METHOD FOR PRODUCING A PISTON FOR AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE CONSISTING OF A PISTON UPPER PART AND OF A PISTON LOWER PART

Abstract

A method for producing a piston for an internal combustion engine may include arranging a piston upper part and a piston lower part in a friction welding device. The piston upper part may include a piston head with a combustion recess. The piston lower part may include two mutually opposite skirt elements connected to one another via two mutually opposite pin bosses. The method may also include arranging a deflecting device configured to deflect at least one weld bead one of on and in the friction welding device. The method may further include joining the piston upper part and the piston lower part to one another via friction welding.

Claims

1. A method for producing a piston for an internal combustion engine comprising: arranging a piston upper part and a piston lower part in a friction welding device, wherein the piston upper part has a piston head with a combustion recess, and wherein the piston lower part has two mutually opposite skirt elements connected to one another via two mutually opposite pin bosses; arranging a deflecting device configured to deflect at least one weld bead one of on and in the friction welding device; and joining the piston upper part and the piston lower part to one another via friction welding.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising mounting a connecting rod on at least one of the piston lower part and the piston upper part, wherein joining the piston upper part and the piston lower part to one another via friction welding includes producing the at least one weld bead, and wherein arranging the deflecting device includes arranging the deflecting device such that the at least one weld bead is disposed at a distance from a connecting-rod eye of the connecting rod.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein, at least in certain regions, the deflecting device has larger external dimensions than the connecting-rod eye of the connecting rod.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: joining the piston upper part and the piston lower part includes forming a cooling duct, the piston lower part including a radially inner annular wall and a radially outer annular wall projecting from the two skirt elements towards the piston upper part such that an interspace defined between the radially inner annular wall and the radially outer annular wall defines a lower part of the cooling duct; and arranging the deflecting device includes arranging the deflecting device such that the deflecting device bears, at least in certain portions, on the radially inner annular wall of the piston lower part.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein arranging the deflecting device further includes arranging the deflecting device such that a through-opening disposed in the radially inner annular wall of the piston lower part is partially closed by the deflecting device.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein arranging the deflecting device includes arranging the deflecting device such that an annular contact portion of the deflecting device bears against the radially inner annular wall of the piston lower part.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: joining the piston upper part and the piston lower part includes forming a cooling duct, the piston upper part including a radially inner upper annular wall and a radially outer upper annular wall projecting from the piston head towards the piston lower part such that an upper interspace defined between the radially inner upper annular wall and the radially outer upper annular wall defines an upper part of the cooling duct, and the piston lower part including a radially inner lower annular wall and a radially outer lower annular wall projecting from the two skirt elements towards the piston upper part such that a lower interspace defined between the radially inner lower annular wall and the radially outer lower annular wall defines a lower part of the cooling duct; and joining the piston upper part and the piston lower part via friction welding includes joining the radially inner upper annular wall and the radially inner lower annular wall to one another and joining the radially outer upper annular wall and the radially outer lower annular wall to one another via friction welding.

8. A friction welding device for producing a piston for an internal combustion engine comprising: a clamping device configured to clamp in a piston upper part and a piston lower part; a deflecting device configured to deflect a weld bead when the piston upper part and the piston lower part are friction welded to one another; wherein the deflecting device is at least one of i) coupled to the clamping device and ii) integrally formed therewith.

9. The friction welding device according to claim 8, wherein the deflecting device includes at least one cooling agent duct through which a cooling agent is flowable.

10. The friction welding device according to claim 8, wherein, when the piston lower part is clamped in by the clamping device, the deflecting device partially closes a through-opening disposed in an inner annular wall of the piston lower part.

11. The friction welding device according to claim 8, wherein the deflecting device has an annular contact portion which, when the piston lower part is clamped in by the clamping device, bears against a radially inner annular wall of the piston lower part.

12. The friction welding device according to claim 11, wherein the annular contact portion is an outer edge of the deflecting device.

13. The friction welding device according to claim 8, wherein a region of the deflecting device has a surface contour of at least one of a circle and a cylinder segment, and wherein the region is arranged in a longitudinal section of the piston lower part and faces the piston upper part when the piston upper part and the piston lower part are clamped in by the clamping device.

14. The friction welding device according to claim 8, wherein the deflecting device is configured to deflect a weld bead when a radially inner upper annular wall of the piston upper part is friction welded to a radially inner lower annular wall of the piston lower part and when the radially outer upper annular wall of the piston upper part is friction welded to a radially outer lower annular wall of the piston lower part, the radially inner upper annular wall and the radially outer upper annular wall projecting from a piston head if the piston upper part towards the piston lower part such that an interspace defined between radially inner upper annular wall and the radially outer upper annular wall provides an upper part of a cooling duct formed when the piston upper part and piston lower part are coupled to one another, the radially inner lower annular wall and the radially outer lower annular wall projecting from two skirt elements of the piston lower part towards the piston upper part such that an interspace defined between the radially inner lower annular wall and the radially outer lower annular wall provides a lower part of the cooling duct.

15. The friction welding device according to claim 8, wherein the deflecting device is releaseably coupled to the clamping device.

16. The friction welding device according to claim 8, wherein, at least in certain regions, the deflecting device has larger external dimensions than a connecting-rod eye of a connecting rod couplable to at least one of the piston lower part and the piston upper part.

17. The friction welding device according to claim 16, wherein the deflecting device has larger extern dimensions than the connecting-rod eye in a region where the weld bead will form when the piston upper part and the piston lower part are friction welded to one another.

