Metal working – Method of mechanical manufacture – Converting
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-27
2002-03-12
Hughes, S. Thomas (Department: 3726)
Metal working
Method of mechanical manufacture
Converting
C029S407090, C029S430000, C029S596000, C029S711000, C029S783000, C029S791000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06353986
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to systems for manufacturing components of electric motors and particularly for manufacturing armatures with coils connected to commutators.
A typical armature known in the art is shown in FIG.
1
. Armature
1
is provided a lamination stack
10
, wherein coils
11
are wound in slots
12
. Leads of the coils
11
are connected to tang members
13
′ of commutator
13
. The lamination stack
10
and the commutator
13
are mounted co-axially on shaft
14
. The slots
12
are provided with insulation inserts
15
for insulating the innermost turns of the coils
11
from the metal surface of lamination stack
10
. Insulation boards
16
and
16
′ are also provided in abutment with the end faces of the lamination stack
10
to insulate between external portions of the coil turns and the lamination stack.
The specifications and dimensions of these armature components will be suggested by the particular applications in which the armature will be used. FIGS.
2
(
a
) and
2
(
b
) illustrate some of the different armature configurations possible. Typically, armatures having similar or identical configurations are manufactured in groups, or batches. A group of armatures having a first configuration will be referred to herein as a first batch, and a group of armatures having a different configuration will be referred to herein as a second batch. In the description that follows, an exemplary configuration of a first batch is represented by armature
40
and illustrated in FIG.
2
(
a
), and an exemplary configuration of a second batch is represented by armature
41
and illustrated in FIG.
2
(
b
).
Armatures
40
and
41
may have certain specifications in common. For example, both armatures may have the same type of commutator C
0
and C
1
, and may use single laminations to form the stacks. In addition, the following dimensions may be the same for both armature configurations: the diameter of the shafts A
0
and A
1
, the distance D
0
and D
1
existing between the commutators and the lamination stacks L
0
and L
1
, and the distances EL
0
and EL
1
between the end of the shafts and the commutators. However, armatures
40
and
41
may be provided in this example with different overall lengths OL
0
and OL
1
, and perhaps other dimensional differences, different lamination stack lengths LS
0
and LS
1
, and different size of wire used to wind the coils.
In order to manufacture armatures having different specifications in successive batches, each machine, or station, used to perform a manufacturing step must be converted from the first configuration to the second configuration. The conversion process is time consuming and typically requires that the assembly line be temporarily stopped. Furthermore, since each station may require a different amount of time to perform each manufacturing step, the timing of the conversion of each station between batches is critical and a complicated process.
It is therefore an object of the invention hereinafter claimed to provide methods and apparatus for converting an assembly line having a plurality of stations from manufacturing components having a first configuration to a second configuration.
It is a further object of the preferred embodiments of this invention to provide methods and apparatus for manufacturing armatures which permits the assembly of a first batch of armatures having a first configuration and a second batch of armatures having a second configuration in succession and with a reduced loss in the line's output of armatures when there is a conversion between the various batches.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one aspect, the invention provides a method of converting a manufacturing line for dynamo-electric machine components from manufacturing a first batch of components having a first configuration to manufacturing a second batch of components having a second configuration, the line comprising a plurality of processing stations, at least one of which performs a first processing step on first batch components and a second processing step on second batch components, means for conveying the components a synchronously from station to station, and means for identifying at least the leading component of the second batch of components so being conveyed, the method comprising conveying second batch components to said one station, and conveying second batch components upon which the second processing step has been performed from said one station only when all first batch components have been conveyed from said station.
In another aspect the invention provides a manufacturing line for dynamo-electric machine components which is convertible from manufacturing a first batch of components having a first configuration to manufacturing a second batch of components having a second configuration, the line comprising a plurality of processing stations, at least one of which performs a first processing step on first batch components and a second processing step on second batch components, means for conveying the components a synchronously from station to station, means for identifying at least the leading component of the second batch of components being conveyed, and means configured to control the conveying of components from the said one station so that second batch components upon which the second processing step has been performed are conveyed from said one station only when all first batch components have been conveyed from said station.
The invention may be utilized in preferred form in a manufacturing line capable of producing more than one configuration of the armatures like the type shown in FIG.
1
. More particularly, the manufacturing line of this invention is capable of converting itself, automatically to manufacture different armature configurations. The scenario which results from using the line of the invention is that of an armature manufacturing environment producing batches of differently configured armatures, in succession and with a minimum loss in the line's output of armatures when there is a conversion between the various batches.
The apparatus for manufacturing dynamo-electric machine components according to a first configuration and a second configuration includes an information storage device associated with one of the components for storing information corresponding to one of the first and the second configurations. The apparatus also includes a processing station (e.g.,
24
) capable of performing a first processing step corresponding to the first configuration and a second processing step corresponding to the second configuration. The processing station is arranged to perform one of the processing steps on the component according to the information stored in the information storage device.
In a preferred embodiment, the processing station has a queue for storing a plurality of components. The processing station may have a first machine and a second machine for performing processing steps on the components. The processing station may also be provided with a transfer device responsive to the information storage device configured to direct the components according to the first configuration to the first machine, and to direct components according to the second configuration to the second machine.
Novel methods for manufacturing dynamo-electric machine components are disclosed, which include providing an information storage device associated with one of the components for storing information corresponding to one of the first and the second configurations, and providing a processing station capable of performing a first processing step corresponding to the first configuration and a second processing step corresponding to the second configuration. The method includes reading the information stored in the information storage device, and performing one of the processing steps on the component corresponding to the configuration information stored in the information storage device.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3530571 (1970-09-01), Perry
patent: 3842496 (1974-10-01),
Becherucci Raffaele
Domenichini Carlo
Axis USA Inc.
Fish & Neave
Jackson Robert R.
Leiz James A.
Omgba Essama
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