Ultrasonic Spot Welder Provides Consistent High-Quality Results
Attention, electric vehicle component manufacturers! According to Emerson Automation Solutions, the Branson GMX-20 MA’s dual linear bearing design makes the actuator the most rigid and precise actuator in the ultrasonic metal welding market.
Posted: March 7, 2021
Built around a rigid pneumatic actuator with dual linear bearings and a digital load cell to ensure smoother vertical motion and more precise downforce control, the Branson GMX-20MA ultrasonic metal spot welder from Emerson Automation Solutions (Brookfield, CT) provides maximum quality and repeatability when bonding nonferrous metals including bus bars, foils, switches, and wire terminations in automotive electrical systems, electric vehicles, batteries and battery packs, and power storage systems.
Actuator travel and tool positioning relative to the welded parts are tracked and measured using a linear encoder. Once tooling/part contact is made, a digital load cell measures and maintains a precise level of actuator downforce on the parts, ensuring weld energy is accurately delivered and quality is consistent from one weld to the next.
Operators can manage the welding process in multiple modes: time, energy, peak power and distance. Combined with the unit’s digital controls, this versatility ensures a precise weld despite variations in part surface quality or cleanliness. In most cases, the ultrasonic tooling’s high-frequency, lateral scrubbing action eliminates the need to preclean parts.
User-friendly touchscreen in the unit’s Branson 2000Xd power supply/controller makes creating, editing and recalling stored production recipes fast and simple. The human-machine interface (HMI) accesses the unit’s multiple control modes so operator can configure production- and quality-monitoring solutions.
Throughout the production process, the power supply/controller continuously compiles and stores extensive weld quality and traceability data. It also conducts amplitude stepping to optimize weld strength and appearance, with built-in cycle counters to track production. Total cycle time can be displayed in the weld results screen, which allows operator to monitor key operating parameters. The unit’s visual quality screen (VQS) monitors and displays real-time quality data so even small variations can be identified and corrected immediately.
