Parallel Winding Guide Finger Control for Missing Supports
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing winding machines waste materials and reduce productivity due to the inability to separate the movement of a single guide finger from others, leading to defective or missing support issues, resulting in inefficient and ineffective winding processes.
Innovation Solution
A method and machine design where guide fingers and clamps in each winding station are independently movable between active and neutral positions, allowing them to bypass defective or missing supports, minimizing waste and maintaining productivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single actuator device moves all guide fingers together, then the device complexity is reduced, but the productivity and efficiency are reduced when defective or missing supports are encountered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the common actuator device into multiple independent actuator devices, one for each guide finger. This segmentation allows each guide finger to be controlled independently, so that when a defective or missing support is detected, only the affected guide finger stops while others continue operating, thereby maintaining high productivity without increasing overall system complexity excessively.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic control where each guide finger can independently change its state based on real-time detection. When a support is detected as defective or missing, the corresponding guide finger dynamically switches to a non-operational state, while other guide fingers maintain their operational state, optimizing the system's response to varying conditions.
2Device complexity
If guide fingers are controlled together as a group, then the control system is simpler, but material waste increases due to continuous winding around defective supports
Solution Approach 1:
The control system is segmented into independent control units for each guide finger. Each control unit receives detection signals specific to its corresponding winding station and can independently stop the guide finger when a defective or missing support is detected, preventing wire waste without requiring complex centralized control logic.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where detection devices monitor each winding station and provide real-time information to the corresponding guide finger's actuator. This feedback loop enables immediate response to defective or missing supports, stopping the winding process only where necessary and preventing material waste.
3Productivity
If winding continues around missing supports, then the machine operates continuously, but wire breakage occurs and machine operation is interrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs preliminary detection of supports before the winding process begins at each station. Detection devices identify the presence and quality of supports in advance, allowing the system to prepare by stopping the corresponding guide finger before winding starts, thereby preventing wire breakage and maintaining reliable continuous operation.
Solution Approach 2:
When a defective or missing support is detected, the corresponding guide finger is immediately stopped, effectively skipping the winding operation for that particular station while allowing other stations to continue operating. This selective skipping prevents wire breakage without interrupting the overall machine operation.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and a machine to manufacture windings around respective supports, which includes: at least two different winding stations operating in parallel; a main conveyor configured to feed two supports to the two winding stations; two guide fingers, each arranged in a respective winding station and configured to engage a wire in a sliding manner and, hence, move the wire so as to wind the wire around the respective support in order to manufacture a series of turns making up the winding; a same common operating body which supports both guide fingers; a first actuator device configured to move the operating body so as to subject the two guide fingers to the same law of motion; and a second actuator device configured to move a guide finger relative to the operating body if a respective winding does not have to be manufactured in the corresponding winding station.