Patent Application
20240316688
The present invention relates to a tool holder for friction stir welding, and in particular to an adaptive tool holder for friction stir welding of a robotic arm.
The method for welding two metals (usually aluminum) together by friction stir welding has been well-known, such as the friction stirring welding (FSW) technology published by the Welding Research Institute (TWI) of UK in 1991, and later a technology disclosed in the Japanese Patent No. 2712838 entitled “Friction Welding Method”. Both technologies include inserting a knife head of a high-speed rotating knife between two clamped metals, reducing a yield strength of parts where the two metals are in contact with the knife head and keeping a solid state with a low strength using heat generated by friction between the knife head and the two metals when the knife head rotates at a high speed, stirring to mix the parts where the yield strength of the two metals is reduced using the knife head, and welding the two metals together as the yield strength of the two metals gradually recovers after cooling. In short, the friction stirring welding technology is to convert mechanical kinetic energy of the knife into heat energy through rotation and friction of two workpieces by a tool inserted between the workpieces, causing a plastic deformation of the parts where the friction occurs of the two workpieces due to the heat, and enabling the two workpieces to be joined by material stirring.
Referring to
In addition, US Patent Publication No. US20220331897A1 disclosed Friction Stir Welding Head And Method Using The Same, where one or more elastic elements for transmitting an axial force is interposed between an upper surface of a housing (namely, against an inner plate) and an upper surface of a frame. However, the elastic element does not directly act on a used knife, and an overall volume of the knife head is too large to achieve desired machining precision for a workpiece that must be machined with high precision.
Based on above reasons, an objective of the present invention is to provide an adaptive tool holder for friction stir welding of a robotic arm. An elastic element such as a retractable spring is disposed within a barrel seat and between a spring seat and a knife bar, so that a connecting post directly fixed to a knife moves adaptively along with a spring seat through a spring guide pin, and compared with conventional structures, the adaptive tool holder is simple and light, thus a volume reduction effect can be achieved and curved and/or uneven surfaces can be adjusted adaptively, thereby improving a yield.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide an adaptive tool holder for friction stir welding of a robotic arm. A movable stroke of an elastic element is adjusted based on a distance between an inner convex ring of a barrel seat and a peripheral wall of a spring seat, so as to make an adaptive stroke setting according to surface conditions of a workpiece to be machined.
In order to achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides an adaptive tool holder for friction stir welding of a robotic arm, including: a knife bar; a hollow barrel seat connected below the knife bar; a ball spline with an upper section, an outer convex ring and a lower section, where the outer convex ring is detachably fixed at a bottom of the barrel seat, so that the upper section is inside the barrel seat and the lower section is outside the barrel seat; a spring seat, disposed within the barrel seat and located on the upper section of the ball spline; an elastic element, disposed within the barrel seat, where both ends of the elastic element abut against a bottom of the knife bar and the spring seat respectively; a spring guide pin, disposed through the spring seat; a connecting post, disposed within the lower section of the ball spline, where a top of the connecting post is connected and fixed to the spring guide pin; and a knife, inserted and fixed detachably at a bottom end of the connecting post.
In some embodiments, the adaptive tool holder for friction stir welding of a robotic arm further includes a spring washer disposed between the elastic element and the spring seat.
In some embodiments, the elastic element is a retractable spring.
In some embodiments, an inner convex ring projects from an inner side of a top of the barrel seat.
In some embodiments, the spring seat has a base plate and a peripheral wall, where the peripheral wall extends upward from a periphery of the base plate.
In some embodiments, a distance defined as a movable stroke of the elastic element exists between the inner convex ring of the barrel seat and the peripheral wall of the spring seat.
In some embodiments, a plurality of first bolts passes upward through the outer convex ring of the ball spline from below the outer convex ring to a bottom of the barrel seat to form a detachable fixation.
In some embodiments, a set screw transversely passes through the connecting post and abuts against the knife to form a detachable fixation.
In some embodiments, an oil injection hole transversely penetrates the barrel seat adjacent to the upper section of the ball spline.
In some embodiments, an outer surface of the knife bar has a fixing groove, so that the knife bar is detachably fixed to a robotic arm by a fixing bolt.
