Patent Publication Number: US-10307781-B2

Title: Vehicle component fabrication

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Components in vehicle bodies often include of several hundred parts tooled from larger pieces of material and joined with spot welds. Spot welds in general cannot join parts of dissimilar materials. Building vehicle components from several parts may be therefore be costly and unwieldy. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a view of an example system for forming a component for a vehicle body. 
         FIG. 2A  is a view of an example injector for forming a component. 
         FIG. 2B  is an expanded view of an example housing of the injector of  FIG. 2A . 
         FIG. 3  is a view of an example injector head of the injector of  FIG. 2A . 
         FIG. 4A  is a view of the system of  FIG. 1  forming a component. 
         FIG. 4B  is a view in which the system of  FIG. 1  has formed parts of the component. 
         FIG. 5A  is a view of the system of  FIG. 1  forming a component where the component is rotated such that its X-axis is vertical. 
         FIG. 5B  is an expanded view of the component of  FIG. 5A . 
         FIG. 6  is a view of the system of  FIG. 1  forming a component where the component is rotated such that its Y-axis is vertical. 
         FIG. 7  is a view of the system of  FIG. 1  forming a component where two parts of the component form a 3-way intersection. 
         FIG. 8  is a view of the system of  FIG. 1  forming a component where two parts of the component form a 4-way intersection. 
         FIGS. 9A-9B  is another view of the system of  FIG. 1  forming a component where two parts of the component form a 4-way intersection. 
         FIG. 10  is a block diagram of the system of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 11  is a flow chart of an example process for forming a component. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Constructing vehicle components from deposited layers of material as disclosed herein offers several advantages. By constructing the components with individual layers of material, spot welds are generally unnecessary to join various components and/or parts of components. Because a component is constructed as a unitary construction according to the present disclosure, the component may be more robust than a component that comprises a plurality of parts welded or otherwise joined together. Further, a number of parts necessary to construct a vehicle body can be reduced, and an overall cost of vehicle production may be minimized. By depositing layers of differing materials, vehicle components can be constructed with material structures not typically able to be easily joined, e.g., steel and aluminum. Furthermore, the component may be manufactured with fewer or no weld flanges and allow for variable thicknesses in the component, which may result in an aesthetically appealing vehicle body. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a system  10  for forming a weldless component for a vehicle body. Note that, although the present subject matter is described with respect to components of a vehicle body, the principles disclosed herein could be applied in other contexts, e.g., to form components of some or all of other equipment, e.g., a motorcycle body, a bicycle frame, watercraft, aircraft, and/or other complex machines, regardless of whether used for transportation, but comprising multiple components that are presently welded or otherwise conventionally joined together. 
     The system  10  includes a chamber  12 , a vehicle component  14 , a rotatable mount  18  (not shown), and an injector  20 . The injector  20  is provided deposit material to form edges  16 . Such material could include, e.g., steel, copper, aluminum, polymer, composite materials, etc., the edges  16  building layers to form the vehicle component  14 . An “edge.” as that term is used herein, means an outermost layer of solidified material. i.e., the injector  20  deposits a layer of material onto a component  14  being formed, that outermost layer then solidifying into the edge  16 . 
     The chamber  12  may be, e.g., a chamber in a manufacturing facility held at a specified temperature. The chamber  12  may include a heater  38  to heat the chamber  12 . The specified temperature may be, e.g., below the melting temperature of the materials to construct the component  14  to control the temperature of the material in the injector  20 . The specified temperature may also be a temperature that allows for particular material characteristics for the layers of material when cooled. 
     The vehicle component  14  may be any part of a vehicle body that may be formed in the heated chamber  12 . e.g., a chassis, a pillar, a rocker panel, a floor pan, etc. The vehicle component  14  may be partially formed before being provided to the system  10 , whereupon the injector  20  supplements and/or completes formation of the component  14 . Alternatively, or the injector  20  may form the entire component  14 . A plurality of components  14  may be formed simultaneously or substantially simultaneously. e.g., such that some or all of a vehicle body is formed at a same time. 
     Because the component  14  is formed, typically solely, of layers of material, the vehicle component  14  may be weldless. Thus, a vehicle body built from weldless components  14  as disclosed herein may have significantly fewer or no welds than a conventional vehicle body. Advantageously, a weldless component  14  may have a higher stiffness, corrosion resistance, and durability, and/or material composition that differ from conventional stamped and welded components  14 . Further, the weldless component  14  may be formed at a lower cost and/or in a faster time than conventional components  14  compared to, e.g., conventional components  14  formed by stamping several parts, shipping the parts, storing the parts, and then assembling the parts with spot welds. 
