Automatic heat shrink tube centering mechanism and method for crawler-type heat shrink machine

Abstract

The invention discloses a heat shrink tube automatic centering mechanism and method for a crawler-type heat shrink machine, and belongs to the field of wiring harness production automation equipment. The device comprises a welding spot position detection mechanism and an automatic centering mechanism which are mounted on the upstream of the crawler thermal shrinkage machine, the welding spot position detection mechanism comprises a conducting strip used for detecting the position of a welding spot, a heat shrink tube folding shifting fork used for pushing a heat shrink tube to be folded towards the welding spot, and a wire harness conveying air cylinder used for conveying a welding wire to a conveying belt at a feeding port of the crawler belt heat shrink machine. The automatic centering mechanism is located on the downstream of the welding spot position detection mechanism and comprises a centering shifting fork capable of pushing the heat shrink tube to the center of the welding spot and rotating in the conveying direction of the conveying belt along with the welding line. The device is easy to operate, the heat shrink tube is completely centered and heated, a worker only needs to pay off, the middle adjusting step is omitted, the working efficiency is obviously improved, and the requirement for the proficiency degree of the worker is low.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the field of automated equipment for wire harness production, and particularly relates to a heat shrink tube automatic centering mechanism and method for a crawler type heat shrink machine. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous development of wire harness production, ultrasonic welding technology has been discovered and used. After ultrasonic welding of the wire harness, the solder joint position is in an exposed state, and a certain length of heat shrink tube is required for sealing and insulation to protect the solder joint; before the wire harness is manufactured, precise calculation and design are carried out to meet signal transmission while shortening the length as much as possible to reduce costs. Therefore, in the production process, requirements such as its length value and the position of the branch point have relatively high process specifications. To a certain extent, the position of the heat shrink tube used for protection is also very important.

[0003] Currently, the main equipment in the market for heat shrinking the above-mentioned wire harness heat shrink tube is a crawler type heat shrink machine. The wire harness main body is driven by a motor-driven belt to pass through the heating area to complete the heat shrinking of the heat shrink tube. The conventional heat source always maintains the characteristic of high heat in the middle and low heat on both sides. Therefore, the operator needs to make the heat shrink tube pass through the middle area as much as possible to maintain the highest heat shrink efficiency. To meet the above requirements, the operator needs to roughly position by the naked eye or refer to marks (marks such as scale or stickers at the feeding port that are easy to identify). This will affect the work efficiency of the operator; at the same time, the heat shrink tube used for this type of wire harness is often a black opaque heat shrink tube (some factories will change it to a transparent heat shrink tube for easy observation, but the cost of the transparent tube is high). When adjusting the position, the operator cannot observe the relative position between the solder joint and the heat shrink tube. After heat shrinking, the relative position between the solder joint and the heat shrink tube is likely to shift. When the shift is large, rework is required. The secondary rework will disrupt the original process rhythm and affect the overall work efficiency; the double-wall heat shrink tube will overflow a very sticky glue when heated, and it is extremely difficult to peel off after the glue solidifies. During rework, the wire harness main body will be damaged. After the wire harness main body is damaged, this wire harness will be scrapped, wasting costs. On the factory side, since there is no effective way to increase efficiency, only by increasing production lines or reducing process requirements can the production capacity be improved to meet market demand, which greatly increases the capital investment in manpower and equipment and increases costs.

[0004] There are also various types of heat shrink tube centering mechanisms on the market. This type of structure generally has some problems: during the centering process of the heat shrink tube for the wire harness, the mechanical structure replaces the action of moving the heat shrink tube, but the wire feeding still needs to be manually operated; for different types of wire harnesses, there will be a certain deviation in the centering action, and the centering failure rate is relatively high, that is, the number of wire harness types that can be adapted is small; after changing the heat shrink tube specification, the mechanical structure needs to be manually adjusted to meet the centering action of this type of heat shrink tube; the overall structure is relatively complex and the cost is high, etc. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the defects in the prior art and provide a heat shrink tube automatic centering mechanism and method for a crawler heat shrink machine. The device of the present invention is simple to operate, the heat shrink tube is completely heated in the center, the worker only needs to lay out the line, and the intermediate adjustment step is omitted, which has a significant effect on improving work efficiency and has low requirements on worker proficiency.

[0006] The specific technical solutions adopted by the present invention are as follows:

[0007] In a first aspect, the present invention provides an automatic centering mechanism for heat shrink tubes used in a crawler-type heat shrink machine, including a welding point position detection mechanism and an automatic centering mechanism installed upstream of the crawler-type heat shrink machine;

[0008] The welding point position detection mechanism includes a conductive sheet for detecting the welding point position, a heat shrink tube retracting fork for pushing the heat shrink tube to retract to the welding point, and a wire harness conveying cylinder for conveying the welding wire on a conveying belt at the feeding port of the crawler heat shrink machine;

[0009] The automatic centering mechanism is located downstream of the welding point position detection mechanism, and includes a centering fork that can push the heat shrink tube to the center of the welding point and rotate along the welding line in the transmission direction of the transmission belt.

