Automatic sealing and welding device for liquid-filled heat pipe

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of heat pipe welding, and particularly relates to a kind of automatic sealing welding device of liquid-filled heat pipe.Solve the current welding of liquid-filled heat pipe mainly for manual welding, there is the technical problem of low production efficiency, the liquid loss of heat pipe is larger, and the welding quality is not the same.A kind of automatic sealing welding device of liquid-filled heat pipe, including adjustable feeding mechanism and integrated extrusion, shearing, welding mechanism;Adjustable feeding mechanism includes: for placing the material bin of to-be-welded liquid-filled heat pipe, for adjusting the lifting mechanism of material bin height and horizontal angle, for rotating the rotating mechanism of material bin;The integrated extrusion, shearing, welding mechanism is installed on a movable slide rail by integrated platform;Extrusion mechanism is used for extruding the end of to-be-welded liquid-filled heat pipe, shearing mechanism is used for shearing the excess part of the end of to-be-welded liquid-filled heat pipe, and welding mechanism is used for sealing welding to the end of to-be-welded liquid-filled heat pipe.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of heat pipe welding, and more particularly to an automated sealing and welding device for liquid-filled heat pipes. Background Technology

[0002] Heat pipes are heat transfer elements that rely on the phase change of their internal working fluid to achieve heat transfer. They make full use of the principle of heat conduction and the rapid heat transfer properties of phase change media. Through the heat pipe, the heat of the heated object is quickly transferred to the outside of the heat source. Its thermal conductivity exceeds that of any known metal, and it is in high demand in aerospace, consumer electronics, automotive and industrial fields.

[0003] In the aerospace field, liquid-filled heat pipes have wide applications, and their production and welding quality are subject to high requirements. However, the welding of liquid-filled heat pipes is currently mainly done manually, which suffers from problems such as long processing time, inability to operate continuously for extended periods, inconsistent weld quality, and the influence of the liquid filling the heat pipe on weld quality and liquid loss during the welding process. To improve production efficiency, reduce liquid loss, and ensure weld quality, an automated welding device for liquid-filled heat pipes is being developed. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This invention addresses the technical problems of low production efficiency, significant liquid loss, and inconsistent welding quality in the current welding of liquid-filled heat pipes, which is mainly done manually. It provides an automated sealing and welding device for liquid-filled heat pipes.

[0005] This invention is achieved using the following technical solution: an automated sealing and welding device for liquid-filled heat pipes, comprising an adjustable feeding mechanism and an integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism:

[0006] The adjustable feeding mechanism includes: a hopper for placing the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded, a lifting mechanism for adjusting the height and horizontal angle of the hopper, and a rotating mechanism for rotating the hopper.

[0007] The hopper includes a bottom plate and a side plate connected to one side of the bottom plate. On the other side of the bottom plate, a movable plate that cooperates with the side plate to achieve a clamping function is connected via a slider (such as one driven by air or hydraulic pressure) that is horizontally set on the bottom plate. The bottom plate is connected to a lifting and rotating mechanism.

[0008] The integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism is mounted on a movable slide rail via an integrated platform. One side of the bottom of the movable slide rail is rotatably mounted on a support, and the other side of the bottom is mounted on the support via a lifting device. The integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism includes an extrusion mechanism, a shearing mechanism, and a welding mechanism. The extrusion mechanism is used to extrude the end of the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded, the shearing mechanism is used to shear the excess portion of the end of the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded, and the welding mechanism is used to seal and weld the end of the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded.

[0009] The purpose of this invention is to provide an automated sealing and welding device for liquid-filled heat pipes, so as to improve production efficiency, welding quality, and address the issues of the liquid filling the heat pipe affecting welding quality and liquid loss during the welding process.

