PIPE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND PIPE PROCESSING METHOD

Abstract

A pipe processing device and a pipe processing method are provided that perform grinding processing of a spigot having a protrusion and remove spatters. [Solution] A pipe processing device (1) for processing a pipe having an insertion port has an insertion port grinding processing section (10) for grinding the area including the protrusion from the pipe end on the insertion port side of the pipe, and a sputter removal processing section (20) for removing sputter adhering to the straight portion of the pipe.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a pipe processing apparatus and a pipe processing method. [Background technology]

[0002] It is known that a process for preparing the ends of cast iron pipes involves forming a protrusion on the outer periphery of the pipe on the side of the insertion port. This protrusion is a structure for preventing the pipes from separating when the insertion port of the pipe is joined to the socket of another pipe. The protrusion is configured to engage with a lock ring fitted into a lock groove provided on the inner periphery of the socket of the other pipe.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a construction technique for forming the protrusion. In Patent Document 1, a ring having a thick portion at one axial end and a thin portion at the other axial end is attached to the outer periphery of a metal pipe at a position spaced from the tip of the insertion portion, and the thin portion is welded to form a welded portion formed by melting the thin portion and the metal pipe, which is inclined from the upper surface of the thick portion and reaches the outer periphery surface at a position spaced from the tip of the insertion portion of the metal pipe. In addition, when the surface of the welded portion is smoothed by polishing or the like, the surface of the welded portion is processed to have a tapered surface that is continuous with the tapered surface of the thick portion, which is originally a tapered surface. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2010-253488 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Polishing of the area including the protrusion on the outer periphery of the insertion portion as in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 is performed manually by an operator using a grinder. In addition, the pipe end surface of the insertion portion of the metal pipe (the surface at the tip of the insertion portion where the rubber ring abuts in Patent Document 1) is also ground to remove burrs and round off the corners of the pipe end (so-called R processing), but these grinding processes have traditionally also been performed manually by an operator using a grinder.

[0006] Furthermore, when a protrusion is welded to the outer peripheral surface of the insertion port as in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, spatter adheres to the area closer to the socket than the protrusion, and the process of removing this spatter is also performed manually by an operator, just like with a grinder.

[0007] Both the polishing (grinding) process and the spatter removal process are carried out manually, so there is a need to secure workers. In addition, there is a need to reduce the variation in processing accuracy due to the skill level of the workers and achieve processing with uniform accuracy.

[0008] Therefore, one aspect of the present invention provides a pipe processing apparatus and a pipe processing method for performing a grinding process on a spigot having a protrusion and removing spatters. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to solve the above problems, a pipe processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention is a pipe processing apparatus for processing a pipe having an insertion port, wherein the outer peripheral surface of the pipe at the insertion port is provided with a protrusion protruding from the outer peripheral surface of the pipe and a straight portion located farther from the pipe end on the insertion port side than the protrusion, and the apparatus has an insertion port grinding processing section that grinds the area from the pipe end on the insertion port side to include the protrusion, and a sputter removal processing section that removes sputter adhering to the straight portion.

[0010] According to the above-mentioned configuration, it is possible to automate the grinding process of the area including the protrusion from the tube end on the insertion side and the process of removing spatter adhering to the straight part. This makes it possible to reduce the number of workers. Furthermore, automation makes the processing accuracy and quality more stable than manual processing.

[0011] A pipe processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, in the above-described configuration, further includes an arm having a connecting portion attached thereto, and a connection control unit that controls the connecting portion so that it can rotate, and the insertion port grinding processing unit and the spatter removal processing unit may be attached to the arm via the connecting portion.

[0012] According to the above configuration, by rotating the connecting part with the connection control part, it is possible to switch (relocate) between the insertion grinding processing part and the spatter removal processing part. This makes it possible to realize a tube processing device with a compact design. In addition, since processing can be performed on the same line, the trouble of transporting the tube for each process is eliminated, and the work time can be shortened.

