Tungsten needle on-line feeding system and method for improving production efficiency of radio frequency cable

Abstract

The application discloses a tungsten needle on-line feeding system for improving the production efficiency of radio frequency cables, which comprises a first support, a moving platform, a welding gun, a rotary driving mechanism and a laser processor, the laser processor is installed on the first support, and the laser processor emits high-energy sheet laser to process the needle head of the tungsten needle into a required taper in the process of rotating and moving downward of the tungsten needle. The method is as follows: according to the loss speed of the tungsten needle, the moving platform is set to control the welding gun to move downward by a set distance every set time; in the process of moving downward of the welding gun, the high-energy sheet laser emitted by the laser processor irradiates on the needle head of the tungsten needle, and the rotary driving mechanism drives the welding gun to rotate to control the tungsten needle to rotate. The application can polish the tungsten needle without stopping, effectively improves the production efficiency and reduces the generation of defective products.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the field of coaxial cable processing equipment, and more specifically, relates to a tungsten needle online feeding system and method for improving the production efficiency of radio frequency cables. Background Art

[0002] RF coaxial cable is a cable with two concentric conductors: an inner conductor and an outer conductor, which share a common axis. Its basic structure includes an inner conductor, an insulation layer, an outer conductor, and an outer sheath. The outer conductor has two basic functions: first, it serves as a return conductor, and second, it provides shielding. To ensure the shielding capability of RF coaxial cable, the outer conductor of the RF coaxial cable is completely enclosed, preventing signal radiation from the cable. Weak or missing solder joints can prevent the outer conductor from being completely enclosed, allowing signals to radiate outward from the defect. Therefore, the quality of the outer conductor welds is extremely critical.

[0003] The outer conductor of the RF coaxial cable is generally made of a copper strip that is longitudinally wrapped around the cable core through a forming mold to form a copper tube. The tungsten needle of the argon arc welding is then used to weld the seams of the copper tube perpendicularly to the seams, which requires extremely high welding precision.

[0004] In the production of RF coaxial cable outer conductors, the tungsten needle used in argon arc welding is subject to a certain degree of wear due to long-term welding. This causes the shape of the needle tip to change, and the distance between the needle tip and the outer conductor to increase, potentially leading to poor welding. The current conventional treatment method is to stop the production line every once in a while, manually remove the tungsten needle, and polish it. After polishing, the welding gun is reinstalled, and when the welding gun is reinstalled, it is necessary to rely on experience to reposition it to ensure that the distance between the tungsten needle tip and the joint of the copper tube is appropriate to ensure the welding quality of the joint. This production method requires too much manual participation, and the welding needle needs to be removed and stopped for polishing, which reduces production efficiency and easily leads to the production of defective products. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In response to the above defects or improvement needs of the prior art, the present invention provides a tungsten needle online feeding system and method for improving the production efficiency of radio frequency cables. The system can grind the tungsten needle without stopping the machine, effectively improving production efficiency and reducing the generation of defective products.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, according to one aspect of the present invention, a tungsten needle online feeding system for improving the production efficiency of radio frequency cables is provided, characterized in that it includes a first bracket, a movable platform, a welding gun, a rotary drive mechanism and a laser processor, wherein:

[0007] The mobile platform is mounted on the first bracket, and the mobile platform has a Z-axis moving mechanism, and the Z-axis moving mechanism is connected to the rotary drive mechanism to drive the rotary drive mechanism to move up and down;

[0008] The rotation drive mechanism is connected to the welding gun to drive the welding gun to rotate around a vertical line; wherein the welding gun has a tungsten needle and the needle head of the tungsten needle faces downward, so as to be used for welding the outer conductor of the radio frequency cable;

[0009] The laser processor is mounted on the first bracket, and emits a high-energy sheet laser to process the tip of the tungsten needle into a desired tapered shape during the process of the tungsten needle rotating and moving downward.

[0010] Preferably, the movable platform is connected to the rotary drive mechanism via a second bracket, and the second bracket has a window for facilitating the high-energy sheet laser to be incident on the tungsten needle.

[0011] Preferably, the movable platform is an XYZ axis movable platform, and further includes an X axis movable mechanism and a Y axis movable mechanism, wherein the X axis movable mechanism is used to drive the second bracket to move horizontally along the axial direction of the outer conductor, and the Y axis movable mechanism is used to drive the second bracket to move horizontally along the lateral direction of the outer conductor.