18. The friction welding device according to claim 16, wherein the deflecting device is configured to deflect the weld bead when the piston upper part and the piston lower part are friction welded to one another such that the weld bead is disposed at a distance from a region of that at least one of the piston lower part and the piston upper part to which the connecting rod is couplable.

19. The method according to claim 3, wherein the deflecting device has larger external dimensions than the connecting-rod eye of the connecting rod in a region where the at least one weld bead will form when joining the piston upper part and the piston lower part to one another via friction welding.

20. The method according to claim 4, wherein arranging the deflecting device includes arranging the deflecting device such that an annular contact portion of an outer edge of the deflecting device bears against the radially inner annular wall of the piston lower part.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] In the drawings, each in schematic form:

[0025] FIG. 1 shows an example of a friction welding device according to the invention for producing a piston,

[0026] FIG. 2 shows a detail illustration of FIG. 1 in the region of the weld bead.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an example of a friction welding device 1 according to the invention for producing a piston 2 for an internal combustion engine consisting of a piston upper part 3a and of a piston lower part 3b, each made of steel. The friction welding device 1 serves for joining the piston upper part 3a and piston lower part 3b by means of friction welding. The friction welding device 1 comprises a clamping device 23 (shown only partially in the figure) into which the piston upper part 3a and the piston lower part 3b can be clamped for friction welding. The more precise technical design of a friction welding device 1 is known to a person skilled in the relevant art, and therefore a more detailed explanation will be dispensed with in the following.

[0028] The piston upper part 3a comprises a piston head 5 with a combustion recess 6. The piston lower part 3b has two mutually opposite skirt elements 7a, 7b which are connected to one another via two mutually opposite pin bosses 8a, 8b. The piston upper part 3a has a radially inner annular wall 12a which projects downwardly from the piston head 5 towards the piston lower part 3b, and a radially outer annular wall 12b which projects downwardly from the piston head 5 towards the piston lower part 3b. An interspace 13 is present between the two annular walls 12a, 12b and forms an upper part of a cooling duct 14 of the piston 2 formed from the piston upper part 3a and the piston lower part 3b. The piston lower part 3b has a radially inner annular wall 15a which projects upwardly from the skirt elements 7a, 7b towards the piston upper part 3a. The piston lower part 3b also has a radially outer annular wall 15b which projects upwardly from the skirt elements 7a, 7b towards the piston upper part 3a. An interspace 16 is present between the two annular walls 15a, 15b and forms a lower part 25 of the cooling duct 14. In the example scenario, after the friction welding operation has been concluded, the two radially inner annular walls 12a, 15a and the two radially outer annular walls 12b, 15b are connected to one another by means of a friction welding connection 4.

[0029] To produce the friction welding connection 4, the piston upper part 3a and, alternatively or additionally, the piston lower part 3b are, after being clamped into the clamping device 23 of the friction welding device 1, set in rotation by the latter and forced under pressure against the respective friction partner, with the result that the joining surfaces of the radially inner annular walls 12a, 15a are heated to the joining temperature. After a certain time period has elapsed, the rotation is stopped again. The piston upper part 3a and the piston lower part 3b are moved towards one another in the friction welding device 1 with an increase of the initial contact pressure, with the result that an integrally bonded connection is produced between the two piston parts 3a, 3b with the formation of a weld bead. The travel distance by which the piston upper part 3a and the piston lower part 3b are moved towards one another is often referred to as upset travel. The greater the upset travel, the greater the weld bead 9 formed during the friction welding.

[0030] In order to prevent an undesired penetration of the weld bead occurring during the friction welding into a clearance to be kept free in the piston 2, the friction welding device 1 comprises a deflecting device 11 for deflecting the weld bead 9 occurring during the friction welding. The weld bead 9 which is formed during the friction welding makes abutting contact with the deflecting device 11 and is in this way deflected with the result that it can no longer enter the said clearance. The deflecting device 11 can be fastened, preferably releasably, to the clamping device 23. Also conceivable, however, is an integral formation of the deflecting device 11 with the clamping device 23.

[0031] The deflecting device 11 is dimensioned in such a way that, after the actual connecting rod has been mounted on the piston (not shown), the weld bead 9 occurring during the friction welding is arranged at a distance from the connecting-rod eye of this connecting rod (not shown). For this purpose, the deflecting device 11 can be provided, at least in that region in which the weld bead 9 will make abutting contact, with larger external dimensions than a connecting-rod eye of the connecting rod.

[0032] As can be seen from FIG. 1, the deflecting device 11 has an annular contact portion 21 which bears against the radially inner annular wall 15a. The annular contact portion 21 is preferably an outer edge 22 of the deflecting device 11. Here, in the state in which it is fastened to the piston lower part 3b, the deflecting device 11 partially closes a through-opening 20 enclosed by the radially inner annular wall 15a. A region 24 of the deflecting device 11 that faces the piston upper part 3a has, in the longitudinal section of the piston lower part 3b shown in FIG. 1, the surface contour of a circle or cylinder segment.

[0033] As FIGS. 1 and 2 clearly illustrate, at least one cooling agent duct 10 through which a cooling agent can flow can also be formed in the deflecting device 11. In this way, an overheating of the deflecting device 11 during the friction welding is prevented. The cooling agent duct 10 can be part of a cooling circuit. The said cooling agent can be a protective gas, for example nitrogen, but also air. The use of a liquid cooling medium is also possible.