Forming system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11772148-B2
Application number	US-202117391771-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 2, 2021
Priority date	Apr 22, 2019
Publication date	Oct 3, 2023
Grant date	Oct 3, 2023

Abstract

Provided is a forming system that expands a heated metal pipe material to form a metal pipe. The forming system includes a gas supply portion that supplies a gas to the heated metal pipe material to expand the metal pipe material, a nozzle that includes a feed port for supplying the gas, a discharge portion that discharges the gas after expanding the metal pipe material, and a cooling unit that cools the gas flowing through the discharge portion and is provided in the nozzle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A forming system that expands a heated metal pipe material to form a metal pipe, the system comprising:
a gas supply portion configured to supply a gas to the heated metal pipe material to expand the metal pipe material;
a nozzle including a feed port for supplying the gas;
a discharge portion configured to discharge the gas after expanding the metal pipe material; and
a cooling unit configured to cool the gas flowing through the discharge portion and-is provided in the nozzle,
wherein the cooling unit includes a reduced section where a cross-sectional area of the cooling unit is reduced and a first expanded section and a second expanded section whose cross-sectional areas are expanded, and
the reduced section is provided adjacent to and between the first expanded section and the second expanded section.

2. The forming system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the gas supply portion includes
a support portion extending from the nozzle to an opposite side of the feed port to support the nozzle, and
a drive unit configured to move the support portion along an extending direction of the support portion,
a flow path is formed in the nozzle and the support portion to extend from an end portion of the support portion to the feed port, the flow path being configured to cause the gas from the end portion of the support portion toward the feed port and cause the gas to flow at a high temperature from the metal pipe material toward the discharge portion,
the gas supply portion is provided with the cooling unit configured to cool the gas flowing at a high temperature through the flow path, and
the cooling unit is provided as a member separate from the nozzle at least at a position on a feed port side in the extending direction of the support portion with respect to the drive unit.

3. The forming system according to claim 2 ,
wherein the support portion includes a piston that holds the nozzle, and
the drive unit includes a cylinder that imparts an advancing and retreating movement to the piston.

4. The forming system according to claim 3 ,
wherein the piston includes
a head portion that protrudes from the cylinder to an outside of the cylinder, and in which the nozzle is concentrically and fixedly mounted on a tip portion of the head portion,
a main body that is stored in the cylinder, and
a tubular portion that protrudes from the cylinder to the outside of the cylinder, and in which a pneumatic circuit for supplying the gas to the nozzle and discharging the gas from the nozzle is connected to a tip portion of the tubular portion.

5. The forming system according to claim 4 ,
wherein the head portion, the main body, and the tubular portion each have a substantially cylindrical shape and are concentrically and integrally formed, and
the flow path is formed by penetrating a center over an entire length from the head portion to the tip portion of the tubular portion through the main body.

6. The forming system according to claim 5 ,
wherein the head portion has a diameter smaller than the main body, and
the tubular portion has a diameter smaller than the main body and the head portion.

7. The forming system according to claim 3 ,
wherein in a case where a position of the piston that comes into contact with the cylinder when the piston is most retracted is set as a first boundary,
the cooling unit is provided at least on the feed port side with respect to the first boundary.

8. The forming system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the gas supply portion includes
a support portion extending from the nozzle to an opposite side of the feed port to support the nozzle, and
a drive unit configured to move the support portion along an extending direction of the support portion,

a flow path is formed in the nozzle and the support portion to extend from an end portion of the support portion to the feed port, the flow path being configured to cause the gas to flow at a high pressure from the end portion of the support portion toward the feed port and cause the gas to flow from the metal pipe material toward the discharge portion,
the gas supply portion is provided with the cooling unit configured to cool the gas flowing through the flow path, and
the cooling unit is provided at least at a position on a feed port side in the extending direction of the support portion with respect to the drive unit, and is configured to cool the gas by reducing a cross-sectional area of a section of a part of the flow path with respect to the extending direction of the support portion as compared with a cross-sectional area of the other section of the flow path with respect to the extending direction of the support portion.

9. The forming system according to claim 8 ,
wherein the cooling unit includes an upstream flow path, a downstream flow path, and an orifice portion provided between the upstream flow path and the downstream flow path, and
the orifice portion is a portion obtained by reducing a cross-sectional area with respect to the extending direction of the support portion as compared with a cross-sectional area of the upstream flow path and a cross-sectional area of the downstream flow path.

10. The forming system according to claim 9 ,
wherein the orifice portion and the downstream flow path are continuously and integrally formed to form an orifice forming member, and
the orifice forming member has a substantially hollow male screw shape.

11. The forming system according to claim 10 ,
wherein the cooling unit is provided on the nozzle, and
a female screw is provided in a section of a part of the flow path in the nozzle from a boundary between the support portion and the nozzle, and the orifice forming member is engaged with the female screw.

12. The forming system according to claim 10 ,
wherein the cooling unit is provided on the support portion, and
a female screw is provided on the feed port side in the support portion, and the orifice forming member is engaged with the female screw.

Assignees

• Sumitomo Heavy Industries

Inventors

• Yamauchi Kei

Classifications

• B21D26/041 Primary

  Means for controlling fluid parameters, e.g. pressure or temperature · CPC title

• B21D26/047

  Mould construction (B21D26/037 - B21D26/045 take precedence) · CPC title

• B21D37/16

  Heating or cooling · CPC title

• B21D26/045 Primary

  Closing or sealing means · CPC title

• B21D26/033

  Deforming tubular bodies (corrugating tubes by applying fluid pressure B21D15/03, B21D15/10) · CPC title