JP7829865B2 - Duct manufacturing method and duct manufacturing system - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a duct manufacturing method and a duct manufacturing system for producing duct wall panels.

For example, a rectangular air conditioning duct is formed into a square cylindrical shape by assembling four wall panels. In this process, the assembly structure (joint structure/seam structure) of the wall panels was varied depending on the size of the duct and its intended use, using methods such as button-punch seams or Pittsburgh seams (Mitsui seams) (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Furthermore, when manufacturing the wall panels, plasma processing machines or laser processing machines were used to cut the panels from sheet-like steel plates.

"Standard Duct Text," edited and published by the Japan Duct Industry Association, April 2015, p. 36.

Incidentally, conventionally, the sizes of button-punch seams and Pittsburgh seams differed. Specifically, with button-punch seams, the total length of a single seam was 9 mm and the total length of a double seam was 34 mm, while with Pittsburgh seams, the total length of a single seam was 7 mm and the total length of a double seam was 32 mm. Therefore, even when manufacturing ducts of the same size and dimensions, the size of the wall panel (the size when unfolded) differed depending on whether button-punch seams or Pittsburgh seams were used. This not only required separate sheet cutting from the steel plate, but also resulted in poor sheet cutting yield and required separate stocking, making it inefficient.

Furthermore, when cutting wall panels from steel sheets using plasma processing machines, conventional methods required a predetermined gap or cutting allowance between wall panels. This resulted in poor yield and increased cutting length, making the process inefficient.

Therefore, this invention aims to provide a duct manufacturing method and duct manufacturing system that can improve productivity and manufacturing efficiency.

To achieve the above objective, the invention described in claim 1 is a duct manufacturing method for producing a wall panel constituting a duct, which is plate-shaped and has a joint structure at its side end, comprising: a dimension setting step in which the size of the unfolded button punch seam and the unfolded Pittsburgh seam are set as the same common seam dimension, and the dimensions of the wall panel for constituting the duct to be manufactured are set based on the said common seam dimension; and a cutting step in which a cut wall panel, which has the shape of the unfolded wall panel for constituting the duct to be manufactured and includes the said common seam dimension, is cut from a sheet material, regardless of whether the joint structure is a button punch seam or a Pittsburgh seam.

The invention described in claim 2 is characterized in that, in the duct manufacturing method described in claim 1, in the plate cutting step, a plurality of plate cutting wall plates of the same shape are cut from the sheet material while being arranged without gaps.

The invention described in claim 3 is a duct manufacturing system for producing wall panels constituting a duct, which are plate-shaped and have a joint structure at their side ends, and is characterized by comprising: a dimension setting means for setting the dimensions of the wall panels for constituting the duct to be manufactured based on a common seam dimension, where the size of the unfolded button punch seam and the unfolded Pittsburgh seam are the same; and a cutting means for cutting a wall panel from a sheet material, which has the shape of the unfolded wall panel for constituting the duct to be manufactured and includes the common seam dimension, regardless of whether the joint structure is a button punch seam or a Pittsburgh seam.

The invention described in claim 4 is characterized in that, in the duct manufacturing system described in claim 3, the cutting means cuts out multiple cutting wall panels of the same shape from the sheet material while they are arranged without gaps.

According to the invention described in claims 1 and 3, if button-punch seams and Pittsburgh seams have the same common seam dimensions, then regardless of whether the duct to be manufactured has button-punch seams or Pittsburgh seams, a sheet material can be cut out containing the same common seam dimensions for the duct to be manufactured (for example, 500 mm wide). In other words, when manufacturing ducts of the same size and dimensions, there is no need to change the size and dimensions of the sheet material depending on whether it has button-punch seams or Pittsburgh seams. Therefore, regardless of whether it has button-punch seams or Pittsburgh seams, sheet material can be cut out of steel plate or the like to improve the yield of sheet material, and moreover, only one type of sheet material needs to be stocked, thus improving productivity and manufacturing efficiency.

