A method for growing four-gate size aluminum

Abstract

This invention relates to a method for achieving the dimensional stability of aluminum four-door frames, including product design: design of a movable hinge reinforcement plate structure; design of a split inner panel and material thickness differences; selection of riveting point locations; selection of anti-collision beam fastening methods and matching surface design; tooling design: design of four-door adjustment accessories and matching movable hinges; chamfering design of positioning surfaces and pressure heads in exposed areas; secondary rolling tooling design for split inner panels; window frame positioning and pressure head densification design at the welding station between the window frame and inner panel; design of a large cylinder straightening unit at the welding station between the inner and outer panels; design of a water-cutting mechanical push-angle unit for the front and rear sections of the water-cutting area; process formulation: laser welding sequence and welding wire angle; rivet gun posture simulation; setting of key matching position tolerances and offset tolerances; and over-positioning design of the window frame slide rail processing datum. This invention's method for achieving the dimensional stability of aluminum four-door frames, through product, tooling, and process design, and through early avoidance and later debugging, ensures that the dimensions of the four-door assembly meet standard requirements.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of product manufacturing technology, and specifically relates to a method for growing the size of aluminum four-door components. Background Technology

[0002] Lightweighting is the future direction of automotive development, and exterior body panels, especially the four doors, are gradually being replaced by aluminum doors, which ensures side impact strength while reducing the weight of the door assembly. Although aluminum doors are superior to iron doors in terms of weight and strength, they also have process drawbacks such as large deformation from laser welding, easy indentation, riveting deformation, and large deformation from over-coating. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of this invention is to provide a reproducible method for developing the dimensions of front and rear door assemblies made of aluminum alloy, in order to solve the problems of large deformation during laser welding, easy indentation, riveting deformation, and large deformation during over-coating in existing aluminum four-door assemblies.

[0004] The objective of this invention is achieved through the following technical solution:

[0005] A method for developing the dimensions of an aluminum four-door frame includes the following steps:

[0006] A. Product Design

[0007] A1. Movable hinge reinforcement plate structure design;

[0008] A2. Split inner panel design and material thickness differences;

[0009] A3. Selection of riveting point locations;

[0010] A4. Select the fastening method and matching surface design for the anti-collision beam;

[0011] B. Tooling Design

[0012] B1. Four-door adjustment accessories and movable hinges are designed together;

[0013] B2. Chamfering design of the positioning surface and pressure head of the exposed area;

[0014] B3. Split inner panel design with secondary rolling tooling design;

[0015] B4. Window frame positioning and pressure head reinforcement design at the welding station between the window frame and the inner panel;

[0016] B5. Design of atmospheric cylinder straightening unit for inner and outer plate welding station;

[0017] B6. Water cutting mechanical push angle units are designed for the front and rear sections of the water cutting area;

[0018] C. Process Development

[0019] C1. Laser welding sequence and welding wire angle;

[0020] C2. Rivet gun posture simulation;

[0021] C3. Key matching position tolerance and offset tolerance settings;

[0022] C4. Window frame sliding rail processing benchmark over-positioning design.

[0023] Further, in step A1, the hinge reinforcement plate has a movement of >5mm in the Y and Z directions. The movement of the hinge offsets the position of the frame hinge surface and the four door hinge holes. After the four doors are fixed in position by the fixture, the hinges are tightened. In step A2, the inner panel is designed as a split type, either front and rear split or front, middle and rear split. The thickness of the front split part is approximately 1.5 times the thickness of the rear split part.

[0024] Further, step A3 specifically involves selecting a plane with a diameter greater than Φ24mm at the riveting point location, which must be larger than the diameter of the rivet gun head.

[0025] Further, step A4 specifically involves: the anti-collision beam is fastened by screws, with one screw designed on each of the front and rear sides. The screw area has a profile area of ​​30mm*30mm, and the screws come with anti-loosening thread adhesive. No Y-direction matching profile is designed at non-screwed locations.

[0026] Furthermore, in step B2, a 45° angle or an R3 fillet is used.

