PW has been awarded the contract for the steel chassis welding on the recently announced Lotus Evora. Developed as an all-rounder, it won't be slow: power comes from a Toyota-sourced 280bhp 3.5 V6 and Lotus engineers say that it is “considerably faster around the famously demanding Nurburgring circuit than the Elise and more stable at speed than the Exige”. Top speed is around 160mph and 0-60mph acceleration will happen in less than five seconds.

Five of PW’s new “400 Series” weld guns will be used to weld the front end of the car,  and Lotus have upgraded the body shop line to include the latest  equipment. The guns will be working with WS2003 weld controls, offering a high degree of weld consistency, as well as multi-program capability and full monitoring facilities.

PW will also be responsible for the complete track system as well as line commissioning.

[link] http://www.grouplotus.com/cars/showroom.html

InvertaSpot GT meets PAS125 requirements.

We have all come across poor repairs from body shops in the UK, but this may be about to change. Thatcham, (the Motor Industry Repair Research Centre) and BSI have created the first and only UKAS accredited Kitemark® scheme,which will independently and impartially qualify repair shops.

The InvertaSpot GT aims to assist body shops to meet the requirements of the new standard, with both the highest quality welding and with full traceability - each weld stored and matched to vehicle and operator.

These new generation medium frequency (10kHz) are changing the face of bodyshop welding for ever. PAS125 will become a de facto requirement of the industry in years to come, much as ISO9000 has in wider quality terms.

Many standard spot welders come in from Italy and all are fitted with ISO taper electrodes.

These can be difficult to obtain and cost two or 3 times the normal price.

PW now offer a free service to customers wanting to convert to the UK’s standard BS807 taper. Simply place an order for new electrode tips,  return the electrode holders to PW, and within 48 hours they will be returned.

PW advise that the cost savings over the months will be impressive!

The Rolls-Royce fuel cell system is lower cost; more efficient; more easily distributed; more durable and maintainable than its nearest rival.

Rolls-Royce has experience in the system integration of several different types of fuel cells and believes the Solid-Oxide Fuel Cell is the best for stationary power generation applications while retaining the capability of being developed subsequently for various transportation, military and marine applications.

PW has now supplied three DBZ 300 Precision Spot Welders for use on sensitive components within the Rolls Royce. These medium frequency welders offer tight control over the weld parameters, as the weld times are programmable in milli-second intervals.

Hotchkiss are the UK's largets manufacturer of ductwork and have completed ventilation systems in prestigious buildings such as London's famous "Gherkin" and the McLaren Racing HQ.

For over 20 years, all their welding has been done with PW weld guns so when Hotchkiss wanted to upgrade their equipment, PW were the natural choice.

5 new "400 Series" weld guns will be installed, offering Hotchkiss improved weld quality along with the reduced cycle times possible with higher weld forces and currents.

The weld guns were supplied with 30m cable looms so that Hotchkiss can move the guns up and down the factory as required. Weld controls were PW's simple Micro 8 unit, offering Microprocessor accuracy in a cost competitive package.

MD Ian Brent-Smith thinks it is unlikely that he will still be around when Hotchkiss next upgrade, which should be in about 2020.
(Photo to come)

For many years PW have specialised in the design and manufacture of special welders for the paper industry.
A contract has recently been awarded for the refurbishment of a machine supplied by PW more than 20 years ago.

The system was upgraded to add Maximum Frequency power, helping to overcome the very large (3m x 1m) secondary area and a millisecond timer provided to give the closest possible control over weld times.

When complete, each welded component is worth many thousands of pounds, so consistent welding is crucial. PW added a load cell, which accurately checks the weld force before each weld and a remote CCTV camera enabling the operators to get a close up view of the weld area.

In line with PW's new Global Strategy, enabling the company to provide support to the auto industry around the world, the company has signed an agreement with Mechelonic Engineers of Bombay.

Mechelonic is probably the largest and certainly the most advanced supplier of resistance welding equipment in India. With over 150 employees, the company makes equipment from small bench heads right up to 600kVA flash butt welders for the railway industry. There is also a can (think baked bean sized cans) manufacturing arm, making high speed welding machines capable of 360 cans per minute.

With the rapidly developing car industry in India, Mechelonic MD Gabin Kattukaran wanted to get back into the car industry which they had not supported for many years, having focused on the special machines market. Design of a complete range of weld guns to world standards would have required too long, so a manufacturing agreement seemed the answer. This would build world standard guns at Indian costs and greatly reduce import duties on specialist components which have to be bought from overseas and offer a competitive package to auto industry customers.

A new factory will be acquired new Pune, specifically for the building of Integrated Weld Guns and control equipment.
In the three months since the agreement was signed, enquiries for over 500 weld guns have been received.

Subsequent to the contract last year, PW has helped our Chinese partner Nanjing Yongsheng to manufacture a further 8 large weld guns (1.4m x 0.8m) for use in a Nissan Plant. Supplied to SiaSun Automation, one of the new breed of specialist integrators in China, the guns were 90% manufactured in China, demonstrating the increasing skills offered by PW and our partner in China.

PW has launched a new 130kVA Medium Frequency transformer for high duty applications. The design features a 4 diode construction using the highest quality ABB diodes and the transformer will offer peak welding currents of 35kA at a 5% duty cycle and 22kA at 10% duty cycle.

The transformer features a 4 layer secondary, providing cooling to each primary layer, thus optimising the duty cycle capabilities.

It is available in ISO format with secondary connections on top of 'portable gun' format with connections as shown below.

Used in conjunction with the iPak 600Amp inverter, which is rated at 20% at 600A, this transformer offers new possibilities for spot welding or manual weld guns.

The first units will be operating in Ford in South America, welding heavy duty galvanised steel panels on a truck cab.

Text to come...

WRWP has just completed a first robot welders gun project in China . Working closely with our partner company in Nanjing , and with Siasun Robot & Automation Company, 8 PWRWP design robot guns were fully manufactured in China for Shenyang Xinsong Automotive.

Four large scissor guns with throat dimensions of 800mm x 500mm will be carrying out floor welds and four specially designed C-guns will work in the inside of the car, welding B-Pillar to floor and other similar welding areas.

A special 4 head welder designed and manufactured by PWRWP for a UK client, this welder features 4 weld heads mounted on a moving slide.

Welding power is provided by PWRWP's own 80kVA medium frequency transformers and weld control by BF Entron WS700ms weld timers with mill-second timing, which give very precise control of the welding parameters.

Fully designed in 3D CAD, the welder is one of three which have operated continuously in a high production environment over the last 5 years.

PWRWP designed and manufactured this special welder to customer order in 8 weeks. Used in a hot riveting application, the welder applies 400daN of weld force with electrode arms of over 1m in length made from aerospace aluminium.
A 61kVA transformer gives weld currents of up to 10kA.
Fully designed in 3D CAD, the welder demonstrates PWRWP's unique design and manufacture capabilities.

PWRWP supplied a turnkey production cell with 2 Comau robots carrying PWRWP 54kVA weld guns. The system automatically covers 42 different cabinet sizes with an output in excess of 30 per hour and has more than doubled production from the previous manual production cells.