Motor vehicle panel blanking method and system

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method of motor vehicle sheet blanking and a system of the same, wherein the blanking method comprises: firstly, nesting for motor vehicle sheet material, and cutting it into group sheets with a shape and size confirmed by the multi length of the sheet; next, designing a backing die depending on scraps to be cut from the group sheet, and hollowing in areas corresponding to blanking openings in the backing die, in which the dimensions of the blanking openings are greater than that of the actual scraps to be cut; then, placing a group sheet onto the backing die; laser cutting the group sheet based on the shape of motor vehicle sheet, the cut scraps dropping through the blanking openings in the backing die onto a scrap conveyor belt underneath; stacking the cut sheets. The present invention can effectively process scraps cut from sheets and improve the blanking efficiency.

Claims

1. A method for cutting blanks for a motor vehicle from sheet material, comprising; cutting the sheet material into group sheets each with a shape and size to accommodate multiple ones of the motor vehicle blanks nested together; providing a backing die and cutting blanking openings in the backing die that are shaped to correspond to and are positioned to receive scraps to be cut from the group sheets, wherein the dimensions of the blanking openings are greater than that of the scraps to be cut; conveying the group sheet on a group sheet conveyor chain to a preset position and then removing the group sheet from the group sheet conveyor chain and placing the group sheet onto the backing die while the backing die is in a stationary position; laser cutting the group sheet while on the stationary backing die having the blanking openings to create the multiple ones of the motor vehicle blanks and the scraps, the cut scraps dropping through the blanking openings in the backing die and onto a scrap conveyor belt underneath; and stacking the cut motor vehicle blanks.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein stacking robots are used during said stacking of the cut motor vehicle blanks.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein in said step of laser cutting the group sheet either four or six motor vehicle blanks are created from the group sheet.

4. The method according to claim 2, including providing a transfer robot at each of two sides of the group sheet conveyor chain, providing a cutting unit at each of two sides of each transfer robot, and providing one of the stacking robots beside each cutting unit.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the transfer robots use vacuum suckers to pick up or place the group sheet.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein one of the backing dies is formed and positioned directly on each of the cutting units.

7. A motor vehicle sheet blanking system, comprising: a group sheet conveyor chain; at least one transfer robot, provided at one side of the group sheet conveyor chain; at least one cutting unit, at one side of the transfer robot, the cutting unit being provided with at least one laser cutting machine, the cutting unit being provided with a stacking robot at a side thereof; a backing die provided in the cutting unit, in which blanking openings are formed by cutting out areas corresponding to intended locations of scraps that are formed when a group sheet is placed on the backing die having the blanking openings and is cut to form multiple motor vehicle blanks, the dimensions of the blanking openings being greater than that of the scraps; a scrap chute disposed underneath the backing die of the cutting unit; and a scrap conveyor belt associated with the scrap chute.

8. The motor vehicle sheet blanking system according to claim 7, including a transfer robot on each of two sides of the group sheet conveyor chain, and two cutting units on each of two sides of each one of the transfer robots, thus forming four cutting units, wherein each cutting unit is provided with two laser cutting machines and is provided with two stacking robots at a side thereof.

9. The motor vehicle sheet blanking system according to claim 7, wherein the laser cutting machines are in the form of Cartesian coordinate robots.

10. The motor vehicle sheet blanking system according to claim 8, wherein the laser cutting machines are Cartesian coordinate robots, which are movable in the longitudinal and transverse directions, and the two laser cutting machines have a common operation area in the longitudinal direction.

11. The motor vehicle sheet blanking method according to claim 2, wherein in said step of laser cutting the group sheet either four or six motor vehicle blanks are created from the group sheet.

12. The motor vehicle sheet blanking method according to claim 2, wherein a transfer robot uses vacuum suckers to remove the group sheet from the group sheet conveyor chain and place it on the backing die.

13. The motor vehicle sheet blanking method according to claim 4, wherein the transfer robots use vacuum suckers to pick up or place the group sheet.

14. The motor vehicle sheet blanking method according to claim 2, wherein one of the backing dies is formed and positioned directly on each of the cutting units.

15. The motor vehicle sheet blanking system according to claim 8, wherein the laser cutting machines are in the form of Cartesian coordinate robots.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is the top plan view of an embodiment of the motor vehicle sheet blanking system according to the present invention.

(2) FIG. 2 is the perspective view of the embodiment according to the present invention.

(3) FIG. 3 is the side view of the embodiment in FIG. 2.

