Rotary Wire Billet Butt-Welding for Automated Coil Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wire billet butt-welding methods are labor-intensive, pose safety hazards, and have low productivity due to manual operations such as loading, flipping, and discharging heavy coils.
Innovation Solution
A highly automated wire billet butt-welding apparatus that enables automatic loading, flipping, and discharging through a rotary plate and a butt-welding stock receiver, reducing manual workload and improving production efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If manual operations are used for loading, flipping, and discharging wire billet coils, then the equipment complexity is low, but the labor intensity is high and safety hazards increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into distinct functional modules: a rotary plate with multiple mounting portions for holding coils, a stock receiving rod for receiving welded coils, and a stock pushing mechanism for automatic feeding. Each module performs a specific function, enabling automated operations while keeping individual components relatively simple and manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotary plate serves multiple functions: it holds multiple coils simultaneously on its mounting portions, rotates to position coils for welding, and facilitates automatic loading and discharging. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate devices for each operation, balancing automation with equipment complexity.
2Productivity
If manual flipping operations are used for re-ordering welded coils, then the equipment complexity remains low, but productivity decreases and physical demand increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple coils are pre-positioned on the rotary plate's mounting portions before the welding process begins. The stock receiving rod is positioned and ready to receive welded coils. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for manual flipping operations during production, as the system is already configured for continuous automated operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotary plate and stock receiving rod are designed to rotate dynamically during the welding process. The rotary plate rotates to bring the next coil into position, and the stock receiving rod rotates to receive and re-order welded coils automatically. This dynamic motion replaces static manual operations, improving productivity while using relatively simple rotational mechanisms.
3Reliability
If heavy wire billet coils are handled manually, then equipment complexity is low, but safety hazards increase and labor intensity is high
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-service by automatically loading coils from the rotary plate, welding them using the butt-welder, and discharging the welded coils through the stock receiving rod. This eliminates the need for operators to manually handle heavy coils, significantly improving safety while using straightforward automated mechanisms that do not overly complicate the equipment.
4Productivity
If conventional manual welding processes are used, then equipment complexity is low, but productivity is low and labor intensity is high
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables continuous welding operations by pre-positioning multiple coils on the rotary plate's mounting portions. While one coil is being welded, the rotary plate can rotate to position the next coil, and the stock receiving rod can receive the completed weld. This continuous operation eliminates idle time between welding cycles, significantly improving productivity through moderate automation.
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
The automated system significantly reduces labor intensity, lowers safety hazards, enhances production efficiency, and enables continuous welding of heavy coils, improving overall productivity and product quality.
Implementation Method 1
a weld is made using the 'current-shock' or the burn-off arc method
Implementation Method 2
a weld is made using the 'current-shock' or the burn-off arc method
Implementation Method 3
The welding produces a thickening of burred metal which is removed by cutting edges on the electrodes
Implementation Method 4
the stock receiving rod rotates to tighten the wire billet between the first and second coils
Data Source
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AI summary
To solve the problems of conventional wire billet butt-welding such as high labor intensity, potential safety hazards, and low production efficiency, the disclosure provides a wire billet butt-welding apparatus and a wire billet butt-welding method. The wire billet butt-welding method comprises: S1: preparing a stock, S2: rotating a butt-welding stock receiver to a stock receiving position, and feeding a first coil of wire billet to a stock receiving rod of the butt-welding stock receiver; S3: welding the first coil of wire billet and the second coil of wire billet on a rotary plate at the butt-welding position end-to-head; S4: rotating the butt-welding stock receiver and the second coil of wire billet to the stock receiving position; S5: rotating the stock receiving rod to rotate to tighten the wire billet between the first coil of wire billet and the second coil of wire billet; and S6: repeating steps S3 to S5 to complete butt-welding operations on the 3rd to nth coils of wire billet sequentially. The solution implements semi-automated butt-welding operation; with provision of the rotary plate and the butt-welding stock receiver, enables automatic loading, automatic flipping, and automatic discharging, which reduces the manual workload, lowers the safety hazards, and improves the production efficiency.