A metal bellows pipe mouth processing device

Abstract

The utility model discloses a kind of pipe orifice processing equipment of metal bellows, including cabinet, still including main shaft device being set on cabinet and the three-axis mobile platform being oppositely arranged with the main shaft device, flaring device and necking device are set on the three-axis mobile platform, the flaring device includes oval flaring die, for the flaring treatment of metal bellows pipe orifice;The necking device includes inner core rod and the extruding die of inner core rod cooperation, inner core rod inserts pipe orifice, extruding die is radially extruded to contract after the pipe orifice of flaring, so that outer flared tube body forms circular tube body after necking process.The utility model provides a kind of pipe orifice processing equipment of metal bellows, the equipment can integrate flaring, necking, cutting, chamfering, polishing and so on multiple processes in one, realize disposable clamping to complete all processing, to greatly improve processing efficiency and product precision, while effectively avoid clamping damage and processing defects.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of metal pipe processing technology, specifically to a pipe end processing equipment for metal corrugated pipes. Background Technology

[0002] Metal bellows are widely used in aerospace, automotive manufacturing, instrumentation and other industrial fields. As a critical part connecting the bellows to external pipelines or equipment, the dimensional accuracy, roundness and surface quality of the pipe end directly affect the sealing performance, reliability and service life of the connection.

[0003] Currently, the processing of metal corrugated pipe ends typically involves multiple steps, including flaring, necking, cutting, chamfering, and polishing. Traditional processing methods have the following significant drawbacks: First, each step often needs to be completed on different equipment, requiring multiple clamping and transfer of the workpiece. This discontinuous production mode is not only inefficient and has a long production cycle, but more importantly, multiple clamping makes it difficult to guarantee precise repeatability, easily introducing human error and clamping errors, resulting in problems such as out-of-tolerance roundness and inconsistent dimensions of the pipe end. Second, metal corrugated pipes typically have thin walls and a hollow structure. When directly clamped, the concentrated clamping force can easily cause indentations, dents, or even irreversible plastic deformation on the outer wall, damaging the product's appearance integrity and structural strength. Furthermore, directly performing severe plastic deformation processing (such as flaring and necking) on ​​the pipe end in a cold state can easily cause micro-cracks or macro-cracks at stress concentration points, especially for some metal materials with high hardness or poor ductility, or cause wrinkles due to material instability during necking, seriously affecting the product's pass rate and long-term reliability. Furthermore, traditional decentralized processing methods cannot guarantee the consistency of processing conditions at each point along the circumference of the pipe opening, ultimately resulting in poor uniformity of finished product quality, which makes it difficult to meet the stringent requirements of high-precision and high-reliability applications for corrugated pipe openings.

[0004] Therefore, there is an urgent need in this field for a new process for processing metal bellows nozzles that can overcome the above-mentioned defects, achieve high efficiency, high consistency, high quality, and effectively protect the workpiece from damage. Utility Model Content

[0005] The purpose of this utility model is to overcome the shortcomings of the existing technology and provide a metal corrugated pipe end processing equipment. This equipment can integrate multiple processes such as flaring, shrinking, cutting, chamfering, and polishing into one, and complete all processing in one clamping, thereby greatly improving processing efficiency and product accuracy, while effectively avoiding clamping damage and processing defects.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, this utility model provides the following technical solution: A metal corrugated pipe end processing equipment includes a cabinet, a spindle device mounted on the cabinet, and a three-axis moving platform opposite to the spindle device. The three-axis moving platform is equipped with a flaring device and a shrinking device. The flaring device includes an elliptical flaring mold for flaring the end of the metal corrugated pipe. The shrinking device includes an inner mandrel and an extrusion mold that cooperates with the inner mandrel. The inner mandrel is inserted into the pipe end, and the extrusion mold radially extrudes and shrinks the flared pipe end, so that the flared pipe body is formed into a circular pipe body through the shrinking process.

[0007] As a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, it also includes a clamping mold, which includes two semi-circular clamps arranged in half. The two semi-circular clamps are used to hold the clamping end of the metal bellows. The inner surface shape of the semi-circular clamps is adapted to the outer surface shape of the clamping end of the metal bellows. The clamping mold can be transferred as a whole and clamped and fixed by the jaws of the spindle device.

