Universal roller swaging machine with tool wear monitor

Abstract

A roller swaging machine is provided for swaging first and second work pieces together. The roller swaging machine may include a base, a work piece support assembly, a tool carriage assembly, a spline feed assembly, and a linear sensor. In an embodiment, a tool carriage assembly may be configured to support an expander tool having a tapered mandrel, the spline feed assembly may be configured to be coupled to the tapered mandrel of the expander tool, and the linear sensor may be configured to measure axial movement of the tapered mandrel.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A roller swaging machine comprising:
 a base;   a work piece support assembly supported on or above the base;   a tool carriage assembly supported on or above the base, the tool carriage assembly configured to support an expander tool having a tapered mandrel;   a spline feed assembly supported on or above the base, the spline feed assembly configured for connection to the tapered mandrel of the expander tool; and   a linear sensor configured to measure axial movement of the tapered mandrel.   
     
     
         2 . The roller swaging machine of  claim 1 , wherein the work piece support assembly interchangeably supports a work piece adaptor configured to secure a first work piece relative to a second work piece. 
     
     
         3 . The roller swaging machine of  claim 1 , wherein the tool carriage assembly is supported for movement along the base. 
     
     
         4 . The roller swaging machine of  claim 2 , wherein the tool carriage assembly includes a locking mechanism configured to secure the tool carriage assembly in a selectable position relative to the base. 
     
     
         5 . The roller swaging machine of  claim 1 , wherein the tool carriage assembly interchangeably supports a tooling adaptor configured to support the expander tool. 
     
     
         6 . The roller swaging machine of  claim 1 , wherein the spline feed assembly is supported for movement along the base. 
     
     
         7 . The roller swaging machine of  claim 6 , wherein the spline feed assembly includes a locking mechanism configured to secure the spline feed assembly in a selectable position relative to the base. 
     
     
         8 . The roller swaging machine of  claim 1 , wherein the linear sensor is a linear variable differential transducer. 
     
     
         9 . The roller swaging machine of  claim 1 , including an on-board computer or processor configured to control axial movement of the tapered mandrel based on an input from the linear sensor. 
     
     
         10 . The roller swaging machine of  claim 9 , wherein the on-board computer or processor is configured to control radial expansion of the rollers based on the axial movement of the tapered mandrel measured in connection with the linear sensor. 
     
     
         11 . A method for swaging work pieces together comprising:
 installing an expander tool on a tool carriage assembly of a roller swaging machine, the expander tool including a tapered mandrel supported for axial movement relative to a plurality of rollers;   coupling a spline feed assembly provided on the roller swaging machine to the tapered mandrel of the expander tool;   installing a first work piece relative to a second work piece on a work piece support assembly provided on the roller swaging machine;   calibrating a linear sensor provided on the roller swaging machine to determine a relationship between axial movement of the tapered mandrel and an instantaneous outer diameter of the rollers; and   swaging the first and second work pieces to a post swage inner diameter (PSID) based on the axial movement of the tapered mandrel.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , including calculating a target PSID by adjusting a desired PSID of the first and second work pieces, and swaging the first and second work pieces to the target PSID. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the calculating the target PSID includes:
 providing a desired PSID;   providing at least one actual dimension of the first or second work piece;   adjusting the desired PSID based on the actual dimension of the first or second work piece to achieve a corrected PSID; and   adjusting the corrected PSID based on a set or pre-determined spring back correction factor of the first and second work pieces.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the actual dimension of the first or second work piece can be at least one of a wall thickness of the first work piece, an outer diameter of the first work piece, and an inner diameter of the second work piece. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the desired PSID is adjusted by an amount that the actual dimension varies from a pre-determined nominal dimension of the first or second work piece. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the spring back correction factor can be determined by initially swaging the first and second work pieces to the target PSID, measuring the actual PSID, and calculating a difference between the target PSID and the actual PSID. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the calibrating the linear sensor includes:
 installing a first ring gage with a first diameter on the work piece support assembly;   measuring the axial movement of the tapered mandrel that is required for the rollers to achieve the first diameter;   installing a second ring gage with a second diameter on the work piece support assembly;   measuring the axial movement of the tapered mandrel that is required for the rollers to achieve the second diameter; and   determining a relationship between the axial movement of the tapered mandrel and the outer diameter of the rollers.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , including monitoring an actual PSID of the swaged work pieces to determine potential tooling wear on the expander tool. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the monitoring for potential tooling wear on the expander tool includes:
 measuring an actual PSID of the swaged work pieces;   comparing the target PSID with the actual PSID of the swaged work pieces; and   notifying an operator if the target PSID exceeds the actual PSID by a pre-determined threshold.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11 , including monitoring a torque being applied to the tapered mandrel to ensure that the torque is within a pre-determined threshold to ensure a quality swage and detect failure modes.