Automatic guiding device and device and method for continuously manufacturing variable-section leaf springs

Abstract

The present invention relates to an automatic dredging device and a device and method for continuously manufacturing variable-section leaf springs. The automatic dredging device is used for a leaf spring mold and includes an annular body, multiple dredging tooth groups, and a power mechanism. The outer peripheral wall of the annular body is provided with a guide groove, and the guide groove has multiple segments connected end to end. Each segment matches the projection of the mold cavity of the leaf spring mold on the side of the annular body, and the cross-sections of the mold cavity in the head-to-tail direction are variable. Each segment is provided with a plurality of dredging tooth groups spaced from head to tail. The dredging tooth groups include a plurality of dredging teeth spaced apart in the vertical direction. The size of each dredging tooth group in the vertical direction varies with the groove width of the guide groove. The power mechanism is used to drive the annular body to rotate. The automatic dredging device of the present invention can dredging yarn so that the leaf spring mold can produce leaf springs with variable cross-sections.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of leaf springs, and in particular to an automatic guiding device and a device and method for continuously manufacturing leaf springs with variable cross-sections. Background Art

[0002] Lightweighting is an increasingly pressing technical requirement in the automotive industry. In recent years, the overweight of light trucks has seriously impacted the operations of related automakers. Leaf springs are a crucial component of vehicle chassis, playing a vital role in reducing vibration during driving and increasing vehicle life. Traditionally, leaf springs have been manufactured from steel sheets, which are heavy and have a short service life.

[0003] Due to the characteristics of composite materials being light and high-strength, in order to effectively reduce the weight of the vehicle body, a lot of research has been conducted at home and abroad on the use of composite materials to manufacture automobile leaf springs. The research results show that while achieving the same performance, composite leaf springs can usually reduce the weight by 50%-70% compared to steel leaf springs. At the same time, they also have the characteristics of high fatigue life, good safety, large elastic stroke, good comfort, low noise, corrosion resistance, and easy installation. The lightweight effect further reduces the fuel loss and CO2 emissions of the vehicle during driving, and has the characteristics of energy saving and environmental protection, with high economic and social benefits.

[0004] Currently, the equipment used on the market to manufacture leaf springs from composite materials utilizes a pultrusion process. This existing pultrusion process results in a fixed cross-section for the leaf spring. Given the load conditions of the leaf spring, this fixed cross-section structure is unreasonable, increasing the weight of the leaf spring and resulting in a certain degree of material waste. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to overcome the defects of the prior art and provide an automatic yarn guiding device, which can guide the yarn so that the leaf spring mold can produce leaf springs with variable cross-sections.

[0006] In order to solve the above technical problems, the technical solution of the present invention is: an automatic guiding device for a leaf spring mold, comprising:

[0007] An annular body, wherein the outer peripheral wall of the annular body is provided with a guide groove, the guide groove having a plurality of segments connected end to end, each segment matching the projection of the mold cavity of the leaf spring mold on the side of the annular body, and each cross-section of the mold cavity in the fore-aft direction is variable;

[0008] A plurality of guide tooth groups, each section having a plurality of guide tooth groups spaced apart from the beginning to the end, each guide tooth group including a plurality of guide teeth spaced apart in the vertical direction; the size of each guide tooth group in the vertical direction varies with the width of the guide groove;

[0009] A power mechanism is used to drive the annular body to rotate.

[0010] Furthermore, the power mechanism includes:

[0011] two pulleys, the annular body being tensioned between the two pulleys;

[0012] A motor is connected to one of the pulleys and is used to drive the pulley to rotate.

[0013] Furthermore, an elastic member is arranged between the annular body and each guide tooth group, and the elastic member enables the guide tooth group to have corresponding telescopic freedom.

[0014] The present invention also provides a device for continuously manufacturing variable-section leaf springs, comprising:

[0015] At least five leaf spring molds, wherein the cross-sections of the mold cavities of the leaf spring molds in the fore-aft direction are variable;

[0016] An automatic rotating table, wherein the at least five leaf spring molds are evenly distributed on the automatic rotating table along the circumference of the automatic rotating table, and the automatic rotating table is sequentially provided with a fiber mold feeding station, a mold closing and glue injection station, at least one heating and curing station, a mold opening and ejection station, and an air blowing and cleaning station along the circumference;

[0017] An automatic guiding device, wherein the annular body and the automatic rotating platform rotate in opposite directions, and during the rotation of the annular body and the automatic rotating platform, a leaf spring mold and a segment simultaneously pass through the fiber mold insertion station;

[0018] The yarn feeding device includes a yarn frame and a yarn processing device. The multiple yarns unwound from the yarn frame are processed by the yarn processing device and then enter the guide groove and the mold cavity of the leaf spring mold that is about to reach the limited mold entry position in sequence.

