DE102011107546B4 - Flag for a weldable by means of Heizwendelschweißbares plastic component - Google Patents

Abstract

Flag (1) for a plastic component that can be welded by means of a heating coil welding technique, with a transponder (2) that has a memory that can be read out and written to, and with a receptacle (3) for a contact eye of the plastic component, the receptacle (3) having a contour (4) for the positive or non-positive connection of the flag (1) with the contact eye and the transponder (2) is arranged at a certain distance from the receptacle (3).

Description

The invention relates to a flag for a weldable by means of Heizwendelschweißtechnik plastic component.

In Heizwendelschweißtechnik embedded in the plastic component to be welded and electrically acted heating coil is used to melt an interface of the plastic component and a corresponding surface of another plastic component to along the interface after cooling the molten areas of both components a mechanically stable, cohesive and if necessary to form a fluid tight seam between the components. The electrofusion technology has established itself particularly in the gas-water installation sector. There are now many known by means of Heizwendelschweißtechnik weldable plastic components, such as fasteners comprising sleeves and the like, branches, transition pieces, reducers, nipples, saddle moldings, such as transition calipers, and so on. Plastic components that can be welded using electrofusion technology are often made of high-density polyethylene plastics such as PE-80, PE-100 and PE-X.

For the current application of the heating coil generic plastic components include contact eyes to which the contact plug of a welding device can be connected. The welding device is designed to apply a current to the at least one heating coil of the plastic component to be welded, wherein an active welding process monitoring can also take place. For the production of a high-quality cohesive connection at the connection point between the plastic components to be welded, it is imperative that the welding process is carried out while adhering to component-dependent welding parameters. These welding parameters can include, for example, the voltage value for the welding, the welding time, or a situation-dependent welding time extension or shortening and can vary greatly depending on the component. In this respect, it is necessary that the welding device is preset prior to the initiation of the welding process on the basis of the aforementioned welding parameters and / or other parameters. It is known from the prior art to use one-dimensional barcodes, often also called barcodes, for the provision of the welding parameters, which can be read out with the aid of a corresponding reading device in order then to forward the stored welding parameters to the welding device. The mentioned barcodes are normalized by ISO 13950. An example of the use of such a bar code is in FR 2 572 326 A1 shown.

From the WO 95/08432 A1 discloses a method for data exchange between a thermoplastic electroweldable connector and a data processing welder, wherein the electroweldable connector includes an integrated bidirectional data carrier adapted to provide all data relevant to the welding process to the welder. It is envisaged to pour the data carrier of the connecting element during its production in this.

The WO 94/08278 A1 describes an electrically weldable, thermoplastic sleeve, which has a cast-in information carrier, on which in addition to the welding parameters and production technical data are stored. The information carrier is to work bidirectionally, so that the data resulting from the laying of the sleeve, such as the actually implemented welding parameters, designation of the construction site and the ambient temperature after the welding process can be stored in the information carrier of the welding sleeve. This is to ensure that the sleeve is unmistakably identifiable at any time.

The WO 94/26502 A1 discloses an electrical connector for thermoplastic electrofusion couplers. The proposed electrical connector is in two parts, designed as a pin-socket connection power connection, which is an already described contact eye, and a low power connection for data transmission between a welder and an integrated into the sleeve electronic information carrier. It is envisaged that simultaneously with the contacting of a contact plug of a welding device, a wired electrical connection is made to an electronic information carrier cast into the socket.

It is known the use of RFID transponders for the storage of product and welding data and an Internet-based documentation method. In the known systems, which already require the integration of the information carrier during the production of the plastic component, the subsequent equipment of a weldable by means of Heizwendelschweißtechnik plastic component is not possible, but this is desirable for cost reasons alone.

It is therefore the object of the invention to propose a device which allows the cost-effective equipment of a generic means of Heizwendelschweißtechnik weldable plastic component with a readable and writable memory for the deposit of welding process relevant data. The proposed Device should also keep the retrofitting of a generic plastic component regardless of its manufacture open.

The object underlying the invention is achieved by a flag for a weldable by means of Heizwendelschweißtechnik plastic component according to the main claim. The claims referring back to claim 1 relate to advantageous embodiments. The independent claim 5 relates to a system of a flag according to the invention and a holder.

The flag according to the invention comprises a transponder which has a memory which can be read out and written on. Furthermore, the flag comprises a receptacle for a contact eye of a weldable by means of Heizwendelschweißbaren plastic component, wherein the receptacle has a contour for the positive or non-positive connection of the flag with the contact eye. Finally, the invention provides that the transponder is arranged at a certain distance from the receptacle and thus, if the flag is positively or non-positively connected via its receptacle with a plastic component, also to the contact eye.

