Automatic butt welding device for forklift drive axle

Abstract

This invention relates to an automatic welding device for forklift drive axles, comprising a fixing part, a welding part, and a detection part. The welding part includes a lifting and adjusting device mounted on the main robotic arm, with a connecting arm mounted on the movable end of the lifting and adjusting device. A welding equipment body is fixedly connected to the connecting arm, and a laser guiding device is fixedly connected to the welding equipment body. The detection part includes a C-frame mounted on the auxiliary robotic arm, with a mounting frame fixedly connected to the bottom end of the C-frame. The C-frame has through holes that match the welding equipment body, and guide wheels are rotatably connected to the side end of the mounting frame. A weld detector is mounted on the flat end of the mounting frame, and the weld detector includes a horizontal displacement adjusting device. A top-view detector is fixedly connected to the movable end of the horizontal displacement adjusting device, facilitating automatic welding and welding, and enabling rapid weld detection after welding to quickly assess the welding quality.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to an automatic butt welding device, in particular to an automatic butt welding device for a forklift drive axle applied in the field of welding devices. Background Art

[0002] Existing automatic butt welding devices are mainly used in industrial production to achieve accurate butt welding of two or more workpieces. These devices usually include key parts such as robotic arms, welding heads, visual systems, and control systems. The robotic arm is responsible for moving the welding head to the specified position, while the welding head performs the actual welding work. The visual system is used to detect the position and posture of the workpiece to ensure the accuracy of the welding process. The control system is responsible for the coordination and management of the entire welding process, including the setting of welding parameters, the planning of welding paths, and the monitoring of welding quality.

[0003] With the development of technology, automatic butt welding devices are moving towards higher automation and intelligence. For example, laser vision sensing technology is used to monitor and adjust welding parameters in real time to adapt to workpieces of different materials and thicknesses.

[0004] In order to solve the problem of welding accuracy, a certain welding device on the market adopts the design of laser-guided welding, which has a certain market share.

[0005] The Chinese invention patent CN117655529B specification discloses a laser welding machine with a welding position butt protection function, including a base, a laser welding machine, a laser welding head and a first support frame, wherein the base is provided with a laser welding machine, the laser welding machine is provided with a laser welding head, and the base is slidably connected to the first support frame. Under the action of the second support frame, the invention can avoid the softening phenomenon of the thinner round tube to be welded due to high temperature conduction during welding, which in turn causes the round tube to be welded to sag easily, thereby affecting the welding effect of the round tube to be welded. During the welding process, under the clamping action of the extrusion block, the round tube to be welded can be prevented from warping, thereby avoiding affecting the welding quality.

[0006] The existing butt welding device is not convenient for quickly testing the weld after welding, and it is necessary to move the welded parts to an external testing device for testing, or move the testing device to the weld for testing. On the one hand, the efficiency is low, and it is inconvenient to adjust production according to the weld condition in time. On the other hand, the testing equipment needs to be repositioned during testing, and the testing path needs to be set to ensure testing along the weld, so the efficiency of testing after welding is low. Summary of the invention

[0007] In view of the above-mentioned prior art, the technical problem to be solved by the present invention is that the existing butt welding device is not convenient for quickly inspecting the weld after welding, and it is necessary to move the welded parts to an external inspection device for inspection, or move the inspection device to the weld for inspection. On the one hand, the efficiency is low and it is inconvenient to make production adjustments according to the weld condition in time. On the other hand, the inspection equipment needs to be repositioned during inspection, and the inspection path needs to be set to ensure inspection along the weld, which results in low inspection efficiency after welding.

