RU2827820C1 - Automatic chain-bending machine and method of chain-bending by chain-bending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: metal forming.

SUBSTANCE: inventions can be used in production of anchor chains from metal wire. Automatic chain-bending machine comprises two spiral formers, made with possibility of forming chain links by screwing one spiral formed by one spiral former into another for a given number of turns. There are two wire cutting assemblies forming functional pairs with spiral formers. Method of bending involves screwing one spiral into another for a given number of turns, cutting of section of screwed-in turns of spiral with provision of its cutting off from spiral with formation of chain link. Repeated repetition of the spiral screwing and cutting step is performed to form the chain.

EFFECT: as a result, it is possible to manufacture multi-link round-link chains of anchor type with adjustment depending on the degree of density of the chain and its model.

12 cl, 10 dwg

Description

Field of technology

The group of inventions relates to the field of metal forming, in particular to spiral-type chain-knitting machines intended for the production of round-link anchor chains from metal wire. In a particular case, the invention can be used for the production of jewelry and decorative round-link, multi-link anchor chains with the weave "Bismarck", "Garibaldi", "Python", "Italian" and other types of weaves of the specified type.

State of the art

A method of making chains by spiral winding of round links is known, the essence of which consists of winding the wire into a spiral, cutting off one link-ring from the wound spiral using special knives and sequentially connecting the resulting links [Lugovoy V.P. Technology of jewelry production: a tutorial / V.P. Lugovoy. - Minsk: New knowledge; M .: INFRA-M, 2012 p. 294].

The above method is the oldest and was originally carried out manually, and in modern times with the use of spiral-type chain-knitting machines, in which the main unit is a spiral former - a device that provides mechanized winding of wire in a spiral on a rotating spiral-forming sleeve (needle).

In general, the manufacture of a chain using a spiral chain-making machine includes the following sequence of operations: wire is fed from a reel to a spiral-forming sleeve (needle), on which the wire is bent into a spiral along a helical groove, cutting off the formed link blank with automated scissors, bringing the ends (fugues) of the link together, moving the link downwards and turning it 90 degrees using a manipulator, stringing the link onto the next link using a gripper-tweezers, gripping the link with a moving wound spiral so that the formed link remains freely hanging on the first turn of the spiral, unclenching the link and moving the tweezers-manipulator upwards to grip a new link.

From the state of the art, the applicant became aware of the following solutions for the devices of spiral-type automatic chain-tying machines, as well as methods for tying chains:

A known automatic machine for manufacturing a decorative chain and a method for manufacturing a decorative chain (Italian invention publication No. 201900005420, priority 09.04.2019, IPC: B21L11/00; B21L7/00), according to which the automatic machine consists of a control unit, two rotary bases with axes, two rotary base drives connected to the corresponding axes, wherein the first rotary base contains a plurality of working heads located around the axis of rotation of the base, as well as a plurality of metal wire feeding devices, each of which is functionally connected to the corresponding working head, the second rotary base also contains a plurality of working heads located around the axis of rotation of the base, wherein each working head of the first rotary base includes a spiral former, a cutting unit and a bending unit, and each working head of the second rotary base contains a gripper, wherein the working heads of the two rotary bases are designed with the possibility of functional interaction with each other. The method for manufacturing a decorative chain in accordance with the said invention includes the following stages: twisting the wire into a spiral by means of a spiral former, gripping a section of the twisted wire, cutting a section of the twisted wire by means of a cutting unit to obtain an open loop, a closing stage in which the bending unit brings the ends of the loop together, a tying stage in which an additional section of the wire twisted into a spiral is inserted into the closed loop, a releasing stage in which the gripping mechanism releases the closed loop, wherein the said stages are cyclically repeated, and the method comprises at least one first stage of installing the selected working head by moving the first working base by means of the corresponding drive and delivering the corresponding head to the work site, as well as at least one second stage of installing the selected working head by moving the second working base by means of the corresponding drive and delivering the corresponding head to the work site, so as to tie the said selected second working head with the said selected first working head.