[0027] Furthermore, in step B3, the design of the split inner plate secondary rolling tooling is the same as the design standard of the welding rolling mold, and the rolling is performed 2 to 3 times. In step B4, the gap between the blocks is <3mm.

[0028] Further, in step B5, the lower positioning block is controlled to extend and retract in the Y direction by a large-sized cylinder, and the upper pressure head has a 5-10mm shim adjustment allowance. The key correction positions are the front door B-pillar, the area between the A and B pillars, and the rear door B-pillar and C-pillar.

[0029] Further, in step C2, the rivet gun 25 forms a 90° angle with the riveting surface.

[0030] Further, in step C3, the tolerance of individual parts at the key matching position is tightened to ±0.3mm or the design offset tolerance.

[0031] Further, in step C4, at the two ends of the slide rail where the dimensions are prone to fluctuation, excessive clamping positioning surfaces are used for control.

[0032] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0033] This invention provides a method for shaping the dimensions of aluminum four-door components. Through multi-faceted design of the product, tooling, and process, and by implementing early avoidance measures and later adjustments, it effectively ensures that the dimensions of the four-door assembly meet standard requirements. Specifically, it includes the following advantages:

[0034] 1. Provide guidance on how to properly design fixtures in the early stages to facilitate the correction of laser welding deformation in the later stages;

[0035] 2. Provide guidance on how to correctly design the positioning surface position in the early stage, select the material of the clamping head, and the method of clamping adjustment in the later stage to avoid indentation;

[0036] 3. Provide guidance on how to design the riveting position and the size of the riveting surface to prevent riveting deformation later;

[0037] 4. Provide guidance on how to strengthen the four-door assembly and design the structure of related parts to prevent excessive deformation due to over-coating. Attached Figure Description

[0038] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the accompanying drawings used in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. It should be understood that the following drawings only show some embodiments of the present invention and should not be regarded as a limitation on the scope. For those skilled in the art, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0039] Figure 1 , Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the hinge reinforcement plate described in this invention;

[0040] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a split inner panel according to the present invention;

[0041] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a riveting surface as described in this invention;

[0042] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a method for fastening a crash beam according to the present invention;

[0043] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the positioning position of a four-door adjustment accessory as described in this invention;

[0044] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of a positioning surface and a pressure head chamfer as described in this invention;

[0045] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of a secondary rolling tooling according to the present invention;

[0046] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of a window frame positioning and pressure head encryption design according to the present invention;

[0047] Figure 10This is a schematic diagram of the overall fixture described in this invention;

[0048] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of a mechanical push-angle unit according to the present invention;

[0049] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of the welding wire angle described in this invention;

[0050] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram of a welding sequence as described in this invention;

[0051] Figure 14 This is a schematic diagram of the angle of a rivet gun according to the present invention;

[0052] Figure 15 This is a schematic diagram of a single-piece tolerance for a key matching position as described in this invention;

[0053] Figure 16 This is a schematic diagram of a glass slide rail over-positioning according to the present invention;

[0054] Figure 17 This is a schematic diagram of the tolerance of an aluminum front door outer panel according to the present invention.

[0055] In the diagram: 1. Hinge adjustment through hole; 2. Hinge fastening screw; 3. Process hole; 4. Hinge fastening surface; 5. Front limiting flange of inner panel; 6. Front part of inner panel; 7. Rear part of inner panel; 8. Riveting surface; 9. Anti-collision beam bolt nut; 10. Matching surface of inner panel sub-assembly; 11. Y-axis positioning surface of front door assembly fixture; 12. Front door assembly B reference hole; 13. Front door assembly C reference hole; 14. Chamfer position of positioning block; 15. Front door outer panel; 16. Inner... 16b. Secondary rolling die at the front of the plate. 17. Lower positioning surface. 18. Press head that matches the positioning surface. 19. Cylinder. 20. Window frame straightening press head. 21. Water-cutting machine pushing edge cylinder. 22. Water-cutting machine pushing edge positioning block. 23. Welding wire angle. 24. Primary welding sequence. 25. Secondary welding sequence. 26. Welding gun. 27. Edge wrapping surface of the outer window sill reinforcing plate. 28. Cutting edge of the outer handle. 29. Window frame over-positioning mechanism. Detailed Implementation

[0056] The present invention will be further described below with reference to embodiments:

[0057] The present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and not intended to limit it. Furthermore, it should be noted that, for ease of description, the accompanying drawings show only the parts relevant to the present invention, and not all of the structures.

