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CN-122008351-A - Tube handling assembly for slit tube manufacturing machine

CN122008351ACN 122008351 ACN122008351 ACN 122008351ACN-122008351-A

Abstract

A tube handling assembly (200) for manufacturing slit tube (100) slit tubes (102), each slit tube having a tube body (104) and a slit (106) extending a slit length (107) along the tube body, includes a base (210) and a tube support (220) movably connected to the base. The pipe handling assembly (200) includes a pin actuator (230) coupled to the pipe support, the pin actuator having a pin (232) movable relative to the pipe support between an extended position and a retracted position and configured to be inserted into an end (105) of the pipe body to retain the slotted pipe. The pin may retract to release the slotted tube. The tube handling assembly includes a linear actuator (250) that moves the tube support and the pin in a linear actuation direction. The tube handling assembly includes a tube rotational actuator (270) that moves the tube support and the pin relative to the base in a rotational actuation direction.

Inventors

  • A.A. Slistan
  • ROPER CHRISTOPHER
  • S.WANG
  • S.K.Bai
  • X.Deng
  • R.F-Y.Lu
  • E. T. price III

Assignees

  • 泰科电子连接解决方案有限责任公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20251111
Priority Date
20241111

Claims (20)

  1. 1. A tube handling assembly (200) for a slit tube manufacturing machine (100) for manufacturing slit tubes (102), each slit tube having a tube body (104) and a slit (106) extending a slit length (107) along the tube body, the tube handling assembly comprising: A base (210); a tube support (220) movably connected to the base; A pin actuator (230) coupled to the pipe support, the pin actuator comprising a pin (232) movable relative to the pipe support between an extended position and a retracted position, the pin configured to be inserted into an end (105) of the pipe body to retain the slotted pipe, the pin being retractable to the retracted position to release the slotted pipe; A tube linear actuator (250) configured to move the tube support and the pin relative to the base in a linear actuation direction to move the slit tube held on the pin in the linear actuation direction, and A tube rotation actuator (270) configured to move the tube support and the pin relative to the base in a rotational actuation direction to move the slotted tube held on the pin in the rotational actuation direction.
  2. 2. The tube handling assembly (200) of claim 1, wherein the pin actuator (230) is configured to release the slotted tube (102) in a retracted position.
  3. 3. The tube handling assembly (200) of claim 1, wherein the pin actuator (230) includes a pin actuator element (234) operatively connected to the pin (232) to move the pin between an extended position and a retracted position.
  4. 4. The tube handling assembly (200) of claim 1, wherein the tube support (220) includes an end wall (226), the pin (232) protruding beyond the end wall in an extended position, the pin being recessed behind the end wall in a retracted position.
  5. 5. The pipe handling assembly (200) of claim 1, wherein the linear actuator (250) comprises a rail (252) connected to the base (210) and a slider (254) slidably connected to the rail, the pipe support (220) moving with the slider relative to the base.
  6. 6. The tube handling assembly (200) of claim 5, wherein the tube rotation actuator (270) is mounted to the slider (254).
  7. 7. The pipe handling assembly (200) of claim 1, wherein the inline actuator (250) is movable between a pick-up position in which the pin actuator (230) picks up the slotted pipe (102) and a drop-down position in which the slotted pipe is released.
  8. 8. The pipe handling assembly (200) of claim 7, wherein the set-down position is a first set-down position associated with a slit pipe (102) passing a quality inspection, the linear actuator being configured to release the slit pipe in the first set-down position, the linear actuator (250) being movable to a second set-down position associated with a quality inspection failure, the linear actuator being configured to release the slit pipe in the second set-down position.
  9. 9. The tube handling assembly (200) of claim 1, wherein the tube rotation actuator (270) is configured to rotate the pin (232) to rotate the slit tube (102) to align a slit (106) in the tube body (104) with a camera (152) of a visual inspection system (150) to image the slit.
  10. 10. The tube handling assembly (200) of claim 1, wherein the tube rotation actuator (270) includes a hub (272) and a tube rotation actuator element (276) operable to rotate the hub, the tube support (220) being mounted to and rotated by the hub.
  11. 11. The tube handling assembly (200) of claim 1, wherein the tube rotation actuator (270) is rotatable approximately 360 °.
  12. 12. The pipe handling assembly (200) of claim 1, wherein the pin (232) extends along a pin axis and the pipe support (220) extends along a pipe support axis that coincides with the pin axis.
  13. 13. A slit tube manufacturing machine (100) for manufacturing slit tubes (102), each slit tube having a tube body (104) and a slit (106) extending a slit length (107) along the tube body, the slit tube manufacturing machine comprising: A tube cutting assembly (140) at a cutting zone (112) of the slit tube manufacturing machine, the tube cutting assembly having a cutting blade (142) configured to cut a tube from a roll of tubing (108), the tube cutting assembly having a slitter blade (144) configured to cut a slit in the tube; A visual inspection system (150) having a camera (152) for imaging the body and slit, and A tube handling assembly (200) for handling a slit tube of a visual inspection system, the tube handling assembly comprising a base (210) and a tube support (220) movably coupled to the base, the tube handling assembly comprising a pin actuator (230) coupled to the tube support and comprising a pin (232) configured to be inserted into an end (105) of a tube body to hold the slit tube in a cutting zone, the tube handling assembly comprising a tube linear actuator (250) configured to move the tube support and the pin from the cutting zone in a linear actuation direction, the tube handling assembly comprising a tube rotational actuator (270) configured to move the tube support and the pin in a rotational actuation direction to move the slit tube relative to a camera in the rotational actuation direction.
  14. 14. The slit tube manufacturing machine (100) of claim 13, wherein the tube rotation actuator (270) is operable to align a slit (106) with a camera (152) for imaging the slit.
  15. 15. The slit tube manufacturing machine (100) of claim 13, wherein the inline actuator (250) is movable between a pick-up position at which the pin actuator (230) picks up the slit tube (102) and a drop-down position at which the pin actuator releases the slit tube after imaging by the visual inspection system (150).
  16. 16. The slit tube machine (100) of claim 13, wherein the pin (232) is movable relative to the tube support (220) between an extended position in which the pin is configured to pick up the slit tube (102) and a retracted position in which the pin is configured to release the slit tube, the tube support comprising an end wall (226) beyond which the pin protrudes, the pin being recessed behind the end wall in the retracted position.
  17. 17. A method of manufacturing a slotted tube (102), comprising: Feeding the tubing (108) to a tubing cutting assembly (140) at a cutting zone (112) of a slit tube manufacturing machine (100); cutting a tube body (104) from the tube to a length (109); cutting the tube to form a slit (106) in the tube; Picking up a tube body using a tube handling assembly (200); rotating the tube body using the tube handling assembly to align the slit with a camera (152) of a visual inspection system (150); removing the tube body from the cutting zone using a tube handling assembly, and The tube and slit are imaged for quality inspection of the slit tube.
  18. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the picking up the tubular body (104) includes inserting a pin (232) of a tubular handling assembly (200) into the tubular body, the rotating the tubular body including rotating the pin to rotate the tubular body.
  19. 19. The method of claim 17, further comprising retracting the pin (232) from the tubular body (104) to release the tubular body from the tubular handling assembly (200).
  20. 20. The method of claim 17, further comprising performing a quality inspection of the tubular (104) using a vision inspection system (150), wherein the moving the tubular includes moving the tubular to a first lowered position if the tubular passes the quality inspection and moving the tubular to a second lowered position if the tubular does not pass the quality inspection.

