Abstract:
A T-bracket and spring plate riveting machine for use with a T-bracket making machine is disclosed to have a conveyer for carrying T-brackets from the T-bracket making machine to a front side for processing, two pitch-adjustable riveting units for stamping metal sheet materials into spring plates and riveting two spring plates to the ends of each T-bracket, and sensor-controlled corrector frames for correcting the position of the T-bracket before riveting if necessary.

Description:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to a riveting machine and more particularly, to a T-bracket and spring plate riveting machine for use with a T-bracket making machine to stamp metal sheet materials into spring plates and to automatically rivet two spring plates to the two distal ends of each T-bracket received from the T-bracket making machine. 
   A T-bracket  8  as shown in  FIG. 1 , comprises a bracket body  82  and two spring plates  81  at the ends of the bracket body  82 . According to this design, the spring plates  81  are formed integral with the bracket body  82 . Because the spring plates  81  and the bracket body  82  are formed of same material, the tensile strength of the T-bracket  8  is insufficient.  FIG. 2  shows another design of T-bracket  2 , which has two spring plates  601  riveted to the two ends. This design of T-bracket  2  has a high tensile strength. However, because the spring plates  601  are riveted to the T-bracket  2  by labor, the fabrication of this design of T-bracket requires much time and labor, resulting in a high manufacturing cost. 
   The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is therefore the main object of the present invention to provide a T-bracket and spring plate riveting machine, which directly carries a T-bracket from a T-bracket making machine forwards and automatically riveting the T-bracket with two spring plates. It is another object of the present invention to provide a T-bracket and spring plate riveting machine, which uses two riveting units for riveting spring plates to a T-bracket, and the pitch between the two riveting units is adjustable subject to the size of the T-bracket used. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a T-bracket and spring plate riveting machine, which uses sensors to detect the position of the T-bracket to be processed, and two corrector frames to correct the position of the T-bracket if the T-bracket is held in a wrong direction. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an integrated form of T-bracket. 
       FIG. 2  is an exploded view of another design of T-bracket. 
       FIG. 3  is an elevational assembly view of  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing a T-bracket and spring plate riveting machine linked to a T-bracket making machine according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  is an enlarged view of a part of the present invention. 
       FIG. 6  is an enlarged view of another part of the present invention. 
       FIG. 7  is an enlarged view of still another part of the present invention. 
       FIG. 8  is an enlarged view of still another part of the present invention. 
       FIG. 9  is an enlarged view of still another part of the present invention. 
       FIG. 10  is an enlarged view of still another part of the present invention. 
       FIG. 11  is an enlarged view of still another part of the present invention. 
       FIG. 12  is an enlarged view of still another part of the present invention. 
       FIG. 13  is an enlarged view of still another part of the present invention. 
       FIG. 14  is an enlarged view of still another part of the present invention. 
       FIG. 15  is an enlarged view of still another part of the present invention. 
       FIG. 16  is an enlarged view of still another part of the present invention, showing an action of the T-bracket and spring plate riveting machine. 
       FIG. 17  corresponds to  FIG. 16 , showing another action of the T-bracket and spring plate riveting machine. 
       FIG. 18  corresponds to  FIG. 17 , showing still another action of the T-bracket and spring plate riveting machine. 
       FIG. 19  corresponds to  FIG. 18 , showing still another action of the T-bracket and spring plate riveting machine. 
       FIG. 20  corresponds to  FIG. 19 , showing still another action of the T-bracket and spring plate riveting machine. 
       FIG. 21  corresponds to  FIG. 20 , showing still another action of the T-bracket and spring plate riveting machine. 
       FIG. 22  corresponds to  FIG. 21 , showing still another action of the T-bracket and spring plate riveting machine. 
       FIG. 23  is a schematic drawing of the present invention, showing the T-bracket received at the receiver frames in a wrong direction. 
       FIG. 24  corresponds to  FIG. 23 , showing the incorrectly positioned T-bracket lifted. 
       FIG. 25  corresponds to  FIG. 24 , showing the incorrectly positioned T-bracket reversed. 
       FIG. 26  corresponds to  FIG. 25 , showing the direction of the T-bracket corrected, the work frame units lowered. 
