Flat Spiral Spring Bending Device for Leaf Springs
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Solution Overview
Problem
The production of leaf springs for internal combustion engine cooling chambers faces challenges in dimensional accuracy and high offcut generation during segment punching from band-shaped material, and existing bending devices require high-quality wire-shaped materials for efficient bending.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a bending device with a drum and contact surface that guides band-shaped material to bend into washer-shaped segments, utilizing the entire web width and incorporating guiding elements to prevent material spreading, allowing for precise bending and reduced offcuts, while the band-shaped material is bent around its vertical axis and cut to length for optimal spring properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If band-shaped material is punched into segments from a band, then segments can be produced, but a considerable number of offcuts are generated
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the production parameter from punching segments out of a band to bending the entire band width into washer-shaped segments. This parameter change eliminates offcut generation while maintaining segment production capability, directly resolving the contradiction between material loss and manufacturing ease.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the unnecessary punching step that generates offcuts and replaces it with a bending process. By taking out the punching operation and using the entire band width for bending into segments, the process eliminates material waste while preserving the ability to produce segments efficiently.
2Ease of manufacture
If wire-shaped material is bent using existing bending device with drum and diverting mechanisms, then spiral-shaped wave springs can be produced, but the wire-shaped material must be of very high quality and homogeneous
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by providing a specific contact surface on the drum with a radius corresponding to the internal diameter of the band-shaped material. This localized feature ensures proper bending guidance and reduces the need for high overall material homogeneity, allowing use of standard band material rather than high-quality wire.
Solution Approach 2:
The contact surface on the drum acts as an intermediary between the band-shaped material and the bending process. It provides the necessary guidance and support during bending, enabling the process to work with standard band material instead of requiring high-quality homogeneous wire-shaped material.
3Manufacturing precision
If band-shaped material is bent around vertical axis using drum with contact surface, then dimensionally accurate washer-shaped segments are produced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The drum with contact surface serves multiple functions: it supports the band-shaped material, provides the bending radius through its contact surface geometry, and guides the material during bending. This multi-functionality achieves dimensional accuracy without requiring additional complex guiding or support devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The contact surface on the drum creates an equipotential bending condition by providing a consistent radius that corresponds to the internal diameter of the band-shaped material. This ensures uniform bending throughout the process, achieving dimensional accuracy without complex control mechanisms.
4Productivity
If narrow side of band-shaped material is guided along contact surface on drum, then entire web width is utilized for producing segments, but guiding elements are required to prevent material spreading
Solution Approach 1:
The guiding function is segmented into specific guiding elements positioned at critical locations where material spreading might occur. These elements provide localized guidance rather than requiring a complex continuous guiding system, maintaining productivity while managing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The band-shaped material's own geometry and the drum's contact surface work together to guide the material. The narrow side naturally contacts the drum surface, and the material's rigidity helps prevent spreading, reducing the need for extensive external guiding mechanisms.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method achieves dimensionally accurate production of leaf spring segments with reduced offcuts and improved spring properties by utilizing the entire band width and guiding elements to ensure precise bending and strength, enhancing the material's rolling direction and strength.
Implementation Method 1
the band-shaped material is bent around its vertical axis in order to produce washer-shaped segments
Implementation Method 2
A contact surface is provided on the drum for guiding along the band-shaped material and for bending into a washer-shaped segment
Implementation Method 3
By means of the at least one guiding element, spreading of the material during the bending of the band-shaped material around the Z-axis can be prevented
Implementation Method 4
by means of at least one diverting mechanism, is bent out of a linear section orientated in the direction of transport
Data Source
AI summary
A method for producing a flat spiral spring formed as an annular disk-shaped segment, wherein a strip-shaped material is supplied in a tangential alignment to the lateral surface of the drum such that a lateral wall which determines the thickness of the strip-shaped material rests against some sections of a contact surface on the lateral surface of the drum. The contact surface of the drum has a radius which substantially corresponds to an internal radius of the strip-shaped material, and at least one deflecting device is aligned at a distance to the drum such that the strip-shaped material is guided in a forced manner between the drum and the deflecting device, and the strip-shaped material is bent so as to follow the drum by means of the deflecting device.