JP3824621B2 - Manufacturing method of piping members - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a piping member, and more particularly to a method for manufacturing a piping member which is formed by connecting and integrating a metal pipe and an elastic hose, and the metal pipe is bent.

For example, as one of piping members that are piped in an engine room of an automobile, there is a piping member for power steering that transports hydraulic oil for power steering.
For example, as shown in FIG. 12 (B), a plurality of metal pipes 202, 204, 206 and a plurality of rubber hoses (elastic hoses) 208, 210 are connected and integrated. Each metal pipe 202, 204, 206 has a three-dimensionally complicated curved shape. That is, the power steering pipe member 200 itself has a three-dimensionally complicated curved shape.

The reason why the piping member 200 has a complicated curved shape is that it is necessary to perform piping in an extremely limited narrow space in the engine room of an automobile so as not to interfere with peripheral members. A curved shape is given in a shape necessary for it.
The metal pipes 202, 204, and 206 are connected and integrated with the rubber hoses 208 and 210 so that the rubber hoses 208 and 210 are vibration-insulated.

When this piping member 200 is manufactured, when this piping member is entirely composed of a single metal pipe as in the piping member 200A shown in FIG. It can be easily manufactured by bending using
For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses that a metal pipe is bent by a pipe bender to give a predetermined bent shape.

  However, in the piping member 200 of FIG. 12B in which the rubber hoses 208 and 210 are interposed between the metal pipes 202, 204 and 206, this is conventionally performed by a method as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, for example. Was manufacturing.

That is, first, as shown in step (I) of FIG. 13, metal pipes 202A, 204A, and 206A each having a straight line shape are prepared, and each of them is three-dimensionally bent by a pipe bender to obtain a metal. The pipes 202, 204, and 206B are assumed.
As shown in FIG. 12 (B), the final bent shape of the metal pipe 206 is a shape bent largely from the vicinity of the end of the rubber hose 210 toward the rubber hose 210, and therefore, in the first bending process. If it is bent to such a final bent shape that is greatly bent, it cannot be assembled with the rubber hose 210 later.

Therefore, here, only a part of the metal pipe 206B is bent once to be an intermediate bent shape.
As for the metal pipe 206, the intermediate bent metal pipe 206B subjected to the primary bending is once connected to the rubber hose 210 and integrated as shown in step (III) of FIG.
Specifically, the socket metal fitting 214 having a sleeve shape is reduced in diameter by a caulking machine 212 having caulking claws to compress the end of the rubber hose 210 in the centripetal direction, whereby the metal pipe 206B is temporarily attached to the rubber hose 210. Assembled in.

In this way, after the primary bending process, that is, after assembling the intermediate-shaped metal pipe 206B to the rubber hose 210, the metal pipe 206B is further bent as shown in step (IV) in FIG. Bend to.
The bending of the metal pipe 206B in this step (IV) is performed using a dedicated bending jig.

  In this way, the intermediate bent metal pipe 206B is first assembled to the rubber hose 210 and then bent to a greater degree if it is bent at the end of the first bending process. If bending is performed up to 206, then when the rubber hose 210 is assembled, the metal pipe 206 interferes with the caulking machine 212 due to the large bent shape, and the metal pipe 206 and the rubber hose 210 are assembled. It is because it becomes impossible to attach.

  Now, after assembling the metal pipe 206 and the rubber hose 210 by caulking the socket fitting 214 in this way, the metal pipe 204 and the rubber hose 210 are bent in advance as shown in step (V) of FIG. Are assembled by caulking by the caulking machine 212 of the socket fitting 214.

At this time, the rubber hose 210 of the metal pipes 206 and 204 is set so that the bending direction of the metal pipe 206 and the metal pipe 204 becomes a predetermined direction, that is, a predetermined assembly angle (hereinafter referred to as an assembly angle). It is necessary to position and hold the rotation angle around the center of the shaft at a correctly set angle, and to perform assembly by the caulking machine 212 in this state.
Therefore, at that time, the caulking in the step (V) is performed using a dedicated holding jig for holding each at the correct rotation angle position, that is, the rubber hose 210 and the metal pipe 204 are assembled.

