KR20150080349A - Self piercing rivet device - Google Patents

Abstract

A self-piercing rivet device is disclosed. The self-piercing rivet device includes: a frame; a punch unit installed above the frame to provide a pressing force for a rivet through a punch cylinder; and an anvil unit installed below the frame to correspond to the punch unit. The punch unit includes a receptacle installed in the punch housing to be moved up and down through the punch cylinder. The frame has a mount for the mounting of the punch housing, wherein a rivet transfer member for transferring the rivet supplied from a rivet feeder to the receptacle can be installed.

Description

{SELF PIERCING RIVET DEVICE}

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a self-piercing rivet device, and more particularly to a self-piercing rivet device capable of joining two or more objects to be joined through a self-piercing rivet.

In the automobile industry, the use of aluminum alloys and plastic materials to improve fuel efficiency due to environmental problems has been aimed at reducing the weight of the vehicle body.

For this purpose, in the automobile industry, a joining method capable of replacing conventional spot welding for assembling a vehicle body is being studied.

Recently, a self-piercing rivet system has been adopted as a self-piercing rivet bonding method as a bonding method that meets this expectation.

The self-piercing rivet jointing method is different from the conventional riveting method in which a hole for riveting is formed on a joining object such as a steel plate and a rivet is inserted into the hole and then the head is molded to join the object to be joined. Or the rivet is subjected to plastic deformation by press-fitting the rivet into the object to be bonded by air pressure to join the object to be bonded.

In the self-piercing rivet jointing method as described above, for example, a self-piercing rivet made of a head and a partially hollow cylindrical shank is used to fasten the object to be joined between upper and lower plates such as a metal sheet material.

For example, the self-piercing rivet is pierced by a punch of the setting tool so that the shank penetrates the upper plate of the object to be joined and flares outwardly by the envelope. The shank is press-fitted into the lower plate with the head portion supporting the upper plate, The upper and lower plates can be joined.

Therefore, in the self-piercing rivet system, when the rivet is pushed through the upper plate and penetrates into the lower plate when the object to be joined is positioned between the punch and the anvil, So that the objects to be joined are integrally joined together while being expanded and deformed in the radial direction.

Thus, bonding techniques using self-piercing rivets can be used to bond components such as aluminum bodywork that are not easy to spot weld.

In addition, the joining technique using the self-piercing rivets not only produces joints with excellent strength and fatigue characteristics that can be easily automated in the production line, but also causes little distortion of the top surface of the sheet material around the rivets Since joints are aesthetically acceptable, they have proved successful in this context.

1 is a sectional view showing a self-piercing rivet system according to the prior art.

1, a conventional self-piercing rivet system 200 includes a frame 1 and a punch unit 2 provided on the upper side of the frame 1 to provide a pressing force to the rivet R , And an anvil unit (3) is provided on the lower side of the frame (1) corresponding to the punch unit (2).

Here, the punching unit 2 is provided with a rivet R from a rivet feeder (not shown) and can provide a pressing force to the rivet R through a punch cylinder 4 driven by hydraulic pressure or pneumatic pressure have.

The punch unit 2 is provided with a receptacle 5 for guiding the rivet R supplied from the rivet feeder unit so that the receptacle 5 is pushed up and down by the punch cylinder 4 And a striking mechanism 6 for pressing / striking the rivet R by means of a punch cylinder 4 is provided inside the receptacle 5. [

The punch unit 2 is provided with a rivet conveying member (not shown) for conveying the rivet R fed from the rivet feeder to the receptacle 5, Respectively. In this case, the rivet feeder unit and the rivet conveying member are connected via the feeding hose, and the rivet R provided from the rivet feeder unit can be supplied to the rivet conveying member through the feeding hose as the pressure of the air.