[0019] Furthermore, the mold cavity gradually decreases in height and increases in thickness from the end to the middle in the fore-aft direction.

[0020] Furthermore, the yarn processing device includes a yarn guiding device, a tension adjusting device and a drying device which are sequentially arranged along the yarn moving direction.

[0021] Furthermore, the device for continuously manufacturing variable-section leaf springs also includes a yarn spacing regulator, which is located between the yarn processing device and the automatic guiding device and is used to adjust the yarn spacing to facilitate the guiding teeth to pass through the yarn.

[0022] The present invention also provides a method for continuously manufacturing a variable-section leaf spring, the method comprising:

[0023] S1, multiple yarns unwound from the creel are processed by the yarn processing device and then pass through the guide groove, the fiber mold feeding station and the leaf spring mold of the mold closing and glue injection station in sequence;

[0024] S2, the automatic rotating table drives all leaf spring molds to rotate so that all leaf spring molds pass through each station respectively;

[0025] The leaf spring mold with the yarn pulls the yarn during rotation, and the yarn-proximal side of the annular body moves synchronously with the yarn under the drive of the power mechanism. Before entering the leaf spring mold, the yarn is formed into a shape matching the mold cavity by the guide teeth in at least one of the segments. When the leaf spring mold and the segment pass through the fiber injection molding station at the same time, the yarn in the segment is transferred into the leaf spring mold.

[0026] S3, performing mold closing and vacuum glue injection operations on the leaf spring mold at the mold closing and glue injection station in sequence;

[0027] Perform heating and curing operations on the leaf spring mold at the heating and curing station;

[0028] Cutting the excess yarn between the leaf spring mold at the heating and curing station and the leaf spring mold at the mold opening and ejection station;

[0029] The leaf spring mold at the mold opening and ejection station is opened and ejected in sequence, and the ejected material is the leaf spring blank;

[0030] Perform air blowing cleaning operation on the leaf spring mold at the air blowing cleaning station;

[0031] S4, return to step S2 until the production is completed.

[0032] Furthermore, the method also includes: cutting the leaf spring blank to obtain a variable-section leaf spring.

[0033] After adopting the above technical solution, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0034] The yarn is located in the guide groove. During the process of the yarn being pulled, the annular body rotates under the drive of the power mechanism, so that the yarn portion built into the guide groove moves synchronously with the yarn. Before entering the leaf spring mold, the yarn is formed into a shape matching the mold cavity of the leaf spring mold by at least one section of the guide groove. During the process of a certain section being synchronously parallel with the leaf spring mold, the formed yarn enters the mold cavity of the leaf spring mold. The cross-section of the guide groove of the present invention matches the cross-section of the product, and is suitable for guiding the yarn of products with variable cross-sections, so that the yarn can smoothly enter the mold cavity of the variable cross-section of the leaf spring mold, thereby enabling the leaf spring mold to use all-composite materials to produce leaf springs with variable cross-sections, thereby ensuring the strength of the leaf spring in the 0-degree direction, and setting a leaf spring with a reasonable structure according to the load conditions, thereby optimizing mechanical properties, reducing weight and reducing costs;

[0035] The present invention adopts an automatic rotating table to drive the movement of the leaf spring mold and has a multi-station design. It can use all-composite materials to continuously produce variable-section leaf springs, thereby improving production efficiency, ensuring the consistency of product quality, and increasing the product qualification rate. Mass production can also reduce marginal costs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of the automatic drainage device of the present invention;

[0037] Figure 2 for Figure 1 The main view;

[0038] Figure 3 It is a structural schematic diagram of the device for continuously manufacturing variable-section leaf springs of the present invention;

[0039] Figure 4 for Figure 3 The main view;

[0040] Figure 5 It is a front view of the leaf spring blank of the present invention;

[0041] Figure 6 It is a schematic structural diagram of the variable-section leaf spring of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] In order to make the contents of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention is further described in detail below based on specific embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0043] Example 1

[0044] like Figure 1 、 2 , 3, and 4, an automatic guiding device for a leaf spring mold 2, comprising:

[0045] An annular body 1, wherein the outer peripheral wall of the annular body 1 is provided with a guide groove 11, wherein the guide groove 11 has multiple segments connected end to end, each segment matches the projection of the mold cavity of the leaf spring mold 2 on the side of the annular body 1, and each cross-section of the mold cavity in the fore-aft direction is variable;

[0046] A plurality of guide tooth groups 4 are provided in each section from the beginning to the end, each guide tooth group 4 including a plurality of guide teeth spaced apart in the vertical direction; the size of each guide tooth group 4 in the vertical direction varies with the width of the guide groove 11;

[0047] The power mechanism 5 is used to drive the annular body 1 to rotate.

