Friction stir welding device

Abstract

To provide a friction stir welding device which can inhibit damage of a guide member caused by external force from a friction stir welding unit in joint work.SOLUTION: A friction stir welding device 1 includes: a joint tool 3 for joining a workpiece 50; and a guide member 20. The joint tool 3 includes a main part 5 and a bearing 10. The guide member 20 includes a fixed part 21 and a movable part 25. The fixed part 21 is formed with a work space 30 which is defined by an inner wall 22 of the fixed part 21 and the joint tool 3 is disposed in the work space 30. The work space 30 is divided into a first space 32 and a second space 33 by the movable part 25. The movable part 25 may move in an arrangement direction of the first space 32 and the second space 33 and has an outer wall 27. The joint tool 3 moves along the inner wall 22 and the outer wall 27.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a friction stir welding apparatus. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2023-63788 discloses a friction stir welding apparatus including a robot arm, a friction stir welding unit, and a guide member fixed to a workpiece mounting table. The friction stir welding unit has a housing, a ball bearing provided in the housing, and a welding tool. The ball bearing provided in the housing moves along the guide member, causing the welding tool to move along a specified trajectory on the workpiece and weld the workpiece. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-63788 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the friction stir welding apparatus disclosed in JP 2023-63788 A, when the welding lines are close to each other, measures such as thinning the thickness of the guide members are required to prevent interference between the guide members, which may result in damage to the guide members due to external forces from the friction stir welding unit during welding work.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to provide a friction stir welding apparatus that can suppress damage to a guide member due to external force from a friction stir welding unit during welding operations. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A friction stir welding apparatus according to a first aspect of the present disclosure includes a welding tool for welding workpieces and a guide member. The welding tool includes a main body and a bearing. The main body has a shoulder and a probe connected to a tip of the shoulder. The bearing is inserted into the shoulder. The guide member includes a fixed part and a movable part. The fixed part defines a working space in which the welding tool is disposed, the working space being defined by an inner wall of the fixed part. The working space is partitioned by the movable part into a first space and a second space. The movable part is movable in an arrangement direction of the first space and the second space and has an outer wall. The welding tool moves along the inner wall and the outer wall. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the friction stir welding apparatus according to the present disclosure, damage to the guide member due to an external force from the friction stir welding unit can be suppressed during welding work. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a friction stir welding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1 is a plan view of a friction stir welding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will not be repeated.

[0010] 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a friction stir welding apparatus according to the present embodiment. The friction stir welding apparatus 1 includes a robot arm (not shown in FIG. 1), a friction stir welding unit 2, a welding tool 3, and a guide member 20.

[0011] The friction stir welding unit 2 is connected to the tip of a robot arm (not shown) and has a drive motor (not shown) and a tool holder (not shown).

[0012] The welding tool 3 is connected to the friction stir welding unit 2. More specifically, the welding tool 3 is held by a tool holder of the friction stir welding unit 2. The welding tool 3 includes a main body 5 and a bearing 10.

[0013] The main body 5 has a shoulder 6 and a probe 7. The shoulder 6 is formed to extend in the vertical direction H. The probe 7 is connected to one end surface 8 of the end surfaces of the shoulder 6 arranged in the vertical direction.

[0014] The bearing 10 is formed in an annular shape and is, for example, a known ball bearing or roller bearing. The bearing 10 is inserted into the shoulder portion 6 of the main body portion 5 and fixed to the shoulder portion 6.

[0015] The guide member 20 is placed on the workpiece 50. The guide member 20 is fixed to the workpiece 50 by a fixing device 55 such as a clamp. The guide member 20 has a fixed portion 21 and a movable portion 25.

[0016] 2 shows a plan view of the guide member according to this embodiment. When the fixed portion 21 is viewed from a position spaced apart from the guide member 20 in the vertical direction H, the fixed portion 21 is formed in a plate shape, and a working space 30 is formed therein.

[0017] The working space 30 is defined by the inner wall 22 of the fixed part 21. The working space 30 includes a main space 31 and a pair of guide spaces 34.

[0018] The main space 31 includes a first space 32 and a second space 33. The first space 32 and the second space 33 are spaces formed by dividing the main space 31 by the movable part 25. The first space 32 and the second space 33 are arranged in a row in the longitudinal direction L.

[0019] The pair of guide spaces 34 are spaces formed to protrude from the main space 31 in the longitudinal direction L, and are arranged with a gap in the width direction W between them, sandwiching the main space 31 therebetween.

[0020] The movable portion 25 has a main portion 26 and a pair of protrusions 28 . The main portion 26 is formed to extend in the longitudinal direction L. The main portion 26 is formed to have the same length as the width direction of the main space 31. The main portion 26 has outer walls 27 arranged in the width direction. The outer walls 27 are formed in a shape that follows a joining line 60. The joining line 60 is the trajectory along which the joining tool 3 moves in the process of joining the workpieces 50.

[0021] Each of the pair of protrusions 28 is formed to protrude from the main portion 26 in the width direction W and extend in the width direction W. The length of the protrusions 28 in the width direction W is formed to be the same as the length of the guide space 34 in the width direction W.

[0022] The movable part 25 is disposed in the working space 30. At this time, each of the pair of protrusions 28 of the movable part 25 is disposed in the guide space 34. As a result, the movement of the movable part 25 is restricted along the guide space 34 in the arrangement direction of the first space 32 and the second space 33, i.e., in the longitudinal direction L.

