Low-cost skin vacuum suction tooling structure

Abstract

The application provides a low-cost skin vacuum adsorption tool structure, which utilizes a honeycomb aluminum base and a thin steel plate to realize a lightweight skin tool structure design, provides stable support for the skin, significantly reduces the manufacturing difficulty and cost of the equipment, is beneficial to the disassembly, transfer and carrying of the tool, can meet the requirements of large-scale automatic production, and only needs to utilize multiple thin steel plates to recombine for different types of skins, so that new tool building can be quickly completed. The skin profiling surface made of resin plastic has simple process and is easy to replace, has obvious cost advantage compared with the existing casting mold, and the resin plastic material can also provide better skin fitting, which helps to improve the machining precision. The honeycomb aluminum base below the resin plastic profiling surface can effectively reduce the skin vibration during machining while providing stable support for the skin, so as to fully guarantee the skin product quality.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The application belongs to the technical field of aircraft skin processing and manufacturing equipment, and particularly relates to a low-cost skin vacuum adsorption tool structure. BACKGROUND

[0002] The precision machining process of skin parts has always been of high technical difficulty in aircraft manufacturing, and the latest modern aircraft design has put forward higher requirements for the shape curvature and surface quality of the skin product, which has brought more problems to the skin manufacturing and processing. In the early traditional process, a large casting mold is usually used for skin processing, which has the defects of high mold casting and use cost, and the mold is extremely heavy and not conducive to replacement, and thus is not suitable for the needs of modern automatic manufacturing. In the latest skin processing mode using vacuum adsorption combined with numerical control milling machine tools, the adsorption effect of the mold is affected by many factors, such as the performance of the vacuum pump, the sealing performance of the suction cup and the state of the adsorption surface, and the adsorption force is often unstable, which causes the skin to displace or deform during processing, especially for large curvature skin, which is more likely to cause serious deficiency in processing quality. Moreover, neither the traditional casting mold nor the vacuum adsorption mold is designed and manufactured for a specific skin shape and size, which cannot meet the customized needs of various skins, and also limits the reduction of mold cost and the improvement of skin production efficiency. SUMMARY

[0003] Therefore, in view of the technical problems in the field, the application provides a low-cost skin vacuum adsorption tool structure, which is composed of a machine tool T-shaped workbench and a vacuum adsorption tool.

[0004] The vacuum adsorption tool specifically includes a bottom plate, a thin steel plate welded frame, a honeycomb aluminum base and a resin plastic profiling surface.

[0005] The bottom plate is used to fix and install the vacuum adsorption tool as a whole on the machine tool T-shaped workbench. The thin steel plate welded frame is fixedly arranged on the bottom plate and is composed of thin steel plates arranged in a staggered manner, and the top thereof is used as a mounting surface for the honeycomb aluminum base and the resin plastic profiling surface. The honeycomb aluminum base is fixedly arranged on the thin steel plate welded frame, and the resin plastic profiling surface is fixedly arranged on the upper surface of the honeycomb aluminum base.

[0006] The resin plastic profiling surface is used for installing and fitting the skin blank to be processed, and simultaneously used as a skin profiling die; a plurality of hollow grids are arranged on the resin plastic profiling surface, a plurality of mesh holes in the hollow grids and corresponding honeycomb holes on the honeycomb aluminum base form airflow passages providing vacuum adsorption force for the skin blank, and the airflow passages are communicated with the vacuum adsorption device arranged in the thin steel plate welding frame; the honeycomb aluminum base is used for self-adaptive fitting to different resin plastic profiling surfaces to stably support the resin plastic profiling surfaces, and provides damping and absorption effect for skin vibration in the processing process.

[0007] Further, a plurality of weight reduction windows are arranged on the thin steel plate welding frame to reduce the overall weight of the vacuum adsorption tooling.

