Patent Application
20240124261
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
The invention relates to an arrangement for transporting a wire processing machine to a discharging point for manual, partially automated or fully automated wiring in switchgear and controlgear construction. Such an arrangement can be used in particular if, in order to achieve the highest possible vertical range of manufacture from wire fabrication to wiring of the switchgear and/or control system, all process steps are to be carried out on site and preferably substantially simultaneously.
In the construction of switchgear and control systems, the wiring process is one of the central and most time-consuming operations, which is still often carried out completely manually. Not only the high complexity of the work process but also the demand for complete freedom from errors places great demands on the people working in switchgear and control system construction.
Various technical aids with different levels of support are known for optimizing the wiring process. These range from hand tools and/or semi-automatic machines for wire assembly to fully automatic systems which completely preassemble individual wires, for example by cutting to length, stripping, applying a wire end ferrule and crimping, and then make them available as a loose, individual wire, a wire chain of sequentially interconnected preassembled individual wires, or in the form of a wire magazine on which the individual wires are sequentially lined up.
However, as an interface for picking up and handling preassembled wires with a robot for the automated wiring process, no technical solution is known to date. In particular, it has proved to be particularly complex to separate prefabricated wires provided as wire bundles or wire sequences for handling by the robot, which is related in particular to the fact that wires are flexible components.
This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.
It is therefore one aspect of the invention to propose an arrangement of the type described above, which permits the reception and handling of prefabricated wires by a discharging point for the partially or fully automated wiring of a switchgear or control system.
Accordingly, it is provided that the arrangement comprises an automatic wire processing machine and an air pressure transport system, wherein a wire transfer interface between the automatic wire processing machine and the air pressure transport system comprises a wire reception arranged in the access area of the automatic wire processing machine and further comprises a wire outlet which opens into at least one transport line of the air pressure transport system, wherein the at least one transport line is guided between the wire transfer interface and a discharging point.
The arrangement according to the invention allows that instead of a prefabricated wire bundle consisting of a multitude of prefabricated individual wires, which have to be separated again for the automated wiring, a respective prefabricated wire to be wired can be produced directly before the wiring by means of the automatic wire processing machine and fed as individual wire via the air pressure transport system to the discharging point, for example to an articulated arm robot, prefabricated wire to be wired can be produced directly before wiring with the aid of the automatic wire preparation machine and fed as a single wire via the air pressure transport system to the discharging point, for example to an articulated arm robot, so that the separation of a wire bundle or a wire sequence and, if necessary, the identification of the individual wires of the bundle or the sequence are omitted.
Because the prefabricated wire passes through the transport line, the prefabricated wire, which is usually a flexible component, is fed to the pickup station in a directed manner. This ensures that the wire with its wire end treatment, for example a wire end sleeve, reaches the pickup station first, for example the end effector of an articulated arm robot, so that the robot can reliably grip the wire at the wire end treatment, for example the wire end sleeve.
If the discharging point has an articulated arm robot, it can be provided that the transport line opens directly into an end effector of the articulated arm robot. The articulated-arm robot can have a prior art wire passage brake consisting of two counter-rotating rollers, belts or straps forming a nip, with the aid of which the individual wire fed to the end effector can be fed at a defined feed rate, for example to a gripper of the end effector, at a feed rate resulting from the rotational speed of the rollers, belts or straps. Instead of a separate wire passage brake, a pair of rollers, belts or straps provided for the wire transport at the end effector can be used to brake the wire rushing along the transport line to a defined feed speed. A suitable end effector is known from DE 10 2019 106 710 A1.
The pickup station can be a workstation for semi-automated wiring as described in WO 2019/211 460 A1. A pickup station for fully automated wiring with an articulated arm robot is described in DE 10 2018 133 319 A1.
The wire transfer interface may comprise an overpressure chamber which may be pressurized by a pressure source with a fluid pressure, for example with an air pressure, in order to transport a prefabricated wire introduced into the wire transfer interface via the wire receiving section in the direction of the wire output and through the transport line to the discharging point. The discharging point may have a wire output, for example a wire brake of the type described above with two counter-rotating rollers, belts, or belts forming a nip, the nip being just adapted to the wire diameter. Such wire passage brakes are known from the prior art. A similar wire passage brake is also described in EP 0654436 A1.
