METHOD FOR JOINING EDGES AND / OR SURFACES OF A PROFILE AND PROFILING MACHINE

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a method for joining edges and / or surfaces of a profile in a profiling system for longitudinally forming a quasi-endless material strip or profile into an at least partially closed profile shape according to the preamble of claim 1. The invention also relates to a profiling system according to the preamble of claim 9.

[0002] In a method of this type, a material strip, a blank, or a profile is formed into a self-contained or partially closed profile shape in a profiling system using a plurality of roll forming tools. This profile shape is then fixed in a joining zone of the profiling system by a joining process, such as, in particular, welding, soldering, gluing, or folding, along the longitudinal passage of the profile, forming a longitudinal joining seam. In the joining zone, the profile passes through a joining roller arrangement in order to feed the profile to a joining point in a controlled manner and, in particular, to stabilize it at the joining point and / or to ensure that the profile is dimensionally stable during and after joining. The aim is to form a stable joining seam.

[0003] A profiling system of this type is used in this process and contains a plurality of roll forming tools for successively forming the material strip, profile, or blank into a self-contained or partially closed profile shape. It also has a joining device in a joining zone for fixing the self-contained or partially closed profile at a joining point by a joining process, such as, in particular, welding, soldering, gluing, or folding, during the longitudinal passage of the profile, thereby forming a longitudinal connecting seam. A joining roller arrangement is located in the joining zone for feeding the profile to the joining point in a controlled manner and, in particular, for stabilizing it at the joining point and / or ensuring that the profile is dimensionally accurate during and after joining.

[0004] A roll forming machine typically produces virtually endless profiles of various cross-sectional shapes from a metal strip, whereby the term "profile" here also includes tubes. Depending on the profile shape, a variety of roll forming tools are used. These are grouped into typically 20 to 30 forming stations arranged in a line, successively forming the desired metal profile using step-by-step cold forming. The starting material is usually a metal strip, but it can also be blanks or pre-formed starting profiles, which are then formed into the desired profile in the roll forming machine.

[0005] When tubes or closed profiles, or even partially closed profiles, are manufactured in a profiling system, the edges and / or surfaces of the profile that come to lie lengthwise against or on top of each other when the profile shape is closed must be joined in a joining zone. All kinds of joining processes are used for this purpose, particularly welding, soldering, and gluing as material-to-material joining processes, but also folding, flanging, and the like as form-fitting joining processes. In this process, a longitudinal joining seam is created during the longitudinal passage of the profile, which fixes the profile shape.

[0006] In such a joining zone, there is usually a joining roller arrangement, as proposed, for example, in FR-A-2 460 745 or JP-AH 01 170524. This allows the profile to be fed to a joining point in a controlled manner and, in particular, stabilized at the joining point.

[0007] Joining roller arrangements for a process and a profiling system of this type are usually geometrically monitored, with the position of the individual joining rollers being adjusted manually or by motor. The assessment of the correctness of the roller position and, in particular, its fine-tuning is the responsibility of the profiling system operators, and the quality of the results, as well as any necessary readjustment of the roller positions during operation, generally correlate with the experience of the responsible operators.

[0008] It is clear that the reproducibility of results and the assurance of quality, which depend on the experience of the operators, often require optimization. In addition, operators who have extensive experience in setting up and readjusting the joining roll arrangements are usually not available on-site when the process parameters change due to changes in the quantity and quality of the profile materials as well as changes in the process environment.

[0009] If the arrangement or positions of the joining rollers are incorrect, poor work results can occur, for example due to the joining seam breaking open again after the joining zone or due to deformation of the profile to be joined, even to the point of crushing the profile geometry.

[0010] The invention is therefore based on the object of proposing a method for joining edges and / or surfaces of a profile in a profiling system and a profiling system of the type mentioned at the outset, with which a high-quality joining seam can be produced as largely independently as possible of the experience and skills of the operators.

[0011] This object is achieved by a method having the features of claim 1 and by a profiling system having the features of claim 9.