     The rotatable mount  18  secures the vehicle component  14  during its formation. The rotatable mount  18  may be arranged in a known manner to rotate the component in any of X, Y, and Z axes, i.e., in three dimensions, to allow the injector  20  to form the edge  16  along any surface of the vehicle component  14 . The rotatable mount  18  may position the component  14  to, e.g., allow the injector  20  to deposit a layer of material with the aid of gravity. The vehicle component  14  may be partially formed before being introduced to the system  10 , and the partially formed vehicle component  14  may be secured to the rotatable mount  18 . For example, the component  14  may start as, e.g., a stamped bed formed from a sheet of metal prior to introduction into the system  10 . The component  14  may then be fixed to the rotatable mount  18  and the injector  20  may deposit layers onto the stamped bed, forming edges  16  that produce parts of the fully formed component  14 , where a “part” is an individual subsection of a component, such that all of the “parts” comprise the fully formed component. Alternatively, the component  14  may be formed entirely on the rotatable mount  18 , i.e., the component  14  is formed solely of deposited layers of material without a partially formed component  14 . In such a construction, the injector  20  may deposit layers of material onto a flat part of selected material attached to the rotatable mount  18  at first, until the injector  20  forms enough parts, i.e., subsections, of the component  14  to start depositing layers of material directly onto the component  14 . 
       FIGS. 2A-2B  illustrate the injector  20 . The injector  20  includes a robotic arm  22 , a rotatable injector housing  24 , at least one injector head  26 , and at least one material feed  28 . The injector  20  deposits a layer of material that hardens into an edge  16 . The system  10  may include a plurality of injectors  20 . e.g., arranged in the chamber  12  to deposit layers of material onto the component  14 . 
     The robotic arm  22  may be an apparatus that is movable in three dimensions around the component  14 , e.g., having a plurality of rigid segments joined by flexible joints, e.g., universal joints. The robotic arm  22  may include a rotatable injector housing  24 , e.g., a cylindrical housing including slots to house a plurality of injector heads  26  rotatably connected to the robotic arm  22 . The robotic arm  22  positions the injector head  26  to deposit the layers of material to build the vehicle component  14 . The injector heads  26  may be fixed to the rotatable injector housing  24  or may be attachable to the housing  24 . 
     The rotatable injector housing  24  includes a plurality of injector heads  26 , each injector head  26  receiving at least one material feed  28 . The rotatable injector housing  24  may rotate when a particular material, and hence a particular injector head  26  and material feed  28 , is required for a layer. Thus, the vehicle component  14  may be formed with a plurality of distinct material layers of a same material and/or different materials deposited sequentially from a same robotic arm  22 . In a simple example, the rotatable injector housing  24  could rotate to allow first and second injector heads  26  having respective first and second material feeds  28  to deposit respective layers of material onto the component  14 . As shown in  FIG. 2B , the material feeds  28  may feed into the top of the injector heads  26  mounted to the rotatable injector housing  24 . The injector  20  may include a plurality of rotatable injector housings  24 . The injector  20  may include a plurality of rotatable injector housings  24  carrying injector heads  26 . While the rotatable injector housing  24  is shown in a substantially circular shape in  FIG. 2 , the rotatable injector housing  24  may be any suitable shape, as is known, e.g., ovular, rectangular, etc. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates an example injector head  26 . The injector head  26  includes the material feed  28 , a heating element  30 , a feeding mechanism  31 , and an edge guide  32 . The injector head  26  may be configured to attach to the rotatable injector housing  24 . The injector head  26  feeds layers of material to the component  14  by, e.g., laying or spraying molten material that hardens into the edge  16 . 
     The material feed  28  provides material to deposit a layer to harden into the edge  16  that builds the vehicle component  14 . The material feed  28  may be, e.g., a metal including copper, steel, aluminum. etc. wires, a polymer including plastic wires, a composite material. Further a same material in different material feeds  28 , e.g., steel wire of first and second thicknesses, e.g., gauges, could be used in first and second material feeds  28 . By rotating between two or more injector heads  26  with two or more respective material feeds  28 , a component  14  may be formed from different materials that normally could or would not be joined, e.g., steel and aluminum, which may not be welded together. A speed of the injector head  26  may be adjusted based on a particular material feed  28 , injector  20  travel path, geometry of the edge  16 , etc. to deposit respective layers of material at a consistent thickness. The material feeds  28  may be, e.g., spools of metal wires arranged to avoid entanglement of the metal wires when fed into the injector head  26 , or a powder, e.g., a metallic powder, delivered through a flexible tube or pipe. Other injector heads  26  may apply chemical additives, e.g., known additives such as flux, binders, etc., along the deposited layer near ahead or near behind the injector head  26  depositing the material  28 . The chemical additives may aid the hardening of the material  28  into the edge  16 . For example, the injector  20  may include one injector head  26  depositing molten metal and another injector head  26  depositing flux. In another example the chemical additive may be applied with a second injector  20 . Still other injector heads  26  may not deposit material at all, but simply heat or cool the material  28  as it forms the edge  16  to, e.g., prevent molten material  28  from dripping. The material feeds  28  may include. e.g., steel alloys, aluminum alloys, copper alloys, plastics, etc. 
