JP7807640B2 - Hose winding device and method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a hose winding device and method, and more specifically to a hose winding device and method that can efficiently wind a hose onto a drum body and more reliably prevent the hose wound onto the drum body from becoming unwound.

In manufacturing lines for hoses such as rubber hoses, the hoses are wound at a predetermined length onto drums for temporary storage and transportation (see, for example, Patent Document 1). There are various types of hose winding devices, and turret-type winding devices are used to streamline the hose winding process.

In a turret-type winding device, a drum body is rotatably supported on both ends of an arm around a rotation axis. Once the hose winding process onto the drum body at one end of the arm is completed, the arm is rotated around the pivot axis to move the drum body from the winding position to the drum body removal position, and the empty drum body that was waiting at the removal position is moved to the winding position. At the winding position, the winding process is carried out on the empty drum body. At the removal position, a binding process is carried out in which the hose wound onto the drum body is bound with binding wire, followed by a removal process in which the wound hose bound with binding wire is removed from the drum body. The hose removed from the drum body is transported to a storage facility or the like.

In this way, with a turret-type winding device, while the winding process is carried out using one drum, the bundling and removal processes are carried out using the other drum. By carrying out different processes in parallel on each drum, there is the advantage that the entire process, from starting to wind the hose onto the drum to transporting the wound hose, bound with a bundling wire, to the subsequent process, can be carried out efficiently.

However, during the period from the winding process to the bundling process, the hose wound around the drum is in an unstable state, not bound by the bundling body. If the arm is rotated in this state, the drum rotates around its rotation axis, making it easier for the wound hose to become unwound. Therefore, in a winding device in which the arm rotates vertically, if the arm is rotated while its rotation around the drum axis is locked, the circumferential position of the end of the hose wound around the drum changes as the arm rotates, which can cause the hose to become unwound while the arm is rotating. Therefore, there is room for improvement in order to efficiently wind the hose around the drum while more reliably preventing the hose from becoming unwound.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 60-120040

The object of the present invention is to provide a hose winding device and method that can efficiently wind a hose onto a drum body and more reliably prevent the hose from becoming unwound once wound onto the drum body.

In order to achieve the above object, the hose reeling device of the present invention comprises an arm pivotally supported so as to be pivotable up and down about a pivot shaft, a rotation drive motor for pivoting the arm about the pivot shaft, and drum bodies pivotally supported at both longitudinal ends of the arm so as to be rotatable about a rotation shaft, and by pivoting the arm, each drum body is moved between a winding position and a removal position, and at the winding position, a winding step is carried out in which a predetermined length of hose is wound onto the empty drum body, and at the removal position, a bundling step is carried out in which the hose wound onto the drum is bound with a binding wire, and a bundling step is carried out in which the hose wound onto the drum is bound with a binding wire. In a turret-type hose winding device in which a removal process is performed in which the hose bound with a binding wire is removed from the drum body, each drum body is provided with a dedicated rotary drive motor, each drum body and its respective dedicated rotary drive motor are attached to the arm, and a control unit is provided to control the swivel drive motor and each rotary drive motor, and the dedicated rotary drive motor for this drum body is controlled so that there is no relative rotation about its rotation axis of the drum body as it moves from the winding position to the removal position by rotating the arm.

The hose winding method of the present invention is a method of winding a hose using a turret -type hose winding device, in which a drum body is rotatably supported by a rotating shaft at both longitudinal ends of an arm that is pivotally supported so as to be able to pivot up and down around a pivot axis, and the arms are pivoted to move each of the drum bodies between a winding position and a removal position, and at the winding position a winding process is performed in which a predetermined length of hose is wound onto the empty drum body, and at the removal position a bundling process is performed in which the hose wound around the drum is tied with a binding wire, and a removal process is performed in which the hose tied with the binding wire in a wound state is removed from the drum body.The method is characterized in that each of the drum bodies is provided with a dedicated rotary drive motor, and each of the drum bodies and its dedicated rotary drive motor are attached to the arm, and the dedicated rotary drive motor for this drum body is controlled by a control unit so as to eliminate relative rotation of the drum body about its rotation axis as the arm is pivoted to move it from the winding position to the removal position.

