Automatic feeding and taking mechanism for axle housing expansion
By designing an automatic material feeding mechanism, using liftable support blocks and cylinder-driven mold seats, the problems of low efficiency and high cost caused by unstable molding and manual intervention in the existing axle shell forming process are solved, and automated molding is achieved, improving efficiency and accuracy.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202421862979.9
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-08-02
- Publication Date
- 2025-05-13
- Estimated Expiration
- 2034-08-02
AI Technical Summary
In the existing bridge shell forming process, cold punch forming has problems such as rebound deformation after forming and unstable dimensions. Although hot punch forming has advantages, it requires four sets of expanded molds and manual intervention, resulting in low processing efficiency and high cost.
An automatic material feeding and picking mechanism is designed, including a liftable support block and a cylinder-driven mold seat, which can automatically complete the feeding and picking operations of the bridge shell, cooperate with the robot to avoid material picking and reduce manual intervention.
Automatic feeding and material collection during the forming of the bridge shell is realized, processing efficiency is improved, labor costs are reduced, material picking is avoided, and the dimensional accuracy and surface quality of the bridge shell after forming is improved.
Smart Images

Figure CN222856528U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of axle housing processing, in particular to an automatic material feeding and taking mechanism for axle housing expansion. Background Art
[0002] The axle housing is the assembly base for installing the main reducer, differential, half-axle and wheel. Its main function is to support and protect the main reducer, differential and half-axle, etc. Generally speaking, the axle housing of an ordinary non-disconnecting drive axle is a rigid hollow beam supported on the left and right drive wheels. The main reducer, differential, half-axle and other transmission parts are installed in it. The axle housing is connected to the frame or car body through a longitudinal leaf spring. It is an important part of the drive axle and one of the main components of the running system.
[0003] The current bridge shell forming process mainly includes two methods: cold stamping and hot stamping. Among them, cold stamping has the disadvantages of rebound deformation after forming, unstable large disc contour size, uneven disc surface, difficult forming, work hardening of materials after forming, and the need to add tempering heat treatment process in the subsequent sequence, resulting in large size errors of the bridge shell after final forming, which cannot meet the design requirements of the bridge shell contour size and shape and position tolerance, consumes a lot of manpower and material resources, greatly increases the defective rate, and causes a significant increase in production costs. Hot stamping heat forming heats the bridge shell to an appropriate temperature and then performs stamping. This process brings multiple advantages: first, the bridge shell obtained by hot stamping has ultra-high strength, which helps to improve the safety performance and durability of the vehicle; second, stamping after heating can reduce the weight of the bridge shell, thereby reducing the weight of the whole vehicle, which is of great significance for improving fuel economy and reducing emissions; in addition, hot stamping can also improve the formability of the bridge shell, making its dimensional accuracy higher, and the surface hardness, dent resistance and corrosion resistance are also improved.
[0004] For this purpose, four sets of expansion molds are usually used, and four heat expansion processes are implemented respectively, so that the outline size and shape and position tolerances of the bridge shell can finally meet the design requirements. Among them, each set of expansion molds mainly includes two long molds that are closed and separated, and four forming blocks that are closed and separated by the cylinder. In order to improve processing efficiency and reduce labor costs, a robot is usually used to transfer the bridge shell between the four sets of expansion molds, that is, the robot takes out the bridge shell from the previous expansion mold and then sends it to the subsequent expansion mold. Due to the limited space between the two long molds, when the robot sends the bridge shell between the two long molds and takes the bridge shell out from the two long molds, it is not only easy to get stuck, but also needs to rely on manual prying of the bridge shell. Obviously, this method is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and cannot really improve processing efficiency and reduce labor costs. Utility Model Content
[0005] The purpose of the utility model is to overcome the defects and shortcomings of the prior art and to provide an automatic feeding and picking mechanism for the expansion of the bridge shell, which can automatically complete the feeding and picking operations of the bridge shell and cooperate with the robot to make up for the defect that the robot cannot effectively adapt to the limited space between the two long molds, avoid material jamming, and do not require human intervention, so as to improve processing efficiency and reduce labor costs.
