An automated continuous laser welding apparatus and a method of feeding thereof

Abstract

The application provides an automatic continuous laser welding device and a feeding method thereof, which comprises a welding mechanism installed on a rack, and a feeding mechanism for conveying workpieces to the welding mechanism. The feeding mechanism comprises a jacking mechanism and a transfer mechanism. The jacking mechanism is located in front of the rack and can lift the workpieces. The transfer mechanism is slidingly installed on the rack and can transfer the workpieces from the jacking mechanism to the rack. The transfer mechanism comprises a telescopic assembly and a pushing assembly. The telescopic assembly comprises a conveying belt installed on the rack and a base driven by the conveying belt to translate to below the workpieces on the jacking mechanism. A hook plate for pulling the workpieces on the jacking mechanism to one side of the welding mechanism is hinged to the base. A cylinder is also installed on the base. The piston rod of the cylinder is hinged to the hook plate. The cylinder can drive the hook plate to overturn to form an angle with the base. The application can automatically transfer the workpieces from the conveying chain to the rack to realize automatic continuous production.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application belongs to the technical field of welding equipment, and particularly relates to an automatic continuous laser welding device and a feeding method thereof. BACKGROUND

[0002] The laser welding machine is used in cooperation with optical fiber transmission, and after focusing output through optical fiber, multi-surface or multi-point welding is performed on the welding piece, and the laser welding machine has the advantages of good beam quality, uniform and small spot, convenient installation and movement, etc. In addition, the focus beam focal plane floating caused by the change of the beam mode due to the thermal lens effect of the laser is effectively inhibited after transmission through the optical fiber, so that the stability of the welding quality and the weld quality are obviously improved. The fiber laser has the characteristics of high power, ideal beam quality, optical fiber transmission and high electro-optical conversion efficiency, and has small size and high reliability.

[0003] Some laser welding devices can place the welding piece on a bearing plate, and then move the bearing plate to the welding head. In order to improve the processing efficiency, the bearing plate can be continuously fed in a flow line mode, but when the bearing plate (or the workpiece with a flat plate structure) is fed, it needs to be transferred between the conveying belt of the flow line and the rack of the welding device. If the workpiece shakes, tilts, accumulates or other phenomena occur during the transfer process, the feeding order will be disordered, which is not conducive to continuous production. SUMMARY

[0004] The purpose of the present application is to provide an automatic continuous laser welding device to solve the problem of disorder of the workpiece during the transfer process between the flow line and the welding device platform, which affects continuous production. The present application also provides a feeding method of the above device to realize automatic transfer and feeding of the workpiece and improve the automation degree of the welding device.

[0005] The present application provides the following technical solutions:

[0006] An automatic continuous laser welding device, comprising a welding mechanism and a feeding mechanism;

[0007] The welding mechanism is installed on a rack and is used for welding a workpiece or a part carried by the workpiece;

[0008] The feeding mechanism is used for conveying the workpiece to the welding mechanism, and comprises a jacking mechanism and a transfer mechanism. The jacking mechanism is located in front of the rack and can lift the workpiece. The transfer mechanism is slidingly installed on the rack and can transfer the workpiece from the jacking mechanism to the rack. The transfer mechanism comprises a telescopic assembly and a pushing assembly. The telescopic assembly comprises a conveying belt installed on the rack and a base driven by the conveying belt to translate below the workpiece on the jacking mechanism. The base is hingedly connected with a hook plate used for pulling the workpiece on the jacking mechanism to one side of the welding mechanism. A gas cylinder is also installed on the base. The piston rod of the gas cylinder is hingedly connected with the hook plate. The gas cylinder can drive the hook plate to turn to a certain angle with the base and the top of the hook plate protrudes upward from the base.

[0009] Preferably, the gas cylinder can drive the hook plate to turn 90° to be perpendicular to the base. A connecting rod is vertically fixed to the back lower side of the hook plate. The piston rod of the gas cylinder is hingedly connected to the end of the connecting rod.

[0010] Further, a plurality of universal ball bearings are installed on the table top of the rack. The workpiece can slide on the universal ball bearings below the welding head of the welding mechanism.

[0011] Preferably, a plurality of one-way wheels are installed on the base. The one-way wheels can unidirectionally transfer the workpiece to the universal ball bearings.