       FIG. 27  is an elevational view of a collector frame for the T-bracket and spring plate riveting machine according to the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring to  FIGS. 4˜14 , a T-bracket and spring plate riveting machine  3  is used with a T-bracket making machine  1  and controlled to riveting two spring plates to the two distal ends of a T-bracket. The T-bracket making machine  1  comprises a blank bracket body making unit  11  and a bracket processing unit  12 . The blank bracket body making unit  11  is controlled to process a metal plate material (not shown) into a blank bracket body  20  (see  FIG. 5 ). The bracket processing unit  12  comprises a base  121 , a work table  122 , and a conveyer  123 . The conveyer  123  is provided at the top side of the base  121  and adapted to carry the blank bracket body  20  from the blank bracket body making unit  11  forwards for processing. The work table  122  is movably provided at the top side of the base  121  over the conveyer  123 , having a stamping mechanism (not shown) adapted to process the blank bracket body  20  into a T-bracket  2  (see also  FIG. 2 ), allowing the T-bracket  2  to be further carried by the conveyer  123  to the T-bracket and spring plate riveting machine  3 . 
   The T-bracket and spring plate riveting machine  3  comprises: 
   a conveyer  31 , which comprises a plurality of transversely extending rollers  311  adapted to carry the finished T-bracket  2  from the conveyer  123  of the bracket processing unit  12  forward for processing, a stop block  312  at one end remote from the bracket processing unit  12 , a sloping wall  313  at one lateral side near the stop block  312 , and a collector frame  314  at the bottom side of the sloping wall  313  (see  FIGS. 7 and 8 ); 
   two first air cylinders  320  provided at one lateral side of the conveyer  123  opposite to the sloping wall  313  (see  FIG. 7 ); 
   two material push bars  32  respectively fastened to the reciprocating rods  3201  of the first air cylinders  320  and movable with the reciprocating rods  3201  to push the conveyed T-bracket  2  away from the conveyer  123  to the collector frame  314  at the bottom side of the sloping wall  313  (see  FIG. 17 ); 
   sensors  317  provided at the conveyer  31  and adapted to detect the presence of the conveyed T-bracket  2  at the conveyer  123  and to control the operation of the air cylinders  320  subject to the detection result (see  FIG. 7 ); 
   two second air cylinders  300  respectively fixedly provided at a first bottom frame  315  of the conveyer  31 ; 
   two material stopper frames  30  respectively fixedly fastened to the reciprocating rods (not shown) of the second air cylinders  300  and movable with the reciprocating rods of the second air cylinders  300  for stopping the received T-bracket  2  at the collector frame  314  (see  FIGS. 8 ,  10 ,  12 ,  16 ); 
   a plurality of third air cylinders  331 , each having a vertically extending reciprocating rod  3311 ; 
   a plurality of carriers  33  respectively fixedly fastened to the reciprocating rods  3311  of the third air cylinders  331  below respective openings  3131 ,  3141  at the collector frame  314  (see  FIG. 11 ); 
   rails  3312  provided at one side relative to the third air cylinders  331 ; 
   sliding blocks  3161  respectively provided at a second bottom frame  316  of the conveyer  31  and coupled to the rails  3312 ; 
   a plurality of fourth air cylinders  332  fastened to one side  3162  of the second bottom frame  316  of the conveyer  31  and having the respective reciprocating rods (not shown) respectively connected to the third air cylinders  331  for moving the third air cylinders  331  horizontally inwards/outwards (see  FIG. 11 ); 
   two riveting units  4  each of which comprising a pair of longitudinal rails  41 , a pair of transverse rails  42 , and a stamping mold  40  for stamping a metal sheet material  60  into spring plates  601  (see  FIG. 2 ) and riveting spring plates  601  to T-brackets  2  (see  FIG. 3 ); 
   two receiver frames  34  respectively fixedly fastened to a respective locating plate  49  in each of the riveting units  4  for receiving the T-bracket  2  carried by the carriers  33 , each having a positioning slot  341  for holding a top wall  22  of the T-bracket  2  in proximity to two sensor holders  35  (see  FIGS. 8 and 12 ); 
