Welding Wire Drum Spacer and Conical Lid for Kink-Free Feeding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing storage and feeding assemblies for welding or brazing wires in drums do not maximize the volume usage, leading to reduced wire storage capacity and increased frequency of drum replacements, which in turn decreases productivity.
Innovation Solution
A storage and feeding assembly that optimizes the use of drum space by maintaining the coils in an ordered overlapping relationship, using a spacer between the drum and lid to allow a greater angle of wire exit, and employing a wire handling device with driving belts to minimize wire deformation and tangling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the drum volume is fully utilized to store more wire, then the wire storage capacity increases and drum replacement frequency decreases, but the wire may form kinks and tangle due to excessive curvature and improper positioning
Solution Approach 1:
A conical lid is introduced as an intermediary component between the drum and the wire bundle. The lid's conical shape with a wire outlet passage at the top serves as a mediator that guides the wire during extraction, preventing kinks while allowing the drum to be fully filled with wire coils.
Solution Approach 2:
The wire outlet passage is pre-positioned at the top of the conical lid before wire extraction begins. This preliminary arrangement of the exit path ensures that wire is guided smoothly from the bottom of the drum through the conical lid, preventing kink formation even when the drum is completely filled with wire.
2Ease of operation
If unwinding accessories are positioned at the top of the wire bundle to facilitate unwinding, then wire extraction is improved, but the available volume for wire storage is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The conical lid performs multiple functions simultaneously: it serves as the structural closure of the drum, provides the wire outlet passage for extraction, and acts as a wire guiding mechanism. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate unwinding accessories, maximizing the drum's wire storage volume while maintaining ease of extraction.
3Speed
If the wire is forced to complete a pronounced curve upwards to reach the outlet passage, then the wire can be extracted, but kinks are facilitated in the unwinding process
Solution Approach 1:
The conical lid provides a gradual, optimized curvature path for the wire as it exits the drum. Instead of forcing the wire through a pronounced curve, the conical shape guides it smoothly from the horizontal coil position to the vertical outlet passage, maintaining wire integrity while enabling extraction.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a storage and feeding assembly (1) for a wire (10) to be fed to an apparatus comprising a drum (2) suitable for storing the wire (10) extending about a drum axis (Y-Y) between a resting base (21) and an open upper end (23); a wire handling device (3) positioned between the drum (2) and the apparatus and suitable for extracting the wire (10) from the drum (2) to feed it to the apparatus; a lid (5) placed above the drum (2) wherein, at the top, an outlet passage (5') of the wire (10) is obtained; and a spacer (4) suitable for being positioned in a releasable manner between the upper end (23) of the drum (2) and the lid (5) in such a way as to act as an extension for the drum (2).