[0008] Further, the resin plastic profiling surface is formed on the honeycomb aluminum base by an injection molding process, specifically including the following steps:

[0009] Firstly, a parting upper die for forming the resin plastic profiling surface is manufactured with the assistance of a skin drawing machine, and the operations of welding a gate and cutting an exhaust port are performed;

[0010] Subsequently, the parting upper die is closed around with a filling material to ensure that a closed cavity is formed with the honeycomb aluminum base;

[0011] Then, the molten resin plastic is injected into the gate to fill the entire closed cavity; during the injection molding process, the resin plastic fills the parting upper die and gradually solidifies to form a precise skin profiling surface;

[0012] Finally, when the resin plastic is completely solidified, the parting upper die is separated to obtain the formed resin plastic profiling surface.

[0013] Further, the resin plastic profiling surface is formed on the honeycomb aluminum base by a fused deposition modeling (FDM) process, specifically including the following steps:

[0014] Firstly, a three-dimensional model of the resin plastic profiling surface is designed by using a design software; the designed three-dimensional model is sliced into thin layers in the software to form a series of two-dimensional cross sections;

[0015] Then, a 3D printer is used to deposit resin plastic material layer by layer based on the series of two-dimensional cross sections, and accurately print the resin plastic material onto the upper surface of the honeycomb aluminum base, so as to build the entire resin plastic profiling surface.

[0016] Further, a plurality of corresponding avoiding holes are arranged on the resin plastic profiling surface and the honeycomb aluminum base respectively, which are used for conveniently milling the skin during the skin processing.

[0017] The low-cost vacuum adsorption fixture structure for skin provided by this invention utilizes a honeycomb aluminum substrate and thin steel plates to achieve a lightweight fixture design. While providing stable support for the skin, it significantly reduces the difficulty and cost of equipment manufacturing and facilitates the disassembly, assembly, and transfer of the fixture. It can meet the requirements of large-scale automated production. For different types of skin, new fixtures can be quickly assembled simply by reassembling multiple thin steel plates. The resin plastic-manufactured skin contour surface is simple to manufacture and easy to replace, offering a significant cost advantage compared to existing casting molds. The resin plastic material also provides better skin fit, contributing to improved processing accuracy. The honeycomb aluminum substrate beneath the resin plastic contour surface provides stable support for the skin while effectively reducing skin vibration during processing, thus ensuring the quality of the finished skin. Attached Figure Description

[0018] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the overall structure of the low-cost skin vacuum adsorption tooling provided by the present invention;

[0019] Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional view of the components and structure of the vacuum adsorption fixture.

[0020] Figure 3 This is a side view of the structural components of the vacuum adsorption fixture.

[0021] Figure 4 A diagram illustrating the skin processing procedure performed using the low-cost skin vacuum adsorption tooling structure of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 5 This is an assembly side view of the parting mold and tooling when forming a resin plastic contour surface using a sampling casting method.

[0023] Figure 6 This is a three-dimensional assembly diagram of the parting mold and tooling used in the formation of the resin plastic contour surface by sampling casting. Reference numerals: 1-Machine tool T-shaped worktable, 2-Vacuum adsorption tooling, 3-Skin, 4-Base plate, 5-Thin steel plate welded frame, 6-Honeycomb aluminum base, 7-Resin plastic contour surface, 8-Weight reduction window, 9-Vacuum adsorption tank, 10-Avoidance hole. Detailed Implementation

[0024] The technical solution of the present invention will now be clearly and completely described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0025] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this invention.

[0026] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," and "linking" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; and they can refer to the internal connection of two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this invention based on the specific circumstances.

[0027] The low-cost skin vacuum adsorption tooling structure provided by this invention, such as Figures 1-3 As shown, it consists of a machine tool T-shaped worktable 1 and a vacuum adsorption fixture 2;

[0028] The vacuum adsorption fixture specifically includes: a base plate 4, a thin steel plate welded frame 5, a honeycomb aluminum substrate 6, and a resin plastic contoured surface 7.

