Welding Wire Liner with Segmented Rolling Bodies
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wire liners for welding processes face issues with high friction and attrition due to the design of rolls, which can lead to feeding complications and structural integrity problems, especially when the liner is curved during wire insertion.
Innovation Solution
A liner design featuring two types of rolling assemblies with different diameters and arrangements, where the larger diameter rolls are used for guiding during insertion and smaller diameter rolls are primarily active during insertion, reducing friction and allowing for free rotation to prevent tension buildup, while the smaller diameter rolls are not involved in guiding during normal operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If rolls are placed close together to define the wire passage, then the wire can be guided smoothly during insertion, but the wire has to touch many rolls causing high friction and feeding problems
Solution Approach 1:
The liner is divided into multiple individual bodies (first type and second type) that can rotate independently. Each body contains a subset of rolls, and the segmentation allows the wire to be guided by fewer rolls at any given position while maintaining smooth insertion through the cumulative effect of multiple bodies.
Solution Approach 2:
The individual bodies are designed to rotate freely relative to each other, creating a dynamic structure that adapts to wire insertion and feeding. This rotation capability allows the liner to accommodate wire curvature during insertion while reducing the number of stationary rolls the wire must contact, thereby reducing friction.
2Device complexity
If identical assemblies are connected in an alternate pattern, then the structure is simplified, but the assembly joints cannot rotate freely causing tension buildup and potential breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The connection between individual bodies allows free rotation, transforming the static alternate pattern connection into a dynamic joint. This rotational freedom enables the liner to absorb tension from sharp robot arm movements and wire feeder operations without causing the assembly joints to snap or break.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the rotational parameter of the assembly joints from fixed (0° rotation) to free rotation (multiple revolutions). This parameter change allows the simplified alternate pattern structure to reliably handle tension loads while maintaining ease of assembly.
3Ease of operation
If a conical funnel shaped guiding tube is added to allow wire insertion in curved state, then wire insertion is enabled, but the wire scratches against the guiding tube causing attrition
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the wire guidance function from a separate conical guiding tube and integrates it into the rolling assemblies themselves. The rolls within the first and second type bodies provide the necessary guidance during insertion without requiring a dedicated guiding tube that would cause wire scratching and attrition.
Solution Approach 2:
The rolling assemblies act as intermediaries between the wire and the liner structure. Instead of the wire directly contacting a conical guiding tube surface, the rolls mediate the interaction, providing smooth guidance during insertion while minimizing friction and attrition through their rolling motion.
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 minimizes friction and attrition, ensures smooth wire feeding, and prevents tension buildup, allowing for bi-directional wire feeding and flexible liner movement, even when curved, thus enhancing the performance and durability of the liner.
Implementation Method 1
the rolling elements mounted in the bodies of the first type have a distance from a center line of the liner which is smaller than the distance at which the rolling elements mounted in the bodies of the second type are arranged from the center line
Data Source
AI summary
The present appliction relates to a liner (10) for guiding a wire, in particular a welding wire (51), which is formed from at least two different types of bodies (14, 16) arranged successively so as to form the liner (10) . Each of the bodies (14, 16) carries a set of rolling elements (20, 42).