   two sensor holders  35  each having a sensor  351  for detecting the position of the T-bracket  2  at the receiver frames  34  and for driving two corrector frames  36  to correct the position of the T-bracket  2 ; 
   two corrector frames  36  adapted to correct the position of the T-bracket  2  at the receiver frames  34 , each having a slot  362  for receiving the T-bracket  2 ; 
   two fifth air cylinders  361  respectively fixedly mounted on the riveting units  4 , each having a reciprocating rod  3611  respectively connected to the corrector frames  36  (see  FIG. 24 ) for moving the corrector frames  36  to correct the position of the T-bracket  2  at the receiver frames  34 ; 
   two rotary drives  37  fixedly fastened to a respective holder frame  373 , which has a coupling  374  slidably coupled to the longitudinal rails  41  at the riveting units  4  and is movable by a reciprocating device  38  along the longitudinal rails  41  (see  FIG. 10 ) each comprising a rotary head  371  rotatable through 180° within two reversed directions, and a chuck  372  provided at the rotary head  371  for clamping the workpiece; 
   two work frame units  5  each of which comprising a base frame  51 , a slide  511  fixedly provided at the back side of the base frame  51  and coupled to the transverse rails  42  of the riveting units  4 , a connecting block  514  fixedly provided at the bottom side  513  of the base frame  51 , a horizontal driving cylinder  52 , which has a reciprocating rod  521  connected to the connecting block  514  for moving the base frame  51  along the transverse rails  42  (see  FIG. 9 ), a pair of vertical rails  512  fixedly provided at the front side of the base frame  51 , a second frame  53 , a slide  530  fixedly provided at the back side of the second frame  53  and coupled to the vertical rails  512 , a vertical driving cylinder  54 , which has a locating block  545  connected to the connecting block  514  of the base frame  51  and a reciprocating rod  541  connected to the bottom side of the second frame  53  for moving the second frame  53  along the vertical rails  512 , and three bearing frames, namely, the first bearing frame  531 , the second bearing frame  532  and the third bearing frame  533  respectively fastened to the front side of the second frame  53  at the top and arranged in parallel, which bearing frames  531 ˜ 533  each having a locating opening  5311 ,  5321 ,  5331  for the positioning of the top wall of the T-bracket  2 ; 
   two supplementary frames  43  respectively fastened to the riveting units  4  at two sides for receiving the T-bracket  2  from the second bearing frame  532  of each of the work frame units  5 , each supplementary frame  43  having a locating opening  431  for the positioning of the top wall  22  of the received bracket  2 ; and 
   two material feeders  6  (see  FIG. 4 ) adapted to feed a respective roll of metal sheet material  60  to the stamping mold  40  of the riveting unit  4  for stamping into spring plates  601  for riveting to the received T-bracket  2  to form the desired finished product  2 ′ (see  FIG. 3 ). 
   Referring to  FIGS. 13 and 14 , each riveting unit  4  further comprises a clamp  44  for holding down the respective metal sheet material  60  for stamping by the respective stamping mold  40  positively, and a material guide  45  for guiding the respective metal sheet material  60  toward the respective stamping mold  40  for processing. 
   The conveyer  31  has a curved front guide board  39  (see  FIG. 6 ) for guiding the T-bracket  2  forwards for further processing. 
   Referring to  FIG. 15 , one of the two riveting units  4  has the bottom side directly connected to the bottom frame  46 ; the other of the two riveting units  4  has a slide  47  fixedly provided at the bottom side and coupled to a pair of rails  461  at the bottom frame  46  and a guide block  48  fixedly provided at the bottom side. A screw rod  481  is threaded through the guide block  48 , having one end threaded into a locating block  463  and the other end coupled to a speed-reduction motor  480 . When started the speed-reduction motor  480 , the screw rod  481  is rotated to move the guide block  48  of the respective riveting unit  4  along the rails  461 , thereby adjusting the distance between the two riveting units  4  subject to the size of the T-bracket  2  to be processed. 
