STATION 11
Terminal addressing
BLP-AD vision at 200–300 mm/s locates every terminal to ≤±0.2 mm, checks polarity, laser-cleans the faces.
AUTO
BLP-W6 — station 13 of seventeen, in-line
The BLP-W6 In-Line Busbar Welding Station
A three-axis gantry carries a galvanometer scanner over a 6 kW source and welds every busbar joint on a module that never leaves its carrier. What the surface hides — 1.0 mm of fusion under a 1.5 mm seam — is sectioned, pulled and written to the module number.
Macro-section, station 13
Busbar over terminal posts
One joint, one record
In-line, on the carrier
In-Line Busbar Welding Station BLP-W6
BLP-W6 is station 13 of the seventeen in the module segment. The module arrives located on its carrier, the gantry carries the scanner across it, each joint is welded where the station was told it would be, and the module continues to station 14 on the same carrier. Nothing is lifted, re-clamped or re-found in between.
Who it is built for
Plants building a new module line, and engineering teams putting a busbar welding station into a line already running. Fully automatic on both configurations.
Inside 24 hoursSend the module drawing, the busbar part number with material and section, and the row configuration — the reply says what this station is for your module.
6 kW sourceThree-axis gantryGalvanometer scannerAUTO on both configurationsSingle-row and double-row
Three things under the figures
Recipes are stored by part number and selected, never written, at the station.
Recipe number, actuals, nitrogen flow and every seam’s sequence number and timestamp go by module number over PROFINET to your MES.
Station 14 measures fusion width on 100% of modules; one module per shift is sectioned for depth.
Stations 11 to 16
Inputs Handed to Station 13
A busbar welder is bought as a machine and lives as a station. Almost everything it needs is decided before a module reaches it.
STATION 12
Busbar and CCS seating
Busbar plate and CCS assembly seated on the module. Manual on the economy build, semi-automatic on the high-automation build.
MANUAL / SEMI
STATION 13
Busbar welding
Every joint welded on the carrier to the recipe of the part number; actuals recorded.
AUTO · this page
STATION 14
Weld cleaning and inspection
Fusion width measured on 100% of modules with seam appearance; written to the module number.
AUTO
STATION 15
Re-check and communication test
Manual re-check with the CCS communication test: cell voltages read back against the sorting record.
MANUAL
STATION 16
Module end-of-line test
Insulation, hipot, total voltage, internal resistance, continuity — all measured through the joints made here.
AUTO
The handover from station 11
This station is told where each joint is; it does not go looking for it. A weld criterion is only as repeatable as the datum it was measured against, and that datum is set one station earlier at terminal addressing. The ≤±0.2 mm figure upstream and the fusion figures here are the same argument.
What leaves is the module’s electrical path: everything the module and pack end-of-line tests measure is measured through these joints.
Joint mapoff your module drawing, stored with the busbar part number
Terminal centresoff the station 11 addressing record, ≤±0.2 mm
Polaritychecked at station 11 with the same optics; a wrong-polarity module never reaches the scanner
Datumthe carrier that located the module for addressing still holds it
Nine lines, three ways of proving them
Published Figures of the Busbar Welding Station
Two figures describe the machine and three describe the joint, obtained in three different ways. That difference decides what your inspector checks every shift and what only a sample can answer.
| Figure | Value | What it governs | Proved by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laser source | 6 kW | Capability at the joint: room in the parameter window when your busbar is thicker or more reflective than a blueprint one. | machine |
| Weld speed | 50–100 mm/s | The window a recipe is written inside. Your point in it is settled against busbar material and section; the speed used is recorded per module. | machine |
| Fusion depth | ≥1.0 mm | The criterion under the surface. Held by first-article sectioning and by one sectioned module per shift. | section |
| Fusion width | ≥1.5 mm | The criterion checked on every module, at station 14, with weld appearance. | 100% visual |
| Joint pull strength | ≥1000 N | The destructive criterion. Proved on samples at qualification and again at site acceptance. | samples |
| Row configuration | Single / double | Both run here. What changes is the joint map and the fixture, not the mechanism or the criteria. | fixture |
| Motion | Gantry + scanner | How the beam reaches each joint while the module stays on its carrier. | machine |
| Automation level | AUTO | Automatic on the economy build and on the high-automation build. | line |
| Shielding gas | N₂ 0.5 MPa | Flow depends on the configuration; the flow delivered is recorded with the weld. | utility |
Two describe the machine
6 kW and 50–100 mm/s set the width of the window, not the point inside it.