     The heating element  30  heats the material feed  28  to a specified temperature. The specified temperature may be the melting point of the material in the material feed  28 , or a temperature that renders the material feed pliable enough to form the edge  16 . e.g., the material is plastically deformable. The heating element  30  may be an electrical heating coil, a laser heater, or other suitable heating mechanism. The temperature of the heated chamber  12  may be varied to facilitate the melting and depositing of the material feed  28 . 
     The injector head  26  may include the feeding mechanism  31  to hold and feed the material feed  28  at a selected speed. For example, the feeding mechanism  31  may grip that material feed  28 , e.g., a metal wire, and pull the material  28  into the heating element  30 . 
     The edge guide  32  directs the heated material feed  28  to deposit the layer of material to harden into the edge  16 . The edge guide  32  may be shaped for a specific material feed  28 . For example, based on the material  28  thickness, gauge, heat capacity, density, and/or viscosity, the edge guide  32  may be shaped to produce a desired shape of an edge  16 . The edge guide  32  may be arranged to form a desired shape of a layer of material onto the component  14  to form desired shapes of edges  16 . The edge guide  32  may be arranged to deposit a consistent layer of material, e.g., a layer of material that is substantially the same thickness throughout. The edge guide  32  may be rigidly fixed to the injector head  26  or detachable from the injector head  26 . By depositing layers of material to form the component  14 , the component  14  may be formed without the use of welds or other fasteners. The edge guides  32  may be coated with a nonstick coating, as is known, selected to repel and/or be nonreactive with the molten material  28  so that the molten material  28  does not harden on the edge guides  32 . 
       FIG. 4A-4B  illustrate an exemplary vehicle component  14  formed with one or more injectors  20 . As shown in  FIG. 4A , the component  14  sits on the mount  18 , and an injector  20  travels along the component  14  depositing layers of material to form the edges  16 . As shown in  FIG. 4B , the edges  16  form respective portions of the component  14 . The injector  20  deposits layers of material onto the component  14 , building edges  16  that result in parts of the finished component  14 . For example, as shown in  FIG. 4A , where the component  14  starts substantially flat, parts of the component  14  are constructed by the injector  20  having varying heights along the component  14 , as shown in  FIG. 4B . In this example, the component  14  is positioned so that a Z-axis of the component  14  is vertical, i.e., oriented with the bottom or top of the component  14  facing in the direction of gravity. Thus, the injector  20  may move in the X and Y axes to deposit layers of material to form parts of any particular shape in the X and Y directions. 
       FIGS. 5A-5B  illustrate another example vehicle component  14  formed with the injector  20 . Formation of some parts of the component  14  may require a plurality of distinct orientations of the mount  18 . In this example, the component  14  is positioned so that an X-axis of the component  14  is vertical, i.e., oriented such that a front or rear of the component  14  is facing in the direction of gravity. In this example, the component  14  may be, e.g., a chassis and/or other component of a rear of a vehicle. Because the injector  20  may deposit layers of material in a vertical direction, i.e., down from the injector head  26  onto the component  14 , components  14  that require parts formed in other orientations may require the component  14  to be rotated to allow formation of the part of the component  14 . In this example, because the component  14  may extend in the X-axis, the component  14  must be rotated so that the injector  20  may deposit layers of material to form edges  16  along the X-axis. As shown in  FIG. 5B , the injector  20  forms edges  16  that form parts of the component  14  that extend in the X-axis. The component  14  may thus have more complex parts formed without requiring welding of an additional part. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates another example vehicle component  14  formed with the injector  20 . In this example, the component  14  is formed so that a Y-axis of the component  14  is vertical, i.e., oriented such that a left side or a right side of the component  14  is facing in the direction of gravity. The injector  20  may deposit layers of material along the component  14  to form parts in the direction of the Y-axis. The component  14  may be rotated along any of the X, Y, and Z axes so that the part to be formed may face vertically to receive the material from the injector  20 . 
