CA1217237A - Apparatus for butt welding steel strips by using a laser beam in a steel strip-processing line - Google Patents
Apparatus for butt welding steel strips by using a laser beam in a steel strip-processing lineInfo
- Publication number
- CA1217237A CA1217237A CA000448455A CA448455A CA1217237A CA 1217237 A CA1217237 A CA 1217237A CA 000448455 A CA000448455 A CA 000448455A CA 448455 A CA448455 A CA 448455A CA 1217237 A CA1217237 A CA 1217237A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- laser beam
- line
- laser
- clamp
- clamp means
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
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Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B23—MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- B23K—SOLDERING OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; CLADDING OR PLATING BY SOLDERING OR WELDING; CUTTING BY APPLYING HEAT LOCALLY, e.g. FLAME CUTTING; WORKING BY LASER BEAM
- B23K2103/00—Materials to be soldered, welded or cut
- B23K2103/02—Iron or ferrous alloys
- B23K2103/04—Steel or steel alloys
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B23—MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- B23K—SOLDERING OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; CLADDING OR PLATING BY SOLDERING OR WELDING; CUTTING BY APPLYING HEAT LOCALLY, e.g. FLAME CUTTING; WORKING BY LASER BEAM
- B23K2103/00—Materials to be soldered, welded or cut
- B23K2103/02—Iron or ferrous alloys
- B23K2103/04—Steel or steel alloys
- B23K2103/05—Stainless steel
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- Laser Beam Processing (AREA)
Abstract
Abstract of the Disclosure Disclosed herein is a laser butt welding apparatus comprising a pair of clamp means at least one of which is movable reciprocally along the steel strip-feed line direction and which are adapted to clamp the edge portions of preceding and trailing steel strips, a shear which is advanceable and retractable between the pair of the clamp means in a perpendicular direction to the line and cuts the edge portions of the preceding and trailing steel strips, means for butting the cut faces of the preceding and trailing steel strips while being clamped by means of the clamp means, and a laser torch adapted to condense a laser beam from a laser oscillator on an off-line at a weld zone and movable in a width direction of steel strips to be welded together.
Description
~2~L~23~
The present invention relates to an apparatus for butt welding steel strips by means of a laser beam (hereinafter referred to as "laser butt welding appara~us"~ in a steel strip-processing line.
05 In a steel s-trip processing line, steel strips are jointed together at an entry section of the line, and fed to a latter stage processing and con-tinuously treated and produced. The steel s-trips have been conventionally jointed by a seam welding machine, o a flash butt welding machine, an arc welding machine such as TIG arc welding machine. These welding methods have their own peculiar characteristics respectively.
The seam welding is characterized in that the welding is possible at a high speed in a short time, but the thickness of the welded portion becomes 180-130% of that of the base metal because the steel strips are welded by piling their edges one upon another.
Therefore, the welded portion can not be rolled in a coil by taking the problem such as buckling in-to account. If a scale is present on the surface of the steel strip as in the case of a hot-rolled steel strip or the like, this method has -the defect that the surface must be ground prior to the welding. Further, in the case of the welding of thin steel strips, since the strips are pressed by means of electrode wheels, this method has the drawback that the profile of junction and the vicinity thereof are deteriorated.
The flash butt welding can make the welding ~' time shorter than the seam welding because the steel strips are welded at one time over their whole width in the former method, bu~ thin steel s-trips are likely to be bent due to upsetting step, SG that this method has 05 the defect that it is applicable to the relatively thick steel strips of not ]ess than l.6 mm~ but is not applicable to the thin steel strips. I~ also has the defect that it is inapplicable to special steels such as silicon steel, stainless steel, high carbon steel because of oxidation, a large heat input and the coarse grain growth at the welded portion and heat affected zone when the flashing is effected. As a result, the use of flash butt welding is generally restricted to the welding of the low carbon steel strips of not less than l.6 mm in thickness.
According to TIG arc welding, it is possible to improve the quality of the welded portion through addition of a filler wire or the like 9 and therefore, this method can be used ~or stainless steel. However, since the heat input is large, it has the defect that it is inapplicable to the ma-terial such as the silicon steel in which the coarse grains are likely to grow.
Further, it also has the defects that the welding speed is slow, and the welding time is long.
As mentioned above, although the conventional seam welding, flash butt welding~ TIG arc welding and the like have been used by utilizing the respective characteristics, they can not be applied to the silicon ~LZ~Z~7 steel or the like. Thus, there has been demanded a welding apparatus which can weld the special steels such as silicon steel or the like.
An object of the present invention is to 05 provide an automatic laser butt welding apparatus for welding steel strips in a steel-processing line by using a laser beam as a heat source.
More specifically, the object of the invention is to provide a laser butt welding appara-tus usable for welding almost all kinds of the steels, for instance, special s-teels such as silicon s-teel, stainless steel or the li~e~ a plated steel such as a galvanized steel or the like, and high tensile strength steels.
It is another object of the invention to provide a laser butt welding apparatus usable for usual steel strips of from small to large thickness by using a laser beam without limiting the thickness as in the case of the flash butt welding.
It is a further objec-t of the invention to provide a laser butt welding apparatus by using a laser beam which enables the far higher speed welcling through the TIG arc welding in a high efficiency.
The apparatus according to the inven-tion comprises a pair of clamp means at least one of which is movable forward and rearward along the steel strip-feed line direction and which are adapted to clamp the edge portions of a preceding steel strip and a trailing steel strip, a shear which is advanceable and retractable ~7~3~
between the pair of the clamp means in a direction perpendicular to the llne and cuts the edge portions of the preceding steel strip and the trailing steel strip, means for butting the cut faces of the preceding steel 05 strip and the trailing steel strip while being clamped by means of the clamp means, and a laser torch mounting a bender reflector adapted to bend a laser beam irradiated from a laser oscillator placed on an off-line and a condenser adapted to condense the laser beam reflected by -the bender at a weld zone, which is movable in a transverse direction of steel strips to be welded together.
These and other objects, features and advantages o-f the invention will be well appreciated upon reading of the following description of the invention when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings with understanding that some modifications, variations and changes could be easily made by the skilled in the art to which the inven-tion pertains without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.
The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view of the whole laser butt welding apparatus according to the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a side view of a clamp means and a shear in the laser butt welding apparatus in Fig. l;
~L2~;Z37 Fig. 3 is a front view of the la~er butt welding apparat~ls in Fig. l;
Fig. 4 is a detailed view illustrating the state in which a preceding steel strip and a trailing 05 steel strip are clamped;
Fig. 5 is a plan view of a station for checking the performances of an optical system for irradiating a laser beam onto a weld zone;
Fig. 6(a) is a side view o-f the station for lo checking the performances of the optical system in Fig. 5;
Fig. 6(b) is a side view of another embodiment of the station for checking the performance of the optical system;
Fig. 7 is a side view showing a butting means of an inlet clamp;
Fig. 8 is a plan view of the butting means of the inle-t clamp as viewed from the direction of the arrow of X-X in Fig. 7;
Fig. 9 is a sectional view as viewed from the direction of the arrow A-A in Fig. 8;
Fig. lO is a sectional view as viewed from the direction of the arrow B-B in Fig. 9;
Figs. ll(a) to ll(d~ are other embodiments of the butting means;
Fig. 12 is a plan view of a laser -torch;
Fig. 13 is a side view of the laser torch in Fig. ll;
7Z~7 Fig. 14 is a side view of a center clamp;
Fig. 15 is a detailed view of the center clamp in Fig. 14;
Fig. 16 is a sectional view illustrating the 05 state in which the preceding steel s-trip and the -trailing steel strip are improperly butted with each oth~r;
Figs. 17(a)-17(f) are views schematically illus~rating the operation of the laser butt we:Lding apparatus according to the present invention;
Fig. 18 is a graph illustrating the relation between the distance Q from a tip of an wpper clamp to an edge o~ an upper blade of the shear and a value ~G
which is obtained by subtracting the minimum value of the distance between the cut preceding steel strip and the cut trailing steel strip in the width direction of said steel strip from the maximum value;
Fig. l9 is a schematic view illustrating -the value ~G in Fig. 18;
Fig. 20 is a graph illustrating the relation be-tween tan ~ in which ~ is a blade rake angle of a shear, the value ~G and the thickness of the steel strip;
Fig. 21(a) and 21(b) are views illustrating the operation of the `butting means of the inlet clamp;
Fig. 22 is a schematic view ill~lstrating a sectional profile of the welded portion formed when the center of the laser beam is deviated from a butt llne;
Z3~7 Figs. 23~a) and 23(b) are side and plan views of another embodiment of the laser beam path construction in the laser torch respectively;
Figs. 2~l(a~ and 24(b~ are side and plan views o~ of still another embodiment of the laser beam path construction of a laser torch; and Figs. 2S(a) and 25~b) are micrographs of the welded joints of silicon steel strips obtained by the laser butt welding of the present invention and TIG arc 0 welding respectively.