A machine and method for manufacturing a chain are known (US Patent Application No. 4,275,555, June 30, 1981, IPC: B21L7/00, B21L3/02). The machine according to said invention includes a wire feed reel, a spiral former, means for gripping the first free section of the spiral, means for cutting the first turn of the spiral, connected to a shaping means for connecting the ends of the wire and forming a chain link, a shaping means for giving the link the required shape, a welding means for welding the ends of the chain link, and control means for a given movement of various means of the machine. In this case, the method includes giving the wire the shape of a cylindrical spiral of a given radius and pitch, capturing the first free turn of the spiral, cutting off the said first turn of the spiral, simultaneously pressing the ends of the remaining part of the spiral, and also pressing the ends of the cut turn against each other until they close, forming a ring-shaped part with freely touching ends, welding the freely touching ends of the ring-shaped part to form a closed ring of the chain, passing it through the free end of the spiral, after which the steps are repeated to obtain a chain.

A method and machine for the automatic formation of decorative chains with links in the shape of a figure eight are known (US Patent Application No. 5152133, 10/06/1992, IPC: B21L11/00, B21L7/00, B21L7/00). The method according to the said invention comprises the following steps: holding the last link of the chain, gripping a loop from an oval spiral, detaching the loop from the oval spiral, inserting the spread arms of the said loop into the eyes of the said last link of the chain, rotating the said loop to complete the connection, clamping the spread arms of the said loop to obtain a closed link, rotating one end of the said closed link relative to the other end of the said closed link along the longitudinal axis of the said closed link in order to transform the link into a figure eight, wherein the said figure eight link now becomes the new last link in the chain, releasing the previous said last link of the chain and holding the said new last link of the chain. The machine according to the said publication comprises: a first holding collet, a spiral former, a cutter, a second holding collet, a clamp for holding and connecting the ends of the loop spread apart, a rotation means attached to the second holding collet.

The disadvantages of the above-described chain-tying machines are either technical complexity, which affects their cost, or the impossibility or complexity of adjustment.

Thus, the problem identified in the level of technology is that modern automatic chain-tying machines are complex and expensive precision devices that are not available to small-scale production and private jewelers, and also do not have the ability to be adjusted relatively simply.

Another pressing issue is the production of multi-link chains and the associated need for a relatively simple and inexpensive automatic chain-tying machine.

The purpose and objective of the group of inventions

The aim of the group of inventions is to expand the arsenal of technical solutions for spiral chain-tying machines intended for knitting jewelry and decorative round-link, multi-link anchor-type chains, as well as methods for knitting chains using a chain-tying machine.

One of the objectives of the group of inventions is to create a relatively simple chain-tying machine device that ensures the production of multi-link, round-link anchor-type chains, with the ability to adjust depending on the degree of chain density and its model.

The specified problem is solved by the following means:

The chain-tying machine comprises two spiral formers with the ability to screw the turns of the formed spirals into each other, as well as two wire-cutting units that form functional pairs with the spiral formers. The spiral formers and wire-cutting units are designed with the ability to mechanized controlled movement relative to each other and the working area using movement mechanisms. Thus, the use of two spiral formers with two wire-cutting units allows forming a chain thread blank due to successive operations of screwing the turns of the spirals into each other and cutting them, while the ability to regulate the spatial position of the working units allows adjusting the caliber and density of the chain.

Another objective of the group of inventions is a method for knitting a chain using the proposed chain-tying machine.

The specified problem is solved by the following means:

The method of knitting a chain using an open chain-knitting machine contains the following stages: positioning the spiral formers relative to each other, sequential and alternate formation of spirals by the spiral formers with screwing of turns into each other, cutting off the screwed turn of one spiral with the formation of a chain link blank, changing the position of the spiral formers, multiple repetition of the stages as a result of which a chain thread blank is formed.