[0012] Preferably, the rotary drive mechanism is connected to the welding gun via a transmission mechanism.

[0013] Preferably, the transmission mechanism is a bevel gear mechanism.

[0014] Preferably, a compressed air blowing device is installed on the first bracket to blow away waste chips generated by laser processing.

[0015] Preferably, the welding gun is a MIG welding gun.

[0016] Preferably, it further comprises a laser sensor mounted on the first bracket, the laser sensor comprising a laser transmitter and a laser receiver, the laser receiver being used to receive the linear laser emitted by the laser transmitter;

[0017] The laser sensor is used to detect the position of the needle tip at the lower end of the needle when the tungsten needle moves downward, and after detecting the needle tip, the controller starts the laser processor to process the tungsten needle;

[0018] Preferably, the linear laser emitted by the laser sensor coincides with the lower edge of the high-energy sheet laser emitted by the laser processor.

[0019] According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for online feeding of tungsten needles in the tungsten needle online feeding system for improving the production efficiency of radio frequency cables is also provided, which is characterized in that, according to the loss rate of the tungsten needle, the Z-axis moving mechanism of the moving platform is set to control the welding gun to move downward a set distance every set time; in the process of the welding gun moving downward, the high-energy sheet laser emitted by the laser processor is irradiated onto the needle tip of the tungsten needle, and at the same time, the rotary drive mechanism drives the welding gun to rotate, controlling the tungsten needle to rotate, so as to grind the needle tip into a cone shape.

[0020] In general, the above technical solutions conceived by the present invention can achieve the following beneficial effects compared with the prior art:

[0021] The Z-axis moving mechanism of the mobile platform of the present invention can drive the tungsten needle to move downward, and the rotary drive mechanism can drive the tungsten needle to rotate. After the tungsten needle is worn to a certain extent, the laser processor can emit high-energy sheet laser to grind the tungsten needle without stopping during the downward movement and rotation of the tungsten needle, so that the shape of the tungsten needle is restored to the set cone, effectively improving production efficiency and reducing the production of defective products. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the tungsten needle online feeding system for improving the production efficiency of radio frequency cables according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely for the purpose of explaining the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. In addition, the technical features involved in the various embodiments of the present invention described below may be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

[0024] Reference Figure 1 The tungsten needle 61 online feeding system for improving the production efficiency of radio frequency cables includes a first bracket 4, a mobile platform, a welding gun 6, a rotary drive mechanism 5 and a laser processor 7, wherein:

[0025] The mobile platform is mounted on the first bracket 4, and the mobile platform has a Z-axis moving mechanism 1, which is connected to the rotary drive mechanism 5 to drive the rotary drive mechanism 5 to move up and down; the mobile platform and the rotary drive mechanism 5 can be directly connected to directly drive the rotary drive mechanism 5 to move up and down, and then the rotary drive mechanism 5 directly drives the welding gun 6 to rotate, or they can be indirectly connected. In the present invention, the mobile platform is preferably connected to the rotary drive mechanism 5 through a second bracket 8, and the second bracket 8 has a window that facilitates the high-energy sheet laser 71 to be shot onto the tungsten needle 61.

[0026] The rotary drive mechanism 5 is connected to the welding gun 6 to drive the welding gun 6 to rotate around a vertical line; wherein, the welding gun 6 has a tungsten needle 61 and the needle head of the tungsten needle 61 is facing downwards, so as to be used for welding the outer conductor of the radio frequency cable; when the welding gun 6 rotates, the tungsten needle 61 also rotates; the welding gun 6 is a MIG welding gun 6, and the welding wire is automatically fed out of the welding gun 6 by an automatic wire feeding mechanism. The initial shape of the needle head of the tungsten needle 61 before welding is carried out is conical, with a set cone angle. After a period of use, it will deform and shorten, so it is necessary to grind and adjust the position of the tungsten needle 61 after a period of use. The present invention drives the rotary drive mechanism 5 to descend by the Z-axis moving mechanism 1 of the mobile platform, and then drives the welding gun 6 connected to the rotary drive mechanism 5 to descend, so that the distance between the tungsten needle 61 and the outer conductor can be reduced before welding.

