U.S. patent application number 10/050820 was filed with the patent office on 2003-07-10 for automatic shaping method and structure of fin and connection element.
Invention is credited to Hsu, Eric, Huang, Meng-Cheng.
Application Number | 20030126743 10/050820 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 21967641 |
Filed Date | 2003-07-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030126743 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Huang, Meng-Cheng ; et
al. |
July 10, 2003 |
Automatic shaping method and structure of fin and connection
element
Abstract
The present invention provides an automatic shaping method and
structure of fin and connection element. A feeder drives a material
belt to enter a punch having a continuous die. The material belt
passes a guide device, a bottom die, and a top die of the
continuous die to perform operations of punching a central hole,
shaping of outer appearance, and hole expansion and drawing. After
an a period's interval, the top die is used to shear the material
belt, and a pressure piece moves downwards for side shearing. At
the same time of shearing, shaped sheet fins are pressured onto the
connection element. A stepping device drives the pressure piece to
stack the fins on the connection element one by one. The connection
elements are arranged at the feeder. The connection element is sent
into a positioning device one by one. After the fins are stacked,
automatic replacement is performed.
Inventors: |
Huang, Meng-Cheng; (Panchiao
City, TW) ; Hsu, Eric; (Taoyuan Hsien, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ROSENBERG, KLEIN & LEE
3458 ELLICOTT CENTER DRIVE-SUITE 101
ELLICOTT CITY
MD
21043
US
|
Family ID: |
21967641 |
Appl. No.: |
10/050820 |
Filed: |
January 18, 2002 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
29/890.03 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y10T 29/4935 20150115;
B21D 35/00 20130101; B21D 53/085 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
29/890.03 |
International
Class: |
B21D 053/02 |
Claims
I claim:
1. An automatic shaping method of fin and connection element
comprising the steps of: (a) sending a material belt into a punch;
(b) performing shaping by continuous punching in the punch; (c)
initially shearing the material belt; (d) shearing again the fin
side of the material belt with a pressure piece to form sheet fins;
(e) driving the pressure piece to take the sheet fins to move
downwards along a connection element; and (f) stacking the sheet
fins on the connection element one by one.
2. The automatic shaping method of fin and connection element as
claimed in claim 1, wherein said steps of (b) and (c) are spaced at
a period of shaping by continuous punching.
3. The automatic shaping method of fin and connection element as
claimed in claim 1, wherein the pressure piece in said step (e) is
driven in stepping way to recede a small distance each time.
4. The automatic shaping method of fin and connection element as
claimed in claim 1, wherein positioning of the connection elements
is performed in said step (e).
5. The automatic shaping method of fin and connection element as
claimed in claim 4, wherein the connection elements are arranged in
a row and are pushed in stepping way so that only one connection
element enters the sheared position and is then positioned each
time.
6. The automatic shaping method of fin and connection element as
claimed in claim 5, wherein the positioning is achieved by clamping
in opening/closing or insertion/extrusion way.
7. The automatic shaping method of fin and connection element as
claimed in claim 5, wherein the height of the connection element
can be adjusted.
8. The automatic shaping method of fin and connection element as
claimed in claim 1, wherein the shaping by punching means
performing operations of punching a central hole, shaping of outer
appearance, and hole expansion and drawing on the material belt
between a top die and a bottom die.
9. The automatic shaping method of fin and connection element as
claimed in claim 1, wherein an action of punching and bending the
edge is further included after the outer appearance is formed.
10. An automatic shaping structure of fin and connection element
comprising: a punch; a winder for leading a material belt to enter
said punch; a continuous die in said punch and having a bottom die
and a top die, said top die having a shearing portion and a
plurality of punching portions; a pressure piece disposed beside
said top die and joined with a push device and a stepping control
device, a shearing interface being formed between a side of said
pressure piece and a periphery of said bottom die; and a
positioning device of connection element joined in said punch and
situated outside a distal end of said bottom die of said continuous
die, a connection element being positioned at said positioning
device exactly below said pressure piece, said pressure piece being
driven to stack punched sheet fins on said connection element one
by one.