The rivet R supplied from the rivet feeder unit to the rivet conveying member is conveyed to the inside of the receptacle 5 and the receptacle 5 is lowered by the punch cylinder 4, Thereby clamping the supported bonded object. Then, when the striking mechanism 6 presses and presses the rivet R against the object to be bonded, the object to be bonded can be integrally joined as the plastic deformation of the rivet R by the anvil unit 3.

In the prior art, since the rivet conveying member is integrally connected to the receptacle 5, when the rivet conveying member moves together with the receptacle 5 during the riveting operation by the punching unit 2, So that the degree of freedom in designing the product may be reduced and equipment errors such as disengagement of the rivet conveying member from the receptacle 5 may be caused.

The matters described in the background section are intended to enhance the understanding of the background of the invention and may include matters not previously known to those skilled in the art.

Embodiments of the present invention are intended to provide a self-piercing rivet device capable of separating a receptacle and a rivet conveying member of a punch unit from each other to minimize interference of peripheral equipment and a rivet conveying member with respect to a joining object.

A self-piercing rivet device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a frame, a punch unit provided on the upper side of the frame, and an anvil unit provided on the lower side of the frame, wherein the punch unit is fixed to the frame And a moving part that is vertically movably provided on the fixing part so as to press the self-piercing rivet into the object to be joined, wherein a rivet supplied from the rivet feeder is transferred to the moving part of the punch unit, A rivet conveying member may be provided.

Also, in the self-piercing rivet device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the fixing portion may include a punch housing fixed to the frame.

In addition, in the self-piercing rivet device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the moving part may include a receptacle that is installed to be reciprocable in the vertical direction by a punch cylinder, and that guides the self-piercing rivet.

In the self-piercing rivet device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the receptacle is vertically moved by the punch cylinder separately from the rivet conveying member, and the rivet can be supplied from the rivet conveying member.

Also, in the self-piercing rivet device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the rivet conveying member may be installed at a portion above the frame to which the fixing portion is fixedly mounted.

Further, in the self-piercing rivet device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the receptacle may be installed to be connected to the punch housing through a guide member.

The self-piercing rivet device according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a frame, a punch unit installed on the frame and providing a pressing force to the rivet through a punch cylinder, Wherein the punch unit includes a receptacle mounted to the punch housing through a punch cylinder so as to be vertically reciprocable, and the frame is provided with a mounting portion for mounting the punch housing, The mounting portion may be provided with a rivet conveying member for conveying the rivet supplied from the rivet feeder to the receptacle.

In addition, in the self-piercing rivet device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the receptacle may be reciprocally moved up and down with respect to the punch housing and selectively connected to the rivet conveying member.

In the self-piercing rivet device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the punch housing may be provided with a guide member for guiding the up and down movement of the receptacle.

Since the rivet conveying member can be separated from the receptacle by fixing the rivet conveying member to the stationary portion side of the punching unit unlike the conventional art in which the receptacle and the rivet conveying member are integrally connected, The interference of the member can be minimized.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, since the interference between the peripheral equipment and the object to be bonded and the rivet conveying member can be minimized during the riveting operation by the punching unit, the degree of freedom in designing the product can be improved, Thereby minimizing the occurrence of equipment errors.

These drawings are for the purpose of describing an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and therefore the technical idea of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the accompanying drawings.
1 is a sectional view showing a self-piercing rivet system according to the prior art.
2 is a schematic view of a self-piercing rivet device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 and 4 are schematic views of a receptacle portion of a self-piercing rivet device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

In order to clearly illustrate the present invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and the same or similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the specification.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

In the following detailed description, the names of components are categorized into the first, second, and so on in order to distinguish them from each other in the same relationship, and are not necessarily limited to the order in the following description.

Throughout the specification, when an element is referred to as "comprising ", it means that it can include other elements as well, without excluding other elements unless specifically stated otherwise.

It should be noted that terms such as " ... unit ", "unit of means "," part of item ", "absence of member ", and the like denote a unit of a comprehensive constitution having at least one function or operation it means.

