Plastic Container Strut Welding for Attachment Placement
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Solution Overview
Problem
In the production of plastic containers, such as fuel tanks for motor vehicles, existing methods face inefficiencies and increased costs when attaching components like fuel pumps and sensors, as they often require precise fastening to specific half-shells before welding, which can be challenging and costly.
Innovation Solution
The method involves moulding a first plastic half-shell with a permanently attached strut, allowing temporary fastening to the second half-shell, and welding the strut to the correct half-shell during the welding process, enabling efficient and cost-effective attachment placement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If attachments are fastened to the correct plastic half-shell before welding, then the attachment placement precision is improved, but the production complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a strut as an intermediary component that connects the attachment to the correct plastic half-shell during welding. The strut acts as a mediator that enables precise attachment placement without requiring complex pre-positioning fixtures, thereby maintaining manufacturing precision while reducing production complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The attachment is preliminarily fastened to the incorrect half-shell before welding, and then the strut is used to transfer the connection to the correct half-shell during the welding process. This preliminary action simplifies the overall process by avoiding the need for precise pre-positioning while ensuring correct final placement
2Ease of manufacture
If attachments are temporarily fastened to the wrong plastic half-shell and connected during welding, then the production cost and effort are reduced, but the risk of incorrect placement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The strut serves as a reliable intermediary that ensures correct attachment placement even when the attachment is initially fastened to the wrong half-shell. The strut's design with a contact region on the correct half-shell guarantees that the attachment will be properly connected during welding, eliminating placement errors while maintaining ease of manufacture
Solution Approach 2:
The welding process itself serves to correctly position and permanently attach the strut to the correct half-shell. The system uses the welding operation to automatically ensure correct placement without requiring additional verification steps or complex positioning mechanisms, thereby maintaining both ease of manufacture and reliability
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 approach allows for efficient and inexpensive attachment of components by enabling temporary fastening to the second half-shell, ensuring correct placement during welding, reducing production costs and effort, and incorporating a strut with a breaking point to protect against unusual loads.
Implementation Method 1
the first plastic half-shell is welded to the second plastic half-shell, the end of the strut being welded to the first plastic half-shell in the contact region
Implementation Method 2
The first plastic half-shell and the second plastic half-shell may be moulded by heating and thermoforming
Implementation Method 3
producing by thermoforming, for example, initially lower, plastic half-shells, and then upper, plastic half-shells
Implementation Method 4
the first plastic half-shell and the second plastic half-shell may be welded, in particular thermoplastically welded, at their peripheral edges
Data Source
AI summary
A method for producing a plastic container from a first plastic half-shell and a second plastic half-shell, with a first attachment permanently fastened to the first plastic half-shell.