[0048] Specifically, the yarn is located in the guide groove 11. During the process of the yarn being pulled, the annular body 1 rotates under the drive of the power mechanism 5, so that the built-in yarn part of the guide groove 11 moves synchronously with the yarn. Before entering the leaf spring mold 2, the yarn is formed into a shape matching the mold cavity of the leaf spring mold 2 by at least one section of the guide groove 11. During the process of synchronization and parallel movement of a certain section and the leaf spring mold 2, the formed yarn enters the mold cavity of the leaf spring mold 2. The cross-section of the guide groove 11 of this embodiment matches the cross-section of the product, which is suitable for guiding the yarn of the product with varying cross-sections, so that the yarn can smoothly enter the mold cavity of the variable cross-section of the leaf spring mold 2, thereby enabling the leaf spring mold 2 to use all-composite materials to produce leaf springs with variable cross-sections, thereby ensuring the strength of the leaf spring in the 0-degree direction, and setting a leaf spring with a reasonable structure according to the load conditions, thereby optimizing mechanical properties, reducing weight and reducing costs.

[0049] In this embodiment, each section is provided with five guide tooth groups 5 .

[0050] In this embodiment, the power mechanism 5 may be, but is not limited to, including:

[0051] Two pulleys, the annular body 1 is tensioned between the two pulleys;

[0052] A motor is connected to one of the pulleys and is used to drive the pulley to rotate.

[0053] In this embodiment, an elastic member is disposed between the annular body 1 and each guide tooth group 4. The elastic member allows the guide tooth group 4 to have a certain degree of flexibility. The certain degree of flexibility of the guide tooth group 4 can, on the one hand, accommodate a certain curvature of the leaf spring in one direction, and on the other hand, prevent interference between the guide tooth group 4 and the leaf spring mold 2.

[0054] Example 2

[0055] like Figure 1 、 2 As shown in , 3, and 4, a device for continuously manufacturing a variable-section leaf spring comprises:

[0056] At least five leaf spring molds 2, wherein the cross sections of the mold cavity of the leaf spring mold 2 in the fore-aft direction are variable;

[0057] An automatic rotating table 6, wherein the at least five leaf spring molds 2 are evenly distributed on the automatic rotating table 6 along the circumference of the automatic rotating table 6, and the automatic rotating table 6 is sequentially provided with a fiber mold feeding station, a mold closing and glue injection station, at least one heating and curing station, a mold opening and ejection station, and an air blowing and cleaning station along the circumference;

[0058] In the automatic guiding device described in Example 1, the annular body 1 and the automatic rotating platform 6 rotate in opposite directions. During the rotation of the annular body 1 and the automatic rotating platform 6, the leaf spring mold 2 and the segment simultaneously pass through the fiber injection molding station.

[0059] The yarn feeding device includes a yarn rack 7 and a yarn processing device. The multiple yarns unwound from the yarn rack 7 are processed by the yarn processing device and then sequentially enter the guide groove 11 and the mold cavity of the leaf spring mold 2 that is about to reach the limited mold entry position.

[0060] In this embodiment, the number of workstations is equal to the number of leaf spring molds.

[0061] In this embodiment, the number of heating and curing stations can be set according to the heating and curing time of the leaf spring.

[0062] In this embodiment, when the yarn enters the leaf spring mold 2 , the guide tooth set 4 of the corresponding section extends into the leaf spring mold 2 .

[0063] Existing equipment for producing composite leaf springs suffers from low production efficiency and cannot meet the scaled-up demands of automotive mass production. Furthermore, high costs prevent them from meeting the commercial needs of this segment of the automotive market. This embodiment utilizes an automatic rotary table 6 to drive the leaf spring mold 2. This multi-station design enables continuous production of variable-section leaf springs made of all-composite materials, improving production efficiency, ensuring consistent product quality, and increasing product qualification rates. Mass production can also reduce marginal costs.

