Battery Pack Fastener Feeding With Step-Specific Bolt and Nut Sorting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional bolt and nut supply systems fail to automatically supply the necessary fastening components in the correct quantities and types for each step of the battery pack assembly process, leading to potential quality deterioration and defects due to worker errors.
Innovation Solution
An automatic bolt and nut supply system comprising feeders, a conveyor, a reception box, and a transfer unit, which includes alignment, vibration, and color-coded or numbered reception recesses to ensure precise supply of bolts and nuts to each assembly step.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If all bolts and nuts are automatically supplied at once, then productivity is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to worker sorting errors
Solution Approach 1:
The supply system is divided into multiple feeders, each dedicated to supplying bolts or nuts of a specific type. Each feeder independently supplies the correct fastening component to the conveyor, eliminating the need for worker sorting and ensuring precision while maintaining automated high-speed supply.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service by using multiple specialized feeders that automatically supply the correct bolts and nuts without human intervention. Each feeder is configured to supply only the appropriate fastening component, allowing the system to self-regulate the supply process with high precision and productivity.
2Manufacturing precision
If worker sorts bolts and nuts manually, then manufacturing precision is maintained, but productivity deteriorates due to manual sorting time
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces manual sorting with segmented automated feeders, where each feeder is dedicated to a specific bolt or nut type. This segmentation maintains precision by ensuring only the correct fastening component is supplied while eliminating manual sorting time and increasing assembly speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical sorting process with an automated mechanical system consisting of multiple feeders and a conveyor. This substitution eliminates human labor while maintaining the precision of correct component selection and significantly increases productivity through automated high-speed supply.
3Ease of operation
If fastening is omitted by worker mistake, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to quality defects
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates a detection unit that monitors whether bolts and nuts are properly supplied and fastened at each assembly step. This feedback mechanism immediately detects omitted fastening operations and can trigger alerts or stop the process, ensuring high reliability while maintaining ease of operation through automated monitoring.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-sorting and pre-positioning the correct bolts and nuts in the conveyor before the assembly step begins. This ensures that when the assembly operation occurs, the correct fastening components are already ready and waiting, eliminating the possibility of worker mistake while keeping the actual fastening operation simple and quick.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Ensures accurate and efficient supply of bolts and nuts to each assembly step, preventing defects and improving assembly efficiency by reducing human error.
Implementation Method 1
the vibration portion may have an electromagnetic coil and a leaf spring, and may generate vibration such that the alignment portion discharges the bolts and the nuts
Data Source
AI summary
An automatic bolt and nut supply system is configured to automatically supply bolts and nuts necessary for each step as much as necessary by type at the time of assembly of a battery pack, the automatic bolt and nut supply system including a plurality of feeders configured to store and supply the bolts and the nuts by type, a conveyance unit configured to convey the bolts and the nuts supplied from the feeders, a reception box configured to receive the bolts and the nuts conveyed by the conveyance unit, and a reception box transfer unit configured to transfer the reception box.