[0010] Preferably, the harness delivery cylinder is symmetrically installed on the left and right sides of the fixing seat, and the output ends are respectively installed with harness clamping cylinders, which can drive the harness clamping cylinders to move horizontally forward and backward; the output end of the harness clamping cylinder is connected to the harness clamping arm, and the harness clamping block is fixed on the fixing seat. The harness clamping arm and the harness clamping block can clamp and release the welding wire in the front and back directions through the drive of the harness clamping cylinder; the two heat shrink tube retraction forks are respectively located on the inner sides of the two harness clamping cylinders, and are respectively connected to the connecting rod The connection is rotated, and the connecting rod is connected to the output ends on the left and right sides of the heat shrink tube retracting cylinder; the drive of the heat shrink tube retracting cylinder can make the two heat shrink tube retracting forks move inward or outward at the same time; a weld point detection lifting cylinder is installed above the heat shrink tube retracting cylinder, and the output end of the weld point detection lifting cylinder is connected to the two conductive sheets through the conductive sheet mounting block, and the two conductive sheets can be driven to move up and down synchronously through the weld point detection lifting cylinder; when the welding point contacts the conductive sheet, a loop can be formed to start the weld point position detection mechanism.

[0011] Preferably, the top of the wire harness conveying cylinder has a horizontal slide rail, and the bottom of the wire harness clamping cylinder is slidably connected to the horizontal slide rail; the fixed seat is a U-shaped structure, including two vertical plates and a horizontal bottom plate; two groups of wire harness conveying cylinders and wire harness clamping cylinders are respectively installed on the outside of the two vertical plates, and the heat shrink tube gathering cylinder is installed on the horizontal bottom plate.

[0012] Preferably, the heat shrink tube retracting fork is a Y-shaped structure with a center of gravity lower, and the size of the top opening can allow the welding line to enter.

[0013] Preferably, the two conductive sheets are respectively located on the left and right sides of the conductive sheet mounting block. The plate surfaces are vertical and parallel to the actuating direction of the wire harness conveying cylinder. The tops have grooves for contacting the welding wire. A scale is provided on the conductive sheet mounting block to adjust the horizontal distance between the two conductive sheets.

[0014] Preferably, the two centering forks are respectively slidably connected to the centering guide rail through a connecting assembly. The centering guide rail is arranged parallel to the axial direction of the welding wire. The two centering forks can simultaneously move closer to each other or move away from each other under the drive of a power source. A sensor is provided on the front side of the two centering forks, and the sensor does not interfere with the travel of the welding wire. When any centering fork rotates to a set position, the sensor can be triggered to start the automatic centering mechanism.

[0015] Preferably, the centering guide rail is installed behind the centering bottom plate, and the front of the centering bottom plate is connected to the feeding port of the crawler heat shrinker.

[0016] Preferably, the connecting assembly includes a centering fixed block, a centering fork support plate, and a centering adapter plate. The bottom of the centering fixed block is slidably connected to the centering guide rail. A centering adapter plate for limiting the stroke is fixed on the side surface, and the top is fixedly connected to the centering fork through the centering fork support plate.

[0017] Preferably, the center of gravity of the centering fork is biased downward, and V-shaped notch openings that can completely accommodate the welding wire are symmetrically arranged on the front and rear sides thereof.

[0018] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a heat shrink tube automatic centering method using the heat shrink tube automatic centering mechanism for a crawler heat shrinker described in the first aspect, specifically as follows:

[0019] S1: The heat shrink tube is sleeved on the welding wire so that the heat shrink tube is located between the two heat shrink tube closing forks and does not block the welding point. The height position of the conductive sheet is set at the factory, and a V shape is set to make it easier to contact the welding point. The closing forks are set with a deviation to make it easier to contact and fit the welding wire.

[0020] S2: The welding wire sleeved with the heat shrink tube is placed downward against the inner sides of the wire harness clamping blocks on the placing ends of the two conductive sheets and the placing ends of the two heat shrink tube closing forks to keep it in a horizontal state. When the welding point contacts the conductive sheet, a circuit is formed, triggering the operation of the welding point position detection mechanism, specifically as follows:

[0021] Two wire harness clamping cylinders drive the wire harness clamping arms simultaneously, acting on the corresponding wire harness clamping blocks to clamp and fix both ends of the welding wire respectively; the heat shrink tube closing cylinder drives the heat shrink tube closing forks on both sides to move inward simultaneously, pushing the heat shrink tube towards the welding point, so that the position of the heat shrink tube can enter the feeding port of the caterpillar heat shrinker; at the same time, the solder joint detection lifting cylinder drives the conductive sheet to descend to make room for the movement of the welding wire;

[0022] Subsequently, two wire harness conveying cylinders drive the wire harness clamping arms and the wire harness clamping blocks to clamp the welding wire and move horizontally in the conveying direction of the conveying belt. The heat shrink tube closing forks rotate backward under the action of the force of the welding wire, so that the welding wire breaks away and continues to move backward; when the heat shrink tube closing forks are separated from the welding wire, the heat shrink tube closing forks rotate under their own gravity and return to their original positions by themselves; driven by the wire harness conveying cylinders, until the welding wire is conveyed into the feeding port of the caterpillar heat shrinker and docked with the transmission belt thereon; then, the wire harness clamping cylinder drives the wire harness clamping arm to open, and the welding wire moves along with the transmission belt and enters the area of the automatic centering mechanism;

