3D Adhesive Bead Mapping for Vehicle Assembly Compliance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vehicle manufacturing processes for applying adhesive beads are inefficient and time-consuming, requiring regular teardowns to ensure compliance, and it is difficult to identify affected products when non-compliance is discovered.
Innovation Solution
Implement spatial adhesive mapping methods and systems that generate and store three-dimensional adhesive bead maps in real time, comparing them to nominal maps to ensure ongoing compliance, minimizing teardowns and enabling quick identification and remediation of issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If regular teardown inspections are performed to ensure adhesive bead compliance, then product quality is verified, but production time is lost and efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces physical teardown inspections with optical imaging systems and automated image processing algorithms. Cameras capture images of adhesive beads during assembly, and software automatically analyzes compliance, eliminating the need to disassemble products for quality verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates digital copies (images) of the adhesive beads and their surrounding contexts during the assembly process. These images serve as proxies for physical inspection, allowing quality assessment without actual product disassembly.
2Reliability
If teardown inspections are used to identify non-compliant adhesive beads, then quality problems are detected, but it is difficult to determine which other products are affected
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements real-time feedback systems where imaging sensors continuously monitor adhesive bead application, and the results are immediately fed back to the control system. This allows instant detection and correction of non-compliance issues without waiting for teardown inspections.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary imaging and data processing system that bridges the gap between adhesive application and quality verification. This intermediary system captures, stores, and analyzes adhesive bead images, providing comprehensive traceability information that links each adhesive application to specific product identifiers.
3Productivity
If two-dimensional imaging is used to monitor adhesive bead location and volume, then basic compliance is tracked, but three-dimensional accuracy and shape verification are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from two-dimensional imaging to three-dimensional imaging systems. Multiple cameras or specialized 3D sensors capture depth information, allowing full volumetric analysis of adhesive beads including height, width, length, and shape characteristics that cannot be measured with 2D systems alone.
Data Source
AI summary
A spatial adhesive mapping method, including: identifying a part of a vehicle; applying an adhesive bead to the part; generating a three-dimensional adhesive map of the adhesive bead; and comparing the three-dimensional adhesive map to a three-dimensional adhesive envelope to determine if the adhesive bead is acceptable or unacceptable. The spatial adhesive mapping method may further include: performing a teardown inspection of the part to determine if the adhesive bead is acceptable or unacceptable; validating the three-dimensional adhesive envelope when it is determined that the adhesive bead is acceptable based on the teardown inspection; and modifying the three-dimensional adhesive envelope when it is determined that the adhesive bead is unacceptable based on the teardown inspection.