Three describe the joint
Depth, width and pull strength are what your module gets. The red rows are the ones your quality plan is written around.
Width every module · depth by section · strength by sample
Three Criteria, Three Verification Jobs
One method read three ways: prove strength on samples, lock the parameters, verify per module that the fusion still has the shape those parameters make.
≥1.5 mm
Fusion width — every module
- How
- 100% visual measurement at station 14, with seam appearance: spatter, porosity, offset from the terminal.
- Who
- The station, automatically; the operator reads the pass or fail.
- Record
- Against the module number, so a module that passes carries its own evidence forward.
The criterion your quality team works with day to day: it catches a joint drifting off the terminal before anything downstream sees it.
≥1.0 mm
Fusion depth — first article, then one per shift
- How
- The first article is sectioned when a recipe is qualified; once running, one module per shift is sectioned to confirm the qualified state still holds.
- Who
- The process engineer orders it, quality reads and signs it.
- Record
- Filed with the recipe it belongs to, so depth evidence and parameters never live in two systems.
Depth is under a surface nobody can look at, so it is held two ways, kept together.
≥1000 N
Pull strength — on samples
- How
- The busbar is loaded until the joint gives up: on the first article of a new part, welded off line, and again on your parts at site acceptance.
- Who
- Process engineer runs it; quality countersigns; at acceptance, both sides.
- Record
- In the first-article file and in the site acceptance report, value beside criterion.
The test consumes the joint whether it passes or fails. Pulling every joint would not be an inspection plan, it would be a scrapping plan.
Prove strengthon samples, off line
Lock the parameterspower, speed, defocus, gas, seam order
Verify the shape per modulewidth at station 14, depth each shift
The window, not a verdict
Weld Speed Window, 50–100 mm/s
Travel too fast and depth falls short; travel too slow and the seam spreads without gaining anything. The window exists because those two pull against each other. The point inside it is fixed by your busbar material and section at qualification, and stays fixed.
0
50
100
120
Your point · fixed at qualification
Below 50the seam spreads, depth gains nothing
Above 100depth falls short of 1.0 mm
- The actual speed, power and defocus used on each module are recorded, so a drift is visible as a change in the record, not a surprise at end-of-line testing.
- A different busbar section gets its own point in the window, qualified on its own first article — never a nudge on the running recipe.
Sequence and timestamp
One Joint, One Record
Written, not reconstructed
Every seam leaves with a sequence number and a timestamp attached to the module number. After this station, correcting anything under the busbar means cutting.
Weld recordper module · PROFINET → MES
MODULE No.carrier
RECIPE No.part number
POWER, actualW
SPEED, actualmm/s
DEFOCUS, actualmm
N₂ FLOWL/min
SEAM 01 … nsequence + timestamp
WIDTH, station 14mm · pass / fail
What the recipe said, what the station did.
Never written on this station
Recipe Source: Off-Line Machine to In-Line Station
A new busbar part’s recipe is born on the off-line gantry laser welding machine, away from the line and from takt, and moves into BLP-W6 unchanged.
01 · BLP-WG
First article, off line
Welded on the off-line machine while the line keeps running.
02 · SAMPLES
Pulled to ≥1000 N
Samples from that first article are loaded to failure against the strength criterion.
03 · SECTION
Sectioned for ≥1.0 mm
The article is cut and the fusion depth measured; the record is filed with the recipe.
