Method and machine to manufacture one or more coils around respective articles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12390850-B2
Application number	US-202218053339-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 7, 2022
Priority date	Nov 15, 2021
Publication date	Aug 19, 2025
Grant date	Aug 19, 2025

Abstract

A method and an automatic machine to manufacture one or more coils around respective articles. The following steps are provided: moving, by means of a main conveyor and along a processing path, a plurality of carriages, each provided with at least one seat designed to house an article; placing, in an input station arranged along the processing path, each article in the seat of a corresponding carriage; coupling, in at least one of two winding stations arranged one after the other along the path, a wire around an article carried by a carriage to create a corresponding coil; using, when they are both working, the two winding stations together and in parallel, having each winding station operate at a first production speed; and using, when a winding station is not working, only the other winding station, operates at a second production speed, higher than the first production speed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method to manufacture one or more coils ( 11 A, 11 B, 11 C, 11 D, 11 E, 11 F) around respective articles ( 1 ) using an automatic machine ( 14 ) and comprising the steps of:
moving, by means of a main conveyor ( 19 ) and along a processing path (P), a plurality of carriages ( 16 ), each provided with at least one seat ( 18 ) designed to house an article ( 1 );
placing, in an input station (S 1 ) arranged along the processing path (P), each article ( 1 ) in the at least one seat ( 18 ) of a corresponding carriage ( 16 );
coupling, in at least one of two winding stations (S 5 , S 6 ) arranged one after the other along the path (P), a wire ( 13 ) around an article ( 1 ) carried by a carriage ( 16 ) so as to create a corresponding coil ( 11 A, 11 B, 11 C, 11 D, 11 E, 11 F);
using, when they are both working, the two winding stations (S 5 , S 6 ) together and in parallel, having each winding station (S 5 , S 6 ) operate at a corresponding first production speed; and
using, when a winding station (S 5 , S 6 ) is not working, only the other winding station (S 6 , S 5 ), which is caused to operate at a second production speed, which is higher than the corresponding first production speed.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the sum of the first production speeds is equal to a production speed of the automatic machine ( 14 ) and the second production speed is equal to the production speed of the automatic machine ( 14 ).

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein each winding station (S 5 , S 6 ) has a maximum production speed which is higher than a maximum production speed of the automatic machine ( 14 ) divided by the total number of winding stations (S 5 , S 6 ).

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein each winding station (S 5 , S 6 ) has a maximum production speed which is equal to a maximum production speed of the automatic machine ( 14 ).

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, when they are both working, the two winding stations (S 5 , S 6 ) are used together and in parallel, having each winding station (S 5 , S 6 ) operate at a production speed which always is lower than its own maximum production speed, even when the automatic machine ( 14 ) operates at its maximum production speed.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein each winding station (S 5 , S 6 ) is caused to operate at its own maximum production speed only when it is the only working winding station (S 5 , S 6 ).

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein each winding station (S 5 , S 6 ) is provided with protection elements, which isolate the winding station (S 5 , S 6 ) from all other moving parts of the automatic machine ( 14 ).

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein at least one protection element is movable and is moved between a deactivated position, which does not isolate the corresponding winding station (S 5 , S 6 ) and is assumed only when the corresponding winding station (S 5 , S 6 ) is working, and an active position, which isolates the corresponding winding station (S 5 , S 6 ) and is assumed only when the corresponding winding station (S 5 , S 6 ) is not working.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein each carriage ( 16 ) is caused to stop in the at least one of two winding stations (S 5 , S 6 ) for an amount of time needed to couple the wire ( 13 ) around a corresponding article ( 1 ) carried by a carriage ( 16 ).

10. The method is according to claim 1 , wherein the wire ( 13 ) is directly wound around each article ( 1 ) by a movable finger ( 27 ) that slidably engages the wire ( 13 ).

11. The method according to claim 1 and comprising the further step of welding, in a welding station (S 7 ) arranged along the processing path (P) downstream of the winding stations (S 5 , S 6 ), two ends of each coil ( 11 A, 11 B, 11 C, 11 D, 11 E, 11 F) to two electrical contacts ( 12 ) present in the article ( 1 ).