This invention uses a turret-type hose winding device, allowing for efficient winding of the hose onto the drum. Furthermore, the dedicated rotary drive motor for each drum is attached to the arm along with the drum. Therefore, the dedicated rotary drive motor for that drum can be controlled to eliminate relative rotation around the rotation axis of the drum that rotates the arm to move it from the winding position to the removal position. This control allows the terminal end of the hose wound at the winding position to be maintained in a predetermined position around the drum, which is advantageous for preventing the hose from becoming unwound.

1 is an explanatory side view illustrating an embodiment of a hose reeling device according to the present invention; 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the winding device as viewed from the arrows AA in FIG. 1. 2 is an enlarged view of the drum body in the winding position of FIG. 1; FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view illustrating a state in which the binding process at the detaching position in FIG. 1 has been completed. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a drum body in a removal position in FIG. 4 in a plan view. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which the detaching step at the detaching position and the winding step at the winding position in FIG. 4 are completed; FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which the arms in FIG. 6 are rotated vertically to move each drum body between a winding position and a detaching position. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which one drum body in FIG. 7 has moved to a detaching position and the other drum body has moved to a winding position. FIG.

The hose reeling device and method of the present invention will be described below based on the embodiment shown in the figures.

The embodiment of the hose reeling device 1 illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 is a turret type and includes an arm 2 journaled on a pivot shaft 2a, a rotation drive motor 3 that rotates the arm 2, drum bodies 4A and 4B rotatably supported on rotation shafts 5a and 5b at both longitudinal ends of the arm 2, and a control unit 9. In the hose H production line, a hose supply unit 10 is located upstream of the reeling device 1, and a bundling machine 11 is located downstream.

The position of the drum body 4A located on the hose supply unit 10 side in Figure 1 is the winding position P1, which will be described later. The position of the drum body 4B located on the binding machine 11 side is the removal position P2, which will be described later.

In this reeling device 1, the arm 2 is rotated vertically to move each drum 4A, 4B between a reeling position P1 and a removal position P2. At the reeling position P1, a reeling process is carried out in which a predetermined length of hose is reeled onto the empty drum 4A. At the removal position P2, a bundling process is carried out in which the hose H reeled onto the drum 4B is bound with a binding wire 12, and a removal process is carried out in which the hose H, bound with the binding wire 12 in a wound state, is removed from the drum 4B.

The hose H wound up by the winding device 1 can be of various types, including rubber hoses and resin hoses. For example, the winding device 1 can wind up hoses H that have a reinforcing layer made of spirally wound metal or resin reinforcing cords, or an embedded reinforcing layer made of braided reinforcing cords. The outer diameter of the hose H is, for example, approximately 10 mm to 40 mm.

The arm 2 is connected to a pivot 2a and pivots vertically around the pivot 2a. The pivot 2a is driven to rotate by a pivot drive motor 3. Various motors can be used as the pivot drive motor 3, such as a servo motor. In this embodiment, the pivot drive motor 3 is attached to a support post erected on the base.

Each drum body 4A, 4B has a fundamentally similar structure. Each drum body 4A, 4B rotates around its respective rotation shaft 5a, 5b. Each rotation shaft 5a, 5b is driven to rotate by a rotation drive motor 6a, 6b. Therefore, each drum body 4A, 4B can be rotated independently by its own dedicated rotation drive motor 6a, 6b. Servo motors are used for each rotation drive motor 6a, 6b.

Each drum body 4A, 4B has multiple segments 4s connected to a base 4c that rotates together with the rotation shafts 5a, 5b, and multiple flange portions 4f. Since each drum body 4A, 4B has a similar structure, the following description will focus on drum body 4A.

The drum body 4A is made up of, for example, three or four segments 4s, each of which is formed by dividing a cylindrical body equally in the circumferential direction. A gap extending in the drum axial direction is formed between adjacent segments 4s in the circumferential direction. The outer surface of each segment 4s forms the outer drum surface around which the hose H is wound. The outer diameter of the drum outer surface is, for example, 30 cm to 60 cm.

