JP2017148837A - Wire processing method and wire processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve working efficiency of the whole wire production process by joining surface-processed prescribed-length wires to obtain a continuous wire.SOLUTION: A wire processing method includes a cutting process of providing several times, the divided prescribed-length wires 41 by cutting a wire 20, and a surface processing process of applying a prescribed surface processing on the surface of the divided wire 41 provided from the cutting process to obtain a processed wire 51. Further, the method includes a joining process of joining the processed wire 51 processed by the surface processing process and a continuous wire 76 by a joint part 70. Thereby, it becomes possible to efficiently carry out a desired post-processing for the obtained continuous wire 76.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a wire processing method and a wire processing system for manufacturing a wire having a predetermined length and subjected to a predetermined surface processing.

  A medical wire such as a guide wire is manufactured by being subjected to various processes so as to have desired characteristics (high delivery performance in a living body lumen). For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a wire processing system that changes the rigidity of a wire in the axial direction by rotating the wire of a predetermined length around the axis and grinding the surface thereof.

US Pat. No. 7,429,208

  By the way, in the manufacture of a wire, after performing the surface processing as described above, the wire (processed wire) is further post-processed. For example, in the manufacture of a medical guide wire, post-processing steps such as washing the processed wire, shaping the processed wire, and covering the outer layer are performed according to the manufactured product. In this type of post-processing, there is a problem that it takes time and effort because each of the processed wires having a predetermined length is processed individually.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a wire processing method and a wire processing system that can improve the work efficiency of the entire wire manufacturing process.

  In order to achieve the above object, a wire processing method according to the present invention includes a cutting step of cutting a continuous wire to form a predetermined length of wire, and providing the wire a plurality of times, and a predetermined surface on the surface of the wire. And a surface processing step for obtaining a processed wire by joining the processed wires, and a joining step for joining the processed wires to obtain a continuous line.

  In order to achieve the above object, a wire processing method according to the present invention includes a surface processing step of obtaining a processed wire by performing a predetermined surface processing on the surface of the wire, and joining the processed wires together. And a joining step for obtaining a continuous line.

  According to the above, in the wire processing method, after the surface processing step, a desired post-processing is performed on the continuous line obtained by the joining step by performing a joining step of joining the processed wires to obtain a continuous line. Can be implemented efficiently. That is, conventionally, it has been common to perform post-processing on a processed wire that has been subjected to surface processing after a continuous wire has been cut, but the wire processing method according to the present invention is separated. The processed wire that is being worked on is joined to make a continuous line. Thereby, since post-processing can be implemented with respect to a continuous line, work efficiency can be improved as the whole manufacturing process of a wire.

  In this case, in the joining step, while the processed wire is transported along the production line, the rear end in the transport direction of the preceding wire that is the processed wire relatively positioned on the downstream side of the production line; It is preferable to join the front end of the subsequent wire, which is the processed wire, located relatively upstream of the production line.

  Thus, by joining the downstream end in the transport direction of the preceding wire on the downstream side and the front end in the transport direction on the upstream side of the subsequent wire, it is possible to reduce the unevenness that occurs in the joint portion. The post-processing can be performed satisfactorily.

  Further, in the joining step, the rear end in the transport direction and the front end in the transport direction are brought into contact with each other by bringing a first grip portion that grips the preceding wire and a second grip portion that grips the subsequent wire close to each other. The contact portion may be welded by a welding device.

  Thus, the continuous wire can be efficiently formed by contacting the rear end in the transport direction of the preceding wire and the front end in the transport direction of the subsequent wire based on the proximity of the first grip portion and the second grip portion and welding the contact portion. And it can be formed beautifully.

  Furthermore, after the surface processing step, a cleaning step for removing dust adhering to the surface of the processed wire may be performed.

  As described above, since the dust is removed from the surface of the processed wire by performing the cleaning process, the dust is scattered at the position where the processed wire is gripped, the joining position of the preceding wire and the succeeding wire, or the like. A decrease in accuracy can be suppressed.

  In order to achieve the above object, a wire processing system according to the present invention includes a cutting unit that cuts a continuous wire and provides a predetermined length of wire multiple times, and performs predetermined surface processing on the surface of the wire. It has a surface processing part which gives a processed wire, and a joined part which joins the processed wires and obtains a continuous line.

  According to the present invention, the wire processing method and the wire processing system can improve the work efficiency of the entire wire manufacturing process by joining a predetermined length of wire subjected to surface processing into a continuous line. .