[0027] The laser processor 7 is mounted on the first bracket 4 and emits a high-energy sheet laser 71 to shape the tip of the tungsten needle 61 into the desired tapered shape as the needle 61 rotates and moves downward. Because of this tapered shape, the high-energy sheet laser 71 forms an acute angle with the centerline of the tungsten needle 61. As the tungsten needle 61 descends and rotates, the high-energy sheet laser 71 grinds the tip to the desired tapered angle and height. The high-energy sheet laser 71 can then pause. The high-energy sheet laser 71 is a sheet of high-energy laser light. Its power is preferably above 1000W, hence the "high energy" part, referring to the laser power of a laser cutting machine.

[0028] The present invention can combine machine vision and image recognition technology to determine the distance between the tungsten needle 61 and the outer conductor, as well as the shape of the tungsten needle 61. Of course, it can also be determined based on manual experience, and then the tungsten needle 61 is controlled to move down a set distance after a set time.

[0029] Furthermore, the movable platform is an XYZ-axis movable platform, which can be an existing high-precision XYZ movable platform, primarily driven by a motor and a lead screw, and further comprising an X-axis movable mechanism 2 and a Y-axis movable mechanism 3. The X-axis movable mechanism 2 is used to drive the second bracket 8 to move horizontally along the axial direction of the outer conductor, and the Y-axis movable mechanism 3 is used to drive the second bracket 8 to move horizontally along the lateral direction of the outer conductor. Since the copper tube, after being wrapped in an insulating layer and moved on the production line, is subject to vibration during the entire production process, this vibration can cause the portion of the copper tube to be welded to shift, causing the center of the tungsten needle 61 to be offset from the portion of the copper tube to be welded. Therefore, the X-axis movable mechanism 2 and the Y-axis movable mechanism 3 can drive the tungsten needle 61 to make the necessary minute position adjustments to accommodate the portion of the copper tube to be welded.

[0030] Furthermore, the rotary drive mechanism 5 is connected to the welding gun 6 via a transmission mechanism, which facilitates the placement of the rotary drive mechanism 5. The rotary drive mechanism 5 preferably employs a motor. Preferably, the transmission mechanism is a bevel gear mechanism 9, which allows the rotary drive mechanism 5 to be positioned on the side of the second bracket 8, thereby ensuring that the vertical installation space is not affected.

[0031] Furthermore, a compressed air blowing device 10 is mounted on the first bracket 4 to remove waste chips generated during laser processing. The compressed air blowing device 10 can have a larger blowing range, greater than the height of the needle, to effectively blow away waste chips. The compressed air blowing device 10 is activated simultaneously during polishing, blowing the waste chips away from the joint of the copper tube to prevent them from falling onto the weld.

[0032] Furthermore, the present invention also includes a laser sensor installed on the first bracket 4. The laser sensor includes a laser transmitter and a laser receiver. The laser receiver is used to receive the linear laser emitted by the laser transmitter.

[0033] The laser sensor is used to detect the position of the needle tip at the lower end of the needle head during the downward movement of the tungsten needle 61, and after detecting the needle tip, the controller turns on the laser processor 7 to process the tungsten needle 61. That is, the laser processor 7 is turned off when the welding gun 6 is welding the outer conductor, which can save energy. Only when the tungsten needle 61 needs to be laser processed, the laser processor 7 is turned on to grind the tungsten needle 61 after the needle tip is detected by the laser sensor. When the needle tip shape of the tungsten needle 61 meets the preset requirements, the grinding is stopped. Through this device, the tungsten needle 61 can be ground without stopping the machine, which effectively improves production efficiency and reduces the production of defective products.

[0034] Generally, tungsten needle grinding adopts mechanical grinding with a grinding wheel. However, due to steric hindrance and grinding vibration problems, it is difficult to set up mechanical grinding with a grinding wheel on the production line for online grinding. Therefore, the present invention adopts laser processing to solve the problem that it is difficult to set up mechanical grinding devices such as grinding wheels on the production line. Furthermore, if the waste chips generated during the online laser processing are not properly handled, it is likely to affect the welding quality and even bring production safety hazards. On the other hand, if the high-energy laser used for processing is continuously applied throughout the entire production process, it may also burn other devices on the production line, resulting in losses and safety hazards, and the energy consumed by the continuous high-energy laser is too high. Taking the above problems into consideration, the present invention adds a purge device and a laser sensor as a preferred solution to improve the safety of online grinding.