According to the inventions described in claims 2 and 4, since multiple identically shaped cut wall panels are cut from a sheet material while arranged without gaps, the yield of the cut panels is improved, and the cutting length by plasma processing machines and the like is shortened, making it possible to improve productivity and manufacturing efficiency. In other words, by arranging multiple identically shaped cut wall panels, an efficient (high yield) arrangement is possible, and by arranging them without gaps, an even more efficient arrangement is possible. Furthermore, since the common edges of adjacent cut wall panels only require one cut, productivity and manufacturing efficiency can be improved.

This is a schematic diagram showing a duct manufacturing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of the manufacturing support computer in the duct manufacturing system. This figure shows the total length of the single fastener and the total length of the double fastener of the button punch fastener in an embodiment of this invention. This figure shows the total length of a single Pittsburgh goby and a double Pittsburgh goby in an embodiment of this invention. This figure shows the total length of a single button-punch fastener and a double button-punch fastener. This figure shows the total length of a single-bodied and a double-bodied Pittsburgh goby. This is a perspective view showing an example of a duct to be manufactured according to an embodiment of this invention. Figure 7 is a plan view showing the cut wall panels that make up the duct. This figure shows an example of nesting in an embodiment of the present invention. This figure shows an example of conventional nesting.

The present invention will be described below based on the illustrated embodiments.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing a duct manufacturing system 1 according to an embodiment of this invention. This duct manufacturing system 1 is a system for manufacturing wall panels that constitute air conditioning ducts. These wall panels are plate-shaped and have a joint structure at their side ends. This embodiment primarily describes the case where a button-punch seam or a Pittsburgh seam is provided as the joint structure.

This duct manufacturing system 1 comprises a communication terminal 2 used by the duct customer (orderer) M, and a manufacturing support computer (dimension setting means) 3 and a cutting machine (sheet cutting means) 4 used by the duct manufacturer/distributor P. The communication terminal 2 and the manufacturing support computer 3 are able to communicate freely.

The communication terminal 2 can be any terminal equipped with communication, input, and display functions; for example, it could be a smartphone (multifunctional mobile phone) or a personal computer. This embodiment describes the case of a smartphone, which can access the webpage of the manufacturing support computer 3 (described later) or make a phone call to the duct manufacturer/distributor P to input the type, dimensions, nominal size, and required quantity of ducts to be ordered.

The manufacturing support computer 3 is a computer web server accessible to duct customers M via smartphone 2. It provides a webpage over the internet to sell ducts (e-commerce) and support duct manufacturing. This embodiment primarily describes the process for manufacturing duct wall panels, but it goes without saying that duct components such as corner pieces and gaskets can also be included in the manufacturing process.

As shown in Figure 2, the manufacturing support computer 3 mainly comprises an input unit 31, a display unit 32, a communication unit 33, an inventory database (inventory storage means) 34, an order task (order means) 35, a manufacturing support task (dimension setting means) 36, and a central processing unit 37 that controls these.

The input unit 31 is an interface for inputting various information and commands. Specifically, it is used to input and modify data and information from the inventory database 34, and to input commands to start manufacturing support tasks 36. The display unit 32 is a display that shows various data and information. Specifically, it displays data and information from the inventory database 34, and displays nesting, which will be described later. The communication unit 33 is an interface for communicating with the outside world. Specifically, it sends order screens to the smartphone 2, receives order information from the smartphone 2, and sends nesting, which will be described later, to the cutting machine 4.

The inventory database 34 is a database that stores inventory information for ducts and their components and parts. It stores inventory quantities for each type and size of duct, as well as for each type and size of component and part. In this embodiment, the inventory information is stored in the manufacturing support computer 3, but it may also be stored in another computer or server and readable from the manufacturing support computer 3.

