CA2010023A1 - Apparatus for automatically shaping windings for extremely elongated coils, in particular to form dipole or quadrupole magnets - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT

There are described improvements applies to an apparatus for automatically winding of coils on forms or winding holders having a remarkable longitudinal extension in comparison with the transver-se sized, particularly suitable for dipole or quadrupole magnets. The apparatus, already generally known from US Pat. 4,848,685 provides for the reciprocating oscillating movement of said form by about 180°, taken as a whole, being obtained, at least at each end, by meshing a pinion from a geared motor with a toothed half-ring having a central portion fixedly mounted to said coil holder and two symmetric outer wings, being hinged at both sides of said central portion, suitable to tilt alternatively by gravity, according to the rotation direction, as soon they are no longer support-ed by an arc-shaped stationary guide which is coaxial with the said half-ring and such as to minimize the radial clearances. The apparatus also comprises a template carriage to support the reel holding arm for the conductor to be wound and preferably provides for a non contemporary but sequential action of the ram means in the length direction of the form for positioning each length of laid down conductor.

Description

`~ - 2010023 ~ .

`'IMPROVED_APPARATUS FQR AyTOMATICALLY SHAPING_WINDINGS
FOB_EXTREMELy_ELONGATED CQILS~ IN_PARTICULAR__TO_FORM
DIPOLE OR QUADRUPOLE MAGNETS"
____________________________ The present invention relates to an improved apparatus for automatically shaping windings for extre-meLy elongated coils, in particular for dipole or qua-drupole magnets, as already described in its generality;n US Pat. 4,848,685 in the name of the same applicant.
From that published patent application an apparatus is known which is capable of automatically winding, on a winding holder form, coils in which the conductor path is mainly directed in the longitudinal direction, parallel to coil axis, with head por~ions having a radius which is variable and in any case relatively narrow, as it is required e.g. in the dipole or quadrupole magnets. The form or winding holder spindle is mounted for an alternate rotation about an axis coincident or parallel to the winding axis, along an oscillating angle of about 180 ;n the whole, on a stat;onary bed along a s;de of wh;ch a carr;age is sl;dably rec;procating with a cantilevered bracket mounted thereon for support;ng an arm wh;ch ;s rotata-bLe about a vert;cal axis and carrying a drum or reel to feed a conductor, generally a superconductor to be ;25 wound in a co;l. The three movements are mutually in-;terpolated and programmable and on each side of the w;nd;ng holder form there is prov;ded a mult;pl;c;ty of ram means to br;ng the last unwound superconductor length to the correct pos;t;on, each t;me on opposed : 30 s;des, so as to keep at such a pos;t;on the turns pre-~`' ~ ' ' ~' ' - ' , ' ~ '' " `: ~ . ' , ', , ", . .

. . .

viously la;d down in cooperation with matching curved members. Intermediate tiltable supports are also prov;-ded, to follow the support bar movement during the rotation without any interference with the supercondu-ctor laying and f;tting, respect;ve~y at either sideof the form.
However, when the coil to be formed has a longitudinal size far greater than the transverse s;ze, for example more than 15 meters length aga;nst a width of few tens of m;llimeters, the support bar or spindle during the alternate movement of oscillation and owing to a high slenderness ratio is subject to non negligible torsional strains which may result -into defective w;ndings and an incorrect shaping of -coils. Since these types of coils for big magnets, wh;ch are especially used in particle accelerators, must be wound in an extremely precise way, whichever inaccuracy in their formation may bring to remarkable ;nconveniences. Another source of inaccuracy, st;ll in the case of part;cularly long co;ls, may be found ;n the fact that the arm which brings the reel feeding the conductor to be wound is cantilevered on a carriage travelling with a reciprocating motion parallel to a side of the coil being formed.
Therefore ;t ;s an object of the present ;nvent;on to provide improvements to said apparatus, so that the above ment;oned inconveniences cannot occur, neither with extremely long coils, e.g. even more than 15 meters, thus ensuring in any case a perfect ;30 winding about the support form, with the turns correctly orientated and parallel one another as requ;red, at F~