Brief description of explanatory drawings

The invention is explained using images of a three-dimensional model of the machine, as well as units, in particular:

Figure 1 shows a general view of the chain-tying machine;

Figures 2 - 6 explain individual operations in accordance with the disclosed method of knitting a chain;

Figure 7 shows the structure of the actuator of the spiral former in accordance with the basic embodiment of the chain-knitting machine;

Figure 8 shows a wire cutting unit device in accordance with the basic embodiment of a chain-tying machine;

Figure 9 shows a bottom view of a chain-tying machine in accordance with a basic embodiment of the device;

Figure 10 shows an example where the machine includes a laser welding unit and the method includes a laser welding step.

The explanatory images show the following elements and their designations:

chain-tying machine - 1;

frame - 2;

working area - 3;

spiral formers - 4 and 5;

wire cutting units - 6 and 7;

Wire spirals - 8 and 9;

platform - 10;

coils - 11 and 12;

spiral former actuator - 13

body - 14;

spiral-forming sleeve - 15;

spiral former shaft - 16;

shaft connecting element - 17;

wire tensioner - 18;

support bearing - 19;

base - 20;

mechanized shears - 21;

pneumatic cylinder - 22;

push rod - 23;

horizontal support - 24;

pneumatic cylinder support - 25;

carriage - 26;

levers of mechanized shears - 27 and 28;

lever cover - 29;

cam - 30;

cylindrical stop - 31;

springs - 32;

vertical hinge axes - 33 and 34;

blades - 35 and 36;

first movable base - 37;

second movable base - 38;

electric motor - 39;

Electric motor - 40

belt drive - 41;

Electric motors 42 and 43.

Disclosure of the essence of the invention

The chain-tying machine - 1 contains a control unit (not shown in the figures) and a frame - 2, on which are mounted: at least one group of working units, designed with the possibility of functional interaction with each other in the working area - 3, means for feeding metal wire, as well as mechanisms for moving the working units.

In this case, the group of working units consists of two spiral formers - 4 and 5 and two wire cutting units 6 and 7, wherein the spiral formers are designed with the possibility of screwing the turns of the formed wire spirals into each other in the working zone - 3, and each wire cutting unit 6 and 7 is oriented relative to the corresponding spiral former - 4 and 5, forming with it a functional pair with the possibility of cutting the formed wire spiral.

The working units are designed with the possibility of specified, adjustable movement relative to each other and the working area using movement mechanisms.

The drives of the working units, as well as the movement mechanisms, are connected to the control unit by communication lines. The control unit consists of a microcontroller, as well as a computer connected to it, using a wired or wireless interface, with the ability to perform a special software control algorithm through the user interface.

A special software algorithm can be recorded in the long-term memory of the computer or stored in a remote storage facility to which the computer has access via interfaces and communication protocols known from the state of the art.

A PC or a smart mobile device, such as a smartphone, pocket computer, or tablet, can be used as a computer.

Depending on the embodiment of the chain-tying machine device, the computer can be connected to the chain-tying machine via a wired interface, in particular via USB, or via other wired interfaces known from the prior art, as well as via a wireless interface, which can be WIFI and Bluetooth, as well as other wireless interfaces known from the prior art used for communication between the device and the computer.

The method of knitting a chain using a chain-tying machine - 1 in accordance with the group of inventions consists of the following stages:

- By means of the mechanisms for moving the working units, the spiral formers 4 and 5 are installed in a manner that ensures the screwing of the spirals 8 and 9 formed by them into each other, while the axis of the first spiral former - 4 is installed higher than the axis of the second spiral former - 5 by the value of the internal radius of the wire spiral formed by the spiral former (see Fig. 2);

- The spiral formers are activated in such a way that one spiral is screwed into another by a predetermined number of turns (see Fig. 3);

- Using a wire cutting unit, a section of one screwed-in spiral is cut off - 9, while the corresponding cut section of the spiral hangs on the other spiral - 8, thus forming a blank of a chain link (see Fig. 4);

- Then the relative position of the spiral formers along the vertical axis is changed (see Fig. 5);

- Then the spiral former - 5, which has taken the upper position, is activated in such a way that the formed spiral - 9 is screwed into the spiral - 8 of the second spiral former - 4 by a predetermined number of turns (see Fig. 6);

- Then, using a wire cutting unit, cut off a section of the screwed-in spiral - 8, while the corresponding cut-off section of the spiral hangs on the spiral - 9, together with the section of the spiral cut off at the previous stage;

- Then the process is repeated several times, forming a blank of the chain thread.

