Welding Electrode Sliding Seal Structure for Airtight Guide Pin Motion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electric resistance welding electrodes fail to maintain reliable airtightness due to the intervention of minute metal pieces and misalignment/tilting of guide pins, leading to shortened service life and potential air leakage.
Innovation Solution
The electrode design includes a copper electrode main body with a guide pin and a synthetic resin sliding part featuring a circular cross-section with large, medium, and small-diameter holes, where the movable end surface has a reduced width dimension to increase surface pressure, pushing minute metal pieces into the sliding part's base material and maintaining a two-point support for the guide pin, thus preventing misalignment and air leakage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the end surface of the sliding part is made to contact the inner end surface to block cooling air, then airtightness is improved, but minute metal pieces can enter the close-contact area and reduce service life
Solution Approach 1:
The harmful element (minute metal pieces) is extracted from the close-contact area by providing a dedicated receiving space within the sliding part's base material, allowing metal pieces to be isolated from the sealing interface while maintaining airtightness
Solution Approach 2:
The base material of the sliding part acts as an intermediary that receives and traps minute metal pieces between the end surface and the base material interior, preventing direct interference with the close-contact sealing surface
2Ease of operation
If the guide pin is allowed to slide freely in the guide hole, then ease of operation is improved, but misalignment and inclination of the guide pin occur
Solution Approach 1:
The guide hole is segmented into multiple sections (first guide hole section, second guide hole section, third guide hole section) with different diameters, providing staged guidance that maintains alignment while allowing sliding movement
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the guide hole have different local qualities (diameters) to provide appropriate guidance at different positions, with the narrower sections preventing misalignment and the broader sections allowing movement
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
This design ensures complete airtightness by embedding minute metal pieces into the sliding part's material and minimizing guide pin tilting, preventing air leakage and maintaining a reliable sealing action even after extensive use.
Implementation Method 1
By a width dimension of a movable end surface seen in a diametrical direction of an electrode main body being less than half of a thickness dimension of a large-diameter portion at a position where a guide pin is inserted, an area of the movable end surface is configured to be small to increase a pressurizing force of the movable end surface against a stationary inner end surface
Data Source
AI summary
A guide hole is constituted of a large-diameter hole, a medium-diameter hole, and a small-diameter hole. A sliding part fitted in the guide hole is formed of a synthetic resin material. A large-diameter portion of the sliding part is fitted in the large-diameter hole in a slidable state, and a medium-diameter portion is fitted in the medium-diameter hole in a slidable state. A movable end surface of the sliding part is in close contact with a stationary inner end surface of the guide hole. By configuring a width dimension of the movable end surface to be less than half of a thickness dimension of the large-diameter portion, a pressurizing force of the movable end surface is increased and a minute metal piece is pushed from the movable end surface into a base material of the sliding part, and a thickness dimension of the medium-diameter portion is set large.