Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to devices for producing pressure cylinders and, more particularly, devices for producing pressure cylinders by means of roll bending.

Background Art

The closest analogue to the present invention is the cylinder-making apparatus as disclosed in Patent RU 2048945 CI (B21D 51/24, 1993.07.08) that has a support, workpiece loading, compression, roll bending and end product ejection mechanisms successively set on the support and a heating unit in the form of a circular inductor, while the roll bending mechanism has kinematically attached shaping and holding pulley mechanisms.

The main shortcomings of the prior art presented are as follows:

• The shaping device needs to perform multiple passages while making a cylinder;

• A lack of mechanisms for maintenance of required temperature at the cylinders formation area results in a significant number of defective cylinders.

Summary of Invention

The present invention has been developed in response to the present state of the art, and in particular, in response to the problems and needs in the art that have not yet been fully solved by currently available devices for producing pressure cylinders. The present invention seeks to enhance the productivity and reliability of a device for producing pressure cylinders and reduce the manufacturing costs.

The cylinder-making apparatus disclosed herein comprises a support, loading, compression, roll bending and ejection mechanisms successively set on the support and a heating unit in the form of a circular inductor, wherein the apparatus further includes an electronic control system for performance management of the apparatus and mechanisms and a second heating unit for maintaining the workpiece temperature during the shaping of a cylinder, the loading mechanism comprises a frame and a sliding mechanism moveably attached to the frame, the sliding mechanism has a drive, the compression mechanism comprises a five-jaw chuck with compressing jaws operated through a wedge-shaped mechanism, the roll bending mechanism has a shaping device fixed onto a block rocking against the workpiece and mounted on the support of the apparatus.

A second feature of the present invention is that the sliding mechanism of the loading mechanism comprises a dovetail linear guide which is set asymmetrically to the vertical plane; furthermore, its left plane is set against the horizontal plane at a smaller angle than the right side. A third feature of the present invention is that the loading mechanism comprises rolling bearings for transforming sliding friction into rolling friction which are mounted on the left plane of the dovetail linear guide.

A fourth feature of the present invention is that the drive of the sliding mechanism of the loading mechanism comprises a hydraulic motor attached to the sliding mechanism, a reduction gear and a rack and pinion mechanism, wherein the input shaft of the reduction gear is attached to the axle of the hydraulic motor, the gear of the rack and pinion mechanism is attached to the output shaft of the reduction gear and the rack and pinion mechanism is attached to the frame of the loading mechanism.

A fifth feature of the present invention is that the wedges of the wedge-shaped mechanism operating the compressing jaws of the five-jaw chuck are implemented at a ten- degree angle.

A sixth feature of the present invention is that the five-jaw chuck of the compression mechanism comprises self-centric spherical jaws.

A seventh and the last feature of the present invention is that the second heating unit comprises a moveable block turnably attached to the support, a gas burner fixed on the moveable block, an electromotor and a power screw transmission, wherein the electromotor is turnably attached to the support, the screw of the power screw transmission is attached to the axle of the electromotor while the nut is turnably attached to the moveable block.

References throughout this specification to features, advantages, or similar language do not imply that all of the features and advantages that may be realized with the present invention should be or are in any single embodiment of the invention. Rather, language referring to the features and advantages is understood to mean that a specific feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, discussion of the features and advantages, and similar language, throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, refer to the same embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize that the invention may be practiced without one or more of the specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the invention.

These features and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter. Brief Description of Drawings

In order that the advantages of the invention will be readily understood, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a front schematic view of one embodiment of a cylinder-making apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 provides a top schematic view of one embodiment of a cylinder-making apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a front schematic view of one embodiment of the workpiece loading mechanism of the cylinder-making apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 provides a top schematic view of the workpiece loading mechanism of one embodiment of the cylinder-making apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows a side schematic view of the loading mechanism of one embodiment of the cylinder-making apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 provides a schematic view of a five-jaw chuck of the compression mechanism of one embodiment of the cylinder-making apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of a five-jaw chuck of the compression mechanism of one embodiment of the cylinder-making apparatus in accordance with the present invention; and FIG. 8 illustrates a schematic view of the second heating unit of one embodiment of the cylinder- making apparatus in accordance with the present invention.