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an automatic butt welding device for a forklift drive axle, comprising a fixing part, a welding part and a detection part, wherein the fixing part comprises a fixing frame for fixing the drive axle housing, and both sides of the fixing part are provided with a rotating clamping device for fixing and rotating the parts to be welded, and the welding part comprises a lifting and adjusting device installed on a main mechanical arm, and a connecting arm is installed on the movable end of the lifting and adjusting device, and a welding equipment body is fixedly connected to the connecting arm, and a laser guiding device is fixedly connected to the welding equipment body;

[0009] The detection part includes a C-shaped frame installed on the auxiliary mechanical arm, the bottom end of the C-shaped frame is fixedly connected with a mounting frame, a through hole matching the welding equipment body is opened on the C-shaped frame, and a guide wheel is rotatably connected to the side end of the mounting frame;

[0010] A weld detector is installed at the plane end of the mounting frame, and the weld detector includes a horizontal displacement adjustment device, a top-view detector is fixedly connected to the movable end of the horizontal displacement adjustment device, a lifting displacement device is installed at the side end of the top-view detector, and a side-view detector is installed at the movable end of the lifting displacement device; a first laser grating sensor, an infrared temperature sensor and an image acquisition device are installed on the top-view detector, and a second laser grating sensor is installed on the side-view detector;

[0011] A docking column is installed at the top of the detection part, and the docking column includes a bracket. The top of the bracket is connected to a movable plate through an electric push rod, and a docking joint is installed on the movable plate. A flexible wire is connected between the docking joint and the C-frame, and the flexible wire is electrically connected to the weld detector. A docking socket matching the docking joint is installed at the bottom of the connecting arm.

[0012] In the automatic butt welding device of the forklift drive axle, automatic butt welding is convenient, and after welding, the weld seam detection can be quickly performed, and the welding quality can be quickly evaluated through the weld seam detection.

[0013] As a further improvement of the present application, the horizontal displacement adjustment device includes an electric guide rail, and the overhead detector is installed at the movable end of the electric guide rail.

[0014] As a further improvement of the present application, a plurality of evenly distributed pressure sensing units are provided on the guide wheel, and an angle sensor is installed on the guide wheel.

[0015] As a further improvement of the present application, the lifting and displacement device includes a fixed column, on which a movable column connected to the side-view detector is inserted, an electromagnet is installed in the fixed column, and a permanent magnet matching the electromagnet is installed in the movable column.

[0016] As another improvement of the present application, an air cooling device is installed on the C-shaped frame, and the air cooling device is located on the upper side of the mounting frame, and the air cooling device is used to assist in cooling the weld.

[0017] As another improvement of the present application, an auxiliary welding system is also included, the auxiliary welding system includes a processor, and the processor is connected to a control module, a detection module, a data processing module and a data storage module;

[0018] The control module is provided with a docking auxiliary mode and a detection auxiliary mode. The docking auxiliary mode is used to detect whether the welding docking is accurate, and the detection auxiliary mode is used to drive the weld detector to detect along the guide path of the laser guide device;

[0019] The detection module is used to control the detection unit to collect detection data, and the detection data includes weld width, weld surface image, weld temperature and weld height;

[0020] The data processing module determines whether the docking is accurate and the quality of the weld based on the test data;

[0021] The data storage module is used to store detection data and guide path data when the laser guide device guides the welding equipment body to perform welding.

[0022] As another improved supplement to the present application, the working process of the docking assistance mode includes: during assisted docking, the electromagnet in the lifting and displacement device is controlled to work, so that the side view detector rises with the movable column until the top of the side view detector is in contact with the surface of the component to be welded to the drive axle housing, and then the side view detector is turned on for laser ranging. After the detection is completed, the detection part adjusts the position so that the side view detector moves to another detection point to repeat the above work until the detection data of more than a set number of detection points are the same or exceed the set value.

[0023] As another improved supplement to the present application, the working process of the detection auxiliary mode includes: before the weld detector performs detection, it first identifies the angle sensor data to determine whether the initial position of the weld is rotated to the weld detector. If so, the detection is started. When the detection starts, the infrared temperature sensor is used to identify whether the weld temperature at the nearest position exceeds the set value. If the weld temperature exceeds the set value, the detection is suspended, and the designated equipment is controlled to continue to drive the bridge shell as a whole to rotate. At the same time, the air cooling device is turned on to assist in cooling the weld according to a preset program. When the welding starting point is rotated to the weld detector again, the weld temperature is identified again. If the weld temperature is still higher than the set value, the above work is repeated; otherwise, the weld detector turns on the image acquisition device and the first laser grating sensor to detect the weld. During the detection, the position of the overhead detector is adjusted by the horizontal displacement adjustment device so that the detection end of the overhead detector performs weld detection along the guidance path of the laser guidance device.