(4) FIG. 4 the diagram of a backing die according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(5) Referring to the accompany drawings, FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 show one embodiment according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the motor vehicle sheet blanking system includes a group sheet conveyor chain 1; two transfer robots 2 and 3 which are provided respectively at two sides of the group conveyor chain 1; four cutting units 5, 5, 5 and 5 which are located respectively at the sides of the transfer robots 2 and 3; two laser cutting machines 6 and 6 provided in the cutting unit 5 (herein, taking the cutting unit 5 as an example and other cutting units having a similar configuration); two stacking robots 7 and 7 beside the cutting unit 5 (herein, taking the cutting unit 5 as an example, and other cutting units having a similar configuration, similarly hereinafter); a backing die 8 provided on the cutting unit 5, in which blanking openings 81 are formed by hollowing in areas corresponding to scraps and the dimensions of the blanking openings are greater than that of the actual scraps, and onto which the group sheet 4 formed by nesting is placed; a scrap chute 9 disposed beneath the backing die 8 of the cutting unit 5; a scrap conveyor belt 10 disposed corresponding to the scrap chute 9.

(6) The laser cutting machines 6 and 6 are Cartesian coordinate robots, which can move in the longitudinal and transverse directions, and also, have a common working area in the longitudinal direction.

(7) The group sheet is cut according to the actual nesting result. The embodiment is based on the sheet of interior rear door panel of GM D06 and the group sheet 4 herein consists of four joint sheets 11.

(8) The backing die 8 is designed based on the layout of the four joint sheets 11 and the scraps expected to be cut, and blanking openings 81 are formed on the backing die 8 by hollowing in areas corresponding to the scraps. The backing die can be directly cut to shape on the cutting unit, and be positioned thereon. The blanking openings need to be further processed for scraps dropping conveniently and the dimensions thereof should be greater than that of the actual cut scraps.

(9) The group sheet is conveyed by the conveyor chain 1 into the preset position for two transfer robots 2 and 3 to pick up. The two transfer robots 2 and 3, on basis of a certain working strategy, pick up the sheets, place them onto the backing dies of the four cutting units 5, 5, 5 and 5 and position them.

(10) It is vacuum suckers that the two transfer robots 2 and 3 use for picking up and placing the materials.

(11) Each cutting unit 5 includes a base frame 51, a blanking die 8, two laser cutting machines 6 and 6 in the form of Cartesian coordinate robot.

(12) The longitudinal stroke of the two laser cutting machines in the form of Cartesian coordinate robot covers two sheet cutting regions. They have a common working area in the longitudinal direction.

(13) Each cutting unit is configured with a set of stacking unit, which includes two stacking robots and two, four or six stack positions. The stacking robots use vacuum suckers to pick up sheets and the stacking strategy is: large sheets are picked up and stacked one by one; small sheets are picked up and stacked more than one at a time, in which the position of the sucker is adjustable dynamically, and finally sheets are stacked for piles; while cutting, the picking up and stacking operations are performed, that is, upon finishing cutting, the stacking robots are allowed to pick up and stack.

(14) The procedure of laser blanking is as follows:

(15) The transfer robot 2 picks up a first group sheet 4 from the conveyor chain 1, transfers and places it on the backing die 8 of the cutting unit 5, while the laser cutting machines 6 and 6 is at the two sides of the cutting base frame 51.

(16) The laser cutting machines 6 and 6 begin to cut the group sheet according to the preset cutting strategy and the working trace; they move along the same direction, one of which starts from one end of the base frame, and another from the middle portion thereof. The laser cutting machines 6 and 6 work for the same quantity. A single piece is cut by a single laser cutting machine, and tailor-welded edges can be cut out with one pass.

(17) When a second group sheet reaches the picking position, the transfer robot 3 picks it up, transfers and places it onto the blanking die of the cutting unit 5. Two laser cutting machines of the cutting unit 5 begin to cut the group sheet according to the preset cutting strategy and the working trace;

(18) When a third group sheet reaches the picking position, the transfer robot 2 picks it up, transfers and places it onto the blanking die of the cutting unit 5. Two laser cutting machines of the cutting unit 5 begin to cut the group sheet according to the preset cutting strategy and the working trace;

(19) When a fourth group sheet reaches the picking position, the transfer robot 3 picks it up, transfers and places it onto the blanking die of the cutting unit 5. Two laser cutting machines of the cutting unit 5 begin to cut the group sheet according to the preset cutting strategy and the working trace;

(20) After completing the cutting of the single or multi sheets, the corresponding stacking robots of each cutting unit, for instance, the stacking robots 7 and 7 corresponding to the cutting unit 5, may pick up and stack the sheets.

(21) When the cutting unit 5 finishes the cutting and stacking operation, the laser cutting machines 6 and 6 move respectively to the two sides of the base frame. The transfer robots 2 transfers the fifth group sheet onto the backing die of the cutting unit 5, and the laser cutting machines 6 and 6 start to cut again.

(22) That cycle repeats, i.e. a sixth group sheet is transferred onto the cut unit 5; a seventh group sheet is transferred onto the cut unit 5; an eighth group sheet is transferred onto the cut unit 5.

(23) As the present invention arranges the cutting units at the two sides of the group sheet chain and combines with transfer robots and stacking robots, the whole production line features flexibility and independency, and is free of the impact from the breakdown of a single set of cutting equipment. In case of malfunction, it is only needed to separate automatically or manually the broken-down cutting equipment from the cutting region.