Depending on the embodiment of the invention, the chain-tying machine may additionally contain a welding unit, and the method may include a stage of welding the screwed-in sections of the spirals. In this case, welding is performed after each stage of screwing in the spiral and before cutting. In a particular case, Fig. 10 shows an example of laser welding using laser emitters.

Implementation of the device

The frame - 2 is made in the form of a table with a platform - 10, forming a horizontal working surface on which one group of working units is installed, as well as wire feeders.

In a particular case of the device implementation, two wire spools are used as wire feeders - 11 and 12, hingedly fixed on the axes of the brackets, which in turn are fixed on the frame.

Each coil 11 and 12 is intended for feeding wire to the corresponding spiral former 4 and 5.

In the particular case of the device implementation, each spiral former - 4 and 5 consists of an actuator - 13 and a drive.

Stepper motors are used as spiral former drives, which ensures adjustment and precise positioning of the spiral and its turns in the working area.

The actuator of each spiral former - 13 (see Fig. 7) consists of a housing - 14, including a spiral-forming sleeve - 15 with a helical surface, a shaft - 16, at one end of which the spiral-forming sleeve - 15 is fixed, and the other end of the shaft is connected to the drive through a connecting element - 17, a wire tensioner - 18, as well as a support bearing - 19.

The spiral-forming shaft - 16 has a conical shape with a narrow part coming from the drive and expanding towards the spiral-forming sleeve - 15 (see Fig. 7 - b).

The spiral formers operate as follows: wire from the corresponding reel is fed to the spiral former, shaft - 16 is driven by a drive, the wire enters the narrow part of the shaft, is wound onto it and is driven off the spiral-forming sleeve - 15, which sets the pitch between the turns of the spiral.

In the particular case of the device implementation, each wire-cutting unit - 6 and 7 consists of a base - 20, mechanized shears - 21 and a drive. In this case, a pneumatic cylinder - 22 with a pusher rod - 23 is used as a drive (see Fig. 8).

The base - 20 contains a horizontal support - 24 of the mechanized scissors - 21, as well as a vertical support - 25 of the pneumatic cylinder with an opening for the stroke of the pusher rod - 23.

Mechanized shears - 21 include a carriage - 26 designed with the possibility of linear movement by means of a linear bearing fixed on a support - 24, two levers - 27 and 28, a lever cover - 29, a cylindrical cam - 30 pivotally fixed through a horizontal axis on a support - 24 and spring-loaded by a spring that ensures the return of the cam to its original position.

The carriage - 26 contains a limiter, which in this particular case has a wedge shape, as well as a cylindrical stop - 31. At the same time, the carriage - 26 is also spring-loaded by means of two springs - 32, ensuring the return of the carriage - 26 to its original position.

One ends of the levers contain vertical hinge axes - 33 and 34 with washers, and on the other - free ends of the levers the blades - 35 and 36 are fixed. The vertical axes - 33 and 34 are connected to each other by a return spring. In this case, the levers - 27 and 28 lie on the carriage - 26 wedge-like closing the blades - 35 and 36, with a wedge-shaped limiter between the levers.

In this case, the free end of one lever - 27 is designed with the possibility of free horizontal movement, and the free end of the second lever - 28 is fixed.

The washers of the vertical axes - 33 and 34 in the initial position of the levers, due to the tension of the spring, close the ends of the levers, while the washer of the movable lever - 27 is a stop, with the possibility of kinematic interaction with the pusher rod - 23, in connection with which the working part of the pusher has the appropriate shape.