On the other hand, as shown in step (VI) of FIG. 14, the metal pipe 202 is connected to the rubber hose 208 by caulking the socket metal fitting 214 with a caulking machine, and assembled together.
14, the rubber hose 208 and the metal pipe 204 are connected and assembled by caulking by the caulking machine 212 of the socket metal fitting 214.
Here, the metal pipes 202, 204, 206 and the rubber hoses 208, 210 are assembled together. That is, the piping member 200 having a predetermined bent shape is completed here.

However, in this manufacturing method, each of the metal pipes 202, 204, 206 must first be bent in advance into a predetermined shape, and thereafter, each of the metal pipes 202, 204, 206 is connected to the rubber hose 208. , 210 must be assembled respectively.
In addition, the caulking machine 212 must be caulked, that is, assembled in a state where the metal pipes 202, 204, and 206 are accurately positioned at predetermined rotational angles, respectively. There is a troublesome problem.

  In addition, some of the metal pipes 206 cannot be bent from the beginning to the final bent shape, and after being assembled with the rubber hose 210, further secondary bending is performed, and a special bending is also performed. There is a hassle that it must be done using a jig.

In addition, the piping member 200 is difficult to assemble because the entire length thereof is long, and there is a problem that the rotation angle of each metal pipe 202, 204, 206, that is, variation in assembly angle also occurs during assembly. .
Further, the manufacturing process as a whole is complicated, and the number of processes is large, so that the product cost is inevitably high, and it is difficult to increase productivity.

  Although the piping member 200 has been described above as an example, piping members for other uses that are piped in an engine room of an automobile are under more or less the same circumstances, and a solution has been desired.

JP 2001-179347 A

  The present invention is based on the circumstances as described above, and a piping member formed by connecting an elastic hose such as a rubber hose between a metal pipe having a bent shape and a metal pipe and connecting them together is simple. The object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a piping member that can be easily manufactured with a small number of steps and can be manufactured at a low cost, and that can dramatically increase productivity.

  Thus, the manufacturing method of claim 1 is configured such that a plurality of metal pipes are connected by an elastic hose disposed between the metal pipes, and at least on the front side and the rear side in the longitudinal direction with respect to the elastic hose. A manufacturing method of a piping member in which a positioned metal pipe has a curved shape, and (A) the metal pipe and the elastic hose, each of which forms a straight line, are assembled in advance in a connected state, and are linear as a whole. And (B) after that, the assembly is set in a pipe bender, and the metal pipe to be bent by the pipe bender is chucked and unchucked for each metal pipe. Bending the metal pipe to be bent in order from the front side to the rear side while repeating the above, and a bending process step for giving a required bent shape as a whole. And wherein the Rukoto.

  The manufacturing method according to claim 2 is the reference value according to claim 1, which is set by measuring the length of the elastic hose directly or indirectly in advance in order to bend the metal pipe behind the elastic hose. And a step of correcting the bending start position for the rear metal pipe to be processed next based on the difference.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a manufacturing method according to the second aspect, wherein the reference length of the elastic hose is a length measuring machine for measuring the length of the elastic hose, with one end in the longitudinal direction of the assembly being positioned at a reference position. A position detecting sensor set in advance at a position corresponding to the longitudinal end opposite to the position is used to detect the position of the longitudinal end and to measure the length of the elastic hose. And

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a manufacturing method according to the third aspect, wherein a laser sensor that performs position detection by irradiation with laser light is used as the position detection sensor.

  The manufacturing method according to claim 5 is the method according to any one of claims 3 and 4, wherein the position detection of the longitudinal end of the elastic hose is performed by detecting the end position of the mounting bracket attached to the longitudinal end of the elastic hose. It is a thing which detects this.