2 is a schematic view of a self-piercing rivet device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, in embodiments of the present invention, a pressurizing source for generating a pressing force and a supporting means for supporting a pressing force of the pressurizing source are provided in one frame, and a tool operated by a pressing force of a pressurizing source And can be applied to a tooling system capable of machining, forming, and bonding.

For example, the tooling system includes a self-piercing rivet device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention that can be used to join objects to be bonded, such as metallic materials, with rivets.

Referring to FIG. 2, the self-piercing rivet device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention is for integrally riveting (joining) the upper and lower metal sheet members as objects to be joined.

Hereinafter, the following components will be described with reference to the case where the self-piercing rivet device 100 is set upright in the up and down direction. The upper part may be defined as an upper part or the upper part, The lower surface or the lower surface.

The above-described direction is a relative meaning, and the direction may vary depending on the reference position and the riveting direction of the self-piercing rivet device 100, so that the reference direction is not necessarily limited to the reference direction of the present embodiment .

The self-piercing rivet device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a self-piercing rivet R (refer to FIG. 1) press-fitted into a metal sheet material to be joined, So that the object to be bonded can be integrally joined.

Here, the object to be bonded may include a metal sheet material such as an aluminum sheet or a steel sheet (including a high-strength steel sheet), or may include a non-metallic material such as plastic, rubber or the like. In addition, the objects to be bonded may include plate materials of the same kind and may include plate materials of different kinds of materials.

The self-piercing rivet device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention has a structure capable of minimizing interference between the peripheral equipment and the object to be joined when the rivet is joined to the object using the self-piercing rivet (R).

The self-piercing rivet device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention basically includes a frame 10, a punch unit 30 as a pressurizing source, and an anvil unit 50 as a support unit. The following is a detailed description.

The various components described below are all formed in the frame 10, which may include additional components such as various collars, brackets, support blocks, etc. for supporting the above components.

However, since the above-mentioned accessory elements are for supporting various constituent elements, the above-mentioned accessory elements are generally referred to as a frame 10 except for exceptional cases in the embodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the frame 10 may be moved to a joining object at various positions according to the behavior of the robot in a state of being mounted on the arm tip of the robot, and may be rotated at an angle set by the arm of the robot .

The frame 10 has a pair of free ends facing each other and forms a C-shaped skeleton, which is also commonly referred to in the art as a "C-frame" or a "C-shaped frame". Hereinafter, a C-frame or a C-type frame is referred to as "frame" for convenience.

For example, the frame 10 may have a truss shape having a plurality of spaces between an exoskeleton and an endoskeletal of a predetermined thickness.

However, in the embodiment of the present invention, the frame 10 is not necessarily made of a truss structure, but may alternatively be made of a C-shaped steel block.

Here, the free end of the frame 10 can be defined as a cantilever which is an end portion facing each other in a C-shaped skeleton, and the end portion thereof is not supported.

Although the free end portion of the frame 10 is shown on the upper side and the other free end portion is shown on the lower side in the drawing, the position of the free end portion is varied in accordance with the change of the position of the frame 10 according to the behavior of the robot you can change it.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a mounting portion 15 for mounting a punch unit 30, which will be described later, is provided at one free end (upper free end when viewed from the drawing) of the frame 10.

For example, the mounting portion 15 is integrally formed at one free end portion of the frame 10, and is formed into a cylindrical shape to which the punch unit 30 to be described later can be coupled.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the punch unit 30 generates a predetermined pressing force by applying a self-piercing rivet R for bonding the object to be joined, and applies the pressing force to the self-piercing rivet R .

The punch unit 30 is attached to the mounting portion 15 of the frame 10 and is fixed to the mounting portion 15 so as to be fixed to the punch housing 31. The punch unit 30 is installed in the punch housing 31 And a receptacle 35 as a moving part that is reciprocated in the vertical direction by the punch cylinder 33. [ The punch cylinder 33 is provided with a normal operation cylinder operated by hydraulic pressure or pneumatic pressure.

