Automated Winding Device for Plastic Tubes Using Dynamic Laying Arm
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for winding continuously extruded plastic tubes onto winding drums, such as cable protection pipes, face challenges in achieving fully automated winding due to unpredictable material properties and geometrical irregularities of inexpensive, standardized wooden drums, which require manual intervention and cannot maintain high winding speeds without operator support.
Innovation Solution
A device comprising a positioning robot, a carrier with a laying arm that uses a restoring device and laying arm bearing to adapt to geometric and material-specific characteristics, enabling automated winding with a gripping mechanism that maintains constant contact and tension, allowing for high-speed winding without manual intervention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automated winding is implemented using known techniques, then productivity and speed are improved, but the system fails to adapt to geometric irregularities of inexpensive drums and unpredictable material properties of freshly extruded plastic
Solution Approach 1:
The laying arm is made dynamically adjustable through a restoring device with variable restoring force. The restoring force can be adapted during operation to compensate for geometric irregularities of the drum and material property changes, allowing the system to maintain reliable winding at high speeds without requiring perfectly geometric drums or pre-cured materials
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates sensors that detect the actual position and state of the laying arm and winding material, feeding this information back to the control device. This feedback loop enables real-time adjustment of the restoring force and laying arm position, ensuring winding quality is maintained despite drum irregularities and material variability at high speeds
2Device complexity
If inexpensive standardized wooden drums are used, then device complexity and cost are reduced, but geometric irregularities and imbalances require manual intervention and prevent full automation
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the parameter of restoring force dynamically to compensate for drum irregularities. By adjusting the restoring force based on detected deviations, the system can accommodate inexpensive drums with geometric imperfections while maintaining automated operation, eliminating the need for expensive precision drums
3Productivity
If plastic winding material is used immediately after extrusion, then productivity is improved by eliminating curing time, but material properties are unpredictable and require experienced operators
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces manual operator judgment and manipulation with an automated control system that uses sensors and a restoring device to detect and compensate for material property variations. This substitution of mechanical/operator-based control with sensor-based automated control makes it feasible to wind freshly extruded plastic material reliably without requiring experienced operators
4Reliability
If manual monitoring and manipulation is performed, then winding quality is maintained with irregular drums, but productivity is reduced and full automation cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The laying arm system is designed to self-adjust through the restoring device, which automatically compensates for deviations from ideal winding conditions. The system monitors its own state via sensors and makes corrections without manual intervention, enabling both high productivity and reliable winding quality simultaneously
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a device for winding a strand-like material to be wound, such as a continuously extruded tube, preferably made of plastics material onto a winding drum, comprising a carrier, a laying arm which is mounted on the carrier and via which the material to be wound is transferred in a winding manner to the rotating winding drum when the laying arm executes an in particular linear to-and-fro laying movement, a laying arm mount which guides the laying arm in a laying direction relative to the carrier, and a restoring device which, when the laying arm is deflected relative to the carrier, imparts a restoring force to the laying arm in order to preload the laying arm against a winding loop last placed onto the winding drum.