Abstract:
An automatic iron core air gap cutting apparatus includes an electronic control box and a transmission system to receive signals and control from the electronic control box for receiving finished iron cores to perform air gaps cutting operations. The completed iron cores with the air gaps formed thereon are pushed to an exit chute for packaging and proceeding the follow on processes, thereby to form an automatic iron core fabrication processing.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to an automatic iron core air gap cutting apparatus and particularly an apparatus for cutting air gaps of annular iron cores made of metal magnetic material such as a silicon steel sheet or nickel steel sheet.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Conventional annular iron cores made of metal magnetic material such as a silicon steel sheet or nickel steel sheet should have an air gap for forming magnetic field. The air gap is made by placing a finished iron core on a selected air gap-cutting device (such as a lathe) to perform required machining processes. It is a complicated processing and cannot be made in a mass production fashion. The main problems are:  
           [0003]    1. The air gap on the annular iron core formed by a specific air gap-cutting device must be done individually and manually. The processing is time-consuming and incurs a higher labor cost. The cutting device is also expensive and occupies a large floor area. As most iron core producers make only a limited quantity of iron core products these days, the cost burden becomes very heavy for the producers.  
           [0004]    2. As cutting of the air gap is done manually, it is difficult to control the quality at a consistent level. The iron cores made by different workers often result in different quality, and are prone to produce greater product defects and product returns, and a lot of reworks are required.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The primary object of the invention is to resolve aforesaid disadvantages. The invention aims to provide an automatic iron core air gap cutting processing, which can automatically cutting and forming air gaps on iron cores. The cutting of the air gap on every iron core is done through calculations and central control of a computer. The invention includes an electronic control box and a transmission system to receive signals from the electronic control box for cutting air gaps on the iron cores. The finished iron cores are directly fed to the transmission system to perform air gap cutting. The completed iron cores with the air gaps are pushed to an exit chute for packaging and follow on processes. It is a fully automatic fabrication processing for making the iron cores.  
           [0006]    The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]    [0007]FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematic views of the invention at an initial condition.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIGS. 2A, 2B and  2 C are schematic views of the invention, showing iron cores being transported to a machining platform.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIGS. 3A, 3B and  3 C are schematic views of the invention, showing iron cores are under cutting operations.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the invention, showing the machining platform and the cutting mechanism.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a finished iron core with an air gap. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0012]    Referring to FIGS. 1A, 1B and  5 , the invention is an apparatus for automatically and respectively cutting an air gap  41   a,    41   b  on iron cores  40   a ,  40   b  through an electronic control box  10  and a transmission system  20  which may receive signals from the control box  10 . The transmission system  20  has a material holding area  21  for holding the iron cores  40   a ,  40   b  that are made of a metal magnetic material such as a silicon steel sheet or nickel steel sheet. In the material holding area  21 , there is a chute  22  for carrying the iron cores  40   a ,  40   b , a holding platform  23  located at the exit of the chute  22  and a machining platform  24  located at one side of the holding platform  23 . The chute  22  includes a transporting passage  221  and a tube  222  located between the transporting passage  221  and the holding platform  23 . On the holding platform  23 , there is a first push device  25  for moving the iron cores  40   a ,  40   b  to the machining platform  24 . On the machining platform  24 , there is a cutting mechanism  30  which includes an electric driving device  31 , a rotary shaft  32  driven by the electric driving device  31  and cutters  33  mounted on the rotary shaft  32  for cutting the air gaps  41   a ,  41   b  on the iron cores  40   a ,  40   b.    
         [0013]    Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the material holding area  21  further has a plurality of sensors  11   a ,  11   b  and  11   c  for detecting moving paths of the iron cores  40   a ,  40   b  and generating signals to the electronic control box  10 . When the iron cores  40   a ,  40   b  are dropped to the holding platform  23  from the transporting passage  221  and tube  222 , the sensor  11   b  on the holding platform  23  detects the iron cores  40   a ,  40   b  and generates signals to notify the electronic control box  10 . The electronic control box  10  synchronously generates signals to activate the transmission system  20  to move the first push device  25 . The first push device  25  has a first oil hydraulic rod  251  and a first push member  252  driven by the first oil hydraulic rod  251  to move the iron cores  40   a ,  40   b  towards the machining platform  24 . When the iron cores  40   a ,  40   b  pass the sensor  11   a , the sensor  11   a  detects and generates signals and transmits the signals to the electronic control box  10  for stopping the first push device  25 , therefore the iron cores  40   a ,  40   b  may be positioned at the front end of the machining platform  24 .  