  The manufacturing method of claim 6 is the manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the chuck portion of the pipe bender releases the chuck for the front metal pipe bent first, and then moves backward to perform the rear metal pipe. Until the next chucking, and further includes the step of clamping and supporting the portion of the rear metal pipe and the front side of the next chucking position to hold the assembly in a posture. And

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, the piping member is an automotive piping member.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the seventh aspect, the piping member is a piping member that is piped into an engine room of the automobile.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the eighth aspect, the piping member is a piping member for transporting hydraulic oil for power steering.

Effects and effects of the invention

  As described above, in the present invention, the metal pipe and the elastic hose, each of which is linear, are assembled in advance in a connected state in the linear state, and an assembled product that is linear as a whole is manufactured. After that, the assembly product is set in a pipe bender, and the metal pipe is bent in order from the front side by the pipe bender to give a required bent shape as a whole.

  Here, the pipe bender is (A) a vendor part having a chuck part of the metal pipe, a feed function for feeding the metal pipe forward together with the chuck part, and a rotation function for rotating the metal pipe around the axis together with the chuck part, (B) Located on the front side of the bender body, it has a bending part that bends the metal pipe that is sent, and the required amount is controlled by controlling the feed amount, the rotation amount, and the bending amount by the bending part. What gives a curved shape can be used.

As described above, the conventional manufacturing method in which a metal pipe is bent using a pipe bender to give a required bent shape as a whole is limited to the case where the bent part is composed of a single metal pipe. ing.
On the other hand, in the case of a piping member having an elastic hose in the middle in the longitudinal direction, since the pipe bender itself is conventionally a device for bending metal pipes, such a piping member is set in the pipe bender. It has not been conceived that the metal pipe is bent. This is because the elastic hose has elasticity and flexibility, and the elastic hose is considered to be an obstacle to bending.

However, the present inventors consider that it is not possible to bend a pipe member having an elastic hose in the middle in the longitudinal direction using a pipe bender, and when performing the bending process, While repeating the chuck and chuck release for each metal pipe to be subjected to bending, the metal pipe was sequentially bent from the front side to the rear side, and an elastic hose was placed in the middle. It was found that it is possible to perform bending without particular hindrance even if the piping member has.
The present invention has been made under such knowledge.

  According to the present invention, it is not necessary for each metal pipe constituting the piping member to be bent in advance and independently in advance as in the conventional manufacturing method. After bending, it is not necessary to connect and assemble each metal pipe to the elastic hose.

Therefore, when assembling the metal pipe, the bent metal pipe interferes with an assembling machine such as a caulking machine and cannot be assembled properly, or depending on the bent shape of the metal pipe, The pipe cannot be bent to the final bent shape (because it cannot be assembled with the elastic hose). After the first bending process, the pipe is first assembled with the elastic hose, and then the second This solves the problem of having to bend.
Furthermore, since the product shape is long, workability is poor, and the problem that the assembly angle of each metal pipe varies during assembly can be solved.

  That is, according to the present invention, it is possible to manufacture a piping member having a bent shape with a simple process and with a small number of processes, thereby making it possible to reduce the product cost and dramatically increase the productivity. Become.

By the way, when bending a piping member having an elastic hose in the middle in the longitudinal direction with a pipe bender, there are the following problems.
For elastic hoses such as rubber hoses, changes in length due to expansion and contraction due to cutting errors and ambient temperature, for example, in the case of rubber hoses, changes in wall thickness due to caulking of socket fittings by caulking machines, and accompanying longitudinal dimensions There is a problem that the overall length is likely to vary due to a change in length due to change, torsion and other factors.

Conventionally, it is considered that this is one of the reasons why bending using a pipe bender has not been performed or proposed as a method of manufacturing a piping member having an elastic hose in the middle in the longitudinal direction.
However, the elastic hose is kept in a straight shape so that only the metal pipe is bent, and at that time, each metal pipe to be bent is sequentially chucked and released by the pipe bender. It is the study by the present inventors that a pipe member having such an elastic hose can be given the required bending shape as a whole if bending is performed on the metal pipe. The points obtained by the above are as described above.