Flange portions 4f are located at both ends of the drum body 4A in the axial direction. More specifically, flange portions 4f are located at both ends of each segment 4s in the axial direction. In this embodiment, the drum body 4A has four segments 4s, and approximately square plate-shaped flange portions 4f are located at both ends of each segment 4s in the axial direction.

The drum body 4A is supported by a cantilever on a rotating shaft 5a, which is connected to one side of the drum body 4A in the axial direction (the side where the rotary drive motor 6a is located). Therefore, the other side of the drum body 4A in the axial direction is a free end. Each flange portion 4f located on one side of the drum body 4A in the axial direction extends radially outward. These flange portions 4f are fixed in a state where they always protrude radially outward beyond the outer circumferential surface of the drum body 4A (segments 4s).

Each flange 4f, located on the other side (free end) of the drum body 4A in the drum axial direction, can be switched between extending radially outward and extending axially. When extending radially outward, the flange 4f protrudes radially outward beyond the outer surface of the drum body 4A (segments 4s), while when extending axially, the flange 4f does not protrude radially outward beyond the outer surface of the drum body 4A (segments 4s). For example, the advancement and retreat of a fluid cylinder located in the inner space surrounded by each segment 4s and the link mechanism connected to this fluid cylinder allow each flange 4f to be switched between a state in which it protrudes radially outward beyond the outer surface of the drum body 4A (segments 4s) and a state in which it does not protrude radially outward.

The drum body 4A is also equipped with a hose start end holder 7 that moves toward and away from the outer surface of the drum body 4A (segment 4s). The hose start end holder 7, which is operated by a fluid cylinder or the like, holds the start end Ht of the hose H by sandwiching it between itself and the outer surface of the drum body 4A (segment 4s) as it moves toward the outer surface of the drum body 4A (segment 4s).

In this embodiment, the cables that supply electricity to operate the rotary drive motors 6a, 6b, flange portion 4f, and hose start end holder 7 are held by a wiring protection moving guide 8. That is, the cables extending from the power source to each device are held in a wiring protection moving guide 8 such as a Cableveyor (registered trademark). As the arm 2 rotates, the cables held in the wiring protection moving guide 8 move a predetermined length of stroke together with the wiring protection moving guide 8. In Figure 1, the wiring protection moving guide 8 moves in a stroke in the vertical direction.

The control unit 9 controls the movement of the swivel drive motor 3 and the rotary drive motors 6a and 6b. A known computer is used as the control unit 9. The control unit 9 also controls the movement of the hose start end holder 7, switching the above-mentioned flange portion 4f between a state in which it protrudes outward from the outer surface of the drum body 4A and a state in which it does not protrude.

The hose supply unit 10 has a conveying mechanism 10a and a cutter 10b. The conveying mechanism 10a is a well-known belt conveyor or similar device. The manufactured hose H is placed on the conveying mechanism 10a and moved to be supplied to the winding device 1. The supplied hose H is cut to a predetermined length by the cutter 10b.

The bundling machine 11 uses a bundling wire 12 to bundle the hose H, which has been wound around the drum bodies 4A and 4B by the winding device 1. Various known types of bundling machines 11 can be used. The bundling wire 12, guided by bundling guides 11a and 11b of the bundling machine 11, binds the hose H in the gaps extending in the axial direction of the drum, which are formed between circumferentially adjacent segments 4s.

Below, an example of the procedure for winding up the hose H using this winding device 1 is described.

As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, one drum body 4A is positioned at winding position P1, and the other drum body 4B is positioned at removal position P2. At winding position P1, a winding process is carried out in which a predetermined length of hose H is wound onto the empty drum body 4A, and at removal position P2, a bundling process is carried out in which the hose H wound onto the drum 4B is bound with binding wire 11, and a removal process is carried out in which the hose H bound with binding wire 11 in a wound state is removed from the drum body 4B. The winding process, bundling process, and removal process are carried out in parallel.

