Welding Shield Cleaning Structure for Balanced Spatter Scraping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing welding spatter protection devices for longitudinal metal products face issues with mechanical complexity, uneven wear and misalignment of scrapers due to asymmetric protection shields, and inefficient spatter removal requiring repeated heating, which complicates cleaning and increases the risk of spatter sticking to the shield.
Innovation Solution
A welding spatter protection device with an integrated cleaning system featuring an asymmetric protection shield and a scraper mechanism driven by separate actuators, allowing balanced mechanical stress on the scraper and repeated cleaning cycles without heating, thus preventing spatter from sticking to the shield.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single protection shield with asymmetric extension is used to reduce cleaning burden, then the device complexity is reduced, but the scraper experiences unbalanced mechanical stresses causing uneven wear and misalignment
Solution Approach 1:
The protection shield is designed with asymmetric extension, covering mainly the internal side where main structures are located, while reducing coverage on the external side. This asymmetric configuration reduces the cleaning burden on areas less critical to machine operation while maintaining protection where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
A counterweight mechanism is introduced to compensate for the unbalanced mechanical stresses caused by the asymmetric shield configuration. The counterweight system balances the forces acting on the scraper during operation, preventing uneven wear and misalignment while allowing the asymmetric shield design to be implemented.
2Productivity
If the protection shield is approached repeatedly to the hot product for cleaning passes, then the spatter removal effectiveness is improved, but the shield heating makes spatter sticking more likely
Solution Approach 1:
The cleaning system operates in periodic cycles, performing multiple scraping passes during each cycle. The scraper is activated to clean the shield surface at regular intervals, efficiently removing spatter accumulations before they become problematic, while allowing cooling periods between cycles to prevent sticking.
Solution Approach 2:
The scraper is positioned and prepared in advance during the welding cycle, ready to perform cleaning passes before spatter accumulation becomes severe. This preliminary cleaning action prevents spatter from bonding strongly to the shield surface, reducing the need for forceful removal later.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a welding spatter protection device (1) comprising: - a support structure (2); - a movable structure (10), which delimits a first internal shielding cavity (11) by means of a plurality of internal side walls (11a,11b,11c,11d) and is movable with respect to said support structure (2) by means of a first actuator (15) between a lowered position, in which in use said first internal cavity (11) is placed astride the welding zone, and a raised position, in which in use said first internal cavity (11) is moved away from said welding zone, - a cleaning system (20) for cleaning the internal side walls (11a,11b,11c,11d) of said first internal cavity from welding spatter, comprising a scraper (21). Two second walls (11c,11d) interconnect said two first walls (11a,11b) to each other and define two concentric cylindrical surfaces. The scraper (21) is rotationally connected to said movable structure (10) by means of a support arm (22) which is pivoted on a rotation axis (Y1) coincident with the axis (O) of said two concentric cylindrical surfaces (11c, 11d) and supports said scraper (21), keeping it aligned on a radial plane, said support arm (22) being actuatable by means of a second actuator (25). The circumferential ends (11c',11c";11d',11d") of said two concentric cylindrical surfaces (11c,11d) at an inlet mouth (12) and at an internal stop position are radially aligned so that the scraper (21) is always in contact with said two concentric cylindrical surfaces (11c,11d), said two concentric cylindrical surfaces (11c,11d) being oriented so that the radially outermost cylindrical surface (11c) extends beyond the bottom wall (10a) of said movable structure (10), defining a shielding appendage (16).