If in the present application of a transponder is mentioned, it is basically meant any data carrier, which can be read out via the air interface contactless and described or programmed. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, described in detail below, the transponder is implemented using RFID technology.

The invention takes advantage of the circumstance that the outer contours of the contact eyes of plastic components which can be welded by means of heating coil welding technology are predetermined by DIN standard 1555-3: "Plastic piping systems for the gas supply - polyethylene (PE) - Part 3: Fittings". According to this normatively predetermined outer contour of the contact eyes, the receptacle of the flag according to the invention should have a contour which allows the positive or non-positive connection of the flag with the contact eye. Preferably, the receptacle of the flag and / or the area surrounding the receptacle to be formed such that the flag can be permanently connected by means of a heating punch with a plastic component. If a flag according to the invention has been associated with a plastic component which can be welded by means of electrofusion welding, this always results due to the fact that the contact eye of the plastic component is used as a reference point for the attachment of the flag on the plastic component, that the transponder in a certain Distance to the contact eye is present. This makes it possible to approximate the transponder with the contact plug of a welding device, a read / write head, which may be part of the contact plug or is connected to the contact plug at a fixed predetermined distance at the same time as the contacting required for the welding of a plastic component in that a data exchange between the read / write head and the transponder can take place. For contact plugs having no integrated read / write head, a holder described in detail below may be used to position the contact plug and the read / write head in a manner such that contact of the contact plug of a welder to a contact eye of a contact plug Plastic component and the read / write head of the transponder for data exchange is approximated.

In the preferred embodiment, the transponder is a passive RF RFID transponder. Passive RFID transponders have the advantage that their power supply is obtained exclusively from the electromagnetic waves of the interrogator. For this purpose, a coil serves as a receiving antenna, wherein an induced current is stored in a capacitor. Passive RFID transponders are to be preferred according to the invention, since they are independent of an external energy source which can discharge. Nevertheless, depending on the embodiment, the invention may also be provided with active or semi-active RFID transponders. HF RFID transponders operate in a frequency range of 3-30 MHz and are characterized by short to medium ranges as well as low acquisition costs. For the realization of the flag according to the invention also the so-called smart tags, which usually work at a frequency of 13.56 MHz, can be used. These can be executed as thin films and can be produced particularly inexpensively. HF RFID transponders are also preferable to other RFID transponders insofar as they suffer only small losses in terms of their readability or writability due to water or metal influences. This has advantages in road construction, where the data exchange with the transponder should not be affected by impurities. So-called hard tags are transponders in which the RFID chip and the antenna are located in a plastic housing. This makes this design particularly resistant to external influences and thus very well suited for installation in the ground.

In the preferred embodiment, the receptacle of the flag is formed as a passage opening through which the contact eye is electrically contacted.

At least one of the following data sets is preferably stored in the memory of the transponder: component-specific master data, welding parameters, data for the active welding monitoring, installation data, welding pass data, error messages and welding machine data. The component-specific master data may include data relating to: the manufacturing plant of the plastic component, an identification of the manufacturer, a component code, a dimension of the component, for example a diameter of a sleeve, a resistance increase voltage value, a resistance increase time or a cooling time. The welding parameters may include data regarding the following characteristics: a voltage value for the weld, a welding time, a welding time extension, and a welding time shortening, respectively. The data for active weld monitoring may include data regarding the following characteristics: a resistance value for the corresponding device, a value for the resistance calculation, a temperature coefficient, an SDR number, a gap tolerance, a wire end temperature, a joining pressure, the elastic modulus of the component material, a tolerance factor with respect to the maximum and minimum convergence point, a temperature compensation in the form of a resistance tolerance value, or a check digit. The aforementioned master data, welding parameters and data for active welding monitoring are used to select the welding process and the active welding monitoring. The individual resistance value of a component comprises a measure of the ohmic resistance of the component at a predetermined temperature, for example at 20 ° C. The ohmic resistance is varied for each individual component depending on the wire length and the wire material of the heating coil and depending on the manufacturing tolerances in the component manufacturing.

The laying data may include data regarding the following features: information about the location where the component has been installed, for example in the form of GPS data, a date, time or ambient temperature. The welder pass data may include data regarding the following features: the name or assigned number of the person processing the component or a company name. The error messages may include data regarding the following features: an indication of a weld break, the result of a weld gap monitoring, the result of an assembly monitoring, an indication of a possible winding short or a basic information about the success or failure of the weld. The welder data may include data regarding the device number of the welder. The aforementioned laying data, welder pass data, error messages and welding device data can be stored in the memory of the transponder depending on their time of origin before, during or after the welding process.