The order processing task 35 is a task program that displays an order processing screen on smartphone 2 for receiving orders for ducts from customer M, and receives order information from smartphone 2, including the type, dimensions, nominal size, and required quantity of the ducts to be ordered. Specifically, it is activated when the webpage (manufacturing support computer 3) is accessed from smartphone 2, displays the order processing screen on smartphone 2, and, once the type, dimensions, and required quantity of the ducts are entered from smartphone 2, the order for those ducts is processed.

In this embodiment, the manufacturing support computer 3 is equipped with an order processing task 35. However, orders may be received by other computers or servers, and that information may be read by the manufacturing support computer 3. Furthermore, in addition to receiving orders via a webpage, orders may also be received via telephone, fax, or other means, and that information may be input into the manufacturing support computer 3.

Manufacturing support task 36 is a task program that sets the dimensions of the wall panels for the duct to be manufactured based on the common seam dimension, which is the same size as the size of the unfolded button punch seam and the unfolded Pittsburgh seam. First, regardless of whether it is a button punch seam or a Pittsburgh seam, the size/dimension of the unfolded seam is set as the common seam dimension, and the button punch seam or Pittsburgh seam is formed at this common seam dimension.

In other words, conventionally, in the case of button-punch gobies, as shown in Figure 5, the total length L11 of a single goby was 9 mm, and the total length (length when straightened) L12 of a double goby was 34 mm. Similarly, conventionally, in the case of Pittsburgh gobies, as shown in Figure 6, the total length L21 of a single goby was 7 mm, and the total length (length when straightened) L22 of a double goby was 32 mm.

In contrast, in this embodiment, i.e., manufacturing support task 36, for button-punch fasteners, as shown in Figure 3, the total length L11 of the single fastener is 8 mm, and the total length L12 of the double fastener is 29 mm. Similarly, for Pittsburgh fasteners, as shown in Figure 4, the total length L21 of the single fastener is 8 mm, and the total length L22 of the double fastener is 29 mm. Thus, the total length L11 of the single fastener in button-punch fasteners and the total length L21 of the single fastener in Pittsburgh fasteners are both set to a common fastener dimension L1 of 8 mm, and the total length L12 of the double fastener in button-punch fasteners and the total length L22 of the double fastener in Pittsburgh fasteners are both set to a common fastener dimension L2 of 29 mm.

Here, the size and length of the common seam dimensions L1 and L2 are set to ensure proper joining, regardless of whether it's a button-punch seam or a Pittsburgh seam, while keeping them as small as possible. Furthermore, these common seam dimensions L1 and L2 apply not only to the wall panels of straight ducts but also to the wall panels of L-shaped elbow ducts.

Next, based on these common seam dimensions L1 and L2, the dimensions of the wall panels for the duct to be manufactured are set. That is, the dimensions of the wall panels to be manufactured are set and designed based on order information from the customer M and inventory information stored in the inventory database 34. For example, wall panels that are insufficient in stock to supply the type, dimensions, and required number of ducts included in the order information may be designated for manufacture, or wall panels for ducts with high order volumes may be designated for manufacture each time an order is received. Therefore, the manufacturing support task 36 may be activated at any time, or each time an order is received, and the type, dimensions, and required number of ducts and wall panels to be manufactured are input as input parameters.

For example, as shown in Figure 7, if the target duct is a rectangular duct 100 with a roughly square cross-section, and the length of one side of the duct's cross-section (duct width) is L31, then, as shown in Figure 8, the width dimension of the wall panel 101 is set to the sum of this duct width L31 and the common seam dimensions L1 and L2. In this case, if a single seam is formed, the common seam dimension L1 is added; if a double seam is formed, the common seam dimension L2 is added.

Here, either a single seam or a double seam may be formed on both ends of a single wall panel 101. In this case, the rectangular duct 100 is composed of two wall panels 101 with only single seams and two wall panels 101 with only double seams. Alternatively, a single seam may be formed on one end and a double seam on the other. In this case, the rectangular duct 100 is composed of four wall panels 101 of the same shape, one with a single seam and the other with a double seam. Therefore, in this case, the types and dimensions of wall panels 101 to be manufactured and stocked can be reduced, making it possible to improve productivity and manufacturing efficiency.