[0058] It should be noted that similar reference numerals and letters in the following figures indicate similar items; therefore, once an item is defined in one figure, it does not need to be further defined and explained in subsequent figures. Furthermore, in the description of this invention, terms such as "first," "second," etc., are used only to distinguish descriptions and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0059] Existing aluminum four-door panels suffer from problems such as large deformation during laser welding, easy indentation, riveting deformation, and large deformation due to overcoating. To address these issues, this invention proposes a method for shaping the dimensions of aluminum four-door panels. This method addresses these problems through product design, tooling design, and process planning, aiming to prevent, control, and adjust these aspects to reduce the frequency of problems.

[0060] The present invention provides a method for shaping aluminum four-door panels, comprising the following steps:

[0061] 1. Product Design

[0062] 11. Movable hinge reinforcement plate;

[0063] 12. Split inner panel design and material thickness differences;

[0064] 13. Principles for selecting riveting point locations;

[0065] 14. Anti-collision beam fastening method and matching surface design.

[0066] 2. Tooling Design

[0067] 21. Four-door adjustment accessories (for use with movable hinges);

[0068] 22. Chamfering design for the positioning surface and pressure head of the exposed area;

[0069] 23. Split inner panel design with secondary roll forming fixture;

[0070] 24. Window frame positioning and pressure head reinforcement design at the welding station between the window frame and the inner panel;

[0071] 25. Design of atmospheric cylinder straightening unit for welding stations of inner and outer plates;

[0072] 26. Design of water-cutting mechanical push angle unit.

[0073] 3. Process formulation

[0074] 31. Laser welding sequence and welding wire angle;

[0075] 32. Rivet gun posture simulation;

[0076] 33. Focus on matching position tolerances and offset tolerance settings;

[0077] 34. The datum for the processing of window frame sliding rails is designed for positioning.

[0078] Example 1

[0079] The design institute for the four-door products and fixtures of a new Hongqi model, and the welding process for the aluminum four-doors of a BMW model. For example, during the production of the front and rear doors of the BMW X3, the laser welding process resulted in high local heat and significant welding deformation, mainly concentrated in the front and rear door window frame areas, with particularly noticeable deformation in the Y-axis profile of the front door B-pillar tip. For the Hongqi E702 model, the fixture adjustment and pre-deformation involved window frame welding stations, repair welding stations, and inner and outer panel welding stations. The window frame welding station fixture positioning was reinforced, and the inner and outer panel welding stations featured large-scale corrective cylinders, welding sequence adjustments, and welding wire angle adjustments.

[0080] Specifically, a method for growing aluminum four-door dimensions includes the following steps:

[0081] 1. Product Design 11. Design a movable hinge reinforcement plate, the structure of which is as follows: Figures 1-2 As shown, the hinge reinforcement plate has a movement of >5mm in the Y and Z directions. The movement of the hinge offsets the positional deviation of the frame hinge surface and the four door hinge holes. After the four doors are fixed in position by the fixture, the hinges are tightened.

[0082] 12. The inner panel is designed as a split unit, such as... Figure 3 As shown, the front and rear split or front, middle and rear split makes it easy to ensure the dimensions of key parts of the inner panel and is not affected by the springback of the inner panel. The material thickness of the front split part is approximately 1.5 times that of the rear split part.

[0083] 13. The riveting point location should be a plane larger than Φ24mm, and the riveting surface should be 8mm. Figure 4 As shown, the diameter of the rivet gun head must be larger than that of the rivet gun head to avoid deformation of the parts after riveting;

[0084] 14. It is recommended to fasten the crash beam with bolts, such as... Figure 5 As shown, one screw is designed on each of the front and rear sides. The recommended surface area of ​​the screw connection area is 30mm*30mm. The screw comes with anti-loosening thread adhesive. No Y-axis matching surface is designed in the non-screw connection position to reduce the matching difficulty and the risk of deformation after connection.