04 · SIGNED
Engineer writes, quality signs
Same recipe format, same two signatures the in-line station will carry.
05 · BLP-W6
Into the line, unchanged
Nothing is re-tuned on the way in. The line runs the recipe that was qualified.
Stored by part number
Recipes are keyed to the busbar geometry, not to a shift, a batch or a machine. That is what makes rework honest: a module back for a repair weld gets the recipe of its original part number, not whatever is loaded at the time.
Two records for every module
The recipe carries the parameters proved together — power, weld speed, defocus, nitrogen flow, seam order — and the station records what it delivered against them, by module number, over PROFINET. When the two agree and the station 14 width check passes, the module is released on evidence.
One regime across every welding station
The same format and the same pair of signatures run on the off-line BLP-WG, the in-line BLP-W6 and the nickel-strip welder on the cylindrical branch.
A plant with an off-line machine and an in-line station is running one set of documents, not two: one recipe list, one first-article file per part number, one signature block.
The list of qualified recipes, each with its sectioning record filed against it, is handed over at acceptance and grows with every new part number.
Three jobs, kept apart
Recipe Rights by Role
A recipe that anyone can nudge stops being evidence the moment it is nudged. The station separates three jobs; the five days of training on your line after site acceptance are built the same way.
OPERATOR
Selects, releases and detains
- Calls up the recipe for the part number in front of them, starts the station
- Reads the pass or fail that comes back from the width check
- Handles any module the line has detained, by its module number
Does not edit parameters. That is what keeps the record meaningful.
PROCESS ENGINEER
Writes and qualifies
- Writes the recipe and runs the first article on the off-line machine
- Orders the pull samples, reads the sections, releases the recipe into the line
- Investigates when a shift sectioning or a width result moves
Signs the parameters. Quality countersigns every one of them.
MAINTENANCE
Keeps the station in the state the recipe assumes
- Optics, gas path, fixture condition and the gantry itself
- Wear parts dispatched inside 48 hours
- Remote diagnostics for the times when a part is not the answer
Does not touch a recipe. A fixture that moved is fixed, not compensated for in the parameters.
5 daysTraining on your line after site acceptance, one module per role
26 engineersFour on laser and vision — see the about page
48 hWear parts dispatched
RemoteDiagnostics access to the controller
Three inputs
Send the Busbar Layout
Three inputs are enough to say what this station would be in your line, what fixture has to be cut, and how the first article would be qualified. Reply inside 24 hours; the contact page has the direct address.
Module drawing
Busbar part No. · material · section
Single-row or double-row
0.5 MPa at the interface
Nitrogen at the Joint
Shielding gas is supplied to the line at 0.5 MPa, and this station is where it is consumed. A line that welds more modules per hour uses more gas, so the flow is quoted per configuration.
Flow is part of the recipe
Not a background service. Flow is qualified with the power and speed it was proved with, and recorded per module with them, so a gas problem shows up in the weld record before it shows up as porosity at station 14.
- Spatter and porosity criteria at station 14 only mean something because the gas condition behind them is a recorded quantity, not an assumption about the day.
- The supply is yours to arrange in whatever form suits your site. Stated here: pressure and flow at the interface; the full utility schedule is on the layout and utilities page.
N₂ flow at station 13L/min · 0.5 MPa
BLP-P8SEconomy
BLP-P8Standard
BLP-P15High automation
Solid = always drawn; light = the range a recipe may call for as joint count and takt rise.
Same mechanism, same criteria
Single-Row and Double-Row Modules
Both run on this station. A criterion that relaxed when the work got harder was never a criterion.
Moves with row count
- The joint map: how many joints, where they sit, the order the scanner welds them in
- The fixture that presents the module to the station
- Cycle content at station 13 — more joints take more seconds
Does not move
- The gantry, the scanner and the 6 kW source
- ≥1.0 mm, ≥1.5 mm and ≥1000 N — none of them soften because there are two rows to weld
- The record: seam sequence, timestamp and actuals by module number, on both
ROUTE A · QUALIFIED PART
Recipe call plus a first-piece check
Between busbar parts already qualified: a recipe call at the station and a first-piece check at station 14. No engineer, no off-line run.