the same time allowing for a winding speed~ i.e. form rotat;on speeds, to be adopted wh;ch are higher and in any case not ~ower than those Gommonly adopted ;n winding co;ls of less length. Th;s way, even for remark-able lengths co;ls can be obtained ;n any case whichhave no defect, without reducing the shaping speed and consequently the productivity of the apparatus.
On the other hand these improvements can be usuaL
also w;th co;ls ~wh;ch are not particularLy long, as ;t w;ll be thus possible to increase the winding speed and reduce the time of production. ~`
These objects and advantages are obtained with an improved apparatus of the above-mentioned I type, as descr;bed in US Pat. 4,848,685, characterized ;n 1 15 that the support bar of the w;nding holder form is f;xed, at least at each end, to an oscillating arm -wh;ch is hinged about an axis coicident with the rotat-ion axis of sa;d form and on the opposite side fixed to the central portion of a toothed ha~f-ring formed ;n three parts hinged each other by means of a pa;r of p;ns symmetrically provided at the ends of said central port;on of the half-ring, there also be;ng ~; prov;ded an arc-shaped stat;onary housing for guiding a length of said half-r;ng dur;ng its rotation in ;25 both opposite d;rections, due to the meshing with a pin;on or toothed-wheel from the output ax;s of a motor gear unit.~
Accord;ng to a preferred embodiment of the t~ present invention said guide extends itself aLong a port;on hav;ng~at least the same length as the central portion of the haLf-ring in the region where the latter .. , . " . , ;.,. . , ~, . . . - . ~ , is located at rest, when the half-r;ng ;s symmetrically positioned with respect to a vertical plane passing through the winding holder bar, while it meshes with the said driving toothed wheel at the median point of said central port;on. In these rest conditions the half-ring has a continuous semi-circular shape, as the two outer portions are supported by said guide and possibly two symmetrical support rolls which are placed at the outside of said guide and are suitable to accompany the downward tilting, due to the gravity, alternatively occurring at either side during the alternate rotation of the half-ring.
According to another aspect of the inven-tion, the reel w;th vertical rotation axis from which the conductor is fed for winding is supported by an arm which is in turn rotatably mounted about a vertical axis in the longitudinal plane of the coil on a templa-te carriage be1ng reciprocatable while overheading said co;l supporting bed along tracks parallel to said longitudinal plane by means of independent, high--prec;s;on gear-motors w;th electronic control on the axis placed on the two mountings of the carriage to cause at the same time the relative movement with :
respect to a pair of stationary toothed belts respective-lY parallel, at either sides, to the tracks associated therewith.
These and additional objects, advantages and features of the improved apparatus according to the present ;nvention will be clear to those skilled in the art from the foLlowing detailed description of the particularly preferred embodiment thereof, given ~' ` ''""' ' ''"' '""" '' ''; '' '. ' " ." ''" ''' '; ''''.' "1 ,', 1 -.' ".'.' '`"'"''.` ,` " . '`, . ' " "'. ,'""' ' ``` 2010023 .
by way of a non-limiting example with reference to the annexed draw;ngs ;n wh;ch:
_IGURE_1 shows a schematic end view of the complete apparatus according to the present invention;
IGURE __ shows a partial, cross sectional view taken along line II-II of figure 1 and figure 3;
_IGURE 3 shows a fragmentary, partially cut away view taken in the direction of arrows A of figure

2; and _IGURE _4 shows a view similar to that of figure 3 in a different operating situation.
W;th reference to f;gure 1 the apparatus in its generality as already described in US Pat. 4,848,685, `
basically compr;ses a bed 1 for support;ng a bar 11 wh;ch bears a form F on wh;ch the winding of a conductor ~ ~ 10, possibly a superconductor, has to be performed.
I The bar 11 ;s mounted on the bed 1 so as to ensure the rotat;on of form F about a long;tud;nal axis X-X
~with alternate osc;llat;ons along a total angle of ¦~20 about 180. This to allow that subsequently on both s;des of form F ;s longltud;nally la;d the conductor 10 fed from a reel 4 wh;ch ;s ;n turn mounted ;n a known manner on an arm 3 capable of rotat;ng about a ~vert;cal axis Y-Y parallel to the rotation axis Z-Z
't ~ ~ 25 of the reel 4 and at the same time perpendicular and co-planar with said ax;s X-X.
According to the present invention the arm 3 ` ~;s p;votably mounted in Y-Y to the traverse beam 21 of a template carriage 2 compr;s;ng two uprights 20 ;30~and 20a at~e;ther side of said bed 1, which are in-teg-~lly slidabl~ w;th a reciprocated otion by means 20~00Z3 of wheels 22, 22a on tracks 23, 23a parallel to sa;d ax;s X-X. The movement ;s obta;ned preferably through prec;sion geared motor un;ts ~not shown) wh;ch ar~e re- !
spectively housed in the uprights 20, 20a and driving toothed wheels, respectively 24, 24a, wh;ch are ;n meshing reLationship, with a minimum slack, with toothed belts 25, 25a respectively, laid along the associates tracks. There is provided an electronic control for keeping aligned the axes of the two geared-motors, whereby the movement of the template carriage proceeds not only without jolts and vibrations, but also keeping as much as possible the correct orientation required for an accurate lay;ng down of the conductor 10 to be wound.
Leaving apart the description of all other components of the apparatus, for which reference is made to the above ment;oned US Pat. 4,848,685, the other ;mprovement form;ng the object of the present invention w;ll now be described w;th reference to figure 2, 3 - zo and 4, whereas ;n the known apparatus the rotat;on 1~movement was lmparted to the form F by subject;ng ;n wh;chever known way the support bar 11 to an alternate ;~oscillat;on ;n the two opposite directions by means of brackets and bearings, of wh;ch if even only one could be driven.
Accor~d;ng to the present ;nvention at least two driving means are provided, one at each end, su;ta-I ble to impart the desired alternate oscillating move--~ment ;n full synchronism, through a special drive ~which w;lL be better described in the following, w;th the ~poss;biLity~ of having addit;onal intermediate ~ ~ "~

