5 Things to Know Before Buying Auto Welding Positioner

Welding positioners are invaluable tools in the world of metal fabrication and welding. These devices enable welders to manipulate the position of the workpiece, ensuring precise and efficient welding. Whether you are a seasoned welder or new to the field, understanding the fundamentals of welding positioners can greatly enhance the quality and productivity of your welding projects. Here's what you need to know:

You will get efficient and thoughtful service from OLIVET.

1. What Are Welding Positioners?

Welding positioners are mechanical devices used to hold and rotate workpieces during welding. They come in various sizes and configurations, but their primary function is to position the workpiece at the optimal angle and orientation for welding. This allows welders to access all sides of the workpiece without the need for manual repositioning, resulting in more consistent and high-quality welds.

2. Types of Welding Positioners

There are several types of welding positioners available, each designed for specific applications:

• Turntable Positioners: These positioners consist of a turntable that rotates the workpiece horizontally. They are ideal for welding cylindrical or round objects like pipes and tanks.

• Headstock and Tailstock Positioners: These positioners have a headstock and a tailstock that can be adjusted to support and tilt the workpiece. They are versatile and suitable for various workpiece shapes.

• Automatic Positioners: Automatic positioners are programmable and offer precise control over rotation speed and angle. They are commonly used in automated welding systems.

• Specialized Positioners: Some positioners are designed for specific tasks, such as vertical welding or cladding. These specialized positioners cater to unique welding requirements.

 Welding Positioner

3. Benefits of Using Welding Positioners

Welding positioners offer several advantages, including:

• Improved Weld Quality: Positioners ensure consistent and high-quality welds by maintaining the ideal angle and orientation throughout the welding process.

• Increased Productivity: Welders can work more efficiently as they do not need to manually reposition the workpiece, reducing downtime.

• Enhanced Safety: Positioners reduce the need for welders to work in awkward or uncomfortable positions, decreasing the risk of fatigue and injury.

• Versatility: Different types of positioners can accommodate a wide range of workpiece sizes and shapes.

• Consistent Welding Parameters: Automatic positioners allow precise control over welding parameters, resulting in consistent weld bead size and penetration.

4. Considerations When Choosing a Welding Positioner

When selecting a welding positioner, keep the following factors in mind:

• Workpiece Size and Weight: Ensure the positioner can support the size and weight of your workpiece.

  Are you interested in learning more about Auto Welding Positioner? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!

• Rotation Speed and Angle: Consider the required rotation speed and angle for your welding application.

• Control Options: Determine whether you need manual, semi-automatic, or fully automatic control.

• Budget: Balance your requirements with your budget to find the most suitable positioner.

5. Maintenance and Safety

Regular maintenance of welding positioners is essential to ensure their safe and reliable operation. Inspect components, lubricate moving parts, and address any issues promptly. Additionally, follow safety guidelines and precautions when using positioners to prevent accidents and injuries.

Welding positioners are versatile tools that can significantly enhance welding efficiency and quality. By understanding their types, benefits, and selection criteria, you can make informed choices and achieve better results in your welding projects.

About Welding Positioners

Weld positioners can be mounted in any configuration. This enables large weldments, fabrications or assemblies to be rotated in a controlled way in order to present the optimum angle to a welder or operator for welding or other operation such as assembly.

Weld Positioners are used by welders, welding shops and production facilities to position and move weldments in order to:

1. increase welding productivity and weld deposition rates
2. increase welding quality and reduce errors and rejects
3. reduce part movement through the shop
4. enable welding specifications to be repeatably met
5. reduce welder fatigue
6. reduce welding production floor space
7. enable robotics to perform welds
8. increase safety
9. enable large parts to be welded without the welder having to move to access joints
10. enable welders of to produce welds through elimination of overhead or vertical welds

Since weld positioners are most often oriented with the axis horizontal, or able to be swung to horizontal, the center of gravity of the part will be overhung from a fixture that holds it. Given enough mass and a long enough part, a tailstock trunnion or set of rollers may need to be added to support the weldment at the other end from the positioner in order to safely support the part. It’s important to note that the center of gravity and lever arm (design torque) can change as parts are welded on to make an assembly so you want to work with an experienced company to make sure that your complete application is taken into account.

Weld positioners may hold the weldment with a special fixture may be made in order to ease mounting and aligning parts and create a safe and reliable welding setup. Chuck tightness or fixtures are set or designed to allow for the thermal expansion that happens as the welding process is performed. The weight of the fixtures has to be taken into account when sizing a welding positioner both for weight and torque from overhang but also from inertia in order to be sure that the system will both perform efficiently and meet the intended design life.

Things to Look for in Welding Positioners and Weld Positioner Manufacturers

Of course cost is a factor when selecting any type of automation equipment. Your weld positioner partner should be able to offer extremely high precision, low backlash and zero backlash options at a competitive cost. It’s often advantageous to be able to purchase complete trunnion solutions that might include a heavy duty base frame, riser bases and fixed or custom lengths.

The best headstock tailstock trunnion weld positioner sets utilize a high precision zero back-lash cam operated rotary index table mounted in a vertical position complete with mounting plates. Moving large masses with smaller units maximizes the productivity from your available footprint and also saves cost upfront. Machines should be painted to meet industry standards including specialty paints for corrosive applications if required and completely sealed machine surfaces to eliminate intrusions.

Weld Positioners should have large through holes to run utilities to the tooling and fixtures, easy access to pipe and wire all components and standard models available to quickly initiate the design process.

Weld positioners can have custom controls and pre-programmed panels to create a more flexible automation system and can be paired with robotics to accelerate productivity. You should have a choice of robot manufacturers for your project. Systems integrators that have freedom to choose the robotics manufacturer can adapt to their customers requirements, minimizing design costs from project to project.

Be Sure that Your Weld Positioner Manufacturer:

1. Can accommodate all servo motor and robotic motor brands
2. Can operate from standard AC motor single or three phase
3. Headstock (flexible or fixed index drive, with or without drive motor, servo or AC)
4. Tailstock (bearing assembly or thru-hole bearing housing)
5. Custom Risers and Center Frames
6. Optional controls drive for motor
7. Micarta isolation kits for specific welding applications
8. Black oxide head and tailstock mounting flanges

The best weld positioner manufacturers offer features that extend machinery life and reduce operating and maintenance costs. Examples are:

For more information, please visit Automatic Welding Positioner Factory.

1. Flame hardened cams
2. Multiple oversized cam followers engaged with cam at all times
3. Headstock (flexible or fixed index drive, with or without drive motor, servo or AC)
4. Programmable rotation angles of both base rotary movement and dual trunnions
5. Fixed central guarding between both trunnion sides
6. Fully maintainable with all wear components capable of being serviced at facility
7. Very low maintenance components