[0023] After the wire harness conveying cylinders operate, the solder joint detection lifting cylinder and the heat shrink tube closing cylinder drive the components thereon to return to their original positions respectively; the wire harness driving cylinder returns to its original position after conveying the welding wire;

[0024] S3: The welding wire is conveyed by the transmission belt to the wire clamping ends of the two centering forks, and drives the two centering forks to rotate backward under the drive of the transmission belt; when the centering forks rotate to the set position, the sensor is triggered and the automatic centering mechanism is started, specifically as follows:

[0025] The power source transmits power through the connecting component, driving the two centering forks to move inward simultaneously, pushing the heat shrink tube towards the welding point until the central position; subsequently, the welding wire continues to be sent to the heating plate area of the caterpillar heat shrinker for heat shrinkage under the drive of the conveying belt; the centering forks rotate under their own gravity and return to their original positions by themselves;

[0026] Repeat S1 - S3 to realize the continuous automatic centering of the heat shrink tubes on multiple welding wires.

[0027] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0028] Through actual production applications, the present invention can well solve the current manual operations such as aligning wires and adjusting the position of heat shrink tubes by hand. The operator only needs to accurately locate the welding point during wire feeding, and subsequent operations can all be completed by the equipment, saving a large amount of adjustment time, reducing the operation requirements, and improving the accuracy of the heat shrink tube position at the same time. The saved adjustment time can be used for the preparation of the next wire, greatly improving the efficiency. Compared with the structures assisted by mechanisms, the present invention can realize the electronic adjustment of the length of the heat shrink tube, that is, only modify the parameters on the operation interface without performing complex steps of the manual adjustment mechanism, and the electronic control accuracy is higher. This function also better meets the current requirements of factory automation and intelligence (such as MES docking). The overall heat shrink process of the wire harness, except for the wire feeding step until the heat shrink is completed, is all completed by the equipment itself, eliminating the interference of human factors, and the equipment runs smoothly and smoothly during the whole process, with high accuracy in wire harness heat shrink. The wire feeding is completed by the mechanism, so potential safety hazards such as pinching hands can be eliminated. The design of the external structure of the centering fork can meet the centering requirements of most heat shrink tubes on the wire harness, and at the same time, by utilizing the offset center of gravity of the accessory itself, it can automatically return to the origin position, greatly simplifying the centering structure and saving costs. For factory management, the operation of workers is simplified, and more work can be arranged in the previous process. For example, when docking with an ultrasonic welding machine, the labor cost of one person can be saved in the middle, the process can be streamlined, and the site can be saved, thus greatly reducing costs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the present invention's design with a solder joint position detection and centering mechanism;

[0030] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of manual operation of wire harness placement under the condition of no solder joint detection and automatic centering mechanism in the prior art;

[0031] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the solder joint detection structure of the present invention's design;

[0032] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the automatic centering structure of the present invention's design;

[0033] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram for describing the triggering of the solder joint detection mechanism;

[0034] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram for describing the wire clamping of the solder joint detection mechanism;

[0035] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram for describing the wire feeding of the solder joint detection mechanism;

[0036] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram for describing the triggering of the automatic centering mechanism;

[0037] Figure 9 It is used to describe the action diagram of the automatic centering mechanism;

[0038] Figure 10 It is used to describe the disengagement diagram of the automatic centering mechanism;

[0039] Figure 11 It is used to describe the overall cooperation diagram of the crawler equipment with welding point position detection and centering mechanism.

[0040] The accompanying drawings in the figure are marked as: crawler heat shrink machine 1, welding point position detection mechanism 2, automatic centering mechanism 3, welding line 4, welding point 5, heat shrink tube 6, heat shrink tube boundary label 7, middle position label 8, wire harness conveying cylinder 9, wire harness clamping cylinder 10, welding point detection lifting cylinder 11, heat shrink tube retracting cylinder 12, heat shrink tube retracting fork 13, conductive sheet 14, conductive sheet mounting block 15, wire harness clamping block 16, wire harness clamping arm 17, centering bottom plate 18, centering guide rail 19, centering fixed block 20, centering fork support plate 21, centering fork 22, centering transfer plate 23, sensor 24, transmission belt 25, heating plate 26. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] In order to make the above-mentioned purpose, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, the specific implementation mode of the present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the following description, many specific details are set forth to facilitate a full understanding of the present invention. However, the present invention can be implemented in many other ways different from those described herein, and those skilled in the art can make similar improvements without violating the connotation of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed below. The technical features in each embodiment of the present invention can be combined accordingly without conflicting with each other.

[0042] In the description of the present invention, it is to be understood that when an element is considered to be "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected to the other element or indirectly connected, that is, there are intermediate elements. On the contrary, when an element is said to be "directly" connected to another element, there are no intermediate elements.

