Sealing Profile Application Unit With Automated Roll Change
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for attaching sealing profiles to body components, such as vehicle doors, rely on endless rollers that are cumbersome to handle and require complex logistics, making it inefficient to change and manage these rollers during production.
Innovation Solution
An application unit with an alignment device and a cancellation head that allows for the automated insertion of a new sealing profile, enabling the use of magazine rolls with significantly shorter lengths, which simplifies packaging, handling, and the changeover process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If endless rolls with long stock lengths (1500m) are used for sealing profiles, then productivity is improved by reducing the frequency of roll changes, but device complexity increases due to complex packaging, transport, and handling requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the sealing profile supply into multiple shorter magazine rolls (e.g., 150m each) instead of using one long endless roll (1500m). This segmentation makes packaging, transport, and handling simpler while maintaining continuous supply through automated roll changes at the rolling head
Solution Approach 2:
The rolling head is equipped with automated threading and changing mechanisms that enable the system to replace magazine rolls automatically without manual intervention. The alignment device and threading mechanism allow the new roll to be self-threaded onto the conveyor rollers, reducing operational complexity
2Ease of operation
If magazine rolls with shorter stock lengths are used instead of endless rolls, then ease of operation is improved by simplifying packaging and handling, but device complexity increases due to the need for automated roll changing and threading mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment device pre-forms the initial section of the sealing profile by guiding it through alignment elements that create the necessary curved path before transfer. This preliminary alignment action ensures the profile is properly positioned for automatic threading onto the rolling head, simplifying the overall changing process
Solution Approach 2:
The alignment device acts as an intermediary between the magazine roll and the rolling head. It prepares the sealing profile by imprinting the curved path and positioning it correctly, then transfers it to the rolling head where it continues along the same path, enabling seamless automated operation
3Manufacturing precision
If an alignment device with movable alignment elements is used to guide the sealing profile, then manufacturing precision is improved by ensuring accurate path alignment, but device complexity increases due to additional movable components
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment elements are designed to be movable between an open position (for loading/unloading sealing profiles) and a closed position (for guiding the profile along the curved path). This dynamic capability allows the same components to serve multiple functions, reducing the need for additional fixed structures
Solution Approach 2:
The alignment elements serve multiple functions: they guide the sealing profile along the curved path, provide alignment during transfer, and can be moved aside to facilitate loading and unloading. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate components for each task, offsetting the complexity increase
Data Source
Figure 1a
Figure 1b
Figure 2a~2b
AI summary
The invention relates to an application unit (10) for applying a sealing profile (2) to a body component used for closing a vehicle body opening, comprising a roll-on head (20), in which the sealing profile is guided during an operating situation along a curved first trajectory (24).