[0008] As a further preferred embodiment of this utility model, it also includes a preheating device, which is set on the periphery of the processing equipment or on the three-axis moving platform and in front of the flaring device. The preheating device includes a baking oven, a ring induction coil, a temperature sensor, and a controller. The ring induction coil is arranged inside the baking oven and is sleeved on the periphery of the end of the metal corrugated pipe to be processed to preheat the processing end. The temperature sensor is used to monitor the surface temperature of the heated pipe opening in real time. The controller dynamically adjusts the output power of the preheating device according to the signal fed back by the temperature sensor.

[0009] As a further preferred embodiment of this invention, the three-axis moving platform is also equipped with a cutting device, a chamfering device, and a polishing device.

[0010] As a further preferred embodiment of this invention, the cutting device is a laser cutting device, a plasma cutting device, or a cutting device using a high-speed rotating carbide tool.

[0011] As a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the chamfering device includes a chamfering drive mechanism, a chamfering spindle, and a chamfering grinding wheel head. The chamfering drive mechanism drives and connects to the chamfering spindle. The chamfering spindle is provided with a detachable chamfering grinding wheel head, which is an R-angle grinding wheel head or a C-angle grinding wheel head.

[0012] As a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the polishing device includes a polishing drive mechanism, a polishing spindle, and a polishing head. The polishing drive mechanism drives and connects to the polishing spindle. The polishing spindle is provided with a detachable polishing head, which is a flap wheel polishing head or a cloth wheel polishing head.

[0013] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: 1. By integrating flaring, necking, cutting, chamfering, and polishing devices onto a three-axis moving platform and working in conjunction with the spindle device, a one-stop automated processing system is achieved for the entire process from plastic forming to surface finishing. This completely eliminates the transfer and repeated clamping between processes, greatly improves efficiency, and ensures extremely high coaxiality and processing consistency.

[0014] 2. By designing the clamping mold, the concentrated force of the spindle jaws is transformed into a uniformly distributed clamping force, which perfectly avoids the crushing and deformation of thin-walled corrugated pipes during the clamping process and protects the integrity of the product.

[0015] 3. By adding a preheating device, the plasticity of the material during processing is improved, which fundamentally and significantly reduces the risk of pipe opening cracking and wrinkling during the flaring and shrinking processes, ensuring the integrity of the formed surface and laying the foundation for subsequent high-quality polishing. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the pipe end processing equipment for the metal corrugated pipe of this utility model; Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the pipe end processing equipment for the metal corrugated pipe of this utility model; Figure 3 This is a top view of the three-axis mobile platform. Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the main spindle assembly, clamping mold, and bellows assembly; Figure 5 A cross-sectional view of the assembly of the clamping mold and the bellows. Figure 6 A cross-sectional view of the preheating assembly of the bellows and the annular induction coil in the preheating device.

[0017] In the diagram: 1. Cabinet; 2. Spindle assembly; 3. Three-axis moving platform; 4. Flaring device; 41. Elliptical flaring mold; 5. Shrinking device; 6. Shrinking device; 7. Chamfering device; 71. Chamfering drive mechanism; 72. Chamfering spindle; 73. Chamfering grinding wheel head; 8. Polishing device; 81. Polishing drive mechanism; 82. Polishing spindle; 83. Polishing head; 9. Clamping mold; 10. Preheating device; 101. Baking oven; 102. Circular induction coil; 11. Corrugated pipe; Detailed Implementation

[0018] The technical solutions of the present utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present utility model, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present utility model, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the protection scope of the present utility model.

[0019] See Figures 1 to 6 As shown, this utility model provides a technical solution: a metal corrugated pipe end processing equipment, including a cabinet 1, a spindle device 2, a three-axis moving platform 3, a flaring device 4, a reducing device 5, a cutting device 6, a chamfering device 7, and a polishing device 8. The spindle device 2 is fixedly installed at one end inside the cabinet 1, and its front end is equipped with grippers for clamping and driving the metal corrugated pipe 10 to rotate uniformly around its own axis. The three-axis moving platform 3 is disposed inside the cabinet 1 and arranged opposite to the spindle device 2. The three-axis moving platform is conventional technology, and its specific structure will not be described in detail. This three-axis moving platform 3 can move precisely in the X, Y, and Z directions. The flaring device 4, reducing device 5, cutting device 6, chamfering device 7, and polishing device 8 are mounted on the three-axis moving platform 3.

