Customized Laser Welding Lines for Powertrain Components
January 1, 2018
Coldwater Machine Company has announced another of its automated laser welding lines for powertrain components. Based on standard Coldwater Machine laser welding modules, each system is customized to suit customer requirements.
This recent solution was developed for laser welding differentials and ring gears and features a palletized conveyor system to transfer parts through the cell using RFID traceability throughout the assembly and welding process and a material handling robot to transfer the parts between operations. The first process is an ablation station, where the ring gears and differential cases are cleaned with a fiber laser for the laser welding process.
The robot transfers cleaned parts from the palletized conveyor system to the individual operations that include a servo-controlled press station and then to the laser welding station. The parts are oriented, clamped under force and tack welded by the laser. The weld is accomplished using a 6 kW CO2 laser with filler wire in the presence of shielding gas.
When the laser welding process is completed, the robot moves the assembly to an ultrasonic inspection station for a quality check of the weld to identify failures such as porosity, holes, cracks or fissures along the 360° joint. After inspection, the material handling robot loads the welded assembly back onto the conveyor pallet where good parts are transferred to an unload station or rejects to a quarantine zone for further evaluation.
Coldwater Machine provided all the equipment in a turn-key package along with ancillary equipment such as air-cooled chiller for the laser, fume extractor for the ablation and welding stations and all necessary controls and operator displays with complete diagnostic capability.
For more information contact:
Coldwater Machine Company
911 North Second St.
Coldwater, OH 45828-8736
419-678-4877
info@coldwatermachine.com
www.coldwatermachine.com
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