Method for forming a plate lock and plate lock

Abstract

The application discloses a kind of plate lock catch forming processing method and plate lock catch, method includes the following steps: local linear heat treatment processing: linear heating is carried out to the side angle of plate two sides along the direction of plate transmission using linear spotlight heating mode to plastic state;Side angle extrusion forming processing: the softened side angle of plate two sides is simultaneously passed through forming channel after being heated and softened, and the softened side angle is extruded and formed to form round side angle, wherein, after extrusion deformation, the structure layer of plate at side angle is integrally extruded and deformed to form curved side angle, and the structure layer of plate successively covers from top to bottom.This application improves the side angle process of lock catch, not only reduces the precision requirement of plate sawing, is conducive to improving the stability of plate side angle quality, but also can avoid that each structure layer in plate is exposed, and omits subsequent chamfering and painting operation.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of Chinese invention patent application (application number: 202411660508.4, application date: November 20, 2024, invention title: a method for forming and processing sheet metal locking). Technical Field

[0002] This invention relates to the field of sheet metal processing, specifically to a method for forming sheet metal latches, and also to sheet metal latches formed using this forming method. Background Technology

[0003] As consumers place greater emphasis on healthy home concepts, their demands for flooring and other building materials are also increasing, prompting the flooring industry to continuously innovate. Among these, click-lock flooring has gradually gained market favor due to its advantages such as easy installation, good stability, aesthetics, and durability. Especially in underfloor heating systems, click-lock flooring has become the preferred choice for consumers.

[0004] In practical applications, click-lock flooring is installed by interlocking latches. Therefore, the interlocking latches are prone to friction and wear over time, especially at the corners where they interlock. Conventional corners are often right angles. On one hand, right angles may not provide sufficient contact area and locking force, resulting in loose joints. This affects the overall stability and aesthetics of the flooring, and may lead to widening gaps over time. On the other hand, right angles are more prone to stress concentration under external forces, such as foot traffic or furniture movement, leading to wear or damage. This not only affects the lifespan of the flooring but may also affect its flatness and installation appearance. Therefore, to solve these problems, the corners need to be designed with rounded chamfers. Common chamfering treatments include the following two:

[0005] (1) One method is to directly use a milling cutter to cut and chamfer the locking edges of the small board. However, this cutting method will damage the surface of the board, such as... Figure 1 As shown, this exposes the internal structural layers of the board, requiring an additional beveling and painting process in subsequent processing. This not only increases the number of processing steps, but also causes problems such as uneven coating of the surface film during the subsequent beveling and painting process, affecting the quality of the flooring.

[0006] (2) Another method is to perform hot pressing along the edges and corners of the large board before cutting it into smaller boards. This hot pressing creates rounded edges and corners. Then, the large board is sawn into multiple smaller boards along the hot-pressed edges and corners, and the smaller boards are then interlocked. However, this process requires high precision in sawing the large board into multiple smaller boards. Precise positioning is required in each process; otherwise, it is easy to damage the roundness of the edges and corners and cause processing deviations, affecting the interlocking quality and splicing stability of the boards. Summary of the Invention

[0007] To address the technical deficiencies of existing technologies, this invention proposes a method for forming and processing sheet metal locking mechanisms. This method improves the corner and edge processing of the locking mechanism, which not only reduces the precision requirements for sheet metal sawing and improves the stability of sheet metal corner and edge quality, but also avoids exposing the internal structural layers of the sheet metal, thus eliminating the need for subsequent chamfering and painting operations.

[0008] The main technical solution adopted in this invention is as follows:

[0009] A method for forming a snap-lock mechanism on sheet metal includes the following steps:

[0010] Step 1: Pre-cutting: Pre-cut the two sides of the cut sheet to form machining grooves. The machining grooves form an edge with the sheet surface, leaving machining allowance.

[0011] Step 2, Localized linear heat treatment: Linear heating is performed on both sides of the plate along the transport direction of the plate using a linear focused heating method until it reaches a plastic state;

[0012] Step 3, Edge and corner extrusion forming: After the sheet material has been heated and softened, both sides are simultaneously passed through the forming channel to extrude and form rounded edges and corners.

[0013] Step 4: Locking and fastening: Based on the processing groove, the tenon and mortise are rough and finely processed in sequence to complete the forming of the board locking and fastening.

[0014] Preferably, in step one, a machining groove is formed by cutting downwards from the top layer of both sides of the plate, wherein the machining side of the machining groove retains a machining allowance.

[0015] Preferably, in step one, the machining groove includes a machining side surface and a machining bottom surface, and the machining side surface and the machining bottom surface form an angle, the angle being ≤90°.

[0016] Preferably, in step two, only the corners are heated locally by linear focusing.

[0017] Preferably, in step three, the forming channel is formed by the contact surfaces of the upper and lower pressure rollers, wherein the contact surface of the lower pressure roller is designed axially according to the arc surface of the target corner, and is extruded and formed in conjunction with the locally heated corner.

[0018] Preferably, in step three, after extrusion deformation, the structural layers of the board at the corners are extruded and deformed as a whole to form curved corners, and the structural layers of the board cover each other from top to bottom.