Y:

dr;v;ng means along the axis X-X in order to avo;d any possib~e twisting, bend;ng or vibration of the support bar 11, thereby of the form F, dur;ng w;nd;ng.
In figures 2-4 reference ;s made to one end S of the apparatus, but ;t will be appreciated that the decript;on can also be adapted to the other end and to poss;ble ;ntermediate points of auxiliary driving.
With the numeral reference 1, relat;ng to the bed in its generality in figures 2-4 has been designated also the structure of the support and housing for the motor means driving the form F to rotate. A reversible motor 12 drives, trhough a pair of pulleys 13, 13a and a belt 14, a geared motor group 12a of high precis-;on type on the shaft at the output of which a toothed -:
wheel or pinion 15 is journalled. The geared-motor 12a is stationary with the structure 1 as it is fixed by means of a plate 36 to a vertical shoulder 16 which ;s welded on one side to a f;xed beam 16a of the struct-~ure 1 and on the other side at the cylindrical sleeve ; 20 17 at the ;ns;de of wh;ch, preferably trhough the interposit;on of bushings 17a, a longitudinal pin 18 ;~ is rotatably mounted, coax;al with the rotation axis X-X of form F. In a plane parallel to said shoulder 16 on the pin 18 an arm 31 is h;nged to wh;ch an end , .
25 ~of a support bar 11 is welded and, on the opposite side, a toothed segment 19a is f;xed, such as by screws 32, which forms the central portion of a toothed half--ring 19 further comprising two side wings 19b and 19c, each of~which is hinged at an end of sa;d interme-diate segment 19a by means of a respective pin 33.
The toothing of the half-ring 19 meshes w;th the toothed ,''~'. ' ' ' ' ' " "" ' ;' ''' ~ ' ' 1 ' " " ;.' ' ' . , , ' . . , wheel 15 at the ;ntersect;on of a vert;cal plane pass;ng through sa;d axis X-X with an half-ring 19.
A stat;onary arc-shaped hous;ng 34 is also provided, which is fixed to shoulder 16, such as by 5 screws 35, whereby a half-ring portion 19 is guided with the least clearance possible during its movement in both directions upon rotation of the toothed-wheel 15. As better shown ;n f;gure 2 this gu;de 34 ;s formed 50 as to embrace almost completely from everywhere 10 the length of toothed wheel 19 that at each moment is located at the inside thereof so as to balance the react;on forces and withstand the thrust in either direction wich may result during the operation. Guide ,~ 34 will extend itself along an arc of a circle whose }~ 15 length ;s at least the same along which the central