Mode for Carrying out the Invention

The cylinder-making apparatus disclosed herein comprises a support 1, a workpiece loading mechanism 2, a compression mechanism 3, a roll bending mechanism 4 and an end product ejection mechanism 5 successively set on the support 1 and a heating unit 6 in the form of a circular inductor, as can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. The apparatus further includes a second heating unit 7 for maintaining the workpiece temperature during the shaping of a cylinder and an electronic control system 8 for performance management of the apparatus and mechanisms.

The loading mechanism 2 is intended to transfer the workpiece, which has already been heated to a temperature necessary for roll bending in the heating unit 6, to the compression mechanism 3. The loading mechanism 2 comprises a frame 9 upon which a sliding mechanism 10 is moveably attached, as illustrated in FIGS 4 and 5. The sliding mechanism 10 has a drive which comprises a hydraulic motor 1 1 and a reduction gear 12. The gear 13 which is attached to the output shaft of the reduction gear 12, and the rack and pinion mechanism 14 which is attached to the frame 9, form a rack and pinion mechanism and enable the movement of the sliding mechanism 10 along the frame 9. A dovetail linear guide 15, intended for ensuring the initial alignment of the workpiece with the compression mechanism 3, is set on the frame 9. A pneumocylinder 16 is mounted at the end of the sliding mechanism 10 by means of which the final alignment of the workpiece within the compression mechanism 3 is done. Thus, the workpiece is adjusted within the compression mechanism 3 in two stages. In the first stage, the workpiece is transferred to the compression mechanism 3 by means of the sliding mechanism 10, the hydraulic motor 1 1, the reduction gear 12, the gear 13 and the rack and pinion mechanism 14. In the second stage, the workpiece is set into the compression mechanism 3 by means of the pneumocylinder 16. Rolling bearings 17 are mounted on the left plane of the dovetail linear guide 15 which are intended for transformation of sliding friction between the workpiece and the dovetail linear guide 15 into rolling friction.

The compression mechanism 3 comprises a hydrocylinder 18 to the piston shaft of which a tube-shaped linear guide 19 is attached (FIG. 7). Driving wedges 20 are set on the end of the tube-shaped linear guide 19 and convey the movement of the piston shaft of the hydrocylinder 18 to the compressing jaws 23 of the five-jaw chuck 22 mounted on the axis 21 of the cylinder- making apparatus. For this purpose, driven wedges 24 are designed on the edges of the compressing jaws 23. Both driving 20 and driven 24 wedges are implemented at a ten-degree wedging angle which is close to their friction angle. Such a selection of a wedging angle degree enables transmission of the movement from the driving 20 to the driven wedges 24, and subsequently to the compressing jaws 23 of the five-jaw chuck 22, while preventing transmission of the countermovement from the driven 24 to the driving wedges 20. Coupling elements 25 are designed on the ends of the compressing jaws 23 which form self-centric spherical couples together with compressing jaws 23. The compression mechanism 3 comprises an axis drive 26 to transmit rotation to the axis 21.

The roll bending mechanism 4 comprises a block 27 turnably mounted on the support 1 of the apparatus and a shaping device 28 is fixed onto the block 27, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The roll bending mechanism 4 further comprises a hydrocylinder 29 to enable the block 27 and the shaping device 28 to turn relative to the support 1. The frame of the hydrocylinder 29 is turnably mounted on the support 1 while the piston shaft is turnably attached to the block 27. Thus, the support 1, the hydrocylinder 29 and the block 27 form a three-link lever mechanism having links of variable lengths. The roll bending mechanism 4 also includes a regulator valve to regulate the speed of movement of the shaping device 28 while a workpiece is being shaped. The end product ejection mechanism 5 comprises a pneumocylinder 30 (FIG. 1) by means of which the end product is transferred from the five-jaw chuck 22 onto the dovetail linear guide 15 and then is removed from the cylinder-making apparatus.

