Welding Wire Drum Spacer Geometry for Higher Fill Without Kinks
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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 drum replacement frequency, which in turn decreases productivity.
Innovation Solution
A storage and feeding assembly that optimizes the drum's volume usage by aligning the assembly axis with the drum axis, using a spacer to increase the wire exit angle, and incorporating a wire handling device with driving belts and straightening rollers to manage the wire effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the wire bundle is positioned to allow unwinding accessories at the top and avoid excessive upward curvature, then wire kink formation is reduced, but the wire bundle does not occupy all available drum volume, reducing storage capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the wire extraction geometry by introducing a conical surface that redirects the wire from a vertical upward path to an inclined path along the cone surface. This dimensional change in the extraction trajectory allows the wire bundle to be positioned lower in the drum, maximizing volume utilization while maintaining reliable unwinding without kinks through the optimized exit angle.
2Productivity
If the drum volume is maximized for wire storage, then drum replacement frequency decreases and productivity increases, but the wire may be forced to complete overly pronounced curves, facilitating kink formation
Solution Approach 1:
The conical surface acts as an intermediary element between the wire bundle and the vertical outlet passage. It provides a gradual transition path that redirects the wire from the bundle at an optimized angle, preventing excessive curvature and kink formation even when the drum is fully utilized for wire storage, thereby maintaining both productivity and wire integrity.
3Quantity of substance
If the wire exit angle is increased to maximize drum volume usage, then storage capacity improves, but wire tangling and deformation may increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention optimizes the wire exit angle parameter by using a conical surface with a specifically designed geometry. This parameter change allows the wire to be extracted at an angle that maximizes drum volume utilization while maintaining wire stability and preventing tangling, as the conical surface guides the wire smoothly without creating excessive curvature.
Data Source
AI summary
A storage and feeding assembly for a wire to be fed to an apparatus having a drum suitable for storing the wire and extending about a drum axis between a resting base and an open upper end is provided. A wire handling device positioned between the drum and the apparatus is suitable for extracting the wire from the drum to feed the wire to the apparatus. A lid is placed above the drum and an outlet passage for the wire is provided at a top of the lid. The storage and feeding assembly has a spacer suitable for being positioned in a releasable manner between the upper end of the drum and the lid in such a way as to act as an extension for the drum.