Self-Piercing Rivet Tape Feed With Dual-Reel Tension Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tape feed systems for self-piercing rivet machines result in significant costs for cleaning up exhausted tape, as the spent tape is often left to fall on the floor, necessitating expensive cleanup efforts.
Innovation Solution
A processor-controlled tape feed system that uses a supply reel and an exhaust reel with servomotors, along with sensors and adaptive tension regimens, to accurately position and retract rivets, ensuring precise alignment and collection of the spent tape without manual intervention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a ratcheting wheel system is used between the supply reel and receiver, then the tape feed mechanism is simple and reliable, but the exhausted tape falls on the floor requiring expensive cleanup
Solution Approach 1:
The harmful function of the ratcheting wheel system that causes tape to fall on the floor is extracted and replaced. The patent introduces a dual-reel system with supply and exhaust reels that actively control tape movement, eliminating the passive ratcheting mechanism and preventing tape from falling on the floor.
Solution Approach 2:
An intermediary control system is introduced between the supply reel and receiver. The exhaust reel acts as a mediator that actively manages the tape path and receives exhausted tape, preventing it from falling on the floor while maintaining controlled tape feed throughout the process.
2Manufacturing precision
If dual motors with adaptive tension control are used, then rivet placement accuracy and tape retraction are improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs dynamic tension control where the supply motor and exhaust motor independently adjust their torque and speed based on real-time conditions. This dynamic adjustment allows precise rivet placement while managing the complexity through adaptive control algorithms that respond to actual system state.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes key parameters including motor torque, rotational speed, and tension force throughout the tape feed cycle. By dynamically adjusting these parameters, the system achieves high rivet placement accuracy while the controlled nature of parameter changes helps manage system complexity through predictable behavior.
Data Source
Figure 1~3b
Figure 2
Figure 3a
AI summary
Self-piercing rivets deployed in an elongated tape are moved into alignment with a rivet driving spindle using a processor-controlled servomotors. The tape is conveyed between a supply reel and an exhaust reel, the supply reel having a supply motor and the exhaust reel having an exhaust motor. The tape is moved under processor control in an advancing direction until the rivet has traveled past being in alignment with the spindle, by controlling the supply and exhaust motors using a first tension regimen. Thereafter the tape is moved under processor control in a retracting direction until the rivet is in alignment with the spindle by controlling the tape supply and exhaust motors using a second tension regimen.