ROUTE B · NEW MODULE TYPE
Off-line first article, then the line
A module type nobody has welded here goes the other way first: off-line first article, samples pulled, section examined, recipe signed, then the line. Station-by-station timing for both routes: cell compatibility and changeover.
Held by module number
A Detained Module’s Record
When station 14 fails a module on fusion width or weld appearance, it is set aside with a complete account of how it was made. That account decides what happens next.
Detained by its module number
Recipe number, actual power, speed and defocus, nitrogen flow, and every seam’s sequence number and timestamp travel with it.
The record is read before anything is touched
After this station a module cannot be taken apart without cutting. Adding heat before anyone knows what moved removes evidence instead of producing it.
Repair weld to the original recipe
By the engineer who holds recipe rights, to the recipe of the original part number — not adjusted on the spot.
At acceptance: itemised, rectified, retested
A criterion not met is recorded with the station, measured value and criterion beside it; only the failed items are retested.
10 working daysRetest of the failed items at acceptance is scheduled inside this window, by the engineer responsible for that criterion.
When a shift section comes back short
Same shape, a station wider: bracket back, hold what ran between, look at what actually moves.
Held: everything welded between
Last section passed
Section short on depth
Fixture conditionIncoming busbar lotTerminal surface out of station 11Then, and only then, re-weld
Two measured runs, one set of documents
Acceptance Records for the Busbar Welding Station
Factory acceptance runs in our 6,000 m² assembly workshop, on one of three bays where the line is stood up in its shipping configuration with your cells, busbars, end plates, housings and cooling plates. Site acceptance repeats it on your floor.
FAT · OUR FLOOR
Four hours continuous, two to three working days
- 4 hcontinuous run
- 20modules sampled
- 5packs, full test set
Your parts, with the recipes that will ship.
SAT · YOUR FLOOR
Eight hours at your takt, three to five working days
- 8 hat target takt
- ≥99%yield, equipment causes
- ≥1000 Nweld samples pulled
Values printed beside criteria, station by station, both sides countersigned.
What you keep afterwards
- The factory acceptance report
- The site acceptance report, value beside criterion, station by station
- An annotated station table
- The end-of-line test item list
- The recipe list, each recipe’s first-article sectioning record filed against it
- How the eight steps run and what is signed at each: factory and site acceptance
Two years onEvery module welded after acceptance carries the same fields the acceptance modules carried. A weld argument two years from now is a question you look up.
Four inputs
Four Inputs to Specify Your Busbar Welding Station
With these, the reply carries the station scope, the fixture to be cut for your module, and how the first article would be qualified before anything runs in your line.
Module drawing
Envelope, terminal positions, row layout. A photograph of the print is enough to start.
Busbar part number, material and section
Copper or aluminium, thickness and width at the joint, plating if any.
Row configuration
Single-row, double-row, or both on the same line.
Target takt
Modules per hour at station 13, or the line PPM it has to keep up with.
Back inside 24 hours
- Station scope: joint count, cycle content, single or double row
- The fixture to be cut, and what it locates against
- The first-article plan: samples, section, signatures
If hand welding fits better, we say so
If your volume and joint count point to hand or semi-automatic welding instead, that is a shorter conversation than discovering it after a line has been laid out. Write from the contact page; the reply comes inside 24 hours.
Your enquiry, ready to send
If your email client opened, it is already in the message. If nothing opened, use one of the two routes below.
Start with the joint
Send Your Module And Your Busbar
Four inputs to our engineering team and the station scope, the fixture to be cut and the first-article plan come back within 24 hours. Behind it: 26 engineers and 40+ line segments into 12 countries, on the about page.
Email
Phone / WhatsApp
Address
Wuhan, Hubei, China
Response
Within 24 hours