The second heating unit 7 is arranged on the support 1, adjacent to the workpiece shaping sector, and is intended for maintaining the temperature of the workpiece area to be roll-bent at the required level during the shaping of a cylinder. The second heating unit 7 comprises a moveable block 31 to which a gas burner 32 is fixed. The nut 33 is also turnably mounted on the moveable block 31 (FIG. 8). An electromotor 34 is turnably attached to the support 1 and a screw 36 is attached to the shaft of the electromotor 34 by means of a socket 35. The screw 36 and the nut 33 form a power screw transmission. The electromotor 34, the moveable block 31 and the power screw transmission form a four bar mechanism.

The cylinder-making apparatus works in the following way.

The workpiece is pre-heated to a temperature necessary for roll bending in the heating unit 6 and transferred onto the dovetail linear guide 15 of the loading mechanism 2, as can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. The hydraulic motor 1 1 is turned on and the movement is transmitted to the gear 13 by means of the reduction gear 12. The gear 13 starts to move along the rack and pinion mechanism 14 attached to the frame 9, simultaneously transferring the sliding mechanism 10, which in its turn slides the workpiece on the dovetail linear guide 15. After the sliding mechanism 10 nears the five-jaw chuck 22 of the compression mechanism 3 the hydraulic motor 1 1 is turned off and the pneumocylinder 16 attached to the sliding mechanism 10 is turned on. The pneumocylinder 16 transfers the workpiece into the five-jaw chuck 22 by means of the piston shaft. The two-stage operation of the loading mechanism 2 ensures a smooth and shock- free transfer for the workpiece.

Once the workpiece is placed into the five-jaw chuck 22 the hydrocy Under 18 of the compression mechanism 3 is turned on. The piston shaft of the hydrocylinder 18 moves codirectionally, simultaneously moving the tube-shaped linear guide 19 and the driving wedges 20 (FIG. 7). The compressing jaws 23 close around the workpiece by means of the driven wedges 24 implemented on their edges. The workpiece is compressed within the five-jaw chuck 22 by means of the coupling elements 25. It should be noted that the illustrated quantity of the compressing jaws 23 of the five-jaw chuck 22 is proposed due to the force needed to compress the workpiece, while spherical couples designed between the coupling elements 25 and the compressing jaws 23 ensure the radial direction of the compression force.

After the compression process is complete, the drive 26 of the axis 21 is turned on and transmits rotation to the axis 21 and the workpiece compressed within the five-jaw chuck 22, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. While the axis 21 rotates, the following processes occur in the mechanisms of the cylinder-making apparatus:

• the piston shaft of the pneumocylinder 16 attached to the sliding mechanism 10 of the loading mechanism 2 returns to its starting position;

· the hydraulic motor 1 1 is turned on and the sliding mechanism 10 returns to its starting position as the gear 13 moves along the rack and pinion mechanism 14;

• the gas burner 32 of the second heating unit 7 starts to burn in order to pre-heat the workpiece area to be roll-bent and maintain the temperature necessary for the shaping of a cylinder;

· the roll bending mechanism 4 is operated after the necessary temperature is achieved on the workpiece area to be roll-bent. The hydrocylinder 29 transmits a rocking movement to the shaping device 28 and the rate of such movement is regulated by the regulator valve. It should be noted that roll bending process is complete with a single passage of the shaping device 28.

The gas burner 32 continues to burn during the shaping of a cylinder, with the operation of the electromotor 34 executing a turn together with the moveable block 31 by means of the screw 36 and the nut 33 and following the relief of the workpiece area to be roll-bent (FIG. 8).

After the shaping process is complete, the shaping device 28 returns to its starting position by means of the hydrocylinder 29. The gas burner 32 is turned off and returned to its starting position by means of the electromotor 34 (FIG. 8). Due to the reverse movement of the piston shaft of the hydrocylinder 18, the tube-shaped linear guide 19, the driving 20 and the driven wedges 24, the compression force between the workpiece and the compressing jaws 23 is released. The end product is transferred onto the dovetail linear guide 15 by means of the pneumocylinder 30 of the ejection mechanism 5 and removed from the cylinder-making apparatus.

An increase in the efficiency of the apparatus is ensured by forming a cylinder with a single passage of the shaping device and further heating of the area to be roll-bent during the shaping of a cylinder. The reliability of the apparatus is further enhanced through new structures of workpiece loading and compression mechanisms.

While the present invention has been described with respect to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that variations and modifications can be effected within the scope and spirit of the invention.