Here, the receptacle 35 is lowered by the punch cylinder 33 and clamps the object to be bonded supported by the anvil unit 50, and the self-piercing rivet R supplied from the rivet feeder 90 Quot; rivet ") and guides it to the correct position.

The receptacle 35 is installed in the punch housing 31 so as to be movable up and down. The receptacle 35 can be connected to the punch cylinder 33 through the guider 36.

A punch mechanism (not shown) for operating the punch cylinder 33 to strike the rivet R and to press the rivet R into the object to be joined is provided on the inside of the receptacle 35 .

The rivet R supplied from the rivet feeder unit 90 is lowered by the punch cylinder 33 while the rivet R is being fed into the receptacle 35 Thereby clamping the bonded object supported on the envelope unit 50.

When the hitting mechanism (not shown in the drawing) presses and presses the rivet R against the object to be bonded, the object to be bonded can be integrally joined as the plastic deformation of the rivet R by the anvil unit 50 .

The punch unit 30 is a known punch assembly employed in a self-Piercing Riveting (SPR) system, which is well known in the art, so that a detailed description of the structure will be omitted herein.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the anvil unit 50 is for supporting the pressing force of the punch unit 30 acting on the rivet R and the object to be bonded.

That is, the anvil unit 50 supports the object to be bonded at the lower side of the punch unit 30 with respect to the drawing and supports the pressing force of the punch unit 30 acting on the rivet R, And is for plastic deformation of the end portion of the rivet (R) which is inserted into the lower plate through the upper plate of the object to be joined.

The anvil unit 50 may be installed at the other free end (the lower free end as viewed in the figure) opposite to the one free end of the frame 10.

3 and 4 are schematic views of a receptacle portion of a self-piercing rivet device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 to 4, in the embodiment of the present invention, the rivet R supplied from the rivet feeder unit 90 is inserted into the receptacle 35, which is a moving part, on the side of the punch housing 31, which is the fixed part of the punch unit 30 A rivet conveying member 80 for conveying is fixedly installed.

The rivet feeder 90 has a structure in which a plurality of rivets R are aligned at a predetermined position and the rivets R can be supplied to the rivet conveying member 80 as air pressure.

The rivet feeder 90 is made of a self-piercing rivet supplying device well known in the art, so that a detailed description of its construction will be omitted herein.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the rivet conveying member 80 is connected to the rivet feeder unit 90 via the feeding hose 81, and the rivet R is pressurized by the pressure of the air supplied from the rivet feeder unit 90 To the rivet conveying member (80) through the feeding hose (81).

The rivet conveying member 80 conveys the rivet R supplied from the rivet feeder unit 90 sequentially to the receptacle 35. The rivet conveying member 80 fixes the punch housing 31 which is the fixing portion of the punching unit 30 (15) of the frame (10).

The receptacle 35 which is the moving part of the punch unit 30 is vertically moved by the punch cylinder 33 separately from the rivet conveying member 80 and is fed from the rivet conveying member 80 .

That is, the receptacle 35 is reciprocated in the vertical direction with respect to the punch housing 31 and can receive the rivet R from the rivet conveying member 80 while being selectively connected to the rivet conveying member 80 .

The receptacle 35 as described above may be installed to be connected to the punch housing 31 through the guide member 70 in the embodiment of the present invention. That is, the receptacle 35 is vertically moved by the guide member 70 and can be selectively connected to the rivet conveying member 80.

One end of the guide member 70 is connected to the punch housing 31 and the other end of the guide member 70 is slidably coupled to the guide rail 39 provided in the guider 36 of the receptacle 35 .

Thus, in the self-piercing rivet device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above, when the receptacle 35 of the punch unit 30 is moved backward by the punch cylinder 33, And the rivet R supplied from the machine 90 is transferred to the inside of the receptacle 35 through the rivet conveying member 80.