The resulting wall panel 101, with its dimensions set in this manner, unfolds into its pre-seam shape (before the seam is formed). Regardless of whether the joint structure is a button-punch seam or a Pittsburgh seam, the resulting panel will have the same shape, including common seam dimensions L1 and L2. That is, as shown in Figure 8, the panel 102 has a roughly rectangular main body 102a with a width (short side) of duct width L31, and strip-shaped seam formation allowances 102b, with widths of common seam dimensions L1 and L2, are provided on both sides in the width direction. Furthermore, if necessary, the panel 102 may have flange formation allowances 102c for forming flanges on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the main body 102a.

Then, the wall panel 101 is formed by bending the seam formation allowance 102b of the cut wall panel 102 to form a single seam or a double seam. At this time, a button punch seam or a Pittsburgh seam may be formed depending on the order information. Also, if necessary, the flange form allowance 102c is bent to form a flange.

The cutting machine 4 is a processing machine that cuts out the sheet material of the panel-cut wall panels 102, which include the common seam dimensions L1 and L2 as described above, regardless of whether the joint structure is a button punch seam or a Pittsburgh seam. Specifically, it is composed of a plasma processing machine and a laser processing machine, and cuts out the panel-cut wall panels 102 from sheet material such as steel plate. In this process, multiple panel-cut wall panels 102 of the same shape are cut out from the sheet material in a state where they are arranged without gaps.

In other words, in a nesting arrangement of multiple cut wall panels 102, as shown in Figure 9, at least multiple cut wall panels 102 of the same shape are arranged without gaps, so that the entire arrangement is as efficient as possible (without large gaps). Here, such a nesting arrangement may be designed and created by the manufacturing support computer 3 and transmitted to the cutting machine 4, or it may be designed and created by the cutting machine 4 based on the cut wall panels 102 designed by the manufacturing support computer 3. Then, based on this nesting arrangement, the cutting machine 4 cuts out multiple cut wall panels 102 from the sheet material 110.

Next, we will describe a duct manufacturing method using the duct manufacturing system 1 with the above configuration.

First, in the manufacturing support computer 3, the dimensions of the unfolded button-punch seam and the unfolded Pittsburgh seam are set as common seam dimensions L1 and L2, respectively, and the dimensions of the wall panel 101 for the duct 100 to be manufactured are set based on these common seam dimensions L1 and L2 (dimension setting step). Next, regardless of whether the joint structure is a button-punch seam or a Pittsburgh seam, a sheet of wall panel 102, which has the shape of the unfolded wall panel 101 for the duct 100 to be manufactured and includes the common seam dimensions L1 and L2, is cut from the sheet material 110 (sheet cutting step). At this time, multiple sheet of wall panel 102 of the same shape are cut from the sheet material 110 while being arranged without gaps. After that, the seam formation allowance 102b of the sheet of wall panel 102 is processed and folded to form the joint structure, i.e., a button-punch seam or a Pittsburgh seam, and the wall panel 101 is manufactured.

As described above, with this duct manufacturing system 1 and duct manufacturing method, the common seam dimensions L1 and L2 are the same for both button-punch seams and Pittsburgh seams. Regardless of whether the duct 100 to be manufactured has a button-punch seam or a Pittsburgh seam, a sheet material 110 containing the same common seam dimensions L1 and L2 can be cut for the duct 100 to be manufactured (for example, a 500 mm wide duct). In other words, when manufacturing ducts 100 of the same size and dimensions, there is no need to change the size and dimensions of the sheet material 102 depending on whether it has a button-punch seam or a Pittsburgh seam. Therefore, regardless of whether it has a button-punch seam or a Pittsburgh seam, sheet material 102 of the same size and dimensions can be cut from steel plates, improving the yield of sheet material. Furthermore, only one type of sheet material 102 needs to be stocked, thus improving productivity and manufacturing efficiency.

