The present invention relates generally to a spring forming machine, and more particularly to an omnidirectional manipulator for use with a spring forming machine.
A spring forming machine is a piece of machinery for making various types or models of springs. The manufacturing process is generally such that a feeding roller that is capable of clamping and holding a wire for making a spring, which will be referred to as a spring-making wire for simplicity, is used to feed the spring-making wire through a through hole formed in a front wall board of the machine to allow various tools that are mounted to the front wall board to approach and engage, in a sideway direction, the spring-making wire to conduct various operations, such as bending, twisting or looping, and cutting, in order to complete the manufacture of a spring. In addition, various programs are loaded in advance in a processor combined with the spring forming machine so that execution of these programs controls the wire feeding means and the tools mounted to the front wall board of the spring forming machine to conduct various operations, such as bending, twisting or looping, and cutting, which are necessary for different phases of the manufacturing operation, to thereby achieve the purposes of making springs of various types and models.
The above-discussed existing spring forming machine is fully capable of achieving the purpose of making various sorts of springs. However, the number of the tools that are mounted to the front wall board is limited and the tools are allowed to do linear movements on the front wall board so that the movements of the tools approaching the spring-making wire are generally of the same angle and direction, making it not possible to suit the needs for bending and twisting or looping in all directions during the manufacturing of springs. To cope with such a problem, spring forming machines that are capable of rotating the wires are available. Such a kind of spring forming machines, however, is expensive and may be incapable of performing desired operations due to the gauges of the sprig-making wires being small, so that such machines do not suit the contemporary needs for making diverse forms of springs.
In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an omnidirectional manipulator for spring forming machines, which is mountable to an existing spring forming machines to allow for three-dimensional movements of tools to suit the contemporary need for making diverse forms of springs.
To achieve the above and other objects, the present invention provides an omnidirectional manipulator for use with a spring forming machine and comprises: a tool module, a first linear guideway, a second linear guideway, and a third linear guideway. The first linear guideway supports, in a manner of being mounted thereon, and drives the tool module to move along a first linear axis. The second linear guideway supports, in a manner of being mounted thereon, and drives the first linear guideway to move along a second linear axis. The third linear guideway supports, in a manner of being mounted thereon, and drives the second linear guideway to move along a third linear axis. The first linear axis, the second linear axis, and the third linear axis are perpendicular to one another.
In an embodiment, the first linear guideway of the omnidirectional manipulator for use with the spring forming machine comprises: a linear base, a screw rod, a slide seat, and a servomotor. The linear base comprises two rails that are substantially parallel to each other. The screw rod is rotatably mounted on the linear base and comprises a plurality of male threads. The slide seat is fit over the screw rod and comprises a plurality of female threads corresponding to and engaging with the male threads of the screw rod and a plurality of guide seats respectively corresponding to the two rails of the linear base such that the guide seats are respectively mounted on the two rails. The servomotor is fixed on the linear base and is coupled to and drives the screw rod to rotate so as to drive the slide seat to do linear movement along the two rails of the linear base.
In an embodiment, the servomotor of the first linear guideway of the omnidirectional manipulator for use with the spring forming machine is coupled to and drives the screw rod to rotate by means of a motor gear and a screw gear that mate each other so as to drive the slide seat to do linear movement along the two rails of the linear base.
In an embodiment, the servomotor of the first linear guideway of the omnidirectional manipulator for use with the spring forming machine is coupled to and drives the screw rod to rotate by means of a motor pulley, a belt, and a screw pulley that are operatively coupled to each other so as to drive the slide seat to do linear movement along the two rails of the linear base.
In an embodiment, the servomotor of the first linear guideway of the omnidirectional manipulator for use with the spring forming machine is coupled to and drives the screw rod to rotate by means of a coupling coupled thereto so as to drive the slide seat to do linear movement along the two rails of the linear base.
In an embodiment, the second linear guideway of the omnidirectional manipulator for use with the spring forming machine comprises: two rails, a slide seat, a screw rod, a screw seat, and a servomotor. The two rails are arrangement substantially parallel to each other. The slide seat comprises a plurality of guide seats respectively corresponding to the two rails so as to be respectively mounted on the two rails. The screw rod is rotatably mounted on the slide seat and comprises a plurality of male threads. The screw seat is fit over the screw rod and comprises a plurality of female threads corresponding to and engaging with the male threads of the screw rod. The servomotor is mounted on the slide seat and is coupled to and drives the screw rod to rotate so as to drive the slide seat to do linear movement along the two rails.
In an embodiment, the servomotor of the second linear guideway of the omnidirectional manipulator for use with the spring forming machine is coupled to and drives the screw rod to rotate by means of a coupling coupled thereto so as to drive the slide seat to do the linear movement along the two rails.