[0020] The flaring device 4 includes an elliptical flaring mold 41 with a flaring angle of 15° to 35°. It is used to flare the ends of the metal bellows 11. The shrinking device 5 includes an inner mandrel and an extrusion mold that mates with the mandrel. The inner mandrel is inserted into the end of the pipe, and the extrusion mold radially shrinks the flared end, forming a circular pipe body through the shrinking process. The extrusion mold is driven by a hydraulic or pneumatic drive to shrink the end of the pipe. By integrating the flaring device 4 and the shrinking device 5, which are used for the core forming process, onto the same three-axis moving platform 3 and positioned opposite the spindle device 2, two key plastic deformation processes can be completed on a single machine in a single clamping operation. This significantly reduces the transfer and waiting time between processes and improves processing efficiency. Since the workpiece rotates continuously after a single clamping operation, and only the three-axis moving platform 3 moves the mold, positioning errors caused by multiple clamping operations are avoided, ensuring the coaxiality of the flaring and shrinking processes, thereby guaranteeing product processing accuracy and consistency. It solves the problems of low processing efficiency, accumulated positioning errors, and low automation caused by the need for multiple machines, multiple clamping, and dispersed processes in the traditional metal corrugated pipe end processing.

[0021] The cutting device 6, chamfering device 7, and polishing device 8 are integrated onto a three-axis moving platform 3, forming a complete processing sequence with the flaring device 4 and the necking device 5. This achieves fully automated, one-stop processing from pipe end plastic forming, fixed-length cutting, edge treatment to surface finish treatment. All intermediate transfer links are completely eliminated, maximizing overall processing efficiency and ensuring consistent processing standards throughout, resulting in the highest final product precision.

[0022] Cutting device 6 can be a laser cutting device, a plasma cutting device, or a cutting device using high-speed rotating carbide cutting tools. It provides flexible cutting solutions for metal bellows of different materials and wall thicknesses, avoiding the limitations of a single cutting method. Laser / plasma cutting is suitable for high-hardness or thin-walled pipes, with minimal thermal deformation and high cutting speed; high-speed rotating carbide cutting tools are suitable for conventional pipes, offering lower cost and stable cut surface quality. This design gives the equipment strong material adaptability, meeting diverse production needs.

[0023] The chamfering device 7 includes a chamfering drive mechanism 71, a chamfering spindle 72, and a chamfering grinding wheel head 73. The chamfering drive mechanism 71 drives and connects to the chamfering spindle 72. The chamfering spindle 72 is equipped with a detachable chamfering grinding wheel head 73, which is an R-angle grinding wheel head or a C-angle grinding wheel head.

[0024] The polishing device 8 includes a polishing drive mechanism 81, a polishing spindle 82, and a polishing head 83. The polishing drive mechanism 81 drives and connects to the polishing spindle 82. The polishing spindle 82 is equipped with a detachable polishing head 83, which is either a flap wheel polishing head or a cloth wheel polishing head.

[0025] By employing a detachable chamfering grinding wheel head 73 and a detachable polishing head flap wheel or cloth wheel, a single machine can quickly switch processing techniques, easily achieving different standards of arc transition surfaces or bevels, as well as different grades of surface finish, greatly enhancing the equipment's versatility and market competitiveness.

[0026] The metal bellows end processing equipment in this embodiment also includes a clamping mold 9, which includes two semi-circular clamps 91 arranged in half. The two semi-circular clamps 91 are used to clamp the clamping end of the metal bellows 11. The inner surface shape of the semi-circular clamps 91 is adapted to the outer surface shape of the clamping end of the metal bellows 11. The clamping mold 9 can be transferred as a whole and clamped and fixed by the jaws of the spindle device 2. The semi-circular clamps 91 convert the concentrated clamping force of the spindle into a large-area, evenly distributed clamping force, effectively avoiding damage to the outer wall of the clamping end of the bellows by the clamping force, ensuring the integrity of the product's appearance and structural strength. The adapted inner surface of the clamps fully contacts the outer wall of the clamping end of the bellows, providing more stable and precise positioning, while reducing vibration and fretting during processing, further improving processing accuracy. This solves the problem that when the metal bellows is hollow and thin-walled, the clamping force can easily cause indentation, denting, or irreversible deformation of the pipe wall when directly clamped by the spindle device.