Since it allows the use of transponders that the data exchange between this and a read / write head of a welding device via the air interface and because according to the invention, the use of pulkfähiger transponder can be provided, it is to avoid confusion, in the event that a plurality of transponders are located in the vicinity of the read / write head of the welding device, necessary that the communication between the transponder of the component to be welded with the read / write head can be made only on the condition that the transponder and the read / write head in are at a predetermined distance from each other. For example, the preferably used HF RFID transponders are characterized by the fact that their range is comparatively low with a few centimeters. In this way, interferences with fields of transponders, which are located in the immediate vicinity of the component to be welded, can be excluded because only a read / write head approaching the transponder at a defined distance can communicate with it. It is therefore conceivable that at least one contact plug of the welding device is connected to a read / write head in accordance with the specific distance with which the transponder is located to the receptacle. However, as such prior art contact plugs have heretofore been unknown, the present invention also relates to a system of a flag and a holder described in advance, wherein the holder has a recess for receiving a conventional contact plug of a welding apparatus. According to the invention, this receptacle is intended to be formed on a surface of the holder which can be brought into contact with a corresponding surface of the read / write head for producing a non-positive connection between the holder, the contact plug and a read / write head. The recess should be just dimensioned such that is clamped with the bringing into contact of the aforementioned components of the contact plug between the read / write head and the holder. Further details of the holder according to the invention can be taken from the description of the figures.

• – Auslesen mindestens eines ersten Datensatzes, der in dem Speicher des Transponders hinterlegt ist;
• – Verschweißen des Kunststoffbauteils unter Berücksichtigung von in dem Datensatz enthaltenen Vorgaben;
• – Beschreiben des Speichers des Transponders mit zumindest einem zweiten Datensatz, der Information über die Verschweißung des Kunststoffbauteils aufweist.

A method for welding a plastic component which can be welded by means of a heating coil welding technique, to which a flag according to the invention is fastened, for example by means of a heating punch, comprises the steps:

• - reading at least one first data record stored in the memory of the transponder;
• - Welding of the plastic component, taking into account the specifications contained in the record;
• - Describe the memory of the transponder with at least a second data set having information about the welding of the plastic component.

According to one embodiment of the method, the read-out first data record includes master data, welding parameters or data for the active welding monitoring and the described second data record laying data, welding pass data, error messages or welding machine data.

Preferably, an active weld monitoring is performed during the welding of the plastic component. The data obtained by the active welding monitoring can be used for the creation of a welding protocol, which can be stored as a record in the memory of the transponder.

It can be provided that the method according to the invention runs automatically or automatically as a result of an initial initiation by a welder. Thus, it is conceivable, for example, that as soon as a read / write head is approached to the transponder, this is detected by the read / write head or the welding device and access by the welding device to the data stored in the memory of the transponder is performed. If the welding device is preset according to the acquired data, the welding process can be initiated by pressing a button or the like and then proceed fully automatically, including specifying a cooling time. In a particular embodiment of the method according to the invention, it is provided that the respectively subsequent method step is initiated as soon as the preceding step has been successfully completed. This can be achieved by means of active welding monitoring, for which purpose the welding device makes use of the data already described for active welding monitoring. Furthermore, it is provided that after the successful execution of the method, a first signal is output and in the case of a disturbed procedure, a second signal is emitted. In this way, the assembler processing the component is able to recognize whether the welding operation has been successfully completed or whether a fault has occurred, solely on the basis of the offset first or second signal.

The transponder of the fairness according to the invention can be designed so that the data stored on the transponder before the welding process are completely or partially read into the welding device. However, it is also conceivable that the read / write head repeatedly, continuously or quasi-continuously accesses the memory of the transponder, without reading each stored in the memory of the transponder data.