[0029] The base plate is used to fix the vacuum adsorption fixture as a whole onto the T-shaped worktable of the machine tool; the thin steel plate welded frame is fixedly set on the base plate and is composed of staggered thin steel plates welded together, and its upper part is used as the mounting surface for the honeycomb aluminum base and the resin plastic contour surface; the honeycomb aluminum base is fixedly set on the thin steel plate welded frame, and the resin plastic contour surface is fixedly set on the upper surface of the honeycomb aluminum base.

[0030] The resin-plastic contoured surface is used to mount and fit the skin blank to be processed, and also serves as a skin contour mold. The resin-plastic contoured surface has multiple perforated grids. Multiple mesh openings in the perforated grids and corresponding honeycomb openings on the honeycomb aluminum substrate form airflow channels that provide vacuum adsorption force to the skin blank. These airflow channels are connected to a vacuum adsorption device housed within a thin steel plate welded frame. The honeycomb aluminum substrate is used to achieve adaptive fitting of different resin-plastic contoured surfaces to provide stable support and to dampen and absorb skin vibrations during processing. The vacuum adsorption device can adopt a modular vacuum adsorption system design, using multiple independent vacuum adsorption modules working together to control the adsorption force applied to the skin during processing.

[0031] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of weight-reducing windows 8 are provided on the thin steel plate welded frame to reduce the overall weight of the vacuum adsorption fixture.

[0032] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the resin plastic contoured surface is formed on the honeycomb aluminum substrate by injection molding, specifically including the following steps:

[0033] First, such as Figure 5 , 6 As shown, with the assistance of a skin stretching machine, a parting mold is made for molding the resin plastic contoured surface, and the operations of welding the gate and cutting the vent are performed.

[0034] Subsequently, filler material is used to seal the upper mold around the parting mold to ensure that it forms a closed cavity with the honeycomb aluminum base;

[0035] Next, molten resin plastic is injected into the gate to fill the entire closed cavity; during the injection molding process, the resin plastic fills the parting mold and gradually solidifies to form a precise skin-like surface.

[0036] Finally, once the resin plastic has completely cured, the parting mold is separated to obtain the formed resin plastic contoured surface.

[0037] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the resin plastic contoured surface can also be formed on the honeycomb aluminum substrate by fused deposition modeling (FDM) process, specifically including the following steps:

[0038] First, a three-dimensional model of the resin plastic contour surface is designed using design software; the designed three-dimensional model is then sliced ​​into thin layers in the software to form a series of two-dimensional cross-sections.

[0039] Next, using a 3D printer, resin plastic material is deposited layer by layer based on the series of two-dimensional cross sections and precisely printed onto the upper surface of the honeycomb aluminum substrate, thereby constructing the entire resin plastic contour surface.

[0040] The skin is processed into a discrete form with contoured surfaces. Even if some of the resin plastic contoured surfaces peel off from the honeycomb aluminum substrate during long-term use, it will not affect the bonding and processing accuracy of the two. Vacuum adsorption grooves 9 are also provided around each of the hollowed-out grids to facilitate the application of adsorption force by the vacuum adsorption device.

[0041] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of corresponding clearance holes 10 are provided on the resin plastic contoured surface and the honeycomb aluminum substrate, which facilitates milling of the skin window during skin processing.

[0042] Figure 4 The invention illustrates a skin machining process performed using the low-cost skin vacuum adsorption fixture structure provided by this invention, with specific steps including:

[0043] 1. Workpiece Placement and Detection: The vacuum pressure sensor system detects whether a workpiece is placed in the working area to trigger the subsequent adsorption operation.

[0044] 2. Modular system adjustment: Based on the shape and size of the specific workpiece, the system automatically adjusts the vacuum pressure parameters of each module to ensure that the adsorption system adapts to the specific requirements of the workpiece.

[0045] 3. Vacuum Adsorption: Start the vacuum pump or adsorption system to create appropriate adsorption force. Multiple adsorption cups or zones in the system intelligently adjust the adsorption force according to the shape of the workpiece to ensure firm adsorption.

[0046] 4. Real-time monitoring of adsorption force: The adsorption force is monitored in real time, and data is quickly acquired through sensors to ensure that the adsorption force is maintained at a safe and effective level.

