Resistance & Spot Welding Fixtures

What is a Spot Welding Fixture? What factors should be considered when fixturing Resistance & Spot Welding processes?

[Pictures of Stryver built Spot Welding Fixtures below]

A spot welding fixture is a tool used to hold subcomponent parts together ahead of being spot welded. This term can also be used generally for projection welding fixtures and other fixtures used for resistive welding despite being technically incorrect. For RSW welding, the most difficult constraint to overcome in many fixture designs is the size of the resistance welding machinery. Spot welding guns, especially in robotic applications, are exceptionally large and difficult to navigate around an assembly constrained in a weld fixture. Spot Weld Tooling needs to be designed to accommodate the throat of the spot welding machinery at all weld locations. This can present a particular challenge for small components that need to be spot welded, as tooling to constrain these small assemblies needs to also be located within the envelope of the welding process. Most other resistance welding applications, such as projection welding, seam welding, flash welding and hot upset welding have tooling with similar space requirements to accommodate the machinery to complete the weld itself. Projection welding is particularly common for adding weld nuts to an assembly.

Here are some of the factors Stryver typically considers when building a spot welding process:

  1. How do the parts need to be positioned in the tooling for the most direct gun access possible?
  2. How can process aspects, including input current, be effectively managed to minimize sparking?
  3. If an electrode needs to be embedded into the tooling, how can the electrode be embedded to ensure easy replacement in the future?
  4. Does further inspection need to occur to ensure the process is properly completed, and if so how can the inspection be designed into the process without requiring further processing steps?

Stryver has developed and refined strategies to handle resistance welding tooling concerns. We have learned from building fully automated resistance welding processes & automating pedestal welding machines to build RSW welding fixtures and other resistance welding fixtures with automation in mind. All RSW fixtures are designed with your complete process in mind. Proper thermal conditions, electrical conductivity, and welding environment are designed in for the process.

Stryver can set up your resistance weld equipment, add our resistance weld tooling to it, tune the welder and equipment to achieve the process, add quality verification and data collection processes required to the system to ensure product quality, and ship it to your floor. Our highly skilled team ensure the fixture will be neither over-engineered or under-engineered for your application, minimizing the amount of exotic, high-cost materials necessary to handle the extreme conditions present at the spot weld. Stryver fixtures are designed specifically for your application.

Along with building automated fixturing for higher volume resistance welding applications to minimize manpower, Stryver can also design & build simple manual clamping fixtures for your pedestal welding process. We can also help you automate your current resistance welding equipment to minimize the amount of labor required to run your process. We will design an RSW Fixture that will work best in your production space. Trust Stryver's 30+ years of robotic fixturing experience to get the job done.

Please review examples below of resistance weld tooling Stryver has built and implemented for our customers. These resistance welding jigs & spot welding jigs have been used in industries ranging from automotive to medical device and consumer goods. Our team would be happy to review your resistance or RSW tooling application and provide a quotation.