[0012] Preferred developments of the method according to the invention can be found in claims 2 to 8. A preferred embodiment of the profiling system according to the invention is set out in claim 10.

[0013] The method according to the invention, in which the material strip, the blank or the profile is formed in the profiling system by means of a plurality of roll forming tools into a self-contained or partially closed profile shape and this profile shape is fixed in a joining zone of the profiling system by a joining process in the longitudinal passage of the profile to form a longitudinal joining seam, wherein the profile in the joining zone passes through a joining roller arrangement in order to feed the profile to a joining point in a controlled manner and in particular to stabilize it at the joining point and / or to ensure that the profile is dimensionally accurate during and after joining, is thus designed in such a way that forces or amounts of force components are recorded in the joining zone which act on the profile by at least one of the joining rollers.

[0014] The profiling system according to the invention, which has a plurality of roll forming tools for successively forming the material strip or profile or the blank into a self-contained or partially closed profile shape, and is provided with a joining device in a joining zone in order to fix the self-contained or partially closed profile at a joining point by a joining process in the longitudinal passage of the profile to form a longitudinal connecting seam, wherein a joining roller arrangement is provided in order to feed the profile to the joining point in a controlled manner and in particular to stabilize it at the joining point and / or to ensure that the profile is dimensionally accurate during and after joining, is designed such that the joining roller arrangement interacts with at least one measuring sensor in order to detect forces or amounts of force components which act on the profile by at least one of the joining rollers.

[0015] The present invention is therefore based on the realization that the quality and success of the joining operation are not primarily determined by the position of the joining rollers in the joining roller arrangement, but rather by the pressure exerted on the profile, which results from the geometric adjustment or position of the joining rollers. Depending on the joining process, it is also crucial, as recognized by the invention, how the holding pressure is distributed in a stabilization zone behind the actual joining point, which acts on the freshly joined profile. If the pressure is insufficient locally or overall, the joining partners are not sufficiently pressed together, and the joint seam can break open again. If the pressure on the profile is too high, there is a risk of deformation of the profile and crushing of the actual profile geometry, as well as a poor joining result.

[0016] The present invention is based on the principle of monitoring and controlling the process forces acting on the joining rollers during and after joining. The process forces are intended to correlate with the contact pressures acting on the profile in the joining zone.

[0017] By shifting the focus away from the position of the joining rollers and focusing on the forces acting on the profile by the joining rollers, which are measured in such a way that they correlate with contact pressures acting on the profile, it becomes possible to automate the joining process and, in particular, to make it independent of the experience of the operators by providing even inexperienced operators with the parameters with which they can optimize the positioning of the joining roller arrangement.

[0018] The present invention is also based on the finding that, particularly in the case of material-to-material joining processes such as welding and gluing, it is also crucial for the quality and durability of the joint that the geometric arrangement or the position of the joining rollers is also correct in a stabilization zone behind the joint, in which the joint is cooled or hardened in a controlled manner and only then does it achieve the necessary quality and durability.

[0019] According to the invention, the profile passes through a stabilization zone within the joining zone after the joint to stabilize the joint seam by cooling and / or hardening. This is particularly essential for material-to-material joining processes such as welding and bonding. Part of the joining roller arrangement serves to stabilize the profile in the stabilization zone, and according to the invention, forces acting on the profile by at least one of the joining rollers in the stabilization zone are detected.

[0020] In this way, the invention implements the finding that not only the contact pressure acting on the profile at the actual joint is decisive for the work result, but also the contact pressures in a downstream stabilization zone in which the connecting seam cools and / or hardens and only thereby obtains its strength.

[0021] According to a preferred development of the method according to the invention, the contact pressures acting on the profile by at least some of the joining rollers in at least one spatial direction are determined by detecting the forces acting on the profile at the joining point and / or within the joining zone. Thus, the method directly provides the parameter that, as recognized by the invention, is ultimately crucial for the quality of the joining process.