In a particular case, the wire cutting unit works as follows:

when compressed air is supplied to the pneumatic cylinder - 22, the pusher rod - 23 extends, the pusher comes into contact with the cam - 30, rotating it relative to the horizontal axis, the cam pushes the horizontal cylindrical stop - 31 located on the carriage - 26, which causes the carriage to translate linearly until it stops, further advancement of the pusher rod - 23 pushes apart the first ends of the levers - 27 and 28, the axes - 33 and 34 of which are connected by a spring, while the blades 35 and 36 close, performing work, during the reverse movement of the pusher rod - 23, under the action of the return spring, the first ends of the levers close until the washers of the axes 33 and 34 stop against each other, accordingly, the blades 35 and 36 open, then the return spring of the cam - 30 returns it to its original position and carriage - 26 under the action of springs - 32 also returns to its original position. Thanks to this solution, with one operation of the pneumatic cylinder, the wire cutting unit sequentially performs two actions - first it moves the mechanized scissors to the working area, then it cuts the wire spiral.

In a particular case, the mechanism for moving the working units consists of two movable bases - 37 and 38. On the first movable base - 37, a pair of units is installed, consisting of a spiral former - 5 and a wire cutting unit - 7, on the second movable base - 38, a spiral former - 4 is installed. In this case, the first movable base - 37 is designed with the possibility of rotation on a rotary axis driven by an electric motor - 39 through a belt transmission - 40. The second movable base - 38 is designed with the possibility of linear movement relative to three axes, in particular relative to the vertical axis by means of an electric motor - 41, along the longitudinal axis by means of an electric motor - 42, along the transverse axis by means of an electric motor - 43.

In the particular case of implementing a chain-tying machine, the drives of the working units are connected via drivers to a microcontroller, which in turn is designed with the ability to connect to a PC via a wired USB interface.

In the particular case of the implementation of the chain-tying machine, the control, as well as its adjustment, is carried out through the user interface of the software installed in the long-term memory of the PC - the control program. In the particular case, the control program allows changing the speed, direction and duration of the stepper motors of the spiral formers, as well as the duration of the operation of the mechanized shears, within specified limits.

Implementation of the method

The method for knitting a chain using a chain-tying machine - 1 in accordance with the main embodiment of the group of inventions comprises the following steps:

The axis of one spiral former - 4 is installed higher than the axis of the second spiral former - 5 by the value of the internal radius of the wire spiral formed by the spiral former, while the axes of spiral formers - 4 and 5 are installed at right angles to each other in two planes;

Then, spiral formers 4 and 5 are activated in such a way that wire spirals 8 and 9 are screwed into each other by 2 turns and 2.5 revolutions;

after this, using the wire cutting unit - 7, which forms a functional pair with the spiral former - 5, the spiral turn is cut off, while the cut off spiral turn hangs on the spiral - 8 formed by the spiral former - 4;

Then the position of the spiral formers in space is changed in such a way that the axis of the spiral former - 5 is higher than the axis of the spiral former - 4, which is achieved by lowering the spiral former - 4 together with the movable base - 38;

Then the spiral former - 5 is activated in such a way that the formed spiral - 9 captures one turn of the spiral - 8 of the spiral former - 4, and then the spiral - 9 is screwed in another one to one and a half turns;

Then, using the wire cutting unit - 6, which forms a functional pair with the spiral former - 4, a section of the spiral is cut off, while the cut off section of the spiral hangs on the spiral formed by the spiral former - 5, repeatedly repeating the above-described process, a blank of the chain thread is formed.

The chain thread blank formed as a result of the method consists of connected sections of spirals. To give the product a finished look, the following operations can be performed on the blank: cleaning, applying solder and soldering the chain links, trimming the "whiskers" - the ends of the sections of spirals connected into a chain, cutting the links, washing, tumbling, etc.