3 portion 19a extends of the toothed half-ring formed 7 ;n three portions. Furthermore it will be symmetrically positioned w;th respect to said vertical plane passing through axis X-X, therefore it will be located ;n 20 correspondance w;th the sa;d central portion 19a when the latter ;s pos;t;oned at the rest cond;tion as ;llustrated ;n f;gure 3. Under th;s s;tuat;on the engagement of the toothed wheel S w;th the half-r;ng 19 occurs at~the med;an reg;on of the central port;on 19a and the s;de portions or wings 19b, 19c of the half-ring are compelled by the guide 34 to take the configuration of a true half-ring as they will be at least pàrtially in contact with ;ts end zones at both sides of pins 33, as the guide is of a greater length with~respect to the central segment 19a. Of course gu;de 34 sha~ll be match;ng w;th the half-r;ng length 20~0023 g 19 wh;ch is housed at each moment, whereby also the gu;de wilL have an arc-shaped path with the center co;ncident with that of half-ring 19, i.e. also with axis X-X.
In figure 4 a view similar to that of figure 3 is shown, in which however, after a given length rotation of the toothed wheel 15, the point at which --the latter meshes w;th ~he half-ring 19 has moved to one of the other s;de port;ons, namely at the boundary with wing 19c. As one can see in this case the opposite portion 19b is free from guide 34 and therefore can rotate about the corresponding hinge 33 with an action due to the gravity. The same occurs when a movement to the opposite direction has been effected, in which case ;t will be the w;ng 19c to fall downwards. Two supporting rolls 37 are preferably provided on the sides of gulde 34, being mounted on plates 38 and so positioned as to become tangent to the half-ring 19, as an ideal continuation of gu;de 34. The function af said two rollers ;s ma;nly, as shown for the left end one in figure 4, of guiding and deadening the drop of the ring portion tilting about the hinge 33, :~ :
and also helping the guide 34 to maintain the normal sem;-c;rcular configuration, at a rest condition, as shown in figure 3, particularly if the difference of length between guide 34 and central segment 19a is at minimum.
~9~ The basic significance of a portion of toothed half-ring 19 be;ng tilted should been noted to al~ow the free passage of conductor 10 at the side of form F that is facing ;n an upward direction as a consequence to the oscillatin movement. This is essent;al, ma;nly when a motion drive of this type is prov;ded not only at the ends of the form F and its support bar 11, but a~so at intermediate points.
According to another aspect of the present invention, still with reference to the above-mentioned US Pat. 4,848,685 it is finally provided that the ran means for correctly positioning the length of conductor laid down along a side of form F are actuated not all at the same time, but sequentially while follow;ng the path of the conductor itself during its winding.
W;th the improvements being the object of the present invention the apparatus according to US Pat. 4,848,685 has been able to operate correctly for lenghts of the form or winding holder up to 17 meters with w;nding speeds up to 20 mlmin.
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Claims (6)

1. An improved apparatus for automatically shaping windings of a superconductor on a form in manufacturing of coils particularly suitable for dipole or quadrupole magnets, in which a support bar of said form is mounted for rotation about a first axis on a statio-nary structure so as to cause the form to alternately oscillate along an arc of about 180°C in the whole, the superconductor being fed by a reel rotatably mounted, about a second axis, on an arm which in turn can rotate about a third axis vertically directed like the second axis, and co-planar and perpendicular to said first axis, there being also provided ram means mounted in pairs to said bar at both sides of said form, pushing elements of which direct their action tangentially to said form in association with shaped matching and guide profiles, the improvement comprising said support bar being caused to be fixed, at least at each end to an oscillating arm hinged at one side on an axis coinci-dent with the said first axis and at the opposite side fixed to a central portion of a toothed half-ring formed of three portions which are mutually hinged each other by means of a pair of pins symmetrically provided at the ends of said central portion, with a stationary housing being also provided having an arc of a circle shape guiding a length of said half-ring during its rotation in both directions due to the meshing with a toothed wheel from the shaft of a geared motor unit.

2. An improved apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said guide housing extends itself along an arc of a circle coaxially with the said half-ring and said first axis along a portion of a length at least equal to the length of said central portion and is positioned in the region of the latter at a rest condi-tion, thereby symmetrically with respect to a vertical plane passing through said first axis and intersecting said half-ring at the meshing point with the said toothed wheel.

3. An improved apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the arc-shaped guide is substantially U-shaped for housing a corresponding arc of a circle length of half-ring to embrace the same from everywhere except from the side of engagement with the said toothed wheel, said guide being fastened by means of screws to a shoulder which is fixed to said stationary struct-ure and has mounted thereon said geared motor unit, to which shoulder a cylindrical sleeve is caused to be fixed for supporting a pin, coaxial with said first axis, on which said oscillating arm is pivotably mounted.

4. An improved apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising on either side of said guide housing two rolls supporting the half-ring and being tangent to the same arc of circle formed by said guide.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said arm supporting the reel is mounted for rotating about said third axis to a cross beam of a template carriage which can reciprocate while overheading said stationary structure with two uprights being slidable on either side of said structure on tracks parallel to said first axis by means of the action exerted by independent and electronically controlled motor means, capable of causing toothed pulleys to rotate while meshing with a minimum clearance with stationary too-thed belts parallel to said tracks and said first axis.

6. An improved apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said pushing means of the ream means are sequentially operating in the direction of the conductor path during its winding.