[0010] The adjustable feeding mechanism is used to receive the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded from the gantry robot. It can also press and fix the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded, adjust its height, horizontal angle and vertical angle, so as to ensure that the liquid level in the liquid-filled heat pipe is always below the welding position of the liquid-filled heat pipe, reduce the loss of the liquid, facilitate subsequent welding and improve the welding quality.

[0011] The lifting mechanism is used to adjust the height and horizontal angle of the hopper so that the liquid-filled heat pipe meets the welding angle requirements;

[0012] The rotating mechanism is used to rotate the material hopper so that the heat pipe meets the welding axial angle requirements.

[0013] During feeding, the heat pipe is placed between the side plate and the movable plate. The movable plate is pressed down by the action of the slider hydraulic rod.

[0014] The integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism is used to move to the position of the liquid-filled heat pipe after adjustment by the feeding mechanism, and to perform extrusion, shearing, and welding. The integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism is installed on a horizontal movable slide rail and is equipped with a vertically adjustable height rail (via a lifting device). The position adjustment of the integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism is controlled by a motor.

[0015] Furthermore, the lifting mechanism includes two parallel lifting frames and two parallel motors mounted on the lifting frames, along with matching lead screws, lead nuts, slide rails, and sliders; the rotating mechanism includes a rotating shaft, a servo motor, multiple fixed seats fixed on the rotating shaft, and a pair of mounting seats for mounting the rotating shaft, with the pair of mounting seats respectively mounted on the sliders of the two lifting frames; the bottom plate of the hopper is mounted on the fixed seats of the rotating shaft.

[0016] A motor fixed on the lifting mechanism drives a screw to rotate, which in turn drives the left and right sliders of the lifting frame to move up and down along the slide rail via a lead screw transmission, thereby adjusting the working height and lifting angle of the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded.

[0017] The servo motor of the rotating mechanism is mounted on the mounting base, and the mounting base has a gear mechanism that cooperates with the rotating shaft. The rotating mechanism drives the precision gear mechanism to move through the servo motor, and at the same time the driven gear drives the rotating shaft to complete the angle adjustment of the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded.

[0018] Furthermore, the adjustable feeding mechanism also includes a clamping mechanism; the clamping mechanism includes multiple clamping hydraulic cylinders / pneumatic cylinders mounted on a movable plate, the piston rods of the clamping hydraulic cylinders / pneumatic cylinders are vertically upward and connected to a clamping plate parallel to the hopper.

[0019] Furthermore, the extrusion mechanism includes a tool mounting base and upper and lower extrusion tools mounted on the tool mounting base and driven by hydraulic or pneumatic pressure. The upper and lower extrusion tools are installed vertically opposite each other and have interlocking tooth grooves. The shearing mechanism includes a horizontal pushing cylinder, a shearing pushing cylinder, a tool support rod, and upper and lower shearing tools. The shearing pushing cylinder, the tool support rod, and the upper and lower shearing tools are mounted on a shearing base. The shearing base is mounted on an integrated platform via a slide rail. The horizontal pushing cylinder is connected to the shearing base and is used to push the upper and lower shearing tools to a shearing position located on one side of the extrusion tools. The upper and lower shearing tools are rotatably connected. The middle part of the upper shearing tool is rotatably mounted on the tool support rod. The top of the upper shearing tool is connected to the piston rod of the shearing pushing cylinder. The bottom of the shearing pushing cylinder is hinged to the shearing base. The welding mechanism includes a welding torch and a motion control mechanism. The welding torch is fixed on the slide rail of the integrated platform. The motion control mechanism controls the X-axis and Y-axis movement of the welding torch through two motors respectively.

[0020] The upper and lower extrusion cutters are equipped with interlocking toothed grooves to ensure the heat pipe is sealed and pressed together after extrusion, preventing leakage. The main function of the welding mechanism is to move to the designated liquid-filled heat pipe clamping position for welding.