The present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the attached drawings below:
In Fig. l, reference numerals l, 2 and 3 are double out shear, a laser oscillator, a double blade shear, and clamp means consisting of an inlet clamp 3a and an outlet clamp 3b respectively. Reference numerals 4 and 5 are a laser torch and a butting means respec-tively. The double blade shear 2, the clamp means 8 and the butting means 5 will be explained referring to Figs. 2 and 3. Although the clamp means may be included in the butting means in view of the function but are explained as separate members in the follow;ng:
In Figs. 2 and 3, the double blade shear 2 has upper and lower blades 7 and 8 mounted respectively on ~.he upper and lower arm 6a and 6b o~ a C-letter shaped frame 6. The blades 7 are vertically movable by means of a cylinder 7a, guide rods 7b and 7c secured to . -- 8 --~L2~l~Z37 ~he upper arm 6a, while the lower blades 8 are ver~ically movable by means of a cylinder 8a, guide rods 8b and 8c secured on the lower arm 6b. Each upper blade 7 is provided with a rake angle in a transverse direction of 05 the strip, which is selectively determined in such a range as to improve a shear-cut profile of the strips.
The shear 2 is so constituted that the C-le-tter shaped frame 6 is forwardly and rearwardly movable between the outlet clamp 3b ancl the inlet clamp 3a in a transverse direction of the steel strip while being guided by rails 10, by means of a drive means 9 (for instance, a cylinder). The inlet clamp 3a and the outlet clamp 3b are disposed on a stationary base 11 in opposite relation. The upper clamps 12a and 12b are both vertically movable with respect to the lower clamps 15a and 15b respectively by means of cylinders 14a and 14b secured to the upper frames 13a and 13b, so as to clamp or release the edge portions of steel strips fed on the line. The inlet clamp means 3a moves in the line direction on a lower base 33 of the stationary base ll by means of a drive means, for instance, a cylinder 16, so that said means moves forwardly or rearwardly with respect to the outlet clamp means 3b. The outlet clamp means 3b is Eixed without being displaced in the line ~irection.
Next~ the clamp means is explained in more detail referring to Fig. 4. Top ends of the upper clamps 12a and 12b of the inlet and outlet clamp means _ g _ O~V ~
3a and 3b are extended a little longer toward a shear-running l.ine than those of the lower clamp means 15a and 15b, so that the steel strips Sa, Sb to be cut are clamped be~ween the tips of the upper clamp means 12a, 05 12b and the lower blades 8.
As shown in Figs. 5 and 6(a), (b), a station 100 for checking the performances of an optical system for irradiating a laser beam on a weld zone of the steel strips is provided at the lower clamp hase 15b on lo an off-line.
A reference numeral 101 is a table having a slit just under the laser torch. Numeral 103 is a sample plate which is secured to the table 101 by means of press plates 104 and bolts lOS.
According to this embodiment, the table 101 is joined to the lower clamp base l5b, but it may be supported by a base 33.
Referring next to Figs. 7-10, the butt means will be explained below.
The trailing steel strip is moved toward the preceding steel strip by actuating the cylinders 16, and is stopped by appropriate means. For instance, the forward movement of the trailing steel strip is stopped upon contacting the shear cut edge of the preceding steel strip. Alternatively, an arm 17 is provided under the inlet clamp 3a, while a stopper 18 is provided on the base plate 33, so that the trailing steel strip which is moved forwardly is stopped upon contact between 23~7 the arm 17 and the stopper 18. In such a case, the stopper 18 may be located apart from the lower ben-t edge side of the arm 17 at the substantially the same distance as that of the gap between the shear cut edge 05 faces of the steel strips, and may be designed in a form of shock absorber.
~ urther, a pressure detector 25 such as a load cell is provided at a face of the stopper 18 which contacts with the arm 17. The stopper 18 is adapted to be moved while being guided wi~h gwide means 26. That is, a screw shaf-t 27 is screwed to -the lower portion of the stopper 1~, and the screw shaft is adapted to be rotated for shifting the position of the stopper 18 by actuating the motor 32 via bevel gears 28 and 29, a shaEt 31 and bevel gears 30 and 30'.
A stopper-positioning system comprising the bevel gears 28, 29, 30 and 30', and the shafts 27 and 31 are arranged onto a lower base 33. With this construction, it may be possible to stop the trailin~ steel strip slightly spaced from the shear cut ed~e of the preceding steel strip, and to gently butt the edge Eaces of the preceding and trailing steel strips by actuating the motor 32 -Erom an output Erom the stopper or the like. As a matter o:E coursc, the motor is stopped by approprlate way 25 af ter the shear cut edges butt with each other.
In the sliding portion of the inlet lower clamp lSa and the lower base 33, the top portion of a guide member 34 is tapered so that two wheels 35 ~L2~L~237 fittecl on the side portion of the inlet clamp 3a and positioning on the side of the outlet clamp 3b may be moved in the transverse direction of the s-teel strip and the steel strip clamped with the inlet clamp 3a may 05 be slightly pivoted in a horizontal plane, whereby both the cut edge faces of the steel strips to be jointed are pivo-ted so as to come in contact and reduce -the gap of the butted portion.
In the above embodiment, two stoppers 18 are o driven by means of a single motor 32, but as a matter of course, they may be driven independently by means of two motors.
Some embodiments for attaining the above described mechanism of but-ting means will be explained with reference to Fig. 11, a, b, c and d hereinafter.
In Fig. 11, a, a refere~lce numeral 33 shows a fixed guide member provided on the base wherein the top portions of both sides of said member have cut portions as shown in Fig. 11, a and two pairs of wheels 35 are provided on the side portions of the inlet lower clamp 15a, so that said wheels slide on guide portions 34 of the guide member 33. When a pair forward wheels 35 slide and advance to the cut portions in this guide member, the inlet lower clamp 15a may be slightly pivo~ed in the horizontal direction.
~ n Fig. 11, b, a reference n~lmeral 33 shows two fixed guide members provided on the base, wherein each top portion of said members has the cut portion as ~Z~7Z37 shown in this figure and the wheels 35 are provided on the side portions of the inlet movable lower clamps and when a pair of forward wheels 35 slide and advance to the cut portions, the inle~ lower clamp 15a may be 05 slightly pivoted in the hori20ntal dirPction as in the case of Fig. 11, a.
In Fig. 11, c, a reference numeral 33 shows two fixed ~uide members provided on the base and a reference numeral lSa shows the supporting member of the movable inlet lower clamp, wherein the rearward end portions have ~he cut portions as shown in this figure.
Two pair of wheels 35 are provided on the fixed guide members 33. When the supporting member 15a of the movable inlet lower clamp is forwardly moved and the cut portions thereof come to the rearward wheels 35, the in].et lower clamp lSa may be slightly pivoted in the horizontal direction as in the case of Fig. 11, a.
In Fig. 11, d, a reference numeral 33 shows a fixed guide member provided on the base 33 which is provided with two pair of wheels 35 and a reference numeral lSa shows movable supporting members 15a of the inlet lower clamp, which have the cut portions a-t the rearward end portions as shown in this ~igure. When said movable supporting members are forwardly move~ and ~s the cut portions of said supporting members come -to the rearward wheels 35, the inlet lower clamp 15a may be slightly pivoted in the horizontal direction as in the above described former cases.
~3L7;~7 With re-ference to Figs. 12 and 13, the laser torch 4 will be explained below.
A reference numeral 201 is a condenser which is at~ached to a -torch 202. A reference numeral 203 is 05 a blacket attached to the torch 20~ and engaged with the screw axis 204 at i.ts other end. The screw shaf-t 204 is supported by -the bearing 205 at both ends thereof and connected to a motor 206. A reference numeral 207 is a torch holder which is adapted to ascend and descend while being guided by a guide means 208. This torch holder 20`7 also serves to guide the ascending and clescending of -the torch 202. A cylinder 209 is attached to a reflector hase 210 and adapted to ascend and descend the torch holder 207. Reference n-umerals 211 and 212 are bender mirrors attached to the reflector base 210, and adapted to bend the laser beam to a desired direction. The reflector base 210 is guided by a carriage 214 and can be moved in a direction perpendic~lar to the torch running direc-tion by a motor ~not shown).
The carriage 214 is adapted to be moved in a direction perpendicular to the processing line by means of a guide means 215, a motor 216, a screw shaft 217 connected to the motor 216, bearings 218 of the screw ~haft 217, and a nut 219 screwed to the screw shaft 217.
A center clamp 300 will be explained with reference to Figs. 3, 14 and 15.
~Z~7Z3'7 The center clamp 300 is arranged at a side opposite to the laser torch at the butting portion of the preceding and trailing steel strip edge portions, and includes a backing bar 301 provided with a bag-like 05 groove 302. The center clamp further comprises cylinders 303, guide rods 304 and guides 305, and i5 adapted to be contacted with or separated from the back face of the strips to be jointed. Reference nwmerals 306, 307 and 308 are a backing bar supporting base, a light o absorbing member, and a coolant passage respectively.
The backing bar 301 is designed to have such a size that the preceding steel strip and the trailing steel strip are fully sandwiched between it and the upper clamps 12a and 12b when elevated.
This bag-like groove 302 prevents the laser beam passed through the weld zone from reflecting and dispersing to the outside and further the safety is assured by preventing the laser beam from leaking to the outside by the provision of a light absorbing member 307 onto the face of a supporting base 306 onto which the laser beam is irradiated.
