of the metal articles carrying said metal articles along said heads (1, 10), and a plurality of positioning elements (3) of said metal articles, said grinding heads being (10) arranged to perform a transverse or longitudinal grinding in the metal tubes and plates, characterized in that said polishing heads (1) are arranged to perform a polishing of the tubes and plates in a different direction from that of said frosted with a single pass and in a continuous process.

2. Machine according to claim 1, characterized in that said grinding heads (10) are arranged transversely with respect to the direction of advance of the circular section tubes and the polishing heads (1) are arranged in a substantially direction longitudinal with respect to the direction of advance of the tubes, that is to say in a sense that they intersect the grinding lines.

3. Machine claim 1, characterized in that said grinding heads (10) are arranged longitudinally with respect to the direction of advance of the quadrangular or rectangular section tubes and plates and the polishing heads (1) are rotatable with respect to a substantially vertical axis between 0 ^and 360 ^2, ie in multiple directions and can be fixed or moving state.

4. Machine according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that said grinding heads (10) and polishing heads (1) are associated in pairs, the heads (1, 10) of each pair being substantially facing each other.

5. Machine according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said heads (1, 10) are laterally movable, defining a reciprocating movement to completely wear out the consumable.

6. Machine according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the consumable of said heads (1, 10) is removably mounted.

7. Machine according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said heads (1, 10) are vertically and horizontally movable.

Machine according to claim 1, characterized in that said dragging elements (2) and positioning (3) are laterally and vertically movable.

Machine according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said heads (1, 10) and said dragging elements (2) and positioning (3) are connected to electronic, pneumatic or hydraulic control means, which determine its placement and drive.

10. Machine according to claim 9, characterized in that said control means are numerical control means, programmable logic controller (PLC) or positioner with computer.

Machine according to claim 1, characterized in that said dragging elements (2) are a plurality of arranged wheels associated in pairs side by side, which cause the feed and rotation of a circular cross section tube around its cross axis.

12. Procedure for grinding, polishing and satinizing of metal pipes and / or plates, characterized by the fact that the grinding of metal pipes and plates is carried out in a first direction and the polishing of metal pipes and plates is carried out in a second address, different from said first address.

13. Method according to claim 12, characterized in that the grinding is carried out transversely in the tubes of circular section and the polishing is carried out in a substantially longitudinal manner in said tubes, while the metal tubes move longitudinally.

14. Method according to claim 12 or

13, characterized by the fact that during the polishing of tubes of circular cross-section, they rotate around their longitudinal axis.

15. Method according to claim 12, characterized in that the grinding is carried out longitudinally in the tubes of quadrangular or rectangular section and plates and the polishing is carried out in a substantially transverse manner in said tubes and plates, that is to say in multiple positions These can be fixed or mobile, while the tubes and metal plates move longitudinally.