A need arose to design and build a production line that would make a long, thin, tapered and curved beam spring for a high volume automotive application. First, a cold rolling mill produces the tapered thickness part from fully annealed, oscillate wound coil of spring steel. The equipment requires fast acting/accurate sensors and hydraulic controls that run on a real-time basis by using DSP (Digital Signal Processing) computer controls. The next inline operation uses a remote located fiber optic delivery 2.2 kW diode pumped Nd:YAG laser with a 50/50 laser beam splitter to do continuous contour profiling of the width of the part. The part is then heated on the under side with a direct diode laser, that has a defused laser beam of oval configuration. The part is moved rapidly, so as not to melt the surface of the material and is cooled immediately with a vortex cooler. The end result is a tapered thickness and width; curved part that has been hardened and backed tempered to produce a beam spring. The production line does not have hard tools, but rather is controlled by software (''virtual tooling'') and runs at a speed of 10 meters/min for nearly equal to 50 hours/coil. This will replace the current method of manufacture that employs progressive dies, injection molding, cold heading and manual assembly.
Beam spring flexible manufacturing production line
Flexible Fertigungsstraße für die Produktion von Spiralfedern
2000
6 Seiten, 7 Bilder
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Englisch
Flexible fabric spring shackles
Engineering Index Backfile | 1925
Flexible spring members, gas spring assemblies and methods
Europäisches Patentamt | 2016
|Flexible automobile production line and production method
Europäisches Patentamt | 2022
|