FIG. 1A is a side view showing a guide wire manufactured by a wire processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a partial cross-sectional view taken along arrow IB in FIG. 1A. It is explanatory drawing which shows the whole structure of the wire processing system which manufactures the guide wire of FIG. 1A. 3A is a first explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of the cutting unit in FIG. 2, and FIG. 3B is a second explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of the cutting unit subsequent to FIG. 3A. 4A is a third explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of the cutting unit subsequent to FIG. 3B, and FIG. 4B is a fourth explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of the cutting unit subsequent to FIG. 4A. FIG. 5A is a first explanatory view showing the operation of the surface processed portion of FIG. 2, and FIG. 5B is a second explanatory view showing the operation of the surface processed portion following FIG. 5A. FIG. 6A is a third explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of the surface processing unit following FIG. 5B, and FIG. 6B is a fourth explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of the surface processing unit following FIG. 6A. FIG. 7A is a first explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of the joint of FIG. 2, and FIG. 7B is a second explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of the joint following FIG. 7A. It is the 3rd explanatory view showing operation of a joined part following Drawing 7B. It is a flowchart which shows the wire processing method of the wire processing system of FIG.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the wire processing method and the wire processing system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  A wire processing system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is configured as an apparatus for manufacturing a medical guide wire 12 as shown in FIG. 1A. Of course, the wire processing system 10 according to the present invention is not limited to an apparatus for manufacturing the guide wire 12. For example, the wire processing system 10 can be applied to a manufacturing system that manufactures various wire products such as wire ropes and springs by performing appropriate modifications.

  In the following, first, the guide wire 12 will be described for easy understanding of the present invention. The guide wire 12 has a circular cross section and is formed into a line segment extending a predetermined length. The total length of the guide wire 12 is set to about 300 to 4000 mm, for example, depending on a living body lumen (for example, blood vessel) to be inserted and the content of treatment. Further, the outer diameter (thickness) of the guide wire is not particularly limited, and may be set in a range of, for example, 0.3 to 1.0 mm.

  The guide wire 12 is formed in a tapered shape that gradually becomes thinner from the midway position A in the axial direction (see FIG. 1A) toward the distal end in order to improve the delivery performance in the living body lumen. As a result, the guide wire 12 is configured to be flexible toward the distal direction, and is easily elastically deformed. In addition, a bending portion 14 is provided on the distal end side of the guide wire 12 to bend with respect to a linear axis on the proximal end side so that the delivery route can be easily selected. Furthermore, in order to obtain desired characteristics, the guide wire 12 has a wire body 16 constituting a core as shown in FIG. 1B and a covering portion 18 that is more flexible than the wire body 16 and covers the outer peripheral surface of the wire body 16. And a coaxial double structure.

  The material which comprises the wire main body 16 is not specifically limited, For example, stainless steel, Ni-Ti type alloy, Cu-Zn type alloy (Be, Si, Sn, Al, Ga may be included), Ni-Al type Metal materials such as alloys, cobalt-based alloys, and piano wires can be used. Alternatively, a resin material may be applied to the wire body 16.

  Moreover, the material which comprises the coating | coated part 18 is not specifically limited, For example, polyolefin, such as polyethylene and a polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyester (PET, PBT etc.), polyamide, a polyimide, a polyurethane, a polystyrene, a polycarbonate, a silicone resin, Examples thereof include fluorine-based resins (PTFE, ETFE, etc.), silicone rubber, various other elastomers, and composite materials thereof. The covering portion 18 may contain or be coated with a material that reduces friction. Examples of materials that reduce friction include hydrophilic materials such as cellulose polymer materials, polyethylene oxide polymer materials, maleic anhydride polymer materials, acrylamide polymer materials, water-soluble nylon, polyvinyl alcohol, and polyvinylpyrrolidone. Examples thereof include materials and hydrophobic materials.

  Needless to say, the guide wire 12 can take various forms other than the illustrated example. For example, the distal end side (or the whole) of the guide wire 12 may be formed in a coil shape, may not be provided with the bending portion 14, and may have a linear shape as a whole, or may not be provided with the covering portion 18 but only the wire body 16. It may be composed of

  And the wire processing system 10 which concerns on this embodiment performs the cutting | disconnection, surface processing, shaping, coating | cover (outer layer formation), etc. to the wire 20 which is the raw material of the wire main body 16, and the guide which provided the target characteristic. The wire 12 is manufactured. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the wire processing system 10 includes a wire material processing device 22 that performs cutting, surface processing, and joining of the wire material 20, and a device processed by the wire material processing device 22 (continuous line 76). And a post-processing device 24 for shaping, covering and recutting.

  The wire processing apparatus 22 includes a feeding unit 30, a cutting unit 40, a surface processing unit 50, a cleaning unit 60, a joining unit 70, and a winding unit 80 in this order from upstream to downstream of the production line. Each of these units 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 performs a predetermined operation under the control of the control unit 26 provided in the wire rod processing apparatus 22.

  On the other hand, the post-processing device 24 includes a shaping portion 90 that forms the bent portion 14 (see FIG. 1A) on the continuous line 76 formed earlier by the wire rod processing device 22, and a covering portion 18 (see FIG. 1B). ) And a post-processing cut portion 94 for cutting the continuous line 76. Note that the wire processing system 10 does not include the winding unit 80 of the wire rod processing device 22, and the configuration of the post-processing device 24 (the shaping unit 90, the outer layer forming unit 92, the post-processing cutting unit) on the downstream side of the joint 70. 94).

