Self-Piercing Rivet Tape Feed With Reverse-Pawl Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tape feed systems for self-piercing rivet machines generate significant waste that is costly to clean up, as exhausted tape is left to fall on the floor, incurring hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in annual cleanup costs.
Innovation Solution
A tape feed apparatus and method that includes a supply reel, a receiver assembly, and an exhaust reel, with a tape path that allows for reversible movement, utilizing a reverse locking pawl to align and position self-piercing rivets accurately, eliminating the need for manual cleanup by recycling or disposing of used tape efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a ratcheting wheel system is used to feed tape, then the tape can be pushed into the receiver, but the exhausted tape is left as a free end and falls on the floor requiring costly cleanup
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements an exhaust reel that captures and winds the exhausted tape instead of allowing it to fall as free ends. The take-up reel continuously collects the spent tape, transforming it from waste material into a controlled, recoverable form that can be easily removed and disposed of as a single unit, eliminating the need for costly cleanup operations
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the tape waste management function from the feeding mechanism by adding a separate exhaust reel system. This dedicated component is responsible solely for collecting and containing the exhausted tape, separating the waste handling function from the feeding function and enabling efficient waste recovery
2Device complexity
If the tape is allowed to move freely in both directions, then the system is simpler, but accurate rivet positioning cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs dynamic control of the tape path using motorized drive reels that can precisely control tape movement in both forward and reverse directions. The system transitions from static free movement to dynamically controlled movement, allowing the tape to be advanced, positioned, and retracted with precision to ensure accurate rivet alignment
Solution Approach 2:
The invention incorporates feedback control through sensors that detect rivet position and tape location. This feedback enables the motorized drive system to make real-time adjustments to tape movement, ensuring that rivets are accurately positioned at the punch interface while maintaining the ability to correct positioning errors through reverse movement
3Loss of substance
If manual cleanup of exhausted tape is performed, then waste can be removed, but hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in annual cleanup costs are incurred
Solution Approach 1:
The exhaust reel system performs self-service waste collection by automatically winding and containing the exhausted tape during the normal operation cycle. The system serves itself by integrating waste collection into the primary feeding operation, eliminating the need for separate manual cleanup activities and the associated time and cost losses
Data Source
AI summary
A receiver assembly can be coupled to a spindle to receive self-piercing rivets carried by a tape along a tape path below a punch. A reverse locking pawl can be designed to permit movement of the tape relative to the reverse locking pawl along the tape path in a forward direction and to engage a positioning aperture of the tape to stop movement of the tape in the reverse direction when a lead rivet is aligned with the punch. A method can include moving the tape forward along the tape path until a lead rivet of the tape is at a position along the tape path that is beyond an alignment position with the punch, and moving the tape in reverse to engage the corresponding positioning aperture.