In one embodiment, it may be provided that the discharging point comprises a robot, such as an articulated robot, having a multifunctional end effector, the end effector comprising a feed hose for a wire, for example a hose made of polytetrafluoroethylene. The feed tube may be the transport line, which extends to the wire transfer interface. In this way, an almost closed system can be created which allows compressed air to be applied and enables a prefabricated wire fed into the system via the wire transfer interface to be conveyed at high speed through the transport line to the end effector of the robot, for example to the grippers of the end effector. Conveyor rollers, rolls, or belts may be provided immediately upstream of the gripper to feed the wire to the gripper. These conveyor rollers can be used to slow down the prefabricated wire supplied at high speed via the transport line to a speed suitable for acceptance by a gripper of the end effector, for example according to the principle of a wire passage brake described above. For example, a prefabricated wire can have a cross-section between 0.5 and 6 mm2. The wire can be provided with or without wire end treatment (partial pull-off, wire end sleeve, etc.).
Due to the comparatively high cycle rates of prior art wire processing machines, the arrangement can have several discharging points which are supplied with pre-harnessed wires from the same wire processing machine. In order to be able to supply the prefabricated wires individually to the discharging points, a wire switch can be used. The wire switch can be part of the wire transfer interface or can be integrated in the at least one transport line downstream in the wire feed direction of the wire transfer interface. In one embodiment, in the best case only a single transport line can be provided in the wire feed direction up to the switch, or two transport lines can be provided for different wire cross-section ranges, while in the feed direction of the switch any number of transport lines downstream of the number of discharging points to be supplied are provided, each transport line being fed to one of the plurality of discharging points, for example to a robot and/or a manual workstation. Considering the cycle rates that can be realized with the automatic wire processing machine compared to the cycle rates for automated, semi-automated, or manual wiring, an automatic wire processing machine can be used to serve about ten or more pickup stations, so that the switch can have a corresponding number of pickup transport lines at its output side.
The wire transfer interface may have an overpressure chamber that opens into the transport line and into the wire receiving unit. A fluidic transition between the overpressure chamber and the wire receiving unit can be closed and opened by an adjustable closing memeber of the wire transfer interface. When the closing member is open, a prefabricated wire provided by the automatic wire fabrication machine can be introduced through the wire receiving unit up to the overpressure chamber, for which purpose, for example, a suitable transport means for the wire can be provided upstream of the overpressure chamber or in the overpressure chamber, for example a pair of counter-rotating conveyor rollers.
After the prefabricated wire has passed through the wire intake over its entire length, i.e. has reached the overpressure chamber with its rear end in the feed direction, the adjustable closing member can fluidically seal the overpressure chamber with respect to the wire intake. The overpressure chamber can be permanently open to the wire outlet. The overpressure chamber may be connected to a source of overpressure, such as a compressor. Via a valve, a fluid, for example air, can be metered from the overpressure source into the overpressure chamber at a specific pressure and/or volume flow, so that the fluid leaves the overpressure chamber via the transport line, entraining or pushing the prefabricated wire arranged in the overpressure chamber and thus transporting it through the transport line in the direction of the discharging point.
The adjustable closing member may comprise a slide, preferably a flat slide, which can be adjusted by a linear actuator, for example a pneumatic piston, between an open position in which the fluidic transition is released and a closed position in which the fluidic transition is closed.
The slide may have a through bore and, spaced therefrom, an annular sealing element, wherein, in the open position of the adjustable closing member, the through bore connects a wire entry channel of the wire receiver to the overpressure chamber, and wherein, in the closed position, the annular sealing element sealingly surrounds the wire entry channel.
The closing member may have an control flap that can be adjusted between an open position, with which it clears a wire entry opening of the wire receiving unit, and a closed position, in which the control flap rests against an outside of the wire transfer interface and closes the wire entry opening.
