Welding wire feed device
US4344553A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 17, 1981 |
| Grant date | Aug 17, 1982 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 17, 2001 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB65H51/02
- WIPO fieldHandling
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A compact welding wire feed device is provided capable of being mounted directly on a welding head carriage. The device comprises a ball bearing having an inside race with tangential entrance and exit guides to the race adjacent to opposite axial ends of the bearing. A hub member has an outside diameter less than the inside diameter of the race so that the hub member can be coaxially received in the race and a welding wire passed through the entrance guide and wrapped around the hub and out the exit guide. By now side-loading or expanding the hub against the inside of the race and driving the hub rotationally, the welding wire is continuously fed out the exit guide. The coaxial relationship of the hub and race provides for a very compact structure thereby permitting mounting of the wire feed directly on a welding head carriage adjacent to a weld head or even permitting the feed wire itself to be used as an electrode in a MIG welding system. In certain applications, the bearing itself may be used without the hub simply to form a ninety degree bend in the weld wire with substantially no friction for proper positioning and guiding of the wire.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.