Escalator Support Structure Welding Line to Prevent Frame Warping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional manual welding processes for manufacturing supporting structures for passenger transport systems, such as escalators and moving walkways, are time-consuming, labor-intensive, and prone to errors like warping, leading to high costs and logistical challenges due to the need for certified welders and irregular heat input during welding.
Innovation Solution
A device with sequential assembly stations equipped with holding devices and welding robots that automate the assembly and welding of frame-work components, allowing for semi- or fully automated manufacturing of supporting structures, with each station performing specific tasks to ensure precise and efficient construction of the framework.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual welding is used to assemble frame-work components, then welding quality can be controlled by certified welders, but the manufacturing process becomes time-consuming and labor-intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual welding operations with automated welding robots. The welding robots are equipped with control systems that regulate heat input to match the precision of certified welders, while eliminating the time-consuming manual assembly process. This substitution maintains welding quality through automated control while dramatically increasing manufacturing productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The welding robots are programmed with pre-defined welding parameters and paths, allowing them to perform welding operations autonomously without continuous human intervention. The system self-regulates the welding process, maintaining consistent quality standards while operating continuously at high speed, thus resolving the contradiction between quality control and manufacturing efficiency.
2Ease of manufacture
If manual welding is performed continuously from one end to the other, then the framework can be assembled, but irregular heat input causes warping that requires additional correction
Solution Approach 1:
The welding process is divided into preliminary positioning welding and final load-bearing welding. Frame-work components are first positioned and preliminarily welded to form a stable structure, then subsequently load-bearingly welded. This preliminary action prevents warping by establishing proper geometry before final welding, eliminating the need for post-manufacturing correction.
Solution Approach 2:
The welding process is segmented into multiple stages: positioning, preliminary welding, and load-bearing welding. This segmentation allows for controlled heat input at each stage, preventing the irregular heat distribution that causes warping in continuous manual welding. Each segment serves a specific function in achieving both ease of assembly and manufacturing precision.
3Strength
If multiple frame-work components are welded together manually, then the supporting structure can be formed, but certified welders are required leading to high labor costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual welding operations with automated welding robots that can perform both positioning and load-bearing welding. The automated system maintains the load-bearing capacity required for safety while eliminating the need for certified welders, thus reducing labor costs. The increased device complexity of automation is offset by the elimination of skilled labor requirements and improved consistency.
4Productivity
If warping occurs during manual welding, then the framework must be corrected before installation, but this leads to additional expenses and logistical challenges
Solution Approach 1:
The welding process incorporates preliminary positioning and preliminary welding steps that ensure correct geometry before final load-bearing welding. This preliminary action prevents warping from occurring in the first place, eliminating the need for time-consuming correction processes and maintaining high manufacturing throughput without productivity losses.
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 process significantly reduces manufacturing time, increases precision, and lowers costs by minimizing the need for skilled labor and reducing warping issues, while maintaining high-quality welding seams, thus enhancing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of producing load-bearing supporting structures.
Implementation Method 1
the frame-work components are welded together to this end
Data Source
AI summary
The application relates to a device and to an assembly line for producing a supporting structure for a passenger transport system, such as an escalator, which have a sequential arrangement of semi- or fully automatically operating and mutually cooperating assembly stations and a sequential order of assembly steps. Each of the assembly stations can include at least one holding device and at least a welding robot as well as, optionally, at least one handling robot. The assembly stations are configured in such a way that intermediate products can be produced efficiently by respective assembly steps. Each can be coordinated with a subsequent assembly station, so that the intermediate products can be passed sequentially with optimized short cycle times from assembly station to assembly station, to be able to provide a finished, load-bearing supporting structure at the end of the sequence.