阅读说明：本技术 法兰定位装置及法兰定位方法 (Flange positioning device and flange positioning method ) 是由 董满林 贾小斌 毋小二 于 2019-02-20 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及一种法兰定位装置和一种法兰定位方法,其能够以较低的成本、较短的时长加工出其外周面与其中心孔完全同轴、其小端面与其中心孔的轴线或者与设置在中心孔中的内花键完全垂直的高精度法兰。(The invention relates to a flange positioning device and a flange positioning method, which can process a high-precision flange with lower cost and shorter time, wherein the peripheral surface of the flange is completely coaxial with a central hole of the flange, and the small end surface of the flange is completely vertical to the axis of the central hole of the flange or an internal spline arranged in the central hole.)

1. A flange positioning device comprises a body (100), a steerable ring (300), a mandrel (500) and an expansion sleeve (600), and is characterized in that,

the body (100) comprises a first end (110) for connection with a spindle of a machine tool, a second end (130) for connection with a flange (900) to be machined, a cylindrical portion (120) between the first end (110) and the second end (130), a shoulder (140) being provided at the end of the cylindrical portion (120), the shoulder (140) comprising an end face (143) and an inner spherical surface (142) being inwardly concave from the end face (143), wherein the inner spherical surface (142) is part of a spherical surface;

the steerable ring (300) is arranged to be fitted to the shoulder (140) and comprises a base (330), a protrusion (310) protruding from the base (330) and a through hole (320) arranged therein for insertion into the second end (130) of the body (100), the protrusion (310) comprising an outer spherical surface (311) matching the inner spherical surface (142) and for abutment against the inner spherical surface (142), the base (330) comprising a first end surface (331) opposite to the end surface (143) of the shoulder (140) and a second end surface (332) opposite thereto, the diameter (D320) of the through hole (320) being larger than the outer diameter (D130) of the second end (130) of the body (100);

the mandrel (500) is disposed at the second end (130) of the body (100) and comprises a tapered portion (520), the tapered portion (520) having a tapered outer surface (521);

the expanding sleeve (600) is arranged between the conical part (520) of the mandrel (500) and the central hole (930) of the flange (900) and comprises an outer surface (610) for abutting against the hole wall of the central hole (930) of the flange (900) and a conical inner surface (620) for abutting against the conical outer surface (521) of the mandrel (500), the expanding sleeve (600) is configured to be movable relative to the conical part (520) to increase or decrease the outer diameter (D600;

the flange positioning device is suitable for presenting at least two positions, namely a mounting position for mounting the flange (900) on the flange positioning device and a processing position suitable for processing the flange (900),

in the assembled position, the outer spherical surface (311) of the steerable ring (300) abuts against the inner spherical surface (142) of the shoulder (140), the tapered inner surface (620) of the expanding sleeve (600) abuts against the tapered outer surface (521) of the mandrel (500), the hole wall of the central hole (930) of the flange (900) is at least partially in contact with the outer surface (610) of the expanding sleeve (600), and a non-zero distance L is provided between the first end surface (331) of the steerable ring (300) and the end surface (143) of the shoulder (140);

in the machining position, the expanding sleeve (600) is moved axially rearward relative to the mandrel (500) compared to the assembly position to increase its outer diameter (D600) to tension the central bore (930) of the flange (900), and the large end face (911) of the flange (900) abuts against the second end face (332) of the steerable ring (300).

2. The flange positioning device according to claim 1, characterized in that the shoulder (140) comprises an annular groove (141) recessed inwardly from the end face (143) radially outside the inner spherical surface (142), the flange positioning device comprising a resilient washer (800) arranged in the annular groove (141) configured to abut against the first end face (331) of the steerable ring (300).

3. The flange positioning device according to claim 1, further comprising a stop collar (400) positioned on the second end (130) of the body (100) axially forward of the steerable ring (300), the stop collar (400) comprising a stop collar body (410) and a stop collar through hole (420) disposed therein for connection with the second end (130) of the body (100), the stop collar body (410) comprising an end face (411) opposite the second end face (332) of the steerable ring (300) and having an outer diameter (D410) larger than the diameter (D320) of the through hole (320) of the steerable ring (300), the end face (411) of the stop collar (400) and the second end face (332) of the steerable ring (300) having a non-zero distance N between them in the assembled position;

in particular, the stop collar (400) is made of a nylon material;

in particular, the distance N between the end face (411) of the stop collar (400) and the second end face (332) of the steerable ring (300) is between 0.5mm and 2.0mm, preferably between 0.5mm and 1.5mm, more preferably 1.0 mm;

in particular, the distance N between the end face (411) of the stop collar (400) and the second end face (332) of the steerable ring (300) is greater than the distance M between the large end face (911) of the flange (900) and the second end face (332) of the steerable ring (300);

in particular, the shoulder (140) is detachably connected to the cylindrical portion (120) of the body (100), the stop collar (400) further comprises an annular protrusion (430) extending axially rearward from the stop collar body (410) for abutting against the bottom of the inner spherical surface (142), an outer diameter (D430) of the annular protrusion (430) being smaller than a diameter (D320) of the through hole (320) of the steerable ring (300);

in particular, the flange positioning device further comprises an elastic member positioned between the second end face (332) of the steerable ring (300) and the end face (411) of the stop ring (400).

4. The flange positioning device according to claim 1, wherein the shoulder (140) is detachably connected to the cylindrical portion (120) of the body (100).

5. The flange positioning device according to claim 1, wherein the mandrel (500) is detachably connected to the second end (130) of the body (100);

in particular, the mandrel (500) further comprises a cylindrical portion (510) integral with the conical portion (520), the second end (130) of the body (100) comprising a central hole (131) provided therein, the cylindrical portion (510) being configured to be detachably connectable to the central hole (131).

6. The flange positioning device according to claim 1, characterized in that the mandrel (500) comprises a through hole (530) positioned therein, the flange positioning device comprising a blind rivet (700), the blind rivet (700) comprising a rivet stem (710) adapted to slide in the through hole (530) of the mandrel (500) and a rivet cap (720) for abutting an axially forward facing end face of the expanding sleeve (600).

7. The flange positioning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the expansion sleeve (600) is configured to tension an internal spline provided on a wall of the bore (930) of the flange (900).

8. Flange positioning device according to claim 1, characterized in that the conical outer surface (521) in a cross section parallel to the axial direction XX' makes an angle a of between 5 ° and 30 °, preferably between 4 ° and 10 °, more preferably 6 °.

9. Flange positioning method realized by means of a flange positioning device according to one of the claims 1-8, characterized in that the flange positioning method comprises the steps of:

(1) connecting a first end (110) of the body (100) to a spindle of a machine tool;

(2) fitting the steerable ring (300) to the shoulder (140), wherein an outer spherical surface (311) of the protrusion (310) of the steerable ring (300) abuts an inner spherical surface (142) of the shoulder (140), with a non-zero distance L between the first end surface (331) of the steerable ring (300) and the end surface (143) of the shoulder (140);

(3) fitting the expanding sleeve (600) on the mandrel (500), wherein the tapered inner surface (620) of the expanding sleeve (600) abuts against the tapered outer surface (521) of the mandrel (500);

(4) fitting a flange (900) to the second end (130) of the body (100), wherein the wall of the central bore (930) of the flange (900) is at least partially in contact with the outer surface (610) of the swelling sleeve (600);

(5) and moving the expansion sleeve (600) relative to the mandrel (500) towards the axial rear direction to increase the outer diameter (D600) of the expansion sleeve so as to tension the central hole (930) of the flange (900), wherein the large end surface (911) of the flange (900) abuts against the second end surface (332) of the steerable ring (300).

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of flange positioning and machining, in particular to a flange positioning device and a flange positioning method.