During the winding process, the starting end Ht of the hose H supplied from the hose supply unit 10 is inserted between the outer peripheral surface of the drum body 4A and the hose starting end holder 7, and the hose starting end holder 7 moves toward the outer peripheral surface of the drum body 4A. As a result, the starting end Ht is sandwiched and held between the hose starting end holder 7 and the outer peripheral surface of the drum body 4A. During the winding process, the flange portions 4f at both ends of the drum body 4A in the axial direction protrude outward from the outer peripheral surface of the drum.

Next, the rotary drive motor 6a is operated to rotate the drum body 4A around the rotary shaft 5a as shown in Figure 3, thereby winding the hose H onto the drum body 4A. The hose H is cut to a predetermined length by the cutter 10b at the appropriate timing, and is wound spirally onto the outer surface of the drum body 4A between the flange portions 4f, which are spaced apart in the axial direction of the drum body 4A.

During the bundling process, the bundling wire 11, which is led out from bundling guides 11a and 11b, is repeatedly wound across the hose H wound around the drum body 4B in the gaps extending in the drum axial direction, which are formed between circumferentially adjacent segments 4s of the drum body 4B. This causes the hose H, which is spirally wound around the drum body 4B, to be bound by the bundling wire 11. The drum body 4B is sequentially rotated 90° around the rotation axis 5b, and the hose H is similarly bound with the bundling wire 11 at all locations (four locations in this embodiment) in the gaps between circumferentially adjacent segments 4s.

During the bundling process, the flanges 4f at both ends of the drum body 4B in the axial direction protrude outward from the outer peripheral surface of the drum. At the appropriate timing, the hose start end holder 7 is moved away from the outer peripheral surface of the drum body 4B to release the hold of the start end Ht by the hose start end holder 7.

In the removal process after the bundling process is completed, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, the flange portion 4f on the free end of the drum body 4B in the axial direction is switched from extending radially outward to extending axially. This means that the flange portion 4f no longer protrudes outward from the outer circumferential surface of the drum.

Next, the hose H, which is wound around the drum body 4B in a spiral shape and bound with the binding wire 11, is removed from the drum body 4B by moving it toward the free end of the drum body 4B in the drum axial direction using a known transfer device. The hose H removed from the drum body 4B is then transported to a storage facility or the like using this transfer device.

When the winding and removal processes are completed, as shown in Figure 6, the drum 4A at the winding position P1 will have a predetermined length of hose H wound around it. The drum 4B at the removal position P2 will be empty, with no hose H wound around it.

Next, as shown in Figure 7, the arm 2 is rotated 180° counterclockwise around the pivot 2a. That is, the drums 4A and 4B are rotated vertically around the pivot 2a, and as shown in Figure 8, the drum 4A with the hose H wound on it is moved from the winding position P1 to the removal position P2, and the empty drum 4B is moved from the removal position P2 to the winding position P1.

When the arm 2 is rotated, the rotation of the drum body 4A around the rotation axis 5a is controlled to prevent the wound hose H from becoming unwound (to prevent it from unwinding). In other words, to prevent the wound hose H around the drum body 4A from becoming unwound (to prevent it from unwinding), the rotation of the drum body 4A around the rotation axis 5a is controlled so that the terminal end He of the hose H is maintained in a predetermined position, for example, on the lower half of the outer circumferential surface of the drum body 4A.

As shown in Figure 7, while the drum body 4A is being moved from the winding position P1 to the removal position P2, the control unit 9 controls the pivot drive motor 3 and the rotation drive motor 6a in conjunction with each other. The control unit 9 controls the rotation drive motor 6a so as to eliminate relative rotation of the drum body 4A about the rotation shaft 5a as it is being moved from the winding position P1 to the removal position P2.