[0022] The contact pressures acting on the profile in the joining zone can be at least partially regulated on the basis of the forces or force components detected according to the invention by adjusting at least one joining roller in the joining roller arrangement, which not only enables the adjustment of the joining roller arrangement to be automated, but also allows automatic detection and, if necessary, adjustment to be carried out if, for example, the quality of the material of the profile or its geometry or quantity, in particular the material thickness or material width, changes.

[0023] Preferably, the contact pressures exerted by the joining rollers on the profile are regulated at the joint and / or behind the joint in order to ensure the quality of the work result.

[0024] For the contact pressure control carried out within the scope of this preferred development of the method according to the invention, other process parameters, in particular the actual positions of the profile areas to be joined, or the positions of the joining rollers or any additional holding rollers or structures present, can also be taken into account. This requires sensors to detect the positions, but this effort can be justified, as this allows the work results to be optimized depending on the profile shape.

[0025] According to a further preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, when setting up the joining roller arrangement, specifications for the contact pressures and / or forces acting on the profile in the joining zone can be used as target values. This can support even less experienced operators and enable them to set up the joining roller arrangement in such a way that a good joining result is achieved.

[0026] In order to detect changes in the process conditions and at least issue a warning when changes are detected, the method according to the invention can continuously record the forces acting on the profile by at least one of the joining rollers in the joining roller arrangement. Such a warning prevents the production of rejects, even if there is no experienced operator on site who can react quickly and appropriately to a change in the process conditions, or if a change in the process conditions is not readily recognizable.

[0027] Finally, as a further advantageous embodiment of the method according to the invention, target values ​​for forces acting on the profile in the joining zone can be continuously optimized with the aid of machine learning algorithms. It is particularly advantageous if these algorithms contain access to further information that is recorded upstream or downstream in the process. Upstream, this could, for example, be the recording of the width of the fed sheet metal strip. Downstream, quality assurance systems can be used, for example. Examples of such systems are eddy current measuring devices for assessing weld seams, optical measuring devices for measuring joints (e.g., to detect seam collapse or weld reinforcement), or geometric measuring systems for recording the profile cross-section.The machine learning algorithms can correlate the quality characteristics thus recorded with the process variables recorded in the joining zone, adjust them, and continuously adapt and optimize the underlying control laws.

[0028] The profiling system according to the invention can be further developed within the scope of the present invention in that at least one joining roller of the joining roller arrangement is motor-adjustable, with a controller being operatively connected to the joining roller arrangement and the transducer in order to at least partially regulate the contact pressures acting on the profile in the joining zone based on the detected forces by adjusting at least one joining roller in the joining roller arrangement. This results in the advantages and effects already described for the method according to the invention.

[0029] Exemplary embodiments of a profiling system, based on which an exemplary method according to the present invention is also described, are explained below with reference to the accompanying drawings. They show: Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of a profiling system which is or can be designed according to the invention; Figure 2 shows a schematic representation of a joining roller arrangement designed according to the invention, during the process; Figure 3 shows a schematic representation of a joining roller arrangement designed according to the invention with corresponding holding structures in the profiling system; Figure 4 shows a schematic representation of a process example for material-locking joining in a joining roller arrangement according to the invention; Figure 5 shows a schematic representation of a process example for form-locking joining in a joining roller arrangement designed according to the invention; Figure 6 shows a schematic representation of how Figure 2, however, a combined joining roller arrangement and flat joining arrangement; Figure 7 a plan view of the joining roller arrangement according to Figure 3 , but modified by providing a planar joining arrangement in the form of a chain-like structure.