The technical features and advantages of the present invention have been quite extensively summarized above, so that the detailed description of the present invention below can be better understood. Other technical features and advantages that constitute the subject matter of the claims of the present invention will be described below. A person of ordinary skill in the art of the present invention should understand that the concepts and specific embodiments disclosed below can be used fairly easily to modify or design other structures or processes to achieve the same objectives as those of the present invention. A person of ordinary skill in the art of the present invention should also understand that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
Specific implementations of the present invention are described in detail below in combination with specific cases.
Referring to
Referring to
The knife bar 1 is substantially conical, and an outer surface of the knife bar 1 has a fixing groove 11 so that the knife bar is detachably fixed through a fixing bolt (not shown) to a robotic arm 200 (referring to
The barrel seat 2 is substantially hollow and cylindrical and is connected below the knife bar 1. In some embodiments, an inner convex ring 21 can project from an inner side of a top of the barrel seat 2.
The ball spline 3 has an upper section 31, an outer convex ring 32 and a lower section 33. The outer convex ring 32 is detachably fixed at a bottom of the barrel seat 2, so that the upper section 31 is inside the barrel seat 2 and the lower section 33 is outside the barrel seat 2. In some embodiments, a plurality of first bolts 34 passes upward through the outer convex ring 32 of the ball spline 3 from below the outer convex ring 32 to a bottom of the barrel seat 2 to form a detachable fixation. Generally, a plurality of ball chains 35 is inside the ball spline 3, but it is not limited to this.
The spring seat 4 is disposed within the barrel seat 2 and located on the upper section 31 of the ball spline 3. In some embodiments, the spring seat 4 has a base plate 41 and a peripheral wall 42. The peripheral wall 42 is disposed extending upward from a periphery of the base plate 41. While a distance D exists between the inner convex ring 21 of the barrel seat 2 and the peripheral wall 42 of the spring seat 4.
The elastic element 5 is disposed within the barrel seat 2, and both ends of the elastic element 5 abut against a bottom of the knife bar 1 and the spring seat 4 respectively. In some embodiments, a spring washer 9 can also be disposed between the elastic element 5 and the spring seat 4 to avoid friction between the elastic element 5 and the spring seat 4, and the spring washer 9 can be replaced by a simple operation without replacing the spring seat 4, thus reducing the cost. In a preferred embodiment, the elastic element 5 may be a retractable spring, but it is not limited to this.
In some embodiments, by the distance D between the inner convex ring 21 of the barrel seat 2 and the peripheral wall 42 of the spring seat 4, the distance D can be defined as a movable stroke of the elastic element 5.
The spring guide pin 6 is disposed through the spring seat 4.
The connecting post 7 is disposed within the lower section 33 of the ball spline 3, and a top of the connecting post 7 is connected and fixed to the spring guide pin 6, so that the connecting post 7 moves together with the elastic element 5 through the spring guide pin 6. In some embodiments, a plurality of axial guide grooves 71 disposed corresponding to a plurality of ball chains 35 inside the ball spline 3 is located on an outer surface of the connecting post 7, so that the connecting post 7 can be determined to move back and forth in an axial direction through the plurality of ball chains 35 inside the ball spline 3 without angular deflection.
In some embodiments, an oil injection hole 22 transversely penetrates the barrel seat 2 adjacent to the upper section 31 of the ball spline 3, and a lubricant such as lubricating oil is injected through the oil injection hole 22 to reduce friction between the guide grooves 71 of the connecting post 7 and the ball chains 35 of the ball spline 3 to enable a smoother relative movement.
The knife 8 is inserted and fixed detachably at a bottom end of the connecting post 7. In some embodiments, a set screw 81 transversely passes through the connecting post 7 and abuts against the knife 8 to form a detachable fixation.
Referring to
In summary, according to the adaptive tool holder for friction stir welding 100 of a robotic arm according to the present invention, the elastic element 5 such as a retractable spring is disposed within the barrel seat 2 and between the spring seat 4 and the knife bar 1, so that the connecting post 7 directly fixed to the knife 8 moves adaptively along with the spring seat 4 through the spring guide pin 6, and compared with the conventional structure, the adaptive tool holder is simple and light (about 16 kg), thus a volume reduction effect can be achieved and curved and/or uneven surfaces can be adjusted adaptively, thereby improving a yield.
Furthermore, the movable stroke of the elastic element 5 is adjusted by the distance D between the inner convex ring 21 of the barrel sea 2 and the peripheral wall 42 of the spring seat 4, so as to make an adaptive stroke setting according to surface conditions of a workpiece to be machined.