[0013] In one embodiment of the pipe processing apparatus of the present invention, in the above-mentioned configuration, the connection portion may be configured such that the insertion port grinding processing portion and the sputter removal processing portion are attached to the arm so that a first virtual line connecting from the mounting position of the insertion port grinding processing portion to the position of the connection portion and a second virtual line connecting from the mounting position of the sputter removal processing portion to the position of the connection portion intersect.

[0014] According to the above configuration, the movement of the arm can be minimized, and the space occupied in the manufacturing line can be minimized. Also, according to the above configuration, since the insertion port grinding processing section and the spatter removal processing section are not arranged on a straight line, the effect of the weight of one tool (e.g., the insertion port grinding processing section) during processing of the other tool (e.g., the spatter removal processing section) can be suppressed.

[0015] In the tube processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned configuration, the insertion port grinding processing section and the spatter removal processing section may have a swinging section that enables the processing section to swing in a radial direction of the tube.

[0016] According to the above-mentioned configuration, the load on the tube in the insert grinding section and the load on the tube in the spatter removal section can be set to an appropriate load by swinging during tube processing. Also, by swinging during tube processing, it is possible to follow the deformation (ellipse) of the tube.

[0017] In the above-described configuration of the pipe processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, the insertion port grinding processing section may have a first weight, and the sputter removal processing section may have a second weight heavier than the first weight.

[0018] According to the above-mentioned configuration, by providing the weight, it is possible to apply a necessary load, and grinding and spatter removal can be performed satisfactorily.

[0019] In order to solve the above problems, a pipe processing method according to one embodiment of the present invention is a pipe processing method in which a pipe insertion port is processed using a pipe processing device of the above-mentioned configuration, wherein the pipe outer surface of the insertion port is provided with a protrusion protruding from the pipe outer surface and a straight portion located farther from the pipe end on the insertion port side than the protrusion, and the method includes a grinding process for grinding an area including the protrusion from the pipe end on the insertion port side, and a sputter removal process for removing sputter adhering to the straight portion.

[0020] According to the above-mentioned configuration, it is possible to automate the grinding process of the area including the protrusion from the tube end on the insertion side and the process of removing spatter adhering to the straight part. This makes it possible to reduce the number of workers. Furthermore, automation makes the processing accuracy and quality more stable than manual processing. Effect of the Invention

[0021] According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to automate the grinding process of the region including the protrusion from the pipe end on the insertion port side and the process of removing adhering spatter. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of a tube processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the tube processing apparatus of FIG. [Diagram 3] 1 is a diagram illustrating a pipe that is a processing target of a pipe processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a side view of the tube processing apparatus of FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the tube processing apparatus of FIG. [Figure 6] 2 is a diagram for explaining the state of grinding a tube by the tube processing apparatus of FIG. 1. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a side view of the tube processing apparatus of FIG. [Figure 8] 2 is a diagram for explaining the removal of spatters from a tube by the tube processing apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a process flow diagram of a pipe processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] 4A to 4C are top views illustrating the postures of a pipe processing device corresponding to each flow of a pipe processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0023] [Pipe processing equipment] FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a pipe processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the pipe processing apparatus 1. As described later, the pipe processing apparatus 1 can freely change its position and posture in three-dimensional space in the forward, backward, left, right, up and down directions by being driven by a robot 7 via a robot arm 5. In the following, when describing each component of the pipe processing apparatus 1, its arrangement, and its positional relationship, the description will be based on a state in which the pipe processing apparatus 1 is in a reference posture. The reference posture refers to a state in which the pipe processing apparatus 1 is arranged such that the connecting portion 3 connected to the robot arm 5 extends vertically, and a first base portion and a second base portion, which will be described later, are extended horizontally. For convenience of description, the description will be given using three-dimensional coordinates of the XYZ system, in which the vertical axis is the Z axis and the horizontal plane is the XY plane. The three-dimensional coordinates of the XYZ system are also added to each figure.

