CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims priority to Taiwanese Invention patent application No. 112132126, filed on Aug. 25, 2023, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
FIELD
The disclosure relates to a mold moving device, and more particularly to a mold moving device for a forged product forming machine.
BACKGROUND
A conventional forged product forming machine for forging products such as screws usually includes a stamping press device, a plurality of molds arranged in a horizontal direction, a plurality of ejection mechanisms respectively corresponding in position to the molds, and a plurality of gripping devices each disposed between two adjacent ones of the molds. To manufacture a forged product, a blank is first fed into one of the molds and then is pressed by the stamping press device, so the first stage of forging the blank is finished. Next, the blank thus pressed is ejected from the one of the molds by the respective one of the ejection mechanisms. Subsequently, one of the gripping devices grips the blank thus pressed to move the same to the next one of the molds to perform similar procedures described above until the blank is processed to a forged product.
The conventional forged product forming machine includes a lot of components and occupies a relatively large space, and mechanical complexity thereof is also relatively high. In addition, since the stamping press device and the molds are densely arranged and are repeatedly impacted during the manufacturing process of a forged product, temperatures of the molds tend to increase and thus service life of the molds may decrease. Some cooling devices are provided to solve such problem, which also increases an overall space occupied by the conventional forged product forming machine and adversely affects manufacturing efficiency. Furthermore, it is necessary to provide reserve spaces above the molds for mounting the gripping devices, and thus the molds must be arranged in the horizontal direction and cannot be stacked in a height direction to reduce an area occupied thereby.
The gripping devices are provided for transferring working stations for a blank in the conventional forged product forming machine, and are positioned before gripping the blank under process. Upon gripping the blank and inserting the same into one of the molds, the gripping devices are moved to retracted positions to prevent from being impacted by the stamping press device before the stamping press device presses the blank. Since the blank is usually relatively thin and elongated, and a speed of working station transfer is quite fast, it is relatively difficult to properly arrange the components of the conventional forged product forming machine to meet the manufacturing requirement. Furthermore, the gripping devices are designed to have complex linkage structures to perform accurate and quick gripping motion. Consequently, maintenance of or repair to the conventional forged product forming machine is troublesome and quite expensive.
SUMMARY
Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a mold moving device that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art.
According to the disclosure, a mold moving device adapted for a forged product forming machine includes a base unit, a transmission mechanism, a guiding member, a mold seat, and a plurality of pressing molds. The transmission mechanism is disposed on the base unit. The guiding member is rotatably mounted to the base unit, and includes a tubular body portion that is driven by the transmission mechanism to rotate, and that has an outer peripheral surface formed with a plurality of guiding grooves, and two ends axially opposite to each other. Each of the guiding grooves extends between the ends of the tubular body portion in a serpentine manner. The mold seat includes a rotary shaft, a rotating member, and a carrying member. The rotary shaft is rotatably mounted in the base unit. The rotating member is coaxially connected to one end of the rotary shaft, faces the guiding member, and includes a disk body portion and a plurality of projecting rods. The projecting rods protrude from the disk body portion toward the guiding member in directions parallel to the rotary shaft, and are angularly spaced apart from each other. The carrying member is coaxially connected to another end of the rotary shaft. The pressing molds are detachably mounted on the carrying member and are angularly spaced apart from each other. When the guiding member rotates, the guiding grooves respectively engage selected ones of the projecting rods in a manner where the selected ones of the projecting rods respectively slide along the guiding grooves, thereby driving the disk body portion to rotate via movement of the selected ones of the projecting rods.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment(s) with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is noted that various features may not be drawn to scale.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a mold moving device according to the present disclosure.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the embodiment seen from an angle different from FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side view illustrating a driven shaft and a guiding member of the embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a partly exploded perspective view of the guiding member and a mold seat of the embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a sectional view of FIG. 1.
FIG. 7 is a fragmentary front view of the embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Before the disclosure is described in greater detail, it should be noted that where considered appropriate, reference numerals or terminal portions of reference numerals have been repeated among the FIGS. to indicate corresponding or analogous elements, which may optionally have similar characteristics.