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the feeding portion 30 of the wire rod processing apparatus 22 includes an attachment portion 31 for setting the bobbin 28 around which the wire rod 20 is wound, and a plurality of rollers 32 provided on the downstream side of the attachment portion 31. . The wire 20 has a length equal to or longer than a plurality of wire bodies 16 (for example, several tens to several hundreds) in the initial state.

  The attachment portion 31 rotatably supports the bobbin 28. The plurality of rollers 32 form a conveyance path for conveying the wire 20 from the bobbin 28 with an appropriate pulling force. One of the plurality of rollers 32 can be displaced up and down, and is configured as a tension roller 32 a that applies tension to the wire 20 fed out from the bobbin 28. Near the tension roller 32a, a plurality of sensors 34 for detecting the height of the tension roller 32a are provided.

  Further, the feeding unit 30 includes a wire holding unit 33 provided on the downstream side of the plurality of rollers 32. The wire holding part 33 includes a moving body 35 having an upper end 35a capable of gripping the wire 20 and a rail 36 that arranges the moving body 35 on the upper side and guides its advancement and retreat. The upper end portion 35a of the moving body 35 supports the wire 20 so that it can be sent out in a non-gripping state in addition to gripping the wire 20. Under the control of the control unit 26, the moving body 35 grips the wire 20, advances to the downstream side (cutting unit 40), and causes the cutting unit side transport unit 42 of the cutting unit 40 to grip the wire 20. Thereafter, the moving body 35 shifts to the non-gripping state and moves backward on the rail 36 and returns to the upstream position.

  The cutting unit 40 provides the split wire 41 that forms the split wire 41 (see FIG. 4A) by cutting the wire 20 delivered from the feeding unit 30 by a predetermined length and supplies the split wire 41 to the surface processing unit 50 on the downstream side. Parts. The split wire 41 is formed to be slightly longer than the entire length of the guide wire 12 to be manufactured. The cutting unit 40 includes the above-described cutting unit side conveyance unit 42 and a cutting device 43 provided at a proximity position on the downstream side of the wire rod holding unit 33.

  The cutting unit side conveyance unit 42 conveys the wire 20 and the divided wires 41 in a straight line in the cutting unit 40. The cutting section side transport section 42 includes a moving body 44 having a lower end portion 44a capable of gripping the wire 20, a rail 45 that guides the moving body 44, a plate body 46 disposed below the rail 45, and a transport direction. And a guide member 47 disposed below the rail 45 on the downstream side.

  The moving body 44 is suspended from the rail 45 and advances and retreats along the rail 45 under the control of the control unit 26 by a driving source (not shown) and a wheel rotated by the driving source. The lower end portion 44a of the moving body 44 is configured as a gripper that can grip the wire 20 by sandwiching the wire 20 in the vertical direction. As a result, the moving body 44 conveys the wire 20 fed from the feeding unit 30 from the upstream side to the downstream side of the rail 45 with a predetermined height. Similarly to the moving body 35, the lower end 44a supports the wire 20 so that it can be fed out in a non-gripping state.

  The rail 45 is provided between the cutting device 43 and the surface processing unit 50 and extends longer than the entire length of the split wire 41. In addition, the structure of the cutting | disconnection part side conveyance part 42 is not limited to the said structure, Various structures, such as a linear motion type actuator (for example, a ball screw mechanism and a cylinder mechanism), can be employ | adopted.

  The cutting unit 40 cuts the wire 20 by the cutting device 43 at a predetermined cutting position C when the moving body 44 moves along the rail 45. Further, the plate body 46 supports the divided wires 41 and the wire 20 conveyed by the moving body 44 on the lower side, and suppresses the hanging of the divided wires 41.

  The guide member 47 is formed in a block shape having a guide hole 47a that tapers toward the downstream side in the transport direction, and is installed at a height facing the lower end portion 44a of the moving body 44. The guide member 47 adjusts the height by inserting the dividing wire 41 conveyed by the moving body 44 into the guide hole 47a, and passes it to the surface processing unit 50 on the downstream side in the conveyance direction.

  The cutting device 43 includes a cutter 48 that directly cuts the wire 20 and a pair of supports 49 that guide and hold the wire 20 linearly before and after the cutter 48 (upstream and downstream). The cutter 48 is formed in a material and shape that can form the cut surface of the wire 20 smoothly. The cutter 48 advances toward the wire 20 between the pair of supports 49 and cuts the wire 20 under the control of the control unit 26. The pair of support members 49 have a passage (not shown) at their upper end portions, and the wire rod 20 fed by the moving body 35 of the feeding portion 30 is inserted into the lower end portion 44a of the moving body 44 and the cutter 48 advances. Sometimes the inner diameter of the passage is narrowed to support the wire 20 with an appropriate force.