[0024] The pipe processing apparatus 1 is in an embodiment that can be attached to a robot arm 5. The robot arm 5 and the robot 7 connected to the base of the robot arm 5 do not have to be components of the pipe processing apparatus 1. In other words, the pipe processing apparatus 1 is realized as a configuration equivalent to an attachment that is detachably attached to the tip of the robot arm. However, this is not limited to this, and the pipe processing apparatus 1 may include a robot arm as a component, and further, in addition to the robot arm, a robot may also be included as a component of the pipe processing apparatus 1. Below, an embodiment in which the robot arm 5 and the robot 7 are included as components of the pipe processing apparatus 1 will be described.

[0025] 1 includes a robot arm 5 (arm), a connecting unit 3 connected to the robot arm 5, a robot 7 (connection control unit) that rotatably controls the connecting unit 3 via the robot arm 5, and an insertion port grinding unit 10 and a spatter removal unit 20 attached to the robot arm 5 via the connecting unit 3. In other words, the insertion port grinding unit 10 and the spatter removal unit 20 are provided at the tip of the robot arm 5 in a manner suspended via the connecting unit 3.

[0026] A support part 30 having an L-shape in top view is fixed to the lower end of the connecting part 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the supporting part 30 has an L-shape, and the insertion part grinding part 10 is supported at the tip along the horizontal line of the L, and the sputter removal part 20 is supported at the tip along the vertical line of the L. In other words, the connecting part 3 (FIG. 1) having the supporting part 30 at the lower end has a connecting function for attaching the insertion part grinding part 10 and the sputter removal part 20 to the arm 5. More specifically, the insertion part grinding part 10 and the sputter removal part 20 are attached to the arm 5 so that a first virtual line V1 (FIG. 2) connecting the attachment position of the insertion part grinding part 10 to the attachment position of the connecting part 3 and a second virtual line V2 connecting the attachment position of the sputter removal part 20 to the attachment position of the connecting part 3 intersect.

[0027] The pipe processing device 1 processes the pipe insertion port by freely changing its position and posture in three-dimensional space in all directions, forward / backward, left / right, up / down directions, driven by the robot 7 via the robot arm 5. The insertion port grinding unit 10 performs a grinding process, which is an example of pipe processing. The spatter removal unit 20 performs a spatter removal process, which is an example of pipe processing.

[0028] <Pipes to be processed> Here, a description will be given of a pipe that is an object to be processed by the pipe processing apparatus 1 with reference to Fig. 3. The upper side of Fig. 3 shows a front view of the pipe 500 that is an object to be processed, and the lower side of Fig. 3 shows an enlarged cross-sectional view of the enclosed portion shown in the upper front view.

[0029] The pipe 500 shown in FIG. 3 is, as an example, a ductile iron pipe used as an earthquake-resistant pipe for water supply, etc. The pipe 500 has a socket 501 and an insertion port 502 at both ends of a straight pipe section 503 in order to connect the pipes 500 to each other. Usually, when connecting the pipes 500 to each other, the insertion port 502 of the second pipe is inserted into the socket 501 of the first pipe. Here, an annular groove 501a is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the socket 501 to mount a lock ring to prevent the pipes 500 from coming off when they are connected to each other. In addition, as shown in the lower part of FIG. 3, the outer peripheral surface of the insertion port 502 is provided with a protrusion 505 protruding from the outer peripheral surface of the pipe and a straight portion 504 located on the side farther from the pipe end 502E on the insertion port side than the protrusion 505.

[0030] Straight section 504 is an area where a ring (not shown) is disposed to prevent pipes 500 from coming apart, to absorb expansion and contraction of the pipes in the pipe axial direction, and to ensure watertightness by absorbing vibrations. The ring is inserted after pipes 500 are connected together, and is disposed in straight section 504. As an example, the ring is a rubber ring.

[0031] Here, the protrusion 505 is a structure for pressing against the lock ring when connecting to another pipe as described above. The construction technique for forming the protrusion 505 on the outer circumferential surface of the pipe 500 is as described above, and a method of welding the protrusion 505 to the outer circumferential surface of the pipe 500 is adopted. Specifically, the ring-shaped protrusion 505 is attached to the outer circumferential portion of the pipe at a position spaced apart from the pipe end 502E of the insertion port 502 of the pipe 500, and then welding is performed to form a welded portion. Then, as a finishing touch, the surface of the welded portion is polished to make it smooth. This polishing process is performed by the insertion port grinding processing unit 10.