[0027] like Figure 6 As shown, the metal corrugated pipe end processing equipment in this embodiment also includes a preheating device 10. The preheating device 10 is disposed on the periphery of the processing equipment or on the three-axis moving platform 3 and before the flaring device 4. In this embodiment, it is preferred that the preheating device 10 is disposed on the periphery of the equipment. The preheating device 10 includes a baking oven 101, a ring induction coil 102, a temperature sensor, and a controller. The ring induction coil 102 is arranged inside the baking oven 101 and is sleeved around the end of the metal corrugated pipe to be processed. The temperature sensor is used to monitor the surface temperature of the heated pipe end in real time. The controller dynamically adjusts the output power of the preheating device according to the signal fed back by the temperature sensor. It should be noted that the baking oven 101 has an opening larger than the outer diameter of the corrugated pipe 11 for the end of the corrugated pipe 11 to be processed to be connected. In addition, the ring induction coil 102 is fixedly arranged inside the baking oven 101. The ring induction coil 102 is made of copper tube wound around itself, and its inner diameter after winding is larger than the outer diameter of the end of the metal corrugated pipe 11 to be processed. The radial gap between the two is 5 mm to 10 mm.

[0028] Before the flaring process, the end of the metal corrugated pipe 11 to be processed is preheated. The preheating temperature is controlled between 150℃ and 300℃, and the preheating time is between 15s and 60s, adjusted according to the temperature. The core purpose of preheating is to change the physical properties of the metal material at the moment of processing, especially its plastic deformation capacity. Specifically: metals, especially some stainless steels or high carbon steels, have high hardness and high yield strength at room temperature. Preheating softens them, making them more prone to plastic deformation. The ductility of the heated metal increases significantly, making it more "tough" and able to withstand greater forces without cracking. The effects of preheating: During the intense plastic deformation of flaring and necking, cold, brittle metals are prone to microcracks or macrocracks at stress concentration points. At the same time, during necking, the pipe wall may wrinkle due to pressure instability. After preheating, the material exhibits excellent plasticity, flowing smoothly like dough to follow the mold shape rather than tearing or folding. This significantly reduces or even eliminates the risk of cracking and wrinkling at the nozzle during flaring and shrinking processes. This is the effect of the preheating step. As the material softens, the required flaring and shrinking forces decrease dramatically. This reduces the tonnage requirements of the processing equipment, decreases mold wear, extends the lifespan of the mold and equipment, and lowers production costs. If microcracks or wrinkles exist on the nozzle surface, these problems will be amplified during polishing, making it impossible to achieve a mirror-like surface. Because preheating ensures the integrity of the formed surface (no cracks, no wrinkles) from the source, it provides a good foundation for subsequent polishing. This makes polishing easier, achieves a higher level of smoothness, and reduces the amount of polishing materials and time required.

[0029] The working process of the pipe end processing equipment for this utility model of metal corrugated pipe is as follows: S1. Pre-clamping: The robotic arm uses the clamping mold 9 to grip the clamping end of the metal bellows 11, and then transfers the entire clamping mold 9 to the preheating device 10 station. S2. Preheating: Connect the end of the corrugated pipe 11 to be processed into the oven 101, start preheating to the set temperature, and use the ring induction coil 102 to generate heat to preheat the end of the corrugated pipe 11 to be processed. S3. Clamping: After preheating, the robot transfers the bellows 11 to the spindle device 2, and the grippers of the spindle device 2 clamp and fix the clamping mold 9. The spindle device 2 drives the metal bellows to rotate at a constant speed around its axis. S4. Flaring: After clamping, the three-axis moving platform 3 moves the elliptical flaring mold 41 on the flaring device 4 to the pipe opening position, radially expanding the corrugated pipe opening to form a flared shape. The elliptical flaring mold 41 is inserted into the corrugated pipe opening to make the inner diameter of the pipe opening standard and flat, while also facilitating the easy insertion of the inner mandrel of the entire pipe opening in the next step. S5. Narrowing: After the flaring is completed, the three-axis moving platform 3 moves the narrowing device 5, the mandrel is inserted into the tube opening to ensure the inner diameter of the tube opening after narrowing, and the extrusion die performs radial extrusion and shrinking on the flared tube opening, so that the outer tube body is formed into a round tube body through the narrowing process. S6. Cutting: After the tube is narrowed, the three-axis moving platform 3 moves the cutting device 6 to the end of the tube and performs a fixed-length cut. S7. Chamfering: After cutting, the three-axis moving platform 3 moves the chamfering device 7 to the pipe opening and replaces the appropriate chamfering head to perform rounded or beveled chamfering on the inner and outer edges. S8. Polishing: After chamfering is completed, the three-axis moving platform 3 moves the polishing device 8 to the pipe opening, and replaces the appropriate polishing head to polish the inner and outer surfaces to obtain the target surface finish. After all processes are completed, the equipment is reset, and the processed workpiece is removed.

