Roll-Up and Laser Welding Module
January 1, 2019
"Coldwater Machine is experienced in providing solutions for fabrication, sub-assembly and assembly of household appliances. The company's materials processing experience makes them especially skilled at developing solutions that involve several manufacturing processes. Each solution is tailored to help improve quality, cycle times and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) for a wide variety of appliance products," said a company spokesperson.
Coldwater Machine's Roll-Up and Laser Weld module was designed specifically for fabricating clothes washer baskets and dryer drums. Although the processing capabilities of each system are based upon Coldwater-developed standards, every system is modified to suit a customer's particular requirements.
To meet today's ever demanding need for increased throughput, Coldwater has automated the process. Its solutions start at coil stock and end with a finished basket or drum, incorporating a flexible and modular approach that allows on-the-fly automatic changeover to different part diameters and heights for improved OEE.
The process begins 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, and the joint is then seam-welded with a laser in a single operation. This eliminates double handling of the part as in traditional processes and leads to improved quality and throughput. Laser welded parts are now ready for secondary operations such as spin forming and closure assembly.
Coldwater's laser welding solutions can handle either CO2 or fiber delivered lasers. Quality is increased with in-line 100% scanning and inspection of the weld joint. Coldwater's systems apply continuous inward pressure to keep the gap tight as well as strong top and bottom clamping force throughout the weld process.
The roll-up and laser weld system is modular in design so that it may be incorporated into existing manufacturing processes or coupled with other Coldwater Machine modules to provide a turn-key solution. In addition to stainless steel, the 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. A large range of diameters and lengths can be handled automatically.
For more information contact:
Coldwater Machine Company
911 North Second St.
Coldwater, OH 45828-8736
419-678-4877