Background

With the increasing requirements of people on the performance of automobiles and the increasing requirements on automobile parts, the transmission flange is used as a core part of the automobile and is particularly important for the safety and the performance of the automobile.

However, the positioning and processing of the transmission flange have many difficulties, which are mainly reflected in the requirements of form and position tolerance and the consistency of size, and particularly, in the positioning and processing, the verticality between the small end surface of the flange and the axis of the central hole or the internal spline arranged in the central hole is difficult to achieve. The traditional positioning mode is that the large end face of a flange is fixed firstly, then the hole wall of a central hole of a tensioning flange or the small diameter of an internal spline of a tensioning sleeve is utilized to process, however, in the tensioning process of the tensioning sleeve, the tensioning sleeve cannot be tensioned completely because the large end face of the flange is not perpendicular or not perpendicular to the axis of the central hole or the internal spline arranged in the central hole, so that the central hole of the flange or the internal spline arranged in the central hole is not coaxial or not coaxial with the tensioning sleeve, the machined small end face and the axis of the central hole or the verticality of the internal spline arranged in the central hole are unqualified, and even the subsequent processing cannot be carried out.

Therefore, there is a need to provide a solution that enables the machining of high-precision flanges whose outer peripheral surface is perfectly coaxial with its central bore, whose small end surface is perfectly perpendicular to the axis of its central bore or to the internal splines provided in the central bore.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is intended to solve at least one of the above problems by processing a high-precision flange, which has an outer peripheral surface completely coaxial with a center hole thereof and a small end surface completely perpendicular to an axis of the center hole thereof or an internal spline provided in the center hole, at a low cost for a short period of time.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a flange positioning device, which comprises a body, a steerable ring, a mandrel and an expansion sleeve, wherein,

the body comprises a first end for connection with a spindle of a machine tool (e.g. a lathe, a milling machine, etc.), a second end for connection with a flange to be machined, a cylindrical portion between the first end and the second end, a shoulder being provided at an end of the cylindrical portion, the shoulder comprising an end face and an inner spherical surface inwardly recessed from the end face, wherein the inner spherical surface is a portion of a spherical surface;

the steerable ring is configured to fit to the shoulder and includes a base, a protrusion protruding from the base, and a through-hole disposed therein for insertion into the second end of the body, the protrusion including an outer spherical surface that mates with and is for abutting against the inner spherical surface, the base including a first end surface opposite an end surface of the shoulder and a second end surface opposite thereto, the through-hole having a diameter that is greater than an outer diameter of the second end of the body;

the mandrel is disposed at the second end of the body and includes a tapered portion having a tapered outer surface;

an expansion sleeve is arranged between the conical part of the mandrel and the central hole of the flange and comprises an outer surface used for abutting against the hole wall of the central hole of the flange and a conical inner surface used for abutting against the conical outer surface of the mandrel, and the expansion sleeve is configured to move relative to the conical part to increase or decrease the outer diameter of the expansion sleeve;

the flange positioning means is adapted to assume at least two positions (or states), namely, an assembly position in which the flange is assembled on the flange positioning means and a machining position adapted to machine the flange,

in the assembling position, the outer spherical surface of the steerable ring abuts against the inner spherical surface of the shoulder part, the conical inner surface of the expansion sleeve abuts against the conical outer surface of the mandrel, the hole wall of the central hole of the flange is at least partially in contact with the outer surface of the expansion sleeve, a non-zero distance L is arranged between the first end surface of the steerable ring and the end surface of the shoulder part, and particularly a non-zero distance M is arranged between the large end surface of the flange and the second end surface of the steerable ring;

in the machining position, the expansion sleeve is moved axially rearward relative to the mandrel as compared to the assembly position to increase an outer diameter thereof to tension the central hole of the flange, and the large end surface of the flange abuts against the second end surface of the steerable ring.

The flange positioning device according to the invention is particularly advantageous for machining flanges with large end faces that are not perpendicular to the axis of the central bore. Because the steerable ring can be steered in any direction, namely 360 degrees, even if the steerable ring abuts against the large end face of the flange, the large end face of the flange can be steered in any direction, namely 360 degrees, so that the large end face of the flange cannot influence or limit the tensioning of the expansion sleeve even if the large end face of the flange is not perpendicular to the axis of the central hole when the expansion sleeve is tensioned, and the flange can be effectively supported from the steerable ring at the large end face during machining. In particular, when the flange is positioned, the expansion sleeve is firstly enabled to expand the central hole of the flange, and then the expansion sleeve pulls the flange to move towards the direction of the steerable ring so that the large end face of the flange abuts against the second end face of the steerable ring, so that the flange is supported at the second end face during machining. Because the large end face of the flange is in contact with the second end face of the steerable ring after the expansion sleeve expands the central hole, the second end face does not influence the expansion sleeve in the expansion process of the expansion sleeve, so that the expansion sleeve can completely expand the central hole. Therefore, the expansion sleeve can be completely coaxial with the central hole, the small end face of the flange can be ensured to be completely vertical to the axis of the central hole in subsequent processing, and the outer peripheral face of the flange can be ensured to be completely coaxial with the central hole. Meanwhile, since the steerable ring can be steered in any direction, i.e., 360 °, relative to the shoulder portion, even if the large end surface of the flange is not perpendicular to the axis of the central hole, the steerable ring can be steered according to the orientation of the large end surface of the flange so that the second end surface thereof completely abuts or abuts against the large end surface of the flange to provide complete support for the large end surface. In short, according to the technical scheme of the invention, the small end face of the flange completely perpendicular to the axis of the central hole of the flange and the outer peripheral face completely coaxial with the central hole can be processed by completely tensioning the expansion sleeve, and meanwhile, even if the large end face of the flange is not perpendicular to the axis of the central hole, the second end face of the flange can completely abut against the large end face of the flange through the steering of the steering ring, so that the flange is sufficiently supported at the large end face. Therefore, the flange positioning device can process the flange with high precision at lower cost and in shorter time.

In a preferred embodiment, the shoulder comprises an annular groove recessed inwardly from the end face radially outside the inner spherical surface, and the flange positioning means comprises a resilient washer arranged in the annular groove and configured to abut against the first end face of the steerable ring.

The technical scheme has the advantages that the elastic gasket can play a sealing role on one hand, so that dust, chips generated in the machining process and the like are prevented from entering the space between the inner spherical surface and the outer spherical surface to damage the inner spherical surface and the outer spherical surface, and on the other hand, the elastic gasket can restore the original position of the steerable ring after the flange is dismounted, so that the positioning machining of the next flange can be smoothly carried out.

In a preferred embodiment, the flange positioning device further comprises a stop collar positioned on the second end of the body axially forward of the steerable ring, the stop collar comprising a stop collar body and a stop collar through-hole disposed therein for connection with the second end of the body, the stop collar body comprising an end face opposite the second end face of the steerable ring and having an outer diameter greater than the diameter of the through-hole of the steerable ring, and in the assembled position, there is a non-zero distance N between the end face of the stop collar and the second end face of the steerable ring.

The technical scheme has the advantages that the limiting ring can prevent the steerable ring from falling off the body when the flange is dismounted, and the limiting ring cannot hinder the steering of the steerable ring due to the fact that the non-zero distance N is reserved between the end face of the limiting ring and the second end face of the steerable ring.

In a preferred embodiment, the stop collar is made of a nylon material. Therefore, the limiting ring has the advantages of high mechanical strength, good toughness, outstanding fatigue resistance, high softening point, high wear resistance, high corrosion resistance and the like.

In a preferred embodiment, the distance N between the end face of the stop collar and the second end face of the steerable ring is between 0.5mm and 2.0mm, preferably between 0.5mm and 1.5mm, more preferably 1.0 mm.