~ urther, since the edge portions of the preceding and trailing steel strips are clamped be-tween the upper clamps 12a and 12b and -the backing bar 301 2S during the butting, the deformation of the strip tip portions as shown in Fig. 15 can be avoided.
The operation of the apparatus according to the present invention will be explained with reference ~ ~ w~
to Fi~s. :L7(a)-l~(f) below.
~ hen the edge portions of the preceding steel strip and the ~railing steel strip are fed and stopped at predetermined locations, the cylinders 14a and l~b 05 of the inlet an~ outlet clamps 3a and 3b are actuated to clamp the preceding steel strip and the trailing steel s-trip between the clamping means. Next, the cylinder 8a is actuated to lit the lower blade 8 [Fig. 17(a)~.
0 (2) The cylinder 7a is actuated -to descend the upper blade 7 to cut the edge portions of the preceding steel strip and the trailing steel strip [Fig. 17(b)].
(3) The cylinder 7a is reversely actuated to lift and retract the upper blade 7 and the cylinder 8a is actuated to descend the lower blade 8. Then, the cylinder 9 is actuated to move the shear 2 to a retracted position on the non-operation side [Fig. 17(c)].
(~) The cylinder 16 is actuated to advance the inlet clamp 3a, and when the top o- the -trailing steel strip approaches the tail edge portion of the preceding steel strip [Fig. 17(d)], a cylinder 303 of a center clamp 300 is actuated to clamp the steel strips between the upper clamps 12a and 12b and the center clamp 300 CFig. 17(e)~. Next, the inlet clamp is further advanced to complete the butting of the steel strips [Fig. 17(f)].
The edge portions of the steel strips are prevented from being deformed as shown in Fig. 16 by clamping the edge portions between the e~tended tip ~Z~3~
portians of the upper clamps and the center clamp.
Thus, an excellerit welded joint is obtained.
When the top portions of the advanci.ng guides of the inlet clamp are tapered so as -to allow the steel 05 strip to be slightly pivoted in a horiæontal plane and the position of the stopper which res-trains the advance of the tra.iling steel strip, is set to be slightly larger than the distance between the cut edge faces of the strip , the butting load is applied onto the edge portions of the steel strips and as the result, iE the distance of the cut steel strips is different in the transverse direc-tion of the steel strip, the inlet clamp may be pivoted as shown ln Figs. 21(a) and 21(b) and both the edges of the steel strips come in contact with each other so that the gap becomes smaller than the case where the butting is carried out through advancing the cut steel strip by only the predetermined distance .
Consequently, the joints having mare stable and higher strength can be obtained.
Even if the distance between the edges of the cut strip.s varies a little, the steel strips are tightly b~ltted with substantially no gap therebetween by setting the distance between the stopper 1~ and the bent por-tion of the gui.de 17 slightly wider than the distance between the cut edges of the strips. Further 9 with respect to the deviation from the straight line of ~he cut lines, the gap can be made smaller by rotating the inlet 7Z~7 clamp. Although the trailing steel strip is sli~htly inclined to the line owing to the pivotal movement o~
the inlet clamp, this is around 0.lmm/l,OOOmm, and no problem is caused.
05 It is importan~ to approach the gap value as near to zero as possible in the case of the laser butt welding.
(5) The motor 216 is actuated to drive ~he laser torch in the transverse direction of the steel strip.
o In the way, when a detector not shown detects the side end of the strip, a shutter housed in -the laser oscillator 1 is opened to irradiate the laser beam onto the side of the laser torch 4. The laser beam is bent in a direction parallel to the line by means of a reflector 211, and is next bent in a direction vertical to the line by means of a reflector 212 and then passed through the condenser 201 to be focused onto a weld zone and to commerse the welding. The laser torch is run in the transverse direction of the strip, and the shutter is closed when the other strip side end is sensed by means of the side end detector to stop the irradiation of the laser beam. Then, the -torch is carried to the retracted position and stopped.
~y once changing the laser beam path in 2S parallel to the line in the laser torch 4, the focused position in the line direction of the laser beam path posterior to the reflector 212 can be varied merely by horizontally shifting the laser torch 4 in the line ~7~
direction.
Particularly, when the laser beam or the like is -used, th~ beam path may be slightly varied depending upon the circumferential temperature, a leading period 05 of time of the oscillator, a ~emperature of the reflector, and the like, and consequently there is the possibility ~hat the beam point focused by the condenser is shift slightly. Since the shift component of the focus in the direction perpendicular to the processing lo line is no problems because it is in a weld line, while if the focus is shifted in the direction parallel to the line, it is deviated from the butting line to form weld profile as shown in Fig. 22. Since this form of the joint has a notch in the lower side, it is weak in bending and unacceptable. For this reason, it is extremely important to control the focus location in the direc-tion parallel to -the line in using the laser butt welding apparatus. According to the laser butt welding apparatus of the invention, in order to facilitate the positioning of the focus in the line direction, the laser beam path is bent in parallel to the line at least one time and then the optical sys~em a:Eter such a bending step is moved to a horizontal.
direction, whereby the focus can be moved in a direction parallel to the line by the same distance as the moved amount of the optical system without moving the focus to the vertical direction and the direction perpendicular to the line and the operation for positioni.ng the focus ~23L72;37 can be very easily effected.
In the following, other embodiments of optical system adapted to bend the laser beam path to the direction parallel to the line at least one time will 05 be explained hereinafter.
In Fi~. 23, a reference numeral 401 is a first reflector adapted to bend the laser beam 213 incident thereupon in a direction perpendicular to the line, in the vertical direction to the line~ a re~erence lo numeral 402 is a second reflector adapted to bend the laser beam thus vertically bent in the direction parallel to the line, and a reference numeral 403 is a condensing reflector adapted to focus the laser beam in parallel to the line -thus bent, at a weld æone.
Merely by horizontally displacing the laser torch 202 in the line direction, the focus is shifted by the same distance as this displacement only in the direction parallel to the line without being shifted in the vertica~ direction or perpendicular direction to the line~
The focusing is carried out by moving the re~lector 402 and the condensing reflector 403 as one set in a vertical direction.
Fig. 24 shows another embodiment -using a condensing reflector.
A reference numeral 501 is a first reflector adapted -to bend the laser beam 213 incident thereupon in the direction perpendicular to the line, in the ~Z~ 37 direction parallel to the line, a reference numeral 502 is a second reflector adap-ted to vertically bend ~he laser beam thus ben-t, in the direction parallel to t'he line, a reference numeral 503 is a third reflector 05 adapted to 'bend the thus vertically bent laser beam in the direction parallel -to the line, and a reference numeral 504 i5 a condensing reflector adapted to focus the laser beam at the weld zone.
According to this embodiment~ by displacing the condensing ref~ector 504 in the direction parallel to the line, the focus point is horizontally shifted by the same distanc~ as displacement of the condenser reflector in the parallel direction to the line without being displaced vertically or in the direction perpen-dicular to the line.
The focusing is carried out by verticallyshifting the reflector 503 and the condensing mirror as one set.
(6) When the welding is completed, the upper clamps of the inlet and outlet clamps are lif'ted to release the edge portions of the preceding and -trailing steel strips, and the passing of the steel strip starts.
Subsequently, the cylinder 209 is actuated to lift and return the laser torch to the original position, ancl the other means are returned to their original locations. Thereby, one weld process is completed.
In the above described step (3) for cutting the steel strips, it is par-ticularly important that the ~L2~23~
cut lines formed through the above cutting operation are in parallel to each other and straight in the case of the laser butt welding. That is, when the laser beam is condensed by the condenser, the diameter of the 05 laser beam at the focus is varied according to the focal length of the condenser, for instance, when a condenser having a focal leng-th of 5 inches is used, said diameter is as extremely small as 0.15 mm.
Therefore, according to the laser bu-tt welding, i~ is possible to increase the energy density and to ef~ect a high speed welding, but an extremely high precision is required in butting of the materials to be welded.
If the cut lines of the materials to be welded are curved, a clearance remains even if the butting is effected at a very high precision. In general, when the steel plate is cut by means of a raked shear (guillotine shear, rotary shear or the like~, the cut line is more or less curved as shown in Fig~ 19 in a transverse direction of the plate. The curved degree of the cut line depends upon the material, clamping way, shear or the like, but it is observed that the cut line is curved at about 0.1 mm in the case of a steel plate having a thickness of 1.0~3.0 mm. Thus, even if such curved-edge steel strips are butt-welded, no welded joints having satisfactory strength can be obtained.
According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a set of steel strips having parallel ~7~37 and nearly straight cut lines by clamping the edge portions of the steel strips between the upper clamps 12a and 12b which are more extended toward the shear than the lower clamps 15a and 15b and the upper end portion of the lower blade 8. Fig. 18 shows the relation of the distance Q from the edge of the upper clamp to the tip face of -the upper blade to a value aG obtained by subtracting the minimum cut gap (Gmin) from the maximum cut gap (Gmax) among the cut gaps measured in the transverse direction of the strip (see Fig. 19).
Table 1 shows the results obtained when ~he above described cut edge portions are butted and the butted portion i5 subjected to the laser butt welding.