[0047] 5. Skin machining: Perform CNC machining operations, such as milling surfaces or recesses. The workpiece is firmly fixed in the correct position due to the suction force, ensuring machining quality and accuracy.

[0048] 6. Real-time adjustment of adsorption force: Based on the real-time monitoring of the adsorption force, the system intelligently adjusts the adsorption force in each area to adapt to changes in the workpiece processing process and ensure stable adsorption effect.

[0049] 7. Skin processing completed: After the processing is finished, the system stops the suction force and releases the workpiece, allowing it to be easily removed. The entire skin processing task is successfully completed.

[0050] It should be understood that the sequence number of each step in the embodiments of the present invention does not imply the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0051] Although embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A low cost skin vacuum suction tooling structure characterized by: The vacuum adsorption tool is composed of a machine tool T-shaped workbench and the vacuum adsorption tool; The vacuum adsorption tool specifically comprises a bottom plate, a thin steel plate welded frame, a honeycomb aluminum base and a resin plastic profiling surface. The bottom plate is used to integrally fix and install the vacuum adsorption tool on the machine tool T-shaped workbench; the thin steel plate welded frame is fixedly arranged on the bottom plate and is composed of thin steel plates arranged in a staggered manner, and an upper surface thereof is used as a mounting surface of the honeycomb aluminum base and the resin plastic profiling surface; the honeycomb aluminum base is fixedly arranged on the thin steel plate welded frame, and the resin plastic profiling surface is fixedly arranged on an upper surface of the honeycomb aluminum base. The resin plastic profiling surface is used to mount and fit the skin blank to be processed and simultaneously serves as a skin profiling die; a plurality of hollow grids are arranged on the resin plastic profiling surface, a plurality of mesh holes in the hollow grids and corresponding honeycomb holes on the honeycomb aluminum base form an airflow passage for providing a vacuum adsorption force for the skin blank, and the airflow passage is communicated with a vacuum adsorption device arranged in the thin steel plate welded frame; the honeycomb aluminum base is used to stably support different resin plastic profiling surfaces and provide damping and absorption for skin vibration in the processing. The resin plastic profiling surface is formed on the honeycomb aluminum base by an injection molding process or a fused deposition process; the injection molding process specifically comprises the following steps: First, a parting upper die for forming the resin plastic profiling surface is manufactured with the assistance of a skin drawing machine, and an operation of welding a sprue and cutting a vent is performed; Subsequently, a filler material is used to close the parting upper die around, so as to ensure that the parting upper die and the honeycomb aluminum base form a closed cavity; Then, molten resin plastic is injected into the sprue to fill the entire closed cavity; during the injection molding process, the resin plastic fills the parting upper die and gradually solidifies to form an accurate skin profiling surface; Finally, when the resin plastic is completely solidified, the parting upper die is separated to obtain the formed resin plastic profiling surface; The fused deposition forming process specifically comprises the following steps: First, a three-dimensional model of the resin plastic profiling surface is designed by using a design software; the designed three-dimensional model is sliced into thin layers in the software to form a series of two-dimensional sections; Then, a 3D printer is used to deposit resin plastic material layer by layer based on the series of two-dimensional sections and accurately print the resin plastic material onto the upper surface of the honeycomb aluminum base, so as to build the entire resin plastic profiling surface.

2. The low cost skin vacuum suction tooling structure of claim 1, wherein: A plurality of weight reduction windows are arranged on the thin steel plate welded frame to reduce the overall weight of the vacuum adsorption tool.

3. The low cost skin vacuum suction tooling structure of claim 1, wherein: Vacuum adsorption grooves are further arranged around each hollow grid of the resin plastic profiling surface to facilitate the vacuum adsorption device to exert an adsorption force thereon.

4. The low cost skin vacuum suction tooling structure of claim 1, wherein: A plurality of corresponding avoidance holes are arranged on the resin plastic profiling surface and the honeycomb aluminum base, respectively, to facilitate milling of a skin window during skin processing.

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