Balsa Blanket Web Cutting for Material Waste Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for cutting balsa blanket parts result in significant material waste, especially when cutting non-rectangular parts, due to the inefficiencies in processing and cutting techniques used in large shell structures like boat hulls and wind turbine blades.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the formation of a continuous balsa blanket web by interjoining balsa blankets end-to-end on a conveyor, followed by stepwise cutting to minimize waste, utilizing a conveyor system with joining stations and a cutting station equipped with a gripping device and circular saw, and optionally using a flexible strip for interconnection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If separate balsa blankets are cut individually to produce parts, then the cutting process is simple, but material waste is significant especially for non-rectangular parts
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple separate balsa blankets are merged into a single continuous web structure through interjoining at joining stations. This allows parts to be cut from the combined web, maximizing material utilization by eliminating the need to cut separate blankets individually and reducing waste edges between parts.
Solution Approach 2:
Balsa blankets are interjoined in advance at joining stations before the cutting process begins. This preliminary action of creating a continuous web ensures that when cutting starts, the material is already configured to minimize waste, as the web extends continuously through the cutting zone without interruptions between separate blankets.
2Productivity
If balsa blankets are interjoined to form a continuous web, then material waste is reduced, but the apparatus complexity increases with joining stations and conveyor systems
Solution Approach 1:
A conveyor system acts as an intermediary mechanism that transports balsa blankets through joining stations and cutting stations in a controlled manner. The conveyor enables the complex interjoining and cutting operations to proceed systematically, coordinating the movement of multiple blankets through the apparatus without requiring complex manual handling or positioning systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The apparatus maintains continuous operation by keeping balsa blankets moving through joining stations and cutting stations without interruption. The continuous web structure allows the cutting process to proceed without stopping, and the conveyor system ensures continuous supply of material, maximizing productivity while managing the complexity through automated continuous motion rather than discrete operations.
Data Source
AI summary
Method and apparatus for cutting out balsa blanket parts comprising the following steps: providing on a surface of a conveyor (12) a row of balsa blankets (1) abutting each other end edge to end edge in butt areas at the joining stations (14.1-14.5); interjoining the balsa blankets (1) in the butt areas at the joining stations (14.1-14.5) to form a balsa blanket web; feeding the balsa blanket web in a direction of feed (F) to a cutting station (15) where the balsa blanket web is stepwise conveyed and cut through crosswise at positions to form the desired parts; providing a next row of balsa blankets on the surface of the conveyor when the rearmost end edge on the rearmost blanket of the balsa blanket web is at the last joining station (14.5), said blankets of the next row abutting each other end edge (4) to end edge (5) and the leading end edge of the foremost balsa blanket in the next row of balsa blankets abutting the rearmost end edge of the rearmost balsa blanket in the balsa blanket web; at the joining stations (14.1-14.5) interjoining the next row of the balsa blankets and joining it with the balsa blanket web in the butt areas.