Table 1 (Tensile test) Plat 1.0 1.6 2.2 3.0 Distance ~ ~ x x x 10 - o o Q _ x o o - o o 3 _ o o _ o - - o Note: o Rupture of base metal Rupture of base metal or welded joint x Rupture of welded joint ~2~Z37 From the ~bove data, it can be seen that the e~cellent welding is possible in a range of Q being not more than 7 rnm. In a range of 7<Q_15, the rupture at the welded portion is likely to be caused and there is 05 problem in plate-passing, rolling or other processing steps of the strip. In Fig. 18, the zones (a), (b) and (c) correspond to the steel strips having thickness (t) of 1.0 mm, 1.6 mm and 3.0 mm respectively. The welding conditions in the test of Table 1 are as follows, that is a laser power is 1 kw, the materials are cold-rolled steel stri.p and hot-rolled steel strip (low carbon steel) and the welding speed is 1.0-3.0 m/min.
In the Table 1, the marks (~) means that the tensile strength when the welded joint portion is ruptured, is about 80-100% of that of the base metal and the mark (x) means about 40-80% thereof.
'rhus, the steel s-trips of the mark (~) satisfactorily endure the plate-passing in the processing line~ while a part of the steel strips of the mark (x) (Q=10, t-3.0 mm~ has the tensile strength near 80% oE
that of the base metal and therefore, they also satisfactorily endure the plate-passing in the processing 1 lne .
When the Q can not be set to be not more than lO mm for the reason that the extended portion of -the upper clamp interferes with a nozzle portion of the laser torch, the following system is proposed.
Fig. 20 shows a relation between the tan ~ in which
The present invention relates to an apparatus for butt welding steel strips by means of a laser beam (hereinafter referred to as "laser butt welding appara~us"~ in a steel strip-processing line.
05 In a steel s-trip processing line, steel strips are jointed together at an entry section of the line, and fed to a latter stage processing and con-tinuously treated and produced. The steel s-trips have been conventionally jointed by a seam welding machine, o a flash butt welding machine, an arc welding machine such as TIG arc welding machine. These welding methods have their own peculiar characteristics respectively.
The seam welding is characterized in that the welding is possible at a high speed in a short time, but the thickness of the welded portion becomes 180-130% of that of the base metal because the steel strips are welded by piling their edges one upon another.
Therefore, the welded portion can not be rolled in a coil by taking the problem such as buckling in-to account. If a scale is present on the surface of the steel strip as in the case of a hot-rolled steel strip or the like, this method has -the defect that the surface must be ground prior to the welding. Further, in the case of the welding of thin steel strips, since the strips are pressed by means of electrode wheels, this method has the drawback that the profile of junction and the vicinity thereof are deteriorated.
The flash butt welding can make the welding ~' time shorter than the seam welding because the steel strips are welded at one time over their whole width in the former method, bu~ thin steel s-trips are likely to be bent due to upsetting step, SG that this method has 05 the defect that it is applicable to the relatively thick steel strips of not ]ess than l.6 mm~ but is not applicable to the thin steel strips. I~ also has the defect that it is inapplicable to special steels such as silicon steel, stainless steel, high carbon steel because of oxidation, a large heat input and the coarse grain growth at the welded portion and heat affected zone when the flashing is effected. As a result, the use of flash butt welding is generally restricted to the welding of the low carbon steel strips of not less than l.6 mm in thickness.
According to TIG arc welding, it is possible to improve the quality of the welded portion through addition of a filler wire or the like 9 and therefore, this method can be used ~or stainless steel. However, since the heat input is large, it has the defect that it is inapplicable to the ma-terial such as the silicon steel in which the coarse grains are likely to grow.
Further, it also has the defects that the welding speed is slow, and the welding time is long.
As mentioned above, although the conventional seam welding, flash butt welding~ TIG arc welding and the like have been used by utilizing the respective characteristics, they can not be applied to the silicon ~LZ~Z~7 steel or the like. Thus, there has been demanded a welding apparatus which can weld the special steels such as silicon steel or the like.
An object of the present invention is to 05 provide an automatic laser butt welding apparatus for welding steel strips in a steel-processing line by using a laser beam as a heat source.
More specifically, the object of the invention is to provide a laser butt welding appara-tus usable for welding almost all kinds of the steels, for instance, special s-teels such as silicon s-teel, stainless steel or the li~e~ a plated steel such as a galvanized steel or the like, and high tensile strength steels.
It is another object of the invention to provide a laser butt welding apparatus usable for usual steel strips of from small to large thickness by using a laser beam without limiting the thickness as in the case of the flash butt welding.
It is a further objec-t of the invention to provide a laser butt welding apparatus by using a laser beam which enables the far higher speed welcling through the TIG arc welding in a high efficiency.
The apparatus according to the inven-tion comprises a pair of clamp means at least one of which is movable forward and rearward along the steel strip-feed line direction and which are adapted to clamp the edge portions of a preceding steel strip and a trailing steel strip, a shear which is advanceable and retractable ~7~3~
between the pair of the clamp means in a direction perpendicular to the llne and cuts the edge portions of the preceding steel strip and the trailing steel strip, means for butting the cut faces of the preceding steel 05 strip and the trailing steel strip while being clamped by means of the clamp means, and a laser torch mounting a bender reflector adapted to bend a laser beam irradiated from a laser oscillator placed on an off-line and a condenser adapted to condense the laser beam reflected by -the bender at a weld zone, which is movable in a transverse direction of steel strips to be welded together.
These and other objects, features and advantages o-f the invention will be well appreciated upon reading of the following description of the invention when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings with understanding that some modifications, variations and changes could be easily made by the skilled in the art to which the inven-tion pertains without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.
The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view of the whole laser butt welding apparatus according to the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a side view of a clamp means and a shear in the laser butt welding apparatus in Fig. l;
~L2~;Z37 Fig. 3 is a front view of the la~er butt welding apparat~ls in Fig. l;
Fig. 4 is a detailed view illustrating the state in which a preceding steel strip and a trailing 05 steel strip are clamped;
Fig. 5 is a plan view of a station for checking the performances of an optical system for irradiating a laser beam onto a weld zone;
Fig. 6(a) is a side view o-f the station for lo checking the performances of the optical system in Fig. 5;
Fig. 6(b) is a side view of another embodiment of the station for checking the performance of the optical system;
Fig. 7 is a side view showing a butting means of an inlet clamp;
Fig. 8 is a plan view of the butting means of the inle-t clamp as viewed from the direction of the arrow of X-X in Fig. 7;
Fig. 9 is a sectional view as viewed from the direction of the arrow A-A in Fig. 8;
Fig. lO is a sectional view as viewed from the direction of the arrow B-B in Fig. 9;
Figs. ll(a) to ll(d~ are other embodiments of the butting means;
Fig. 12 is a plan view of a laser -torch;
Fig. 13 is a side view of the laser torch in Fig. ll;
7Z~7 Fig. 14 is a side view of a center clamp;
Fig. 15 is a detailed view of the center clamp in Fig. 14;
Fig. 16 is a sectional view illustrating the 05 state in which the preceding steel s-trip and the -trailing steel strip are improperly butted with each oth~r;
Figs. 17(a)-17(f) are views schematically illus~rating the operation of the laser butt we:Lding apparatus according to the present invention;
Fig. 18 is a graph illustrating the relation between the distance Q from a tip of an wpper clamp to an edge o~ an upper blade of the shear and a value ~G
which is obtained by subtracting the minimum value of the distance between the cut preceding steel strip and the cut trailing steel strip in the width direction of said steel strip from the maximum value;
Fig. l9 is a schematic view illustrating -the value ~G in Fig. 18;
Fig. 20 is a graph illustrating the relation be-tween tan ~ in which ~ is a blade rake angle of a shear, the value ~G and the thickness of the steel strip;
Fig. 21(a) and 21(b) are views illustrating the operation of the `butting means of the inlet clamp;
Fig. 22 is a schematic view ill~lstrating a sectional profile of the welded portion formed when the center of the laser beam is deviated from a butt llne;
Z3~7 Figs. 23~a) and 23(b) are side and plan views of another embodiment of the laser beam path construction in the laser torch respectively;
Figs. 2~l(a~ and 24(b~ are side and plan views o~ of still another embodiment of the laser beam path construction of a laser torch; and Figs. 2S(a) and 25~b) are micrographs of the welded joints of silicon steel strips obtained by the laser butt welding of the present invention and TIG arc 0 welding respectively.
The present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the attached drawings below:
In Fig. l, reference numerals l, 2 and 3 are double out shear, a laser oscillator, a double blade shear, and clamp means consisting of an inlet clamp 3a and an outlet clamp 3b respectively. Reference numerals 4 and 5 are a laser torch and a butting means respec-tively. The double blade shear 2, the clamp means 8 and the butting means 5 will be explained referring to Figs. 2 and 3. Although the clamp means may be included in the butting means in view of the function but are explained as separate members in the follow;ng:
In Figs. 2 and 3, the double blade shear 2 has upper and lower blades 7 and 8 mounted respectively on ~.he upper and lower arm 6a and 6b o~ a C-letter shaped frame 6. The blades 7 are vertically movable by means of a cylinder 7a, guide rods 7b and 7c secured to . -- 8 --~L2~l~Z37 ~he upper arm 6a, while the lower blades 8 are ver~ically movable by means of a cylinder 8a, guide rods 8b and 8c secured on the lower arm 6b. Each upper blade 7 is provided with a rake angle in a transverse direction of 05 the strip, which is selectively determined in such a range as to improve a shear-cut profile of the strips.