[0085] 2. Tooling Design

[0086] 21. The four-door adjustment accessories are designed for use with movable hinges. After the outer panel is positioned and the four doors are aligned, tighten them. Once the dimensions are stable, make minor adjustments or leave them as is. Figure 6 As shown;

[0087] 22. The positioning surface and pressure head design of the exposed area have chamfered edges, such as... Figure 7 As shown, aluminum doors are more prone to dents if the corners are rounded to 45° or R3. Precise adjustments can be made later, and the material of the positioning surface can be changed if necessary.

[0088] 23. The split inner panel design incorporates secondary rolling fixtures, such as... Figure 8 As shown, the same welding and rolling mold design standard requires 2 to 3 rolling cycles;

[0089] 24. Window frame positioning and pressure head reinforcement design at the welding station between the window frame and the inner panel, such as... Figure 9 As shown, the gap between modules is <3mm;

[0090] 25. For the welding stations of inner and outer panels, a straightening unit is designed. The lower positioning block is controlled by a large-sized cylinder to extend and retract in the Y direction. The upper pressure head has a 5-10mm shim adjustment allowance. The key straightening positions are the front door B-pillar, the area between the A and B pillars, and the rear door B-pillar and C-pillar. Figure 10 As shown;

[0091] 26. For the front and rear sections of the water-cutting area, and areas that the edge-rolling robot cannot reach due to limited roller space, a mechanical corner-pushing unit needs to be designed. It is recommended that the mechanical corner-pushing be completed in two steps, such as... Figure 11 As shown.

[0092] 3. Process formulation

[0093] 31. Laser welding sequence and wire angle, such as... Figure 13 As shown in the figure, reference numerals 23 and 24 indicate the welding sequence. Based on the actual positions of the laser room and the robot, the deformation of clockwise welding, counterclockwise welding, or welding from the middle to both sides was tested, and the actual optimization effect was taken as the standard.

[0094] 32. Rivet gun posture simulation: The rivet gun 25 forms a 90° angle with the riveting surface, such as... Figure 14 As shown, the fixture architecture needs to be optimized for locations where the angle cannot be achieved.

[0095] 33. For key matching locations, tighten the tolerance of individual parts to ±0.3mm or the design offset tolerance, such as... Figure 15 As shown;

[0096] 34. The glass sliding rail processing reference is over-positioned design, such as... Figure 16 As shown, at the two ends of the slide rail where the size is prone to fluctuation, excessive clamping positioning surfaces must be used for control. Relying solely on the assembly size and conventional positioning cannot achieve the stability of the glass slide rail, and the laser weld is prone to deviation.

[0097] like Figures 1-2 As shown, the hinge reinforcement plate has a hinge adjustment through hole 1, a hinge fastening screw 2, and a process hole 3, and is provided with a hinge fastening surface; the inner plate front limiting flange 5 is used to... Figure 1 The hinge structure works in conjunction with the hinge to achieve the function of being adjustable without the hinge falling off.

[0098] like Figure 3As shown, the split inner panel is the front door inner panel, and its front part 6, which is the hinge reinforcement plate, is riveted to the rear part 7, which is the main body of the inner panel.

[0099] The rivet points on the inner front door panel are located at the riveting surface 8, such as... Figure 4 As shown.

[0100] The front door inner panel sub-assembly anti-collision beam is fastened using anti-collision beam bolt nuts 9, with a mating surface 10 that mates with the inner panel sub-assembly. The mating position between the anti-collision beam and the inner panel sub-assembly is as follows: Figure 5 As shown.

[0101] The positioning positions of the four door adjustment accessories of the front door assembly are as follows: Figure 6 As shown, it includes a Y-axis positioning surface 11 for the front door assembly fixture, a B reference hole 12 for the front door assembly, and a C reference hole 13 for the front door assembly.

[0102] The positioning surface of the positioning block and the chamfer of the pressure head, the chamfer position of the positioning block is 14 as shown. Figure 7 As shown.

