Offset Balancing Module for Sheet-Metal Welding Gripper
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current electrical resistance welding guns face challenges in accurately docking and balancing the gripper electrodes with sheets to be welded, due to positioning uncertainties and electrode wear, which can lead to deformation and force imbalances, affecting the quality of the welding process.
Innovation Solution
The balancing module is positioned outside the gripper assembly, providing an additional degree of freedom for translation or rotation, allowing for independent docking, balancing, and relief operations, and can be integrated with the gripper or used as a separate module between the gripper and the support, simplifying the gripper design and reducing parts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the balancing module is integrated inside the gripper assembly, then the structure is compact and unified, but the docking and balancing operations are less precise and more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into separate functional modules: the gripper assembly and the balancing module. The balancing module operates independently from the gripper, allowing precise docking and balancing operations without complicating the gripper's internal structure. This segmentation enables each module to be optimized for its specific function.
Solution Approach 2:
The balancing module acts as an intermediary between the gripper and the support structure. It provides the additional degree of freedom and balancing forces without being integrated into the gripper's core mechanism, thus improving docking precision while keeping the gripper design simple.
2Manufacturing precision
If the balancing module is positioned outside the gripper assembly, then the docking and balancing precision is improved, but the overall system occupies more space
Solution Approach 1:
The balancing module is positioned in a different spatial dimension relative to the gripper assembly. It operates from the support side rather than being integrated within the gripper volume, allowing it to provide balancing functions without significantly increasing the gripper's working volume.
3Reliability
If the balancing module is integrated with the gripper, then the design is simplified and parts are reduced, but the docking and balancing operations become less reliable
Solution Approach 1:
The system separates the balancing function into an independent module, improving reliability by allowing each component to be optimized and maintained separately. The balancing module can be adjusted and calibrated independently from the gripper, ensuring consistent docking reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The balancing module is designed as a universal component that can be applied to different gripper types. This standardization improves reliability across multiple applications while actually increasing overall system modularity rather than simplifying integration.
4Force
If the balancing module provides additional degree of freedom, then the balancing of forces on electrodes is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The balancing module serves as an intermediary mechanism that provides the additional degree of freedom and force balancing without requiring complex modifications to the gripper's internal mechanics. It handles the force balancing functions externally, keeping the gripper design simple.
Data Source
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AI summary
The gripper comprises: - a rigid frame, attached to a support; - a movable sub-assembly, attached to said frame, and comprising a first fixed arm (3), a second movable arm (8), and an actuator (4), bearing on said fixed arm (3) to move the movable arm (8) relative to the fixed arm (3), along a first degree of freedom, in translation or rotation, and said frame comprising an interface plate (42), a balancing module (11'), which introduces an additional degree of freedom, in translation or rotation, between said support and an assembly integrating said movable sub-assembly (3, 4, 8), being able to be mounted on said interface plate (42) in one or the other of at least two positions depending on whether the gripper is of the C type, or of the X type.