Winding – tensioning – or guiding – Composite article winding – Through opening in ring-shaped core
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-24
2003-05-06
Marcelo, Emmanuel (Department: 3653)
Winding, tensioning, or guiding
Composite article winding
Through opening in ring-shaped core
C242S434700, C029S605000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06557793
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic toroidal core winding apparatus able to wind toroidal coils by winding wire in a spiral on a toroidal core. The invention particularly relates to an automatic toroidal core winding apparatus that can wind wire on a toroidal core while minimizing the load on the coil and maintaining the wire at a constant tension.
2. Related Art Description
FIGS. 15
,
16
,
17
and
18
illustrate the principle of winding coil wire on a toroidal core using a supply ring and winding ring. A supply ring
71
and winding ring
72
are provided with pullout or open/close type ring openings
74
and
75
to enable the toroidal core
73
to be arranged with the rings
71
and
72
passing through the center hole of the core
73
. In the prior art the openings
74
and
75
are opened manually and the toroidal core
73
is passed through the openings so that each ring passes to the center hole
73
a
of the core, with the central axis
73
b
of the toroidal core
73
at right-angles to the central axis
70
of the rings.
The supply ring
71
has a U-shaped groove
71
c
around its circumference. In order to enable wire
9
to be wound onto the groove
71
c,
the end of the wire
9
is manually attached to a hook (not shown) on the supply ring
71
. The winding ring
72
has substantially the same diameter as the supply ring
71
, with which it is aligned concentrically. The supply ring
71
has a wire guide
76
via which wire
9
is drawn from the supply ring
71
and a guide roller
77
to guide the wire
9
.
In an actual winding operation, first the toroidal core
73
is manually inserted onto the rings
71
and
72
via the openings
74
and
75
to position the core
73
as shown in FIG.
16
. The end of the wire
9
is then attached to the supply ring
71
and the supply ring
71
is rotated around its central axis to wind the required amount of wire into the groove
71
c.
After cutting the trailing end of the wire
9
, the cut end is passed through the wire guide
76
and around the guide roller
77
, and is drawn radially outwards from between the rings and affixed to a retainer means or the like (not shown) provided on the periphery of the toroidal core
73
. In this state, the wire wound around the supply ring
71
is spirally wound a required number of turns around the toroidal core
73
, and the wire left over on the supply ring
71
is manually removed. Finally, the toroidal core wound with the wire, that is, the toroidal coil, is removed.
As shown by
FIG. 17
, when the toroidal core is being wound, a drive (not shown) is used to rotate the supply ring
71
and winding ring
72
in the opposite direction from that used to load the wire
9
onto the supply ring
71
, and the wire
9
is drawn from the supply ring
71
through the wire guide
76
and guide roller
77
on the winding ring
72
and attached to the toroidal core
73
. At this time, the wire
9
is subjected to a prescribed tension imparted by the frictional force between the supply ring
71
and the supply ring
71
's support surface (not shown). This tension is for preventing the wire
9
coming off the supply ring
71
. As can be seen in
FIG. 18
, the passage of the guide roller
77
through the center hole
73
a
of the toroidal core
73
subjects the wire
9
to an extreme degree of bending, imposing a large load on the wire
9
. This limits the runout of the wire
9
, so that the wire
9
is wound around the toroidal core
73
with no slack.
Thus, much of the winding procedure in the case of this type of prior art toroidal core winding apparatus is performed manually, so the productivity is low, and reliability is also a problem. From the standpoint of quality and cost, this has created a strong demand for automation of the winding procedure.
Moreover, since tension is imparted to the wire
9
by frictional force between the supply ring and the ring support surface, any fluctuations in the inertial force of the winding ring during winding acts directly on the wire
9
, in addition to which the wire
9
is subjected to a large load when the guide roller passes through the core hole
73
a.
This can make it impossible to maintain the wire
9
at a constant tension, leading to a large difference between the winding force on the inner and outer surfaces of the toroidal core. In some cases, there is a risk that this will damage the insulation or break the wire.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 6-342730 describes a method of suppressing insulation damage and the like by increasing the diameter of the guide roller. However, the size of the guide roller is limited by the size of the center hole in the toroidal core
73
through which the roller must pass. Moreover, as shown in
FIG. 18
, the center of the winding portion of the toroidal core
73
is offset by a distance E from the central axis of the winding ring
72
. Because of this, with the rotation of the winding ring
72
, the distance between the wire supply position, as defined by the guide roller
77
, and the winding portion of the toroidal core
73
is constantly changing. During each rotation used to wind the wire onto the core, this gives rise to a region R
1
at which the wire
9
is pulled taut and a region R
2
at which the wire
9
is slack. This lowers the alignment degree of windings, making it impossible to achieve a high-density winding.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above drawbacks of the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic winding apparatus that automates the winding of a toroidal core.
An object of the present invention is also to provide a method of winding a toroidal core that enables a toroidal core to be wound with a high degree of alignment, enabling wire to be wound at a high density.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method of winding a toroidal core, comprising the steps of arranging a toroidal core on a wire supply ring and a winding ring that are concentrically arranged, with the supply ring and winding ring passing through a central hole of the toroidal core, taking an end of a wire wound circumferentially around an outer peripheral surface of the supply ring and drawing the end of the wire through a wire guide attached to the winding ring, rotating the supply ring and winding ring around central axes of the rings in a same direction as that in which the supply ring was rotated when being loaded with the wire, at mutually different speeds, rotating the toroidal core about its central axis simultaneously with the rotation of the supply ring and winding ring, and spirally winding the toroidal core with a length of the wire that corresponds to the difference in rotation amounts of the supply ring and winding ring.
The above object is also attained by providing an automatic winding apparatus for automatically winding a toroidal core, comprising a supply ring on a peripheral surface of which wire is circumferentially wound, a winding ring having a wire guide for drawing the wire from the supply ring, a toroidal core rotation means that supports the toroidal core so that the supply ring and winding ring pass through a central hole of the toroidal core and also rotates the toroidal core about its central axis, a ring rotation means that rotates the supply ring and winding ring around the rings' central axes in a same direction as that in which the supply ring was rotated when being loaded with the wire, at mutually different speeds, the difference in rotation amounts of the supply ring and winding ring becoming length of wire that is wound on the toroidal core.
It is preferable for the supply ring and winding ring to each be formed in the shape of a C by a slit of a prescribed width provided on the periphery of the rings. The slits can be used to align the rings, facilitating mounting and demounting of cores and the removal of wire.
It is also preferable for the supply ring to be disposed concentrically with the winding ring with the supply ring on the
Kawamura Takashi
Nakazawa Masaru
Shimaru Masayasu
Burns Doane Swecker & Mathis L.L.P.
Harmonic Drive Systems Inc.
Marcelo Emmanuel
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