The shear 2 is so constituted that the C-le-tter shaped frame 6 is forwardly and rearwardly movable between the outlet clamp 3b ancl the inlet clamp 3a in a transverse direction of the steel strip while being guided by rails 10, by means of a drive means 9 (for instance, a cylinder). The inlet clamp 3a and the outlet clamp 3b are disposed on a stationary base 11 in opposite relation. The upper clamps 12a and 12b are both vertically movable with respect to the lower clamps 15a and 15b respectively by means of cylinders 14a and 14b secured to the upper frames 13a and 13b, so as to clamp or release the edge portions of steel strips fed on the line. The inlet clamp means 3a moves in the line direction on a lower base 33 of the stationary base ll by means of a drive means, for instance, a cylinder 16, so that said means moves forwardly or rearwardly with respect to the outlet clamp means 3b. The outlet clamp means 3b is Eixed without being displaced in the line ~irection.
Next~ the clamp means is explained in more detail referring to Fig. 4. Top ends of the upper clamps 12a and 12b of the inlet and outlet clamp means _ g _ O~V ~
3a and 3b are extended a little longer toward a shear-running l.ine than those of the lower clamp means 15a and 15b, so that the steel strips Sa, Sb to be cut are clamped be~ween the tips of the upper clamp means 12a, 05 12b and the lower blades 8.
As shown in Figs. 5 and 6(a), (b), a station 100 for checking the performances of an optical system for irradiating a laser beam on a weld zone of the steel strips is provided at the lower clamp hase 15b on lo an off-line.
A reference numeral 101 is a table having a slit just under the laser torch. Numeral 103 is a sample plate which is secured to the table 101 by means of press plates 104 and bolts lOS.
According to this embodiment, the table 101 is joined to the lower clamp base l5b, but it may be supported by a base 33.
Referring next to Figs. 7-10, the butt means will be explained below.
The trailing steel strip is moved toward the preceding steel strip by actuating the cylinders 16, and is stopped by appropriate means. For instance, the forward movement of the trailing steel strip is stopped upon contacting the shear cut edge of the preceding steel strip. Alternatively, an arm 17 is provided under the inlet clamp 3a, while a stopper 18 is provided on the base plate 33, so that the trailing steel strip which is moved forwardly is stopped upon contact between 23~7 the arm 17 and the stopper 18. In such a case, the stopper 18 may be located apart from the lower ben-t edge side of the arm 17 at the substantially the same distance as that of the gap between the shear cut edge 05 faces of the steel strips, and may be designed in a form of shock absorber.
~ urther, a pressure detector 25 such as a load cell is provided at a face of the stopper 18 which contacts with the arm 17. The stopper 18 is adapted to be moved while being guided wi~h gwide means 26. That is, a screw shaf-t 27 is screwed to -the lower portion of the stopper 1~, and the screw shaft is adapted to be rotated for shifting the position of the stopper 18 by actuating the motor 32 via bevel gears 28 and 29, a shaEt 31 and bevel gears 30 and 30'.
A stopper-positioning system comprising the bevel gears 28, 29, 30 and 30', and the shafts 27 and 31 are arranged onto a lower base 33. With this construction, it may be possible to stop the trailin~ steel strip slightly spaced from the shear cut ed~e of the preceding steel strip, and to gently butt the edge Eaces of the preceding and trailing steel strips by actuating the motor 32 -Erom an output Erom the stopper or the like. As a matter o:E coursc, the motor is stopped by approprlate way 25 af ter the shear cut edges butt with each other.
In the sliding portion of the inlet lower clamp lSa and the lower base 33, the top portion of a guide member 34 is tapered so that two wheels 35 ~L2~L~237 fittecl on the side portion of the inlet clamp 3a and positioning on the side of the outlet clamp 3b may be moved in the transverse direction of the s-teel strip and the steel strip clamped with the inlet clamp 3a may 05 be slightly pivoted in a horizontal plane, whereby both the cut edge faces of the steel strips to be jointed are pivo-ted so as to come in contact and reduce -the gap of the butted portion.
In the above embodiment, two stoppers 18 are o driven by means of a single motor 32, but as a matter of course, they may be driven independently by means of two motors.
Some embodiments for attaining the above described mechanism of but-ting means will be explained with reference to Fig. 11, a, b, c and d hereinafter.
In Fig. 11, a, a refere~lce numeral 33 shows a fixed guide member provided on the base wherein the top portions of both sides of said member have cut portions as shown in Fig. 11, a and two pairs of wheels 35 are provided on the side portions of the inlet lower clamp 15a, so that said wheels slide on guide portions 34 of the guide member 33. When a pair forward wheels 35 slide and advance to the cut portions in this guide member, the inlet lower clamp 15a may be slightly pivo~ed in the horizontal direction.
~ n Fig. 11, b, a reference n~lmeral 33 shows two fixed guide members provided on the base, wherein each top portion of said members has the cut portion as ~Z~7Z37 shown in this figure and the wheels 35 are provided on the side portions of the inlet movable lower clamps and when a pair of forward wheels 35 slide and advance to the cut portions, the inle~ lower clamp 15a may be 05 slightly pivoted in the hori20ntal dirPction as in the case of Fig. 11, a.
In Fig. 11, c, a reference numeral 33 shows two fixed ~uide members provided on the base and a reference numeral lSa shows the supporting member of the movable inlet lower clamp, wherein the rearward end portions have ~he cut portions as shown in this figure.
Two pair of wheels 35 are provided on the fixed guide members 33. When the supporting member 15a of the movable inlet lower clamp is forwardly moved and the cut portions thereof come to the rearward wheels 35, the in].et lower clamp lSa may be slightly pivoted in the horizontal direction as in the case of Fig. 11, a.
In Fig. 11, d, a reference numeral 33 shows a fixed guide member provided on the base 33 which is provided with two pair of wheels 35 and a reference numeral lSa shows movable supporting members 15a of the inlet lower clamp, which have the cut portions a-t the rearward end portions as shown in this ~igure. When said movable supporting members are forwardly move~ and ~s the cut portions of said supporting members come -to the rearward wheels 35, the inlet lower clamp 15a may be slightly pivoted in the horizontal direction as in the above described former cases.
~3L7;~7 With re-ference to Figs. 12 and 13, the laser torch 4 will be explained below.
A reference numeral 201 is a condenser which is at~ached to a -torch 202. A reference numeral 203 is 05 a blacket attached to the torch 20~ and engaged with the screw axis 204 at i.ts other end. The screw shaf-t 204 is supported by -the bearing 205 at both ends thereof and connected to a motor 206. A reference numeral 207 is a torch holder which is adapted to ascend and descend while being guided by a guide means 208. This torch holder 20`7 also serves to guide the ascending and clescending of -the torch 202. A cylinder 209 is attached to a reflector hase 210 and adapted to ascend and descend the torch holder 207. Reference n-umerals 211 and 212 are bender mirrors attached to the reflector base 210, and adapted to bend the laser beam to a desired direction. The reflector base 210 is guided by a carriage 214 and can be moved in a direction perpendic~lar to the torch running direc-tion by a motor ~not shown).
The carriage 214 is adapted to be moved in a direction perpendicular to the processing line by means of a guide means 215, a motor 216, a screw shaft 217 connected to the motor 216, bearings 218 of the screw ~haft 217, and a nut 219 screwed to the screw shaft 217.
A center clamp 300 will be explained with reference to Figs. 3, 14 and 15.
~Z~7Z3'7 The center clamp 300 is arranged at a side opposite to the laser torch at the butting portion of the preceding and trailing steel strip edge portions, and includes a backing bar 301 provided with a bag-like 05 groove 302. The center clamp further comprises cylinders 303, guide rods 304 and guides 305, and i5 adapted to be contacted with or separated from the back face of the strips to be jointed. Reference nwmerals 306, 307 and 308 are a backing bar supporting base, a light o absorbing member, and a coolant passage respectively.
The backing bar 301 is designed to have such a size that the preceding steel strip and the trailing steel strip are fully sandwiched between it and the upper clamps 12a and 12b when elevated.
This bag-like groove 302 prevents the laser beam passed through the weld zone from reflecting and dispersing to the outside and further the safety is assured by preventing the laser beam from leaking to the outside by the provision of a light absorbing member 307 onto the face of a supporting base 306 onto which the laser beam is irradiated.
~ urther, since the edge portions of the preceding and trailing steel strips are clamped be-tween the upper clamps 12a and 12b and -the backing bar 301 2S during the butting, the deformation of the strip tip portions as shown in Fig. 15 can be avoided.
The operation of the apparatus according to the present invention will be explained with reference ~ ~ w~
to Fi~s. :L7(a)-l~(f) below.
~ hen the edge portions of the preceding steel strip and the ~railing steel strip are fed and stopped at predetermined locations, the cylinders 14a and l~b 05 of the inlet an~ outlet clamps 3a and 3b are actuated to clamp the preceding steel strip and the trailing steel s-trip between the clamping means. Next, the cylinder 8a is actuated to lit the lower blade 8 [Fig. 17(a)~.