[0024] In summary, this solution can quickly detect the weld along the welding path through the weld detector after welding, and can ensure the accuracy of welding butt joint through the butt assist mode, and ensure the detection of weld quality through the detection assist mode, thereby improving welding efficiency and welding quality. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Figure 1 It is a partial structural stereogram of the drive axle housing during welding of the first and second embodiments of the present application;

[0026] Figure 2 for Figure 1 The structural diagram at A in the middle;

[0027] Figure 3 This is a front view of the drive axle housing of the first and second embodiments of the present application when it is welded;

[0028] Figure 4 It is a side cross-sectional view of the detection part of the first and second embodiments of the present application;

[0029] Figure 5 It is a front cross-sectional view of the detection part of the first and second embodiments of the present application;

[0030] Figure 6 for Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the structure at B in the middle;

[0031] Figure 7 This is a block diagram of an auxiliary welding system according to the second embodiment of the present application;

[0032] Figure 8 This is a working logic diagram of the detection auxiliary mode of the second implementation mode of the present application;

[0033] Fig. 9This is a schematic diagram of the docking assistance mode operation of the second implementation mode of the present application.

[0034] Description of the numbers in the figure:

[0035] 1 lifting adjustment device, 2 connecting arm, 3 welding equipment body, 4 laser guiding device, 5 detection part, 51 C-frame, 52 mounting frame, 53 guide wheel, 6 weld detector, 61 horizontal displacement adjustment device, 62 top-view detector, 63 lifting displacement device, 64 side-view detector, 7 docking column, 71 bracket, 72 electric push rod, 73 movable plate, 74 docking joint, 8 air cooling device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] Two implementation modes of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0037] The first implementation method:

[0038] Figure 1-9 FIG. 1 shows an automatic butt welding device for a forklift drive axle, comprising a fixing part, a welding part and a detection part 5. The fixing part comprises a fixing frame for fixing the drive axle housing, and both sides of the fixing part are provided with a rotating clamping device for fixing and rotating the parts to be welded. The related equipment of the fixing part uses the equipment used for welding the drive axle housing in the prior art, and is installed by a person skilled in the art using appropriate equipment.

[0039] The welding part includes a lifting and adjusting device 1 installed on the main mechanical arm. The lifting and adjusting device 1 is a lifting and displacement adjusting device in the prior art, such as a hydraulic lifter. A connecting arm 2 is installed at the movable end of the lifting and adjusting device 1. A welding device body 3 is fixedly connected to the connecting arm 2. A welding gun is installed on the welding device body 3.

[0040] A laser guiding device 4 is fixedly connected to the welding equipment body 3; the laser guiding device 4 is installed by using a device used for laser guiding welding in the prior art, and a person skilled in the art can install it by using a suitable device in the prior art, and the specific contents of how the laser guiding device 4 performs laser guiding and guide path recording in welding are not repeated in this solution;

[0041] The detection unit 5 includes a C-shaped frame 51 mounted on the auxiliary mechanical arm, a motor for driving the C-shaped frame 51 to rotate is mounted on the auxiliary mechanical arm, a mounting frame 52 is fixedly connected to the bottom end of the C-shaped frame 51, a through hole matching the welding equipment body 3 is opened on the C-shaped frame 51, and a guide wheel 53 is rotatably connected to the side end of the mounting frame 52;

[0042] A plurality of evenly distributed pressure sensing units are arranged on the guide wheel 53, and an angle sensor is installed on the guide wheel 53. The angle sensor is used to monitor the number of rotations and the rotation angle of the guide wheel. When the component to be welded rotates, the guide wheel 53 rotates accordingly. The rotation angle of the component to be welded can be determined by the number of rotations and the rotation angle of the guide wheel 53.