However, as described above, the elastic hose is likely to vary in length, and if such a variation in length occurs in the elastic hose, the bending shape of the metal hose when bent is applied. Inevitably decreases in accuracy, and when the bending position, shape, etc. are out of order of about 1 to 2 mm, the product may not be used.
For example, the above-mentioned piping member for power steering belongs to this kind.

  Accordingly, the second aspect of the present invention directly or indirectly sets the length of the elastic hose directly or indirectly in order to perform bending of the metal pipe on the rear side of the elastic hose, particularly when high accuracy is required for the position or shape of the bend. The length is measured and compared with a set reference value. Based on the difference, bending is performed while correcting the bending start position for the rear metal pipe to be processed next.

  According to the manufacturing method of claim 2, even if an elastic hose is interposed in the middle in the longitudinal direction, and even if the elastic hose has a variation in length, the bending process is performed with high accuracy. Therefore, even a piping member that requires high accuracy such as the above-described power steering piping member can be easily manufactured using a pipe bender.

In this case, as a length measuring machine for measuring the length of the elastic hose, the position of the longitudinal end of the elastic hose opposite to the reference position is detected with the longitudinal end of the assembly being positioned at the reference position. What detects by a sensor and performs said length measurement can be used (Claim 3).
In this way, the elastic hose can be measured with a single operation with a simple operation.

In this case, as the position detection sensor, a laser sensor that performs position detection by laser light irradiation can be suitably used.
Further, as the position detection of the longitudinal end of the elastic hose, it is possible to detect the end position of the mounting socket fitting attached to the longitudinal end of the elastic hose.

  Next, after releasing the chuck for the front metal pipe bent first by the chuck portion, the rear metal pipe is moved to the next time until the rear metal pipe is chucked by the backward movement. Clamping is supported at the front side of the chuck position, and the assembled product is held in posture.

The posture holding process by the support means has the following meaning.
That is, when the chuck part of the pipe bender releases the chuck after bending the metal pipe on the front side and then chucks the metal pipe to be processed again on the rear side, an elastic hose is interposed between them. Therefore, the elasticity and flexibility of the elastic hose causes the rear metal pipe to hang down. Next, when the chuck portion chucks the rear metal pipe, a chuck error occurs, or the position of the chuck is There is a possibility that a problem occurs in that the accuracy of the bending process is deteriorated due to the deviation of the chuck position due to the deviation.

However, in this sixth aspect, since the support means clamps the assembly and supports and holds the posture during the period from the release of the chuck to the next chuck, such a problem does not occur.
That is, it is possible to solve the problem that the chucking error occurs or the bending processing accuracy deteriorates due to the chuck position being shifted.
The support means can release the support when the chuck portion chucks the metal pipe to be processed next.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is particularly suitable when applied to a piping member for an automobile (Claim 7), and particularly applied to a piping member that is piped in an engine room of an automobile in which various parts are closely assembled. Therefore, it is preferable (claim 8).
In particular, it is suitable for application to a power steering piping member that requires high accuracy in bending.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a piping member for a power steering of an automobile which is an example of an application object of the present invention, more specifically, a piping member for transporting hydraulic oil of the power steering. It has a metal pipe 14, a pump-side metal pipe 16, a rubber hose (elastic hose) 18 that connects the metal pipes 12 and 14, and a rubber hose 20 that connects the metal pipes 14 and 16.

In this piping member 10, each of the metal pipes 12, 14 and 16 has a three-dimensionally complicated curved shape.
Here, the metal pipe 12 and the rubber hose 18 are connected to each other by reducing the diameter of the sleeve-like socket fitting 22-1 by caulking machine 38 (see FIG. 4), that is, caulking.
Also, the connection between the metal pipe 14 and the rubber hose 18, the connection between the metal pipe 14 and the rubber hose 20, and the connection between the metal pipe 16 and the rubber hose 20 are similarly performed for the socket fittings 22-2, 22-3 and 22-4. Has been done by.

In FIG. 2, 35 is a pipe bender, 37 is a length measuring machine, and 39 is a control unit that controls the operation of the pipe bender 35. Reference numeral 24 denotes a bender body in the pipe bender 35, and 26 denotes a bent portion.
In this embodiment, the length measurement result by the length measuring machine 37 is transferred to the control unit 39 of the pipe bender 35.