[0064] In this embodiment, the mold cavity decreases in height and increases in thickness from the end to the middle in the fore-aft direction. The mold cavity is symmetrical about a mid-section perpendicular to the length, a mid-section perpendicular to the thickness, and a mid-section perpendicular to the height.

[0065] like Figure 3 、 4 As shown, the yarn processing device includes a yarn guide device 8, a tension adjustment device 9, and a drying device 10, which are arranged in sequence along the yarn moving direction. The multiple small holes on the yarn guide device 8 separate the yarns, the tension adjustment device 9 provides a certain tension to the yarns, and the drying device 10 dries the yarns.

[0066] like Figure 3 、 4As shown, the apparatus for continuously manufacturing variable-section leaf springs also includes a yarn spacing regulator 3, located between the yarn processing device and the automatic weeding device. This regulator is used to adjust the yarn spacing to facilitate the weeding teeth's passage through the yarns. The yarns are drawn into the regulator 3, where they are constantly adjusted to ensure smooth insertion of the weeding teeth after passing through the device.

[0067] Example 3

[0068] A method for continuously manufacturing a leaf spring with a variable cross-section, based on the device for continuously manufacturing a leaf spring with a variable cross-section described in the second embodiment, comprises:

[0069] S1, multiple yarns unwound from the creel 7 are processed by the yarn processing device and then pass through the guide groove 11, the fiber mold feeding station and the leaf spring mold 2 of the mold closing and glue injection station in sequence;

[0070] S2, the automatic rotating table 6 drives all leaf spring molds 2 to rotate so that all leaf spring molds 2 pass through each station respectively; wherein,

[0071] The leaf spring mold 2 with the yarn pulls the yarn during rotation, and the yarn-proximal side of the annular body 1 moves synchronously with the yarn under the drive of the power mechanism 5. Before entering the leaf spring mold 2, the yarn is formed into a shape matching the mold cavity by the guide tooth group 4 in at least one of the sections. When the leaf spring mold 2 and the section pass through the fiber injection molding station at the same time, the yarn in the section is transferred to the leaf spring mold 2.

[0072] S3, performing mold closing and vacuum glue injection operations on the leaf spring mold 2 at the mold closing and glue injection station in sequence;

[0073] Performing heating and curing operation on the leaf spring mold 2 at the heating and curing station;

[0074] Cutting the excess yarn between the leaf spring mold 2 at the heating and curing station and the leaf spring mold 2 at the mold opening and ejecting station;

[0075] The leaf spring mold 2 at the mold opening and ejecting station is sequentially opened and ejected, and the ejected material is the leaf spring blank 100;

[0076] Perform air blowing and cleaning operation on the leaf spring mold 2 at the air blowing and cleaning station;

[0077] S4, return to step S2 until the production is completed.

[0078] In this embodiment, the method further includes: cutting the leaf spring blank 100 to obtain a variable-section leaf spring 200 .

[0079] In this embodiment, the automatic rotating platform 6 and the annular body 1 rotate continuously at a relatively slow speed. Of course, the automatic rotating platform 6 and the annular body 1 can also be rotated intermittently, with the leaf spring mold 2 rotating to the next station each time the automatic rotating platform 6 rotates.

[0080] In this embodiment, the leaf spring mold 2 fixes the yarn after mold closing, and the automatic rotating table 6 works to make the yarn have a certain pulling force, which is also the source of the pulling force of the entire device.

[0081] The leaf spring blank 100 is Figure 5 Make the cut, Figure 5 The white part in the figure is the part to be cut off, and the black part is the variable cross-section leaf spring 200 obtained after cutting. The leaf spring blank 100 made by the above method has the same yarn content in different cross sections and a reasonable structure. Figure 6 It is an isometric view of the variable-section leaf spring 200 .