Notably, if the distance N is too small, the stop collar may limit the steering of the steerable ring, resulting in the steerable ring not turning in place and thus not fully abutting or conforming against the large end face of the flange, which results in the steerable ring not providing effective support for the large end face of the flange; if the distance N is too large, the stop collar may not effectively prevent the steerable ring from falling off the body when the flange is removed, resulting in damage to the steerable ring or other components. The advantage of the above solution is therefore that the distance N is in the above range so that the stop collar can ensure that the steerable ring does not fall off the body when the flange is removed without affecting the steering of the steerable ring.

In a preferred embodiment, the distance N between the end surface of the stop collar and the second end surface of the steerable ring is greater than the distance M between the large end surface of the flange and the second end surface of the steerable ring.

The advantage of the above technical scheme is that the stop collar will not constitute any restriction on the turning of the steerable ring, thereby ensuring that the steerable ring can completely abut against or fit the large end face of the flange, and thus ensuring that the steerable ring provides effective support for the large end face of the flange.

In a preferred embodiment, the flange positioning device further comprises an elastic member positioned between the second end face of the steerable ring and the end face of the stop ring.

The technical scheme has the advantages that the elastic component can restore the steerable ring to the original position after the flange is detached, so that the positioning and processing of the next flange can be smoothly carried out.

In a preferred embodiment, the shoulder is removably connected to the cylindrical portion of the body.

The technical scheme has the advantages that only the shoulder part can be machined when the inner spherical surface of the shoulder part is machined, and the whole body does not need to be machined. Meanwhile, when the shoulder is damaged, only the shoulder can be replaced without replacing the whole body. The processing difficulty of the inner spherical surface is greatly reduced, and meanwhile, the cost is reduced and the working efficiency is improved.

In a preferred embodiment, the shoulder is detachably connected to the cylindrical portion of the body, and the stop collar further comprises an annular protrusion extending axially rearward from the stop collar body for abutting against the bottom of the inner spherical surface, the annular protrusion having an outer diameter smaller than the diameter of the through hole of the steerable ring.

The technical scheme has the advantages that the limiting ring can position the shoulder part on the body, so that the machining precision is further ensured, and meanwhile, the annular protrusion cannot influence the steering of the steerable ring because the outer diameter of the annular protrusion is smaller than the diameter of the through hole of the steerable ring.

In a preferred embodiment, the mandrel is removably connected to the second end of the body.

The technical scheme has the advantages that when the conical part of the mandrel is machined, only the mandrel can be machined, and the whole body does not need to be machined. This greatly reduces the difficulty of machining the tapered portion while reducing cost and improving work efficiency.

In a preferred embodiment, the mandrel further comprises a cylindrical portion integral with the conical portion, the second end of the body comprising a central bore disposed therein, the cylindrical portion being configured to be removably connectable to the central bore.

In a preferred embodiment, the mandrel comprises a through hole positioned therein, and the flange positioning means comprises a blind rivet comprising a shank adapted to slide in the through hole of the mandrel and a nut for abutting an axially forward facing end face of the swelling sleeve.

In a preferred embodiment, the expansion sleeve is configured to expand the internal spline provided on the wall of the bore of the flange.

The technical scheme has the advantages that when the expansion sleeve completely expands the inner spline of the flange, the expansion sleeve is completely coaxial with the inner spline of the flange, so that the small end face of the flange can be ensured to be completely vertical to the inner spline in subsequent processing, the outer peripheral face of the flange can be ensured to be completely coaxial with the inner spline, and the second end face of the steerable ring can completely abut against the large end face of the flange, so that the flange is sufficiently supported at the large end face. Therefore, the technical scheme can process the high-precision flange with the internal spline at lower cost and in shorter time.

In a preferred embodiment, the conical outer surface makes an angle α with the axial direction XX 'in a cross section parallel to the axial direction XX', said angle α being between 5 ° and 30 °, preferably between 4 ° and 10 °, more preferably 6 °.

It is noted that if the angle α is too small, the change in the outer diameter of the expansion sleeve as it moves relative to the mandrel is too small, which may result in failure to tension the flange; if the angle α is too large, the force required to move the expander sleeve relative to the mandrel (especially axially rearward) is too great and even self-locking may occur, possibly resulting in the expander sleeve being unable to move relative to the mandrel. Therefore, the above technical solution has an advantage that the angle α is in the above range, so that it is possible to ensure that the outer diameter of the expansion sleeve is significantly changed along with the movement of the expansion sleeve relative to the mandrel, and it is also possible to ensure that the expansion sleeve smoothly moves relative to the mandrel.

In order to achieve the object, the present invention also provides a flange positioning method implemented by means of the above-mentioned flange positioning device, which includes the following steps:

(1) connecting a first end of the body to a spindle of a machine tool (e.g., lathe, milling machine, etc.);

(2) fitting a steerable ring to the shoulder, wherein an outer spherical surface of the protrusion of the steerable ring abuts an inner spherical surface of the shoulder, with a non-zero distance L between the first end surface of the steerable ring and the end surface of the shoulder;

(3) assembling the expanding sleeve on the mandrel, wherein the conical inner surface of the expanding sleeve abuts against the conical outer surface of the mandrel;

(4) fitting a flange to the second end of the body, wherein a hole wall of a central hole of the flange is in at least partial contact with an outer surface of the expansion sleeve, in particular, a non-zero distance M is provided between a large end surface of the flange and the second end surface of the steerable ring;

(5) moving the expansion sleeve relative to the mandrel towards the axial rear direction to increase the outer diameter of the expansion sleeve so as to expand the central hole of the flange, wherein the large end face of the flange abuts against the second end face of the steerable ring; particularly, the expansion sleeve further moves towards the axial rear direction relative to the mandrel after being tensioned so as to drive the flange to move towards the axial rear direction, and therefore the large end face of the flange abuts against the second end face of the steerable ring.

The flange positioning method according to the invention is particularly advantageous for machining flanges with large end faces that are not perpendicular to the axis of the central bore. Because the steerable ring can be steered in any direction, namely 360 degrees, even if the steerable ring abuts against the large end face of the flange, the large end face of the flange can be steered in any direction, namely 360 degrees, so that the large end face of the flange cannot influence or limit the tensioning of the expansion sleeve even if the large end face of the flange is not perpendicular to the axis of the central hole when the expansion sleeve is tensioned, and the flange can be effectively supported from the steerable ring at the large end face during machining. In particular, when the flange is positioned, the expansion sleeve is firstly enabled to expand the central hole of the flange, and then the expansion sleeve pulls the flange to move towards the direction of the steerable ring so that the large end face of the flange abuts against the second end face of the steerable ring, so that the flange is supported at the second end face during machining. Because the large end face of the flange is in contact with the second end face of the steerable ring after the expansion sleeve expands the central hole, the second end face does not influence the expansion sleeve in the expansion process of the expansion sleeve, so that the expansion sleeve can completely expand the central hole. Therefore, the expansion sleeve can be completely coaxial with the central hole, the small end face of the flange can be ensured to be completely vertical to the axis of the central hole in subsequent processing, and the outer peripheral face of the flange can be ensured to be completely coaxial with the central hole. Meanwhile, since the steerable ring can be steered in any direction, i.e., 360 °, relative to the shoulder portion, even if the large end surface of the flange is not perpendicular to the axis of the central hole, the steerable ring can be steered according to the orientation of the large end surface of the flange so that the second end surface thereof completely abuts or abuts against the large end surface of the flange to provide complete support for the large end surface. In short, according to the technical scheme of the invention, the small end face of the flange completely perpendicular to the axis of the central hole of the flange and the outer peripheral face completely coaxial with the central hole can be processed by completely tensioning the expansion sleeve, and meanwhile, even if the large end face of the flange is not perpendicular to the axis of the central hole, the second end face of the flange can completely abut against the large end face of the flange through the steering of the steering ring, so that the flange is sufficiently supported at the large end face. Therefore, the flange positioning method can process the flange with high precision at lower cost and in shorter time.