The control flap can be adjustable about a pivot axis between the open position and the closed position and can be driven by a linear drive, for example by a pneumatic piston. The pneumatic lever can drive a toggle mechanism with which the control flap is completely removed from the alignment of the wire entry opening in the open position, so that the wire entry opening is freely accessible for feeding a wire, for example with the aid of a transfer tube. The transfer tube can be positioned in front of the wire entry opening in the alignment of the wire entry opening by a few millimeters, somewhat less than 10 mm, in order to feed a prefabricated wire produced by the automatic wire processing machine in a directed manner to the wire entry opening. The transfer tube can in particular be a straight tube section or have such a section, so that the prefabricated wire, which can be a flexible component, leaves the transfer tube as a substantially straight wire and also retains this geometry, since the wire, after leaving the transfer tube, only has to pass a few millimeters, preferably less than 10 mm, until it enters the wire entry opening and undergoes further guidance there due to the geometry of the wire entry opening or of a wire entry channel adjoining the wire entry opening and thus remains as an essentially straight conductor.
The adjustable closing member may have a closing piston rotatable about its longitudinal axis with a through bore extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis, which in an open position of the adjustable closing member connects a wire inlet channel of the wire intake with the overpressure chamber and thus establishes the fluidic transition, and in a closing position rotated relative thereto closes the wire inlet channel.
The wire receiving unit can have a wire transport means upstream of its wire entry opening, with which a wire prefabricated by the automatic wire preparation machine is fed into a wire entry opening of the wire receiving unit. The wire transport means may include, for example, a pair of counter-rotating rollers or belts. A nip may be formed between the rollers or rimes through which the wire is transported and either fed into the wire entry opening of the wire transfer interface when the pair of counter-rotating rollers or belts is located outside the overpressure chamber, or withdrawn from the wire entry opening and fed into a channel opening into the wire outlet when the pair of counter-rotating rollers or belts is located inside the overpressure chamber.
The nip, such as a roll nip, may have an adjustable width, wherein in a transport position of the rolls or belts the width of the nip substantially corresponds to the diameter of a wire to be transported. In an out-of-service position of the rolls or belts, the width of the nip may be greater than or equal to a dimension of the wire entry opening so as to permit unobstructed wire entry at least into the access area of the rolls or belts and, if necessary, the displacement, in particular the pivoting, of an adjustable closing member, for example an control flap, between an open position and a closed position, the control flap being pivoted out of the alignment of the wire entry opening in the open position, so that the control flap is moved through between the rollers or belts of the wire transport means located in the inoperative position when it is pivoted out of the closed position into the open position.
A wire entry opening on an outer side of the wire transfer interface may be preceded by a piston which is linearly adjustable along its longitudinal axis, is fully retracted from the wire entry opening in its retracted position, and enters the wire transfer interface through the wire entry opening in its extended position.
In its extended position, the piston, which is linearly adjustable along its longitudinal axis, can penetrate the wire transfer interface through the wire entry opening at least to such an extent that its free end passes the adjustable closing member, preferably a through bore of a linearly adjustable slide or of a closing piston which can be rotated about its longitudinal axis, when the adjustable closing member releases the fluidic transition. In particular, the linearly adjustable plunger can be used to push a prefabricated wire introduced into the wire transfer interface via the wire entry port into the overpressure chamber until behind the effective range of the adjustable closing member, so that the overpressure chamber can be fluidically isolated for transport of the wire from the overpressure chamber into the transport line opposite the wire receiving unit.
In addition to its adjustability along its axial direction, the linearly adjustable piston can have a further adjustability in which the linearly adjustable piston is arranged in a swung-in position with its longitudinal axis perpendicular to the wire entry opening and in alignment with the wire entry opening. In a swung-out position, the linearly adjustable piston can be arranged completely outside the alignment of the wire entry opening, so that the feeding of a prefabricated wire, for example with the aid of the transfer tube described above, can take place unhindered.
The automatic wire processing machine may include a conveyor head from which a pre-harnessed wire produced by the automatic wire processing machine is fed into a straight transfer tube. The transfer tube may be aligned with the wire entry opening, and through the transfer tube the wire may be fed to the wire transport means as an aligned wire.
The wire transfer interface may include a presence sensor configured to detect the presence of a wire in the wire transfer interface or the exit of a wire from the wire transfer interface.