11. The automatic shaping structure of fin and connection element
as claimed in claim 10, wherein a guide device is disposed on said
bottom die so that the material belt can move between them.
12. The automatic shaping structure of fin and connection element
as claimed in claim 10, wherein said connection elements are
arranged at a feeder, and said feeder is used to send said
connection elements into said positioning device of connection
element one by one.
13. The automatic shaping structure of fin and connection element
as claimed in claim 12, wherein said feeder has a slide piece, and
said slide piece has a container for receiving a row of said
connection elements, said slide piece being joined with a stepping
push rod, two upper sides of said container being abutting walls of
connection element, a clamping positioner driven by a hydraulic
cylinder being at one side of the abutting walls.
14. The automatic shaping structure of fin and connection element
as claimed in claim 13, wherein said stepping push rod of said
feeder is driven by a stepper motor.
15. The automatic shaping structure of fin and connection element
as claimed in claim 12, wherein said feeder has an adjustment
baffle, and an upper end of said adjustment baffle contacts a lower
end of said connection element.
16. The automatic shaping structure of fin and connection element
as claimed in claim 15, wherein a height adjustment mechanism is
joined at a lower end of said adjustment baffle on said feeder.
17. The automatic shaping structure of fin and connection element
as claimed in claim 10, wherein said stepping control device is a
small stepper motor to control the retraction and extension stroke
of said pressure piece.
18. The automatic shaping structure of fin and connection element
as claimed in claim 10, wherein said push device is a hydraulic
cylinder.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to an automatic shaping method
and structure of fin and connection element and, more particularly,
to a manufacturing method and the mechanical structure thereof,
wherein sheet fins shaped by punching are automatically assembled
with a connection element one by one following the punching
procedure.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In addition to an integral heat radiator, a conventional
heat-radiating device can be formed of a plurality of metallic
sheet fins to enhance the whole heat-radiating area. It is
characterized mainly in that a connection element is added on the
fin structure, and a through hole is correspondingly disposed on
each fin so that the connection element can pass through. The bore
of the through hole must be slightly larger than the outer diameter
of the connection element so that each metallic sheet fin can be
positioned on the connection element.
[0003] In the conventional manufacturing method, each metallic
sheet fin is shaped by one time of punching. As shown in FIG. 1,
after a roll of material belt 10 passes through a feeder winder 11
and then enters a punch 12, a die 13 is used to punch the material
belt 10 to become sheet fins 14 shown in FIG. 2. Next, assembly is
performed manually. Of course, there is still the manufacturing
process of connection element. However, the present invention is
independent of how the connection element is manufactured and thus
this part will not be further described. As shown in FIG. 2, the
fins 14 are slipped into a connection element 15 one by one.
[0004] Because the degree of joint between the fin and the
connection element is high, the assembly is relatively difficult.
Moreover, because each fin needs to be manually and slowly moved on
the connection element and the connection element is flexible, this
action is also difficult. Therefore, manufacturing by means of
manual assembly is time-consuming and laborsome. Furthermore,
because the cost of manual labor is expensive, and the production
is low, the price of manufacture is badly affected. This is because
the manufacturing and the assembly are separated, and it is
necessary for each fin to undergo the action of alignment, hence
detrimental to the requirement of fast manufacturing.