[0043] A weld detector 6 is installed at the plane end of the mounting frame 52. The weld detector 6 includes a horizontal displacement adjustment device 61. A top-view detector 62 is fixedly connected to the movable end of the horizontal displacement adjustment device 61. A lifting displacement device 63 is installed at the side end of the top-view detector 62. A side-view detector 64 is installed at the movable end of the lifting displacement device 63. A first laser grating sensor, an infrared temperature sensor and an image acquisition device are installed on the top-view detector 62. A second laser grating sensor is installed on the side-view detector 64.

[0044] The horizontal displacement adjustment device 61 includes an electric guide rail, and the top-view detector 62 is installed at the movable end of the electric guide rail. The lifting displacement device 63 includes a fixed column, a movable column connected to the side-view detector 64 is plugged on the fixed column, an electromagnet is installed in the fixed column, and a permanent magnet matching the electromagnet is installed in the movable column.

[0045] A docking column 7 is installed at the top of the detection part 5, and the docking column 7 includes a bracket 71. The top of the bracket 71 is connected to a movable plate 73 through an electric push rod 72, and a docking connector 74 is installed on the movable plate 73. A flexible wire is connected between the docking connector 74 and the C-shaped frame 51, and the flexible wire is electrically connected to the weld detector 6. A docking socket matching the docking connector 74 is installed at the bottom end of the connecting arm 2.

[0046] When welding is performed in this embodiment, the position of the welding device is adjusted, and the main mechanical arm and the lifting and adjusting device 1 are controlled to drive the welding equipment body 3 to move to the initial welding starting point, which is located at the docking point between the drive axle housing and the part to be welded. At this time, the detection part 5 is docked with the connecting arm 2; when the detection part 5 is docked with the connecting arm 2, the electric push rod 72 drives the movable plate 73 to rise until the docking joint 74 is docked with the docking socket at the bottom end of the connecting arm 2. At this time, the detection data of the weld detector 6 can be transmitted to the external data processing terminal through the connecting arm 2 for data processing;

[0047] In this solution, when the drive axle housing is butt-welded, the laser guiding device 4 guides the welding device body 3 to perform welding. During the welding process, the drive axle housing and the parts to be welded are driven to rotate by external related equipment. During the welding process, the guiding path of the laser guiding device 4 is recorded. After the weld is completed, the drive axle housing continues to rotate as a whole, and the weld detector 6 performs weld detection along the guiding path.

[0048] Before the weld detector 6 detects, the side view detector 64 is attached to the surface of the drive axle housing near the weld by the lifting and displacement device 63, so that the side view detector 64 can detect the height of the weld above the surface of the drive axle housing, and the detection end of the top view detector 62 covers the weld;

[0049] Optionally, when the weld width is larger than the detection end coverage of the overhead detector 62, the position of the overhead detector 62 is adjusted by the horizontal displacement adjustment device 61 during the detection process so that the overhead detector 62 can obtain a comprehensive weld detection image;

[0050] When inspecting the weld, the side view detector 64 detects the weld height; the top view detector 62 detects the weld width and surface quality, and the surface quality is obtained by identifying the image captured by the image acquisition device.

[0051] This embodiment realizes precise control and efficient detection of the automatic butt welding device. Through the precise guidance of the laser guiding device 4, the welding equipment body 3 can accurately move along the butt joint and the set welding path, thereby ensuring the welding quality.

[0052] The weld is quickly inspected along the welding path by the weld detector 6. When the weld width exceeds the detection range of the top-view detector 62, the adjustment function of the horizontal displacement adjustment device 61 can ensure the comprehensive detection of the weld, avoiding missed detection and misjudgment. The coordinated use of the side-view detector 64 and the top-view detector 62 can not only detect the height and width of the weld, but also evaluate the weld surface image through the image acquisition device, thereby realizing comprehensive monitoring of the welding quality. The entire welding and detection process has a high degree of automation.

