Metal Fabrication Assembly With Overlapping Transfer and Robot Range
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automated metal fabrication assemblies for elongate metal workpieces are inefficient, complex, and require significant space and time for workpiece transfers, often relying on hoisting mechanisms that interfere with fabrication processes.
Innovation Solution
A fabrication assembly with overlapping workpiece transfer and fabrication operational ranges, utilizing trolleys and rotator assemblies to enable simultaneous workpiece transfer and fabrication without hoisting, allowing robots to idle during transfers and optimizing spatial and temporal overlap for efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If hoisting assembly is used to transfer workpiece vertically to and from rotator assemblies, then workpiece transfer can be achieved, but the assembly complexity increases and spatial requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the hoisting function from the system by eliminating the need for vertical workpiece transfer. Instead, workpieces are transferred horizontally at ground level using trolleys that move along tracks, removing the complex hoisting assembly entirely while maintaining workpiece transfer capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention inverts the traditional vertical transfer approach by implementing horizontal transfer at ground level. Workpieces are loaded onto trolleys and moved horizontally to and from the rotator assemblies, reversing the conventional vertical hoisting method and simplifying the overall assembly.
2Ease of operation
If hoisting assembly is used for workpiece transfer, then workpiece transfer can be performed, but the assembly requires more space and interferes with fabrication robots
Solution Approach 1:
The hoisting assembly and its associated vertical space requirements are extracted from the system. Workpiece transfer is achieved through horizontal movement at ground level using trolleys on tracks, eliminating the need for overhead hoisting space and reducing interference with fabrication robots operating above the workpiece.
3Area of stationary object
If workpiece transfer range overlaps with fabrication operational range, then spatial efficiency improves, but coordination between transfer and fabrication operations becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The trolley system acts as an intermediary between workpiece loading and the rotator assemblies. Trolleys can pause at designated positions within the fabrication operational range, allowing fabrication robots to access workpieces on stationary trolleys while maintaining the overlapping spatial arrangement without excessive operational complexity.
4Ease of operation
If traditional vertical transfer method is used, then workpiece transfer is achieved, but transfer time increases and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The trolley system operates on a periodic cycle where trolleys move to position, pause for fabrication operations, then move to the next position. This rhythmic periodic action optimizes the overlap between transfer and fabrication operations, reducing idle time and improving overall transfer efficiency compared to traditional sequential vertical transfer methods.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
Fabrication assembly for automated metal fabrication on an elongate metal workpiece, comprising: a track; a set of rotator assemblies on one side of the track configured to rotate a received workpiece; at least one fabrication robot movable along the track and configured to perform metal fabrication on the workpiece received by the set of rotator assemblies within a fabrication operational range; a set of trolleys movable along the same track and configured to receive the workpiece thereon, the fabrication assembly being configured to transfer the workpiece between the set of trolleys and the set of rotator assemblies in a horizontal direction transverse to the track within a workpiece transfer range that overlaps with the fabrication operational range. To accommodate the overlap, the at least one fabrication robot may be movable to outside the workpiece transfer range, and the set of trolleys may be movable to outside the fabrication operational range.