Welding Gun Retaining Unit Thick-Walled Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Welding guns with elongated stationary and movable gun arms face challenges in maintaining rigidity while minimizing weight, leading to increased equipment costs and the need for larger robots to handle the heavy load, especially when welding large surface area members.
Innovation Solution
A retaining unit with thick-walled regions for high load-bearing areas and thin-walled regions elsewhere, connected by members that distribute the load, and featuring through holes in the arm holder to reduce weight and prevent interference, allowing for the use of smaller robots.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If the stationary gun arm and movable gun arm are elongated to reach welding locations on large surface area members, then the welding capability is improved, but the weight of the gun arms increases
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining unit is divided into a first retaining member and a second retaining member that sandwich the arm holder between them. This segmentation allows the load to be distributed across multiple components rather than concentrated in a single thick-walled structure, enabling support for elongated gun arms without proportionally increasing overall weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The first and second retaining members are configured with non-uniform thickness, having thicker regions at locations corresponding to the retaining holes, guide grooves, and connecting member insertion holes where loads are concentrated. This local quality approach provides high rigidity exactly where needed to support the elongated gun arms while keeping other regions thinner to minimize overall weight.
2Strength
If the retaining unit is made thick-walled to ensure sufficient rigidity for heavy elongated gun arms, then the rigidity is improved, but the weight of the retaining unit increases
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining members feature varying thickness with thicker walls specifically at load-bearing locations (retaining holes, guide grooves, connecting member insertion holes) and thinner walls in other regions. This creates high rigidity where structurally necessary while minimizing overall weight by avoiding unnecessary material in non-critical areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The retaining unit is segmented into first and second retaining members connected by connecting members. This segmentation distributes the structural load across multiple components and connection points, allowing each component to be optimized with localized thickness variations rather than requiring the entire unit to be uniformly thick-walled.
3Weight of stationary object
If the weight of the welding gun is reduced by using thinner retaining unit walls, then the robot size can be reduced, but the rigidity of the retaining unit decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining members are designed with non-uniform thickness distribution, having thicker sections at critical load-bearing locations (retaining holes, guide grooves, connecting member insertion holes) and thinner sections elsewhere. This ensures sufficient rigidity at stress concentration points while maintaining overall low weight for robot compatibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The retaining unit is divided into first and second retaining members connected by connecting members. This segmentation creates multiple load paths and distribution points, allowing the structure to achieve adequate rigidity with thinner overall walls compared to a monolithic design, thus reducing weight while maintaining structural integrity.
4Adaptability or versatility
If elongated gun arms are used to weld large surface area members, then the welding versatility is improved, but the load on the robot increases requiring larger robots
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining unit is segmented into first and second retaining members with connecting members, creating a distributed load-bearing structure. This segmentation allows the system to support the weight and operational loads of elongated gun arms more efficiently, reducing the overall load on the robot while maintaining the versatility provided by the extended arm length.
Solution Approach 2:
The retaining members have localized thick-walled regions at load concentration points, providing high structural strength exactly where the elongated gun arms impose maximum stress. This allows the system to support versatile elongated arm configurations without requiring the robot to be oversized for the entire structure.
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 solution ensures sufficient rigidity and durability for elongated gun arms while avoiding weight increases, enhancing versatility and reducing capital expenditures by enabling the use of smaller robots for moving the welding gun.
Implementation Method 1
Rollers are disposed on the arm holder, and the rollers are inserted slidably in the guide grooves that are formed in the retaining unit
Data Source
AI summary
A welding gun equipped with a retaining unit, which includes a first retaining member and a second retaining member, and retains a stationary gun arm and a movable gun arm. A retaining hole for retaining the stationary gun arm, guide grooves for insertion of rolling members provided on an arm holder that retains the movable gun arm, connecting member insertion holes into which connecting members connecting the first retaining member and the second retaining member are inserted, and a retained member insertion hole for inserting a retained member retained by a moving member that moves the retaining unit to a welding operation location, are formed in the first retaining member and the second retaining member, and the regions where these components are formed are set as thick-walled regions having a greater thickness than other regions. Thus, adequate rigidity is ensured while avoiding an increase in weight.