Description

Tube handling assembly for slit tube manufacturing machine Technical Field The subject matter herein relates generally to slit tube manufacturing machines. Background Slit tubes are used in many applications. The slit tube includes a slit body of a predetermined length having a slit formed at one end of the tube body. Slit tube manufacturing machines are known for forming tubes and slits. The slotted tube is typically removed from the cutting device using a vacuum extraction device. The slotted tube is collected in a storage bin. However, quality control of slit tubes with such manufacturing machines can be problematic. For example, there is no known method of inspecting parts prior to collection into a storage bin. Instead, after manufacture, the parts may be sample inspected. However, the spot check may miss defective parts, resulting in customer complaints. In the slit tube manufacturing process, the slit tube needs to be detected online. Disclosure of Invention In one embodiment, a tube handling assembly for a slit tube manufacturing machine for manufacturing slit tubes each having a tube body and a slit extending a slit length along the tube body is provided. The tube handling assembly includes a base and a tube support movably connected to the base. The tube handling assembly includes a pin actuator connected to the tube support. The pin actuator includes a pin movable relative to the tube support between an extended position and a retracted position. The pin is configured to be inserted into an end of the tube body to retain the slotted tube. The pin is retractable to a retracted position to release the slotted tube. The tube handling assembly includes a tube linear actuator configured to move the tube support and the pin relative to the base in a linear actuation direction to move the slotted tube held on the pin in the linear actuation direction. The tube handling assembly includes a tube rotational actuator configured to move the tube support and the pin relative to the base in a rotational actuation direction to move the slotted tube held on the pin in the rotational actuation direction. Drawings The invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a slit tube manufacturing machine according to an example embodiment. Fig. 2 shows a slit tube in an exemplary embodiment. FIG. 3 illustrates a tube handling assembly according to an exemplary embodiment in a first state. Fig. 4 shows a tube handling assembly according to an exemplary embodiment in a second state. Fig. 5 illustrates a method of manufacturing a slot tube using a slot tube manufacturing process according to an example embodiment. Detailed Description Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a slit tube manufacturing machine 100 according to an example embodiment. The slit tube manufacturing 100 is used to manufacture a slit tube 102 (as shown in fig. 2), and the slit tube 102 may be used in a variety of applications. In one exemplary embodiment, each slit tube 102 includes a tube body 104, the tube body 104 having a slit 106 extending a length along the tube body 104. A slit 106 may be provided at one end of the tube 104. In one exemplary embodiment, the slotted tube 102 may be continuously manufactured from a tube 108 wound on a spool 110. For example, the tubular body 104 may be made from tubing 108 by the slit tube manufacturing machine 100. For example, the tubing 108 may be cut to a desired length to form the tubular body 104. The slit 106 may be cut onto the tube 104 by the slit tube manufacturer 100. In one exemplary embodiment, the slit tube manufacturing machine 100 performs in-line quality inspection of the slit tube 102 during the manufacturing process. For example, the slit tube manufacturing machine 100 may include a machine vision inspection system for inspecting each slit tube 102. The slit tube manufacturing machine 100 may separate the slit tube 102 based on the on-line quality detection results, for example, by placing it into a waste bin and a holding bin based on the quality detection results. If a defective part is detected, the manufacturing process may be stopped, for example, to correct machine setup parameters or repair a damaged tool. In one exemplary embodiment, the slit tube manufacturing machine 100 includes one or more stations for processing the slit tube 102. These stations may be integrated into one machine. For example, the stations may be integrated into a single enclosure or cabinet, and/or may be mounted on a common frame or base. In other various embodiments, the stations may be arranged on an assembly line, for example, integrated into multiple machines at different locations within a manufacturing facility. In one exemplary embodiment, the slit tube manufacturing machine 100 includes a tube feeder 130 for transporting the tube 108 between the various stations. The tube feeder 130 includes a feed device 132, the feed device