[0043] In the present invention, for the convenience of description, the welding point position detection mechanism is described as follows: Figure 3 The positions shown are described as "left", "right", "front", and "rear"; for automatic centering mechanisms, Figure 4 The positions shown in the figure are described as "left", "right", "front" and "rear"; for the automatic centering mechanism of the heat shrink tube as a whole of the present invention, Figure 11 The position descriptions shown are "upstream (i.e., right front side)" and "downstream (i.e., left rear side)", which are also the moving directions of the welding line. Unless otherwise specified, the positional relationship of the present invention is described in this manner.

[0044] In existing conventional equipment, when heat shrinking a wire harness, the solder joint relies on manual alignment with a reference mark to be centered, and the heat shrink tube needs to be manually adjusted in position. As Figure 2 shown, the operator needs to grasp the welding wire 4, put on the heat shrink tube 6, and use the middle position label 8 as a reference standard to visually compare the position of the solder joint 5 so that it is located in the middle of the heating area of the equipment heating plate 26. Then, manually move the heat shrink tube 6 to completely cover the solder joint 5, and comprehensively compare the heat shrink tube boundary label 7 and the middle position label 8 to make it centered relative to the solder joint 5 (the heat shrink tube boundary label 7 and the middle position label 8 can also be replaced with a reference object of a scale type for positioning the heat shrink tube 6). Finally, send it to the conveyor belt 25 of the track heat shrinker 1 and perform heat shrinking operation under the conveyance of the conveyor belt 25. However, the equipment of the existing technology has the following problems during operation:

[0045] 1) Manual wire placement will cause the position of the solder joint to deviate from the center of the heating area (the position of the wire harness solder joint should be in the middle of the heating area to achieve the best heat shrinkage efficiency); 2) It is easy for the relative position of the heat shrink tube to the solder joint to shift during manual adjustment (whether using a black opaque heat shrink tube or a transparent heat shrink tube, there are human factors, resulting in an asymmetric relative position between the heat shrink tube and the solder joint); 3) The existing automatic centering mechanisms on the market need to perform actions according to the program settings during the wire harness centering process, and the whole set of actions is jerky; 4) The existing automatic centering mechanisms on the market still need to manually push the wire harness into the heat shrink tube machine after determining the solder joint position and centering the heat shrink tube, and there is uncertainty whether the solder joint will shift or the heat shrink tube will move during this process; 5) Manually pushing the wire harness into the heat shrink tube machine poses a safety hazard in the safety guidelines of some wire harness factories, etc.

[0046] The present invention provides a heat shrink tube automatic centering mechanism for a track heat shrinker, including a solder joint position detection mechanism 2 and an automatic centering mechanism 3 installed upstream of the track heat shrinker 1, as Figure 1 shown. In addition to having a manual reference mark for manual operation, the present invention adds a solder joint position detection mechanism at the front feed inlet of the track heat shrink equipment and an automatic centering mechanism at the rear position of the feed inlet. The solder joint position detection mechanism can achieve the centering position detection of ultrasonic solder joints (including but not limited to ultrasonic solder joints, there are forms such as riveting points, pressing points, pure copper points, etc., hereinafter collectively referred to as solder joints); the automatic centering mechanism can achieve the automatic centering of heat shrink tubes of different lengths (the state where the heat shrink tube is centered and symmetric relative to the solder joint).

[0047] The solder joint position detection mechanism and the automatic centering mechanism cooperate with each other to achieve the heat shrink tube automatic centering function, and the cooperation process will be described below.

[0048] In the device of the present invention, as Figure 3As shown in the figure, the solder joint position detection mechanism 2 mainly includes a conductive sheet 14, a heat shrink tube closing fork 13, and a wire harness conveying cylinder 9. Among them, the conductive sheet 14 is used to detect the position of the welding point 5 so as to activate the solder joint position detection mechanism 2; the heat shrink tube closing fork 13 is used to push the heat shrink tube 6 to close towards the welding point 5; the wire harness conveying cylinder 9 is used to convey the welding wire 4 to the transmission belt 25 at the feeding port of the crawler heat shrinker 1.

[0049] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the wire harness conveying cylinders 9 are symmetrically installed on the left and right sides of the fixed seat respectively. A wire harness clamping cylinder 10 is installed on the output end of each wire harness conveying cylinder 9. The wire harness conveying cylinder 9 can drive the wire harness clamping cylinder 10 to move back and forth in the horizontal direction. A wire harness clamping arm 17 is connected to the output end of each wire harness clamping cylinder 10. The wire harness clamping block 16 is fixed on the fixed seat. Through the drive of the wire harness clamping cylinder 10, the wire harness clamping arm 17 and the wire harness clamping block 16 can clamp and release the welding wire 4 in the front and back directions.

[0050] During actual use, the top of the wire harness conveying cylinder 9 has a horizontal slide rail. The bottom of the wire harness clamping cylinder 10 is slidably connected to the horizontal slide rail. The wire harness conveying cylinder 9 can drive the wire harness clamping cylinder 10 to slide back and forth along the horizontal slide rail.