[0032] <Insertion port grinding processing section 10> As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the insertion port grinding unit 10 has a grinding unit 14. The insertion port grinding unit 10 grinds an area M1 (Fig. 3) on the outer circumferential surface of the pipe, the area M1 including the pipe end 502E on the insertion port side of the pipe 500 and the protrusion 505, by using the grinding unit 14. This grinding process can grind the area M1 including the pipe end 502E on the insertion port side and the protrusion 505, in addition to polishing the surface. Hereinafter, both the polishing process and the grinding process may be collectively referred to as the grinding process.

[0033] The grinding process by the grinding unit 14 also includes a taper processing. The areas to be processed by the taper processing include the pipe end 502E on the insertion side and the end of the protrusion 505 on the pipe end 502E side. Furthermore, a taper processing is also included in which the welded portion surface of the welded portion of the protrusion 505 is processed to have a tapered surface continuous with the tapered surface of the protrusion 505. Note that the protrusion 505 may have a thick portion and a thin portion at the stage of being inserted into the pipe 500.

[0034] The grinding process by grinding unit 14 also includes rounding (so-called R processing) the corners of pipe end 502E, the corners of the welded portion, and the corners of protrusion 505. The respective corners are located at positions 502E', 502E", 505', and 505" shown in the lower part of FIG.

[0035] A grinder having a rotary grindstone at its tip can be used as the grinding unit 14. As the rotary grindstone, a paper grindstone can be used as an example, and a diamond grindstone can also be used.

[0036] Fig. 4 is a side view of the spigot grinding processing unit 10. Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the pipe processing apparatus 1 is cut along a first imaginary line V1 in Fig. 2. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the spigot grinding processing unit 10 further has a first base portion 12.

[0037] The first base portion 12 is a plate-like structure extending along the X-axis. The upper surface of the first base portion 12 is a surface facing the lower surface of the support portion 30. A grinding portion 14 is attached to the tip of the lower surface (FIG. 3) of the first base portion 12.

[0038] A first swinging part 16 is disposed between the upper surface of the first base part 12 and the lower surface of the support part 30. In other words, the insertion grinding processing part 10 is supported by the support part 30 via the first swinging part 16. The first swinging part 16 allows the insertion grinding processing part 10 (more specifically, the end part of the first base part 12 on the grinding part 14 side) to swing in the pipe diameter direction of the pipe 500. An example of the pipe diameter direction of the pipe 500 is shown by an arrow in FIG. 5. The first swinging part 16 can be realized by a bearing part 16b disposed on both the upper surface of the first base part 12 and the lower surface of the support part 30, and a shaft part 16a inserted into the bearing part 16b. The shaft part 16a is an axis along the Y axis in the basic position.

[0039] In the insertion port grinding processing section 10, a first weight 11 is placed on the upper surface of the first base section 12 at an end opposite to the end on the side where the first swing section 16 is disposed.

[0040] The first weight 11 is attached to the first base portion 12 above the tip where the grinding wheel of the grinding portion 14 is disposed. Here, the tube processing device 1 is based on adjusting and controlling the position of the grinding portion 14 by the robot arm 5 of the robot 7 (FIG. 1), but the presence of the first weight 11 allows the pressing force (load) of the grinding wheel against the tube 500 to be a predetermined load. Furthermore, by applying a load in this manner, even if the tube 500 is a deformed tube that does not have a constant tube diameter along the circumferential direction of the tube (ideally, the cross section of the tube is a perfect circle, but is deformed into an ellipse), the predetermined load is applied by the first weight 11, so that the grinding wheel of the grinding portion 14 can follow the outer peripheral surface of the tube along the circumferential direction of the tube.