[0006] In order to achieve the above purpose, the utility model provides the following technical solutions:
[0007] An automatic feeding and taking mechanism for expansion of a bridge shell comprises a bridge shell to be expanded, a die base and an expansion die mounted on the die base, the bridge shell comprising a bridge shell body, square tube sections at both ends and round tube sections at both ends, the expansion die comprising two long strip dies that can be closed and separated along the die base, characterized in that support blocks are provided at both ends of the two long strip dies, the support blocks can be raised and lowered, and are used to feed the bridge shell to be expanded into between the two separated long strip dies when descending, and are used to eject the expanded bridge shell from between the two separated long strip dies when ascending.
[0008] Furthermore, the support blocks are strip-shaped blocks, and each support block is provided with a groove that matches the outer contour of the square tube sections at both ends.
[0009] Furthermore, cylinders are provided below both sides of the mold base, and the ends of the piston rods of the cylinders are fixedly connected to two telescopic rods through connecting plates. The two telescopic rods penetrate the mold base upward and are fixedly connected to the bottom of the supporting block on the same side.
[0010] Furthermore, both sides of the mold base are provided with accommodating grooves, and when the two supporting blocks are respectively lowered as the piston rods of the two cylinders are contracted, they respectively enter the accommodating grooves on both sides.
[0011] Furthermore, a mounting plate is fixedly connected to the upper end of the cylinder body of the cylinder, and the mounting plate is fixedly connected to the bottom of the mold base through a connecting rod.
[0012] Furthermore, the support block is arranged along the width direction of the two long strip molds, and the length of the support block is smaller than the width of the gap between the two long strip molds after separation.
[0013] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the utility model are:
[0014] The utility model is based on the existing expansion mold, and a supporting block is arranged, which can automatically complete the feeding and taking operations of the bridge shell during the lifting process, cooperates with the robot arm, and makes up for the defect that the robot arm cannot effectively adapt to the limited space between the two long molds, avoids the material jamming phenomenon, and does not require human intervention, thereby truly realizing the improvement of processing efficiency and reducing labor costs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] Figure 1 The structure of the utility model is shown in FIG. Figure 1 .
[0016] Figure 2 The structure of the utility model is shown in FIG. Figure 2 .
[0017] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the utility model when the bridge housing is being inserted or removed.
[0018] Figure 4 for Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the local structure in. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the utility model to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the utility model. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the utility model, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the utility model, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the utility model.
[0020] See also Figure 1-4 An automatic feeding and taking mechanism for bridge shell expansion comprises a bridge shell to be expanded, a die base 1 and an expansion die mounted on the die base 1, the bridge shell comprises a bridge shell body 3, square tube sections 4 at both ends and round tube sections 5 at both ends, the expansion die comprises two long strip dies 6 which can be closed and separated along the die base 1, support blocks 7 are provided at both ends of the two long strip dies 6, the support blocks 7 can be raised and lowered, and are used to feed the bridge shell to be expanded into between the two separated long strip dies 6 when descending, and are used to eject the expanded bridge shell from between the two separated long strip dies 6 when ascending.
[0021] In the present invention, the support block 7 is a strip block, and each support block 7 is provided with a groove 8 adapted to the outer profile of the square tube sections 4 at both ends, so as to better support the bridge housing.
[0022] In the utility model, cylinders 9 are provided below both sides of the mold base 1, and the ends of the piston rods of the cylinders 9 are fixedly connected to two telescopic rods 11 through connecting plates 10. The two telescopic rods 11 both penetrate the mold base 1 upward and are fixedly connected to the bottom of the supporting block 7 on the same side.
[0023] Thus, by extending and retracting the piston rods of the two cylinders 9, the two telescopic rods 11 are driven to extend and retract through the connecting plate 10, thereby driving the two supporting blocks 7 to rise and fall, so as to deliver the bridge shell to be expanded into between the two separated long strip molds 6, and eject the expanded bridge shell from between the two separated long strip molds 6.
[0024] In the utility model, both sides of the mold base 1 are provided with accommodating grooves 12. When the two supporting blocks 7 respectively descend as the piston rods of the two cylinders 9 contract, they respectively enter the accommodating grooves 12 on both sides. At this time, the square tube sections 4 at both ends respectively detach from the two grooves 8, so as not to affect the hot expansion forming of the bridge shell.
[0025] In the utility model, the upper end of the cylinder body of the cylinder 9 is fixedly connected with a mounting plate 2, and the mounting plate 2 is fixedly connected to the bottom of the mold base 1 through a connecting rod (not shown in the figure), so as to realize the installation of the cylinder 9 and ensure that the piston rod of the cylinder 9 has sufficient telescopic stroke.