Claims

1. A device for processing the end of a metal corrugated pipe, comprising a cabinet (1), characterized in that, It also includes a spindle device (2) set on the cabinet (1) and a three-axis moving platform (3) set opposite to the spindle device (2). The three-axis moving platform (3) is provided with a flaring device (4) and a shrinking device (5). The flaring device (4) includes an elliptical flaring mold for flaring the metal corrugated pipe opening. The shrinking device (5) includes an inner core rod and an extrusion mold that cooperates with the inner core rod. The inner core rod is inserted into the pipe opening, and the extrusion mold performs radial extrusion shrinkage on the flared pipe opening, so that the outer expanded pipe body is formed into a circular pipe body through the shrinking process.

2. The pipe end processing equipment for metal corrugated pipes according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a clamping mold (9), which includes a semi-circular clamp (91) arranged in half. The two semi-circular clamps (91) are used to hold the clamping end of the metal bellows. The inner side shape of the semi-circular clamp (91) is adapted to the outer side shape of the clamping end of the metal bellows. The clamping mold (9) can be transferred as a whole and clamped and fixed by the jaws of the spindle device (2).

3. The pipe end processing equipment for metal corrugated pipes according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a preheating device (10), which is set on the periphery of the processing equipment or on the three-axis moving platform (3) and in front of the flaring device (4). The preheating device (10) includes a baking oven (101), a ring induction coil (102), a temperature sensor and a controller. The ring induction coil (102) is arranged inside the baking oven (101). The ring induction coil (102) is sleeved on the periphery of the end of the metal corrugated pipe to be processed to preheat the end of the processing. The temperature sensor is used to monitor the surface temperature of the heated pipe in real time. The controller dynamically adjusts the output power of the preheating device according to the signal fed back by the temperature sensor.

4. The pipe end processing equipment for metal corrugated pipes according to claim 1, characterized in that, The flaring angle of the elliptical flaring mold is 15° to 35°.

5. The pipe end processing equipment for metal corrugated pipes according to claim 1, characterized in that, The three-axis moving platform (3) is also equipped with a cutting device (6), a chamfering device (7) and a polishing device (8).

6. The pipe end processing equipment for metal corrugated pipes according to claim 5, characterized in that, The cutting device (6) is a laser cutting device, a plasma cutting device, or a cutting device using a high-speed rotating carbide tool.

7. The pipe end processing equipment for metal corrugated pipes according to claim 5, characterized in that, The chamfering device (7) includes a chamfering drive mechanism (71), a chamfering spindle (72), and a chamfering grinding wheel head (73). The chamfering drive mechanism (71) drives and connects to the chamfering spindle (72). The chamfering spindle (72) is provided with a detachable chamfering grinding wheel head (73). The chamfering grinding wheel head (73) is an R-angle grinding wheel head or a C-angle grinding wheel head.

8. The pipe end processing equipment for metal corrugated pipes according to claim 5, characterized in that, The polishing device (8) includes a polishing drive mechanism (81), a polishing spindle (82), and a polishing head (83). The polishing drive mechanism (81) drives and connects to the polishing spindle (82). The polishing spindle (82) is provided with a detachable polishing head (83), which is a flap wheel polishing head or a cloth wheel polishing head.

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