[0005] More specifically, in order to meet the requirement of
assembly, the bore of the through hole disposed on the conventional
fin needs to be slightly larger than the outer diameter of the
connection element. After being assembled, not tight match arises
so that each fin may be rotatable, hence causing disorderly
arrangement of fins. In order to obtain a more stable structure
after assembly, a fixing and positioning procedure by means of
thermal soldering is further required so that satisfactory
manufactures can be obtained.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide an
automatic shaping method and structure of fin and connection
element, wherein many sheet fins are made in continuous punching
mode, and a through hole is formed on each fin in advance by
drawing during the manufacturing process of fin. When a connection
element is positioned at the position of a shaped fin, the step of
assembly is also performed along with the punching operation,
thereby letting sheet fins be slipped onto the connection element
via the through hole. A pressure piece is further provided. Motion
of the pressure piece is exploited to let the fins move along the
connection element. After a certain number of the fins are stacked
on the connection element one by one, the next connection element
is replaced. Therefore, the action of passing the connection
element through the fins needs not to be performed manually or by
other special machines, and can directly match the punching process
to accomplish the assembly process. Accordingly, waiting time for
storage and transportation of the sheet fins is not required. In
other words, the sheet fins can be immediately assembled after
being manufactured, hence saving the manufacturing cost and
assembly time. Moreover, the production per unit time can be
increased to let the manufacture has better economy and competitive
capacity on the market.
[0007] In the present invention, a material belt is driven by a
feeder winder to enter a punch having a continuous die. The
material belt then passes a guide device, a bottom die, and a top
die of the continuous die to perform the operations of punching a
central hole, shaping of outer appearance, and hole expansion and
drawing. After an interval of a period, the top die is used to
shear the material belt, and a pressure piece moves downwards to
perform side shearing. At the same time of shearing, the shaped
sheet fin is pressured onto the connection element. A stepping
device drives the pressure piece to stack the sheet fins on the
connection element one by one. The connection element is arranged
at the feeder. The connection element is sent into a positioning
device of connection element one by one. After the fins are
stacked, automatic replacement is performed.
[0008] The manufacturing method of the present invention comprises
the steps of:
[0009] (a) sending the material belt into the punch;
[0010] (b) performing shaping by continuous punching in the
punch;
[0011] (c) initially shearing the material belt;
[0012] (d) shearing the fin side of the material belt with the
pressure piece to form sheet fins;
[0013] (e) driving the pressure piece to take the sheet fins to
move downwards along the connection element; and
[0014] (f) stacking the sheet fins on the connection element one by
one.
[0015] The various objects and advantages of the present invention
will be more readily understood from the following detailed
description when read in conjunction with the appended drawing, in
which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] FIG. 1 is a front view of manufacturing machine in the prior
art;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a partly exploded perspective view of a heat
radiator;
[0018] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the present invention;
[0019] FIG. 4 is a front cross-sectional view of only the die of
the present invention when the die is not joined yet;
[0020] FIG. 5 is a top view of a bottom die of the die of the
present invention;
[0021] FIG. 6 is a front cross-sectional view of only the die of
the present invention when the die is already joined;
[0022] FIG. 6A is an enlarged view of part A shown in FIG. 6;
[0023] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the die of the present
invention joined above the bottom die;
[0024] FIG. 8 is a front cross-sectional view of only the die of
the present invention after the pressure piece moves;
[0025] FIG. 8A is an enlarged view of part A shown in FIG. 8;
[0026] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the present invention having
a feeder;
[0027] FIG. 10 is a front cross-sectional view of only the feeder
portion of the present invention;
[0028] FIG. 11 is a side view of only the feeder portion of the
present invention;
[0029] FIG. 12 is a top view of only the feeder portion of the
present invention (above the bottom die);
[0030] FIG. 13 is an action diagram of FIG. 12; and
[0031] FIG. 14 is an action process of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0032] As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, an automatic shaping structure of
fin and connection element of the present invention has a punch 2.
Because the structures and action ways of various kinds of punches
are almost the same, the basic structure of the punch 2 will not be
described in detail in the present invention. A winder 21 is joined
at one side of the punch 2. The winder 21 is used to drive a
material belt (referring to FIG. 1) to enter the punch 2. The
winder is used to let the material belt only move a distance
slightly larger than a piece of manufacture.