[0082] With the above-described preferred embodiments of the present invention as a guide, and with reference to the above description, relevant personnel are fully capable of making various changes and modifications without departing from the technical scope of this invention. The technical scope of this invention is not limited to the contents of the specification and must be determined according to the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An automatic guiding device for a leaf spring mold (2), characterized in that: include: An annular body (1), wherein the outer peripheral wall of the annular body (1) is provided with a guide groove (11), the guide groove (11) having a plurality of segments connected end to end, each segment matching a projection of a mold cavity of a leaf spring mold (2) on the side of the annular body (1), and each cross section of the mold cavity in the end-to-end direction is variable; A plurality of guide tooth groups (4), wherein each section is provided with a plurality of guide tooth groups (4) spaced apart from the beginning to the end, and the guide tooth groups (4) include a plurality of guide teeth spaced apart in the vertical direction; the size of each guide tooth group (4) in the vertical direction varies with the width of the guide groove (11); A power mechanism (5), the power mechanism (5) is used to drive the annular body (1) to rotate; wherein, During the process of the yarn entering the leaf spring mold (2), the guide tooth group (4) of the corresponding section extends into the leaf spring mold (2); the mold cavity gradually decreases in height from the end to the middle in the head-to-tail direction, and gradually increases in thickness.

2. The automatic drainage device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The power mechanism (5) comprises: Two pulleys, the annular body (1) is tensioned between the two pulleys; A motor is connected to one of the pulleys and is used to drive the pulley to rotate.

3. The automatic drainage device according to claim 1, characterized in that: An elastic member is arranged between the annular body (1) and each guide tooth group (4), and the elastic member enables the guide tooth group (4) to have a corresponding degree of telescopic freedom.

4. A device for continuously manufacturing variable-section leaf springs, characterized in that: include: At least five leaf spring molds (2), wherein each cross section of the mold cavity of the leaf spring mold (2) in the fore-aft direction is variable; An automatic rotating table (6), wherein the at least five leaf spring molds (2) are evenly distributed on the automatic rotating table (6) along the circumference of the automatic rotating table (6), and the automatic rotating table (6) is provided with a fiber mold feeding station, a mold closing and glue injection station, at least one heating and curing station, a mold opening and ejection station, and an air blowing and cleaning station in sequence along the circumference; The automatic guiding device according to claim 1, wherein the annular body (1) and the automatic rotating table (6) rotate in opposite directions, and during the rotation of the annular body (1) and the automatic rotating table (6), a leaf spring mold (2) and a segment simultaneously pass through the fiber injection molding station; A yarn feeding device, comprising a yarn rack (7) and a yarn processing device, wherein the multiple yarns unwound from the yarn rack (7) are processed by the yarn processing device and sequentially enter the guide groove (11) and the mold cavity of the leaf spring mold (2) that is about to reach the limited mold entry position.

5. The device for continuously manufacturing variable-section leaf springs according to claim 4, characterized in that: The yarn processing device comprises a yarn guiding device (8), a tension adjusting device (9) and a drying device (10) which are sequentially arranged along the yarn moving direction.

6. The device for continuously manufacturing variable-section leaf springs according to claim 4, characterized in that: It also includes a yarn spacing regulator (3), which is located between the yarn processing device and the automatic guiding device and is used to adjust the yarn spacing to facilitate the guiding teeth to pass through the yarn.

7. A method for continuously manufacturing a variable-section leaf spring, characterized in that: The device for continuously manufacturing a variable-section leaf spring according to any one of claims 4 to 6 comprises: S1, multiple yarns unwound from the creel (7) are processed by the yarn processing device and then sequentially pass through the guide groove (11), the fiber mold insertion station and the leaf spring mold (2) of the mold closing and glue injection station; S2, the automatic rotating table (6) drives all the leaf spring molds (2) to rotate so that all the leaf spring molds (2) pass through each station respectively; wherein, The leaf spring mold (2) with the yarn pulls the yarn during rotation, and the yarn-proximal side of the annular body (1) moves synchronously with the yarn under the drive of the power mechanism (5). Before entering the leaf spring mold (2), the yarn is formed into a shape matching the mold cavity by at least one guide tooth group (4) in the segment. When the leaf spring mold (2) and the segment simultaneously pass through the fiber injection molding station, the yarn in the segment is transferred to the leaf spring mold (2); S3, performing mold closing and vacuum glue injection operations on the leaf spring mold (2) at the mold closing and glue injection station in sequence; Performing a heating and curing operation on the leaf spring mold (2) at the heating and curing station; Cutting excess yarn between the leaf spring mold (2) at the heating and curing station and the leaf spring mold (2) at the mold opening and ejection station; The leaf spring mold (2) at the mold opening and ejection station is sequentially subjected to mold opening and ejection operations, and the ejected material is the leaf spring blank (100); Performing an air blowing cleaning operation on the leaf spring mold (2) at the air blowing cleaning station; S4, return to step S2 until the production is completed; S5, cutting the leaf spring blank (100) to obtain a variable-section leaf spring (200).

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