[0051] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the two heat shrink tube closing forks 13 are respectively located inside the two wire harness clamping cylinders 10. The two heat shrink tube closing forks 13 are respectively rotatably connected to the top of the connecting rod. The bottom of the connecting rod is connected to the output ends on the left and right sides of the heat shrink tube closing cylinder 12. Through the drive of the heat shrink tube closing cylinder 12, the two heat shrink tube closing forks 13 can be simultaneously moved closer to each other or moved away from each other inward. A solder joint detection lifting cylinder 11 is installed above the heat shrink tube closing cylinder 12. The output end of the solder joint detection lifting cylinder 11 is fixed with a conductive sheet mounting block 15. Two conductive sheets 14 are installed on the top of the conductive sheet mounting block 15. Through the solder joint detection lifting cylinder 11, the two conductive sheets 14 can be driven to move up and down synchronously. When the welding point 5 contacts the conductive sheet 14, a circuit can be formed, thereby activating the solder joint position detection mechanism 2.

[0052] During actual use, the heat shrink tube closing fork 13 can be set to a Y-shaped structure, and the opening size at its top can allow the welding wire 4 to enter. The heat shrink tube closing fork 13 is calculated to make the overall structure have a lower center of gravity during production so that it can automatically reset by gravity after rotation. There is a certain offset between the placement ends of the two heat shrink tube closing forks 13 and the clamping ends between the two groups of wire harness clamping arms 17 and the wire harness clamping blocks 16. The purpose is to make the welding wire more easily fit with the heat shrink tube closing fork 13, thereby ensuring the success rate when the heat shrink tube closing fork 13 drives the heat shrink tube to move inward.

[0053] During actual use, the two conductive sheets 14 are respectively located on the left and right sides of the conductive sheet mounting block 15. The plate surface is vertical and parallel to the actuation direction of the wire harness conveying cylinder 9, and has a groove at the top for placing the welding wire 4. A scale is provided on the conductive sheet mounting block 15 in the left-right direction, so as to adjust the horizontal distance (i.e., the opening) between the two conductive sheets 14 according to the length of the actual welding point, while maintaining symmetry.

[0054] During actual use, the specific form of the fixed seat of the solder joint position detection mechanism 2 of the present invention can be adjusted according to actual needs, and its main function is to provide the installation positions of various functional components. Considering aesthetics and convenience, the fixed seat can be set as a U-shaped structure. The fixed seat includes two vertical plates and a horizontal bottom plate. Two groups of wire harness conveying cylinders 9 and wire harness clamping cylinders 10 are respectively installed on the outer sides of the two vertical plates, and the heat shrink tube closing cylinder 12 is installed on the horizontal bottom plate.

[0055] In the device of the present invention, as Figure 4 shown, the automatic centering mechanism 3 is located downstream of the solder joint position detection mechanism 2 and mainly includes centering forks 22. The centering forks 22 can push the heat shrink tube 6 to the center of the solder joint 5 and rotate along with the transmission direction of the welding wire 4 towards the transmission belt 25.

[0056] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the two centering forks 22 are respectively slidably connected to the centering guide rail 19 through connection components. The centering guide rail 19 is arranged parallel to the axial direction of the welding wire 4, that is, in the left-right direction. The two centering forks 22 can simultaneously move inwards or outwards away from each other under the drive of a power source. A sensor 24 is provided on the front side of the two centering forks 22, and the installation position of the sensor 24 does not interfere with the movement of the welding wire 4. When any centering fork 22 rotates to a set position, the sensor 24 can be triggered to start the operation of the automatic centering mechanism 3. In the present invention, in order to adapt to different wire diameters on both sides of the welding wire 4, relatively independent centering forks 22 are provided on both sides.

[0057] During actual use, the specific form of the frame of the automatic centering mechanism 3 of the present invention can be adjusted according to actual needs, and its main function is to provide the installation positions of various functional components. Considering aesthetics and convenience, the frame can be set as a flat plate structure (i.e., the centering bottom plate 18). The centering guide rail 19 is installed behind the centering bottom plate 18, and the front of the centering bottom plate 18 is connected to the feeding port of the track heat shrinker 1.

[0058] During actual use, the connection component includes a centering fixed block 20, a centering fork support plate 21, and a centering adapter plate 23. The bottom of the centering fixed block 20 is slidably connected to the centering guide rail 19, the side is fixed with a centering adapter plate 23 for limiting the stroke, and the top is fixedly connected to the centering fork 22 through the centering fork support plate 21. Specifically, grooves can be respectively opened on both sides of the centering guide rail 19, and the centering adapter plate 23 is placed in the grooves. Then, under the limiting action of the centering adapter plate 23, the connection component can only slide within the specified range of the centering guide rail 19.

[0059] During actual use, V-shaped notches capable of completely accommodating the welding wire 4 are symmetrically arranged on the front and rear sides of the centering fork 22. Through calculation and design, the overall structure of the centering fork 22 is made to have a lower center of gravity during production, so that it can automatically reset under the action of gravity after rotation.

[0060] Using the above heat shrink tube automatic centering mechanism for a crawler type heat shrink machine, the present invention also provides a heat shrink tube automatic centering method, which is specifically as follows:

[0061] S1: The heat shrink tube 6 is sleeved on the welding wire 4, so that the heat shrink tube 6 is located between the two heat shrink tube closing forks 13 and does not block the welding point 5.

