Mobile Joining Head Magazine for Continuous Element Feed
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Solution Overview
Problem
In automated joining processes, especially in the automobile industry, there is a delay and increased downtime due to the need for joining elements to be transported long distances, causing inefficiencies as the robot waits for new elements to arrive at the joining tool.
Innovation Solution
A mobile joining head with a multi-axis industrial robot, an element feed system using compressed air, and a control device that manages a working magazine and a stationary stand-by magazine, eliminating the need for a feed hose and allowing for quick replenishment during idle times.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If joining elements are transported from a distant sorting device to the joining head via compressed air feed duct, then the sorting device can be positioned outside the robot's working range, but the robot experiences waiting time and increased process duration when joining locations are close together
Solution Approach 1:
The element feed system is segmented into a stationary sorting device, a mobile magazine device that travels with the robot, and a stand-by magazine. This segmentation allows the sorting device to remain outside the robot's working range while the magazine device provides local element storage at the joining head, eliminating the robot's waiting time for element delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The magazine device is pre-filled with joining elements before the robot begins its joining sequence. This preliminary action ensures that elements are already available at the joining head when the robot arrives, eliminating waiting time. The stand-by magazine is also pre-filled and ready to quickly replenish the magazine device when needed.
2Productivity
If a pre-separating device is arranged on the joining head to temporarily store joining elements, then quick re-equipment is possible, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The magazine device is designed as a mobile unit that can be quickly coupled and decoupled from the joining head. This dynamic design allows the magazine device to be attached when element storage capacity is needed and removed when not needed, providing quick re-equipment capability while managing device complexity through flexibility rather than permanent integration.
3Ease of operation
If joining elements are transported over long distances through compressed air feed ducts, then the sorting device can be positioned outside the working range, but wear and maintenance requirements increase due to hose movement
Solution Approach 1:
The feed hose is extracted from the system by replacing it with a mobile magazine device that physically travels with the robot. This eliminates the need for long compressed air feed ducts that undergo repeated bending and stretching, thereby removing the source of wear and improving reliability. Elements are transported in the magazine device itself rather than through long ducts.
4Duration of action of moving object
If the magazine device is designed to accommodate a large number of joining elements, then the process can continue longer without refilling, but the device complexity and space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system combines a mobile magazine device with a stationary stand-by magazine. The magazine device provides local element storage that extends operation duration, while the stand-by magazine serves as a refill reservoir. This merging of mobile and stationary storage solutions allows for extended operation without requiring an excessively large single magazine, thereby managing device complexity through distributed storage architecture.
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 configuration reduces process downtime by ensuring a continuous supply of joining elements, minimizing wear, and maintaining process efficiency without interrupting operations for refilling, as the stand-by magazine is filled during idle periods.
Implementation Method 1
The element feed system uses compressed air to convey the joining elements from the sorting device into the stand-by magazine and from the stand-by magazine into the working magazine
Data Source
AI summary
A joining device includes a mobile joining head with a joining tool which is arranged on an industrial robot, an element feed system, and a control device which is configured to activate the joining tool and control the element feed system. The element feed system has a magazine device which is movable with the joining head and which has a working magazine in which a large number of joining elements are accommodatable at a same time and a separating device from which joining elements are conveyable onward from the magazine device in a direction of the joining tool, a stand-by magazine which is stationary and which is fillable with joining elements from a sorting device, and a coupling device that couples the magazine device to the stand-by magazine where a first coupling half is arranged on the magazine device and a second coupling half is arranged on the stand-by magazine.