[0033] A continuous die 22 is disposed in the space of the punch 2.
The die 22 is positioned in the punch 2. The die 22 has a bottom
die 23 and a top die 24. The top die further has a shearing portion
and a plurality of punching portions. Because the shapes of the
shearing portion and the punching portions are the basic
architectures of die, they are not manifested in the figures.
Moreover, because the positions and shapes to be punched have
modifiability, it is not necessary to limit the shapes and
positions of disposition.
[0034] As shown in FIG. 5, a material belt 3 passes the guide
device 20 and then advances along the bottom die 23 of the die 22.
The guide device 20 is positioning guide pieces 30 at two sides of
the material belt 3. The positioning guide pieces 30 are
respectively disposed at the entry position, the exit position, and
the middle position, which will not affect punching. The guide
device 20 can also be a pair of ties 38. The material belt 3 passes
through the trench of the ties 38. These devices are all limit
devices for limiting the material belt 3 to move horizontally,
thereby preventing the material belt 3 from springing up.
[0035] A central hole 31, two sides 32, an auriform hole 33, two
bent sides 34, and a curved bent side 35 in the auriform hole 33
are disposed from the entry direction toward the exit direction on
the material belt 3. As can be seen from FIG. 7, totally five times
of punching, one after another, are required for the above five
shapes. Next, the manufacture undergoes a punching period (five
intervals of space) and is then pushed out of the die 22.
[0036] The present invention is mainly characterized in that an
outer frame 25 beside the top die 24 of the die 22 joins a pressure
piece 26, as shown in FIG. 4. The upper end of the pressure piece
26 joins a push device 27 and a stepping control device 28. The
pressure piece 26 forms shearing interfaces near the sides of the
die 22 and the periphery of the bottom die 23. A shearing tool 7 is
disposed between the top die 24 and the bottom die 23 of the die
22, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 10. A far edge line 36 of the material
belt 3 is sheared, and the positioned pressurized to break by the
pressure piece 26 is a near edge line 37. A plate 29 between the
far edge line 36 and the near edge line 37 is punched off. The
plate 29 is removed via a slide-off passageway 8 of the bottom die
26. At the same time of punching off, semi-manufactures 30 of sheet
fins become free bodies, and can match the connection element along
with the pressure piece. The material belt shown in FIG. 5
undergoes the punching of FIG. 6 to show the state of FIG. 7, and
is then punched by the pressure piece 26 of FIG. 8. The
punching-off state of the plate 26 can be seen with comparison of
FIG. 8A and FIG. 6A. The steps of (a) to (d) are described
above.
[0037] A positioning device 4 of connection element is joined in
the punch 2, and is outside the distal end of the bottom die of the
die. A connection element 40 is positioned at the positioning
device 4, which is exactly below the pressure piece 26. The
connection element 40 can be a bar, a pipe, or a thermal tube. The
pressure piece 26 takes the punched semi-manufacture of sheet fins
30 to be stacked on the connection element 40 one by one. The
positioning device 4 of connection element shown in FIGS. 3 to 8
has at least a pair of holes 43 and 44, which are directly disposed
on a slide piece 41 of the punch 2. The slide piece 41 reciprocates
on a slide track 42. The action of extracting the connection
element 40 from either the hole 43 or 44 is performed manually or
by machine.
[0038] The positioning device 4 of connection element is matched
with the action of the push device 37 of the pressure piece 26 to
let the pressure piece 26 perform the action of moving downwards.
The push device 27 is usually a hydraulic cylinder to generate
reciprocating actions. Because the semi-manufactures 30 are stacked
on the outer surface of the connection element 40, the stroke each
time needs to diminish gradually. Therefore, the stepping control
device 30 is matched. The stepping control device 30 is a small
stepper motor to lead the pressure piece 36 to make a recession
stroke each time. After the number of semi-manufactures to be
stacked is arrived, the pressure piece 26 restores to its original
position. The above describes the most important steps of (e) to
(f) of the present invention, whereby the semi-manufactures 30 are
pushed and positioned by the pressure piece 26 one by one. The
pressure piece 26 can be a tube body shown in FIG. 4.