  The surface processing unit 50 provided on the downstream side of the cutting unit 40 is a mechanism that obtains the processed wire 51 by grinding (or polishing) the surface of the dividing wire 41 while rotating the dividing wire 41. Thereby, the taper shape of the front end side of the guide wire 12 is formed (see also FIG. 1A). As shown in FIG. 5A, the surface processing unit 50 includes a surface processing unit side transport unit 50A, a wire processing device 52 provided on the downstream side of the surface processing unit side transport unit 50A, and a predetermined transport path of the divided wires 41. And a wire support mechanism 53 provided over a range.

  50 A of surface process part side conveyance parts are functional parts which convey the division | segmentation wire 41 in the surface process part 50, for example, are comprised as a ball screw mechanism. In this case, the surface processing unit-side conveyance unit 50A includes a moving device 54 (slider) having an upper end portion 54a capable of gripping the split wire 41 and a screw shaft 55 to which the moving device 54 is attached via a nut (not shown). Prepare. The surface processing unit 50 is configured to perform surface processing on the split wire 41 by reciprocating the moving device 54 twice on the screw shaft 55.

  Specifically, a spindle 56 having a through hole 56 a through which the split wire 41 can be inserted and held is provided at the upper end portion 54 a of the moving device 54. In addition, the moving device 54 includes a rotation drive source 54b such as a motor and a pulley or the like in a housing formed in an L shape in a side view, and a drive transmission unit that transmits the rotational force of the rotation drive source 54b to the spindle 56. 54c.

  A chuck device (not shown) that can grip the surface of the split wire 41 (for example, a gripping mechanism in which a plurality of claws advance and retreat) is provided on the inner surface of the spindle 56 constituting the through hole 56a under the control of the control unit 26. Yes. As a result, the spindle 56 can grip the split wire 41 inserted through the through hole 56a, and can further rotate the split wire 41 in the gripped state, or can move relative to the split wire 41 in the unheld state.

  Since the split wire 41 is cut from the wire 20 and is shortened, the spindle 56 can rotate the split wire 41 around the axis (circumferential direction) at high speed. Although the rotation speed of the division | segmentation wire 41 is based also on the content of surface processing, etc., it is good in it being 4000 rpm or more, for example, Preferably it is 5000-10000 rpm. Thereby, the surface process with respect to the division | segmentation wire 41 can be performed in a short time.

  The moving device 54 stands by at the upstream position S1 of the screw shaft 55 (see FIG. 4B). When the dividing wire 41 is provided from the cutting unit 40, the moving device 54 first holds the dividing wire 41 by the chuck device. And based on the rotational drive of the screw shaft 55, it moves to the downstream position S2 close to the wire processing device 52 (see FIG. 5B: hereinafter also referred to as primary movement). Further, when the moving device 54 passes the distal end portion of the dividing wire 41 to the wire processing device 52, the moving device 54 returns to the upstream position S1 with the dividing wire 41 in a non-gripping state as shown in FIG. Grip again. In the gripping state of the proximal end portion of the split wire 41, the moving device 54 rotates the split wire 41 around the axis based on the rotation of the spindle 56 by the rotational drive source 54b, and further, the downstream position is under the rotational drive of the screw shaft 55. It moves again toward S2 (hereinafter also referred to as secondary movement). The wire processing device 52 performs surface processing of the split wire 41 during the secondary movement of the moving device 54.

  Specifically, the wire processing device 52 includes a grinding unit 57 that grinds the dividing wire 41, and a feeding unit 58 that is provided on the downstream side of the grinding unit 57 and that can send the dividing wire 41 to the downstream side in the conveying direction. including.

  The grinding unit 57 includes a holding body 57a provided on the downstream side of the surface processing unit side transport unit 50A, a grindstone 57b rotatably attached to the holding body 57a, and a rotation drive mechanism that rotates the grindstone 57b in the holding body 57a. 57c. The grindstone 57b is provided with, for example, a plurality (a pair) of disc-shaped ones, and rotates at a predetermined speed under the control of the control unit 26 and advances and retreats so as to narrow or widen the mutual gap. Then, the pair of grindstones 57b perform grinding by contacting the surface of the split wire 41 by narrowing the gap by a predetermined amount at a predetermined timing when the split wire 41 passes through the gap. A guide member 57d that guides between the pair of grindstones 57b through the dividing wire 41 is provided upstream of the grindstone 57b. The guide member 57d and the holding body 57a suppress blurring of the split wire 41 around the grindstone 57b when the split wire 41 is ground.

  The feeding portion 58 includes a rod portion 58a and a pair of sandwiching rollers 58b provided on both the upstream side and the downstream side of the rod portion 58a. The pair of sandwiching rollers 58b on the upstream side and the downstream side sandwich the split wire 41 (processed wire 51) sent from the grinding unit 57 up and down, and rotate by a drive source (not shown) under the control of the control unit 26. Then, the dividing wire 41 is fed out to the downstream side in the transport direction. In addition, the structure of the wire processing apparatus 52 is not specifically limited, You may apply the various apparatus which can perform surface processing to the division | segmentation wire 41. FIG.

