Truss Tube and Polygonal Bar Joints for Robotic Welding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing truss devices require skilled craftsmanship and are time-consuming due to numerous manual welded connections, making them unsuitable for efficient robotization.
Innovation Solution
The truss device features polygonal cross-section bars connected to tube bodies via linear connections, allowing for simplified and automated production using a four-axis motion system, with options for internal welding and use of hollow tubular profiles for weight and cost savings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If manual welded connections are used to connect bars and tube bodies, then the truss device achieves structural strength and stability, but the manufacturing process requires skilled craftsmanship and is time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The connection process is segmented into linear paths that can be independently executed by robotic welding systems. By dividing the complex three-dimensional welding task into sequential linear movements along predefined paths, the manufacturing process becomes automated while maintaining connection quality and structural strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the geometric parameters of the connection design from curved or complex paths to linear paths. This parameter change enables the use of automated robotic welding systems that move along straight lines, significantly improving manufacturing speed and reducing the need for skilled manual craftsmanship while maintaining adequate connection strength.
2Strength
If manual welded connections are used to connect bars and tube bodies, then the truss device achieves structural strength and stability, but the manufacturing process is complex and vulnerable to errors
Solution Approach 1:
The manufacturing process is segmented into standardized linear connection paths that can be programmed and replicated. This segmentation reduces manufacturing complexity by converting complex manual welding tasks into repeatable automated processes with fewer variables and lower error rates.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces manual mechanical welding operations with automated robotic welding systems. This substitution eliminates the variability and skill-dependency of manual welding, reducing manufacturing complexity and improving consistency while maintaining the required structural strength through controlled automated processes.
3Stability of the object's composition
If curved bar connections are used to connect tube bodies, then the truss device achieves structural integrity, but the welding process requires six-axis motion systems
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of adapting the motion system to accommodate curved bar connections, the invention inverts the approach by designing linear bar connections that adapt to the capabilities of simpler four-axis motion systems. This inversion reduces motion system complexity from six axes to four axes while maintaining structural integrity through the linear connection geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the geometric parameter of bar connections from curved to linear. This parameter change fundamentally simplifies the motion requirements from six-axis to four-axis systems, reducing device complexity while preserving structural integrity through the linear connection paths that can be accurately executed by simpler motion systems.
4Extent of automation
If linear connections are used to connect bars and tube bodies, then the manufacturing process can be robotized with four-axis motion systems, but the connection geometry must be simplified
Solution Approach 1:
The invention deliberately changes the geometric parameter of connections from curved to linear to enable robotization. This parameter change simplifies the connection geometry to match the capabilities of four-axis motion systems, achieving full automation while the simplified linear geometry remains sufficient for the structural requirements of the truss device.
Data Source
AI summary
A truss device comprises a set of elongate tube bodies (10) which extend parallel to each other in a longitudinal direction and which are connected spatially separated from each other by bars (30). The tube bodies (10) are provided or at least can be provided at opposite outer ends with coupling means (20) for a releasable coupling to a tube body of a further truss device. The bars (30) have a polygonal cross-section and at their end surfaces are connected substantially along at least one side of a periphery of this cross-section to an adjacent tube body along an at least in projection linear connection.