Furthermore, since multiple identically shaped cut wall panels 102 are cut from the sheet material 110 while arranged without gaps, the yield of cut panels is improved, and the cutting length using a plasma processing machine or similar device is shortened, thereby improving productivity and manufacturing efficiency. In other words, arranging multiple identically shaped cut wall panels 102 allows for an efficient (high yield) arrangement, and arranging them without gaps enables an even more efficient arrangement. Moreover, since the common edges of adjacent cut wall panels 102 only require a single cut, productivity and manufacturing efficiency can be further improved.

Specifically, in conventional board cutting and nesting, as shown in Figure 10, a predetermined gap is provided between the board cutting wall panels 102, and each board cutting wall panel 102 is arranged haphazardly. In contrast, in the board cutting and nesting of this embodiment, as shown in Figure 9, there is no gap between multiple board cutting wall panels 102 of the same shape, and each board cutting wall panel 102 is arranged neatly (in a cohesive manner). Therefore, the longitudinal length L41 of the nesting in this embodiment (the length of the long side of the sheet material 110) can be made shorter than the longitudinal length L43 of conventional nesting. Furthermore, the cutting length in this embodiment can be made shorter than the cutting length in conventional methods.

Here, the nesting widths L42 and L44 are the same in this embodiment as in the conventional design. Furthermore, as shown in Figures 9 and 10, each panel 102 is marked with an identification number (partially abbreviated as "J-S-5" or "J-S-4") to indicate that it is a component of the same duct. For example, four panel 102 marked "J-S-5" constitute one straight duct, and four panel 102 marked "J-S-4" constitute one elbow duct.

The embodiments of this invention have been described above, but the specific configuration is not limited to the embodiments described above. Even design changes that do not depart from the gist of this invention are included. For example, in the above embodiments, the common seam dimension L1 for single seams is 8 mm, and the common seam dimension L2 for double seams is 29 mm. However, other dimensions may be used depending on the material of the sheet material, the plate thickness, and the required joint strength.

1. Duct manufacturing system 2. Communication terminal 3. Manufacturing support computer (dimension setting means)
4 Cutting machine (board cutting means)
100 Square duct 101 Wall panel 102 Cut wall panel 110 Sheet material L1 Common seam dimensions for single seam L2 Common seam dimensions for double seam P Duct manufacturer/distributor M Customer (ordering party)

Claims (4)

A duct manufacturing method for producing wall panels that constitute a duct, which are plate-shaped and have a joint structure at their side ends,
A dimension setting step in which the dimensions of the wall panels for constructing the duct to be manufactured are set based on the common seam dimensions, which are the same size as the size of the button punch seam when unfolded and the size of the Pittsburgh seam when unfolded,
Regardless of whether the joint structure is a button punch seam or a Pittsburgh seam, the cutting step involves cutting out a cut wall panel from a sheet material, which is the shape of the wall panel that forms the duct to be manufactured and includes the common seam dimensions,
A method for manufacturing ducts, characterized by comprising the following features. In the cutting step, multiple cutting wall panels of the same shape are arranged without gaps and cut from the sheet material.
The duct manufacturing method according to feature 1. A duct manufacturing system for producing wall panels that constitute a duct, which are plate-shaped and have a joint structure at the side end,
A dimension setting means that sets the dimensions of the wall panels for constructing the duct to be manufactured based on the common seam dimensions, where the size of the button punch seam when unfolded and the size of the Pittsburgh seam when unfolded are the same.
Regardless of whether the joint structure is a button punch seam or a Pittsburgh seam, a cutting means for cutting a cutting wall panel from a sheet material, which is in the shape of an unfolded wall panel for constituting the duct to be manufactured and includes the common seam dimensions,
A duct manufacturing system characterized by comprising the following features. In the aforementioned cutting means, multiple cutting wall panels of the same shape are arranged without gaps and cut from the sheet material.
The duct manufacturing system according to feature 3.