  The split wire 41 is exposed to the downstream side through the guide member 57d and the holding body 57a during the primary movement of the moving device 54, and is sandwiched between the pair of sandwiching rollers 58b. Thereby, the dividing wire 41 is fixed, and the moving device 54 moves backward during this time. The dividing wire 41 moves at a predetermined speed downstream of the conveying direction by the pinching roller 58b sending out the dividing wire 41 along with the secondary movement of the moving device 54, and is further rotated about its axis by the spindle 56 of the moving device 54. Rotate to.

  The wire support mechanism 53 holds the surface (outer peripheral surface) of the split wire 41 rotatably during rotation around the axis of the split wire 41, and suppresses the breakage of the split wire 41. The wire support mechanism 53 can move forward and backward along the planned transport path of the split wire 41, and has a plurality of sliding plate portions 59 arranged in parallel along the axial direction of the screw shaft 55. The plurality of sliding plate portions 59 have an upper sliding portion 59a and a lower sliding portion 59b that face each other and sandwich the split wire 41 therebetween. The plurality of sliding plate portions 59 are individually controlled by the control unit 26 to open and close the upper sliding portion 59a and the lower sliding portion 59b.

  The upper sliding portion 59a and the lower sliding portion 59b of the sliding plate portion 59 support the dividing wire 41 with a low frictional force. As a constituent material of the upper slide part 59a and the lower slide part 59b, for example, polyacetal, fluorine resin, or the like may be applied. The wire support mechanism 53 is not particularly limited, and may take various configurations that can support the split wire 41 lightly and allow rotation around the axis. For example, the wire support mechanism 53 may be formed in a groove that can accommodate the split wire 41.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the cleaning unit 60 of the wire processing apparatus 52 performs a cleaning process to clean the processed wire 51 processed by the surface processing unit 50. For example, the cleaning unit 60 adheres to the cleaning unit side conveyance unit 61 configured similarly to the cutting unit side conveyance unit 42, the finishing unit 62 that polishes the surface of the processed wire 51, and the surface of the processed wire 51. And a blasting part 63 for blowing away the dust that is present. Further, the cleaning unit 60 includes a sliding plate portion 64 (wire support mechanism) similar to the surface processing unit 50 at predetermined intervals in order to support the long processed wire 51 at the same height position. Note that the wire processing device 52 may not include the cleaning unit 60.

  The joint 70 of the wire processing device 52 transports the processed wire 51 transported to the joint 70 and the winding unit 80 (manufacturing line) and also processes the processed wire 51 (preceding wire 51a, succeeding wire 51b). It has a function of joining together. As illustrated in FIG. 7A, the joint 70 includes a joint-side transport unit 71 that transports the processed wire 51 and a welding device 72 that welds the processed wire 51.

  The joint-side transport unit 71 is a rail 73 that extends linearly in the horizontal direction, a first moving body 74 that is movably mounted on the downstream side of the rail 73, and a movably mounted on the upstream side of the rail 73. The second moving body 75 is provided. A gripping portion 74 a that grips a continuous line 76 (preceding wire 51 a) formed by joining the processed wire 51 is provided at the upper end portion of the first moving body 74. In addition, a grip portion 75 a that grips the processed wire 51 (following wire 51 b) transported from the mobile body 65 of the cleaning unit side transport unit 61 is provided at the upper end portion of the second mobile body 75. The first and second moving bodies 74 and 75 individually advance and retreat on the rail 73 under the control of the control unit 26.

  The first moving body 74 stands by so as to be able to pass through the preceding wire 51a (in a non-gripping state) while being located at the downstream standby position X1 of the rail 73. At this time, the winding unit 80 on the downstream side of the joining unit 70 winds the continuous wire 76 by rotating the drawing roller 81 and the bobbin 82. And the 1st moving body 74 will hold | grip by the holding part 74a, if the sensor 77a provided upstream of the downstream waiting | standby position X1 detects the conveyance direction rear end of the preceding wire 51a. Thereafter, the first moving body 74 moves by a predetermined distance from the downstream standby position X1 toward the downstream joining position X2 (the approaching direction to the second moving body 75), so that the rear end of the leading wire 51a in the transport direction is welded. Lead to 72.

  On the other hand, the second moving body 75 is in a state of being positioned at the upstream standby position Y1 of the rail 73 so as to be able to pass through the subsequent wire 51b (in a non-gripping state). Then, the subsequent wire 51b is inserted into the gripping portion 75a by the moving body 65, and when the front end in the transport direction of the subsequent wire 51b is detected by the sensor 77b provided downstream of the upstream standby position Y1, the gripping portion 75a grips. The second moving body 75 moves the predetermined distance from the upstream standby position Y1 toward the upstream joining position Y2 (in the proximity direction to the first moving body 74) after gripping the subsequent wire 51b, thereby conveying the subsequent wire 51b. The direction front end is guided to the welding device 72.