[0062] S2: The welding wire 4 sleeved with the heat shrink tube 6 is placed downward along the inner side of the wire harness clamping block 16 on the placement ends of the two conductive sheets 14 and the placement ends of the two heat shrink tube closing forks 13, so as to keep it in a horizontal state. When the welding point 5 contacts the conductive sheet 14, a circuit is formed, triggering the solder joint position detection mechanism 2 to start operating, specifically as follows:

[0063] The two wire harness clamping cylinders 10 simultaneously drive the wire harness clamping arms 17 to act on the corresponding wire harness clamping blocks 16 to clamp and fix both ends of the welding wire 4 respectively. The heat shrink tube closing cylinder 12 drives the two heat shrink tube closing forks 13 on both sides to move inward simultaneously, pushing the heat shrink tube 6 towards the welding point 5, so that the position of the heat shrink tube 6 can enter the feeding port of the crawler heat shrink machine 1. At the same time, the solder joint detection lifting cylinder 11 drives the conductive sheet 14 to descend to avoid space for the movement of the welding wire 4.

[0064] Subsequently, two wire harness conveying cylinders 9 simultaneously drive the wire harness clamping arms 17 and the wire harness clamping blocks 16 to horizontally move the welding wire 4 in the conveying direction of the conveying belt. The heat shrinkable tube closing fork 13 rotates backward under the action of the force of the welding wire 4, causing the welding wire 4 to disengage and continue to move backward. When the heat shrinkable tube closing fork 13 is separated from the welding wire 4, the heat shrinkable tube closing fork 13 rotates under its own gravity and returns to its original position by itself. Driven by the wire harness conveying cylinder 9, the welding wire 4 is conveyed into the feeding port of the crawler heat shrinker 1 until it is docked with the transmission belt 25 thereon. Then, the wire harness clamping cylinder 10 drives the wire harness clamping arms 17 to open, and the welding wire 4 moves along with the transmission belt 25 and enters the area of the automatic centering mechanism 3.

[0065] After the wire harness conveying cylinder 9 operates, the solder joint detection lifting cylinder 11 and the heat shrinkable tube closing cylinder 12 respectively drive the components thereon to return to their original positions. After the wire harness driving cylinder 9 conveys the welding wire 4, it returns to its original position.

[0066] As a relatively preferred embodiment of the present invention, as Figure 5 shown, the length of the solder joint 5 on the welding wire 4 is B, and the detection range on the solder joint position detection mechanism 2 (i.e., the horizontal distance between the two conductive sheets 14) is A, where A is less than or equal to B, and the value range of A can be adjusted within a certain range (a scale is provided thereon for reference adjustment). The operator holds the welding wire 4, and the heat shrinkable tube 6 sleeved thereon is between the two heat shrinkable tube closing forks 13 and does not block the solder joint 5. The solder joint 5 contacts the conductive sheet 14 to form a circuit, triggering the solder joint position detection mechanism 2 to start operating. As Figure 6 shown, after the solder joint position detection mechanism 2 is triggered, the wire harness clamping arms 17 are driven by the wire harness clamping cylinder 10 to rotate in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure, and jointly clamp and fix the welding wire 4 with the wire harness clamping blocks 16. The heat shrinkable tube closing cylinder 12 drives the two heat shrinkable tube closing forks 13 to close the heat shrinkable tube 6 to a suitable position in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure (the position of this heat shrinkable tube meets the range of the feeding port of the crawler heat shrinker 1). At the same time, the solder joint detection lifting cylinder 11 sinks in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure to make room for the movement of the welding wire 4. Figure 7 shown, the wire harness conveying cylinder 9 conveys the welding wire 4 into the feeding port of the crawler heat shrinker 1 in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure and docks it with the transmission belt 25 thereon. Then, the wire harness clamping cylinder 10 drives the wire harness clamping arms 17 to open, and the welding wire 4 enters the area of the automatic centering mechanism 3 driven by the transmission belt 25. After the wire harness conveying cylinder 9 operates, the solder joint detection lifting cylinder 11 and the heat shrinkable tube closing cylinder 12 drive the components thereon to return to their original positions; after the wire harness driving cylinder 9 conveys the welding wire 4, it returns to its original position.

[0067] S3: The welding line 4 is transported to the clamping end of the two centering forks 22 by the transmission belt 25, and the two centering forks 22 are rotated backwards under the drive of the transmission belt 25. When the centering forks 22 rotate to the set position, the sensor 24 is triggered and the automatic centering mechanism 3 is started, as follows:

[0068] The power source transmits power through the connecting assembly, driving the two centering forks 22 to move inward at the same time, pushing the heat shrink tube 6 to move toward the welding point 5 until the center position. Subsequently, the welding line 4 is driven by the conveyor belt 25 to continue to be sent to the heating plate 26 area of ​​the crawler heat shrink machine 1 for heat shrinking. The centering fork 22 rotates under its own gravity and returns to its original position.