In an embodiment, the third linear guideway of the omnidirectional manipulator for use with the spring forming machine comprises: a linear base, a screw rod, a slide seat, and a servomotor. The linear base comprises two rails that are substantially parallel to each other. The screw rod is rotatably mounted on the linear base and comprises a plurality of male threads. The slide seat is fit over the screw rod and comprises a plurality of female threads corresponding to and engaging with the male threads of the screw rod and a plurality of guide seats respectively corresponding to the two rails of the linear base such that the guide seats are respectively mounted on the two rails. The servomotor is coupled to and drives the screw rod to rotate so as to drive the slide seat to do linear movement along the two rails of the linear base.
In an embodiment, the servomotor of the third linear guideway of the omnidirectional manipulator for use with the spring forming machine is coupled to and drives the screw rod to rotate by means of a coupling coupled thereto so as to drive the slide seat to do the linear movement along the two rails of the linear base.
In an embodiment, the tool module of the omnidirectional manipulator for use with the spring forming machine comprises: a tool disc, an angled gear box, a first servomotor, and a second servomotor. The tool disc comprises at least one tool. The angled gear box comprises a tool transmission axle coupled to the tool disc. The first servomotor is coupled to the angled gear box to drive the tool transmission axle of the angled gear box so as to drive the tool disc to rotate about a first rotation axis. The second servomotor drives the angled gear box and the tool disc to collectively rotate about a second rotation axis. The first rotation axis and the second rotation axis are perpendicular to each other.
In an embodiment, the first servomotor of the tool module of the omnidirectional manipulator for use with the spring forming machine drives a rotation transmission axle by means of a tool disc transmission gear set so as to drive the tool transmission axle of the angled gear box to have the tool disc rotate about the first rotation axis. The angled gear box can be an angled dual-output-axle gear box for simultaneously driving two tool discs to rotate about the first rotation axis.
In an embodiment, the second servomotor of the tool module of the omnidirectional manipulator for use with the spring forming machine drives a second rotation transmission axle, which is arranged around an outer circumference of the rotation transmission axle and is concentric with the rotation transmission axle, by means of an arm joint transmission gear set so as to drive the angled gear box and the tool disc to collectively rotate about the second rotation axis.
In an embodiment, the omnidirectional manipulator for use with the spring forming machine further comprises a mounting frame comprising a left brace and a right brace for mounting the omnidirectional manipulator to the spring forming machine.
In summary, the present invention provides an omnidirectional manipulator for use with a spring forming machine, which is mountable on an existing spring forming machine to allow for various tools carried on a tool module to move in a three-dimensional space to approach, at various angles, and engage a spring-making wire extending through a hole formed in a front wall board of the spring forming machine to conduct various operations at different angles, such as bending and twisting/looping, in order to suit the needs for making diverse forms of springs.
Further, the present invention provides a computer for use with an omnidirectional manipulator for spring forming machines, which supports an electric machine that is operable with absolute position for each axis so as to simplify the arrangement of proximity switches and allowing for setting any arbitrary position along each axis as an original point, and also allowing for storage of at least one thousand files. Further, the present invention provides an omnidirectional manipulator that is installable in spring forming machines of all brands and models so that the computer used can control conventional drivers and electric machines used in any existing spring forming machine so that there is no need to replace the existing electric machines and drivers for installation of the omnidirectional manipulator provided according to the present invention.
The foregoing objectives and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.
The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
Referring to
In the drawings, in addition to the tool module 14 mentioned above, the manipulator 10 that is for use with a spring forming machine 90 also comprises linear guideways 11, 12, 13. The linear guideways 11 functions to carry and move the tool module 14 in a linear axis, such as Z axis (movement in an up-down direction in the drawings). The linear guideway 12 functions to carry and move the linear guideway 11 in a linear axis, such as Y axis (movement in a front-rear direction in the drawings). The linear guideway 13 functions to carry and move the linear guideway 12 in a linear axis, such as X axis (movement in a left-right direction in the drawings). The X axis, Y axis, and Z axis can be three coordinate axes that are perpendicular to each other.
Referring to
The linear base 131 comprises two rails 1311, 1312 that are parallel to each other. The screw rod 132 is rotatably mounted on support seats 1313 at two ends of the linear base 131 comprises a plurality of male threads 1321. The slide seat 133 comprises a slide block 1336, a rail seat 1337, and guide seats 1331, 1332, 1333, 1334 that are securely fixed to each other. The slide block 1336 comprises a plurality of female threads corresponding to the male threads 1321 of the screw rod 132 and receives the screw rod 132 to extend through, in a threading engagement manner, the slide block 1336 for driving linear movement of the slide seat 133 that comprises the slide block 1336, the rail seat 1337, and the guide seats 1331, 1332, 1333, 1334.
Further, the guide seats 1331, 1333 are mounted on the rail 1311 and the guide seats 1332, 1334 are mounted on the rail 1312 and they comprise channels formed therein to respectively correspond to and mate with the rails 1311, 1312 so as to be movable along the two rails 1311, 1312 of the linear base 131. The servomotor 134 is fixed on the linear base 131 and has a rotation shaft that is coupled by the coupling 135 to the screw rod 132 for driving the screw rod 132 to rotate so as to drive the slide seat 133 to do linear movement along the two rails 1311, 1312 of the linear base 131.
