The internal structure of an electric water heater consists of an inner tank, magnesium rod, safety valve, electrical insulation wall, and heating rod. Among them, the inner tank is used for water storage purposes and is the most core component of an electric water heater. Essentially, the water heater inner tank is a type of pressure vessel, and for pressure vessels, welding is of paramount importance. As one of the subdivisions of pressure vessel industry, the water heater industry has gradually entered the path of "lean production".
Challenges in Welding Water Heater Inner Tank
The inner tank of a water heater comes in several types: titanium inner tank series, crystalline silicon inner tank series, stainless steel inner tank series, and enamel inner tank. The most common is the stainless steel inner tank, which has the advantages of good material, high strength, high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, stable performance, and rust resistance. However, it is difficult to weld, with the major risk lying in the weld seam.
Traditional welding production of water heater inner tanks faces several problems: traditional manual TIG welding is mainly used for circumferential seam welding of water heater tanks, but its welding quality is greatly affected by the welder's skill level. Moreover, due to cost and efficiency issues, this method is rarely used for water heater tank welding. It suffers from low efficiency, low output, high labor intensity, requires a large workforce, and cannot achieve automated, integrated operations, which are not conducive to standing out in the fierce market competition.
During the assembly of water heater inner tanks, deviations occur due to the inability to ensure coaxial alignment between the head and the inner tank body, resulting in assembly deviation. Unequal pressure during left and right pressing on the welding table leads to lateral displacement of the weld seam. Alternatively, asymmetric pressing results in the tilting of the workpiece cylinder, causing the weld seam to deviate from the set position of the welding torch, leading to clamping deviation.
Solution: ATINY Weld Seam Tracking System
In response to these challenges, ATINY has independently developed and produced a steel tank weld seam tracking system, which achieves high-precision tracking and correction of weld seams, while also realizing single-side welding and double-side forming, thereby improving the pass rate of pressure vessels. Moreover, it adapts to automated welding equipment, enabling automated, integrated production with high output, low labor intensity, and minimal labor requirements, greatly enhancing the production efficiency of water heater enterprises.
The system ensures that the inner tank does not deviate from the weld seam during the welding process, thereby ensuring welding quality and high welding speed, while reducing labor costs. For workpieces with small weld gap joints, the system can switch to visual inspection mode to ensure stable detection, making it ideal for large-scale production in the water heater industry.
Advantages of ATINY Weld Seam Tracking System
Real-time tracking without the need for pre-scanning;
Tracking accuracy ranging from 0.1mm to 0.5mm;
Bi-directional tracking horizontally and vertically;
Support for welding types including gas shielded welding, TIG welding, and laser welding;
Support for predictive tracking trajectory;
Support for automatic tracking of narrow weld seams in circular joints;
Support for anti-arc glare and anti-spot welding functions;
Support for real-time display and remote control of images;
Support for trajectory playback function.