[0069] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Figure 8 As shown, the automatic centering mechanism 3 is fixed at a specific position by the centering base plate 18, and the welding line 4 is transported to the automatic centering mechanism 3 by the transmission belt 25. When passing through the automatic centering mechanism 3, the centering fork 22 is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure. When the centering fork 22 rotates to the set position, the sensor 24 is triggered to start the automatic centering mechanism 3. Figure 9 As shown, after the automatic centering mechanism 3 is triggered, its power source (the power source can be a motor and a pulley belt, a motor and a gear rack, a cylinder, etc.) transmits power through the centering adapter plate 23, the centering fixed block 20 and the centering fork support plate 21, driving the centering fork 22 to push the heat shrink tube 6 to the center position in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure (the centering distance of the centering mechanism can be adjusted according to the actual length of the heat shrink tube 6). Figure 10 As shown, after the heat shrink tube 6 is pushed to the center position, it returns to the original position in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure, and at the same time, the welding line 4 is driven by the conveyor belt 25 to the heating plate 26 area for heat shrinkage. The centering fork 22 rotates in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure. Due to the special structural design of the centering fork 22: the overall center of gravity is biased downward. When the welding line 4 is detached, it can return to its original position by its own gravity without other assistance.

[0070] Repeat S1 to S3 to achieve continuous automatic centering of the heat shrink tubes 6 on the multiple welding lines 4.

[0071] The above-described embodiment is only a preferred solution of the present invention, but it is not intended to limit the present invention. A person skilled in the relevant technical field may make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, any technical solution obtained by equivalent replacement or equivalent transformation falls within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An automatic centering mechanism for heat shrink tubes used in a crawler-type heat shrink machine, characterized in that: It comprises a welding point position detection mechanism (2) and an automatic centering mechanism (3) installed upstream of a crawler heat shrinking machine (1); The welding point position detection mechanism (2) comprises a conductive sheet (14) for detecting the position of the welding point (5), a heat shrink tube retracting fork (13) for pushing the heat shrink tube (6) to retract toward the welding point (5), and a wire harness conveying cylinder (9) for conveying the welding wire (4) to a transmission belt (25) at a feed port of the crawler heat shrink machine (1); The automatic centering mechanism (3) is located downstream of the welding point position detection mechanism (2), and comprises a centering fork (22) which can push the heat shrink tube (6) to the center of the welding point (5) and rotate along with the welding line (4) in the transmission direction of the transmission belt (25).

2. The automatic centering mechanism for heat shrink tubes used in a crawler-type heat shrink machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The wire harness conveying cylinder (9) is symmetrically mounted on the left and right sides of the fixing seat, and the output ends are respectively mounted with wire harness clamping cylinders (10), which can drive the wire harness clamping cylinder (10) to move horizontally forward and backward; the output end of the wire harness clamping cylinder (10) is connected to a wire harness clamping arm (17), and the wire harness clamping block (16) is fixed on the fixing seat. The wire harness clamping arm (17) and the wire harness clamping block (16) can clamp and release the welding wire (4) in the front and rear directions through the driving of the wire harness clamping cylinder (10); the two heat shrink tube retracting forks (13) are respectively located on the inner sides of the two wire harness clamping cylinders (10), and are respectively rotatably connected to the connecting rod, The connecting rod is connected to the output ends on the left and right sides of the heat shrink tube retracting cylinder (12); the heat shrink tube retracting cylinder (12) is driven to make the two heat shrink tube retracting forks (13) move inward or outward at the same time; a welding point detection lifting cylinder (11) is installed above the heat shrink tube retracting cylinder (12); the output end of the welding point detection lifting cylinder (11) is connected to the two conductive sheets (14) through a conductive sheet mounting block (15); the welding point detection lifting cylinder (11) can drive the two conductive sheets (14) to move up and down synchronously; when the welding point (5) contacts the conductive sheet (14), a loop can be formed to start the welding point position detection mechanism (2).

3. The automatic centering mechanism for heat shrink tubes used in a crawler-type heat shrink machine according to claim 2, characterized in that: The top of the harness conveying cylinder (9) is provided with a horizontal slide rail, and the bottom of the harness clamping cylinder (10) is slidably connected to the horizontal slide rail; the fixing seat is a U-shaped structure, including two vertical plates and a horizontal bottom plate; two groups of harness conveying cylinders (9) and harness clamping cylinders (10) are respectively installed on the outside of the two vertical plates, and the heat shrink tube retracting cylinder (12) is installed on the horizontal bottom plate.

4. The automatic centering mechanism for heat shrink tubes used in a crawler-type heat shrink machine according to claim 2, characterized in that: The heat shrink tube retracting fork (13) is a Y-shaped structure with a center of gravity that is biased downward, and the size of its top opening allows the welding line (4) to enter.

5. The automatic centering mechanism for heat shrink tubes used in a crawler-type heat shrink machine according to claim 2, characterized in that: The two conductive sheets (14) are respectively located on the left and right sides of the conductive sheet mounting block (15), the plate surface is vertical and parallel to the actuation direction of the wire harness conveying cylinder (9), and the top is provided with a groove for contacting the welding line (4); the conductive sheet mounting block (15) is provided with a scale to adjust the horizontal distance between the two conductive sheets (14).

