Patent Application
20210020338
The Invention relates to a marking tubes applicator for marking cables.
Cables or wires, in particular cables used in the aeronautical industry such as electrical cables arranged in aircrafts, are usually marked with identification information, in order to next facilitate the allocation or implementation of the cables in their target device and place. In some industries, such as the aircraft industry, the markings are mandatory. Thus, in the context of the invention, a marking tube is a tubular sleeve having a minimum length (the length of a marking tube being the dimension of the tube along its axis which is also the dimension of the tube along the axis of the cable once the tube is applied onto a cable), long enough for the marking tube to bear a piece of information including for example a word or an acronym or a reference number potentially in the form of a bar code, etc.
There are many ways to mark a cable, e.g. wrapped around labels, embossing, laser or inkjet printing on the outer sheath of the cable or applying marking tubes to name a few. In some cases, the tubes are the only option due to durability requirements or cable properties (e.g. colour regulations of the marking or twisted cables with no extra outer layer likely to be printed). Tube applicators are known in the market, such as the device disclosed by US2018241191 from Artos®. The existing devices are good to put the marking tubes at the cable ends but not suitable to put it in the mid-section of the cable. JP2017162677A and present a machine to put marking tubes at any desired position on a cable. The cable is transported to a tube gripper squeezing the tube to keep it open. The cable is fed through the tube until the desired position is reached. The tube gripper releases the marking tube and the cable is fed further through the machine. To place three tubes on one cable (one tube at each end and one in the mid-section), the cable is first fed through the marking tube until the mid-section reaches the tube gripper. After the marking tube is released, the cable is transported out of the device into an intermediate cable storage. The tube gripper places a new tube in the way of the cable and the cable is fed backwards until it reaches the desired position with its second end. The second marking tube is placed. The cable is fed back even more, until it exits the device again into a second intermediate cable storage. For the third tube the cable is fed forward again into the device. When the cable reaches the position for the last marking tube, the tube is released. The cable is now finished and is transported out of the machine. This back and forth movements make the process slow and slower the more marking tubes are used for each cable. The positioning starts with the mid-section, as the positioned tube might otherwise interfere with the next tube, if it is led through the next marking tube. The length of the cable processed by such a machine is restricted to the length of the intermediate cable storage, where the cable enters after each marking tube is placed.
The problem to be solved is therefore the rapid positioning of several marking tubes on a cable with almost no restriction to the length of the cable and with almost no restriction to the number of tubes to be placed nor to their location on the cable.
To this end, the invention proposes a device for applying marking tubes onto cables comprising a marking zone where a cable to be marked can be received and where a number of marking tubes to be applied onto the cable to be marked can be released onto the cable to be marked, and a driving mechanism for driving forward the cable to be marked along a driving axis, characterized in that it comprises:
It is to be noted that a “buffer pipe” in the meaning of the invention is firstly a pipe, that is to say a cylindrical tubular member. A “buffer pipe” in the meaning of the invention is preferably a member in one piece. A “buffer pipe” in the meaning of the invention is preferably a cylindrical tubular member having a circular cross section (but cross sections of other shapes are not excluded although prima facie less convenient; in case of a buffer pipe having a non-circular cross section, the expression “inner diameter” of the pipe means the minimum dimension of the hole of the pipe in a transverse plane, and the “outer diameter” means the maximum dimension or bulk of the pipe in a transverse plane).
Thus, according to the invention, a buffer pipe is loaded with all the marking tubes needed for a cable. The cable is fed through the buffer pipe and at the end of the buffer pipe the marking tubes are pushed from the buffer pipe onto the running cable. When the next target point (point to be marked) of the cable reaches the end of the buffer pipe, the next tube is pushed from the buffer pipe onto the cable. The marking tubes loaded on the buffer pipe can thus be successively pushed out of the buffer pipe to be applied onto the cable which is running through the buffer pipe. This process is repeated until all the marking tubes needed are applied on the cable.
The main benefit is that the cable is always driven in only one direction, reducing process time and restrictions to the cable length become obsolete.
According to a possible feature of the invention, the marking tubes applying device further comprises:
According to a possible feature of the invention, the marking tubes applying device further comprises a plurality of buffer pipes, and the shifting mechanism is configured for positioning either (of the buffer pipes) in the preparing position and in the producing position.