0 (2) The cylinder 7a is actuated -to descend the upper blade 7 to cut the edge portions of the preceding steel strip and the trailing steel strip [Fig. 17(b)].
(3) The cylinder 7a is reversely actuated to lift and retract the upper blade 7 and the cylinder 8a is actuated to descend the lower blade 8. Then, the cylinder 9 is actuated to move the shear 2 to a retracted position on the non-operation side [Fig. 17(c)].
(~) The cylinder 16 is actuated to advance the inlet clamp 3a, and when the top o- the -trailing steel strip approaches the tail edge portion of the preceding steel strip [Fig. 17(d)], a cylinder 303 of a center clamp 300 is actuated to clamp the steel strips between the upper clamps 12a and 12b and the center clamp 300 CFig. 17(e)~. Next, the inlet clamp is further advanced to complete the butting of the steel strips [Fig. 17(f)].
The edge portions of the steel strips are prevented from being deformed as shown in Fig. 16 by clamping the edge portions between the e~tended tip ~Z~3~
portians of the upper clamps and the center clamp.
Thus, an excellerit welded joint is obtained.
When the top portions of the advanci.ng guides of the inlet clamp are tapered so as -to allow the steel 05 strip to be slightly pivoted in a horiæontal plane and the position of the stopper which res-trains the advance of the tra.iling steel strip, is set to be slightly larger than the distance between the cut edge faces of the strip , the butting load is applied onto the edge portions of the steel strips and as the result, iE the distance of the cut steel strips is different in the transverse direc-tion of the steel strip, the inlet clamp may be pivoted as shown ln Figs. 21(a) and 21(b) and both the edges of the steel strips come in contact with each other so that the gap becomes smaller than the case where the butting is carried out through advancing the cut steel strip by only the predetermined distance .
Consequently, the joints having mare stable and higher strength can be obtained.
Even if the distance between the edges of the cut strip.s varies a little, the steel strips are tightly b~ltted with substantially no gap therebetween by setting the distance between the stopper 1~ and the bent por-tion of the gui.de 17 slightly wider than the distance between the cut edges of the strips. Further 9 with respect to the deviation from the straight line of ~he cut lines, the gap can be made smaller by rotating the inlet 7Z~7 clamp. Although the trailing steel strip is sli~htly inclined to the line owing to the pivotal movement o~
the inlet clamp, this is around 0.lmm/l,OOOmm, and no problem is caused.
05 It is importan~ to approach the gap value as near to zero as possible in the case of the laser butt welding.
(5) The motor 216 is actuated to drive ~he laser torch in the transverse direction of the steel strip.
o In the way, when a detector not shown detects the side end of the strip, a shutter housed in -the laser oscillator 1 is opened to irradiate the laser beam onto the side of the laser torch 4. The laser beam is bent in a direction parallel to the line by means of a reflector 211, and is next bent in a direction vertical to the line by means of a reflector 212 and then passed through the condenser 201 to be focused onto a weld zone and to commerse the welding. The laser torch is run in the transverse direction of the strip, and the shutter is closed when the other strip side end is sensed by means of the side end detector to stop the irradiation of the laser beam. Then, the -torch is carried to the retracted position and stopped.
~y once changing the laser beam path in 2S parallel to the line in the laser torch 4, the focused position in the line direction of the laser beam path posterior to the reflector 212 can be varied merely by horizontally shifting the laser torch 4 in the line ~7~
direction.
Particularly, when the laser beam or the like is -used, th~ beam path may be slightly varied depending upon the circumferential temperature, a leading period 05 of time of the oscillator, a ~emperature of the reflector, and the like, and consequently there is the possibility ~hat the beam point focused by the condenser is shift slightly. Since the shift component of the focus in the direction perpendicular to the processing lo line is no problems because it is in a weld line, while if the focus is shifted in the direction parallel to the line, it is deviated from the butting line to form weld profile as shown in Fig. 22. Since this form of the joint has a notch in the lower side, it is weak in bending and unacceptable. For this reason, it is extremely important to control the focus location in the direc-tion parallel to -the line in using the laser butt welding apparatus. According to the laser butt welding apparatus of the invention, in order to facilitate the positioning of the focus in the line direction, the laser beam path is bent in parallel to the line at least one time and then the optical sys~em a:Eter such a bending step is moved to a horizontal.
direction, whereby the focus can be moved in a direction parallel to the line by the same distance as the moved amount of the optical system without moving the focus to the vertical direction and the direction perpendicular to the line and the operation for positioni.ng the focus ~23L72;37 can be very easily effected.
In the following, other embodiments of optical system adapted to bend the laser beam path to the direction parallel to the line at least one time will 05 be explained hereinafter.
In Fi~. 23, a reference numeral 401 is a first reflector adapted to bend the laser beam 213 incident thereupon in a direction perpendicular to the line, in the vertical direction to the line~ a re~erence lo numeral 402 is a second reflector adapted to bend the laser beam thus vertically bent in the direction parallel to the line, and a reference numeral 403 is a condensing reflector adapted to focus the laser beam in parallel to the line -thus bent, at a weld æone.
Merely by horizontally displacing the laser torch 202 in the line direction, the focus is shifted by the same distance as this displacement only in the direction parallel to the line without being shifted in the vertica~ direction or perpendicular direction to the line~
The focusing is carried out by moving the re~lector 402 and the condensing reflector 403 as one set in a vertical direction.
Fig. 24 shows another embodiment -using a condensing reflector.
A reference numeral 501 is a first reflector adapted -to bend the laser beam 213 incident thereupon in the direction perpendicular to the line, in the ~Z~ 37 direction parallel to the line, a reference numeral 502 is a second reflector adap-ted to vertically bend ~he laser beam thus ben-t, in the direction parallel to t'he line, a reference numeral 503 is a third reflector 05 adapted to 'bend the thus vertically bent laser beam in the direction parallel -to the line, and a reference numeral 504 i5 a condensing reflector adapted to focus the laser beam at the weld zone.
According to this embodiment~ by displacing the condensing ref~ector 504 in the direction parallel to the line, the focus point is horizontally shifted by the same distanc~ as displacement of the condenser reflector in the parallel direction to the line without being displaced vertically or in the direction perpen-dicular to the line.
The focusing is carried out by verticallyshifting the reflector 503 and the condensing mirror as one set.
(6) When the welding is completed, the upper clamps of the inlet and outlet clamps are lif'ted to release the edge portions of the preceding and -trailing steel strips, and the passing of the steel strip starts.
Subsequently, the cylinder 209 is actuated to lift and return the laser torch to the original position, ancl the other means are returned to their original locations. Thereby, one weld process is completed.
In the above described step (3) for cutting the steel strips, it is par-ticularly important that the ~L2~23~
cut lines formed through the above cutting operation are in parallel to each other and straight in the case of the laser butt welding. That is, when the laser beam is condensed by the condenser, the diameter of the 05 laser beam at the focus is varied according to the focal length of the condenser, for instance, when a condenser having a focal leng-th of 5 inches is used, said diameter is as extremely small as 0.15 mm.
Therefore, according to the laser bu-tt welding, i~ is possible to increase the energy density and to ef~ect a high speed welding, but an extremely high precision is required in butting of the materials to be welded.
If the cut lines of the materials to be welded are curved, a clearance remains even if the butting is effected at a very high precision. In general, when the steel plate is cut by means of a raked shear (guillotine shear, rotary shear or the like~, the cut line is more or less curved as shown in Fig~ 19 in a transverse direction of the plate. The curved degree of the cut line depends upon the material, clamping way, shear or the like, but it is observed that the cut line is curved at about 0.1 mm in the case of a steel plate having a thickness of 1.0~3.0 mm. Thus, even if such curved-edge steel strips are butt-welded, no welded joints having satisfactory strength can be obtained.
According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a set of steel strips having parallel ~7~37 and nearly straight cut lines by clamping the edge portions of the steel strips between the upper clamps 12a and 12b which are more extended toward the shear than the lower clamps 15a and 15b and the upper end portion of the lower blade 8. Fig. 18 shows the relation of the distance Q from the edge of the upper clamp to the tip face of -the upper blade to a value aG obtained by subtracting the minimum cut gap (Gmin) from the maximum cut gap (Gmax) among the cut gaps measured in the transverse direction of the strip (see Fig. 19).
Table 1 shows the results obtained when ~he above described cut edge portions are butted and the butted portion i5 subjected to the laser butt welding.
Table 1 (Tensile test) Plat 1.0 1.6 2.2 3.0 Distance ~ ~ x x x 10 - o o Q _ x o o - o o 3 _ o o _ o - - o Note: o Rupture of base metal Rupture of base metal or welded joint x Rupture of welded joint ~2~Z37 From the ~bove data, it can be seen that the e~cellent welding is possible in a range of Q being not more than 7 rnm. In a range of 7<Q_15, the rupture at the welded portion is likely to be caused and there is 05 problem in plate-passing, rolling or other processing steps of the strip. In Fig. 18, the zones (a), (b) and (c) correspond to the steel strips having thickness (t) of 1.0 mm, 1.6 mm and 3.0 mm respectively. The welding conditions in the test of Table 1 are as follows, that is a laser power is 1 kw, the materials are cold-rolled steel stri.p and hot-rolled steel strip (low carbon steel) and the welding speed is 1.0-3.0 m/min.