6. The automatic centering mechanism for heat shrink tubes used in a crawler-type heat shrink machine according to claim 2, characterized in that: The two centering forks (22) are respectively slidably connected to the centering guide rail (19) through a connecting assembly, the centering guide rail (19) is arranged parallel to the axial direction of the welding line (4), and the two centering forks (22) can simultaneously move inward or outward under the drive of a power source; a sensor (24) is arranged at the front side of the two centering forks (22), and the sensor (24) does not interfere with the movement of the welding line (4); when any centering fork (22) rotates to a set position, the sensor (24) can be triggered to start the automatic centering mechanism (3).

7. The automatic centering mechanism for heat shrink tubes used in a crawler-type heat shrink machine according to claim 6, characterized in that: The centering guide rail (19) is installed at the rear of the centering bottom plate (18), and the front of the centering bottom plate (18) is connected to the feed inlet of the crawler heat shrinking machine (1).

8. The automatic centering mechanism for heat shrink tubes used in a crawler-type heat shrink machine according to claim 6, characterized in that: The connection assembly comprises a centering fixed block (20), a centering fork support plate (21) and a centering transfer plate (23); the bottom of the centering fixed block (20) is slidably connected to the centering guide rail (19), a centering transfer plate (23) for limiting the stroke is fixed on the side, and the top is fixedly connected to the centering fork (22) through the centering fork support plate (21).

9. The automatic centering mechanism for heat shrink tubes used in a crawler-type heat shrink machine according to claim 6, characterized in that: The center of gravity of the centering fork (22) is biased downward, and V-shaped notches that can completely contain the welding line (4) are symmetrically provided on its front and rear sides.

10. A method for automatically centering a heat shrink tube using the heat shrink tube automatic centering mechanism for a crawler-type heat shrink machine according to claim 6, characterized in that: The details are as follows: S1: Sleeve the heat shrink tube (6) on the welding line (4) so ​​that the heat shrink tube (6) is located between the heat shrink tube retracting forks (13) on both sides and does not block the welding point (5); S2: The welding wire (4) covered with the heat shrink tube (6) is placed downwardly on the placement ends of the two conductive sheets (14) and the placement ends of the two heat shrink tube retracting forks (13) by relying on the inner side of the wire harness clamping block (16) to keep it in a horizontal state; when the welding point (5) contacts the conductive sheet (14), a loop is formed, triggering the welding point position detection mechanism (2) to start operation, as follows: The two harness clamping cylinders (10) simultaneously drive the harness clamping arms (17) to work with the corresponding harness clamping blocks (16) to clamp and fix the two ends of the welding wire (4) respectively; the heat shrink tube retracting cylinder (12) drives the heat shrink tube retracting forks (13) on both sides to move inward at the same time, pushing the heat shrink tube (6) to move toward the welding point (5), so that the position of the heat shrink tube (6) can enter the feed port of the crawler heat shrink machine (1); at the same time, the welding point detection lifting cylinder (11) drives the conductive sheet (14) to descend, so as to make room for the movement of the welding wire (4); Subsequently, the two harness conveying cylinders (9) simultaneously drive the harness clamping arm (17) and the harness clamping block (16) to clamp the welding wire (4) and move horizontally in the conveying direction of the conveying belt (25), and the heat shrink tube retracting fork (13) is rotated backward by the force of the welding wire (4) so ​​that the welding wire (4) is separated and continues to move backward; when the heat shrink tube retracting fork (13) is separated from the welding wire (4), the heat shrink tube retracting fork (13) rotates under the action of its own gravity and returns to its original position; driven by the harness conveying cylinder (9), the welding wire (4) is conveyed into the feed port of the crawler heat shrinking machine (1) and docked with the transmission belt (25) thereon; then, the harness clamping cylinder (10) drives the harness clamping arm (17) to open, and the welding wire (4) moves along with the transmission belt (25) and enters the area of ​​the automatic centering mechanism (3); After the wire harness conveying cylinder (9) is in operation, the welding spot detection lifting cylinder (11) and the heat shrink tube retracting cylinder (12) respectively drive the upper components thereof to return to their original positions; the wire harness driving cylinder (9) returns to its original position after conveying the welding wire (4); S3: The welding line (4) is transported to the wire clamping end of the two centering forks (22) by the transmission belt (25), and the two centering forks (22) are rotated backward under the drive of the transmission belt (25); when the centering forks (22) rotate to the set position, the sensor (24) is triggered and the automatic centering mechanism (3) is started, as follows: The power source transmits power through the connecting assembly, driving the two centering forks (22) to move inward at the same time, pushing the heat shrink tube (6) to move toward the welding point (5) until the center position; then, the welding line (4) is driven by the conveyor belt (25) to continue to be sent to the heating plate (26) area of ​​the crawler heat shrink machine (1) for heat shrinkage; the centering fork (22) rotates under the action of its own gravity and returns to its original position by itself; Repeat S1 to S3 to achieve continuous automatic centering of the heat shrink tubes (6) on the plurality of welding lines (4).

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