       FIG. 7  illustrates an intersection of at least two parts of the component  14 . An “intersection” refers to when three or more edges  16  of at least two parts of the component  14  contact. The injector head  26  is programmed to deposit layers of material  28  over the edges  16  to form a single edge  16  at the intersection, the single edge  16  being homogeneous. Here, the two parts form a 3-way intersection, i.e., the parts meet such that the edges  16  of the parts extend in three directions from an intersection point. At the intersection, guide plates  42  may be positioned to secure the edges  16  into place while the injector head  26  deposits material  28  to fuse the parts. That is, the two parts become a single part as layers of material are deposited into a single edge  16  that connects what were previously two edges  16 . The guide plates  42  may be coated with a nonstick coating, as is known, selected to repel and/or be nonreactive with the molten material  28  so that the molten material  28  does not harden on the guide plates  42 . The guide plates  42  may be secured to the component  14  by, e.g., a robotic arm holding the guide plates  42  stationary while the injector head  26  deposits the layers of material  28 . The edge guide  32  may be removed from the injector head  26  when the guide plates  42  are used in the intersection. In this example, a single injector head  26  travels along the edges  16  of the two parts, depositing layers of material  28 . 
       FIG. 8  illustrates another example intersection of at least two parts of the component  14 . Here, the parts form a 4-way intersection, i.e., the parts contact such that the edges  16  of the parts extend in four directions from an intersection point. The guide plates  42  may be positioned to secure the edges  16  into place while the injector head  26  deposits layers of material  28  to fuse the parts. In this example, a single injector head  26  deposits the layers of material  28  to form the edge  16  and fuse the parts. As above, the edge guide  32  may be removed from the injector head  26  when the plates guide  42  are used in the intersection. 
       FIGS. 9A and 9B  illustrate another example intersection of at least two parts of the component  14 . The parts form a 4-way intersection around an intersection point. The plates  42  may be positioned to secure the edges  16  into place. In this example, two injector heads  26  deposit layers of material  28  in opposing directions toward the intersection point, as shown in  FIG. 9A . Then, as shown in  FIG. 2B , the two injector heads  26  deposit layers of material  28  along the other two opposing directions toward the intersection point. Using two injector heads  26  fuses the parts more quickly and may allow the resulting single edge  16  to harden more evenly, improving the strength of the edge. As above, the edge guides  32  may be removed from the respective injector heads  26  when the guide plates  42  are used in the intersection. Furthermore, the guide plates  42  as shown in  FIGS. 7-9B  may be attached to the injector  20 . 
       FIG. 10  illustrates a block diagram of an example system  10 . The system  10  includes the rotatable mount  18 , the injector  20 , a controller  33  that includes a processor  34  and a memory  36 , the heater  38 , and a communication bus  40 , such as a controller area network (CAN) bus. The bus  40  communicatively couples the rotatable mount  18 , the injector  20 , the controller  33 , and the heater  38 , and allows the controller  33  to transmit instructions to actuate the rotatable mount  18 , the injector  20 , and the heater  38 . The memory  36  stores instructions executable by the processor  34 . The rotatable mount  18  includes a motor, e.g., an electric motor such as is known, that may be actuated in a known manner by the controller  33  to rotate and move the mount  18  in X, Y, and/or Z directions. The injector  20  includes at least one motor that may be actuated by the controller  33  in a known manner to move the injector  20  in X, Y, and/or Z directions. The controller  33  may actuate the heater  38 . e.g., a plurality of heating coils and elements, in a known manner to heat the chamber  12  to the specified temperature. The chamber  12  may include a cooling system to cool the chamber to the desired temperature. 
       FIG. 11  illustrates an example process  200  for forming the component  14 . The process  200  begins in a block  205 , in which the controller  33  sends an instruction to the heater  38  to heat the chamber  12  to the specified temperature. The specified temperature may be defined as described above, and may generally be a temperature that is suitable for depositing the layer of material. 
     Next, in a block  210 , the controller  33  sends an instruction to the rotatable mount  18  to rotate the component  14  so that the part to be formed is facing vertically. The rotatable mount  18  may rotates in any of the X. Y, and Z axes depending on the location of the part to be formed. 
     Next, in a block  215 , the controller  33  sends an instruction to the injector  20  to move the robotic arm  22  and the rotatable injector housing  24  to position the injector head  26  toward the component  14 . The robotic arm  22  may configured to move in three dimensions to position the injector head  26  in the location required to continue forming the component  14 . 
