IMAGE INDUSTRIES Stud Welding Gap gun
Image Industries approached Design Integrity (DI) to assist with the engineering design of a hand-held new stud welding gun. Their prior prototype had a complicated mechanism with dozens of metal parts, which would have been expensive to manufacture at a cost that would lead to a reasonable selling price to customers. DI put forth a proposal involving a conceptual design phase followed by engineering design services, prototyping, and production launch support phases. .
Conceptual Design
At our first meeting with Image, our founder shared an idea to simplify the design with a 24 VDC solenoid that could potentially reduce the part count and design complexity significantly. The client was unsure of the feasibility of the solenoid approach, and DI was asked to ideate a wide variety of design options for the internal mechanism.
After extensive brainstorm and concept assessment work, senior Image and DI team members determined that the solenoid approach was ideal as it was simple, robust, and low in manufacturing costs. The team then laid out a series of conceptual industrial design renderings in collaboration with Jim Morrow of Morrow Design, who led the ID effort as he initially brought this project opportunity to DI.
Alpha Design
The DI mechanical engineering team laid out the preliminary alpha design in SolidWorks 3D CAD software. The design was taken to the point where one or more functional prototypes of the new tool design could be fabrication for engineering testing. The alpha design was laid out with a level of production intent, as well.
Alpha Prototyping & Testing
An alpha prototype was fabricated using SLS rapid prototype parts for the housings and control setting knobs (for applied holding force and travel). The prototype worked well initially, but the quality of the welds varied across a variety of stud sizes.
Our engineering team at DI studied the test parameters and results, and a proposal was submitted to the client for a modest effort to run a series of additional engineering tests in an attempt to optimize the tool’s settings for different stud sizes and mating metal plate and sheet thicknesses.
The client approved the additional testing work, and the testing resulted in a chart that documented the ideal tool settings for different applications in the field. The chart was added to the user manual for reference by customers, their welders, and process setup teams.
Production Design
Following alpha engineering testing, the DI mechanical engineering team developed the Beta design, which would become the basis for the eventual production design. Injection molded tooling was released for the housing and adjustment knob components.
DI provided engineering assistance through preproduction beta prototyping and testing, as well as first production. This successful tool was launched to market in only 9 months, which is a remarkable achievement considering that it involved a completely new power tool and design concept. The collaborative decision making between our team and the management team at Image contributed significantly the the success and rapid timeline for this program.
Successful Market Launch
The Image Industries contact gap stud welding gun was launched successfully across the market. The tool has performed exceptionally well, and Image Industries was able to support customers with the sale of various custom studs (the “razor blades”) to meet their application needs.