In a preferred embodiment, the flange positioning method further comprises, before the step (2) of fitting the steerable ring to the shoulder, the step of disposing a resilient washer in the annular groove of the shoulder, wherein the resilient washer is configured to abut against the first end surface of the steerable ring.

The technical scheme has the advantages that the elastic gasket can play a sealing role on one hand, so that dust, chips generated in the machining process and the like are prevented from entering the space between the inner spherical surface and the outer spherical surface to damage the inner spherical surface and the outer spherical surface, and on the other hand, the elastic gasket can restore the original position of the steerable ring after the flange is dismounted, so that the positioning machining of the next flange can be smoothly carried out.

In a preferred embodiment, the flange positioning method further comprises, after the step (2) of fitting the steerable ring to the shoulder and before the step (4) of fitting the flange to the second end of the body, the step of positioning a stop collar on the second end of the body axially forward of the steerable ring, wherein an outer diameter of the stop collar body of the stop collar is larger than a diameter of the through hole of the steerable ring and a non-zero distance N is provided between an end face of the stop collar and the second end face of the steerable ring.

The technical scheme has the advantages that the limiting ring can prevent the steerable ring from falling off the body when the flange is dismounted, and the limiting ring cannot hinder the steering of the steerable ring due to the fact that the non-zero distance N is reserved between the end face of the limiting ring and the second end face of the steerable ring.

In a preferred embodiment, the stop collar is made of a nylon material. Therefore, the limiting ring has the advantages of high mechanical strength, good toughness, outstanding fatigue resistance, high softening point, high wear resistance, high corrosion resistance and the like.

In a preferred embodiment, the distance N between the end face of the stop collar and the second end face of the steerable ring is between 0.5mm and 2.0mm, preferably between 0.5mm and 1.5mm, more preferably 1.0 mm.

Notably, if the distance N is too small, the stop collar may limit the steering of the steerable ring, resulting in the steerable ring not turning in place and thus not fully abutting or conforming against the large end face of the flange, which results in the steerable ring not providing effective support for the large end face of the flange; if the distance N is too large, the stop collar may not effectively prevent the steerable ring from falling off the body when the flange is removed, resulting in damage to the steerable ring or other components. The advantage of the above solution is therefore that the distance N is in the above range so that the stop collar can ensure that the steerable ring does not fall off the body when the flange is removed without affecting the steering of the steerable ring.

In a preferred embodiment, the distance N between the end surface of the stop collar and the second end surface of the steerable ring is greater than the distance M between the large end surface of the flange and the second end surface of the steerable ring.

The advantage of the above technical scheme is that the stop collar will not constitute any restriction on the turning of the steerable ring, thereby ensuring that the steerable ring can completely abut against or fit the large end face of the flange, and thus ensuring that the steerable ring provides effective support for the large end face of the flange.

In a preferred embodiment, the flange positioning method further comprises, after the step (2) of fitting the steerable ring to the shoulder and before the step of positioning the stop collar on the second end of the body, the step of providing an elastic member on the second end face of the steerable ring, wherein the elastic member is configured such that one end abuts against the second end face of the steerable ring and the other end abuts against the end face of the stop collar.

The technical scheme has the advantages that the elastic component can restore the steerable ring to the original position after the flange is detached, so that the positioning and processing of the next flange can be smoothly carried out.

In a preferred embodiment, the flange positioning method further comprises the step of detachably connecting the shoulder to the cylindrical portion of the body before the step (2) of fitting the steerable ring to the shoulder.

The technical scheme has the advantages that only the shoulder part can be machined when the inner spherical surface of the shoulder part is machined, and the whole body does not need to be machined. Meanwhile, when the shoulder is damaged, only the shoulder can be replaced without replacing the whole body. The processing difficulty of the inner spherical surface is greatly reduced, and meanwhile, the cost is reduced and the working efficiency is improved.

In a preferred embodiment, the flange positioning method further comprises, before the step (2) of fitting the steerable ring to the shoulder, the step of detachably connecting the shoulder to the cylindrical portion of the body, the stop collar further comprising an annular protrusion extending axially rearward from the stop collar body for abutting against a bottom of the inner spherical surface, the annular protrusion having an outer diameter smaller than a diameter of the through hole of the steerable ring.

The technical scheme has the advantages that the limiting ring can position the shoulder part on the body, so that the machining precision is further ensured, and meanwhile, the annular protrusion cannot influence the steering of the steerable ring because the outer diameter of the annular protrusion is smaller than the diameter of the through hole of the steerable ring.

In a preferred embodiment, the flange positioning method further comprises the step of detachably connecting the mandrel to the second end of the body before the step (4) of fitting the flange to the second end of the body.

The technical scheme has the advantages that when the conical part of the mandrel is machined, only the mandrel can be machined, and the whole body does not need to be machined. This greatly reduces the difficulty of machining the tapered portion while reducing cost and improving work efficiency.

In a preferred embodiment, the mandrel further comprises a cylindrical portion integral with the conical portion, the second end of the body comprising a central bore disposed therein, the cylindrical portion being configured to be removably connectable to the central bore.

In a preferred embodiment, the mandrel comprises a through hole positioned therein, and the flange positioning method further comprises the step of disposing a blind rivet in the through hole of the mandrel after the step (3) of fitting the expansion sleeve on the mandrel and before the step (4) of fitting the flange to the second end of the body, wherein the blind rivet comprises a shank adapted to slide in the through hole of the mandrel and a nut for abutting an axially forward facing end surface of the expansion sleeve.

In a preferred embodiment, the expansion sleeve is configured to expand the internal spline provided on the wall of the bore of the flange.

The technical scheme has the advantages that when the expansion sleeve completely expands the inner spline of the flange, the expansion sleeve is completely coaxial with the inner spline of the flange, so that the small end face of the flange can be ensured to be completely vertical to the inner spline in subsequent processing, the outer peripheral face of the flange can be ensured to be completely coaxial with the inner spline, and the second end face of the steerable ring can completely abut against the large end face of the flange, so that the flange is sufficiently supported at the large end face. Therefore, the technical scheme can process the high-precision flange with the internal spline at lower cost and in shorter time.

In a preferred embodiment, the conical outer surface makes an angle α with the axial direction XX 'in a cross section parallel to the axial direction XX', said angle α being between 5 ° and 30 °, preferably between 4 ° and 10 °, more preferably 6 °.

It is noted that if the angle α is too small, the change in the outer diameter of the expansion sleeve as it moves relative to the mandrel is too small, which may result in failure to tension the flange; if the angle α is too large, the force required to move the expander sleeve relative to the mandrel (especially axially rearward) is too great and even self-locking may occur, possibly resulting in the expander sleeve being unable to move relative to the mandrel. Therefore, the above technical solution has an advantage that the angle α is in the above range, so that it is possible to ensure that the outer diameter of the expansion sleeve is significantly changed along with the movement of the expansion sleeve relative to the mandrel, and it is also possible to ensure that the expansion sleeve smoothly moves relative to the mandrel.

The invention may be embodied in the embodiments illustrated in the drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and that any changes which come within the teachings of the invention are to be considered as included within the scope of the invention, which is defined solely by the appended claims.

Drawings

The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention. These drawings should not be construed as necessarily limiting the present invention. Like numbers and/or like reference numerals may refer to like and/or like elements throughout.