• 1. Einlesen des Schweißerpasses des Schweißmonteurs mit einem Lese-/Schreibgerät;
• 2. In Kontakt bringen der miteinander zu verschweißenden Bauteile und Anschließen des Schweißgerätes an das mittels Heizwendelschweißtechnik verschweißbare Kunststoffbauteil, wobei auch das Lese-/Schreibgerät dem Transponder der Fahne angenähert wird;
• 3. Erkennen des Transponders durch das Lese-/Schreibgerät und eventuelle Bestätigung dieses Vorgangs;
• 4. Starten des Schweißvorgangs durch den Monteur durch Tastendruck am Schweißgerät;
• 5. (automatisches) Einlesen der in dem Speicher des Transponders hinterlegten Datensätze, oder Teile dieser;
• 6. Durchführen einer automatischen Widerstandsprüfung;
• 7. Durchführen einer Temperaturmessung über den Ohmschen Widerstand der Heizwendel und dementsprechende Temperaturkompensation;
• 8. Starten des Schweißvorgangs;
• 9. Durchführen einer aktiven Schweißüberwachung während des Schweißvorgangs;
• 10. Beschreiben des Speichers des Transponders mit relevanten Schweißdaten;
• 11. Anzeigen des Schweißvorgangablaufs am Schweißgerät oder einer Fehlermeldung.

For example, the following sequence can result for a method for welding a plastic component which can be welded by means of a heat-coil welding technique. After preparation of the plastic part, which is to be welded to the weldable by means of Heizwendelschweißbaren plastic component, the component preparation may include the deburring or peeling this, the following sequence of steps may result:

• 1. reading the welding pass of the welding engineer with a read / write device;
• 2. bring into contact with each other to be welded components and connecting the welding machine to the weldable by means of Heizwendelschweißbare plastic component, wherein the read / write device is approximated to the transponder of the flag;
• 3. recognition of the transponder by the reader / writer and possible confirmation of this process;
• 4. Start the welding process by the fitter by pressing a button on the welding machine;
• 5. (automatic) reading of the data stored in the memory of the transponder records, or parts of these;
• 6. Performing an automatic resistance test;
• 7. Performing a temperature measurement on the resistance of the heating coil and corresponding temperature compensation;
• 8. starting the welding process;
• 9. Performing an active welding monitoring during the welding process;
• 10. Describe the memory of the transponder with relevant welding data;
• 11. Display of the welding procedure at the welding machine or an error message.

Thus, it is possible that the handles to be performed by the fitter with respect to the welding operation are limited to initiating the welding process. This contributes significantly to process reliability and thus to the maintenance of uniform welding results.

Further details of the invention will be disclosed with reference to the following description of the figures. Showing:

1 a perspective view of a flag according to the invention; and

2 a perspective view of a holder according to the invention.

1 shows a flag 1 for a weldable by means of Heizwendelschweißtechnik plastic component. The flag 1 includes a transponder 2 with an integrated memory, not shown. Furthermore, the flag 1 a recording three for a contact eye of a plastic component, wherein the recording three again a contour 4 for the positive or non-positive connection of the flag 1 having a contact eye. It can be seen that the design of the transponder 2 always at a certain distance to the recording three is arranged. The recording three is adapted to be fixed by means of a Heizstempels to the plastic component.

2 shows a holder 5 as part of the system according to the invention from a flag, approximately according to 1 , and a holder 5 is. The holder 5 includes a recess 6 for receiving a contact plug of a welding device. The recess is as a groove in the holder 5 formed, wherein the opening of the recess 6 just on a surface 7 of the owner 5 present, which for the production of a non-positive connection between the holder 5 , a contact plug and, for example, a read / write head with a surface of the read / write head can be brought into contact. For fixing the holder 5 There are four holes on the read / write head 8th provided for receiving a fastener.

The features of the invention disclosed in the foregoing description, in the drawing and in the claims may be essential for the realization of the invention both individually and in any desired combination.

Claims (5)

Banner, flag ( 1 ) for a plastic component which can be welded by means of electrofusion technology, with a transponder ( 2 ) having a memory which is readable and writable, and having a receptacle ( three ) for a contact eye of the plastic component, wherein the receptacle ( three ) a contour ( 4 ) for the positive or non-positive connection of the flag ( 1 ) with the contact eye and the transponder ( 2 ) at a certain distance from the recording ( three ) is arranged. Flag according to claim 1, characterized in that the transponder ( 2 ) is a passive RF RFID transponder. Flag according to claim 1, characterized in that the receptacle ( three ) is formed as a passage opening through which the contact eye is electrically contacted. Flag according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the memory at least one of the following data sets is stored: component-specific master data, welding parameters, data for active welding monitoring, installation data, welder pass data, error messages and welder data. System of a flag ( 1 ) according to one of the preceding claims and a holder ( 5 ), the holder ( 5 ) a recess ( 6 ) for receiving a contact plug of a welding device, which on a surface ( 7 ) of the holder ( 5 ) is formed, which for the production of a non-positive connection between the holder ( 5 ), the contact plug and a read / write head can be brought into contact with a surface of the read / write head.

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