[0021] Furthermore, the integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism also includes an alignment mechanism mounted on the integrated platform. The alignment mechanism includes two sets of vertical through-beam laser switches and one set of horizontal through-beam laser switches. The two sets of vertical through-beam laser switches are installed in relative vertical positions, and the one set of horizontal through-beam laser switches is fixedly installed in relative left-right positions.

[0022] The alignment mechanism is used to position the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded, so that the subsequent integrated extrusion, shearing and welding mechanism can move to the fixed position of the liquid-filled heat pipe to perform extrusion, shearing and welding work.

[0023] Two sets of vertical through-beam laser switches are used to determine and record the position of the heat pipe along the X and Y axes, and one set of horizontal through-beam laser switches is used to determine and record the position of the heat pipe along the Z axis.

[0024] Furthermore, the integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism also includes a waste collection mechanism. The waste collection mechanism includes clamps, clamp cylinders, waste pushing cylinders, waste troughs, and waste bins mounted on the integrated platform. The clamps are positioned directly opposite the upper and lower extrusion blades. The clamp cylinders control the clamps to perform the clamping action of shearing material. The waste trough is located below the clamps. The waste pushing cylinder is positioned directly opposite the waste trough. A plate is installed at the front end of the waste pushing cylinder. The waste pushing cylinder action control plate pushes excess sheared material from the waste trough to the waste bin.

[0025] Furthermore, the integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism can also be equipped with a blowing device. The blowing device is located above the upper and lower extrusion blades and is used to blow air onto the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded before the extrusion action, thereby reducing the loss of liquid filled into the heat pipe during the welding process.

[0026] The beneficial effects of this invention are:

[0027] The liquid-filled heat pipe sealing and welding device provided by the present invention, by setting an adjustable feeding mechanism and an integrated extrusion, shearing and welding mechanism, can automatically adjust the height and angle of the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded. The integrated extrusion, shearing and welding mechanism moves to a designated position to extrude the adjusted liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded, shear the excess heat pipe and seal and weld it, thereby improving production efficiency and welding quality. Attached Figure Description

[0028] Figure 1 A three-dimensional structural view of the liquid-filled heat pipe sealing and welding device provided by the present invention;

[0029] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A structural view of the feeding mechanism of the liquid-filled heat pipe sealing and welding device shown;

[0030] Figure 3 for Figure 2 A three-dimensional structural view of the hopper and pressing mechanism of the feeding mechanism of the liquid-filled heat pipe sealing and welding device shown;

[0031] Figure 4 for Figure 2 A three-dimensional structural view of the lifting mechanism of the feeding mechanism of the liquid-filled heat pipe sealing and welding device shown.

[0032] Figure 5 for Figure 1A side view of the three-dimensional structure of the integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism of the liquid-filled heat pipe sealing and welding device shown;

[0033] Figure 6 for Figure 1 A three-dimensional structural view of the integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism of the liquid-filled heat pipe sealing and welding device, shown from the front.

[0034] Figure 7 for Figure 5 or Figure 6 The front view of the three-dimensional structure of the extrusion mechanism and shearing mechanism of the integrated extrusion, shearing and welding mechanism of the liquid-filled heat pipe sealing and welding device shown;

[0035] Figure 8 for Figure 5 or Figure 6 The back of the three-dimensional structural view of the extrusion mechanism and shearing mechanism of the integrated extrusion, shearing and welding mechanism of the liquid-filled heat pipe sealing and welding device shown;

[0036] Figure 9 for Figure 5 or Figure 6 A three-dimensional structural view of the alignment mechanism of the integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism of the liquid-filled heat pipe sealing and welding device shown;

[0037] Figure 10 A three-dimensional structural view of a liquid-filled heat pipe;

[0038] Figure 11 This is a three-dimensional structural view of a liquid-filled heat pipe.