[0012] Further, a workpiece conveying line is also included. The jacking mechanism and the blanking mechanism are sequentially arranged on the workpiece conveying line. The workpiece conveying line comprises a chain frame, two conveying chains installed on the chain frame in parallel and capable of synchronous operation, and a baffle fixedly installed on the top of the chain frame between the jacking mechanism and the blanking mechanism and used for temporarily blocking the workpiece.

[0013] Preferably, the jacking mechanism comprises a feeding rack, a lifting plate, support blocks and a first lifting driving device. The feeding rack is fixed to the ground and located between the two conveying chains. The first lifting driving device is installed on the feeding rack. The lifting plate is horizontally installed on the output rod of the first lifting driving device. Two support blocks are fixed to the left and right ends of the lifting plate respectively. The two support blocks can simultaneously support the workpiece. The first lifting driving device can lift the workpiece away from the conveying chain through the support blocks and continue to lift the workpiece to be higher than the base.

[0014] Further, the welding mechanism comprises an X-axis sliding table installed in the left-right direction of the rack and a welding head installed on the X-axis sliding table. A blanking conveying assembly is installed on the rack in front of the right side of the X-axis sliding table. The blanking conveying assembly linearly conveys the welded workpiece to the blanking mechanism.

[0015] Further, the down feeding conveying assembly comprises a plurality of conveying rollers arranged in parallel and synchronously rotated by chains.

[0016] The feeding method of the automatic continuous laser welding device comprises the following steps:

[0017] The workpieces are sequentially placed on the conveying chain of the workpiece conveying line, the jacking mechanism is actuated to jack up the workpiece in the front row to be higher than the base, and then the jacking mechanism is paused to wait for the action of the transfer mechanism;

[0018] The cylinder of the telescopic assembly is actuated to turn over the hook plate to the folded state, the conveying belt of the telescopic assembly extends the base below the workpiece of the jacking mechanism, and the hook plate passes through the workpiece;

[0019] The cylinder is reset backward to turn over the hook plate to form an angle with the base, and then the conveying belt is reversely operated to pull the base, so that the hook plate pulls the workpiece backward to transfer the workpiece from the jacking mechanism to the base;

[0020] The workpiece is moved below the welding head of the welding mechanism, and the workpiece is welded.

[0021] Preferably, the workpiece conveying line is further provided with a blanking mechanism driven by a second lifting device, the machine frame is provided with a down feeding conveying assembly, the initial height of the blanking mechanism is flush with the down feeding conveying assembly, the down feeding conveying assembly linearly conveys the welded workpiece to the blanking mechanism, and then the second lifting device lowers the blanking mechanism to make the workpiece fall on the workpiece conveying line and be conveyed by the workpiece conveying line.

[0022] The present application has the following advantages:

[0023] The present application is provided with a workpiece conveying line in front of the machine frame, the jacking mechanism and the blanking mechanism are sequentially arranged in the workpiece conveying line along the moving direction of the workpiece, the jacking mechanism can automatically jack up the workpiece to make it separate from the conveying chain, the blanking mechanism can receive the welded workpiece on the machine frame to stably transfer the workpiece to the conveying chain, the automation of feeding and blanking is realized, the feeding order is stable and reliable, and the workpiece will not shake, tilt or accumulate.

[0024] The hooking plate is hinged to the front end of the base, and the connecting rod of the gas cylinder at the bottom of the base is hinged to the back of the hooking plate. Since the connecting rod is perpendicular to the hooking plate, the gas cylinder can drive the hooking plate to overturn 90° through the connecting rod, so that the hooking plate is in horizontal or vertical state. The structure is compact and occupies small space. When the base passes through the workpiece below the jacking mechanism, the hooking plate is folded horizontally, so that it can pass through smoothly. After the hooking plate passes through the workpiece, the gas cylinder overturns the hooking plate into the vertical state, and then the conveying belt retreats to reset the base, so that the workpiece on the jacking mechanism can be hooked and pulled back to the rack, which is high in automation degree, accurate and smooth in action, and compact in equipment structure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0025] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the application and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the application and are included to provide a further understanding of the application, and are made a part of the specification. In the drawings:

[0026] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of embodiment 1 of the application;

[0027] Figure 2 and Figure 3 are schematic diagrams of the structure of the two perspectives of the transfer mechanism of embodiment 1 of the application, respectively;

[0028] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the jacking mechanism and the blanking mechanism of embodiment 1 of the application;

[0029] Figure 5 is a partial top view schematic diagram of the transfer mechanism of embodiment 2 of the application;