  The welding device 72 employs a mechanism for performing laser welding. In this case, the welding device 72 includes a working unit 78 in which the preceding wire 51a and the succeeding wire 51b are inserted to perform a joining operation thereof, and a laser source 79 that emits laser light to the working unit 78. The working portion 78 is formed in a cylindrical body having a hole 78a into which the preceding wire 51a and the succeeding wire 51b are inserted, and laser light can be introduced into an axially intermediate portion of the cylindrical body.

  The rear end in the transport direction of the preceding wire 51a gripped by the first moving body 74 and the front end in the transport direction of the subsequent wire 51b gripped by the second moving body 75 are the movements of the first and second moving bodies 74, 75. As a result, they come into contact with each other at the axially intermediate portion in the hole 78a. The end faces are bonded to each other by the laser light emitted from the laser source 79. By this joining, the succeeding wire 51b grasped by the second moving body 75 is integrated with the preceding wire 51a (that is, becomes a continuous line 76). The joining of the preceding wire 51a and the succeeding wire 51b is not limited to laser welding, and may be joined by, for example, gas welding, arc welding, resistance welding, brazing, or the like.

  The winding unit 80 includes the pair of drawing rollers 81 and the bobbin 82 described above, and includes a plurality of rollers 83 having the same function as the feeding unit 30 between the drawing roller 81 and the bobbin 82. And the winding part 80 is comprised so that the continuous line 76 formed in the junction part 70 may be wound up by appropriate winding speed, and the continuous line 76 may be returned based on operation | movement of the 1st mobile body 74. FIG. A cleaning unit 84 (two-dot chain line in FIG. 7A) for cleaning the continuous line 76 may be provided in the conveyance path of the continuous line 76 of the winding unit 80.

  Returning to FIG. 2, a computer having a calculation processing unit, a storage unit, and an input / output unit (not shown) is applied to the control unit 26 of the wire processing apparatus 52. The arithmetic processing unit of the control unit 26 executes the control program stored in the storage unit, thereby causing the delivery unit, the cutting unit 40, the surface processing unit 50, the cleaning unit 60, the joining unit 70, and the winding unit 80 to be processed. Interlock and perform wire processing (cutting, surface processing, bonding).

  The wire processing system 10 according to the present embodiment is basically configured as described above. Hereinafter, a manufacturing flow (wire processing method) by the wire processing system 10 will be described.

  In the production of the wire, as shown in FIG. 9, a cutting process (including a feeding process of the wire 20), a surface processing process, a cleaning process, a joining process (including a winding process of the wire 20), a post-processing process, and recutting The process is performed sequentially. The wire rod processing apparatus 22 described above performs from the cutting process to the joining process, and the post-processing apparatus 24 performs a post-processing process and a re-cutting process.

  In the wire rod processing device 22, the bobbin 28 is attached to the attachment portion 31 of the feeding portion 30 by an operator before starting. Further, the operator causes the moving body 35 of the wire rod holder 33 to grip the wire rod 20 wound around the bobbin 28 through a predetermined conveyance path by the plurality of rollers 32. At this time, the distal end side of the wire 20 is set so as to reach the cutting device 43 from the grasped moving body 35 as shown in FIG. 3A.

  In the cutting process, as shown in FIG. 3B, the control unit 26 first moves the moving body 35 to the downstream side along the rail 36 and extends the tip of the wire 20 downstream from the cutting device 43. The wire 20 advances through the lower end 44a of the moving body 44 of the cutting section side transport section 42, and the control section 26 moves the moving body when the moving body 35 of the wire holding section 33 reaches the downstream movement limit. The wire 20 is gripped by 44. Then, the moving body 44 is advanced downstream along the rail 45 and is disposed at a predetermined position (cutting position C) of the cutting section side transport section 42 as shown in FIG. 4A.

  When the control unit 26 places the moving body 44 at the cutting position C, the control unit 26 drives the cutter 48 of the cutting device 43 to cut the wire 20 to form the divided wires 41. The proximal end side of the cut split wire 41 hangs down from the cutting device 43 but is supported by the lower plate 46. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4B, the control unit 26 moves the moving body 44 further downstream than the cutting position C, passes the guide member 47, and moves the tip of the split wire 41 of the surface processing unit side transport unit 50A. The moving device 54 is gripped.