[0019] Preferably, a cooling process is provided between steps three and four to cool the extruded edges and corners to a fixed state.

[0020] Preferably, in the processing steps one, two, and three, the plate material is propagated in a straight line along the same baseline, and the length direction of the plate material's corners is consistent with the transmission direction of the plate material.

[0021] Preferably, in the processing steps one, two, and three, the top surface of the board is placed downwards during transport.

[0022] Beneficial effects: This invention provides a method for forming and manufacturing interlocking mechanisms in sheet metal, which has the following advantages:

[0023] (1) By adjusting the processing steps of the board edge and corner, the present invention eliminates the need for hot pressing before cutting, thereby eliminating the need to align the hot-pressed edge and corner lines during cutting, reducing the requirements for board sawing accuracy, and reducing processing costs and defect rate.

[0024] (2) In this invention, the pre-cutting process is carried out on the plate after cutting, and the corners formed by the pre-cutting are locally linearly heated. A pressure roller with an arc-shaped contact surface is used to shape the corners of the heated plate, thereby forming rounded corners. The entire corner processing process avoids the overall heating treatment of the plate. Only local heating is required to achieve corner processing, preventing the overall heating from causing plate deformation and greatly improving the stability of the plate corner quality.

[0025] (3) In this invention, the rounded chamfer formed by extrusion will not damage the surface structure of the board, and the internal structural layer of the board at the corner will not be exposed, which can reduce the subsequent chamfering and painting operations, which not only simplifies the board processing procedures, but also greatly reduces the production cost of the board. Attached Figure Description

[0026] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a partial structure for cutting a chamfer with an existing milling cutter;

[0027] Figure 2 This is a partial chamfering diagram (one side) of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the machining groove of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram showing the cooperation between the upper and lower pressure rollers of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 5 This is a partial structural diagram of the extrusion molding of one side of the sheet metal according to the present invention;

[0031] In the diagram: 1. Machining groove, 1-1. Machining side surface, 1-2. Machining bottom surface, 2. Plate, 3. Corner, 4. Forming channel, 4-1. Upper pressure roller, 4-2. Detailed Implementation

[0032] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention clearer, the invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. The description of the specific embodiments below is merely exemplary and should be understood as being used only to explain the invention, and not in any way to limit the invention or its applications or uses.

[0033] It should be noted that when an element is said to be "fixed to" another element, it can be directly on the other element or there may be an intervening element. When an element is said to be "connected to" another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or there may be an intervening element. Conversely, when an element is said to be "directly on" another element, there is no intervening element. Conversely, when an element is said to be "directly" connected to another element, there is no intervening element. The terms "vertical," "horizontal," "left," "right," and similar expressions used in this document are for illustrative purposes only.

[0034] In the description of this invention, it should be understood that the terms "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "top", "bottom", "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.

[0035] Example 1

[0036] A certain specification of sheet material comprises, from top to bottom: a 0.3mm wear-resistant layer, a 0.05mm decorative layer, and a substrate layer (WPC substrate). Taking the above sheet material as an example, the specific method for processing the snap-fit ​​mechanism of the snap-fit ​​sheet material is as follows:

[0037] S1 Pre-cutting: First, the large plate is sawn into multiple target smaller plates. Then, pre-cut the two sides of the cut plates to form machining grooves 1. The machining grooves 1 and the surface of the plate 2 (i.e., the wear-resistant layer) form an edge 3, retaining machining allowance, such as... Figure 3As shown. In this embodiment 1, a certain depth (approximately 1-2 mm) is cut downwards from the top layer (wear-resistant layer) on both sides of the sheet to form a processing groove 1. The processing groove 1 includes a processing side surface 1-1 and a processing bottom surface 1-2, and an included angle θ is formed between the processing side surface 1-1 and the processing bottom surface 1-2. This included angle θ is ≤90°. When θ is less than 90°, it can provide compression allowance for subsequent extrusion forming of the edges and corners.

[0038] In this embodiment 1, an appropriate machining allowance is retained on the machined side 1-1 of the machined groove 1. The machining allowance of the machined bottom surface of the machined groove 1 is determined according to the shape of the actual target latch (tenon or mortise size), which is a conventional technique and therefore not described in detail.

[0039] S2 Localized Linear Heat Treatment: A linear focused heating method is used to linearly heat and soften the two corners of the sheet material to a malleable state along the conveying direction. In this embodiment 1, the linear direction of the focused heating is consistent with the conveying direction of the sheet material, and it is focused on the corners 3 of the sheet material 2, only locally heating the corners, and the softening temperature is 80-150℃. In this invention, linear focused heating can be achieved using, but is not limited to, an infrared focused heater, and the softening temperature can be controlled by adjusting the power of the infrared focused heater and the conveying speed of the sheet material.