[0030] Figure 6 is a partial side view schematic diagram of the transfer mechanism of embodiment 2 of the application;

[0031] In the drawings, 10 is a workpiece conveying line; 11 is a chain frame; 12 is a conveying chain; 13 is a baffle; 20 is a welding mechanism; 21 is an X-axis sliding table; 22 is a Z-axis sliding table; 23 is a Y-axis sliding table; 24 is a welding head; 30 is a jacking mechanism; 31 is a feeding frame; 32 is a lifting plate; 33 is a supporting block; 34 is a first lifting driving device; 35 is a guide rod; 40 is a blanking mechanism; 41 is a second lifting device; 42 is a carrier plate; 60 is a rack; 61 is a universal ball; 70 is a workpiece; 80 is a transfer mechanism; 81 is a conveying belt; 82 is a base; 83 is a hooking plate; 84 is a connecting rod; 85 is a gas cylinder; 86 is a one-way wheel; 90 is a conveying roller. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] Embodiment 1

[0033] As Figures 1 to 4As shown, an automatic continuous laser welding device, as a whole, comprises a workpiece conveying line 10, a welding mechanism 20 and a feeding mechanism.

[0034] Please focus on Figure 1 and Figure 4 , the workpiece conveying line 10 is close to the front of the rack 60, for continuously conveying workpieces 70 to the feeding mechanism, the workpieces 70 can be rigid plate-shaped workpieces, or can be carrier plates for supporting parts, depending on the specific production situation. The jacking mechanism 30 and the blanking mechanism 40 are installed on the workpiece conveying line 10 in turn, the jacking mechanism 30 is used to lift the workpiece 70 on the workpiece conveying line 10 away from the workpiece conveying line 10, waiting for the feeding mechanism to take away the workpiece; the blanking mechanism 40 is used to receive the welded workpiece 70, and the workpiece 70 is returned to the workpiece conveying line 10. The workpiece conveying line 10 comprises a chain frame 11, two parallel conveying chains 12 installed on the chain frame 11 and can be synchronized, the top of the chain frame 11 is fixedly installed between the jacking mechanism 30 and the blanking mechanism 40, and a baffle 13 is used to temporarily block the workpiece from advancing, so that the workpiece 70 can be accurately stopped on the jacking mechanism 30.

[0035] Please focus on Figure 4 , the jacking mechanism 30 comprises a feeding frame 31, a lifting plate 32, a support block 33 and a first lifting driving device 34, the feeding frame 31 is fixed on the ground and located between the two conveying chains 12, the first lifting driving device 34 is installed on the feeding frame 31, the first lifting driving device 34 can be a cylinder, the lifting plate 32 is horizontally installed on the output rod of the first lifting driving device 34, two support blocks 33 are fixed on the left and right ends of the lifting plate 32 respectively, the two support blocks 33 can simultaneously horizontally support the workpiece 70, the first lifting driving device 34 can lift the workpiece 70 away from the conveying chain 12 and continue to lift to a height higher than the base 82. When the left support block 33 lifts the workpiece, its side wall can automatically block the downstream workpiece on the conveying chain from moving forward, realizing one by one and orderly feeding. In order to improve the stability of the lifting of the lifting plate 32, four guide rods 35 are installed on the feeding frame 31, the guide rods 35 vertically penetrate the lifting plate 32, so that the lifting plate 32 moves up and down along the guide rods 35.

[0036] The structure of the blanking mechanism 40 is similar to that of the jacking mechanism 30, its carrier plate 42 is driven to lift by the second lifting device 41, to reliably receive the welded workpiece transferred on the rack table.

[0037] Please refer to Figure 1The welding mechanism 20 is installed on the table top of the rack 60 and used for welding workpieces or parts on the workpieces as a bearing plate. The welding mechanism 20 comprises an X-axis sliding table 21 installed along the left-right direction of the rack 60, a Z-axis sliding table 22 installed on the X-axis sliding table 21, a Y-axis sliding table 23 installed on the Z-axis sliding table 22, and a welding head 24 installed on the Y-axis sliding table 23. The three-axis sliding table can flexibly control the coordinates of the welding head 24, thereby improving the welding precision.