  Next, the control unit 26 performs a surface processing step of grinding the surface of the split wire 41 in the surface processing unit 50. In the surface processing step, as shown in FIG. 5A, primary movement is performed in which the moving device 54 that is disposed at the upstream position S <b> 1 of the screw shaft 55 and grips the dividing wire 41 is moved to the downstream position S <b> 2 of the screw shaft 55. At this time, all the sliding plate portions 59 of the wire support mechanism 53 are retracted. As the moving device 54 moves to the downstream position S2, the tip of the dividing wire 41 is sandwiched and fixed by the pair of sandwiching rollers 58b of the feeding unit 58 through the grinding unit 57 as shown in FIG. 5B. . Thereby, the split wire 41 is in a state of extending substantially linearly between the guide member 47 and the wire processing device 52.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, with the tip of the split wire 41 being gripped, the control unit 26 once releases the grip of the split wire 41 by the moving device 54 (that is, without moving the split wire 41). The moving device 54 is retracted to the upstream position S1 of the screw shaft 55. The moving device 54 grips the proximal end portion of the split wire 41 after returning to the upstream position S1. At this time, the surface of the split wire 41 is supported with a light force by closing all the sliding plate portions 59 of the wire support mechanism 53. As shown in FIG. 6B, the control unit 26 performs a secondary movement in which the moving device 54 is advanced again in this state. At this time, the spindle 56 is rotated by the rotation drive source 54b, and the gripping divided wire 41 is removed. Rotate around the axis.

  Moreover, at the time of secondary movement, the surface of the division | segmentation wire 41 is ground by narrowing a mutual clearance gap, rotating a pair of grindstone 57b of the wire processing apparatus 52. FIG. For example, when the guide wire 12 forms a gradually tapered shape as shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 26 narrows the gap between the grindstones 57b at the beginning of grinding, and moves the moving device 54 (divided wire 41). ) Control to gradually widen the gap with advancement. Note that the plurality of sliding plate portions 59 lightly support the dividing wire 41, thereby preventing the division wire 41 from rotating during rotation while allowing the dividing wire 41 to rotate. Then, the movement of the moving device 54 is allowed by performing an operation of opening the upper sliding portion 59a and the lower sliding portion 59b by the proximity of the moving device 54. Further, the feeding unit 58 of the wire processing device 52 sends the ground divided wire 41 to the downstream side in the transport direction in synchronization with the secondary movement of the moving device 54. And the processed wire 51 by which surface processing was given to the moving body 65 of the cleaning part side conveyance part 61 is gripped.

  The control unit 26 performs a cleaning process on the processed wire 51 sent to the cleaning unit 60. As shown in FIG. 2, in the cleaning process, the surface of the processed wire 51 is cleaned by the finishing unit 62 and the blast unit 63 while the processed wire 51 is being conveyed by the moving body 65. In addition, the cleaning unit 60 supports the processed wire 51 linearly by the plurality of sliding plate units 64, conveys the processed wire 51, and transfers the processed wire 51 to the second moving body 75 of the downstream joint unit-side transport unit 71. Hold it.

  And the control part 26 implements a joining process with respect to the processed wire 51 in the junction part 70. FIG. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7A, in the winding unit 80, the continuous line 76 (preceding wire 51 a) that has been wound around the bobbin 82 is sent downstream in the transport direction by the rotation of the drawing roller 81 and the bobbin 82. Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the rear end of the preceding wire 51a in the transport direction is detected by the sensor 77a, the first moving body 74 waiting at the downstream waiting position X1 is caused to grip the preceding wire 51a. On the other hand, at the upstream standby position Y1, the second moving body 75 inserts the processed wire 51 (following wire 51b) with the movement of the moving body 65 of the cleaning section side transport section 61, and the front end in the transport direction is the sensor 77b. Is detected, the subsequent wire 51b is gripped.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the first moving body 74 moves to the downstream bonding position X2 while holding the preceding wire 51a, and the second moving body 75 moves to the upstream bonding position Y2 while holding the subsequent wire 51b. Move to. Then, the rear end in the transport direction of the preceding wire 51a and the front end in the transport direction of the subsequent wire 51b are inserted into the hole 78a of the working unit 78 and contact each other, and are joined by the laser beam emitted from the laser source 79. A line 76 is formed. After the formation of the continuous line 76, the first and second moving bodies 74 and 75 bring the continuous line 76 into a non-gripping state and return to the downstream standby position X1 and the upstream standby position Y1, respectively.

  Further, the winding unit 80 on the downstream side of the joining unit 70 winds the formed continuous line 76 around the bobbin 82 by rotating the continuous line 76 with the drawing roller 81 and the bobbin 82. Thereby, the processing of the wire in the wire processing apparatus 52 is completed.

  The continuous line 76 that has been subjected to surface processing and becomes a series is brought into the post-processing device 24 by the operator together with the wound bobbin 82, and a post-processing step is performed. In the post-processing step, shaping is performed by bending a portion that becomes the bending portion 14 of the guide wire 12 by the shaping portion 90 and formation of the covering portion 18 by the outer layer forming portion 92. In the post-processing process, by performing the shaping process and the outer layer forming process on the continuous line 76, it is possible to perform the process continuously, and the working time can be greatly shortened.