It should be noted herein that for clarity of description, spatially relative terms such as “top,” “bottom,” “upper,” “lower,” “on,” “above,” “over,” “downwardly,” “upwardly” and the like may be used throughout the disclosure while making reference to the features as illustrated in the drawings. The features may be oriented differently (e.g., rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative terms used herein may be interpreted accordingly.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an embodiment of a mold moving device according to the present disclosure is adapted for a forged product forming machine. The mold moving device includes a base unit 1, a transmission mechanism 2, a guiding member 3, a mold seat 4, and a plurality of pressing molds 5. The transmission mechanism 2 is mounted to the base unit 1. The guiding member 3 is rotatably mounted to the base unit 1. The mold seat 4 is rotatably mounted to the base unit 1. The pressing molds 5 are detachably disposed on the mold seat 4. The base unit 1 includes a main seat body 11, a bushing 12, two cushion blocks 13 (only one is visible in FIG. 2), a limiting block 14, and a mounting seat 15. The main seat body 11 defines a through slot 111 and a mounting space 112 in spatial communication with the through slot 111. The bushing 12 is rotatably disposed in the through slot 111. The cushion blocks 13 extend from the main seat body 11 toward the mounting seat 15, and are disposed in the mounting space 112. The limiting block 14 is disposed on the main seat body 11 and is movably disposed in the mounting space 112. In this embodiment, the cushion blocks 13 are disposed respectively at a lower side and one of lateral sides of the mounting seat 15, and the limiting block 14 is disposed at the other one of the lateral sides of the mounting seat 15. The mounting seat 15 is detachably mounted in the mounting space 112, and has two straight surfaces 151 perpendicular to and connected to each other, and a guiding inclined surface 152 connected to one of the straight surfaces 151 and extending inclinedly relative to the other one of the straight surfaces 151. The two straight surfaces 151 and the guiding inclined surface 152 abut respectively against the two cushion blocks 13 and the limiting block 14. In this embodiment, two adjusting screws extend through the limiting block 14 into the main seat body 11 and an inclined surface of the limiting block 14 tightly abuts against the guiding inclined surface 152, thereby positioning the mounting seat 15 in the mounting space 112.
Further referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the transmission mechanism 2 includes a power source 21 (see FIG. 2), a driving shaft 22, a driving gear 23, a driven shaft 24, and a driven gear 25. The driving shaft 22 is rotatably mounted to the main seat body 11 and is connected to be driven by the power source 21. The driving gear 23 is co-rotatably connected to the driving shaft 22. The driven shaft 24 is rotatably mounted to the main seat body 11. The driven gear 25 is co-rotatably connected to the driven shaft 24 and meshes with the driving gear 23. It should be noted that the power source 21 may be disposed on the main seat body 11 or at any other positions of the forged product forming machine, and drives rotation of the driving shaft 22 through connection means or other transmission members (not shown), and the present disclosure is not limited hereto. As shown in FIG. 4, the guiding member 3 includes a tubular body portion 31 driven by the transmission mechanism 2 (see FIG. 3) to rotate, and having an outer peripheral surface that is formed with a plurality of guiding grooves 311, and two ends that are axially opposite to each other. Each of the guiding grooves 311 extends between the ends of the tubular body portion 31 in a serpentine manner. It should be noted that in this embodiment, the number of the guiding grooves 311 is three, the configurations such as length and shape of the guiding grooves 311 are not identical, and the structures of the guiding grooves 311 in the present disclosure are not limited to any specific structures. In this embodiment, the driven shaft 24 of the transmission mechanism 2 is co-rotatably connected to the tubular body portion 31 of the guiding member 3 and drives rotation thereof.
