Low amperage electromagnetic apparatus and method for uniform rivet upset
AssigneeGemcor Engineering Corp.
InventorsDavid Michalewski, Joseph A. Dionne
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A riveting apparatus and method wherein riveting upset force is provided by a solenoid operated plunger wherein the current provided to the coil of the solenoid is controlled such as by a servo-controller to achieve rivet upset time versatility whereby cracking may be minimized while maintaining high quality rivet upset uniformity. A condition such as plunger velocity or applied force during upset is sensed, and signals indicative of the condition are fed back to the servo-controller so that the condition may be instantaneously adjusted as the plunger is moved for rivet upset.
Claims20
Electromagnetic riveting apparatus comprising:
- electromotive means in the form of a solenoid having a plunger including means for effecting a stroke of said plunger;
- tooling means for converting force developed during the stroke of the solenoid plunger into rivet upsetting force;
- means for spacing said plunger at a predetermined distance from said tooling means for initiation of the stroke whereby to drive the plunger into impact with the tooling means during the stroke;
- and current control means operatively connected to the solenoid for providing current in such magnitude and time duration to develop sufficient force from the solenoid during the stroke to effect riveting a metal workpiece in a manner providing a fluid-tight joint between the rivet and workpiece.
Riveting apparatus comprising solenoid means, means for impacting a fastener, servo-controller means operatively connected to said solenoid means for controlling supply of current to said solenoid means for driving said impacting means to impact a fastener, and means for sensing a condition of said impacting means as it is driven for impacting a fastener and for feeding back to said controller means signals indicative of said condition, said controller means being responsive to the signals from said sensing means for controlling said condition during movement of said impacting means for impacting a fastener.
Riveting apparatus comprising solenoid means, means for impacting a fastener, servo-controller means operatively connected to said solenoid means for controlling supply of current to said solenoid means for driving said impacting means to impact a fastener, and velocity transducer means for sensing the velocity of said impacting means and for feeding back to said controller means signals indicative of the impacting means velocity, said controller means being responsive to the signals from said velocity transducer means for controlling the velocity of said impacting means during the movement of said impacting means for impacting the fastener.
Riveting apparatus comprising solenoid means, means for impacting a fastener, servo-controller means operatively connected to said solenoid means for controlling supply of current to said solenoid means for driving said impacting means to form a fastener, and force transducer means for sensing the force applied to the fastener as it is impacted by said impacting means and for feeding back to said controller means signals indicative of the force being applied to the fastener, said controller means being responsive to the signals from said force transducer means for controlling the force applied to the fastener by said impacting means as the fastener is being impacted by said impacting means.
A method of riveting comprising providing rivet upset tooling in contact with a rivet, spacing a plunger of a solenoid at a selected distance from the tooling, supplying current to the solenoid to effect movement of the plunger to impact the tooling thereby converting the plunger movement to rivet upset forced and controlling the solenoid current so that current is provided in such magnitude and time duration to develop sufficient force from the solenoid to effect riveting of a metal workpiece in a manner providing a fluid-tight joint between the rivet and workpiece.
A method of riveting comprising supplying current to a solenoid to effect movement of a plunger, converting the plunger movement to rivet upset force, and controlling the solenoid current so that current is provided in such magnitude and time duration to develop sufficient force from the solenoid to effect riveting of a metal workpiece in a manner providing a fluid-tight joint between the rivet and workpiece, the method further comprising varying the solenoid current to provide a rapid succession of pulses for vibratory insertion.
A method of riveting comprising supplying current from a servo-controller to a solenoid to effect impacting of a fastener, sensing a condition relative to the impacting of the fastener, feeding signals indicative of the sensed condition to the servo-controller to control the current supplied to the solenoid to control the sensed condition during the effecting of the impacting of a fastener.
A method of riveting comprising supplying current from a servo-controller to a solenoid to effect impacting of a fastener, sensing a condition relative to the impacting of the fastener, feeding signals indicative of the sensed condition to the servo-controller to control the current supplied to the solenoid to control the sensed condition during the effecting of the impacting of a fastener, the method further comprising varying the current to the solenoid to provide a rapid succession of pulses for vibratory insertion of the fastener.
A method of riveting comprising supplying current from a servo-controller to a solenoid to effect impacting of a fastener, sensing a condition relative to the impacting of the fastener, feeding signals indicative of the sensed condition to the servo-controller to control the current supplied to the solenoid to control the sensed condition during the effecting of the impacting of a fastener, wherein the step of effecting impacting of a fastener comprises providing an anvil in contact with the fastener, providing a plunger responsive to the servo-controller for providing force for impacting the fastener, spacing the plunger from the anvil, and controlling the current supplied to the solenoid to effect movement of the plunger toward the anvil to impact the anvil, the method further comprising varying the current to the solenoid to provide a rapid succession of pulses for vibratory insertion of the fastener.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.