[0039] Figure label:

[0040] 001-Adjustable feeding mechanism; 002-Integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism; 003-Hopper; 004-Clamping mechanism; 005-Rotating mechanism; 006-Movable slide rail; 007-Extrusion mechanism; 008-Extrusion upper and lower blades; 009-Shearing mechanism; 010-Shearing push cylinder; 011-Shearing upper and lower blades; 012-Welding torch; 013-Lifting frame; 014-Motor; 015-Lead screw; 016-Lead nut; 01 7-Slide rail slider, 018-Alignment mechanism, 019-Two sets of vertical through-beam laser switches, 020-One set of horizontal through-beam laser switches, 021-Clamp, 022-Clamp cylinder, 023-Scrap material pushing cylinder, 024-Scrap box, 025-Blowing device, 026-Clamping hydraulic cylinder / cylinder, 027-First clamping plate, 028-Second clamping plate, 029-Horizontal pushing cylinder, 030-Tool support rod, 031-Scrap trough. Detailed Implementation

[0041] The implementation of the technical solution of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention more clearly, and are therefore only examples and should not be used to limit the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0042] The present invention provides an automated sealing and welding device for liquid-filled heat pipes, comprising an adjustable feeding mechanism 001 and an integrated extrusion, shearing and welding mechanism 002 located close to each other.

[0043] The adjustable feeding mechanism 001 is used to receive the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded from the gantry robot. It can also press and fix the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded, adjust its height, horizontal angle and vertical angle. The integrated extrusion, shearing and welding mechanism will extrude, shear and weld the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded after it has been adjusted.

[0044] Specifically, the gantry robot places the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded onto the hopper 003 of the feeding mechanism. The movable plate of the hopper can clamp the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded; at the same time, the clamping mechanism 004 can also clamp and fix the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded. The lifting mechanism adjusts the height of the hopper to the designated position. The shape of the liquid-filled heat pipe is as follows: Figure 11 As shown, the rotating mechanism 005 rotates the hopper to a specified angle, such as... Figure 10 When shown, the rotating mechanism does not need to operate, and then the lifting mechanism adjusts the horizontal angle of the hopper to the specified angle. The liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded is generally in an inclined state during welding, and the end to be welded passes through the upper and lower cutters of the extrusion mechanism.

[0045] Figure 3 The indicator lines on the left and in the middle of the reference numeral 003 refer to the side and bottom plates of the hopper, while the line on the right refers to the movable plate. The clamping mechanism is mounted on the movable plate and drives the first and second clamping plates to move via the clamping hydraulic / pneumatic cylinder 026.

[0046] After the feeding mechanism is adjusted, the integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism first adjusts the vertical height via a motor, aligning the angle of the integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding platform with the horizontal angle of the adjustable feeding mechanism, and then... Figure 5 The movable slide rail 006 shown is moved to the fixed position of the liquid-filled heat pipe. Figure 6 , 7 The extrusion mechanism 007 uses upper and lower extrusion cutters 008 to extrude the end of the liquid-filled heat pipe. A horizontal pushing cylinder 029 pushes the shearing mechanism 009 to the fixed position of the liquid-filled heat pipe (the shearing position, where the front end of the liquid-filled heat pipe extends). The excess portion of the flattened liquid-filled heat pipe is sheared by the relative movement of the upper and lower shearing cutters 011. The cutter support rod 030 serves as the rotation fulcrum for the upper shearing cutter. After shearing is completed, the shearing mechanism 009 returns to its initial position. Figure 8The welding torch 012, controlled by the motion control system, moves to the fixed position of the liquid-filled heat pipe and welds the sheared and flattened liquid-filled heat pipe. After welding, the welding torch returns to its initial position, and the adjustable feeding mechanism 001 also returns to its initial position. The movable plate or clamping mechanism 004 is released, waiting for the gantry robot to pick up the material and release it again, completing the next welding process. The slide rail of the shearing mechanism 009 is located between the clamp cylinder 022 and the extrusion mechanism 007. Before shearing, the clamp first clamps the front end of the liquid-filled heat pipe to facilitate shearing by the upper and lower cutting tools.