Providing several buffer pipes allows enhancing the productivity of the device. One of the buffer pipe can be placed in the preparing position so as to be loaded with marking tubes, while another buffer pipe is in the producing position and the marking of a cable is in progress. Another advantage is that it is possible to handle various type of marking tubes having different diameter or to produce various type of cable having different number of marking tubes or having different lengths, as will be more understood here after.
For example, the plurality of buffer pipes comprises buffer pipes having various outer diameters for receiving marking tubes of different diameter.
Alternatively or in addition, the plurality of buffer pipes comprises at least one long buffer pipe and at least one short buffer pipe having the same outer diameters but having different lengths for receiving different numbers of marking tubes of the same diameter and/or for receiving marking tubes having different lengths (the length of a marking tube being the dimension of the tube along its axis which is also the dimension of the tube along the axis of the cable once the tube is placed onto the cable). This allows producing various series of cables having different lengths or having the same length but wearing different numbers of marking tubes and/or marking tubes of different lengths.
In a preferred embodiment, the plurality of buffer pipes comprises several pairs of buffer pipes, the two buffer pipes of a same pair being identical, buffer pipes of different pairs having different outer diameters (for receiving marking tubes having different diameters) or different lengths (for receiving different numbers of marking tubes or marking tubes having different lengths). This allows preparing one buffer pipe of the pair (placed on the preparing position), while the other buffer pipe of the pair (placed on the producing position) is being used for marking a cable. This allows producing identical cables successively without time out between the cables, by shifting the two buffer pipes of the pair between the producing position and the preparing position each time a cable is completed.
According to a possible feature of the invention, the shifting mechanism comprises a carousel bearing the buffer pipe(s). This arrangement is advantageous as it allows providing several pairs of buffer pipes on a single element meeting the function of the shifting mechanism of the invention.
According to a possible feature of the invention in a device including a carousel and at least one pair of identical buffer pipes, for each pair of buffer pipes, the buffer pipes of the pair are arranged diametrically opposed on the carousel.
According to a possible feature of the invention, for marking tubes having a first length, the pushing unit includes a first set of parallel and coplanar blades arranged on a first side of a shaft parallel to the driving axis, the blades being equally spaced apart one another along the shaft with a first interval corresponding to the first length of the marking tubes, the shaft being rotated and translated along the driving axis such that the blades are moved in a pilgrim step movement (forward, up, backward and down again).
In an embodiment having a pushing unit with a first set of blades and having at least one long buffer pipe and at least one short buffer pipe, the pushing unit advantageously includes a second set of parallel and coplanar blades also born by the shaft which bears the first set of blades but extending on a second side of the shaft, and being also equally spaced apart one another along the shaft with the first interval, the first set of blades having a number of blades corresponding to the number of marking tubes that can be threaded onto the longest buffer pipe and the second set of blades having a number of blades corresponding to the number of marking tubes that can be threaded onto the shortest buffer pipe.
The fact that the first set of blades is arranged at one (first) side of the shaft and the second set of blades is arranged at another (second) side of the shaft means that either the blades of the two sets are not arranged in a same plane (that is to say the blades of the first set extend in a first plane including the shaft and the blades of the second set extend in a second plane including the shaft but different from the first plane, the two planes forming an angle there between at the shaft), or all the blades are in a same plane including the shaft but the blades of the second set extend in an opposite direction from the blades of the first set (that is to say the second set of blades is diametrically opposed to the first set of blades around the shaft).
In an embodiment having a pushing unit with a first set of blades and intended to be used with two types of marking tubes, namely a first type of marking tubes having a first length and second type of marking tubes having a second length, the pushing unit advantageously includes a second set of parallel and coplanar blades also born by the shaft which bears the first set of blades but extending on a second side of the shaft, the blades of the second set being equally spaced apart one another along the shaft with a second interval corresponding to the second length of the second type of marking tubes.
In another embodiment, the pushing device could have only one pushing blade or a gripper able to move along the entire length of the buffer pipe in the producing position so as to move each marking tube individually. In a further embodiment, the pushing device might be a belt drive brought into contact with the marking tubes.
According to a possible feature of the invention, the gripping unit in the preparing zone comprises a first opening head with suction pads and a second opening head with squeezing jaws, the first and the second opening head being arranged on a tilting common mounting, the mounting being tilted to use alternatively the first or the second opening head.