[0023] Here, a process for joining the workpiece 50 using the friction stir welding apparatus 1 in the above embodiment will be described.

[0024] Referring again to FIG. 1 , the workpiece 50 is prepared. The workpiece 50 is formed of a first base material 51 and a second base material 52 stacked in the vertical direction H. Next, the guide member 20 is placed on the workpiece 50. The guide member 20 is placed taking into consideration the positional relationship between the weld line 60 of the workpiece 50 and the inner wall 22 of the guide member 20. It is preferable that a tool pin be provided in advance to position the workpiece 50 and the guide member 20. After positioning, the workpiece 50, the guide member 20, and a workbench (not shown) on which the workpiece is placed are fixed with a fixing fixture 55 so that the positional relationship between the workpiece 50, the guide member 20, and the robot (not shown) does not change due to external forces.

[0025] Next, referring again to FIG. 2, the movable part 25 is placed at a predetermined position. The joining line 60 is formed by a first line 61 and a second line 62. The first line 61 is the trajectory along which the joining tool 3 moves when the joining tool 3 is placed in the first space 32. The second line 62 is the trajectory along which the joining tool 3 moves when the joining tool 3 is placed in the second space 33. When the joining tool 3 is placed in the first space 32 to perform a joining operation, the movable part 25 is placed closer to the second space 33. On the other hand, when the joining tool 3 is placed in the second space 33 to perform a joining operation, the movable part 25 is placed closer to the first space 32.

[0026] After the movable part 25 is placed in a predetermined position, it is preferable to place a block or the like in the space left in the guide space 34. In this way, the block functions as a wedge, and it is possible to prevent the movable part 25 from moving.

[0027] Next, the friction stir welding apparatus 1 joins the first base material 51 and the second base material 52 of the workpiece 50 along the joining line 60 by friction stir welding. Specifically, while rotating the welding tool 3 at a predetermined rotation speed, the probe portion 7 is pressed along the predefined joining line 60 on the surface of the workpiece 50, and the probe portion 7 is inserted into the workpiece 50 by a required amount. While maintaining the insertion amount and rotation speed, the welding tool 3 moves along the joining line 60. As a result, the first base material 51 and the second base material 52 are joined.

[0028] While the friction stir welding apparatus 1 is performing a welding operation, the bearing 10 is in contact with the inner wall 22 or the outer wall 27 . Details are provided below. Fig. 3 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in Fig. 2. The bearing 10 is made up of annular outer ring 11, inner ring 12, and rolling elements 13. The inner ring 12 is inserted into and fixed to the shoulder portion 6. The outer ring 11 is formed by the rolling elements 13 so that it can freely rotate about the central axis O of the bearing 10. While the welding tool 3 is welding the workpieces 50, the outer ring 11 of the bearing 10 is in contact with the inner wall 22 or the outer wall 27. The outer ring 11 rotates due to friction with the inner wall 22 or the outer wall 27.

[0029] The friction stir welding apparatus 1 in the above embodiment has a bearing 10 provided in the main body 5 and a guide member 20. As a result, during welding, the bearing 10 comes into contact with the guide member 20, thereby partially restricting the movement range of the welding tool 3 in the radial direction R. As a result, it is possible to prevent the trajectory of the welding tool 3 from deviating from the welding line 60 due to the reaction force. In addition, it is possible to prevent the rotational wobble of the welding tool 3.

[0030] For example, when the first line 61 arranged in the first space 32 and the second line 62 arranged in the second space 33 are close to each other, the partition wall separating the first space 32 and the second space 33 becomes thin. Here, the guide member 20 of the friction stir welding apparatus 1 in the above embodiment has a fixed portion 21 and a movable portion 25. The movable portion 25 is formed to be movable in the arrangement direction of the first space 32 and the second space 33. By adopting such a configuration, the thickness of the movable portion 25 in the arrangement direction of the first space 32 and the second space 33 can be increased. This makes it possible to prevent the guide member from being damaged by an external force from the welding tool 3.

[0031] The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered to be illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the claims, not by the description of the above embodiments, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0032] 1 friction stir welding apparatus, 2 friction stir welding unit, 3 welding tool, 5 main body portion, 6 shoulder portion, 7 probe portion, 8 end surface, 10 bearing, 11 outer ring, 12 inner ring, 13 rolling element, 20 guide member, 21 fixed portion, 22 inner wall, 25 moving portion, 26 main portion, 27 outer wall, 28 protrusion portion, 30 working space, 31 main space, 32 first space, 33 second space, 34 guide space, 50 workpiece, 51 first base material, 52 second base material, 55 fixing device, 60 welding line, 61 first line, 62 second line, O central axis.

Claims

[Claim 1] A joining tool for joining workpieces and a guide member are provided, The joining tool includes a body and a bearing; the main body portion has a shoulder portion and a probe portion connected to a tip of the shoulder portion, The bearing is inserted into the shoulder portion, the guide member includes a fixed portion and a movable portion, a working space defined by an inner wall of the fixing portion and in which the joining tool is placed is formed in the fixing portion; the working space is divided into a first space and a second space by the movable part, the movable portion is movable in an arrangement direction of the first space and the second space, and has an outer wall; The friction stir welding apparatus is configured such that the welding tool moves along the inner wall and the outer wall.

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