[0030] Figure 1shows a profiling system in a schematic side view. In this system, a virtually endless metal material strip 1 is successively formed into a profile by means of a plurality of roll forming tools 2, which in this case are grouped into 16 forming stations 3. For this purpose, the material strip 1 is unwound from a coil 5 on a reel 4, guided through a straightening machine 6 and a loop 7, before being continuously and successively formed lengthwise into the desired profile shape in the forming stations 3. Following the 16 forming stations 3, the material strip 1, or the profile which has then already been formed into a closed profile shape, passes through a joining zone 8. In this joining zone 8 there is a welding device 9 which closes the profile by welding at a joint 10.In the joining zone 8, around and downstream of the joint 10, there is at least part of a joining roller arrangement 11 - shown only schematically here - to ensure that the weld seam is joined under controlled conditions and can harden in a controlled manner on the closed profile 14. The material strip 1 or the finished closed profile 14 then passes through two further forming stations, which function as calibration stations 12, before being cut into individual hollow profiles of the desired length in a cutting station with a traveling cutting machine 13.

[0031] Figure 2shows a schematic representation of the joining roller arrangement 11 from Figure 1, which is arranged in and downstream of the welding device 9. At this point, it should be noted that it is also within the scope of the present invention if the joining roller arrangement 11 is positioned directly at the joining point 10, depending on the joining method, or can be arranged not only downstream of the joining point 10, but also extending beyond the joining point 10.

[0032] The material strip 1, which has already been formed into a profile 14 with a closed profile shape, is Figure 2The joining roller arrangement 11 shown is guided between three pairs of joining rollers 15. On the upper side of the profile 14, a joining seam 16 can be seen, which was created by the welding device 9. This joining seam 16 must first cool down and solidify before it is stable. During the time required for this process, the profile is guided between the joining rollers 15 in such a way that the joining seam 16 can neither open nor be subjected to excessive pressure. For this purpose, the joining rollers 15 can be adjusted towards and away from the profile 14, as indicated by double arrows 17. According to the invention, the joining rollers 15 are monitored by force sensors, preferably on an adjustment mechanism (not shown), in order to record the forces exerted by the joining rollers 15 on the profile - at least those force components that contribute significantly to loading or unloading the joining seam 16.

[0033] The reference symbol 10 in brackets indicates a possible joining point 10 here, since this can also be located between the first pair of joining rollers 15, ie the laser beam of the welding device 9 acts on the profile 14 at this joining point 10 and in this respect the joining roller arrangement 11, unlike in Figure 1 shown, extends over the entire joining zone 8, i.e. is also present at the joining point 10.

[0034] Figure 3 shows in a less schematic representation with some details an alternative embodiment of the joining roller arrangement 11. The profile 14 is here again stabilized between two pairs of vertically oriented cylindrical joining rollers 15, with two further joining rollers 18 acting on the two upper edges of the profile 14, which has an approximately rectangular cross-section, in order to be able to cure the joining seam 16 even better under controlled conditions.

[0035] The details in Figure 3 are intended to illustrate the adjustment mechanism for the adjustable joining rollers 15, 18: The position of each individual joining roller 15, 18 can be changed via holding plates 19, spindles 20 and motor- or manually operated adjustment wheels. The other joining rollers 18 can, as Figure 3 suggests, can be adjusted both vertically and horizontally.

[0036] The force sensors or transducers required for the inventive detection of forces or magnitudes of force components in the joining zone can be mounted at various locations on the adjustment mechanism, for example, on the holding plates 19, the adjustment wheels 21, the axes of the joining rollers 15, the spindles 20, in transverse guides, and the like. The evaluation of the current signals from optionally available adjustment motors can also be used to evaluate the forces or force components.

[0037] Figure 4shows in a very schematic representation the basic structure of the joining roller arrangement 11 from Figure 3 The profile 14 with the joining seam 16 is held in a defined state between the adjustable joining rollers 15 and the likewise adjustable further joining rollers 18, which act on the upper edges of the profile 14, and the positions of the joining rollers 15, 18 are selected - according to the invention by means of monitoring forces and force components - and are adjusted or regulated if necessary in such a way that the joining seam 16, which is a weld seam here, can harden under controlled and reproducible conditions.