A cross-sectional view of a flange 900 to be machined is shown in fig. 1;

a cross-sectional view of a flange positioning device according to one embodiment of the present invention with a flange 900 assembled thereon is shown in fig. 2;

a cross-sectional view of the body 100 of the flange positioning apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig. 3;

a cross-sectional view of a steerable ring 300 of a flange positioning device according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig. 4;

a cross-sectional view of the body 100 and mandrel 500 of a flange positioning apparatus according to another embodiment of the invention is shown in fig. 5;

a cross-sectional view of an expansion sleeve 600 of a flange positioning device according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig. 6;

an enlarged view of the portion indicated as a in fig. 2 is shown in fig. 7;

a cross-sectional view of a stop collar 400 of a flange positioning apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig. 8;

a cross-sectional view of the body 100 and shoulder 140 of a flange locating apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig. 9;

a cross-sectional view of a stop collar 400 of a flange positioning apparatus according to another embodiment of the invention is shown in fig. 10;

a cross-sectional view of a flange locating feature provided with a blind rivet 700 and blind rivet 700 according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig. 11;

an enlarged view of the portion indicated as B in fig. 11 is shown in fig. 12;

a cross-sectional view of a flange positioning device according to an embodiment of the invention with a flange 900 fitted thereon is shown in fig. 13, wherein the flange 900 is provided with internal splines on the wall of its central bore 930.

Detailed Description

The present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as necessarily limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments are provided merely to illustrate the invention and to convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art.

A cross-sectional view of a flange 900 to be machined is shown in fig. 1. A cross-sectional view of a flange positioning device according to one embodiment of the present invention with a flange 900 assembled thereon is shown in fig. 2. A cross-sectional view of the body 100 of a flange positioning apparatus according to one embodiment of the invention is shown in fig. 3. A cross-sectional view of a steerable ring 300 of a flange positioning device according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig. 4. A cross-sectional view of the body 100 and mandrel 500 of a flange positioning apparatus according to another embodiment of the invention is shown in fig. 5. A cross-sectional view of an expansion sleeve 600 of a flange positioning device according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig. 6. An enlarged view of the portion indicated as a in fig. 2 is shown in fig. 7. A cross-sectional view of a stop collar 400 of a flange positioning apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig. 8. A cross-sectional view of the body 100 and shoulder 140 of a flange positioning apparatus according to another embodiment of the invention is shown in fig. 9. A cross-sectional view of a stop collar 400 of a flange positioning apparatus according to another embodiment of the invention is shown in fig. 10. A cross-sectional view of a flange locating device provided with a blind rivet 700 and blind rivet 700 according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig. 11. An enlarged view of the portion indicated as B in fig. 11 is shown in fig. 12. A cross-sectional view of a flange positioning device according to an embodiment of the invention with a flange 900 fitted thereon is shown in fig. 13, wherein the flange 900 is provided with internal splines on the wall of its central bore 930.

Referring to fig. 1, which shows a cross-sectional view of a typical flange 900, the flange 900 generally includes a large end 910 and a small end 920 and a central aperture 930 disposed in the small end 920. A flange positioning device and a flange positioning method according to the present invention capable of machining an outer peripheral surface 940 of the flange 900 that is completely coaxial with the center hole 930 and a small end surface 921 that is completely perpendicular to the axis of the center hole 930 will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, a flange positioning device according to the present invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in fig. 2 to 13, a flange positioning device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a body 100, a steerable ring 300, a mandrel 500, and an expansion sleeve 600.

Referring to fig. 3, the body 100 includes a first end 110 for connection with a spindle of a machine tool (e.g., a lathe, a milling machine, etc.), a second end 130 for connection with a flange 900 to be machined, and a cylindrical portion 120 between the first end 110 and the second end 130. A shoulder 140 is provided at the end of the cylindrical portion 120. The shoulder 140 includes an end face 143 and an inner spherical surface 142 recessed inwardly from the end face 143, wherein the inner spherical surface 142 is a portion of a spherical surface. In this context, "radial" should be understood to mean a direction perpendicular to the axial direction indicated by XX ', "axially rearward" should be understood to mean towards the direction indicated by the arrow X, and "axially forward" should be understood to mean towards the direction indicated by the arrow X'.

Referring to fig. 4, the steerable ring 300 is configured to fit to the shoulder 140 and includes a base 330, a protrusion 310 protruding from the base 330, and a through-hole 320 disposed therein for insertion into the second end 130 of the body 100. In particular, the protrusion 310 comprises an outer spherical surface 311 matching the inner spherical surface 142 and intended to abut against the inner spherical surface 142, the base 330 comprises a first end surface 331 opposite to the end surface 143 of the shoulder 140 and a second end surface 332 opposite thereto, the diameter D320 of the through hole 320 is larger than the outer diameter D130 of the second end 130 of the body 100. Thus, by arranging the outer spherical surface 311 of the protrusion 310 to match the inner spherical surface 142 of the shoulder 140 and the diameter D320 of the through hole 320 to be larger than the outer diameter D130 of the second end 130 of the body 100, the steerable ring 300 can be steered in any direction, i.e., 360 °, relative to the shoulder 140 after the steerable ring 300 is assembled to the shoulder 140.

Referring to fig. 2 and 3, the mandrel 500 is disposed at the second end 130 of the body 100 and includes a tapered portion 520, the tapered portion 520 having a tapered outer surface 521.

Referring to fig. 2 and 6, the expanding sleeve 600 is disposed between the tapered portion 520 of the mandrel 500 and the central bore 930 of the flange 900, and includes an outer surface 610 for abutting against the bore wall of the central bore 930 of the flange 900 and a tapered inner surface 620 for abutting against the tapered outer surface 521 of the mandrel 500. The sleeve 600 is configured to move relative to the tapered portion 520 to increase or decrease its outer diameter D600. Therefore, by disposing the expanding sleeve 600 between the tapered portion 520 of the mandrel 500 and the central hole 930 of the flange 900 and arranging it to be movable relative to the tapered portion 520 to increase or decrease the outer diameter D600 thereof, such that when the expanding sleeve 600 moves toward the axial rear, the outer diameter D600 thereof increases, the central hole 930 of the flange 900 can be expanded to position and support the flange 900 when the second end face 921, the outer peripheral surface 940 and the like of the flange 900 are machined; when the expansion sleeve 600 moves forward in the axial direction, the outer diameter D600 thereof decreases, so that the flange 900 can be loosened to remove the finished flange 900.

Having described the respective components of the flange positioning device according to an embodiment of the present invention in detail, at least two positions (or states) that the flange positioning device can assume, namely, an assembling position where the flange 900 is assembled on the flange positioning device and a machining position suitable for machining the flange 900, are described below on the basis of this. As shown in fig. 2 and 7, in the assembled position, the outer spherical surface 311 of the steerable ring 300 abuts against the inner spherical surface 142 of the shoulder 140, the tapered inner surface 620 of the expander 600 abuts against the tapered outer surface 521 of the mandrel 500, the hole wall of the central hole 930 of the flange 900 is at least partially in contact with the outer surface 610 of the expander 600, and the first end surface 331 of the steerable ring 300 and the end surface 143 of the shoulder 140 have a non-zero distance L therebetween, and particularly, the large end surface 911 of the flange 900 and the second end surface 332 of the steerable ring 300 have a non-zero distance M therebetween. In the machining position, the expanding sleeve 600 moves axially rearward relative to the mandrel 500 compared to the assembling position to increase the outer diameter D600 thereof so as to tighten the central hole 930 of the flange 900, and the large end surface 911 of the flange 900 abuts against the second end surface 332 of the steerable ring 300, and particularly, the expanding sleeve 600 pulls the flange 900 to move axially rearward after tightening so that the large end surface 911 of the flange 900 abuts against the second end surface 332 of the steerable ring 300.