[0038] Please refer to Figures 1 to 3 The feeding mechanism is used for conveying the workpieces to be welded to the welding mechanism 20. The feeding mechanism comprises a jacking mechanism 30 and a transfer mechanism 80. As described above, the jacking mechanism 30 is installed on the workpiece conveying line 10. The transfer mechanism 80 is slidingly installed on the rack 60. The transfer mechanism 80 can transfer the workpiece 70 from the jacking mechanism 30 to the rack 60. The transfer mechanism 80 comprises a telescopic assembly and a pushing assembly. The telescopic assembly comprises a conveying belt 81 installed on the rack 60 and a base 82 driven by the conveying belt 81 to translate to below the workpiece on the jacking mechanism 30. A hook plate 83 for pulling the workpiece on the jacking mechanism 30 to the side of the welding mechanism 20 is hingedly connected to the front end of the base 82. A connecting rod 84 is perpendicularly fixed to the back of the hook plate 83. A cylinder 85 is installed on the base 82. The cylinder 85 is preferably a pen-shaped cylinder. The piston rod of the cylinder 85 is hingedly connected to the end of the connecting rod 84. When the piston rod of the cylinder 85 is extended, the top of the hook plate 83 is driven to overturn downward to reduce the included angle between the hook plate 83 and the base 82. The included angle is preferably 0°, so that the hook plate 83 is overturned to be horizontal. Therefore, the hook plate 83 can smoothly pass below the workpiece on the jacking mechanism 30. When the piston rod of the cylinder 85 is retracted backward, the top of the hook plate 83 is driven to overturn upward, so that the included angle between the hook plate 83 and the base 82 is increased. The top of the hook plate 83 protrudes upward from the base 82. The included angle is preferably 90°, so that the hook plate 83 can reliably pull back the workpiece 70.

[0039] A plurality of universal ball bearings can be installed on the upper surface of the base 82, so that the workpiece on the base 82 can be easily and smoothly slid onto the universal ball bearings on the table top of the rack.

[0040] A plurality of universal ball bearings 61 are installed on the table top of the rack 60. The workpiece 70 sent by the transfer mechanism 80 can be slid on the universal ball bearings 61 to below the welding head 24 of the welding mechanism 20, so that the movement is labor-saving. A discharging conveying assembly is installed on the rack 60 in front of the right of the X-axis sliding table. The discharging conveying assembly conveys the welded workpiece to the discharging mechanism 40. The discharging conveying assembly comprises a plurality of conveying rollers 90 synchronously rotated by a chain drive. A plurality of universal ball bearings 61 are also installed on the left side of the discharging conveying assembly, so that the workpiece can be flexibly moved on the table top.

[0041] The feeding method of the automatic continuous laser welding device comprises the following steps:

[0042] The workpieces 70 are placed on the conveying chain of the workpiece conveying line 10 in sequence, when the workpiece in the frontmost position moves above the jacking mechanism 30, the first lifting driving device 34 of the jacking mechanism 30 is actuated to jacking the workpiece 70 to a height higher than the base 82, at this time the support block 33 automatically blocks the workpiece behind from moving forward, the first lifting driving device 34 remains in the jacking state and waits for the action of the transfer mechanism 80;

[0043] The cylinder 85 of the transfer mechanism 80 is actuated to turn the hook plate 83 to the horizontal folding state, and the conveying belt 81 pushes the base 82 forward to below the workpiece on the jacking mechanism 30 and through the workpiece;

[0044] The cylinder 85 is reset backward to turn the hook plate 83 to be perpendicular to the base 82, and then the conveying belt 81 reverses to pull back the base 82, so that the hook plate 83 pulls the workpiece 70 backward to transfer the workpiece from the jacking mechanism 30 to the base 82; then the first lifting driving device 34 drives the support block 33 to reset downward, and the second workpiece is conveyed above the support block 33 and is prevented from continuing to move forward by the baffle 13.

[0045] The workpiece 70 is moved below the welding head of the welding mechanism 20 under the rolling action of the universal ball 61, and the welding head and the three-axis sliding table are started to weld the workpiece.

[0046] The second lifting device 41 lifts the loading plate 42 of the feeding mechanism 40 to an initial height level with the height of the feeding conveying assembly, the feeding conveying assembly conveys the welded workpiece along a straight line to the loading plate 42, and then the second lifting device 41 lowers the loading plate 42 to allow the workpiece to fall freely onto the workpiece conveying line 10, which conveys the workpiece to be unloaded.