[0041] There is no particular limit to the method of fixing the first weight 11 to the upper surface of the first base portion 12, but it is preferable that the first weight 11 be configured by combining multiple weights so that the weight can be increased or decreased so that an appropriate load can be applied even when processing a pipe with a different diameter from the pipes that have been processed so far. As an example, the first weight 11 can be realized by stacking an appropriate number of multiple disk-shaped weights as shown in Figure 5.

[0042] As described above, the insertion grinding processing unit 10 can bring the grinding unit 14 into contact with the grinding target portion of the pipe 500 at different angles by the robot arm 5. This is shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 6 shows a state where the grindstone of the grinding unit 14 is positioned at different positions on the outer circumferential surface of the pipe along the pipe axis 500C (four different positions in the Y-axis direction in FIG. 6), and shows a state where the angle between the rotation axis 14C of the grindstone of the grinding unit 14 and the pipe axis 500C at each position is different. The angle between the axis along the rotation axis 14C of the grindstone of the grinding unit 14 and the pipe axis 500C is not limited to different angles in the YZ plane shown in FIG. 6, but is set to an appropriate angle in three-dimensional space so that the grinding target portion can be well ground. The angle may be preprogrammed in the robot 7.

[0043] As shown in Figures 1, 4 and 5, in the insertion port grinding processing section 10, an end of a first limit switch 15 is connected to the upper surface of a first base section 12. The first limit switch 15 has a main body section 15K (Figures 1 and 4) disposed on the upper surface of a support section 30. The first limit switch 15 is configured such that a limit is activated and the switch stops when the first base section 12, swung by the first swinging section 16, reaches a predetermined position (predetermined inclination).

[0044] In this manner, the insertion port grinding unit 10 is provided at the tip of the robot arm 5 in a form of being suspended via the support unit 30. The robot 7 (FIG. 1) controls the position and posture of the insertion port grinding unit 10 (grinding unit 14) according to a program that takes into consideration the weight of the first weight 11 and the weight of the insertion port grinding unit 10 itself, so that the grinding unit 14 can satisfactorily grind an area M1 (FIG. 3) including the pipe end 502E on the insertion side of the pipe 500 and the protrusion 505.

[0045] When performing the insertion grinding process, the pipe 500 and the insertion grinding processing unit 10 are arranged so that the extension direction of the pipe axis 500C of the pipe 500 and the first virtual line V1 intersect in a top view. In this state, the pipe 500 is supported by a pipe support device (not shown) and rotated around the pipe axis 500C of the pipe 500 by a pipe rotation device. Then, the rotary grindstone of the grinding unit 14 of the insertion grinding processing unit 10 contacts the pipe outer circumferential surface of the insertion port 502 of the rotating pipe 500 as shown in FIG. At this time, the rotary grindstone rotates around the rotation axis 14C, and grinding processing of the region M1 of the insertion port 502 of the pipe 500 is performed. In addition, the R processing and taper processing described above are performed.

[0046] <Spatter removal processing unit 20> As described above, when welding the protrusion 505, spatter adheres to the area including the straight line portion 504 in Fig. 3. It is preferable to remove the spatter because it may damage the rubber ring that is inserted later. The spatter removal processor 20 removes the spatter.

[0047] The sputter removal processing unit 20 is disposed at the tip of the vertical line of the L-shaped support unit 30 shown in Fig. 2. In other words, the sputter removal processing unit 20 is attached to the robot arm 5 via a connecting unit 3 (Fig. 1) having the support unit 30 at its lower end.

[0048] The sputter removal processing unit 20 has a removal tip 24 protruding in the negative direction of the Z axis. As shown in Fig. 2, the removal tips 24 are lined up along a direction perpendicular to the second virtual line V2. In the example of Fig. 2, three removal tips 24 are lined up. The removal tips 24 are configured so that their protruding tips come into contact with the outer circumferential surface of the pipe at the straight portion 504. The abutting configuration will be described later.

[0049] Fig. 7 is a side view of the sputter removal processing unit 20. For ease of explanation, Fig. 7 also illustrates a tube 500 whose tube axis 500C extends in a direction along the X-axis.

