Frusto-Conical Stock Forming With Rotational Feed Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for constructing tapered structures, such as cones or frusto-conical structures, often require significant in-plane deformation of metallic stock, leading to high energy consumption and increased production costs.
Innovation Solution
A system that feeds planar metallic stock into a curving device, where each point on the stock undergoes rotational motion about a peak location, without imparting in-plane deformation, using a feed system capable of varying the in-feed angle and translational motion to form a tapered structure by welding or other joining methods.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If in-plane deformation is introduced to shape metallic stock for tapered structures, then the stock can be shaped appropriately, but energy consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of deforming the metal stock in-plane to create taper, the invention inverts the approach by keeping the stock planar and using out-of-plane curvature with varying feed angles to achieve the tapered shape. The curving device creates three-dimensional curvature while the feed system varies the angle at which stock is introduced, eliminating the need for high-energy in-plane deformation
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from two-dimensional in-plane deformation to three-dimensional out-of-plane curvature. By curving the stock out of its original plane and varying the feed angle in three-dimensional space, the tapered structure is formed without requiring energy-intensive in-plane compression or deformation
2Shape
If in-plane deformation is used to form tapered structures, then the desired shape is achieved, but production cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention inverts the conventional manufacturing approach by eliminating in-plane deformation and using out-of-plane curving with variable feed angles instead. This alternative method reduces energy consumption and associated production costs while maintaining the ability to form accurate tapered structures
Solution Approach 2:
The feed system is made dynamic with adjustable feed angles that can be varied during the forming process. This dynamic capability allows the system to adapt to different tapered structure requirements without requiring expensive retooling or complex deformation processes, thereby reducing production costs
3Use of energy by moving object
If rotational motion about peak location is used to feed stock, then in-plane deformation is avoided, but the feed system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The feed system is designed with multi-functionality, combining rotational motion capability, translational motion, and variable feed angle adjustment in a single integrated system. This universal feed system can handle different stock types and produce various tapered structures, reducing the need for multiple specialized devices and justifying the increased complexity through versatility
Solution Approach 2:
The curving device acts as an intermediary between the feed system and the final tapered structure. It receives stock with varying feed angles and rotational motion, transforms it through controlled out-of-plane curving, and produces the desired tapered shape, thereby simplifying the overall system architecture
Data Source
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Figure 6A~6C
AI summary
A device and associated method for fabricating a frusto-conical structure, the frusto-conical structure having a virtual peak located at a point where a taper of the frusto-conical structure would decrease to zero if the frusto-conical structure were not truncated, the device comprising: a curving device controllable to impart curvature to a planar form of a stock; a feed system including an outer drive wheel pair of rollers and an inner drive wheel pair of rollers collectively operable to rotate the planar form of the stock and to translate the planar form of the stock in a feed direction from a source to the curving device as the planar form of the stock passes through the outer drive wheel pair of rollers and the inner drive wheel pair of rollers; and a control system in communication with the curving device and the feed system to deliver control signals to the curving device and the feed system to form the planar form of the stock into the frusto-conical structure, wherein the control system is configured to differentially drive the outer drive wheel pair of rollers relative to the inner drive wheel pair of rollers of the feed system to impart, to a portion of the stock that has not yet been deformed, a substantially rotational motion in a plane of the portion of the stock about the virtual peak of the frusto-conical structure such that each location on the portion of the stock that has not yet been deformed maintains a constant distance from the virtual peak throughout feeding.