Clamp Ring Manufacturing via Strip Bending and Welding
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing manufacturing processes for clamp rings result in excessive waste scrap, with over 70% of the steel sheet being discarded, and the final product often has reduced tensile strength due to stretching during the drawing process, leading to inefficiency and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
A method involving cutting a metal strip into a rectangular shape, shaping it into a circle, and attaching the ends using a metal joining technique such as welding, brazing, or clinching to form the clamp ring, thereby eliminating waste and maintaining the thickness of the side walls without stretching.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If the drawing process is used to form clamp rings from circular blanks, then the basic ring shape is achieved, but the side wall thickness is reduced by 15-20% due to stretching
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of drawing the ring shape from a circular blank (which causes stretching), the invention inverts the approach by forming the ring from a rectangular strip that is bent into a circular shape. This reverse methodology eliminates the stretching problem while achieving the same ring geometry, as the metal flow is controlled to prevent thinning of the side walls.
2Ease of manufacture
If circular blanks are blanked from steel sheet, then the ring blanks are formed, but over 70% of the steel sheet becomes waste scrap
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the fundamental parameter of the starting material geometry from circular blanks to rectangular strips. This parameter change allows the metal to be utilized much more efficiently, as the rectangular strip can be cut to exact dimensions needed for the ring, minimizing or eliminating the need to discard excess material that would result from circular blanking.
3Ease of manufacture
If the center of the circular blank is blanked out to form the ring, then the ring structure is created, but the center material is discarded as scrap
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than forming a ring by removing the center of a circular blank (which creates waste), the invention inverts the process by forming the ring from a rectangular strip that is bent and joined at the ends. This approach creates the ring structure through shaping and joining operations instead of material removal, eliminating the need to discard the center portion.
4Shape
If drawing operations are performed to achieve the final ring shape, then the clamp ring geometry is formed, but the manufacturing cost increases due to material waste
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the starting material parameter from circular blanks to rectangular strips, and changes the forming process parameter from drawing operations to bending and joining operations. This combination of parameter changes achieves the same final geometry while dramatically reducing material waste, thereby lowering manufacturing costs.
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
This process significantly reduces waste scrap and enhances the tensile strength of the clamp ring by eliminating the stretching process, resulting in a more cost-effective and durable product with a seam formed by the metal joining technique.
Implementation Method 1
The strip ends are then joined together to form the clamp ring
Implementation Method 2
shaping it into a circle
Data Source
AI summary
A clamp ring and process for manufacturing a clamp ring to effectively reduce, if not eliminate, waste scrap from the manufacturing process. The clamp ring and process for manufacturing the same, results in clamp ring having a seam formed by a metal joining technique such as welding, brazing, bolting, soldering, and clinching.