[0035] According to another aspect of the present invention, an online feeding method for a tungsten needle 61 of an online feeding system for a tungsten needle 61 is provided to improve the production efficiency of radio frequency cables. According to the loss rate of the tungsten needle 61, the Z-axis moving mechanism 1 of the moving platform is set to control the welding gun 6 to move downward a set distance every set time, and the tungsten needle 61 stops moving after reaching the preset position; in the process of the welding gun 6 moving downward, the high-energy sheet laser 71 emitted by the laser processor 7 is irradiated onto the needle tip of the tungsten needle 61, and at the same time, the rotary drive mechanism 5 drives the welding gun 6 to rotate, controlling the tungsten needle 61 to rotate, so that the needle tip can be evenly ground to grind the needle tip into a cone shape.

[0036] The present invention connects a mobile platform to the welding gun 6 of an existing argon arc welding machine, and the up and down movement of the welding gun 6 can be controlled by the mobile platform. A rotary drive mechanism 5 is added to the welding gun 6 to control the tungsten needle 61 of the welding gun 6 to rotate 360°. A laser processor 7 is added to the side of the welding gun 6. The laser processor 7 can emit a sheet of high-energy laser, forming a certain angle with the center line of the tungsten needle 61, so that the tungsten needle 61 can be ground online without stopping the machine.

[0037] It will be easily understood by those skilled in the art that the above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. The tungsten needle online feeding system improves the production efficiency of RF cables, which is characterized by: The device comprises a first bracket, a mobile platform, a welding gun, a rotary drive mechanism, a laser processor and a laser sensor, wherein: The mobile platform is mounted on the first bracket, and the mobile platform has a Z-axis moving mechanism, and the Z-axis moving mechanism is connected to the rotary drive mechanism to drive the rotary drive mechanism to move up and down; The rotation drive mechanism is connected to the welding gun to drive the welding gun to rotate around a vertical line; wherein the welding gun has a tungsten needle with the needle head of the tungsten needle facing downward, so as to be used for welding the outer conductor of the radio frequency cable; the welding gun is a MIG welding gun; A laser sensor is mounted on the first bracket. The laser sensor includes a laser transmitter and a laser receiver. The laser receiver is used to receive a linear laser emitted by the laser transmitter. The laser sensor is used to detect the position of the needle tip at the lower end of the needle as the tungsten needle moves downward. After detecting the needle tip, the controller starts the laser processor to process the tungsten needle. A laser processor is installed on the side of the welding gun. The laser processor is installed on the first bracket and emits a high-energy sheet laser to process the needle tip of the tungsten needle into a desired tapered shape during the process of the tungsten needle rotating and moving downward after the tungsten needle is worn to a certain extent. A compressed air blowing device is installed on the first bracket to blow away waste chips generated by laser processing; Thus, the tungsten needle can be polished without stopping the machine.

2. The tungsten needle online feeding system for improving the production efficiency of radio frequency cables according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The movable platform is connected to the rotary drive mechanism via a second bracket, and the second bracket has a window that facilitates the high-energy sheet laser to be emitted onto the tungsten needle.

3. The tungsten needle online feeding system for improving the production efficiency of radio frequency cables according to claim 2 is characterized in that: The movable platform is an XYZ axis movable platform, and further includes an X axis movable mechanism and a Y axis movable mechanism. The X axis movable mechanism is used to drive the second bracket to move horizontally along the axial direction of the outer conductor, and the Y axis movable mechanism is used to drive the second bracket to move horizontally along the lateral direction of the outer conductor.

4. The tungsten needle online feeding system for improving the production efficiency of radio frequency cables according to claim 2 is characterized in that: The rotary drive mechanism is connected to the welding gun via a transmission mechanism.

5. The tungsten needle online feeding system for improving the production efficiency of radio frequency cables according to claim 4 is characterized in that: The transmission mechanism is a bevel gear mechanism.

6. The method for performing tungsten needle online feeding in a tungsten needle online feeding system for improving the production efficiency of radio frequency cables according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: According to the wear rate of the tungsten needle, the Z-axis moving mechanism of the mobile platform is set to control the welding gun to move downward a set distance every set time; during the downward movement of the welding gun, the high-energy sheet laser emitted by the laser processor irradiates the needle tip of the tungsten needle, and at the same time, the rotary drive mechanism drives the welding gun to rotate, controlling the rotation of the tungsten needle to grind the needle tip into a cone shape.

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