According to a possible feature of the invention, the preparing zone comprises a printer arranged upstream of the delivering slot.
According to a possible feature of the invention, for a device intended to be used with marking tubes of various types having different diameters and/or lengths, the preparing zone comprises several delivering slots, namely one delivering slot for each type of marking tubes, the gripping unit being configured to be translated between the preparing position and each of the delivering slots. In that embodiment, the preparing zone preferably comprises several printers, namely one printer upstream of each delivering slot.
The invention extends to a method for applying marking tubes to cables, characterized in that it uses a device according to the invention and in that it comprises the following steps:
It appears clearly that the cable is always driven in the same direction and that the method according to the invention is very fast and very efficient. Moreover, it can be identically applied regardless of the length of the cable as well as the needed number of marking tubes, and there is no limitation concerning neither the length of the cable nor the number and the location of the marking tubes.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention are described in, and will be apparent from, the description of the presently preferred embodiments which are set out below with reference to the drawings in which:
Upstream of the marking tube applying station 34, the production line also comprises a measuring and cutting station 33 including a cable cutter and additional cable guiding and/or driving means (not represented). In some cases, it might be desirable to add further cable processing modules between the cable measuring and cutting station 33 and the tube applicator 1 according to the invention.
The production line can also comprise a next processing station 35 downstream of the marking tube applying station 34. The next processing station can be a coiling station or another processing device.
A first embodiment of the tube applicator 1 can be observed in
This first embodiment is to be used with marking tubes having all the same diameter, this diameter being slightly more than the outer diameter of the buffer pipes.
This configuration is meant to produce cables having different lengths but intended to be marked with marking tubes of a same diameter. The pair of short buffer pipes 43,44 allows to handle the shortest cables and is dimensioned to hold enough marking tubes for these cables. The pair of long pipes 41,42 hold the maximum number of marking tubes needed for the longest cables. Usually the longer a cable, the more marks (and therefore marking tubes) are required. For example, the longer pair of buffer pipes is 1 m long to hold all the marking tubes required for the longest cables usually implemented in passenger aircrafts. These long buffer 41,42 pipes are not adapted for producing cable having a length less than 1 m. If the shortest cables to be produced are 0.9 m long or even less, the pair of short buffer pipes must be significantly shorter to allow for cable transportation.
In order to use a wide range of cables having different diameter with one given buffer pipe outer diameter, the buffer pipes have thin walls. For example, for marking tubes having an inner diameter of 12.7 mm, buffer pipes having an outer diameter of 12 mm and an inner diameter of 11 mm can be used.
Such buffer pipes are convenient for a range of cable diameters between 1 mm to 10 mm.
The marking tube applicator 1 is organized in two zones (see also
A marking tube supplying station is arranged next to the tube applicator 1 (this station is considered to be an element outside the claimed applicator), adjacent the preparing zone 200. The marking tube supplying station comprises a marking tube printer 91. The printer 91 provides marking tubes 2 with the required identification text. A gripping unit 5 (which is part of the claimed applicator), with a camera for quality control, is arranged in the preparing zone 200. The gripping unit 5 can be translated along a rail 56 parallel to the preparing axis 400.
Marking tubes are always packaged in a flat configuration in order to be printed in a printer. To be applied onto a cable, a marking tube must first be open. Therefore, the gripping unit 5 can have an opening head 51 equipped with suction pads 52 that pull the tube open, as shown in
The gripping unit has a tilting mount or base 55 bearing the opening head(s). The tilting base 55 can be tilted thanks to an actuator 57 (see
When a new coil of cable is loaded in the cable supplying station 32, the carousel 4 is placed in a starting position where a notch 60 (see
Then the carousel 4 is rotated again until a previously prepared buffer pipe corresponding to the cable to be produced, e.g. the buffer pipe 42, is in producing position. The cable is pushed again and the running cable 3 enters the buffer pipe 42 in producing position as shown in
The different marking tubes 2a-2g are to be placed at predetermined target points P1 . . . Pg of the cable. The first target point P1 can be at the free end 31 of the cable or very close to this free end 31. When the first target point P1 is about to exit the buffer pipe 42, the pushing unit 6 is moved forward along the driving axis 300 such that the first blade 6a of the pushing unit pushes the first out marking tube 2a (this first out marking tube being the last one that was loaded on the buffer pipe in the preparing zone) such that the first out marking tube 2a exits the buffer pipe 42 (
The cable keeps on running forward, pushed by the driving means arranged upstream of the tube applicator 1 and/or by the driving means arranged in the tube applicator downstream of the buffer pipe in producing position.