     Next, in a block  220 , the controller  33  sends an instruction to the rotatable injector housing  24  to rotate until the desired injector head  26  and material feed  28  is positioned over the component  14 . The material feed  28  required for the current layer may be different than the material feed  28  used in the previous layer, e.g., a different thickness of the same material (e.g., steel) or a different material entirely (e.g., from steel to aluminum). The rotatable injector housing  24  may rotate until the needed material feed  28  is present. The rotatable injector housing  24 , injector head  26 , and material feed  28  may be moved so that the wires included in the material feeds  28  do not tangle. 
     Next, in a block  225 , the controller  33  sends an instruction to the heating element  30  to heat the material feed  28 . The heating element  30  heats the material feed  28  to a specified temperature dependent on the specific material in the material feed  28 . 
     Next, in a block  230 , the controller  33  sends an instruction to the robotic arm  22  to move the injector head  26  to deposit a layer of material form the material feed  28  to form the edge  16  on the component  14 . The robotic arm  22  may move the injector head  26  at a speed necessary to ensure a consistent layer of material forming the edge  16 ; the speed may differ depending on the material feed  28 . For example, if the heated material feed  28  has a higher viscosity, the robotic arm  22  may move the injector head more slowly, while a material feed  28  with a lower viscosity may allow for the robotic arm to move the injector head more quickly. 
     Next, in a block  235 , the controller  33  determines whether the part of the component  14  is complete. The controller  33  includes hardware and software for computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM). The controller  33  may include a 3-dimensional digitized image of the component  14  stored in the memory  36 . The digitized image of the component  14  may be constructed using known techniques, e.g., CAD, 3D modeling, a 3-dimensional scanner, etc. The digitized image may include the material layers that the injector  20  must deposit to form the component  14 . The controller  33  instructs the injector  20  to deposit the layers according to the image until the specific part of the component  14  is fully built. The CAD/CAM software may indicate when the part is completed. The software may include 3-dimensional images or blueprints of the component  14  including a list of each individual layer to be deposited, the location of the depositing of each layer, and the order in which to deposit the layers. If the part is not complete, the process  200  returns to the block  215  to lay another layer of material. Otherwise, the process  200  continues in a block  240 . 
     In the block  240 , the controller  33  determines whether the component  14  is complete. The controller  33  may refer to the plan to determine whether all of the parts of the component have been formed, indicating completion of the component  14 . If the component  14  is not complete, the process  200  returns to the block  210  to form the next part. Otherwise, the process  200  ends. 
     As used herein, the adverb “substantially” modifying an adjective means that a shape, structure, measurement, value, calculation, etc. may deviate from an exact described geometry, distance, measurement, value, calculation, etc., because of imperfections in materials, machining, manufacturing, sensor measurements, computations, processing time, communications time, etc. 
     Computing devices generally each include instructions executable by one or more computing devices such as those identified above, and for carrying out blocks or steps of processes described above. Computer-executable instructions may be compiled or interpreted from computer programs created using a variety of programming languages and/or technologies, including, without limitation, and either alone or in combination, Java™, C, C++, Visual Basic, Java Script, Perl, HTML, etc. In general, a processor (e.g., a microprocessor) receives instructions, e.g., from a memory, a computer-readable medium, etc., and executes these instructions, thereby performing one or more processes, including one or more of the processes described herein. Such instructions and other data may be stored and transmitted using a variety of computer-readable media. A file in the computing device is generally a collection of data stored on a computer readable medium, such as a storage medium, a random access memory, etc. 
     A computer-readable medium includes any medium that participates in providing data (e.g., instructions), which may be read by a computer. Such a medium may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, etc. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks and other persistent memory. Volatile media include dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which typically constitutes a main memory. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read. 
     With regard to the media, processes, systems, methods, etc. described herein, it should be understood that, although the steps of such processes, etc. have been described as occurring according to a certain ordered sequence, such processes could be practiced with the described steps performed in an order other than the order described herein. It further should be understood that certain steps could be performed simultaneously, that other steps could be added, or that certain steps described herein could be omitted. For example, in the process  200 , one or more of the steps could be omitted, or the steps could be executed in a different order than shown in  FIG. 11 . In other words, the descriptions of systems and/or processes herein are provided for the purpose of illustrating certain embodiments, and should in no way be construed so as to limit the disclosed subject matter. 
     Accordingly, it is to be understood that the present disclosure, including the above description and the accompanying figures and below claims, is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Many embodiments and applications other than the examples provided would be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reading the above description. The scope of the invention should be determined, not with reference to the above description, but should instead be determined with reference to claims appended hereto and/or included in a non-provisional patent application based hereon, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is anticipated and intended that future developments will occur in the arts discussed herein, and that the disclosed systems and methods will be incorporated into such future embodiments. In sum, it should be understood that the disclosed subject matter is capable of modification and variation.