Electrically Heated Welding Wedge for Constant Thermal Energy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automatic heating wedge bonding apparatuses face challenges with slow heating and cooling due to their large mass, which hinders quick temperature or power adjustments necessary for maintaining constant weld quality during changes in welding velocity.
Innovation Solution
A directly electrically powered heating wedge with an electronic control system that adjusts electrical power in response to changes in relative velocity, ensuring a constant amount of thermal energy is transmitted to the material layers, regardless of velocity, using a folded steel sheet blank heating resistor and contact pressure rollers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a heating wedge with large mass is used for bonding material layers, then the structural stability and durability are improved, but the heating and cooling speed deteriorates, preventing quick temperature adjustments during welding velocity changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanically heated wedge with an electrically heated wedge. The heating element is directly electrically powered, allowing for rapid temperature adjustments through electrical control. This substitution enables quick heating and cooling cycles while maintaining reliable bonding quality, as the electrical heating system responds much faster than mechanical heating methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating wedge is designed with reduced mass to enable dynamic temperature adjustments. The lighter construction allows the wedge to heat up and cool down quickly, facilitating real-time temperature control during welding operations. This dynamic capability ensures that temperature can be adjusted rapidly when welding velocity changes, maintaining consistent bonding quality throughout the process.
2Productivity
If the welding velocity is increased to improve productivity, then the production output increases, but the thermal energy transmission to material layers deteriorates, affecting seam quality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates an electronic control system that monitors welding velocity and automatically adjusts the electrical power supplied to the heating wedge. When welding velocity increases, the system detects this change and increases the electrical power to maintain adequate thermal energy transmission. This feedback mechanism ensures that seam quality remains consistent regardless of welding speed variations, allowing high productivity without compromising precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes the electrical power parameter based on welding velocity. By adjusting the electrical power input to the heating wedge in response to velocity changes, the system maintains optimal thermal energy transmission. This parameter adjustment allows the welding process to operate effectively at higher speeds while preserving seam quality, thus resolving the contradiction between productivity and manufacturing precision.
3Measurement precision
If traditional heating methods with temperature sensors are used, then temperature monitoring is achieved, but the device complexity and operational costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The heating wedge performs self-monitoring through its electrical properties. The electrical resistance of the heating element changes with temperature, providing inherent temperature information without requiring external sensors. The electronic control system uses these electrical property changes to monitor and control the heating process, eliminating the need for separate temperature sensors and reducing overall system complexity while maintaining effective temperature monitoring.
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 solution allows for consistent thermal energy transfer to the material layers, maintaining seam quality across varying velocities without requiring temperature sensors, reducing operational costs, and ensuring quick heating and cooling for safer operation.
Implementation Method 1
a directly electrically powered and heatable heating wedge for locally heating at least one of the material layers to a bonding temperature
Implementation Method 2
at least one contact pressure and feed roller arranged at the carrier frame and driven by an electric motor for locally compressing a heated material portion of the material layer
Data Source
AI summary
An automatic bonding apparatus and a method for thermally induced seam bonding of weldable and/or gluable flat flexible material layers with each other which are each configured as a material web, material band and/or material piece and arranged so that they overlap at least partially wherein the bonding is performed by an electrically controlled contact heating arrangement through a heating wedge welding method. A temperature and/or a power of the heating wedge which is formed by a thin folded steel sheet blank is controlled as a function of a relative velocity between the material layers and the automatic bonding apparatus. This is performed so that a thermal energy that is transferred from the heating wedge to the material layers to be glued is kept constant. For this purpose the relative velocity is detected and the power of the heating wedge is automatically adjusted when the relative velocity changes.