The flange positioning device according to the present invention is particularly advantageous for machining a flange 900 in which the large end face 911 is not perpendicular to the axis of the central hole 930. Because the steerable ring 300 can be steered in any direction, i.e., 360 degrees, even if the steerable ring 300 abuts against the flange big end face 911, the flange big end face 911 can be steered in any direction, i.e., 360 degrees, so that the flange big end face 911 does not affect or limit the tensioning of the expanding sleeve 600 even if the flange big end face 911 is not perpendicular to the axis of the central hole 930 when the expanding sleeve 600 is tensioned, and the flange 900 can be effectively supported from the steerable ring 300 at the big end face 911 during machining. In particular, when the flange 900 is positioned, the expanding sleeve 600 is first made to expand the central hole 930 of the flange 900, and then the expanding sleeve 600 pulls the flange 900 to move toward the direction of the steerable ring 300 so that the large end face 911 of the flange 900 abuts against the second end face 332 of the steerable ring 300, thereby providing support for the flange 900 at the second end face 332 during machining. Since the large end face 911 of the flange 900 contacts the second end face 332 of the steerable ring 300 after the expansion sleeve 600 expands the central hole 930, the second end face 332 does not affect the expansion sleeve 600 during the expansion process. Therefore, the expanding sleeve 600 can completely expand the central hole 930, and the expanding sleeve 600 can be completely coaxial with the central hole 930, which enables to ensure that the small end surface 921 of the flange 900 is completely perpendicular to the axis of the central hole 930 in the subsequent processing, and to ensure that the outer peripheral surface 940 of the flange 900 is completely coaxial with the central hole 930. Meanwhile, since the steerable ring 300 can be steered in any direction, i.e., 360 °, relative to the shoulder portion 140, even if the large end face 911 of the flange 900 is not perpendicular to the axis of the central hole 930, the steerable ring 300 can be steered according to the orientation of the large end face 911 of the flange 900, such that the second end face 332 thereof completely abuts or abuts against the large end face 911 of the flange 900 to provide complete support for the large end face 911. In short, according to the technical solution of the present invention, the small end face 921 of the flange 900, which is completely perpendicular to the axis of the central hole 930 thereof, and the outer circumferential surface 940, which is completely coaxial with the central hole 930, can be processed by fully tensioning the expansion sleeve 600, and at the same time, even if the large end face 911 of the flange 900 is not perpendicular to the axis of the central hole 930, the second end face 332 can be completely abutted against the large end face 911 of the flange 900 by the turning of the steerable ring 300, so that the flange 900 can be sufficiently supported at the large end face 911. Therefore, the flange positioning device can process the flange with high precision at lower cost and in shorter time.

Several preferred embodiments of the flange positioning device according to the invention are described below.

As shown in FIG. 7, in a preferred embodiment, the shoulder 140 includes an annular groove 141 recessed inwardly from the end face 143 radially outward of the inner spherical surface 142. The flange positioning device according to this embodiment comprises a resilient washer 800 arranged in said annular groove 141 configured to abut against the first end face 331 of the steerable ring 300. According to the technical scheme, the elastic gasket 800 can play a sealing role to prevent dust, chips generated in the machining process and the like from entering between the inner spherical surface 142 and the outer spherical surface 311 to damage the inner spherical surface and the outer spherical surface, and the elastic gasket 800 can restore the steerable ring 300 to the original position after the flange 900 is detached, so that the positioning machining of the next flange can be smoothly carried out.

As shown in fig. 2, in a preferred embodiment, the flange positioning device further includes a stop collar 400 positioned on the second end 130 of the body 100 axially forward of the steerable ring 300. As shown in FIG. 8, the stop collar 400 includes a stop collar body 410 and a stop collar through bore 420 disposed therein for coupling with the second end 130 of the body 100. The stop collar body 410 includes an end face 411 opposite the second end face 332 of the steerable ring 300 and has an outer diameter D410 that is greater than the diameter D320 of the through bore 320 of the steerable ring 300. As shown in fig. 7, in the assembled position, the end face 411 of the stop collar 400 and the second end face 332 of the steerable ring 300 have a non-zero distance N therebetween. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the stop collar 400 can prevent the steerable ring 300 from falling off the body 100 when the flange 900 is removed, and the stop collar 400 does not interfere with the turning of the steerable ring 300 due to the non-zero distance N between the end surface 411 of the stop collar 400 and the second end surface 332 of the steerable ring 300.

In a preferred embodiment, the stop collar 400 is made of a nylon material. Therefore, according to the technical scheme, the limit ring 400 has the advantages of high mechanical strength, good toughness, outstanding fatigue resistance, high softening point, high wear resistance, high corrosion resistance and the like.

In a preferred embodiment, the distance N between the end surface 411 of the stop collar 400 and the second end surface 332 of the steerable ring 300 is between 0.5mm and 2.0mm, preferably between 0.5mm and 1.5mm, and more preferably 1.0 mm. If the distance N is too small, the stop collar 400 may limit the steering of the steerable ring 300, causing the steerable ring 300 to not steer in place and thus not fully abut or conform against the large end face 911 of the flange 900, which causes the steerable ring 300 to not provide effective support to the large end face 911 of the flange 900; if the distance N is too large, the stop collar 400 may not effectively prevent the steerable ring 300 from falling off the body 100 when the flange 900 is removed, resulting in damage to the steerable ring 300 or other components. Notably, the distance N being in the above range enables the stop collar 400 to ensure that the steerable ring 300 does not fall off the body 100 when the flange 900 is removed without affecting the steering of the steerable ring 300.

As shown in fig. 7, in a preferred embodiment, the distance N between the end surface 411 of the stop collar 400 and the second end surface 332 of the steerable ring 300 is greater than the distance M between the large end surface 911 of the flange 900 and the second end surface 332 of the steerable ring 300, which allows the stop collar 400 to provide no restriction on the turning of the steerable ring 300, thereby ensuring that the steerable ring 300 can completely abut or conform to the large end surface 911 of the flange 900 and thus ensuring that the steerable ring 300 provides effective support for the large end surface 911 of the flange 900.

In a preferred embodiment, the flange positioning device further comprises a resilient member (not shown) positioned between the second end face 332 of the steerable ring 300 and the end face 411 of the stop collar 400. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the elastic member can restore the steerable ring 300 to its original position after the flange 900 is removed, thereby ensuring that the positioning process for the next flange can be performed smoothly.

As shown in FIG. 9, in a preferred embodiment, the shoulder 140 is removably connected to the cylindrical portion 120 of the body 100. Therefore, according to this embodiment, only the shoulder 140 can be machined when the inner spherical surface 142 of the shoulder 140 is machined, and the entire body 100 does not need to be machined. Meanwhile, when the shoulder 140 is damaged, only the shoulder 140 may be replaced without replacing the entire body 100. This greatly reduces the difficulty of machining the inner spherical surface 142 while reducing the cost and improving the work efficiency.

As shown in FIG. 10, in the event that the shoulder 140 is removable from the body 100, the stop collar 400 further includes an annular projection 430 extending axially rearward from the stop collar body 410 for abutting against the bottom of the inner spherical surface 142. The outer diameter D430 of the annular protrusion 430 is less than the diameter D320 of the through bore 320 of the steerable ring 300. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the stop collar 400 can position the shoulder 140 on the body 100, thereby further ensuring the machining accuracy, and the annular protrusion 430 does not affect the turning of the steerable ring 300 because the outer diameter D430 of the annular protrusion 430 is smaller than the diameter D320 of the through hole 320 of the steerable ring 300.

As shown in fig. 5, in a preferred embodiment, the mandrel 500 is removably attached to the second end 130 of the body 100. Therefore, according to this embodiment, when the tapered portion 520 of the mandrel 500 is machined, only the mandrel 500 can be machined without machining the entire body 100. This greatly reduces the difficulty of machining the tapered portion 520 while reducing cost and improving work efficiency. In particular, the mandrel 500 further comprises a cylindrical portion 510 (shown in fig. 5) integral with the conical portion 520, the second end 130 of the body 100 comprising a central bore 131 (shown in fig. 5) disposed therein, the cylindrical portion 510 configured to be removably connectable to the central bore 131.