  The bending part 26 has a pair of clamps 28 and 30 as shown in FIG. The bending portion 26 holds the metal pipe to be bent, and in that state, the bending portion 26 rotates around the vertical axis so as to bend and deform a predetermined portion of the metal pipe.

On the other hand, the bender body 24 has a pair of chuck claws (chuck portions) 32 for chucking a rear end portion (specifically, a socket fitting) of a metal pipe to be processed at the front end portion.
The bender body 24 moves forward while the rear end portion of the metal pipe to be bent is chucked by the chuck claws 32, and forwards the metal pipe. Rotate to
Then, the metal pipe is bent into a desired bending shape three-dimensionally by variously combining forward feeding and rotational movement of the metal pipe by the bender body 24 and bending by the bending portion 26.

  Here, when the bending process is finished on the target metal pipe, the bender body 24 then moves backward (leftward in FIG. 2) after releasing the chuck on the metal pipe after the bending process by the chuck claw 32. Then, the rear end portion of the metal pipe to be processed next is chucked again by the chuck claw 32 and forwardly fed.

A support device (support means) 36 having a pair of clamps 34 that opens and closes is provided above the vendor main body 24.
When the chuck claw 32 releases the chuck and the bender main body 24 moves backward, the support device 36 is used until the rear end of the metal pipe to be processed next on the rear side is chucked by the chuck claw 32. The metal pipe is clamped and supported by a closing operation of the pair of clamps 34 at a position on the front side thereof, and functions to maintain the posture of an assembly to be described later.

Next, the manufacturing method of this embodiment is demonstrated based on FIGS.
First, in FIG. 4, metal pipes 12A, 14A, and 16A, each of which is linear, and rubber hoses 18 and 20 that are also linear are prepared (step (I) in FIG. 4).
Subsequently, the left end of the metal pipe 12A in the drawing and the right end of the rubber hose 18 in the drawing, the left end of the rubber hose 18 in the drawing and the right end of the metal pipe 14A in the drawing, the left end thereof and the right end of the rubber hose 20 in the drawing, and the left end of the rubber hose 20 in the drawing. The right end of the metal pipe 16A in the drawing is connected to each other by reducing the diameter of each of the socket fittings 22-1, 22-2, 22-3, and 22-4 by the caulking claw 40 of the caulking machine 38, respectively. 10A is manufactured (step (II) in FIG. 4).

Once the linear integrated assembly 10A is manufactured in this way, it is set in the length measuring machine 37 in FIG. 3 to measure the lengths of the rubber hoses 18 and 20 (step (III in FIG. 4). )).
Specifically, here, as shown in FIG. 7, the length from the left end of the metal pipe 16 </ b> A to the right end of the rubber hose 20 (A portion length), and from here to the right end of the rubber hose 18 in the drawing. Each length (B section length) is measured.
The length measuring device 37 has a contact surface that makes contact with the left end in the drawing of the assembly 10A that is linear as a whole, that is, the left end in the drawing of the metal pipe 16A. As 42, the A part length and B part length from here are obtained.

The length measuring machine 37 has laser sensors 46 and 44 as position detection sensors at positions corresponding to the socket fittings 23-3 and 22-1, and actually the socket fitting 22 by the laser sensors 46 and 44 is provided. The lengths A and B are measured by detecting the positions of the end positions 3-3 and 22-1 (the end position on the right side in the figure).
In this embodiment, the length measurement of these A part length and B part length is measuring the length of the rubber hoses 20 and 18 indirectly.

  However, in practice, the amount of deviation can be determined by detecting the amount of deviation of the end positions of the socket fittings 23-3 and 22-1 from the set position without strictly obtaining the lengths A and B. The data can be transferred as it is to the control unit 39 of the pipe bender 35 as it is, and the operation of the pipe bender 35 can be controlled based on the correction value.