In order to be able to serve several discharging points with an automatic wire processing machine, it can be provided that the air pressure transport system has a wire diverter. The wire switch can have a wire input and several wire outputs. A pre-terminated wire may be fed to the wire input from the wire transfer interface. The wire outputs may each be connected to one of the pickup stations via a transport line. The wire switch can have an actuator with which the prefabricated wire fed via the wire input is fed into that one of the transport lines which is connected to a target discharging point of the discharging points for the prefabricated wire. The wire switch can be used to increase the utilization rate of the automatic wire processing machine, which is a substantial investment object, by having the automatic wire processing machine serve multiple discharging points using the wire switch. Investigations have shown that the cycle rate of the automatic wire processing machine is about ten times higher than the cycle rate for manual, semi-automated or automated wiring, so that accordingly about ten discharging systems can be served by a common automatic wire processing machine using the described wire diverter with pre-assembled wires.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Further details of the invention are explained with reference to the figures below. Thereby shows:
Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.
When the wire 100 reaches the intended discharging point 300 along the transport line 5, it can be braked there with the aid of a wire brake and made available for manual discharging at the discharging point 300 designed as a workstation or for feeding the wire 100 to an end effector of the robot-assisted discharging point 300. A suitable wire passage brake is described, for example, in EP 0654436 A1. In the case of the articulated arm robot, a pair of rollers or rolls that are present anyway for the wire feed in the end effector can be used as a wire passage brake, so that the rollers or rolls have a dual function. A suitable end effector is described in DE 10 2019 106 710 A1.
Since the automatic wire processing machine 200 can produce the wires 100 to be wired much faster than they can be further processed at the discharging points 300, i.e. the automatic wire processing machine 200 has a much higher cycle rate than the discharging points 300, the automatic wire processing machine 200 can serve a large number of discharging points 300, and in particular more than the two shown. Experiments have shown that at least about ten discharging points 300 can be served by automatic wire processing machines 200 common in the prior art.
In particular, the arrangement according to the invention makes it possible for the wires to be produced just in time and made available to the receiving point, so that a buffer store for pre-assembled wires is not necessarily required. However, in order to increase the utilization of the automatic wire processing machine 200, a buffer store (not shown) for harnessed wires may be provided. This may be arranged, for example, in the transport line 5 between the wire transfer interface 2 and a discharging point 300. Furthermore, it is no longer necessary to prepare wire sequences, for example in the form of wire bundles, which would require the wires to be separated and identified prior to wiring, thus greatly increasing the processing effort compared to the arrangement according to the invention.
After the wire enters the wire transfer interface 2 through the wire receiving unit 3, the wire passes a fluidic transition 7, in which a closing member 8 is arranged. The closing member 8 is arranged to selectively fluidically isolate or release the wire receiving unit 3 with respect to an overpressure chamber 6 of the wire transfer interface 2. For the introduction of the wire into the wire transfer interface 2 and preferably into the overpressure chamber 6, the wire can pass through a through bore 11 of a flat slide 9 in an open position of a closing member 8. After the wire has completely passed the slide 9 and in particular the through bore 11, i.e. in particular has also arrived in the overpressure chamber 6 with its wire end at the rear in the feed direction, the closing member 8 can be brought into its closed position. For this purpose, the slide 9 can be moved linearly, i.e., in the embodiment according to
After the prefabricated wire has arrived in the wire transfer interface 2 and the closing member 8 has been arranged in its closed position, a fluid pressure, in particular an air pressure, can be applied to the overpressure chamber 6 via a pressure port 31. The compressed air flowing into the wire transfer interface 2 via the pressure port 31 can leave the wire transfer interface 2 only via the wire outlet 4, the compressed air entraining or pushing the wire arranged in the overpressure chamber 6 and introducing it into a transport line 5 connected to the wire outlet 4, for example a hose made of polytetrafluoroethylene.
In an extension of the embodiment according to
In the embodiment according to
In the embodiment according to
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The features of the invention disclosed in the foregoing description, in the drawings as well as in the claims may be essential for the realization of the invention both individually and in any combination.
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2021 103 561.9 | Feb 2021 | DE | national |
This application is a U.S. National Phase Application under 35 U.S.C. 371 of International Application No. PCT/DE2021/100828, filed on Oct. 14, 2021, which claims the benefit of German Patent Application No. 20 2020 107 214.5, filed on Dec. 14, 2020. The entire disclosures of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/DE2021/101023 | 12/21/2021 | WO |