Referring to
The rails 1211, 1212 are fixedly mounted, in a manner of being parallel to each other, to two side surfaces 13371, 13372 of the rail seat 1337 of the third linear guideway 13 at locations that are substantially perpendicular to the rails 1311, 1312 of the third linear guideway 13. The screw seat 126 is fit over and mounted to the screw rod 122 and comprises a plurality of female threads corresponding to and engaging with male threads 1221 of the screw rod 122 and has a bottom that extends through an opening 1237 of the slide seat 123 to be securely fixed to threaded holes 13373 formed in the rail seat 1337 of the third linear guideway 13 (see
The slide seat 123 comprises a plurality of guide seats 1231, 1232, 1233, 1234 corresponding to the rails 1211, 1212. The guide seats 1231, 1233 are mounted on the rail 1211 and the guide seats 1232, 1234 are mounted on the rail 1212 and they comprise channels formed therein to respectively correspond to and mate with the rails 1211, 1212 so as to be individually movable along the two rails 1211, 1212.
The screw rod 122 is rotatably supported on support seats 1235 at two ends of the slide seat 123 and comprises a plurality of male threads 1221. The servomotor 124 is fixed on the slide seat 123 and has a rotation shaft that is coupled by the coupling 125 to the screw rod 122 for driving the screw rod 122 to rotate so as to drive the slide seat 123, along with the servomotor 124 mounted thereto, to do linear movement along the two rails 1211, 1212.
Referring to
The linear base 111 is fixedly mounted to threaded holes 1236 formed in the slide seat 123 of the second linear guideway 12 (see
Further, the guide seats 1131, 1133 are mounted on the rail 1111 and the guide seats 1132, 1134 are arranged on the rail 1112 and they comprise channels formed therein to respectively correspond to and mate with the rails 1111, 1112 so as to be movable along the two rails 1111, 1112 of the linear base 111. The servomotor 114 is fixed on the linear base 111 and is coupled to the screw rod 112 by means of inter-engagement between the motor gear 115 and the screw gear 116 to drive it to rotate so as to drive the slide seat 113 to do linear movement along the two rails 1111, 1112 of the linear base 111.
Referring to
The tool disc 141 or 142 comprises at least one tool 149. In the example illustrated in the drawings, the tool disc 141 is provided with two tools 149 in each of a horizontal direction and a vertical direction; yet those skilled in the art may contemplate, based on the inventive idea of the present invention, the arrangement of tools may be varied according to the needs for an actual process of forming springs. The angled dual-output-axle gear box 143 comprises tool transmission axles 1431, 1432 respectively coupled to the tool discs 141, 142. The servomotors 148, 150 are fixed on the module housing 155. The servomotor 148 has a rotation shaft, which drives, via the arm joint transmission gear set 146, the rotation transmission axle 145 that has an end rotatably mounted to the rotation transmission axle 144 and an opposite end rotatably mounted to the module housing 155 such that a tool disc bearing seat 154 having two sides respectively coupled to the rotation transmission axle 145 and the gear box mounting seat 153 may drive the angled dual-output-axle gear box 143 and the tool discs 141, 142 to collectively rotate about a rotation axis R2.
The servomotor 150 has a rotation shaft that drives, via the tool disc transmission gear set 147, the rotation transmission axle 144 that has an end rotatably mounted to the module housing 155 and an opposite end rotatably mounted inside the rotation transmission axle 145 that is hollow and coaxial with the rotation transmission axle 145 in order to drive the angled dual-output-axle gear box 143 that is coupled to the rotation transmission axle 144 to have the tool transmission axles 1431, 1432 respectively drive the tool discs 141, 142 to rotate about a rotation axis R1. The rotation axes R1 and R2 are perpendicular to each other, as shown in the drawings.
As such, the manipulator 10 is mountable to an existing spring forming machine 90 to allow all sorts of tools 149 carried on the tool module 14 to move, in a three-dimensional space, to approach and engage a spring-making wire extending through a hole formed in a front wall board 91 of the spring forming machine 90 to carry out various operations at different angles, such as bending and twisting/looping. Thus, even just one tool 149 is involved, helical springs of different angles can be manufactured and damages caused by improper twisting in making small-gauge springs with the conventional spring forming machine 90 may be eliminated; and flexibility is realized for use with tools 149 arranged at 90 degrees with respect to each other to achieve different functions. Further, due to the rotatability of the tool module 14, one single tool 149, which is provided therein with various wire openings/slots, may be used for the manufacture of springs of various wire gauges.
Referring to
Secondly, as shown in
Referring to
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the claims of the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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105200817 | Jan 2016 | TW | national |