Automated Assembly of Capacitor-Shunted Seasonal Light Strings
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Solution Overview
Problem
The manual assembly of capacitor shunts in seasonal light strings is inefficient, costly, and prone to quality issues, as it requires manual insertion into lamp sockets, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus for automating the assembly of seasonal light strings using capacitors as shunts, where capacitors are inserted into lamp sockets with pre-connected wire ends and lamp sub-assemblies, allowing for efficient and consistent production, reducing labor costs and improving quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual assembly of capacitor shunts is used, then flexibility and adaptability are maintained, but productivity is low and labor costs are high
Solution Approach 1:
The capacitor shunts are pre-assembled with the lamp sockets during mold injection, preparing the components in advance for final assembly. This preliminary action eliminates the need for separate manual capacitor installation steps, significantly improving productivity while maintaining controlled automation levels.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the capacitor assembly process with the lamp socket manufacturing process by injecting the capacitor and socket as a single integrated component. This consolidation eliminates separate assembly operations, directly addressing the productivity-labor cost contradiction through process integration.
2Manufacturing precision
If manual insertion of capacitors into lamp sockets is performed, then quality control can be adjusted, but manufacturing precision and consistency are poor
Solution Approach 1:
The capacitor and lamp socket are merged into a single molded component, ensuring precise and consistent positioning of the capacitor relative to the socket contacts. This integration eliminates variability introduced by manual alignment and insertion, directly improving manufacturing precision without adding assembly complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The mold injection process automatically positions and secures the capacitor within the lamp socket without requiring separate alignment or fastening operations. The process is self-contained, achieving high precision through the molding mechanism itself rather than through complex assembly fixtures or procedures.
3Productivity
If capacitor shunts are pre-assembled in mold injection, then productivity and consistency improve, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple manufacturing steps (capacitor assembly, socket fabrication, and component integration) into a single mold injection process. This merging reduces the total number of discrete manufacturing operations, improving productivity while the integrated nature of the process actually simplifies overall manufacturing complexity despite the advanced molding technique used.
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
The automated assembly process significantly reduces labor costs and ensures consistent quality by streamlining the insertion of capacitors into lamp sockets, enhancing the efficiency of producing capacitor-shunted light strings.
Implementation Method 1
a capacitor located in the lamp socket... a first lead of the capacitor may be in electrical communication with the first wire end, and a second lead of the capacitor may be in electrical communication with the second wire end
Data Source
AI summary
Employing capacitors as shunts in a decorative light string can prevent the circuit from being opened when a lamp burns out or becomes loose in the socket. But manually assembling such a light string is costly and the quality of the resulting string is not assured to be high. The present disclosure introduces a shunted light string, and a method of assembling that light string that is able to be automated to ensure a consistent quality level by reducing or eliminating human workmanship issues.