Specifically, as illustrated in Figure 6, the rotation drive motor 6a controls the rotation of the drum 4A around the rotation axis 5a so that the end portion He of the hose H, which was located diagonally downward to the right on the outer periphery of the drum 4A at the winding position P1, is always located diagonally downward to the right on the outer periphery of the drum 4A while the drum 4A moves from the winding position P1 to the removal position P2. If the rotation of the drum 4A around the rotation axis 5a is locked while the drum 4A moves from the winding position P1 to the removal position P2, the circumferential position of the end portion He on the drum 4A changes as the drum 4A rotates around the pivot axis 2a. The end portion He, which was located diagonally downward to the right on the outer periphery of the drum 4A at the winding position P1, changes its position circumferentially so as to pass the upper end of the outer periphery of the drum 4A as the drum 4A moves to the removal position P2. If the circumferential position of the end portion He changes in this way, the hose H will easily unwind from the end portion He, causing it to become unwound.

In this embodiment, the end portion He, which was located diagonally downward to the right of the outer periphery of the drum body 4A, is maintained in this position diagonally downward to the right of the outer periphery of the drum body 4A as the drum body 4A moves to the removal position P2. That is, in Figures 6, 7, and 8, the end portion He of the hose H is maintained in this position diagonally downward to the right of the outer periphery of the drum body 4A. In this way, the drum body 4A pivots from the winding position P1 to the removal position P2 while the end portion He is maintained in this position diagonally downward to the right of the outer periphery of the drum body 4A, where unwinding (unwinding) is unlikely to occur. Note that the position where the end portion He is maintained as the drum body 4A pivots from the winding position P1 to the removal position P2 is not limited to the diagonally downward to the right of the outer periphery of the drum body 4A, as long as it is a position where unwinding (unwinding) of the hose H is unlikely to occur. For example, the end portion He may be maintained in the diagonally downward to the left of the outer periphery of the drum body 4A or at the bottom of the outer periphery.

The binding and removal processes performed on the drum 4B described above are performed on the drum 4A that has moved from the winding position P1 to the removal position P2. The winding process performed on the drum 4A described above is performed on the drum 4B that has moved from the removal position P2 to the winding position P1. After the winding and removal processes are completed, the arm 2 is rotated clockwise around the pivot 2a to move the drum 4B from the winding position P1 to the removal position P2, and move the drum 4A from the removal position P2 to the winding position P1.

The arm 2 is then rotated in the same manner to move each of the drums 4A and 4B between the winding position P1 and the removal position P2, and the winding process at the winding position P1 and the bundling and removal processes at the removal position P2 are repeated in parallel. This is advantageous for efficiently winding the hose H onto the drums 4A and 4B.

Dedicated rotary drive motors 6a, 6b for each drum body 4A, 4B are attached to the arm 2 along with the respective drum bodies 4A, 4B. This makes it easy to control the rotary drive motors 6a, 6b to eliminate relative rotation around the rotation axes 5a, 5b of the drum bodies 4A, 4B as the arm 2 pivots to move from the winding position P1 to the removal position P2. As a result, as described above, the position of the terminal end He of the hose H wound at the winding position P1 around the drum can be maintained at a predetermined position where the hose H is less likely to become unwound, which is advantageous for more reliably preventing the hose H from becoming unwound.

The control unit 9 can also control the pivot drive motor 3 and the rotation drive motor 6b in conjunction with each other while the empty drum body 4B is being moved from the removal position P2 to the winding position P1. That is, the drum body 4B being moved from the removal position P2 to the winding position P1 is rotated around the rotation axis 5b, and the hose start end holder 7 provided on the drum body 4B is positioned at the specified hose holding position.

When an empty drum 4B is positioned at winding position P1, the position at which the hose start end holder 7 can easily hold the start end Ht of the hose H supplied from the hose supply unit 10 is set as the predetermined hose holding position. In Figure 8, the hose start end holder 7 is positioned at the top end of the outer circumferential surface of the drum 4B, and this position is set as the predetermined hose holding position.

By positioning the hose start end holder 7 in this way, when the empty drum 4B moves to the winding position P1, the start end Ht of the hose H supplied from the hose supply unit 10 can be quickly held by the hose start end holder 7. This allows the winding process to begin immediately, making it even more advantageous for efficiently winding the hose H onto the drum 4B.