In the Table 1, the marks (~) means that the tensile strength when the welded joint portion is ruptured, is about 80-100% of that of the base metal and the mark (x) means about 40-80% thereof.
'rhus, the steel s-trips of the mark (~) satisfactorily endure the plate-passing in the processing line~ while a part of the steel strips of the mark (x) (Q=10, t-3.0 mm~ has the tensile strength near 80% oE
that of the base metal and therefore, they also satisfactorily endure the plate-passing in the processing 1 lne .
When the Q can not be set to be not more than lO mm for the reason that the extended portion of -the upper clamp interferes with a nozzle portion of the laser torch, the following system is proposed.
Fig. 20 shows a relation between the tan ~ in which
- 2~ -7~37 is the rake angle of the share upper blades and the above described value ~G.
From these results, it is understood that the smaller tan ~ a rake angle), the smaller is the 05 curve of the cut lines and as the results the welding results are better. According to the test results it has been found that when the range of the tan ~
rake angle) is 35 ooot~ in which t denotes the thickness of the steel strip, the strength of the joints is high.
Fig. 20 is an example when Q is 15 mm. In the case of Q=12 mm or 20 mm, similar results were obtained.
~ ven when Q is no-t more than 10 mm, the curve of the cut line may be more reduced by making the rake angle tan ~ smaller and the good welded joint can be stably obtained.
The smaller the rake angle tan ~, the smaller the curve of the cut line is, but -the shearing-cut Eorce becomes larger with increase in tan ~ and the strength of -the frame strength is needed and the equipment cost is increased.
ThereEore, the lower limit for the practical range of tan ~ i5 about 4 t/l,000. That is, the lower limit is 2.4/1,000 in the case of 0.6 mm in thickness, 12~1,000 in the case of 3 mm in thickness and 18/1,000 in the case of 4.5 mm in thickness.
Next, the use of the station 100 for checking the performance of the optical system will be explained below:
23~
The condensing performance of the condenser is deteriorated owing to a long period of time of use, or said condenser is broken or damaged due to the spattered metal. Therefore, the condenser should be 05 exchanged at a specific time interval or at an irregular time interval. At such a time, the tip portion of the condenser is removed and a fresh one is attached.
In this exchanging operation9 the welding apparatus restores the normal sta-te, and becomes applicable in o the processing line. Usually, the deterioration period of the condensing performance is not constant, and the usable time period is unclear. Further, there is no way to detect the deterioration degree of the condenser other than the difference between the laser power of the laser beam prior to and after passing through the condenser or the variation of the depth of the laser beam penetrated. In addition, it is also necessary to check whether the fresh one which is exchanged exhibits a predet~rmined performance or not. If such checking operations are carried out on the line, the line operation must be stopped during such checking.
For solving the above drawbacks, according to the inventionl the station 100 for checking the performances of the optical system is provided at a position on the line extended from the laser torch running line, where the passing of the steel strip is not interrupted, so that the above described working for the condenser can be carried out during the time - ~6 -~2~7~37 when the steel strips are passed on the line, whereby the productivity is increase~.
Ihe s-tation for checking the perfarmances of the optical system is used as follows:
05 First, the laser torch 4 stopped at a pre-determined retracted position on the operational side is carried to the station for checking the performances of the optical system by actuating a motor 216. Mext, a sample plate 103 is placed on a table lOl, and sec-ured onto the table by means of press plates lO~ and bolts lO5. Then, the laser torch is run over the sample plate to irradiate said plate with the laser beam and then the color of the reflected beam and the depth of the weld penetration are checked and it is checked whether the focus of the condenser is proper or not or whether the condensing performance has been deteriorated or no-t. This station can ~e utilized to check as to whether the distribution of the laser beam energy intensity is proper or not, and the deviation of the laser beam a~is from -the butted line.
Fig. 6(b) is another embodiment of the station Eor checking the performances of the optical system in which the lower portion of the slit is closed for preventing the penetration or scattering of the laser beam.
The following Table 2 shows the comparison of the welding time of the laser butt welding according to the invention with the TIG arc welding. The comparison ~2~23~
was made with respec-t to two kinds of steel strips having a thickness of 1.O mm and 2.3 mm. The laser power is 1.3 kw and torch-running distance in the laser butt welding and TIG arc welding is 1.5 m. It is under-stood from this table that with respect to the same thickness of the steel strips, the welding time in the laser butt welding is less than 0.5 time as short as that of the TIG arc welding.
Table 2 _ - (1) (2) (1)+(2) Welding Plate Laser Welding Welding Operating Total thickness power speed time ti~e ~th~d (mm) (~w) (cm/min) (sec) (`~ (sec) TIG 2.3 4 30 130 30 210 TIG 1.0 2 60 90 30 120 Laser b~ltt 2.3 1 150 60 30 90 (Invention) Laser butt l.O 1 500 20 30 50 (Invention) _ Laser butt 2.3 3 400 25 30 55 (Invention) _ The following Table 3 shows the test results obtained in the -tensile tests with respect to the welded portions of various steel strips by using the laser butt welding apparatus according to the present invention. The width of the test steel strip is 914-1,067 mm, and five test pieces are cut off in the ~Z~3~
width direction and the tes-t is made with respec-t to these test pieces. In all the test pieces, the rupture occurs at -the base metal and the welding strength is excellen-t.
Table 3 Mechanical property of laser welded joints (Laser power 1 kw) Tensile strength Steel (mm) speed Tensile Location (m/min) (kg/mm2) of rupture Mild 1~0 4.0 31 Base metal High--tensile 1.0 4.0 40 ..
... .
Galvanized 0.9 3.5 31 -. .
Silicon 2.0 1.25 60 ,.
.
SUS304 2.0 1.25 62 ..
Stainless SIJS430 1.0 4.0 49__ Figs. 25(a)and 25(b) are photographs showing micro-structure of the sections of the welded portions :in the cases of the laser b~ltt welding and the TIG arc welding respectively. In Fig. 25(a), the thickness of the steel strip is 2.0 mm, the laser power is 1 kw and the welding speecl is 1.25 m/min. In Fig. 25(b), the thickness of the steel strip is 2.0 mm, the electric power is 3.8 kw and the welding speed is 0.5 m/min.
From the comparison it can be seen that the structure in the case of the laser b-utt welding is more fine than that of the TIG arc welding and -therefore the welcling strength is higher in the case of the laser butt welding according to the invention. Further, i-t can be seen that the -profile of the weld portion is small in 05 unevenness in the laser butt welding than in the TIG
arc welding.
The invention can exhibit the following merits:
(l) The welding time can be reduced.
(2) The productivity is higher.
From these results, it is understood that the smaller tan ~ a rake angle), the smaller is the 05 curve of the cut lines and as the results the welding results are better. According to the test results it has been found that when the range of the tan ~
rake angle) is 35 ooot~ in which t denotes the thickness of the steel strip, the strength of the joints is high.
Fig. 20 is an example when Q is 15 mm. In the case of Q=12 mm or 20 mm, similar results were obtained.
~ ven when Q is no-t more than 10 mm, the curve of the cut line may be more reduced by making the rake angle tan ~ smaller and the good welded joint can be stably obtained.
The smaller the rake angle tan ~, the smaller the curve of the cut line is, but -the shearing-cut Eorce becomes larger with increase in tan ~ and the strength of -the frame strength is needed and the equipment cost is increased.
ThereEore, the lower limit for the practical range of tan ~ i5 about 4 t/l,000. That is, the lower limit is 2.4/1,000 in the case of 0.6 mm in thickness, 12~1,000 in the case of 3 mm in thickness and 18/1,000 in the case of 4.5 mm in thickness.
Next, the use of the station 100 for checking the performance of the optical system will be explained below:
23~
The condensing performance of the condenser is deteriorated owing to a long period of time of use, or said condenser is broken or damaged due to the spattered metal. Therefore, the condenser should be 05 exchanged at a specific time interval or at an irregular time interval. At such a time, the tip portion of the condenser is removed and a fresh one is attached.
In this exchanging operation9 the welding apparatus restores the normal sta-te, and becomes applicable in o the processing line. Usually, the deterioration period of the condensing performance is not constant, and the usable time period is unclear. Further, there is no way to detect the deterioration degree of the condenser other than the difference between the laser power of the laser beam prior to and after passing through the condenser or the variation of the depth of the laser beam penetrated. In addition, it is also necessary to check whether the fresh one which is exchanged exhibits a predet~rmined performance or not. If such checking operations are carried out on the line, the line operation must be stopped during such checking.
For solving the above drawbacks, according to the inventionl the station 100 for checking the performances of the optical system is provided at a position on the line extended from the laser torch running line, where the passing of the steel strip is not interrupted, so that the above described working for the condenser can be carried out during the time - ~6 -~2~7~37 when the steel strips are passed on the line, whereby the productivity is increase~.