As shown in fig. 3, 5, 11 and 12, in a preferred embodiment, the mandrel 500 includes a through hole 530 positioned therein, the flange positioning means includes a blind rivet 700, the blind rivet 700 including a shank 710 adapted to slide in the through hole 530 of the mandrel 500 and a nut 720 for abutting an axially forward facing end surface of the jacket 600. Therefore, according to this solution, when the pull nail 700 moves axially rearward, the nail cap 720 will pull the expanding sleeve 600, so that the expanding sleeve 600 moves axially rearward relative to the mandrel 500 to increase the outer diameter D600 thereof, thereby expanding the central hole 930 of the flange 900.

In a preferred embodiment, the expansion sleeve 600 is configured to expand the internal splines provided on the wall of the central bore 930 of the flange 900, as shown in fig. 13. Therefore, according to the technical scheme, when the expansion sleeve 600 completely expands the internal spline of the flange 900, the expansion sleeve 600 is completely coaxial with the internal spline of the flange 900, so that the small end surface 921 of the flange 900 can be ensured to be completely perpendicular to the internal spline in subsequent processing, the outer circumferential surface 940 of the flange 900 can be ensured to be completely coaxial with the internal spline, and as described above, the second end surface 332 of the steerable ring 300 can completely abut against the large end surface 911 of the flange 900, so that the flange 900 is sufficiently supported at the large end surface 911. Therefore, the flange with the internal spline can be machined with high precision at low cost and in short time by the flange positioning device.

As shown in fig. 5, in a preferred embodiment, the conical outer surface 521 makes an angle α with the axial direction XX 'in a cross section parallel to the axial direction XX', said angle α being between 5 ° and 30 °, preferably between 4 ° and 10 °, more preferably 6 °. If the angle α is too small, the change in the outer diameter D600 of the expansion sleeve 600 when moving relative to the mandrel 500 is too small, which may result in failure to expand the flange 900; if the angle α is too large, the force required to move the expander 600 relative to the mandrel 500 (particularly toward the axial rear) is too large, and even self-locking may occur, which may result in the expander 600 not being able to move relative to the mandrel 500. It is to be noted that the angle α in the above range not only ensures that the outer diameter D600 of the expansion sleeve 600 significantly changes with the movement of the expansion sleeve 600 relative to the mandrel 500, but also ensures that the expansion sleeve 600 can smoothly move relative to the mandrel 500.

Having described the flange positioning device according to the present invention in detail above, the flange positioning method according to the present invention, which is achieved by means of the above-described flange positioning device, will be described below.

The flange positioning method realized by the flange positioning device comprises the following steps:

(1) connecting the first end 110 of the body 100 to a spindle of a machine tool (e.g., lathe, milling machine, etc.);

(2) fitting the steerable ring 300 to the shoulder 140 with the outer spherical surface 311 of the protrusion 310 of the steerable ring 300 abutting the inner spherical surface 142 of the shoulder 140 with a non-zero distance L between the first end surface 331 of the steerable ring 300 and the end surface 143 of the shoulder 140;

(3) fitting the expanding sleeve 600 over the mandrel 500 with the tapered inner surface 620 of the expanding sleeve 600 abutting the tapered outer surface 521 of the mandrel 500;

(4) fitting the flange 900 to the second end 130 of the body 100, wherein the wall of the central hole 930 of the flange 900 is at least partially in contact with the outer surface 610 of the expansion sleeve 600, in particular, a non-zero distance M is provided between the large end face 911 of the flange 900 and the second end face 332 of the steerable ring 300;

(5) moving the expanding sleeve 600 axially backward relative to the mandrel 500 to increase the outer diameter D600 thereof to tension the central hole 930 of the flange 900, and the large end face 911 of the flange 900 abuts against the second end face 332 of the steerable ring 300; specifically, after tensioning, the expansion sleeve 600 is further moved axially rearward relative to the mandrel 500 to drive the flange 900 to move axially rearward, so that the large end face 911 of the flange 900 abuts against the second end face 332 of the steerable ring 300.

The flange positioning method according to the present invention is particularly advantageous for machining a flange 900 in which the large end face 911 is not perpendicular to the axis of the central hole 930. Because the steerable ring 300 can be steered in any direction, i.e., 360 degrees, even if the steerable ring 300 abuts against the flange big end face 911, the flange big end face 911 can be steered in any direction, i.e., 360 degrees, so that the flange big end face 911 does not affect or limit the tensioning of the expanding sleeve 600 even if the flange big end face 911 is not perpendicular to the axis of the central hole 930 when the expanding sleeve 600 is tensioned, and the flange 900 can be effectively supported from the steerable ring 300 at the big end face 911 during machining. In particular, when the flange 900 is positioned, the expanding sleeve 600 is first made to expand the central hole 930 of the flange 900, and then the expanding sleeve 600 pulls the flange 900 to move toward the direction of the steerable ring 300 so that the large end face 911 of the flange 900 abuts against the second end face 332 of the steerable ring 300, thereby providing support for the flange 900 at the second end face 332 during machining. Since the large end face 911 of the flange 900 contacts the second end face 332 of the steerable ring 300 after the expansion sleeve 600 expands the central hole 930, the second end face 332 does not affect the expansion sleeve 600 during the expansion process. Therefore, the expanding sleeve 600 can completely expand the central hole 930, and the expanding sleeve 600 can be completely coaxial with the central hole 930, which enables to ensure that the small end surface 921 of the flange 900 is completely perpendicular to the axis of the central hole 930 in the subsequent processing, and to ensure that the outer peripheral surface 940 of the flange 900 is completely coaxial with the central hole 930. Meanwhile, since the steerable ring 300 can be steered in any direction, i.e., 360 °, relative to the shoulder portion 140, even if the large end face 911 of the flange 900 is not perpendicular to the axis of the central hole 930, the steerable ring 300 can be steered according to the orientation of the large end face 911 of the flange 900, such that the second end face 332 thereof completely abuts or abuts against the large end face 911 of the flange 900 to provide complete support for the large end face 911. In short, according to the technical solution of the present invention, the small end face 921 of the flange 900, which is completely perpendicular to the axis of the central hole 930 thereof, and the outer circumferential surface 940, which is completely coaxial with the central hole 930, can be processed by fully tensioning the expansion sleeve 600, and at the same time, even if the large end face 911 of the flange 900 is not perpendicular to the axis of the central hole 930, the second end face 332 can be completely abutted against the large end face 911 of the flange 900 by the turning of the steerable ring 300, so that the flange 900 can be sufficiently supported at the large end face 911. Therefore, the flange positioning method can process the flange with high precision at lower cost and in shorter time.

Several preferred embodiments of the flange positioning method according to the invention are described below.

In a preferred embodiment, the flange positioning method according to the present invention further comprises the step of disposing the resilient washer 800 in the annular groove 141 of the shoulder portion 140 before the step (2) of fitting the steerable ring 300 to the shoulder portion 140, wherein the resilient washer 800 is configured to abut against the first end face 331 of the steerable ring 300. According to the technical scheme, the elastic gasket 800 can play a sealing role to prevent dust, chips generated in the machining process and the like from entering between the inner spherical surface 142 and the outer spherical surface 311 to damage the inner spherical surface and the outer spherical surface, and the elastic gasket 800 can restore the steerable ring 300 to the original position after the flange 900 is detached, so that the positioning machining of the next flange can be smoothly carried out.