[0047] The clamping mechanism 004 can further assist in clamping the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded. The clamping hydraulic cylinder / pneumatic cylinder drives the second clamping plate to move through the first clamping plate and the L-shaped connecting column, thus clamping the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded.

[0048] Preferred, such as Figure 4 As shown, the lifting mechanism includes two parallel lifting frames 013, two parallel motors 014, and matching lead screws 015, lead nuts 016, and slide rails and sliders 017. The motors fixed on the lifting mechanism drive the lead screws to rotate, which in turn drives the left and right sliders of the lifting frames to move up and down along the slide rails via lead screw transmission, thereby adjusting the working height and lifting angle of the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded. The rotating mechanism drives a gear mechanism via a motor, and the driven gear simultaneously drives a rotating shaft to adjust the angle of the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded.

[0049] The liquid-filled heat pipe sealing and welding device provided in this embodiment can automatically perform the entire process from waiting for material loading, height adjustment, angle adjustment, extrusion, shearing, welding, and waiting for material removal according to the settings, without manual intervention, which improves production efficiency and ensures consistent welding quality.

[0050] In one embodiment, the integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism further includes an alignment mechanism disposed on the left side of the integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism (by...). Figure 5 (Looking from the left), after the liquid-filled heat pipe is loaded and its height and angle are adjusted, the position of the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded is determined first. This is done by using two sets of vertical through-beam laser switches 019 and one set of horizontal through-beam laser switches 020 of the alignment mechanism 018 to determine and record the X, Y, and Z axis positions of the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded. Figure 6 As shown in the diagram, this allows for more precise positioning of the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded. The extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanisms perform extrusion, shearing, and welding actions based on the position recorded by the alignment mechanism. Through the mobile integrated platform, the alignment mechanism can be moved to the welding position of the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded.

[0051] This alignment mechanism has a simple design and good positioning effect.

[0052] In one embodiment, the integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism also includes a waste collection mechanism. Before the shearing operation, the clamp 021 of the waste collection mechanism clamps the excess portion of the heat pipe to be sheared. After shearing, the clamp cylinder 022 releases, and the waste falls into the waste trough 031. The waste pushing cylinder 023 pushes the sheared waste from the waste trough 031 to the waste bin 024. The waste bin is located below the integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism.

[0053] This waste collection mechanism has a simple design and can better automate the overall process.

[0054] In one embodiment, the integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism further includes a blowing device 025, which blows the liquid at the end of the heat pipe to be welded into the heat pipe before performing the extrusion action.

[0055] This structure can reduce the loss of liquid inside the heat pipe during the automated welding process and improve the welding quality.

Claims

1. An automated sealing and welding device for liquid-filled heat pipes, comprising an adjustable feeding mechanism and an integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism, characterized in that: The adjustable feeding mechanism includes: a hopper for placing the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded, a lifting mechanism for adjusting the height and horizontal angle of the hopper, and a rotating mechanism for rotating the hopper. The hopper includes a bottom plate and a side plate connected to one side of the bottom plate. On the other side of the bottom plate, a movable plate that cooperates with the side plate to achieve a clamping function is connected via a slider horizontally set on the bottom plate. The bottom plate is connected to a lifting mechanism and a rotating mechanism. The integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism is mounted on a movable slide rail via an integrated platform. One side of the bottom of the movable slide rail is rotatably mounted on a support, and the other side of the bottom is mounted on the support via a lifting device. The integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism includes an extrusion mechanism, a shearing mechanism, and a welding mechanism. The extrusion mechanism is used to extrude the end of the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded, the shearing mechanism is used to shear the excess portion of the end of the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded, and the welding mechanism is used to seal and weld the end of the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded. The lifting mechanism includes two parallel lifting frames and two parallel motors mounted on the lifting frames, along with matching lead screws, lead nuts, slide rails, and sliders; the rotating mechanism includes a rotating shaft, a servo motor, multiple fixed seats fixed on the rotating shaft, and a pair of mounting seats for mounting the rotating shaft, with the pair of mounting seats respectively mounted on the sliders of the two lifting frames; the bottom plate of the hopper is mounted on the fixed seats of the rotating shaft. The servo motor of the rotating mechanism is mounted on the mounting base, and the mounting base is equipped with a gear mechanism that cooperates with the rotating shaft. The rotating mechanism drives the gear mechanism to move through the servo motor, and at the same time the driven gear drives the rotating shaft to complete the angle adjustment of the liquid-filled heat pipe to be welded. The integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism also includes an alignment mechanism mounted on an integrated platform. The alignment mechanism includes two sets of vertical through-beam laser switches and one set of horizontal through-beam laser switches. The two sets of vertical through-beam laser switches are installed in relative vertical positions, and the one set of horizontal through-beam laser switches is fixedly installed in relative left-right positions.

