Pneumatic Spring Hot Gas Welding Inert Atmosphere
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Solution Overview
Problem
Air spring components, particularly rolling pistons, face challenges in achieving sufficient tightness, strength, temperature resistance, and aging resistance while being cost-effective, due to the need for multi-part designs and complex sealing requirements in limited spaces.
Innovation Solution
The air spring component is composed of multiple parts connected via hot-gas welding in an inert atmosphere, using meltable projections and weld seam covers to ensure a strong, tight, and durable joint, allowing for design flexibility and preventing oxidation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If air spring components are designed in multiple parts to increase volume or simplify manufacturing, then manufacturing ease and volume efficiency are improved, but sealing complexity and joint tightness requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The air spring component is divided into multiple segments (first component and second component) that can be manufactured separately using injection molding or centrifugal casting, then joined together to form the complete component. This segmentation allows each part to be optimized for manufacturing while achieving the required overall volume and structural requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
A joining area with meltable projections acts as an intermediary between the two components. The meltable projections facilitate material-bonded connection through hot gas welding, creating a reliable joint that ensures sufficient tightness while allowing separate manufacturing of the components.
2Reliability
If hot gas welding is used to join components under inert atmosphere, then joint strength and tightness are improved, but manufacturing complexity and process time worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The hot gas welding process is performed under an inert atmosphere (nitrogen or argon) to prevent oxidation of the plastic material during heating and melting. This inert environment protects the joining areas and ensures high joint strength and tightness, although it requires additional process setup.
Solution Approach 2:
The welding process utilizes controlled parameter changes including heating temperature, gas flow rate, and pressure application during joining. By optimizing these parameters, the process achieves reliable material-bonded connections while managing the complexity of the manufacturing process.
3Reliability
If meltable projections are provided at joining areas for welding, then joint reliability is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
Meltable projections are pre-formed on the joining areas during the injection molding or centrifugal casting process. This preliminary action ensures that the joining areas are properly prepared before the welding operation, facilitating reliable material-bonded connection while the projections themselves accommodate minor variations in positioning precision.
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 results in an air spring component with enhanced tightness, strength, and resistance to temperature and aging, while maintaining a clean outer surface and reducing manufacturing complexity and costs.
Implementation Method 1
the inert atmosphere protects the joining areas from contamination, as oxidation and/or reaction of the surfaces being joined is prevented
Implementation Method 2
the joining areas are joined together by means of hot gas welding under an inert atmosphere
Implementation Method 3
meltable projections are provided at the joining areas
Implementation Method 4
at least one of the components has a weld seam cover that covers a joining gap
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The invention relates to a pneumatic spring component (14, 104), in particular a rolling piston (110), a supplementary volume container (108) for a rolling piston or a pneumatic spring pot (16), comprising at least two parts that have matching joining zones (36, 50, 142) which are bonded to one another in an inert atmosphere.