Elpatronic Ag

Michael Baumgartner

Andreas Lanz

Wolfgang H Weil

Kurt Alznauer

Albano DePaoli

Jurgen Brauer

Werner Boegli

Franz Bugmann

For welding sheet-metal blanks coated with electrically conductive material, the thickness of the coating is measured with a measurement device. The welding current source controls the welding current I as a function of the film thickness reading obtained, to keep the power input into the weld zone essentially constant.

Method and apparatus for resistance welding coated sheet metal

A two-point attachment of the pusher on the toothed belt of a conveyor means in conjunction with a rocking lever causes the pusher to perform a rocking motion in the direction opposite to the conveying direction upon deflection of the toothed belt around a return wheel. This results in reduced vibration of the conveyor means and reduced risk of damage to the item conveyed before the pusher dips below the conveying plane (F).

Conveyor means and use thereof

Sheet-metal blanks are fed in succession one immediately after another to a rounding apparatus in which they are plastically deformed into a curve in a rounding mechanism and are given a desired constant bending radius. The portion of the blank initially running out of the rounding mechanism in the natural rounding position is deflected by guide means under elastic deformation out of the rounding position into a transfer position which is different from the rounding position and is thereby elastically deformed so that the portion of the blank running out of the rounding mechanism is kept under stress. When the end portion of the sheet-metal blank leaves the rounding mechanism, it springs into the transfer position due to said stress, leaving the way clear for another sheet-metal blank, which can already be in the process of being rounded before the fully rounded sheet-metal blank is ejected from the rounding apparatus and conveyed away. This allows the cycle time for the rounding process to be reduced in a simple manner without impairment of rounding quality.

Process and apparatus for rounding sheet-metal blanks

A method and an apparatus for ensuring the dimensional accuracy of a frusto-pyramidal can body (10). During the production of the body (10) this is partially heated by means of inductors in the vicinity of its base face in the region of its broader side faces (10a,10b), before the step in which it is formed into the pyramidal frustum. In this manner, a uniform reduction in the thickness of the sheet metal is achieved in the region of the base face of the pyramidal frustum during the widening operation.

Method and apparatus for ensuring the dimensional accuracy of a

An apparatus for guiding can bodies in a laser welding machine is described. The apparatus comprises a water-cooled holding-down shoe (22) with an integrated holding-down roller (24), gas supply (64) and suction extraction (68), the holding-down roller (24) being disposed in front of the theoretical point of intersection of the two edges of the body to be butt-welded and being adjustable in height, with the holding-down shoe (22), to the thickness of the sheet metal. Adjacent to the holding-down shoe (22) is a holding-up shoe (26) and adjacent to the holding-down roller (24) is a holding-up roller (28). Provided below the holding-up shoe (26) is a horizontally and vertically adjustable supporting roller (30) which supports the can bodies at their underside during the welding operation and during passage through the welding plane (10). The bringing together of the edges of the bodies to be butt-welded, which emerge from the Z-rail, is effected by means of this apparatus without much friction and wear, the welding position is protected and any smoke formed during the welding is drawn off. As a result of the supporting roller, too close an adjustment of the conveying means is avoided, through which increased power requirements and wear in the guide range of the Z-rail would be caused.

Apparatus for guiding can bodies in a laser welding machine

On a machine for welding the longitudinal edges (12,14) of rounded body blanks (10), two groups of movable guide elements (36), which exert radial guiding forces on the blanks (10), are arranged lying opposite one another with respect to the blanks. The guide elements (36) of each of the two groups are secured to an endless chain (38). Each of these chains (38) has a chain strand extending in the direction of movement (axis A) of the blanks (10), which strand is supported by a rail (52) at both sides of a welding plane (B) containing the welding zone and normal to the direction of movement of the blanks (10). The guide elements (36) move through the welding plane (B) with the blanks (10). As a result, shock-like actions on the blanks (10) in the vicinity of the welding plane (B) are avoided; consequently, the longitudinal edges (12,14) can be welded together particularly evenly, particularly by means of a laser beam.

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Rekingen, Switzerland

Michael Baumgartner