Referring to FIGS. 2, 5 and 6, the mold seat 4 includes a rotary shaft 41, a rotating member 42 and a carrying member 43. The bushing 12 surrounds and covers the rotary shaft 41 and at least a portion of the carrying member 43. In this embodiment, the rotary shaft 41 is rotatably mounted in the bushing 12 of the base unit 1. The rotating member 42 is coaxially and co-rotatably connected to one end of the rotary shaft 41, and faces the guiding member 3. The carrying member 43 is coaxially and co-rotatably connected to another end of the rotary shaft 41. The rotary shaft 41 has a shaft body portion 411 and a plurality of driving teeth 412. The shaft body portion 411 has one end connected to the rotating member 42. The driving teeth 412 protrude from another end of the shaft body portion 411 toward the carrying member 43. The rotating member 42 includes a disk body portion 421 and a plurality of projecting rods 422. The disk body portion 421 is co-rotatably connected to the one end of the shaft body portion 411. In this embodiment, a rotational axis of the tubular body portion 31 of the guiding member 3 is perpendicular to and is not coplanar with a rotational axis of the disk body portion 421. The projecting rods 422 protrude from the disk body portion 421 toward the guiding member 3 in directions parallel to the rotary shaft 41, and are angularly spaced apart from each other. In this embodiment, the amount of the projecting rods 422 is twelve. The carrying member 43 includes a seat body 431, a plurality of driven teeth 432, and a bearing head portion 433. The seat body 431 is fastened to the shaft body portion 411 through a plurality of screws (not shown). The driven teeth 432 extend from the seat body 431 toward the shaft body portion 411 and respectively engage the driving teeth 412. The bearing head portion 433 extends from the seat body 431 in a direction opposite to the driven teeth 432, is not surrounded by the bushing 12, and is rotatably received in the mounting seat 15. The pressing molds 5 are detachably mounted on the bearing head portion 433 and are angularly spaced apart from each other. In this embodiment, the number of the pressing molds 5 is four, and the bearing head portion 433 is formed with four grooves 434 (only two are visible in FIG. 6) for the pressing molds 5 to be respectively mounted therein, but the numbers of the pressing molds 5 and the grooves 434 are not limited to four. When the guiding member 3 rotates, the guiding grooves 311 respectively engage selected ones of the projecting rods 422 in a manner where the selected ones of the projecting rods 422 respectively slide along the guiding grooves 311, thereby driving the disk body portion 421 to rotate via movement of the selected ones of the projecting rods 422. By virtue of the engagement between the driven teeth 432 and the driving teeth 412, a torque from the disk body portion 421 may be effectively transmitted to the bearing head portion 433 so the pressing molds 5 are rotated, and the screws for fastening the seat body 431 to the shaft body portion 411 are prevented from being damaged due to excessive shearing forces. In addition, it is also relatively simple to disassemble the driving teeth 412 and the driven teeth 432 for maintenance.
Referring back to FIGS. 1 to 3, how the mold moving device operates will be described in the following. When the power source 21 is powered on, the power source 21 drives rotation of the driving shaft 22 and thus rotation of the driving gear 23, such that the driven shaft 24 and the guiding member 3 are rotated through mesh between the driven gear 25 and the driving gear 23 during rotation of the driving shaft 22. When the guiding member 3 is rotated, the guiding grooves 311 respectively introduce three of the projecting rods 422 to engage therewith in a manner where the three of the projecting rods 422 respectively slide along the guiding grooves 311 and move in a circumferential direction of the disk body portion 421, thereby driving rotation of the disk body portion 421 and thus rotation of the pressing molds 5. Upon the three of the projecting rods 422 respectively sliding outwardly of the guiding grooves 311, another three of the projecting rods 422 are introduced to engage and slide along the guiding grooves 311, respectively. A rotational angle of the disk body portion 421 may be adjusted as required through modifying the design of the guiding grooves 311 in terms of shape and length. In this embodiment, the guiding grooves 311 are designed such that the mold seat 4 rotates in 90 degree increments and the four pressing molds 5 are transferred among four working stations. Such mechanical design may have relatively high precision and have zero backlash, and thus issues caused by a backlash in gripping mechanisms including gears utilized in the conventional forged product forming machine may be prevented. Furthermore, the pressing molds 5 may be cooled at any one of the working stations when not undergoing a pressing procedure to prevent damage to the pressing molds 5 due to increase in temperature. In this way, a service life of the pressing molds 5 may be prolonged and manufacturing speed may be increased.