[0053] Second implementation method:

[0054] Figure 3 and Figure 6-Figure 9 As shown, an air cooling device 8 is installed on the C-shaped frame 51, and the air cooling device 8 is located on the upper side of the mounting frame 52, and the air cooling device 8 is used to assist in cooling the weld;

[0055] It also includes an auxiliary welding system, which includes a processor, and the processor is connected to a control module, a detection module, a data processing module and a data storage module;

[0056] The control module is provided with a docking auxiliary mode and a detection auxiliary mode. The docking auxiliary mode is used to detect whether the welding docking is accurate, and the detection auxiliary mode is used to drive the weld detector 6 to detect along the guide path of the laser guide device 4;

[0057] The detection module is used to control the detection unit to collect detection data, and the detection data includes weld width, weld surface image and weld height;

[0058] The data processing module determines whether the butt joint is accurate and the quality of the weld according to the detection data; an image recognition unit is provided in the data processing module, and the image recognition unit recognizes the weld surface image to determine the weld surface roughness;

[0059] The data storage module is used to store the detection data and the guide path data when the laser guide device 4 guides the welding equipment body 3 to perform welding.

[0060] The working process of the docking auxiliary mode includes: during the docking auxiliary process, the electromagnet in the lifting displacement device 63 is controlled to work, so that the side view detector 64 rises with the movable column until the top of the side view detector 64 is in contact with the surface of the component to be welded to the drive axle housing, and then the side view detector 64 is turned on to perform laser ranging. After the detection is completed, the detection unit 5 adjusts the position so that the side view detector 64 moves to another detection point to repeat the above work until the detection data of the detection points exceeding the set number are the same or exceed the set value;

[0061] The working process of the detection auxiliary mode includes: before the weld detector 6 performs detection, it first identifies the angle sensor data to determine whether the initial position of the weld is rotated to the weld detector 6. If so, the detection is started. When the detection starts, the infrared temperature sensor is used to identify whether the weld temperature at the nearest position exceeds the set value. If the weld temperature exceeds the set value, the detection is suspended, and the designated equipment is controlled to continue to drive the bridge shell as a whole to rotate. At the same time, the air cooling device 8 is turned on to assist in cooling the weld according to the preset program. When the welding starting point is rotated to the weld detector 6 again, the weld temperature is identified again. If the weld temperature is still higher than the set value, the above work is repeated; otherwise, the weld detector 6 turns on the image acquisition device and the first laser grating sensor to detect the weld. During the detection, the position of the overhead detector 62 is adjusted by the horizontal displacement adjustment device 61, so that the detection end of the overhead detector 62 performs weld detection along the guidance path of the laser guide device 4.

[0062] Optionally, during the welding process, those skilled in the art may also turn on the weld detector 6 as needed to perform real-time detection of the weld during the welding process.

[0063] In summary, this scheme ensures the accuracy of welding butt jointing through the butt joint auxiliary mode, and ensures the detection of weld quality through the detection auxiliary mode, thereby improving welding efficiency and welding quality.

[0064] In view of current practical needs, the above-mentioned implementation mode adopted in this application is not limited to the scope of protection. Various changes made within the knowledge scope of technical personnel in this field without departing from the concept of this application still fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An automatic butt welding device for a forklift drive axle, comprising a fixing portion, a welding portion and a detection portion (5); the fixing portion comprises a fixing frame for fixing a drive axle housing, and both sides of the fixing portion are provided with a rotating clamping device for fixing and rotating the parts to be welded, characterized in that: The welding part comprises a lifting and adjusting device (1) mounted on a main mechanical arm, a connecting arm (2) being mounted on a movable end of the lifting and adjusting device (1), a welding device body (3) being fixedly connected to the connecting arm (2), and a laser guiding device (4) being fixedly connected to the welding device body (3); The detection unit (5) comprises a C-shaped frame (51) mounted on the auxiliary robot arm, the bottom end of the C-shaped frame (51) is fixedly connected to a mounting frame (52), a through hole matching the welding equipment body (3) is opened on the C-shaped frame (51), and a guide wheel (53) is rotatably connected to the side end of the mounting frame (52); A weld detector (6) is mounted on the plane end of the mounting frame (52); the weld detector (6) comprises a horizontal displacement adjustment device (61); a top view detector (62) is fixedly connected to the movable end of the horizontal displacement adjustment device (61); a lifting displacement device (63) is mounted on the side end of the top view detector (62); a side view detector (64) is mounted on the movable end of the lifting displacement device (63); a first laser grating sensor, an infrared temperature sensor and an image acquisition device are mounted on the top view detector (62); and a second laser grating sensor is mounted on the side view detector (64); the weld detector (6) performs detection along the guide path of the laser guide device (4); A docking column (7) is installed at the top end of the detection part (5), and the docking column (7) comprises a bracket (71). The top end of the bracket (71) is connected to a movable plate (73) via an electric push rod (72), and a docking connector (74) is installed on the movable plate (73). A flexible wire is connected between the docking connector (74) and the C-shaped frame (51), and the flexible wire is electrically connected to the weld detector (6). A docking socket matching the docking connector (74) is installed at the bottom end of the connecting arm (2).

