Coldwater Machine announces new modular equipment for specialized welding applications.
Industrial automation still has a way of surprising people, as new technologies and techniques are constantly in development.
In the world of stainless steel welding, the Coldwater Machine Company has developed a new Roll-Up and Laser Weld Module for the fabricating of clothes washer and dryer drums and baskets and other round sheet metal wrappers.
The new modules process starts with a servo-controlled de-coiler that feeds stainless steel through a straightener into a proprietary trimming press. Here, the material is sheared to the specified sheet lengths and edges are prepared for the laser welding process.
The material is automatically fed into the Roll Up and Laser Weld Module that rolls the sheet into a hoop-shaped wrapper, which will become the basket or drum while the joint is seam-welded with a laser in a single operation. Laser welded parts are now ready for secondary operations such as spin forming and closure assembly.
Based on an existing Coldwater laser welding process, the new method is said to be modular and able to fit into a range of specific needs.
The company’s welding systems apply continuous inward pressure to keep the gap tight with a strong top and bottom clamping force throughout the weld process. Coldwater representatives have noted that its laser welding solutions can operate both CO2 and fiber delivered lasers.
Together, the process eliminates double handling of the part, potentially improving production time as well as quality, as the automated system has less room for error.
Coldwater’s Roll-Up and Laser Weld module can handle a variety of materials including cold-rolled, pre-painted, stainless, galvanized or other sheet metals and various material thicknesses, handling materials of varying lengths and diameters.
While additional information on the new module is yet to be released, visit the Coldwater Machine Company website for more information on their other industrial automation processes.
