Patent Application
20060037658
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-242565, filed Aug. 23, 2004, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pressure container and a pressure accumulating/buffer apparatus such as an accumulator which are used in an automobile and an industrial machine, and particularly relates to them where a welded portion between an end plate and a body portion is uniform.
2. Description of the Related Art
Accumulators (pressure accumulating/buffer apparatus) are used in hydraulic circuits and shock absorbers of hydraulic control apparatuses. In the accumulators, insides of pressure containers are generally divided into gas chambers and oil chambers by bellows, and pressure fluctuation in oil flowing into the oil chambers are buffered by the swell/shrink function of gas in the gas chambers due to expansion/shirinkage of the bellows (see Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication Nos. 2001-116002, 2001-116003 and 2003-120601). The accumulators are widely used as apparatuses, that effectively suppress pulsation generated in the coil flowing in the hydraulic circuits, for example, in automobiles and industrial machines.
In order to form pressure containers, it is necessary to joint a contour member to a cover body that closes the contour member with large strength. For example, resistance welding can be used in a pressure container with small thickness (2 mm or less), for example.
In the case where the resistance welding is carried out, an outside surface of the steel pipe 11 is clamped by a double-split electrode 13, an outside surface of the end plate 12 is inserted into the steel pipe 11 from an end side so as to come in contact with its inner wall surface, and the electrode 14 is brought into contact with the outside surface of the steel pipe 11. Meanwhile, the electrode 14 is allowed to touch an upper surface of the end plate 12. While a load is applied to between the electrodes 13 and 14, an electric current is allowed to flow in the electrode 13, the steel pipe 11, the end plate 12 and the electrode 14, so that the inner wall surface of the steel pipe 11 and the outside surface of the end plate 12 are resistance-welded.
On the other hand, in a pressure container with large thickness (2 mm or more) shown in
On a lower surface of the first end plate 22 in
The above-mentioned method of jointing the pressure container has the following problem. That is to say, in the resistance welding, since the steel pipe is clamped by the double-split electrode, uniform contact and a strong clamping force cannot be obtained, and thus this method can be used only for thin steel pipes with thickness of up to about 2 mm. Further, in the case of the thick steel pipes, in order to obtain the strength of the welded portion by CO2 welding, TIG welding and the like of the outer peripheral surface, the steel pipes become large and heavy.
It is an object of the present invention to form a joint portion having sufficient strength of a welded portion by obtaining large welding load and uniform contact in resistance welding even when a thick member is used and a large welding current is electrified.
The present invention provides a pressure container comprising: a cylindrical contour member; and a cover body which is formed with a joint portion by allowing its side wall portion to touch an inner wall portion of an opening end of the contour member and blocks the opening end, wherein the contour member has a flange portion which can be cut at the opening end, and the joint portion is allowed to touch the flange portion, the flange portion is pressed against the opening end along an axial direction so as to touch the cover body, and while the cover body is being pressed against the contour member along the axial direction, an electric current is applied so that welding is carried out.
The present invention also provides a pressure accumulating/buffer apparatus comprising: a pressure container; and an air chamber into which gas can be sealed and a liquid chamber into which a liquid can flow that are provided in the pressure container, wherein the pressure container has a cylindrical contour member and a cover body which is formed with a joint portion by allowing its side wall portion to touch an inner wall portion of an opening end of the contour member and blocks the opening end, the contour member has a flange portion which can be cut at the opening end, and the joint portion is allowed to touch the flange portion, the flange portion is pressed against the opening end along an axial direction so as to touch the cover body, and while the cover body is being pressed against the contour member along the axial direction, an electric current is applied so that welding is carried out.
According to the present invention, even when a thick member is used and a large welding current is electrified, large welding load and uniform contact is obtained in the resistance welding so that the joint portion having sufficient strength of the welded portion can be formed.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
The accumulator 30 has the steel pipe (contour member) 40 which has a cylindrical shape with a bottom, an end plate (cover body) 50 which is fitted into an opening of the steel pipe 40, and a bellows mechanism 60 housed in the steel pipe 40. The steep pipe 40 and the end plate 50 compose the pressure container, and a tapered surface 41c, mentioned later, of the steep pipe 40 and a tapered surface 51d, mentioned later, of the end plate 50 are jointed by resistance welding so that the joint portion Q is formed.