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein each winding station (S 5 , S 6 ) operates in parallel, coupling, at the same time, several coils ( 11 A, 11 B, 11 C, 11 D, 11 E, 11 F) around respective articles ( 1 ) carried by one or more carriages ( 16 ).

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the main conveyor ( 15 ) comprises:
an annular guide ( 19 );
a slide ( 20 ), which is coupled to the annular guide ( 19 ) so as to freely slide along the annular guide ( 19 ) and supports the carriage ( 15 ); and
a linear electric motor ( 21 ), which moves the slide ( 20 ) and is provided with an annular stator ( 22 ), which is arranged in a fixed position along the annular guide ( 19 ), and with a movable slider ( 23 ), which is electromagnetically coupled to the annular stator ( 22 ) so as to receive, from the annular stator ( 22 ), a driving force and is rigidly connected to the slide ( 20 ).

14. A method to manufacture at least two different coils ( 11 A, 11 B, 11 C, 11 D, 11 E, 11 F) around respective articles ( 1 ) using an automatic machine ( 14 ); the method comprises the steps of:
moving, by means of a main conveyor ( 19 ) and along a processing path (P), a plurality of carriages ( 16 ), each provided with at least one seat ( 18 ) designed to house an article ( 1 );
placing, in an input station (S 1 ) arranged along the processing path (P), each article ( 1 ) in the at least one seat ( 18 ) of a corresponding carriage ( 16 );
coupling, in a first winding station (S 5 ) arranged along the processing path (P), a wire ( 13 ) around each article ( 1 ) carried by a carriage ( 16 ) so as to create a corresponding first coil ( 11 A);
coupling, in a second winding station (S 6 ) arranged along the processing path (P) downstream of the first winding station (S 5 ), a wire ( 13 ) around each article ( 1 ) carried by a carriage ( 16 ) so as to create a corresponding second coil ( 11 B); and
changing the orientation of the article ( 1 ) relative to the carriage ( 16 ) in a handling station (S 8 ) arranged along the processing path (P) between the first winding station (S 5 ) and the second winding station (S 6 );
wherein, in case a winding station (S 5 , S 6 ) does not work, the other winding station (S 6 , S 5 ) is configured to couple a wire ( 13 ) around each article ( 1 ) carried by [a] the carriage ( 16 ) so as to create both a corresponding first coil ( 11 A) and a corresponding second coil ( 11 B), taking the place of the winding station (S 5 , S 6 ) that is not working.

15. The method according to claim 14 and comprising, in case a winding station (S 5 , S 6 ) does not work, the further steps of:
moving each carriage ( 16 ) to the working winding station (S 5 , S 6 ) in order to create a coil ( 11 A, 11 B, 11 C, 11 D, 11 E, 11 F);
after the creation of a coil ( 11 A, 11 B), moving each carriage ( 16 ) from the working winding station (S 5 , S 6 ) to the handling station (S 8 ) in order to change the orientation of the article ( 1 ) relative to the carriage ( 16 ); and
after having changed the orientation, moving each carriage ( 16 ) back from the handling station (S 8 ) to the working winding station (S 5 , S 6 ) in order to create the other coil ( 11 A, 11 B).

16. An automatic machine ( 14 ) to manufacture one or more coils ( 11 A, 11 B, 11 C, 11 D, 11 E, 11 F) around respective articles ( 1 ) and comprising:
a main conveyor ( 19 ), which is configured to move, along a processing path (P), a plurality of carriages ( 16 ), each provided with at least one seat ( 18 ) designed to house an article ( 1 );
an input station (S 1 ), which is arranged along the processing path (P) and is configured to place each a

Assignees

• Gd Spa

Inventors

• Boldrini Fulvio

Classifications

• H01F41/09 Primary

  Winding machines having two or more work holders or formers · CPC title

• B21F3/00 Primary

  Coiling wire into particular forms · CPC title