[0047] Example 2

[0048] As shown in Figure 5 and Figure 6 The difference between this embodiment and example 1 is only in the structure of the transfer mechanism 80, and a plurality of one-way wheels 86 are installed on the base 82 of the transfer mechanism, which are located on the left and right sides of the hook plate and do not interfere with the turning action of the hook plate. The one-way wheels 86 can transfer the workpiece 70 to the universal ball 61 on the rack in one direction, preventing the workpiece 70 from shaking left and right on the base 82.

[0049] The above merely describes the preferred embodiments of the present application and is not used to limit the present application, and although the present application is described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalently replace some technical features thereof. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An automated continuous laser welding apparatus, characterized by, The welding mechanism and the feeding mechanism are included. The welding mechanism is installed on the rack and used for welding the workpiece or the part carried on the workpiece. The feeding mechanism is used for conveying the workpiece to the welding mechanism, and includes a jacking mechanism and a transfer mechanism. The jacking mechanism is located in front of the rack and lifts the workpiece. The transfer mechanism is slidingly installed on the rack and transfers the workpiece from the jacking mechanism to the rack. The transfer mechanism includes a telescopic assembly and a pushing assembly. The telescopic assembly includes a conveying belt installed on the rack and a base driven by the conveying belt to translate to below the workpiece on the jacking mechanism. A hook plate is hinged on the base and used for pulling the workpiece on the jacking mechanism to one side of the welding mechanism. A cylinder is installed on the base, and a piston rod of the cylinder is hinged with the hook plate. The cylinder drives the hook plate to turn over to form an angle with the base, and the top of the hook plate protrudes upward from the base.

2. The automated continuous laser welding apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The cylinder drives the hook plate to turn over by 90° and be perpendicular to the base.

3. The automated continuous laser welding apparatus of claim 2, wherein, A connecting rod is vertically fixed to the back of the hook plate, and the piston rod of the cylinder is hinged to the end of the connecting rod. A plurality of universal ball bearings are installed on the table top of the rack. The workpiece slides on the universal ball bearings to below the welding head of the welding mechanism. A plurality of groups of one-way wheels are installed on the base. The one-way wheels one-way transfer the workpiece to the universal ball bearings. The feeding method of the automatic continuous laser welding equipment includes the following steps. The workpiece is sequentially placed on the conveying chain of the workpiece conveying line. The jacking mechanism is actuated to lift the workpiece in the front row to be higher than the base, and then is paused to wait for the transfer mechanism to act. The cylinder of the telescopic assembly is actuated to turn over the hook plate to a folded state. The conveying belt of the telescopic assembly extends the base to below the workpiece on the jacking mechanism, so that the hook plate passes through the workpiece. The cylinder is reset backward to turn over the hook plate to form an angle with the base. Then, the conveying belt is reversely operated to pull the base, so that the hook plate pulls the workpiece backward to transfer the workpiece from the jacking mechanism to the base. The workpiece is moved to below the welding head of the welding mechanism to weld the workpiece. The workpiece conveying line is also included. The workpiece conveying line includes a chain rack, two parallel conveying chains installed on the chain rack and synchronously operated, and a baffle fixedly installed on the top of the chain rack between the jacking mechanism and the blanking mechanism and used for temporarily blocking the workpiece. The jacking mechanism includes a feeding rack, a lifting plate, support blocks and a first lifting driving device. The first lifting driving device is installed on the feeding rack. The lifting plate is horizontally installed on the output rod of the first lifting driving device. The two support blocks are fixed to the left and right ends of the lifting plate respectively. The first lifting driving device lifts the workpiece away from the conveying chain through the support blocks and continues to lift the workpiece to be higher than the base.

4. The automated continuous laser welding apparatus of claim 2, wherein, The welding mechanism comprises an X-axis sliding table installed along the left-right direction of the frame and a welding head installed on the X-axis sliding table, a blanking conveying assembly is installed on the frame in front of the right side of the X-axis sliding table, and the blanking conveying assembly linearly conveys the welded workpiece to the blanking mechanism.

5. The automated continuous laser welding apparatus of claim 4, wherein, The blanking conveying assembly comprises a plurality of parallel conveying rollers synchronously rotated by a chain drive.

6. The automated continuous laser welding apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The workpiece conveying line is further provided with a blanking mechanism driven by a second lifting device, a blanking conveying assembly is installed on the frame, the initial height of the blanking mechanism is flush with the blanking conveying assembly, the blanking conveying assembly linearly conveys the welded workpiece to the blanking mechanism, and then the second lifting device lowers the blanking mechanism to make the workpiece fall onto the workpiece conveying line for conveying and blanking.

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