[0039] As shown in FIGS. 9 to 13, a feeder 5 is further provided to
match the positioning device 4 of connection element, thereby
generating positioning and clamping functions of the connection
element 40. In other words, a row of connection elements are
arranged at the feeder 5, and are sent in by the feeder one by one
for assembly processing. The feeder 5 has a slide piece 51. A
container 52 for receiving a row of connection elements is joined
on the slide piece 51. The slide piece 51 is connected with a
stepping push rod 53, which can be a screw rod. The slide pieces 51
at two sides above the container 52 are abutting walls of
connection elements. A clamping positioner 54 is disposed at one
side of the abutting walls. The clamping positioner 54 is driven by
a hydraulic cylinder 55. In other words, the slide piece 51 has a
fixing piece 56 and a slide piece 57 thereon. A positioning guide
trench 58 is disposed between the two pieces 56 and 57 to receive a
connection element 40. The hydraulic cylinder 55 is used to lead
the slide piece 57 so that the assembled manufacture can leave from
the punch to a conveyance device. The stepping push rod 53 of the
feeder 5 is driven by a stepper motor 59. The feeder 5 has an
adjustment baffle 50 thereon. The top end of the adjustment baffle
50 contacts the lower end of the connection element 40. A height
adjustment screw 6 (shown in FIG. 10, being a height adjustment
structure) is joined at the lower end of the adjustment baffle 50
on the feeder 5. The adjustment of the adjustment baffle 5 shown in
FIG. 11 is used to control the stacked number of the
semi-manufactures 30. The motion of the feeder 5 is shown in FIGS.
12 to 13 to generate automated production mode.
[0040] Referring to FIG. 14, the manufacturing method of the
present invention comprises the steps of:
[0041] (a) sending the material belt 3 into the punch 2;
[0042] (b) performing continuous punching in the punch 2 spaced by
an interval of period of shaping by continuous punching;
[0043] (c) initially shearing the material belt;
[0044] (d) shearing the fin side of the material belt with the
pressure piece 26 to form sheet fins;
[0045] (e) driving the pressure piece to take the sheet fins to
move downwards along the connection element (i.e., using the
pressure piece to pressurize the fins onto the connection element);
and
[0046] (f) stacking the sheet fins on the connection element one by
one.
[0047] Subsequently, the manufacture is taken away, and replacement
and positioning of the connection element are performed. The height
of the position of the connection element can be adjusted to set
the number of stacked fins. The pressure piece is driven in
stepping way to recede a small distance each time. The shaping by
continuous punching means performing the operations of punching a
central hole, shaping of outer appearance, and hole expansion and
drawing on the material belt between the top die 24 and the bottom
die 23. After the outer appearance is formed, an action of punching
and bending the edge is also included. The bent edge can be used as
a separation portion between two sheet fins. More specially, the
drawing of hole is exploited to facilitate the whole assembly
process.
[0048] To sum up, in the present invention, the action of
continuous punching in a punch is used to form sheet fins, and a
connection element is positioned at the rear end thereof. A mobile
pressure piece is matched to pressurize the sheet fins onto the
connection element one by one. The pressure piece is positioned at
a die. A push device and a stepping control device are further
matched to achieve the function of orderly stacking so that the
sheet fins can be stacked one by one in recession way. Similarly, a
feeder can be used to send in the connection elements and the
manufactures for adjusting the number of stacked fins.
[0049] Although the present invention has been described with
reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it will be
understood that the invention is not limited to the details
thereof. Various substitutions and modifications have been
suggested in the foregoing description, and other will occur to
those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, all such
substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced within
the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
* * * * *