         [0014]    Referring to FIG. 2C, on the machining platform  24 , there is an anchor device  27  for depressing and holding the iron cores  40   a ,  40   b  firmly without wobbling or skewing when the air gaps  41   a ,  41   b  are being cut and forming. The anchor device  27  has an anchor oil hydraulic rod  271  and a depressing member  272  driven by the anchor oil hydraulic rod  271 . When the sensor  11   a  notifies the electronic control box  10  to stop the movement of the first push device  25 , the electronic control box  10  simultaneously sends a signal to the transmission system  20  to activate the anchor device  27  to move down and depress and hold the iron cores  40   a ,  40   b  on selected positions. Through signals issued by the electronic control box  10 , the anchor device  27  is moved down and the first push device  25  is stopped from moving forwards and returned to its original position.  
         [0015]    Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, when the first push device  25  passes the sensor  11   b , the electronic control box  10  immediately issues signals to activate the cutting mechanism  30 . There is a slide rail  34  located between the cutting mechanism  30  and the machining platform  24  to allow the cutting mechanism  30  moving to the machining platform  24  when receiving signals from the electronic control box  10 . The electric driving device  31  of the cutting mechanism  30  is a motor. The cutters  33  mounted on the rotary shaft  32  are circular cutting blades. In order to facilitate cutting operation, the machining platform  24  has slots  241  (as shown in FIG. 4) corresponding to where the air gaps  41   a ,  41   b  are formed. Thus through the electronic control box  10 , the iron cores  40   a ,  40   b  made of metal magnetic material such as a silicon steel sheet or nickel steel sheet my be cut to form air gaps  41   a ,  41   b  of a selected width and length. And after the cutting mechanism  30  finishes cutting operations, it can be returned through the slide rail  34  to its original location. The cutting time and cycle of the cutting mechanism  30  may also match the return displacement of the first push device  25 . When the first push device  25  is passing the sensor  11   c , a signal will be issued concurrently to move the cutting mechanism  30  to its original location through the slide rail  34 .  
         [0016]    Referring to FIG. 3C, at one side of the machining platform  24 , there is further a second push device  26  for moving the iron cores  40   a ,  40   b  which have completed machining and have the air gap  41   a ,  41   b  formed thereon. At another side of the machining platform  24 , there is an exit chute  28  for receiving the completed iron cores  40   a ,  40   b.  The second push device  26  has a second oil hydraulic rod  261  and a second push member  262  driven by the second oil hydraulic rod  261 . When the cutting mechanism  30  completes cutting operation and is returned to its original location, the electronic control box  10  issues a signal to the transmission system  20  to activate the second push device  26 . The second oil hydraulic rod  261  will be driven to move the second push member  262  in a parallel displacement with the machining platform  24  to move the completed iron cores  40   a ,  40   b  which have air gaps  41   a ,  41   b  formed thereon from the machining platform  24  into the exit chute  28 . Then the aforesaid operations for next cycle may be started again for cutting air gaps  41   a ,  41   b  on other iron cores  40   a ,  40   b.  By means of the construction and operations of the invention, a fully automatic air gap cutting processing may be accomplished.  
         [0017]    As previous discussed, and referring to the accompanied drawings, it is clearly that the invention can achieve the following objects:  
         [0018]    1. Cutting of the iron cores  40   a ,  40   b  is performed according to pre-set processes built in the electronic control box  10 . It is done automatically without human labor as conventional techniques do. The air gaps  41   a,    41   b  formed on the iron cores  40   a ,  40   b  can be centrally controlled and maintained at a consistent quality level, thus can improve production yield and increase economic value.  
         [0019]    2. One or two or more iron cores  40   a ,  40   b  may be cut concurrently to form air gaps  41   a ,  41   b  desired depends on the number of the chute  22  and cutters  33 . Change of these numbers is relatively simple. Hence the invention may be adapted to mass production easily to greatly shorten fabrication time of the iron cores  40   a ,  40   b.    
         [0020]    3. The width of the air gaps  41   a ,  41   b  may be changed by replacing cutters  33  of a selected width, and may be done easily. This also helps automatic cutting operations for forming the air gaps  41   a ,  41   b  of desired widths on the iron cores  40   a ,  40   b.