As described above, the assembly 10A having a linear shape is manufactured, and this is applied to the length measuring machine 37. When the length measurement is finished, the linear assembly 10A is set on the pipe bender 35 and the metal pipe is assembled. Bending is applied to 12, 14, and 16.
The procedure is as follows.

First, the bender body 24 of the pipe bender 35 chucks the rear end (left end in the figure) of the straight metal pipe 12A to hold the entire metal pipe 12A.
The metal pipe 12A is three-dimensionally bent into a predetermined shape by feeding and rotating the metal pipe 12A by the bender body 24 and bending by the bending portion 26.
Step (IV) in FIG. 5 represents a bending process for the metal pipe 12A.

When the bending process on the metal pipe 12A is completed in this way, the bender body 24 then releases the rear end of the bent metal pipe 12, strictly speaking, the chuck for the socket fitting 22-1, and the rear side (see FIG. It moves backward (middle left) (step (V) in FIG. 5).
At this time, the metal pipe 12 is still clamped at the bent portion 26 as shown in step (II) of FIG. 8, so even if the bender body 24 releases the chuck for the metal pipe 12, As a result, the entire assembly 10 </ b> A including the above does not fall downward.

However, when the bender body 24 releases the chuck for the metal pipe 12 and moves backward, the assembly 10A is only held in the vicinity of the rear end portion of the metal pipe 12, and therefore, based on the flexibility of the rubber hose 18. The rubber hose 18 and the rear portion of the rubber hose 18 are bent downward as a whole, and particularly the rear end side hangs down.
Then, even if the bender body 24 that has moved backward next tries to chuck the rear end of the intermediate metal pipe 14 to be processed again, it may not be able to be chucked well, or the chuck position may be shifted.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in step (V) in FIG. 5 and steps (I) to (III) in FIG. 8, the bender body 24 unchucks the rear end portion of the metal pipe 12 and then the next metal. Until the rear end of the pipe 14A is chucked, the pair of clamps 34 of the support device 36, which has been in the open state, closes downward to clamp and support the intermediate metal pipe 14A to be processed next. The posture of the assembly 10A is held.
Therefore, the bender body 24 moved backward can chuck the rear end of the intermediate metal pipe 14A, which is the next object to be processed, at a precise chuck position without causing a chuck error (step (FIG. 9)). IV)).

Now, when the bender body 24 retreated in this way chucks the rear end of the intermediate metal pipe 14A, specifically the socket fitting 22-3, as shown in step (V) of FIG. The pair of clamps 34 opens upward in the drawing to release the support for the intermediate metal pipe 14A.
Subsequently, the bender main body 24 that chucks the rear end of the metal pipe 14A moves forward again to advance the metal pipe 14A, and the clamps 28 and 30 of the bending portion 26 clamp the metal pipe 14A together with this. The bending of the metal pipe 14A is performed in conjunction with the feeding and rotation of the bender main body 24 by the rotation operation, and the intermediate metal pipe 14A is formed into a predetermined bent shape (step (VI) in FIG. 5). ).

When the bending process for the intermediate metal pipe 14 is completed in this way, the bender body 24 releases the chuck for the metal pipe 14 again and moves backward again to rechuck the rear end of the metal pipe 16A (step of FIG. 6). (VII)).
Even in this case, the support device 36 closes the pair of clamps 34 again to support the metal pipe 16A on the pump side.
The timing of the support, the timing of releasing the support, and the purpose are the same as described above.

Now, the bender body 24 that has chucked the rear end of the metal pipe 16A moves forward again to advance and rotate the metal pipe 16, and bends the metal pipe 16A into a desired bent shape together with the bending by the bending portion 26. (See step (VIII) in FIG. 6).
Here, the piping member 10 of FIG. 1 having a predetermined curved shape as a whole is obtained.

In the present embodiment, in the pipe bender 35, the control unit 39 controls the entire operation based on various data shown in FIG.
The data CH1 stores bending data of the gear side metal pipe 12, the data CH2 includes bending data of the intermediate metal pipe 14, and the data CH3 further includes bending data of the pump side metal pipe 16. Is stored.