In this state, in the embodiment of the present invention, the receptacle 35 is moved downward through the punch cylinder 33 and the object to be bonded supported on the envelope unit 50 is clamped through the receptacle 35 .

Then, in the embodiment of the present invention, the striking mechanism (not shown) inside the receptacle 35 is operated through the punch cylinder 33 and the rivet R is pressed against the object to be bonded through the striking mechanism It is possible to integrally join the objects to be joined as the plastic deformation of the rivet R by the anvil unit 50. [

Since the rivet conveying member 80 is provided at the mounting portion 15 of the frame 10 that fixes the punch housing 31 of the punching unit 30, the receptacle 35 is pinched by the punch cylinder 33 So that the rivet conveying member 80 moves in the downward direction.

On the other hand, in the embodiment of the present invention, the receptacle 35 is moved backward through the punch cylinder 33 in a state where the objects to be joined are integrally joined via the rivet R as described above. Then, the receptacle 35 receives the rivet R through the rivet conveying member 80 while being moved backward in the upward direction.

In this case, the receptacle 35 is guided by the guide member 70 provided in the punch housing 31, and the rivet R can be supplied from the rivet conveying member 80 while the vertical movement is stable.

Unlike the conventional art in which the receptacle 35 and the rivet conveying member 80 are integrally connected to each other, the rivet conveying member 80 has a punch And is separated from the receptacle 35. Therefore, it is possible to minimize the interference of the rivet conveying member with respect to the peripheral equipment and the object to be bonded.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the interference between the peripheral equipment and the object to be bonded and the rivet conveying member 80 can be minimized during the riveting operation by the punching unit 30, It is possible to minimize the occurrence of equipment errors due to the deviation of the transfer member 80.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, Other embodiments may easily be proposed by adding, changing, deleting, adding, etc., but this is also within the scope of the present invention.

10 ... frame
15 ... mounting portion
30 ... punch unit
31 ... Punch housing
33 ... punch cylinder
35 ... receptacle
39 ... guide rail
50 ... Envir unit
70 ... guide member
80 ... rivet conveying member
81 ... Feeding hose
90 ... rivet feeder machine
R ... Self-Pierced Rivet

Claims (9)

A self-piercing rivet device comprising a frame, a punch unit provided on the upper side of the frame, and an anvil unit provided on the lower side of the frame,
Wherein the punch unit includes a fixing part fixed to the frame and a moving part that is vertically movably reciprocated on the fixing part so as to press the self-piercing rivet into the object to be joined,
And a rivet conveying member for conveying the rivet fed from the rivet feeder unit to the moving part of the punch unit is provided on the fixing part side. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the fastening portion comprises a punch housing secured to the frame. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the moving part includes a receptacle which is installed to be reciprocatable in a vertical direction by a punch cylinder and which guides the self-piercing rivet. The method of claim 3,
Wherein the receptacle is vertically moved by the punch cylinder independently of the rivet conveying member, and the rivet is fed from the rivet conveying member. 5. The method of claim 4,
The rivet conveying member
Wherein the fixing portion is provided on an upper portion of the frame to which the fixing portion is fixedly mounted. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the receptacle is installed to be connected to the punch housing through a guide member. 1. A self-piercing rivet device comprising: a frame; a punch unit installed on the frame to provide a pressing force to the rivet through a punch cylinder; and an anvil unit provided on the lower side of the frame corresponding to the punch unit,
Wherein the punch unit includes a receptacle installed in the punch housing so as to be vertically reciprocable through the punch cylinder,
Wherein the frame is provided with a mounting portion for mounting the punch housing, and the mounting portion is provided with a rivet conveying member for conveying the rivet supplied from the rivet feeder to the receptacle. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the receptacle is reciprocally moved up and down with respect to the punch housing and is selectively connected to the rivet conveying member. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the punch housing is provided with a guide member for guiding the up and down movement of the receptacle.

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