[0026] In the present invention, the support block 7 is arranged along the width direction of the two long strip molds 6, and the length of the support block 7 is smaller than the width of the gap between the two long strip molds 6 after separation, so as not to affect the feeding and ejection of the bridge housing.
[0027] The utility model is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:
[0028] In the initial state, the two long strip molds 6 are in a phase-separated state.
[0029] In addition, the piston rods of the two cylinders 9 extend out, driving the two telescopic rods 11 to extend out through the connecting plate 10, thereby driving the two supporting blocks 7 to rise to a certain height to wait for material receiving.
[0030] When in use, the manipulator grabs the bridge shell to be expanded (heated to a certain temperature) and places it on two supporting blocks 7, that is, the square tube sections 4 at both ends fall into the two grooves 8 respectively, and the bridge shell is supported by the two supporting blocks 7.
[0031] Next, the piston rods of the two cylinders 9 contract, driving the two telescopic rods 11 to contract through the connecting plate 10, thereby driving the two supporting blocks 7 to respectively descend into the two receiving grooves 12, thereby delivering the bridge shell to be expanded into between the two separated long strip molds 6.
[0032] Then, the two long strip molds 6 are closed together to complete the mold closing, and the upper punch (not shown in the figure) moves downward to cooperate with the expansion mold to perform hot expansion forming on the bridge shell.
[0033] After hot expansion forming, the punch moves upward, and the two long strip molds 6 are separated, completing the mold separation and breaking away from the contact with the bridge housing.
[0034] Then, the piston rods of the two cylinders 9 extend out, driving the two telescopic rods 11 to extend through the connecting plate 10, thereby driving the two supporting blocks 7 to rise to a certain height, so as to eject the expanded bridge shell from between the two separated long strip molds 6.
[0035] At this point, the robot can grab the expanded bridge shell and transfer it to the subsequent expansion mold.
[0036] Although this specification is described according to implementation modes, not every implementation mode includes only one independent technical solution. This description of the specification is only for the sake of clarity. Those skilled in the art should regard the specification as a whole. The technical solutions in each embodiment may also be appropriately combined to form other implementation modes that can be understood by those skilled in the art.
[0037] Therefore, the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of implementation of the present application; that is, all equivalent changes made according to the scope of the claims of the present application are within the protection scope of the claims of the present application.
Claims
1. An automatic feeding and taking mechanism for axle shell expansion, comprising an axle shell to be expanded, a die base and an expansion die mounted on the die base, wherein the axle shell comprises an axle shell body, square tube sections at both ends and round tube sections at both ends, and the expansion die comprises two long strip dies that can be closed and separated along the die base, characterized in that: Support blocks are provided at both ends of the two long strip molds. The support blocks can be raised and lowered. When lowered, they are used to send the bridge shell to be expanded into between the two separated long strip molds. When raised, they are used to eject the expanded bridge shell from between the two separated long strip molds.
2. The automatic feeding and unloading mechanism for axle housing expansion according to claim 1, characterized in that: The supporting blocks are strip-shaped blocks, and each supporting block is provided with a groove matched with the outer contour of the square pipe sections at both ends.
3. The automatic feeding and taking mechanism for axle housing expansion according to claim 2 is characterized in that: Cylinders are provided below both sides of the mold base, and the ends of the piston rods of the cylinders are fixedly connected to two telescopic rods through connecting plates. The two telescopic rods penetrate the mold base upward and are fixedly connected to the bottom of the supporting block on the same side.
4. The automatic feeding and taking mechanism for axle housing expansion according to claim 3 is characterized in that: Both sides of the mold base are provided with accommodating grooves, and the two supporting blocks respectively enter the accommodating grooves on both sides when they are lowered as the piston rods of the two cylinders are contracted.
5. The automatic feeding and taking mechanism for axle housing expansion according to claim 3 is characterized in that: The upper end of the cylinder body of the cylinder is fixedly connected with a mounting plate, and the mounting plate is fixedly connected to the bottom of the mold base through a connecting rod.
6. The automatic feeding and unloading mechanism for axle housing expansion according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The support block is arranged along the width direction of the two long strip molds, and the length of the support block is smaller than the width of the gap between the two long strip molds after separation.