   Referring to  FIG. 27 , a collector frame  7  is provided at a suitable location spaced from one side of the riveting units  4  at a distance. The collector frame  7  has a top receiving face  71 , a sloping guide face  72  extending from one side of the top receiving face  71 , a plurality of openings  70  transversely cut through the top receiving face  71  and extending to the sloping guide face  72  at a distance for receiving the third bearing frames  533  of the second frames  53  of the work frame units  5  for enabling the T-bracket  2  to be received by the top receiving face  71  upon down stroke of the third bearing frames  533  relative to the collector frame  7 , and a collector base  73  at the bottom side of the sloping guide face  72 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 16 , when the conveyer  31  carried a T-bracket  2  to the stop block  312 , the sensors  351  detect the presence of the T-bracket  2  and control the first air cylinders  320  to extend out the reciprocating rods  3201  and to further push the conveyed T-bracket  2  away from the conveyer  123  to the collector frame  314  at the bottom side of the sloping wall  313  (see  FIG. 17 ), enabling the T-bracket  2  to be stopped at the material stopper frames  30 . Thereafter, the second air cylinders  300  are controlled to move the material stopper frames  30  downward (see  FIG. 18 ) from the T-bracket  2 , and then the third air cylinders  331  are controlled to extend out the respective vertically extending reciprocating rods  3311  and to lift the T-bracket  2  to the top side of the receiver frames  34 , and then the third air cylinders  331  are controlled to retract the reciprocating rods  3311  for enabling the T-bracket  2  to be received by the receiver frames  34  (see  FIG. 19 ) with the top wall  22  engaged into the positioning slot  341  of the receiver frames  34 . At this time, the sensors  351  of the sensor holders  35  detect the position of the T-bracket  2  at the receiver frames  34 . When the position of the T-bracket  2  is checked to be correct, the vertical driving cylinder  54  of each work frame unit  5  is controlled to move the second frame  53  upwards and to drive the first bearing frame  531  to lift the respective receiver frame  34  and the T-bracket  2 . At the same time, the third bearing frames  533  lift the finished product  2 ′ that has the spring plates  601  riveted thereto. Thereafter, the horizontal driving cylinders  52  of the work frame units  5  are controlled to move the respective base frames  51  and the respective second frames  53  outwards (see  FIG. 21 ). Thereafter, the vertical driving cylinders  54  of the work frame units  5  are controlled to lower the respective reciprocating rods  541  (see  FIG. 22 ), enabling the T-bracket  2  to be moved from the first bearing frames  531  to the supplementary frames  43  for riveting. The finished product  2 ′ is then received by the top receiving face  71  of the collector frame  7 , and guided by the sloping guide face  72  to the collector base  73 . At final, the horizontal driving cylinders  52  of the work frame units  5  are controlled to move the respective base frames  51  and the respective second frames  53  back to their former positions for another processing cycle. If the T-bracket  2  is received at the receiver frame  34  in a wrong direction (see  FIG. 23 ), the signal of the sensors  351  of the sensor holder  35  will be blocked by the top wall  22  of the T-bracket  2 , and at this time the fifth air cylinders  361  can be controlled to move the corrector frames  36  to lift the T-bracket  2  at the receiver frames  34  (see  FIG. 24 ). Thereafter, the reciprocating devices  38  are controlled to move the rotary drives  37  and to drive the chucks  372  to catch the T-bracket  2 , and then the rotary drives  37  are rotated through 180° to correct the T-bracket  2  to the correct position (see  FIG. 25 ). After correction of the position of the T-bracket  2 , the horizontal driving cylinders  52  are controlled to move the work frame units  5  inwards, and then the vertical driving cylinders  54  are controlled to lift the work frame units  5  to the position where the first bearing frames  531  of the second frames  53  are moved to the bottom side of the correctly positioned T-bracket  2 . Thereafter, the chicks  372  of the rotary drives  37  are released from the T-bracket  2 , and the reciprocating devices  38  are controlled to return the rotary drives  37 , and the vertical driving cylinders  54  are controlled to lift the work frame units  5 , allowing the first bearing frames  531  to receive the T-bracket  2  (see  FIG. 26 ). At the same time, the second bearing frames  532  are moved to lift the T-bracket  2 , and the third bearing frames  533  are moved to lift the finished product  2 ′. Thereafter, the horizontal driving cylinders  52  are controlled to move the second frames  53  outwards, and the vertical driving cylinders  54  are lowered, enabling the T-bracket  2  to be moved from the first bearing frames  531  to the supplementary frames  43  for riveting by the stamping mold  40 . The finished product  2 ′ will then be received by the top receiving face  71  and then guide by the sloping guide face  72  to the collector base  73 . At final, the horizontal driving cylinders  52  are controlled to return the base frames  51  and second frames  53  of the work frame units  5 . 
   As indicated above, the invention has the following advantages: 
   1. The T-bracket  2  made by the T-bracket making machine  1  is directly delivered forwards to the T-bracket and spring plate riveting machine  3  and automatically riveted with spring plates  601  by the T-bracket and spring plate riveting machine  3 . 
   2. If the T-bracket  2  is not received at the receiver frames  34  in the correct position, the sensor holders  35  will control the corrector frames  36  to lift the T-bracket  2  from the receiver frames  34  and the rotary drives  37  to catch the T-bracket  2  and to reverse the T-bracket  2  to the correct position, enabling the correctly positioned T-bracket  2  to be further received by the first bearing frames  531  of the second frames  53  of the work frame units  5  for further riveting processing correctly without shutting down the machine. 
   3. The pitch between the two riveting units  4  is adjustable to fit different sizes of T-brackets  2  and spring plates  601 .