  After execution of the post-processing step, the continuous line 76 is conveyed to the post-processing cutting unit 94 of the post-processing device 24, and the re-cutting step is performed. Here, as for the continuous line 76, since the processed wires 51 cut | disconnected in the cutting part 40 are joined by the junction part 70, the junction part becomes weak. Therefore, in the re-cutting step, the post-processing cutting section 94 relatively easily discriminates the joining portion, easily cuts the joining portion, and processes the end portion of the cutting portion, thereby removing the guide wire 12. It can be formed satisfactorily.

  As described above, according to the wire processing method and the wire processing system 10 according to the present embodiment, after the surface processing step, the processed wires 51 (the processed wire 51 and the continuous line 76) are joined together. Perform the process. Therefore, it becomes possible to efficiently perform desired post-processing (shape formation, formation of the covering portion 18, etc.) on the continuous line 76 obtained by the joining process. That is, conventionally, it has been common to perform post-processing on the processed wire 51 that has been cut and subjected to surface processing, but in this case, post-processing takes a lot of time and effort. It was. On the other hand, the wire processing method and the wire processing system 10 according to the present invention dare to join the cut wires after surface processing to form a continuous line 76. Then, by performing post-processing on the continuous line 76, it is possible to improve the work efficiency of the entire wire manufacturing process.

  In this case, in the joining step, the unevenness generated on the surface of the continuous line 76 can be reduced by joining the rear end of the continuous line 76 in the transport direction and the front end of the processed wire 51 in the transport direction. Good conveyance and post-processing to the continuous line 76 can be performed. Further, based on the proximity of the first moving body 74 and the second moving body 75, the conveyance direction rear end of the continuous line 76 and the conveyance wire front end of the processed wire 51 are brought into contact with each other, and the contact portion is welded. 76 can be formed efficiently and cleanly.

  Furthermore, in the wire processing method, dust is removed from the surface of the processed wire 51 that has been subjected to surface processing by performing a cleaning process. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the dust from being scattered around the location where the processed wire 51 is gripped, the location where the processed wire 51 and the continuous wire 76 are joined, and the like and the joining force and joining accuracy are reduced.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Wire processing system 12 ... Guide wire 20 ... Wire rod 22 ... Wire rod processing apparatus 24 ... Post-processing apparatus 26 ... Control part 28,82 ... Bobbin 30 ... Feeding part 40 ... Cutting part 41 ... Dividing wire 50 ... Surface processing part 60 ... Cleaning part 70 ... Joining part 71 ... Joining part side transport part 72 ... Welding device 74 ... First moving body 75 ... Second moving body 76 ... Continuous line 80 ... Winding part 90 ... Shape forming part 92 ... Outer layer forming part 94 ... Post-processing cutting part

Claims (8)

Cutting a continuous wire to form a predetermined length of wire, and providing the wire multiple times;
A surface processing step of obtaining a processed wire by performing a predetermined surface processing on the surface of the wire;
A bonding step of bonding the processed wires together to obtain a continuous line. The wire processing method according to claim 1,
In the joining step, while the processed wire is transported along the manufacturing line, the processing step is relatively performed with a rear end in the transport direction of the preceding wire which is the processed wire positioned relatively downstream of the manufacturing line. A wire processing method, comprising: joining a front end in a conveyance direction of a succeeding wire, which is the processed wire positioned on the upstream side of the manufacturing line. The wire processing method according to claim 2, wherein
In the joining step, the rear end in the transport direction and the front end in the transport direction are brought into contact with each other by bringing the first grip portion gripping the preceding wire and the second grip portion gripping the subsequent wire close to each other, A wire processing method comprising welding a contact portion with a welding device. In the wire processing method of any one of Claims 1-3,
After the surface processing step, the wire processing method is characterized by performing a cleaning step of removing dust adhering to the surface of the processed wire. A surface processing step of obtaining a processed wire by performing a predetermined surface processing on the surface of the wire;
A bonding step of bonding the processed wires together to obtain a continuous line. The wire processing method according to claim 5, wherein
In the joining step, while the processed wire is transported along the manufacturing line, the processing step is relatively performed with a rear end in the transport direction of the preceding wire which is the processed wire positioned relatively downstream of the manufacturing line. A wire processing method, comprising: joining a front end in a conveyance direction of a succeeding wire, which is the processed wire positioned on the upstream side of the manufacturing line. The wire processing method according to claim 6, wherein
In the joining step, the rear end in the transport direction and the front end in the transport direction are brought into contact with each other by bringing the first grip portion gripping the preceding wire and the second grip portion gripping the subsequent wire close to each other, A wire processing method comprising welding a contact portion with a welding device. A cutting section that cuts a continuous wire and provides a predetermined length of wire multiple times;
A surface processing portion for obtaining a processed wire by performing a predetermined surface processing on the surface of the wire;
A wire processing system comprising: a joined portion that joins the processed wires together to obtain a continuous line.

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