2. The automated sealing and welding device for liquid-filled heat pipes according to claim 1, characterized in that: The adjustable feeding mechanism also includes a clamping mechanism; the clamping mechanism includes multiple clamping hydraulic cylinders / pneumatic cylinders mounted on a movable plate, the piston rods of the clamping hydraulic cylinders / pneumatic cylinders are vertically upward and connected to a clamping plate parallel to the hopper.

3. The automated sealing and welding device for liquid-filled heat pipes according to claim 2, characterized in that: The clamping plate includes a first clamping plate connected to the top of the piston rod of the clamping hydraulic cylinder / pneumatic cylinder and a second clamping plate connected to the first clamping plate via an L-shaped connecting column. The second clamping plate is located below the first clamping plate and above the bottom plate of the hopper.

4. The automated sealing and welding device for liquid-filled heat pipes according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that: The extrusion mechanism includes a tool mounting base and upper and lower extrusion tools mounted on the tool mounting base and driven by hydraulic or pneumatic pressure. The upper and lower extrusion tools are installed vertically opposite each other and have interlocking tooth grooves. The shearing mechanism includes a horizontal pushing cylinder, a shearing pushing cylinder, a tool support rod, and upper and lower shearing tools. The shearing pushing cylinder, tool support rod, and upper and lower shearing tools are mounted on a shearing base. The shearing base is mounted on an integrated platform via a slide rail. The horizontal pushing cylinder is connected to the shearing base and is used to push the upper and lower shearing tools to a shearing position located on one side of the extrusion tools. The upper and lower shearing tools are rotatably connected. The middle part of the upper shearing tool is rotatably mounted on the tool support rod. The top of the upper shearing tool is connected to the piston rod of the shearing pushing cylinder. The bottom of the shearing pushing cylinder is hinged to the shearing base. The welding mechanism includes a welding torch and a motion control mechanism. The welding torch is fixed on the slide rail of the integrated platform. The motion control mechanism controls the X-axis and Y-axis movement of the welding torch through two motors respectively.

5. The automated sealing and welding device for liquid-filled heat pipes according to claim 4, characterized in that: The integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism also includes a waste collection mechanism. The waste collection mechanism includes clamps, clamp cylinders, waste pushing cylinders, waste troughs, and waste bins mounted on a support, all installed on the integrated platform. The clamps are positioned directly opposite the upper and lower extrusion blades. The clamp cylinders control the clamps to perform the clamping action of shearing material. The waste trough is located below the clamps. The waste pushing cylinder is positioned directly opposite the waste trough. A plate is installed at the front end of the waste pushing cylinder. The waste pushing cylinder action control plate pushes excess sheared material from the waste trough to the waste bin.

6. The automated sealing and welding device for liquid-filled heat pipes according to claim 4, characterized in that... The integrated extrusion, shearing, and welding mechanism can also be equipped with a blower, which is located above the upper and lower extrusion blades.

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