[0050] As shown in Fig. 7, the sputter removal processing section 20 further has a second base portion 22. The second base portion 22 is a plate-like structure extending along the Y-axis. The upper surface of the second base portion 22 is a surface facing the lower surface of the support portion 30. A removal tip 24 is attached to the tip of the lower surface (Fig. 3) of the second base portion 22.

[0051] A second oscillating part 26 is disposed between the upper surface of the second base part 22 and the lower surface of the support part 30. In other words, the sputter removal processing part 20 is supported by the support part 30 via the second oscillating part 26. The second oscillating part 26 allows the sputter removal processing part 20 (more specifically, the end part of the second base part 22 on the side of the removal tip 24) to oscillate in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 7. The direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 7 is the direction along the tube diameter direction of the tube 500 when the second oscillating part 26 is brought into contact with the straight part 504 on the tube outer circumferential surface of the insertion port 502 of the tube 500. The second oscillating part 26 can be realized by the bearing part 26b disposed on both the upper surface of the first base part 12 and the lower surface of the support part 30, and the shaft part 26a inserted into the bearing part 26b. The shaft part 26a is an axis along the X-axis in the basic position.

[0052] In the sputter removal processing section 20, a second weight 21 is placed on the upper surface of the second base portion 22 at an end opposite to the end on the side where the second swinging portion 26 is disposed.

[0053] The second weight 21 is attached to the second base portion 22 above the tip where the removal tip 24 is disposed. Here, the tube processing device 1 is based on adjusting and controlling the position of the removal tip 24 by the robot arm 5 of the robot 7 (FIG. 1), but the presence of the second weight 21 allows the pressing force (load) of the removal tip 24 against the tube 500 to be a predetermined load. Furthermore, by applying a load in this manner, even if the tube 500 is a deformed tube that does not have a constant tube diameter along the circumferential direction of the tube (ideally, the cross section of the tube is a perfect circle, but is deformed into an ellipse), the second weight 21 applies a predetermined load, so that the removal tip 24 can follow the outer circumferential surface of the tube along the circumferential direction of the tube.

[0054] The method of fixing the second weight 21 to the upper surface of the second base portion 22 and the specific configuration of the second weight 21 can be the same as those of the first weight 11. Here, it is preferable to adopt a weight for the second weight 21 that is heavier than the first weight 11. This is because the grinding portion 14 formed by a grinder is relatively heavier than the removal tip 24, and by balancing the insertion port grinding processing portion 10 and the sputter removal processing portion 20, the position control of both can be easily performed by the robot 7.

[0055] Fig. 8 shows a state in which the removal tip 24 abuts against a straight portion 504 on the outer circumferential surface of the insertion port 502 of the pipe 500, the left side of Fig. 8 being a cross-sectional view of the pipe 500 along the pipe axis 500C, and the right side of Fig. 8 being a cross-sectional view of the insertion port 502 of the pipe 500 taken along the line BB shown on the left side of Fig. 8. As shown in Fig. 8, the removal tip 24 abuts against the straight portion 504 of the insertion port 502 of the pipe rotating around the pipe axis 500C, thereby removing the spatter R adhering to the straight portion 504. Specifically, the removal tip 24 scrapes off the spatter R adhering to the straight portion 504.

[0056] In this way, sputter removal processor 20 is provided at the tip of robot arm 5 in a form suspended via support 30. Robot 7 (FIG. 1) controls the position and attitude of sputter removal processor 20 (removal tip 24) according to a program that takes into account the weight of second weight 21 and the own weight of sputter removal processor 20, so that removal tip 24 can remove sputter from straight portion 504 of insertion port 502 of pipe 500.

[0057] [Pipe processing method] The process flow of the pipe processing method of this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Fig. 10 shows a schematic diagram of the positional relationship between the pipe 500 and the pipe processing device 1 corresponding to each flow.

[0058] The pipe processing method S10 is performed by the above-mentioned pipe processing apparatus 1, and includes a grinding process step S11 and a spatter removal process step S12, as shown in FIG.