2. The automatic butt welding device for a forklift drive axle according to claim 1, characterized in that: The horizontal displacement adjustment device (61) comprises an electric guide rail, and the overhead detector (62) is mounted on the movable end of the electric guide rail.

3. The automatic butt welding device for a forklift drive axle according to claim 1, characterized in that: The guide wheel (53) is provided with a plurality of evenly distributed pressure sensing units, and an angle sensor is installed on the guide wheel (53).

4. The automatic butt welding device for a forklift drive axle according to claim 3, characterized in that: The lifting displacement device (63) comprises a fixed column, a movable column connected to the side view detector (64) is plugged into the fixed column, an electromagnet is installed in the fixed column, and a permanent magnet matching the electromagnet is installed in the movable column.

5. The automatic butt welding device for a forklift drive axle according to claim 4, characterized in that: An air cooling device (8) is installed on the C-shaped frame (51), and the air cooling device (8) is located on the upper side of the mounting frame (52), and the air cooling device (8) is used to assist in cooling the weld.

6. The automatic butt welding device for a forklift drive axle according to claim 5, characterized in that: It also includes an auxiliary welding system, the auxiliary welding system includes a processor, and the processor is connected to a control module, a detection module, a data processing module and a data storage module; The control module is provided with a docking assistance mode and a detection assistance mode, the docking assistance mode is used to detect whether the welding docking is accurate, and the detection assistance mode is used to drive the weld detector (6) to perform detection along the guide path of the laser guide device (4); The detection module is used to control the detection unit to collect detection data, and the detection data includes weld width, weld surface image, weld temperature and weld height; The data processing module determines whether the butt joint is accurate and the quality of the weld according to the detection data; The data storage module is used to store detection data and guide path data when the laser guide device (4) guides the welding equipment body (3) to perform welding.

7. The automatic butt welding device for a forklift drive axle according to claim 6, characterized in that: The working process of the docking assistance mode includes: during the docking assistance, the electromagnet in the lifting displacement device (63) is controlled to work, so that the side view detector (64) rises with the movable column until the top of the side view detector (64) is in contact with the surface of the component to be welded to the drive axle housing, and then the side view detector (64) is turned on to perform laser distance measurement. After the detection is completed, the detection unit (5) adjusts the position so that the side view detector (64) moves to another detection point to repeat the above work until the detection data of the detection points exceeding the set number are all the same or all exceed the set value.

8. The automatic butt welding device for a forklift drive axle according to claim 6, characterized in that: The working process of the detection auxiliary mode includes: before the weld detector (6) performs detection, firstly identifying the angle sensor data, judging whether the initial position of the weld is rotated to the weld detector (6), and if so, starting the detection. When starting the detection, firstly identifying whether the weld temperature at the nearest position exceeds the set value through the infrared temperature sensor, if the weld temperature exceeds the set value, pausing the detection, controlling the designated device so that the bridge shell as a whole continues to be driven to rotate, and at the same time starting the air cooling device (8) to perform auxiliary cooling on the weld according to a preset program, and when the welding starting point is rotated to the weld detector (6) again, identifying the weld temperature again, and repeating the above work if the weld temperature is still higher than the set value; if not, the weld detector (6) starts the image acquisition device and the first laser grating sensor to detect the weld, and during the detection, adjusting the position of the overhead detector (62) through the horizontal displacement adjustment device (61) so that the detection end of the overhead detector (62) performs weld detection along the guide path of the laser guide device (4).

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