  On the other hand, in the data CH4 to 10, data on the feed amount and the rotation amount until the start of processing of the intermediate metal pipe 14 after processing of the metal pipe 12, that is, the assembly angle degree, according to the length measurement result by the length measuring machine 37. Further, the data CH12 to 20 store data about the feed amount and the rotation amount until the metal pipe 16 starts to be processed after the intermediate metal pipe 14 is processed, that is, the assembly angle.

Specifically, when the length of the measured B part is large between +2.3 and +3.0 with respect to the set value, the data stored in the data CH4 is transferred and based on the data Feeding (feeding to the processing position) and rotation of the intermediate metal pipe 14 by the bender body 24 are executed.
If the measured length B is greater than the set value between +1.4 and +2.2, the data stored in the data CH5 is transferred and executed.

Hereinafter, when the measured B value is deviated from the set value within the range shown in the tolerance column in FIG. 11A, the stored data of the corresponding data CH is selected and transferred, Based on the data, the metal pipe 14 is fed and rotated by the bender body 24.
The same applies to the feeding and rotation of the metal pipe 16 on the rearmost side.
However, in this embodiment, an average value within a tolerance range is determined as a correction value for the feed amount, and the data is transferred in a form in which the correction value is added to the original feed.

In this case, even if the length measurement result is +2.1 mm, for example, it is actually processed as a deviation of +1.8 mm.
Accordingly, a difference of 0.3 mm occurs between them, but no problem arises if the value is within the allowable range for the product.

Here, there is a difference in the tolerance range between the length of part B and the length of part A. Specifically, the length of part A is set to be narrower than the length of part B. This is because errors caused by chucking and releasing the chuck accumulate as the workpiece is processed later.
In other words, in order to prevent a reduction in machining accuracy due to the accumulation of errors, the tolerance range is narrowed for those to be machined later to ensure the necessary machining accuracy.
Note that FIG. 11B shows the order of data transmission.

FIG. 10 shows a specific content of control by the control unit 39 as a flowchart.
As shown in the figure, the control unit 39 receives the length measurement data of the B portion measured by the length measuring device 37, and compares the data with the reference value to determine the deviation amount of the size of the B portion. calculate.

Then, stored data is selected from the data CH4 to 10 according to the amount of deviation (steps S10 to S16).
Similarly, the shift amount is calculated for the dimension of the A portion, and the data of the feed and assembly angle corresponding to the shift amount are selected from the data CH12 to 20 (steps S18 to S24).

First, after bending the frontmost metal pipe 12A based on the bending data of the data CH1, the feed amount to the processing position of the intermediate metal pipe 14A based on the data selected from the data CH4-10, The rotation amount, that is, the assembly angle is determined and executed (step S28).
Subsequently, based on the bending data stored in the data CH2, a bending process is performed on the intermediate metal pipe 14A.

  After performing the bending process on the intermediate metal pipe 14A in this way, the metal pipe 16A is fed and rotated based on the data of the data CH12 to 20 selected in step S24 (step S32), and thereafter Based on the bending data stored in the data CH3, the metal pipe 16A is bent.

  According to the manufacturing method of this embodiment, the pipe member 10 having the rubber hoses 18 and 20 in the middle in the longitudinal direction can be bent with high accuracy and good.

  Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is not necessary to bend each of the metal pipes 12A, 14A, and 16A constituting the piping member in advance and independently in advance as in the conventional manufacturing method. After performing such bending, it is not necessary to connect the metal pipes 12, 14, and 16 to the rubber hoses 18 and 20 and assemble them.

Therefore, when the metal pipes 12, 14, and 16 having the bent shape are caused to interfere with the caulking machine 38, the metal pipes 12, 14, and 16 are not assembled properly. If the assembly angle of 16 is shifted, or if the metal pipe 16 is bent to the final bent shape in advance, the assembly with the rubber hose 20 cannot be performed. The trouble of having to assemble with the rubber hose 20 and then further perform a secondary bending process can be eliminated.
Furthermore, since the product shape is long and the square metal pipes 12, 14, and 16 are bent in a complicated manner, the assembly workability is poor, which increases the product cost and reduces the productivity. Can be solved.