[0059] The grinding process step S11 is a process in which the insertion end grinding unit 10 of the pipe processing apparatus 1 grinds the region M1 (FIG. 3) from the pipe end 502E on the insertion end side to the protrusion 505. The positional relationship between the pipe 500 and the pipe processing apparatus 1 when performing the grinding process step S11 is shown in FIG. 10(i). The grinding process is as described above for the grinding unit 14.

[0060] As a process prior to the grinding process S11, the pipe 500 is transported to the vicinity of the pipe processing device 1 by a transport device (not shown) with the pipe axis 500C held substantially horizontal. The transported pipe 500 is supported with the pipe axis 500C held substantially horizontal, and rotated in one direction at a predetermined rotation speed about the pipe axis 500C by a rotation device. With the pipe 500 rotating in this manner, the rotary grindstone of the grinding unit 14 is rotated and brought into contact with the region M1 (FIG. 3) based on a program preset in the robot 7.

[0061] The grinding unit 14 that grinds and polishes the region M1 (FIG. 3) grinds and polishes a predetermined portion while changing its position in the positive direction of the Y axis along the tube axis 500C, for example. Note that the position change is not limited to the positive direction of the Y axis, and may be changed from the positive side of the Y axis toward the negative direction of the Y axis, or may be changed to return to a portion that was once passed by and grind and polish the portion.

[0062] In the grinding process S11, the end face (portion including 502E' in FIG. 3) of the tube end 502E (FIG. 3) on the insertion side is also ground and polished.

[0063] Next, in the sputter removal process step S12, the sputters adhering to the straight portion 504 of the insertion port 502 are removed by the sputter removal processing unit 20 of the pipe processing apparatus 1. The positional relationship between the pipe 500 and the pipe processing apparatus 1 when performing the sputter removal process step S12 is shown in (iii) of FIG.

[0064] 10 shows an intermediate stage in which the arrangement of the grinding process S11, which is the previous stage of the sputter removal process S12, changes from the arrangement of (i) in FIG. 10 to the arrangement of (iii) in FIG. 10 in (ii) in FIG. 10. From the arrangement of (i) in FIG. 10 through (ii) in FIG. 10 to the arrangement of (iii) in FIG. 10, the insertion port grinding process unit 10 and the sputter removal process unit 20 rotate around the connecting unit 3 connected to the arm 5. As described above, since the support unit 30 fixed to the connecting unit 3 is L-shaped in top view, the sputter removal process unit 20 arranged along the Y axis in the arrangement of (i) in FIG. 10 moves to a position arranged along the X axis in the arrangement of (iii) in FIG. 10 by rotation. This movement is also performed by the robot 7. The robot 7 changes the posture of the pipe processing device 1 from position (i) to position (iii) in FIG. 10 by rotating the support part 30 by 90 degrees around the connecting part 3 when viewed from above via the arm 5.

[0065] The sputter removal process S12 is as described with reference to Fig. 8. In the sputter removal process S12, if the tube 500 rotates at least once while the removal tip 24 of the sputter removal processor 20 is in contact with the straight portion 504, the sputter adhering to the straight portion 504 can be removed.

[0066] In the sputter removal process S12, not only the sputter adhering to the straight section 504 but also the sputter adhering to the straight pipe section 503 adjacent to the straight section 504 or the sputter adhering to the region M1 excluding the protrusion section 505 can be removed by the removal tip 24. In order to remove the sputter from these regions, for example, in the arrangement shown in (i) in FIG. 10, the sputter removal processor 20 (removal tip 24) may be moved in the Y-axis direction.

[0067] In this embodiment, the grinding process step S11 and the sputter removal process step S12 are performed in this order. However, it is also possible to perform the sputter removal process step S12 before the grinding process step S11.

[0068] As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to automate the grinding process of the region M1 including the protrusion 505 from the tube end on the insertion side, and the process of removing spatter adhering to the straight portion 504. These processes were previously performed manually, but automation makes it possible to reduce the number of workers. In addition, automation has the advantage of stabilizing the processing accuracy and quality compared to manual (manual) processing.