[0040] S3 Edge and Corner Extrusion Forming Process: After the sheet 2 has been heated and softened, both sides pass through the forming channel 4 to extrude the softened edges and corners 3, forming rounded edges and corners. After extrusion deformation, all structural layers of the sheet (wear-resistant layer, decorative layer and substrate layer) at the edges and corners are deformed as a whole to form curved edges and corners. Moreover, all structural layers of the sheet are covered from top to bottom in sequence, without damaging the surface structure, and no subsequent chamfering and painting operation is required.

[0041] In this embodiment 1, as Figures 4-5 As shown, the forming channel 4 is formed by the contact surfaces of the upper pressure roller 4-1 and the lower pressure roller 4-2. The contact surface of the lower pressure roller 4-2 is designed axially according to the arc surface of the target corner and is used to extrude and form the corner after local heating. The contact surface of the upper pressure roller 4-1 is mainly used to provide clamping force, both to extrude and form the plate with the lower pressure roller 4-2 and to clamp and position the plate during transport, preventing the plate from shifting during the extrusion process.

[0042] In this invention, both the upper pressure roller 4-1 and the lower pressure roller 4-2 are follower rollers, which are driven to rotate by the plate being transported.

[0043] S4 Cooling Process: The extruded edges and corners are cooled to a fixed shape. The specific cooling temperature can be set according to actual needs. Existing sheet metal cooling devices are applicable and can perform overall or partial cooling of the sheet metal or edges and corners, which can be selectively designed by those skilled in the art based on actual requirements. This is because, although locally heated edges and corners have undergone extrusion forming, if they remain at a high temperature, they will still deform during subsequent processing. Therefore, cooling the extruded edges and corners helps to fix their shape.

[0044] S5 locking mechanism processing: Based on the machining groove, the tenon and mortise are roughed and finely machined sequentially to complete the forming of the board locking mechanism. The two sides of the board are used to process the tenon and mortise respectively. The specific processing method is the same as the existing technology, so it is not described in detail.

[0045] In this invention, during the processing steps S1, S2, and S3, the plate 2 is propagated in a straight line along the same baseline, and the length direction of the plate corner 3 is consistent with the transmission direction of the plate. During the transmission process, the top surface (wear-resistant layer) of the plate is always placed downwards during transmission.

[0046] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the details of the exemplary embodiments described above, and that the invention can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. Therefore, the embodiments should be considered in all respects as exemplary and non-limiting, and the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description. Thus, all variations falling within the meaning and scope of equivalents of the claims are intended to be included within the present invention. No reference numerals in the claims should be construed as limiting the scope of the claims.

[0047] Furthermore, it should be understood that although this specification describes embodiments, not every embodiment contains only one independent technical solution. This narrative style is merely for clarity. Those skilled in the art should consider the specification as a whole, and the technical solutions in each embodiment can also be appropriately combined to form other embodiments that can be understood by those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A method for forming and machining interlocking mechanisms in sheet metal, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: Localized linear heat treatment: linear heating of the two sides and corners of the plate is carried out along the plate transport direction to a plastic state using a linear concentrated heating method; Edge extrusion forming process: After the sheet material is heated and softened, both sides are simultaneously passed through forming channels to extrude and form rounded edges. In this process, after being extruded and deformed, the structural layers of the board at the corners are extruded and deformed as a whole to form curved corners, and the structural layers of the board cover each other from top to bottom.

2. The method for forming and processing sheet metal interlocking according to claim 1, characterized in that, Before the local linear heat treatment, pre-cutting is also included: pre-cutting is performed on both sides of the cut plate to form machining grooves, and the machining grooves form corners with the plate surface, leaving machining allowance.

3. The method for forming and processing sheet metal interlocking according to claim 1, characterized in that, After the corner extrusion forming process, the locking process also includes: based on the processing groove, the tenon and mortise are rough and finely processed in sequence to complete the forming of the board locking mechanism.

4. The method for forming and processing sheet metal interlocking according to claim 2, characterized in that, In pre-cutting, a machining groove is formed by cutting downwards from the top layer of both sides of the sheet metal, with machining allowance retained on the machined sides of the machining groove.

5. The method for forming and processing sheet metal interlocking according to claim 2, characterized in that, The machining groove includes a machining side surface and a machining bottom surface, and the machining side surface and the machining bottom surface form an angle, the angle being ≤90°.

6. The method for forming and machining sheet metal interlocking according to claim 1, characterized in that, After the corner extrusion forming process, a cooling process is also included to cool the extruded corners to a fixed state.

7. A type of sheet metal locking mechanism, characterized in that, The corners of the plate locking mechanism are all curved edges, and the structural layers of the plate cover each other from top to bottom.

8. The plate locking mechanism according to claim 7, characterized in that, The structural layers of the plate at the corners of the plate locking mechanism include a decorative layer and a wear-resistant layer.

9. The plate locking mechanism according to claim 7, characterized in that, The corners of the plate locking mechanism are formed by extrusion deformation of each structural layer to create curved corners.

10. The plate locking mechanism according to claim 7, characterized in that, The thickness of each structural layer of the plate at the corner of the plate latch gradually decreases towards the edge.

11. The plate locking mechanism according to any one of claims 7-10, characterized in that, The sheet metal latch is formed by the sheet metal latch forming process according to any one of claims 1-6.

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