  In other words, according to the present embodiment, even with the piping member 10 for power steering having a simple process and a small number of processes and having the rubber hoses 18 and 20 in the middle in the longitudinal direction and requiring high accuracy, the accuracy is high. Bending can be applied.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, this is merely an example.
For example, the present invention can be applied to the case where only the metal pipes 12 and 16 are bent without bending the intermediate metal pipe 14A of the above embodiment. It is also possible to apply in manufacturing various other piping members that are piped in the engine room of the automobile other than the piping member for power steering, and further, other piping members for the automobile other than the engine room. The present invention can be implemented in variously modified forms without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

It is a figure of the piping member manufactured with the manufacturing method of one embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the apparatus for manufacturing the piping member of FIG. It is a principal part perspective view of the pipe bender of FIG. It is process drawing which manufactures the piping member of FIG. FIG. 5 is a process diagram following FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a process diagram following FIG. 5. It is explanatory drawing of the method of the side length by the length measuring machine of FIG. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the support apparatus of the pipe bender of FIG. FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory diagram following FIG. 8. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure of the control content of the control part in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure showing the content of stored data and the order of data transmission. It is a figure of the piping member manufactured with the conventional manufacturing method. It is process drawing of an example of the manufacturing method of the conventional piping member. FIG. 14 is a process diagram following FIG. 13.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Piping member 10A Assembly product 12,12A, 14,14A, 16,16A Metal pipe 18,20 Rubber hose 22-1, 22-2, 22-3, 22-4 Socket bracket 24 Bender body 26 Bending part 28, 30 , 34 Clamp 35 Pipe bender 36 Support device 37 Measuring machine 42 Reference position 44, 46 Laser sensor

Claims (9)

A plurality of metal pipes are connected by an elastic hose disposed between the metal pipes, and at least the metal pipes located on the front side and the rear side in the longitudinal direction with respect to the elastic hose have a bent shape. A method for manufacturing a piping member,
(A) A step of integrally assembling the metal pipe and the elastic hose, each of which is linear, in a connected state in advance, and (B) producing the assembly that is linear as a whole. Metal pipes to be bent in order from the front side to the rear side while setting the pipe bender and repeating chucking and releasing the chuck for each metal pipe to be bent by the pipe bender A method of manufacturing a piping member, comprising: a bending process of applying a bending process to a desired bending shape as a whole.   In Claim 1, in order to perform the bending process of the metal pipe on the rear side of the elastic hose, the length of the elastic hose is compared with a reference value set by directly or indirectly measuring the length and based on the difference. The method further includes a step of correcting the bending start position for the rear metal pipe to be processed next.   The longitudinal direction of the elastic hose opposite to the reference position in a state where the longitudinal end of the assembly is positioned at a reference position as a length measuring device for measuring the length of the elastic hose according to claim 2. A method for manufacturing a piping member, characterized in that a position detection sensor set in advance at a position corresponding to an end detects the position of the longitudinal end and performs the length measurement on the elastic hose.   The method for manufacturing a piping member according to claim 3, wherein a laser sensor that performs position detection by irradiation with laser light is used as the position detection sensor.   5. The position detection of the longitudinal end of the elastic hose according to claim 3, wherein the end position of the mounting bracket attached to the longitudinal end of the elastic hose is detected. A method for manufacturing a piping member.   6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the chuck of the pipe bender is released from the chuck for the front metal pipe bent first, and then moves backward to chuck the rear metal pipe next. A method of manufacturing a piping member, further comprising a step of clamping and supporting a portion of the rear metal pipe and a front side of the next chuck position to hold the assembly.   The method for manufacturing a piping member according to claim 1, wherein the piping member is a piping member for an automobile.   The method for manufacturing a piping member according to claim 7, wherein the piping member is a piping member that is piped into an engine room of the automobile.   9. The method for manufacturing a piping member according to claim 8, wherein the piping member is a piping member for transporting hydraulic oil for power steering.

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