[0038] Figure 5 shows a schematic representation of how Figure 4, but of a different embodiment: The profile 14 here is a tube with a substantially circular cross-section, and the joint seam 16 is not produced by welding, but by folding and, if necessary, subsequent soldering. The folding is carried out by means of two specially designed joining rollers 15, i.e., in this case, the joint 10 is shown in cross-section. The two joining rollers 15 can be adjusted towards and away from each other in order to form the joint seam 16 by more or less extensive deformation of the profile 14 at this point.

[0039] According to the invention, the forces exerted by the joining rollers 15 on the profile 14 at the joining seam 16 are again recorded, so that the joining rollers 15 can always be positioned in such a way that the joining seam 16 is neither subjected to too little nor too much forming force. The corresponding forces or force components can be recorded quite simply, for example, using transducers on the shafts or axles (not shown) of the joining rollers 15.

[0040] Figure 6 shows a further embodiment of a controlled curing of the joining seam 16 in the profile 14 according to the invention, based on a representation which is largely identical with Figure 2 Accordingly, identical elements are provided with identical reference numerals.

[0041] The profile 14 with the freshly produced joining seam 16 by welding passes through three pairs of joining rollers 16, each of which is adjustable in its relative position to the profile 14, and the profile 14 is held or transported between these pairs of joining rollers 15 with forces monitored according to the invention, which act on the profile 14 and in particular on the joining seam 16. A conveyor belt-like, chain-like structure 23 is wound around the joining rollers 15 on each side of the profile 14, so that the joining roller arrangement 11 ultimately results in a flat joining arrangement 22. This is because the chain-like structure 23 distributes the forces acting on the profile 14 from the joining rollers 15, which in the exemplary embodiment according to Figure 2are transferred to a surface via a linear contact, which treats a profile 14 with sensitive material, such as aluminum, or with a sensitive surface more gently. The forces ultimately acting on the joining seam 16 can also be distributed more evenly in the planar joining arrangement 22 by means of the chain-like structure 23.

[0042] Figure 7 finally shows in a schematic plan view a joining roller arrangement 11 according to Figure 3 , however, a flat joining arrangement 22 has also been combined downstream of the further joining rollers 18. This flat joining arrangement 22 is in turn formed from joining rollers 15, which are wrapped with a chain-like structure 23 in the sense of the track of a tracked vehicle, in this case to protect sensitive surfaces of the profile 14 (not shown here) and to distribute the holding pressure on the profile 14 as evenly as possible when the joining seam 16 hardens.

[0043] The Figure 7 The two joining rollers 15 shown on the left are responsible for feeding the profile 14 to the joining point 10, which is located between the other joining rollers 18. The curing of the joining seam 16 then takes place in a stabilization zone 24, in which the profile 14 is held and guided by the planar joining arrangement 22 and can cure under controlled conditions - according to the invention by monitoring the forces exerted by the planar joining arrangement 22. List of reference symbols:

[0044] 1Material strip 2Roll forming tools 3Forming stations 4Reel 5Coil 6Straightening machine 7Loop 8Joining zone 9Welding device 10Joining point 11Joining roller arrangement 12Calibrating stations 13Cutting machine 14Profile 15Joining rollers 16Joining seam 17Double arrows 18Joining rollers (other) 19Holding plates 20Spindles 21Adjusting wheels 22Flat joining arrangement 23Chain-like structure 24Stabilization zone