Since the guiding member 3, the rotating member 42, and the bearing head portion 433 of the present disclosure are all designed as separate modules, it is relatively simple to disassemble and assemble the same for maintenance. Furthermore, various components having different configurations may replace the guiding member 3, the rotating member 42 and the bearing head portion 433 according to the actual forming or processing requirements, thereby increasing versatility and flexibility of the mold moving device of the present disclosure. In addition, the number of the pressing molds 5, the shape and the number of the guiding grooves 311, and the number of the projecting rods 422 may also be modified to adjust the rotational angle of the disk body portion 421 and thus each of the pressing molds 5 may be rotated in sequence to each of the working stations.
Referring to FIGS. 1, 3 and 7, in the present disclosure, to manufacture a forged product, one of the pressing molds 5 is first rotated to a first working station (A) on the lower left corner of the bearing head portion 433 shown in FIG. 7 and a blank to be processed is fed into the one of the pressing molds 5 through a feeding mechanism (not shown). Next, the one of the pressing molds 5 is rotated to a second working station (B) on the upper left corner of the bearing head portion 433, and then a stamping press device (not shown) of the forged product forming machine is driven by a power mechanism (not shown) of the forging product forming machine to perform a first stamping process on the blank in the one of the pressing molds 5, so the blank undergoes a preliminarily forging. Subsequently, the one of the pressing molds 5 is rotated to a third working station (C) on the upper right corner of the bearing head portion 433, and another stamping press device performs a second stamping process such that the blank in the one of the pressing molds 5 is processed into a forged product. Finally, the one of the pressing molds 5 is rotated to a fourth working station (D) on the lower right corner of the bearing head portion 433, and an ejection mechanism (not shown) is driven to perform an ejection process, in which a pushing rod is actuated by the ejection mechanism to eject the forged product out of the one of the pressing molds 5. It should be noted that, during rotation of the bearing head portion 433, when one of the pressing molds 5 is disposed at any one of the working stations, the remaining three pressing molds 5 that are respectively disposed at the remaining three working stations may respectively and synchronously undergo different processes. In this way, a large amount of forged products may be forged quickly and continuously and manufacturing efficiency of the forged product forming machine is relatively high.
In summary, by virtue of the structure of the pressing molds 5 that are respectively mounted in the grooves 434 of the bearing head portion 433, the pressing molds 5 can be disposed at the four working stations (A) to (D), which are arranged in a square shape and which are located at two different heights, so an area occupied by the pressing molds 5 in a horizontal direction is relatively small, and only one ejection mechanism is required to eject the forged product manufactured by the forged product forming machine. Thus, the mechanical complexity of the forged product forming machine mounted with the mold moving device of the present disclosure is lower than that of the conventional forged product forming machine. In addition, since the pressing molds 5 are co-rotated with the mold seat 4 and are sequentially rotated to the first to the fourth working stations (A) to (D), no gripping devices for moving the blank that is to be processed into the forged product from one working station to another working station are required. In this way, as compared to the conventional forged product forming machine using with a plurality of gripping mechanisms, the cost of the forged product forming machine mounted with the mold moving device of the present disclosure and the overall space occupied thereby may be significantly decreased.
In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment(s). It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects; such does not mean that every one of these features needs to be practiced with the presence of all the other features. In other words, in any described embodiment, when implementation of one or more features or specific details does not affect implementation of another one or more features or specific details, said one or more features may be singled out and practiced alone without said another one or more features or specific details. It should be further noted that one or more features or specific details from one embodiment may be practiced together with one or more features or specific details from another embodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the disclosure.
While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is (are) considered the exemplary embodiment(s), it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment(s) but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
Patent Application
20250065395
