A Breakthrough in Capacitor Discharge Welding

In Booth B-28098, Taylor-Winfield Technologies, Inc. (Youngstown, OH) announces their exclusive license agreement with Germany-based KAPKΩN GmbH to offer their Capacitor Discharge (CD) power supplies equipped with their Multi-Capacitor Source (MCS) system to the North American marketplace. While used in diverse applications, CD welding is frequently used in gear manufacturing or when joining nuts and bolts with different material and wall thickness combinations resulting in weight, energy and resource savings. To date, it was assumed in the CD welding process that the progression of the welding current is largely determined by the design characteristics of the machine (the capacitance of the capacitors, the translation ratio of the transformer and the inductance of the welding current circuit). Variation of the welding parameters was only possible to a limited degree via the charging voltage of the capacitors. These tightly restricted limits can now be expanded with the new Multi-Capacitor Source (MCS) system, which allows a previously unknown flexibility in the settings of the weld current (from single pulse welding to combine pulse sequences) by dividing the capacitors into four individually and independently controllable capacitor banks.

With four banks connected in parallel, it is possible to specifically influence the course of the welding current. This system technology now enables process control tailored to the joining task. For example, a capacitance change can take place without mechanical reconnection, or peak currents increased or reduced. Furthermore, it is possible to simulate the progressions of the welding currents using software connected with the welding system. Taylor-Winfield will build all CD welding machines with KAPKΩN power supplies. “This relationship between the two companies is mutually beneficial,” explained Blake Rhein, the vice president of sales and marketing for Taylor-Winfield. “KAPKΩN power supplies and the MCS system directly align with our mission of being a full service material joining solution provider.”

In addition to offering the latest breakthrough capacitor discharge power supplies, all of Taylor-Winfield’s machines have the ability to be “smart” machines. This remote connectivity service, called TWConnect, makes off-site diagnostics and problem-solving simple by giving end users the immediate ability to monitor data and diagnostics from geographically-dispersed locations. In addition, real-time errors and diagnostic messages can be remotely viewed by Taylor-Winfield engineers in a time-sensitive manner to troubleshoot issues and place machines back in production. The possibility of establishing a secure VPN off-site may eliminate the need to send a technician out to diagnose the problem, which reduces customer downtime and expensive service trips.

Taylor-Winfield Technologies, Inc., 3200 Innovation Place, Youngstown, OH 44509, 330-259-8500, Fax: 330-259-8538, taylor-winfield.com.