In this embodiment, the arm 2 is alternately rotated 180° clockwise and 180° counterclockwise around the pivot axis 2a, repeatedly, to move each drum body 4A, 4B between the winding position P1 and the removal position P2. This eliminates the need to connect the cables supplying electricity to the respective rotation drive motors 6a, 6b, flange portion 4f, and hose start end holder 7 to the respective devices via slip rings. Therefore, in this embodiment, these cables are held by the wiring protection movement guide 8, and are protected by stroking and moving together with the wiring protection movement guide 8 as the arm 2 rotates. Using slip rings would make cable (electrical system) maintenance more complicated, so this embodiment improves maintainability.

The arm 2 can also be designed to rotate 360° around the pivot 2a to move each drum 4A, 4B between the winding position P1 and the removal position P2. That is, the arm 2 can be designed to rotate in only one direction, either clockwise or counterclockwise, around the pivot 2a. In this case, the cables that supply electricity to operate the rotation drive motors 6a, 6b, flange 4f, and hose start end holder 7 are connected to the respective devices via slip rings.

In the above-described embodiment, the pivot shaft 2a extends horizontally and the arm 2 pivots vertically, but the pivot direction of the arm 2 is not limited to the vertical direction. For example, the present invention can also be applied to a winding device 1 in which the pivot shaft 2a extends vertically and the arm 2 pivots horizontally.

1 Winding device 2 Arm 2a Swivel shaft 3 Swivel drive motor 4A, 4B Drum body 4c Base 4s Segment 4f Flange portion 5a, 5b Rotation shaft 6a, 6b Rotation drive motor 7 Hose start end holding portion 8 Wire protection moving guide 9 Control portion 10 Hose supply portion 10a Transport mechanism 10b Cutter 11 Binding machine 11a, 11b Binding guide 12 Binding wire H Hose Ht Start end He End end

Claims (4)

a turret-type hose winding device comprising: an arm pivotally supported so as to be pivotable up and down about a pivot shaft; a rotation drive motor for rotating the arm about the pivot shaft; and drum bodies pivotally supported at both longitudinal ends of the arm so as to be rotatable about rotation shafts; wherein the arm is rotated to move each of the drum bodies between a winding position and a removal position; at the winding position, a winding step is performed in which a predetermined length of hose is wound onto the empty drum body; and at the removal position, a bundling step is performed in which the hose wound onto the drum is bound with a binding wire, and a removal step is performed in which the hose wound and bound with the binding wire is removed from the drum body;
a control unit for controlling the swivel drive motor and each of the rotary drive motors, and the dedicated rotary drive motor for each of the drum bodies is controlled so that there is no relative rotation about the rotation axis of the drum body as it moves from the winding position to the removal position by swiveling the arm. A hose reeling device as described in claim 1, wherein the arm is rotated to rotate the empty drum about its rotation axis as it moves from the removal position to the reeling position, and the dedicated rotary drive motor for the empty drum is controlled to position the hose start end holder on the empty drum at a predetermined hose holding position. A hose reeling device as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein each drum body is moved between the reeling position and the removal position by repeatedly rotating the arm 180° clockwise and 180° counterclockwise around the pivot shaft. A hose winding method using a turret-type hose winding device, comprising : a drum body rotatably supported by a rotary shaft at both longitudinal ends of an arm pivotally supported so as to be vertically pivotable about a pivot shaft; the arm being pivoted to move each drum body between a winding position and a removal position; and at the winding position, a winding step is performed in which a predetermined length of hose is wound onto the empty drum body; and at the removal position, a bundling step is performed in which the hose wound onto the drum is bound with a binding wire; and a removal step is performed in which the hose bound with the binding wire in a wound state is removed from the drum body,
a control unit that controls the dedicated rotary drive motor for each drum body so as to eliminate relative rotation about the rotation axis of the drum body that is being moved from the winding position to the removal position by pivoting the arm, wherein the dedicated rotary drive motor for each drum body is provided, and the arm is attached to the dedicated rotary drive motor for each drum body, and the control unit controls the dedicated rotary drive motor for each drum body so as to eliminate relative rotation about the rotation axis of the drum body that is being moved from the winding position to the removal position by pivoting the arm.