In order to be used with marking tubes made of heat-shrinking material, the tube applicator 1 includes a heating unit 9, for example hot air gun, located downstream of the buffer pipe in the producing position. By passing through the heating unit 9, the marking tube 2 contracts and secures to the cable. Downstream of the heating unit 9, the cable enters a pair of guiding rolls 82.
The cable is driven forward until the second target point reaches the exit end of the buffer pipe. Then the pushing unit 6 is moved forward so as to push the marking tubes until the second marking tube 2b exits the buffer pipe 42 and applies onto the cable 3.
In brief, at each desired position (target point), one tube (the first out tube) is pushed from the buffer pipe onto the running cable by the pushing unit 6, which is actuated in a pilgrim step movement (forward, up, backward and down again). The cycle is repeated as many times as necessary to apply all the marking tubes the cable is intended to receive.
To increase the precision of the positioning, it is possible to slow down the cable or even to stop it at the time a target point reaches the exit end of the buffer pipe and a marking tube is pushed to exit the buffer pipe (especially for long distances between the target points, e.g. for distances of more than 5 m).
The position of the heating unit 9 can be adjustable according to the length of the pipes. It is also possible to provide a movable heating unit which can move along the driving axis in a given range to follow the marking tube. Following the marking tube allows for higher cable speeds or longer heating time.
In the embodiments illustrated in
The tube applicator according to the invention can be configured to handle marking tubes of different lengths or cables of different lengths or both. In all that cases, it can be advantageous to provide the pushing unit with a second set of blades such as the blades 61a-61c of the first embodiment of
When the free end 31 of the cable reaches the end of the buffer pipe the clamp 83 catches the cable 3 and pulls it through the heating unit 9 and the guiding rolls 82. The movable clamp 83 is further moved along the driving axis 300 to bring the leading end of the cable out of the tube applicator to the next processing station 35. When the cable reaches a desired length, the cable is cut by the cable cutter in the measuring and cutting station 33. When the following end of the cable 3 reaches the end of the buffer pipe the cable is caught by the clamp 83, which brings the following end to the next processing station 35. It is to be noted that, alternatively, the additional pair of guiding rolls 82 might be also driving rolls.
The second embodiment illustrated in
The third embodiment illustrated in
A more important difference is to be noticed concerning this third embodiment, which is configured to process a sequence of different cables (differing in length, diameter and/or types of marking tube). For this, the tube applicator has six different pairs of buffer pipes 341-352 (12 pipes in total) for three different types of marking tubes and two ranges of cable lengths (long and short). The buffer pipes 341-352 are mounted on a carousel 304 and can be added, removed or exchanged to fit the production job. Depending on the size and number of the marking tubes and on the cable length, longer or shorter, larger or narrower buffer pipes are chosen. The buffer pipes of each pair are preferably arranged 180° from each other on the carousel (at opposite sides from the central axis of the carousel). The 180° positioning allows the gripping unit to load a buffer pipe, while the other buffer pipe of the pair is used in production to position the marking tubes on the cable.
In order to handle different types of marking tubes, the tube applicator illustrated in
Another difference of the third embodiment of
Another embodiment foresees only one gripping unit with (automatically) exchangeable opening heads. In a further embodiment a double-gripping unit having two opening heads as previously explained is used instead of two independent gripping units.
Moreover, the third embodiment of
To facilitate the loading of the marking tubes on the buffer pipes, the buffer pipes are tapered or have a needle tip as shown in
It should be mentioned that the elements and solutions of each described embodiment are not exclusive to one or the other embodiment. Depending on the desired function range the elements should be selected and combined (as soon as they do not interfere). All possible combinations are within the scope of invention.
The invention extends to all the alternative embodiments that are covered by the appended claims. For example, although it would be very less productive, the applicator can have only one buffer pipe and/or can be devoid of carousel or other shifting mechanism, each buffer pipe being arranged in a fixed position where it can be successively prepared (loaded) and used for production.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19305960.7 | Jul 2019 | EP | regional |