Claims (12)

1. A chain-tying machine characterized in that it comprises a frame on which metal wire feeding means are mounted and at least one group of working units configured to functionally interact with each other in the working area, wherein the group of working units is made in the form of two spiral formers, each of which consists of an actuator and a drive, two wire-cutting units, each of which is oriented relative to the corresponding spiral former to form a functional pair with it, and mechanisms for moving the working units, and two spiral formers of the group of working units are configured to be installed by means of mechanisms for moving them to the position of placing the axis of one spiral former above the axis of the second spiral former by the value of the radius of the spiral being formed, changing the relative position of the spiral formers along the vertical axis and forming chain links by screwing one spiral formed by one spiral former into another by a given number of turns and cutting off a section of the screwed turns of the spiral with a wire-cutting unit with ensuring its cutting off from the spiral and the hanging of the cut off section on another spiral. 2. A chain-tying machine according to paragraph 1, characterized in that the control unit consists of a microcontroller and a computer connected to it via a wired or wireless interface, designed with the possibility of implementing a software control algorithm with the provision of adjustment of the spatial position of the working units via a user interface. 3. A chain-tying machine according to paragraph 1, characterized in that it additionally includes a welding unit. 4. A chain-tying machine according to item 1, characterized in that two wire spools are used as the means for feeding metal wire. 5. A chain-tying machine according to item 1, characterized in that a stepper electric motor is used as a drive for the spiral formers. 6. A chain-tying machine according to item 1, characterized in that the actuator of each spiral former consists of a housing including a spiral-forming sleeve with a helical surface, a shaft, at one end of which the said spiral-forming sleeve is fixed, and the other end is connected to the drive via a connecting element, a wire tensioner and a support bearing. 7. A chain-tying machine according to item 1, characterized in that each wire-cutting unit consists of a base, mechanized scissors, and a drive. 8. A chain-tying machine according to item 7, characterized in that a pneumatic cylinder with a push rod is used as a drive for the wire-cutting unit. 9. A chain-tying machine according to item 7 or 8, characterized in that the base contains a horizontal support for mechanized shears, as well as a vertical support for a pneumatic cylinder with an opening for the stroke of a pusher rod. 10. The chain-tying machine according to claim 9, characterized in that the mechanized shears comprise a carriage configured to move linearly by means of a linear bearing secured to a horizontal support, two levers, a lever cover, a cylindrical cam pivotally secured by means of a horizontal axis to the horizontal support and spring-loaded by a spring configured to return the cam to its original position, wherein the carriage comprises a wedge-shaped stop and a cylindrical stop, spring-loaded by means of two springs that ensure the carriage returns to its original position, one end of the levers comprises vertical hinge axes with washers, and blades are secured to the second free ends of the levers, wherein the vertical hinge axes are connected to each other by a return spring, the levers are located on the carriage to ensure the blades close with a wedge and with a wedge-shaped stop between them, wherein the free end of one lever is configured to move freely horizontally, and the free end of the second lever is fixed. 11. A method of knitting a chain using a chain-tying machine comprising a group of working units made in the form of two spiral formers, two wire-cutting units and mechanisms for moving the working units, including installing the spiral formers by means of mechanisms for moving the working units in a position in which the axis of one spiral former is located above the axis of the second spiral former by an amount equal to the inner radius of the spiral formed by the spiral former, actuating the spiral formers and performing the stage of screwing one spiral into another by a given number of turns, cutting off a section of the screwed turns of the spiral with a wire-cutting unit, ensuring its cutting off from the spiral and hanging the cut off section on the other spiral with the formation of a chain link, subsequently changing the relative position of the spiral formers along the vertical axis, then actuating the spiral former that has taken the upper position, and performing the stage of screwing in the formed them spirals into a spiral formed by the second spiral former, for a given number of turns, cutting off a section of the twisted turns of the spiral by means of a wire-cutting unit, ensuring that it is cut off from the spiral and hangs on another spiral together with the section of the spiral cut off at the previous stage, then repeatedly repeating the stage of screwing in the spiral and cutting off with the formation of a chain. 12. The method according to item 11, characterized in that it includes a welding stage, which is carried out after each stage of screwing in the spiral before cutting.