The steel pipe 40 is formed by joining a pipe portion 41 integrally with a bottom portion 42. The bottom portion 42 is formed with a through hole 42a. The through hole 42a is blocked airtightly by a gas sealing stopper 43. Further, a cover 44 is attached to an outer portion of the through hole 42a. 41a in
The end plate 50 has an end plate main body 51 formed into a disc shape, a port portion 52 which is provided to a center of the end plate main body 51 and has a through hole therein, and a cylindrical member (cylindrical body) 53 which is jointed to an upper surface 51a, mentioned later, of the end plate main body 51.
The end plate main body 51 is arranged so that the upper surface 51a is inside of the steel pipe 40 and the lower surface 51b is outside of the steel pipe 40. Further, a tapered surface 51d is formed from a side surface 51c to the upper surface 51a. The tapered surface 51d is provided with a ring-shaped part 54 made of rubber or resin, and it prevents sputter from entering the gas chamber G at the time of welding.
The bellows mechanism 60 has a metallic bellows 61 formed into a cylindrical shape, a bellows cap 62, a seal function member 64, and a guide 64. The bellows cap 62 has a disc shape and is mounted to one opening end of the metallic bellows 61. The seal function member 63 is mounted to a central concave portion 62a of the bellows cap 62 and is made of a rubber material. The guide 64 is mounted to an outer peripheral portion 62b of the bellows cap 62. Further, since the guide 64 slides along an inner peripheral surface of the pipe portion 41, the bellows cap 62 can move smoothly.
The other opening end of the metallic bellows 61 is mounted airtightly to the upper surface 51a of the end plate main body 51. The seal function member 63 is arranged so that a lower surface 63a of the metallic bellows 61 in the most shrunk state touches an upper surface 53a of the cylindrical member 53.
In the accumulator 30 having such a constitution, when the pressure of pressure oil introduced into the oil chamber L via the through hole 52a of the port portion 52 exceeds gas pressure in the gas chamber G, the metallic bellows 61 expands so that the gas in the gas chamber G shrinks. On the other hand, when the pressure of the pressure oil in the oil chamber L is less than the gas pressure in the gas chamber G, the metallic bellows 61 shrinks so that the gas in the gas chamber G swells. A pressure fluctuation in the pressure oil in a hydraulic circuit is buffered by swell/shrink function of the gas in the gas chamber G, so that pulsation of the pressure oil is suppressed.
The steps of manufacturing the accumulator 30 are explained below. Firstly, the cylindrical member 53 is welded to the upper surface 51a of the end plate main body 51. After the metallic bellows 61 and the bellows cap 62 are welded, they are welded to the upper surface 51a to the end plate main body 51.
As shown in
When the resistance welding is carried out, a foreign matter intrusion preventing cap K is attached to the port portion 52 so as to prevent foreign matter from intruding.
The resistance welding can be carried out satisfactorily by applying large welding load. The steel pipe 40 is, therefore, welded to the end plate 50 satisfactorily, and a sealed state of the pressure container becomes secure and firm.
According to the accumulator 30 in the embodiment, even in the case where a steel pipe with thickness of, for example, 2 mm or more is resistance-welded to a mirror plate by applying large welding current (for example, 300 kA or more), large welding load can be applied via the flange portion 45, so that uniform contact can be obtained. As a result, the pressure container having sufficient strength of the welded portion can be formed.
Further, since the electrodes do not have to be split into two and thus discharge to the members from the electrodes can be prevented, the surfaces of the members such as the steel pipe and the end plate do not get rough.
In the embodiment described above, the end-plate main body 51 has a tapered surface 51d. Instead, the end-plate main body 51 may have an edge part 54 as shown in
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the above example explains the pressure container for the accumulator, but the present invention can be applied also to pressure containers to be used for applications of a gas spring and gas stay. Further, the pressure container where the end plate is provided to one side is explained, but it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied similarly to the case where the end plates are provided to both the ends, respectively. It goes without saying that the present invention can be carried out variously without departing from the scope of the gist.
Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-242565 | Aug 2004 | JP | national |
