Preassembled Wire Tray Layout for Custom Metal Mesh Welding
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing apparatuses for manufacturing metal mesh for prefabricated panels are either complex and expensive or less automated and less productive, failing to efficiently produce made-to-measure mesh with irregular shapes and specular pairs.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that involves a feed assembly, a handling assembly, and a joining assembly to prepare and join longitudinal and transverse wires in a modular configuration, allowing for the production of irregularly shaped metal mesh with high automation and productivity, enabling the creation of specular pairs and reducing labor and material waste.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If single-phase apparatus is used to manufacture mesh, then productivity and automation level are improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The manufacturing process is divided into two distinct phases: a pre-assembly phase where longitudinal and transverse wires are arranged on a tray, and a welding phase where the tray is moved to a welding station. This segmentation allows the complex single-phase apparatus to be replaced with a simpler two-phase system that achieves comparable productivity while reducing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The wires are pre-assembled on a tray in the correct positions before being moved to the welding station. This preliminary arrangement of wires in the desired configuration simplifies the overall manufacturing process and reduces the complexity of the welding apparatus, as the wire positioning is already completed in the pre-assembly phase.
2Productivity
If standard commercial mesh is produced, then manufacturing efficiency is improved, but adaptability to custom shapes and specifications deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The apparatus is designed to be dynamically configurable for different mesh specifications. The pre-assembly tray and wire feeding mechanisms can be adjusted to accommodate various wire dimensions, spacing, and mesh patterns, allowing the system to efficiently produce both standard and custom-shaped mesh without requiring complete reconfiguration.
Solution Approach 2:
The manufacturing apparatus is designed with universal capabilities to handle multiple types of wire (different materials, diameters, and lengths) and produce various mesh configurations. This multi-functionality allows the same equipment to efficiently produce both standard commercial mesh and custom-shaped mesh for specific applications like prefabricated panels with doors or windows.
3Adaptability or versatility
If mesh is cut and shaped after production, then adaptability to project requirements is improved, but labor expenditure and material waste increase
Solution Approach 1:
The mesh is produced in the final desired shape and size during the manufacturing process itself, rather than being cut and shaped after production. The pre-assembly tray is configured to hold wires in the exact positions needed for the final mesh geometry, eliminating the need for subsequent cutting operations and reducing both labor expenditure and material waste.
4Adaptability or versatility
If two specular mesh are produced by overturning panels, then reinforcement requirements are met, but handling difficulty increases due to panel dimensions and reduced rigidity
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of producing one mesh and then overturning it to create a specular pair, the apparatus is configured to produce both specular meshes simultaneously or in sequence without requiring physical overturning. The pre-assembly tray and wire feeding system can be adjusted to create mirror-image configurations, allowing both meshes to be produced in their final orientation, thereby eliminating handling difficulties associated with overturning large panels.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~3b
AI summary
The method for manufacturing mesh, in particular metal mesh for prefabricated panels, made by joining a plurality of wires, arranged as longitudinal wires (3) parallel and suitably spaced and transverse wires (4) parallel and suitably spaced, provides for feeding in ordered succession the wires intended to become longitudinal (3) and transversal (4) wires on a feed plane (A), by operating in a controlled way means of transport of a feed assembly (10); operating a gripping head (31a, 31b) of a handling assembly (30) to transfer the wires from the feed assembly (10) to a tray (20), releasing them resting on the tray (20) as longitudinal wires (3) and transverse wires (4) in a preassembled configuration; moving the tray (20) in a transport stroke on a transport plane (T), by means of control means, towards a joining station (J); operating a joining assembly (40) to join the longitudinal wires (3) to the transverse wires (4) in the preassembled configuration, thus creating a completed mesh (2).