[0069] Furthermore, according to the pipe processing device 1 of this embodiment, by rotating the connecting portion 3 with the robot 7, it is possible to switch (rearrange) between the insertion port grinding processing portion 10 and the spatter removal processing portion 20. This allows the pipe processing device 1 to be realized with a compact design. Also, since processing can be performed on the same line, the effort of transporting pipes for each process is eliminated, and the work time can be shortened.

[0070] In addition, according to the pipe processing device 1 of this embodiment, the insertion grinding processing unit 10 and the spatter removal processing unit 20 are attached to the arm 5 so that the first virtual line V1 connecting the mounting position of the insertion grinding processing unit 10 to the position of the connecting unit 3 and the second virtual line V2 connecting the mounting position of the spatter removal processing unit 20 to the position of the connecting unit 3 intersect, more specifically, are perpendicular to each other. This makes it possible to minimize the movement of the arm 5 and minimize the space occupied in the pipe production line. In addition, according to the pipe processing device 1 of this embodiment, since the insertion grinding processing unit 10 and the spatter removal processing unit 20 are not arranged on a straight line, the influence of the weight of one tool (for example, the insertion grinding processing unit 10) when processing the other tool (for example, the spatter removal processing unit 20) can be suppressed.

[0071] Furthermore, since the pipe processing device 1 of this embodiment has the first oscillating unit 16 and the second oscillating unit 26, it is possible to set the load on the pipe 500 of the insertion grinding unit 10 and the load on the pipe 500 of the spatter removal unit 20 to appropriate loads. Furthermore, by oscillating during pipe processing, it is possible to follow deformation (ellipse) of the pipe.

[0072] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. Embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0073] 1 Pipe processing equipment 3 Connecting part 5 Robot arm (arm) 7 Robot (connection control section) 10. Insert Grinding Processing Section 11 First Weight 12 First base part 14 Grinding section 14C Rotating shaft 15 First limit switch 16 First swinging part (swinging part) 20 Spatter removal processing section 21 Second Weight 22 Second base part 24 Removal Tip 26 Second swinging part (swinging part) 30 Support part 500 tubes 500C tube shaft 501 Socket 502E tube end 504 Straight section 505 Protrusion M1 Area including the protrusion from the end of the pipe on the insertion side S11 Grinding process S12 Spatter removal process V1 First virtual line V2 Second virtual line

Claims

1. A pipe processing device for processing a pipe having a spigot, The pipe outer peripheral surface of the insertion port is provided with a protrusion protruding from the pipe outer peripheral surface and a straight portion located farther from the pipe end on the insertion port side than the protrusion, an insertion port grinding processing unit that grinds a region including the protrusion from the pipe end on the insertion port side; a sputter removal processing unit that removes sputter adhering to the straight portion; having Pipe processing equipment.

2. An arm having a connector attached thereto; A connection control unit that controls the connection unit to be rotatable; Further comprising: The insertion port grinding processing unit and the sputter removal processing unit are attached to the arm via the connecting unit.

2. The tube processing apparatus of claim 1.

3. The connecting portion is attached to the arm such that a first virtual line connecting the attachment position of the insertion portion grinding processing portion to the position of the connecting portion and a second virtual line connecting the attachment position of the sputter removal processing portion to the position of the connecting portion intersect with each other.

3. The pipe processing apparatus according to claim 2.

4. The insertion grinding processing unit and the spatter removal processing unit have a swinging unit that can swing in the tube diameter direction of the tube.

4. A tube processing apparatus according to claim 3.

5. The insertion portion grinding processing portion has a first weight, The sputter removal processing unit has a second weight that is heavier than the first weight.

4. A tube processing apparatus according to claim 3.

6. A pipe processing method for processing a pipe insertion port by using the pipe processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The pipe outer peripheral surface of the insertion port is provided with a protrusion protruding from the pipe outer peripheral surface and a straight portion located farther from the pipe end on the insertion port side than the protrusion, a grinding process for grinding a region including the protrusion from the pipe end on the insertion port side; a sputter removal process for removing sputter adhering to the straight portion; Including, Pipe processing method.

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