Workpiece-Holding Tool With Access Cutouts for Welding Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional alignment tools are insufficient for ensuring consistent and durable alignment of workpieces at specific angles, often obstructing access to the point of joinder and failing to maintain alignment during operations like welding, especially in scenarios with complex joint configurations.
Innovation Solution
The workpiece-holding tool features alignment surfaces oriented at specific angles, accessibility cutouts, and access spaces that allow simultaneous access to joints, enabling secure alignment and operation without obstruction, with features like weld reliefs and tapped holes for versatile attachment options.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a conventional alignment tool is placed directly at the point of joinder to align workpieces, then alignment accuracy is improved, but access to the point of joinder for welding operations is obstructed
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment tool is divided into separate modular components including alignment surfaces, clamping mechanisms, and access openings. This segmentation allows the tool to provide precise alignment at the joinder point while creating gaps and openings that permit welding equipment to access the joint without obstruction.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the alignment function from a solid continuous tool by creating access openings and spaces within the alignment structure. This extraction removes the obstructing material while preserving the alignment reference surfaces, allowing welders to access the joint through the created openings.
2Ease of operation
If a single welder attempts to hold and align two workpieces simultaneously, then manual control is maintained, but alignment consistency changes during the welding process
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment tool serves as an intermediary device between the workpieces and the welder. It provides fixed alignment surfaces and clamping mechanisms that maintain consistent geometric relationships during welding, eliminating the variability introduced by manual holding while preserving operational control.
Solution Approach 2:
The alignment tool incorporates self-aligning features and clamping mechanisms that automatically maintain workpiece positioning without requiring continuous manual adjustment. The tool itself provides the stability and consistency needed during welding operations.
3Measurement precision
If conventional alignment tools are used for complex joint configurations with multiple workpieces, then basic alignment is achieved, but accurate alignment at multiple angles cannot be maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment tool is designed with multiple alignment surfaces oriented at different predetermined angles (e.g., 90 degrees, 45 degrees) and includes various clamping mechanisms. This multi-functional design enables the single tool to accurately align complex joint configurations involving multiple workpieces at various angles simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extends alignment capability from a single plane to multiple dimensions by incorporating alignment surfaces at various angles and creating three-dimensional access spaces. This allows accurate alignment of workpieces in complex spatial configurations rather than limited to simple planar alignment.
Data Source
AI summary
Workpiece-holding tools and techniques are described. Workpiece-holding tools and techniques are usable to ensure consistent and durable alignment of various workpieces while providing access for performing attachment techniques thereon. In one example, the workpiece-holding tool is configured to allow objects to be held or removably affixed to an alignment surface. Holding objects with the workpiece-holding tool ensures that the alignment of objects with an alignment surface does not change while a user is operating upon a workpiece, e.g., as by joining aligned objects together, without interfering or obstructing access to the objects. The ability to hold objects is enhanced by the inclusion of cutouts that provide increased access to interior surfaces of the workpiece-holding tool, such as to increase the area available for use of clamps or other fastening devices.