Claims

1. Method for joining edges and / or surfaces of a profile (14) in a profiling installation for longitudinally forming a virtually endless material strip (1) or profile or a plate into an at least partially closed profile shape, wherein the material strip (1) or profile or the plate is formed in the profiling installation by means of a plurality of roll forming tools (2) into a profile (14) which is closed per se or is partially closed, and said profile (14) is secured in a joining zone (8) of the profiling installation by a joining method, such as, in particular, welding, brazing, adhesive bonding or folding, during a longitudinal pass of the profile (14), with a longitudinally running joining seam (16) being formed, wherein the profile (14) passes in the joining zone (8) through a joining roller arrangement (11), which has joining rollers (15, 18), in order to feed the profile (14) in a controlled manner to a joining point (10) and to stabilize said profile in particular at and / or downstream of the joining point (10), and / or to ensure that the profile (14) is dimensionally stable during and after joining, wherein forces or magnitudes of force components which act on the profile (14) from at least one of the joining rollers (15, 18) are detected in the joining zone (8), characterized in that the profile (14), after the joining point (10), passes through a stabilization zone (24) within the joining zone in order to stabilize the connecting seam by cooling and / or curing, wherein at least a part of the joining roller arrangement (11) serves for stabilizing the profile (14) in the stabilization zone (24), and wherein forces which act on the profile (14) from at least one of the joining rollers (15) in the stabilization zone (24) are detected.

2. Method according to claim 1, wherein, by detecting forces acting on the profile at the joining point (10) and / or within the joining zone (8), the contact pressures acting on the profile (14) in at least one spatial direction from at least a part of the joining rollers (15) are determined.

3. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein the contact pressures acting on the profile (14) in the joining zone (8) are at least partially regulated on the basis of the detected forces or force components by adjusting at least one joining roller (15) in the joining roller arrangement (11), and wherein preferably the contact pressures acting on the profile at the joining point (10) and / or behind the joining point (10) from the joining rollers (15) are regulated.

4. Method according to claim 3, wherein, for the regulation of the contact pressures, further process parameters, in particular the actual positions of the regions of the profile (14) that are to be joined and the roller positions, are taken into consideration.

5. Method according to at least one of claims 1 to 4, wherein specifications for contact pressures and / or forces acting on the profile (14) in the joining zone (8) are used as target values for setting up the joining roller arrangement (21).

6. Method according to at least one of claims 1 to 5, wherein forces are detected continuously in the joining roller arrangement (11), said forces acting on the profile (14) from at least one of the joining rollers (15), in order to identify changes in the process conditions and to output a warning indication when changes are identified.

7. Method according to at least one of claims 1 to 6, wherein, after the joining zone (8), the quality of the joining seam and / or of the component is detected and / or controlled.

8. Method according to at least one of claims 1 to 7, wherein target values for forces acting on the profile (14) in the joining zone (8) are optimized continuously and using machine learning algorithms.

9. Profiling installation for longitudinally forming a virtually endless material strip (1) or profile or a plate into an at least partially closed profile shape, with a plurality of roll forming tools (2) for successively forming the material strip (1) or profile into a profile (14) which is closed per se or partially closed, with a joining device in a joining zone (8) in order to secure the profile (14), which is closed per se or is partially closed at a joining point (10), by a joining method, such as in particular welding, brazing, adhesive bonding or folding during a longitudinal pass of the profile (14), with a longitudinally running joining seam (16) being formed, and with a joining roller arrangement (11) which has joining rollers (15, 18) in order to feed the profile (14) in a controlled manner to the joining point (10) and to stabilize said profile in particular at and / or downstream of the joining point (10), and / or to ensure that the profile (14) is dimensionally stable during and after joining, wherein the joining roller arrangement (11) interacts with at least one measurement transducer in order to detect forces or magnitudes of force components which act on the profile (14) from at least one of the joining rollers (15), characterized in that the profile (14), after the joining point (10), passes through a stabilization zone (24) within the joining zone in order to stabilize the connecting seam by cooling and / or curing, wherein at least a part of the joining roller arrangement (11) serves for stabilizing the profile (14) in the stabilization zone (24), and wherein forces which act on the profile (14) from at least one of the joining rollers (15) in the stabilization zone (24) are detected.

10. Profiling installation according to claim 9, wherein at least one joining roller (15) of the joining roller arrangement (11) is adjustable by motor, and wherein a controller is operatively connected to the joining roller arrangement (11) and to the measurement transducer in order to at least partially regulate the contact pressures acting on the profile (14) in the joining zone (8) on the basis of the detected forces by adjusting at least one joining roller (15) in the joining roller arrangement (11).