[0103] During the secondary rolling process, the outer front door panel 15 is placed on the rolling die 16. The secondary rolling position of the inner panel and the secondary rolling die of the inner panel are as follows: Figure 9 As shown.

[0104] The clamp positioning in the window frame area includes the lower positioning surface 16b, i.e., the window frame positioning unit block, and the pressure head 17, which is matched with the positioning surface. Figure 9 As shown.

[0105] The fixture as a whole Figure 10 As shown, cylinder 18 drives positioning mechanism 19 to complete positioning and clamping.

[0106] like Figure 11 As shown, in the water-cutting edge-pushing station, the water-cutting mechanical edge-pushing cylinder 20 drives the water-cutting mechanical edge-pushing positioning block 21 to complete the edge-pushing in narrow areas that the robot cannot reach.

[0107] The welding wire angle 22 refers to the welding angle of the welding torch, such as... Figure 12 As shown.

[0108] Welding sequence as follows Figure 13 As shown in the figure, the first welding sequence 23 and the second welding sequence 24 are shown in the figure.

[0109] Rivet gun at 25° angle Figure 14 As shown, the rivet gun 25 needs to be riveted to the normal direction of the workpiece.

[0110] Key matching of individual component tolerances, such as 26 for the outer window sill reinforcement panel edge and 17 for the outer handle mounting edge. Figure 15 As shown.

[0111] Figure 16This is a schematic diagram of the glass sliding rail over positioning. In this diagram, the window frame over positioning mechanism 28 is the window frame over positioning surface in the X direction, which ensures that the sliding rail does not move in the X direction. The window frame over positioning pressure head 29 ensures that the sliding rail moves in the Y direction.

[0112] Note that the above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the technical principles employed. Those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described herein, and various obvious changes, readjustments, and substitutions can be made without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, although the present invention has been described in detail through the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and may include many other equivalent embodiments without departing from the concept of the present invention, the scope of which is determined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for growing an aluminum four-gate size breeder, characterized by, Includes the following steps: A. Product Design A1. Movable hinge reinforcement plate structure design; the hinge reinforcement plate's Y and Z direction movement is >5mm; A2. Split inner panel design and material thickness differences; The inner panel is designed as a split panel, either front and rear or front, middle and rear. The material thickness of the front split panel is approximately 1.5 times that of the rear split panel. A3. Principles for selecting the location of riveting points; The riveting point should be located on a plane larger than Φ24mm, and the plane size should be larger than the diameter of the rivet gun head. A4. Anti-collision beam fastening method and matching surface design: The anti-collision beam is fastened by screw connection, with one screw designed on each of the front and rear sides. The surface area of ​​the screw connection area is 30mm*30mm. The screw comes with anti-loosening thread adhesive. No Y-direction matching surface is designed for non-screw connection positions. B. Tooling Design B1. Four-door adjustment accessories and movable hinges are designed together; B2. Chamfering of the positioning surface and pressure head design of the exposed surface area; chamfering 45° angle or R3 fillet; B3. Split inner plate design secondary rolling fixture; The split inner plate design secondary rolling fixture is the same as the welding edge rolling mold design standard, with 2 to 3 rolling times. B4. Window frame positioning and pressure head reinforcement design at the welding station between the window frame and inner panel; block gap <3mm; B5. The inner and outer panel welding station is designed with a large cylinder straightening unit; the lower positioning block is controlled by a large cylinder to extend and retract in the Y direction, and the upper pressure head is reserved with 5~10mm shim adjustment amount. The key straightening positions are the front door B pillar, the area between the AB pillars, and the rear door B pillar and C pillar. B6. Water cutting mechanical push angle units are designed for the front and rear sections of the water cutting area; C. Process Development C1. Laser welding sequence and welding wire angle; C2. Simulation of rivet gun posture; the rivet gun is at a 90° angle to the riveting surface; C3. Set the tolerance and offset tolerance for key matching positions; tighten the tolerance of a single piece at key matching positions to ±0.3mm or the design offset tolerance; C4. Over-positioning design for window frame slide rail processing benchmark; at the two ends of the slide rail where the dimensions are prone to fluctuation, excessive clamping positioning surfaces are used for control.

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