Ihe s-tation for checking the perfarmances of the optical system is used as follows:
05 First, the laser torch 4 stopped at a pre-determined retracted position on the operational side is carried to the station for checking the performances of the optical system by actuating a motor 216. Mext, a sample plate 103 is placed on a table lOl, and sec-ured onto the table by means of press plates lO~ and bolts lO5. Then, the laser torch is run over the sample plate to irradiate said plate with the laser beam and then the color of the reflected beam and the depth of the weld penetration are checked and it is checked whether the focus of the condenser is proper or not or whether the condensing performance has been deteriorated or no-t. This station can ~e utilized to check as to whether the distribution of the laser beam energy intensity is proper or not, and the deviation of the laser beam a~is from -the butted line.
Fig. 6(b) is another embodiment of the station Eor checking the performances of the optical system in which the lower portion of the slit is closed for preventing the penetration or scattering of the laser beam.
The following Table 2 shows the comparison of the welding time of the laser butt welding according to the invention with the TIG arc welding. The comparison ~2~23~
was made with respec-t to two kinds of steel strips having a thickness of 1.O mm and 2.3 mm. The laser power is 1.3 kw and torch-running distance in the laser butt welding and TIG arc welding is 1.5 m. It is under-stood from this table that with respect to the same thickness of the steel strips, the welding time in the laser butt welding is less than 0.5 time as short as that of the TIG arc welding.
Table 2 _ - (1) (2) (1)+(2) Welding Plate Laser Welding Welding Operating Total thickness power speed time ti~e ~th~d (mm) (~w) (cm/min) (sec) (`~ (sec) TIG 2.3 4 30 130 30 210 TIG 1.0 2 60 90 30 120 Laser b~ltt 2.3 1 150 60 30 90 (Invention) Laser butt l.O 1 500 20 30 50 (Invention) _ Laser butt 2.3 3 400 25 30 55 (Invention) _ The following Table 3 shows the test results obtained in the -tensile tests with respect to the welded portions of various steel strips by using the laser butt welding apparatus according to the present invention. The width of the test steel strip is 914-1,067 mm, and five test pieces are cut off in the ~Z~3~
width direction and the tes-t is made with respec-t to these test pieces. In all the test pieces, the rupture occurs at -the base metal and the welding strength is excellen-t.
Table 3 Mechanical property of laser welded joints (Laser power 1 kw) Tensile strength Steel (mm) speed Tensile Location (m/min) (kg/mm2) of rupture Mild 1~0 4.0 31 Base metal High--tensile 1.0 4.0 40 ..
... .
Galvanized 0.9 3.5 31 -. .
Silicon 2.0 1.25 60 ,.
.
SUS304 2.0 1.25 62 ..
Stainless SIJS430 1.0 4.0 49__ Figs. 25(a)and 25(b) are photographs showing micro-structure of the sections of the welded portions :in the cases of the laser b~ltt welding and the TIG arc welding respectively. In Fig. 25(a), the thickness of the steel strip is 2.0 mm, the laser power is 1 kw and the welding speecl is 1.25 m/min. In Fig. 25(b), the thickness of the steel strip is 2.0 mm, the electric power is 3.8 kw and the welding speed is 0.5 m/min.
From the comparison it can be seen that the structure in the case of the laser b-utt welding is more fine than that of the TIG arc welding and -therefore the welcling strength is higher in the case of the laser butt welding according to the invention. Further, i-t can be seen that the -profile of the weld portion is small in 05 unevenness in the laser butt welding than in the TIG
arc welding.
The invention can exhibit the following merits:
(l) The welding time can be reduced.
(2) The productivity is higher.
(3) It is possible to weld almost all kinds of the steels, for instance, special steels such as silicon steel, stainless steel or the like, a plated steel such as a galvanized steel sheet or the like, and high tensile strength steels by using the laser butt welding apparatus according to the invention.
~4~ Since no bead at the weld portion is formed, the formation of faults caused in coiling can be reduced.
(5) The strength a-t the welded portions i5 improved, so that no rupture of the welded portion occurs in the line.
~5
~4~ Since no bead at the weld portion is formed, the formation of faults caused in coiling can be reduced.
(5) The strength a-t the welded portions i5 improved, so that no rupture of the welded portion occurs in the line.
~5
Claims (10)
1. A laser butt welding apparatus comprising a pair of clamp means of an inlet clamp means and an outlet clamp means, at least one of which is movable forward and rearward along the steel strip-feed line direction and which are adapted to clamp the edge portions of a preceding steel strip and a trailing steel strip, each of said inlet and outlet clamp means having an upper clamp and a lower clamp, a shear which is advanceable and retractable between the pair of the clamp means in a perpendicular direction to the line and cuts the edge portions of the preceding and trailing steel strips, means for butting the cut faces of the preceding and trailing steel strips while being clamped by means of the clamp means, and a laser torch mounting a bender mirror adapted to bend a laser beam irradiated from a laser oscillator placed on an off-line and a condenser adapted to condense the laser beam reflected by the bender mirror at a weld zone, which is movable in a transverse direction of steel strips to be jointed.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the laser torch is equipped with an optical system by which the laser beam is straightly run in a direction parallel to the steel strip-feed line at least one time when the laser beam is fed to the weld zone from the laser oscillator.
3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical system comprises a reflector adapted to bend the laser beam incident thereupon in the perpen-dicular direction to the line into a direction parallel to the line, a reflector adapted to vertically bend the laser beam bent in the direction parallel to the line, and a condenser adapted to focalize the thus vertically bent laser beam at the weld zone.
4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical system comprises a reflector adapted to vertically bend the laser beam incident thereupon in the perpendicular direction to the line, a reflector adapted to bend the vertically bent laser beam in the direction parallel to the line, and a condensing reflector adapted to focalize the laser beam thus bent in the direction parallel to the line at the weld zone.
5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical system comprises a reflector adapted to bend the laser beam incident thereupon in the direction perpendicular to the line into the direction parallel to the line, a reflector adapted to vertically bend the laser beam thus bent in the direction parallel to the line, a reflector adapted to introduce the thus vertically bent laser beam to a condensing reflector, and the condensing reflector which focalizes the laser beam to the weld zone.
6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein tip portions of the upper clamps of the inlet and outlet clamp means are extended over those of the lower clamps so that the edge portions of the steel strips are sandwiched between the said extended portions and the upper edges of the lower blades of the shear, and a distance between the tip of the extended portion and the side edge of the upper blade is not more than 10 mm.
7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein tan .alpha. of the upper blades of the shear in which .alpha.
is a rake angle is not more than in which t is a thickness (mm) of the steel strips.
is a rake angle is not more than in which t is a thickness (mm) of the steel strips.
8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the butting means comprises fixed guide member(s) adapted to move and guide the movable clamp means in the steel strip-feed line; supporting member(s) of the movable clamp means which is in a sliding relation to the guide member(s); a pair of wheels provided at each of a forward position and a rearward position of the supporting member(s) of the movable clamp means or the fixed guide member(s), by which the guide member(s) and the supporting member(s) of the clamp means are in the sliding relation; and a drive means by which the supporting member(s) of the movable clamp means is slidden with respect to the above described guide member(s); and top end portion of the fixed guide member(s) or rear end portion of the supporting member(s) of the clamp means having cut portions which form clearance between the forward wheels and the movable clamp means, so as to allow the movable clamp means to be slightly pivoted in a horizontal direction and to reduce gap between the butted steel strips, when a cut edge face of the steel strip clamped by the movable clamp means contacts with a cut edge face of a preceding steel strip.
9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said apparatus comprises a station adapted for checking the performances of an optical system for irradiate the laser beam on the weld zone and arranged on a line extended from the laser torch running path.
10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the upper clamps of the inlet and outlet clamps have an extension portions over the lower clamps, and said apparatus comprises a center clamp which is arranged under the butting portion of the steel strips and accessible thereto and adapted to clamp the edge portions of the steel strips between said extension portions and the upper edges of the center clamps.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000448455A CA1217237A (en) | 1984-02-28 | 1984-02-28 | Apparatus for butt welding steel strips by using a laser beam in a steel strip-processing line |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000448455A CA1217237A (en) | 1984-02-28 | 1984-02-28 | Apparatus for butt welding steel strips by using a laser beam in a steel strip-processing line |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1217237A true CA1217237A (en) | 1987-01-27 |
Family
ID=4127291
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000448455A Expired CA1217237A (en) | 1984-02-28 | 1984-02-28 | Apparatus for butt welding steel strips by using a laser beam in a steel strip-processing line |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1217237A (en) |
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US7243028B2 (en) | 2004-06-14 | 2007-07-10 | Weatherford/Lamb, Inc. | Methods and apparatus for reducing electromagnetic signal noise |
| CN110125541A (en) * | 2018-02-07 | 2019-08-16 | 三星显示有限公司 | Laser engagement device |
-
1984
- 1984-02-28 CA CA000448455A patent/CA1217237A/en not_active Expired
Cited By (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US7243028B2 (en) | 2004-06-14 | 2007-07-10 | Weatherford/Lamb, Inc. | Methods and apparatus for reducing electromagnetic signal noise |
| CN110125541A (en) * | 2018-02-07 | 2019-08-16 | 三星显示有限公司 | Laser engagement device |
| CN110125541B (en) * | 2018-02-07 | 2023-02-17 | 三星显示有限公司 | Laser bonding apparatus |
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