In a preferred embodiment, the flange positioning method according to the present invention further comprises, after the step (2) of fitting the steerable ring 300 to the shoulder 140 and before the step (4) of fitting the flange 900 to the second end 130 of the body 100, the step of positioning the stop collar 400 on the second end 130 of the body 100 axially forward of the steerable ring 300, wherein an outer diameter D410 of the stop collar body 410 of the stop collar 400 is larger than a diameter D320 of the through hole 320 of the steerable ring 300, and a non-zero distance N is provided between the end surface 411 of the stop collar 400 and the second end surface 332 of the steerable ring 300. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the stop collar 400 can prevent the steerable ring 300 from falling off the body 100 when the flange 900 is removed, and the stop collar 400 does not interfere with the turning of the steerable ring 300 due to the non-zero distance N between the end surface 411 of the stop collar 400 and the second end surface 332 of the steerable ring 300.

In a preferred embodiment, the stop collar 400 is made of a nylon material. Therefore, according to the technical scheme, the limit ring 400 has the advantages of high mechanical strength, good toughness, outstanding fatigue resistance, high softening point, high wear resistance, high corrosion resistance and the like.

In a preferred embodiment, the distance N between the end surface 411 of the stop collar 400 and the second end surface 332 of the steerable ring 300 is between 0.5mm and 2.0mm, preferably between 0.5mm and 1.5mm, and more preferably 1.0 mm. If the distance N is too small, the stop collar 400 may limit the steering of the steerable ring 300, causing the steerable ring 300 to not steer in place and thus not fully abut or conform against the large end face 911 of the flange 900, which causes the steerable ring 300 to not provide effective support to the large end face 911 of the flange 900; if the distance N is too large, the stop collar 400 may not effectively prevent the steerable ring 300 from falling off the body 100 when the flange 900 is removed, resulting in damage to the steerable ring 300 or other components. Notably, the distance N being in the above range enables the stop collar 400 to ensure that the steerable ring 300 does not fall off the body 100 when the flange 900 is removed without affecting the steering of the steerable ring 300.

In a preferred embodiment, the distance N between the end surface 411 of the stop collar 400 and the second end surface 332 of the steerable ring 300 is greater than the distance M between the large end surface 911 of the flange 900 and the second end surface 332 of the steerable ring 300, which allows the stop collar 400 to steer the steerable ring 300 without any restriction, thereby ensuring that the steerable ring 300 can completely abut or abut against the large end surface 911 of the flange 900 and thus ensuring that the steerable ring 300 provides effective support for the large end surface 911 of the flange 900.

In a preferred embodiment, the flange positioning method according to the present invention further includes the step of disposing an elastic member (not shown) on the second end surface 332 of the steerable ring 300 after the step (2) of assembling the steerable ring 300 to the shoulder 140 and before the step of positioning the stop collar 400 on the second end 130 of the body 100, wherein the elastic member is configured such that one end abuts against the second end surface 332 of the steerable ring 300 and the other end abuts against the end surface 411 of the stop collar 400. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the elastic member can restore the steerable ring 300 to its original position after the flange 900 is removed, thereby ensuring that the positioning process for the next flange can be performed smoothly.

In a preferred embodiment, the flange positioning method according to the present invention further includes the step of detachably connecting the shoulder 140 to the cylindrical portion 120 of the body 100 before the step (2) of fitting the steerable ring 300 to the shoulder 140. Therefore, according to this embodiment, only the shoulder 140 can be machined when the inner spherical surface 142 of the shoulder 140 is machined, and the entire body 100 does not need to be machined. Meanwhile, when the shoulder 140 is damaged, only the shoulder 140 may be replaced without replacing the entire body 100. This greatly reduces the difficulty of machining the inner spherical surface 142 while reducing the cost and improving the work efficiency.

In a preferred embodiment, the stop collar 400 further includes an annular projection 430 extending axially rearward from the stop collar body 410 for abutting against the bottom of the inner spherical surface 142, with the shoulder 140 being removable from the body 100. The outer diameter D430 of the annular protrusion 430 is less than the diameter D320 of the through bore 320 of the steerable ring 300. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the stop collar 400 can position the shoulder 140 on the body 100, thereby further ensuring the machining accuracy, and the annular protrusion 430 does not affect the turning of the steerable ring 300 because the outer diameter D430 of the annular protrusion 430 is smaller than the diameter D320 of the through hole 320 of the steerable ring 300.

In a preferred embodiment, the flange positioning method according to the present invention further includes the step of detachably coupling the mandrel 500 to the second end 130 of the body 100 before the step (4) of assembling the flange 900 to the second end 130 of the body 100. Therefore, according to this embodiment, when the tapered portion 520 of the mandrel 500 is machined, only the mandrel 500 can be machined without machining the entire body 100. This greatly reduces the difficulty of machining the tapered portion 520 while reducing cost and improving work efficiency. In particular, the mandrel 500 further comprises a cylindrical portion 510 (shown in fig. 5) integral with the conical portion 520, the second end 130 of the body 100 comprising a central bore 131 (shown in fig. 5) disposed therein, the cylindrical portion 510 configured to be removably connectable to the central bore 131.

In a preferred embodiment, the mandrel 500 comprises a through hole 530 positioned therein, and the flange positioning method according to the present invention further comprises the step of disposing a blind rivet 700 in the through hole 530 of the mandrel 500 after the step (3) of fitting the swelling sleeve 600 on the mandrel 500 and before the step (4) of fitting the flange 900 to the second end 130 of the body 100, wherein the blind rivet 700 comprises a shank 710 adapted to slide in the through hole 530 of the mandrel 500 and a nut 720 for abutting against an axially forward facing end surface of the swelling sleeve 600. Therefore, according to this solution, when the pull nail 700 moves axially rearward, the nail cap 720 will pull the expanding sleeve 600, so that the expanding sleeve 600 moves axially rearward relative to the mandrel 500 to increase the outer diameter D600 thereof, thereby expanding the central hole 930 of the flange 900.

In a preferred embodiment, the expansion sleeve 600 is configured to expand the internal splines provided on the wall of the central bore 930 of the flange 900, as shown in fig. 13. Therefore, according to the technical scheme, when the expansion sleeve 600 completely expands the internal spline of the flange 900, the expansion sleeve 600 is completely coaxial with the internal spline of the flange 900, so that the small end surface 921 of the flange 900 can be ensured to be completely perpendicular to the internal spline in subsequent processing, the outer circumferential surface 940 of the flange 900 can be ensured to be completely coaxial with the internal spline, and as described above, the second end surface 332 of the steerable ring 300 can completely abut against the large end surface 911 of the flange 900, so that the flange 900 is sufficiently supported at the large end surface 911. Therefore, the flange with the internal spline can be machined with high precision at low cost and in short time by the flange positioning device.

As shown in fig. 5, in a preferred embodiment, the conical outer surface 521 makes an angle α with the axial direction XX 'in a cross section parallel to the axial direction XX', said angle α being between 5 ° and 30 °, preferably between 4 ° and 10 °, more preferably 6 °. If the angle α is too small, the change in the outer diameter D600 of the expansion sleeve 600 when moving relative to the mandrel 500 is too small, which may result in failure to expand the flange 900; if the angle α is too large, the force required to move the expander 600 relative to the mandrel 500 (particularly toward the axial rear) is too large, and even self-locking may occur, which may result in the expander 600 not being able to move relative to the mandrel 500. It is to be noted that the angle α in the above range not only ensures that the outer diameter D600 of the expansion sleeve 600 significantly changes with the movement of the expansion sleeve 600 relative to the mandrel 500, but also ensures that the expansion sleeve 600 can smoothly move relative to the mandrel 500.

Preferred but non-limiting embodiments of the flange positioning device and the flange positioning method according to the invention are described in detail above with the aid of the accompanying drawings. Modifications and additions to the techniques and structures may become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of this disclosure as set forth in the following claims. Accordingly, such modifications and additions that may be contemplated under the teachings of the present invention are intended to be part of this disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the following appended claims, and includes equivalents known at the time of filing this disclosure and equivalents not yet foreseen.