CA1079815A - Machine for the resistance butt welding of pipes - Google Patents
Machine for the resistance butt welding of pipesInfo
- Publication number
- CA1079815A CA1079815A CA252,157A CA252157A CA1079815A CA 1079815 A CA1079815 A CA 1079815A CA 252157 A CA252157 A CA 252157A CA 1079815 A CA1079815 A CA 1079815A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- pipes
- manipulator
- clamps
- welded
- welding
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
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- Butt Welding And Welding Of Specific Article (AREA)
Abstract
Abstract of the Disclosure The machine disclosed is provided with a mani-pulator which aligns and moves the pipes in course of welding and incorporates a rod for the movement of the manipulator relatively to the welded joints of pipes. The rod is immov-ably attached to a body of the manipulator, is made hollow and is provided with a partition subdividing the bore of rod into two spaces. One of the spaces is intended to be filled with a working fluid and the other accommodates on the partition a hydraulic system for feeding and controlling both the actuators of pipe-holding clamps and a means of moving the pipes in course of welding, the means comprising hydraulic cylinders whose bodies are immovably attached to the body of a movable aligning unit between hydraulic cylinders which are mounted on one unit to actuate the clamps holding fast one of the pipes welded whereas the piston rods of the hydraulic cylinders moving the pipes are immovably attached to the body of the manipulator insulated electrically from an immovable aligning unit.
Description
The invention relates to apparatus for the welding of hollow elongated products, and more specifica]ly to mach-ines for the resistance butt welding of pipes by fusion.
The field of the preferred application of the inven-tion is the welding of big-bore pipes where the invention may be employed either in the form of a movable machine welding individual pipes into a continuous string directly on the site of laying a pipeline or in the form of stationary equipment of a field plant located close to the site to supply extended pipe lengths.
There are known in the art machines for the resis-tance butt welding of pipelines which are used only for the welding of individual pipes into a continuous string. Also known is resista~ce welding equipment finding application only as a means of joining individual pipes into extended pipe lengths at field plants.
Further known is a machine for the resistance butt-; welding of pipes hy fusion comprising a welding transformer with current leads, said transformer embracing the pipes ~0 welded from the outside, and a manipulator disposed insidethe pipes welded for the purpose of aligning and moving same in course of welding, said manipulator incorporatlng align-ing units - one moving relatively to the manipulator body and the other not - with radially disposed clamps holding fast the pipes welded and hydraulic cylinders actuating said pipe clamps, a rod for moving the manipulator with respect to the welded joints of pipes and a hydraulic system for feeding and con-trolling the clamps of the pipes welded as well as a means of moving the pipes in course of welding. In the known ma-chine, said hydraulic system of feeding and controlling is located outside the pipes welded, is bulky and exceeds in its size the inside diameter of the pipes welded. If the known machine is used for welding individual pipes into a continuous pipeline in the field, said hydraulic system of feeding and control must be disconnected on welding a joint from the manipulator disposed inside the pipe, hauled to the next joint and again connected to the manipulator to perform the next welding cycle. Since all the operations involved are ardous and labour-consuming, practically it is expedient to employ the known machine as a stationary equipment for welding individual pipes into extended pipe lengths.
Another disadvantage of the known machine is the difficulty experienced in repairing the machine and rendering it serviceable. The point is that the manipulator body it-self performs the function of the piston rods of the hydraulic cylinders actuating the clamps holding fast the pipes welded.
In this case, the breal~down even of a single hydraulic cylin-der actuating a pipe-holding clamp calls for its repair in the situ, entailing complete disassembly of the manipulator or the replacement of at least one of the aligning units.
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Since the repair of a hydraulic system in situ, particularly in the field, poses numerous difficulties and is undesirable the only way out is to replace an entire portion of the machine wherein most of the components retain their service-ability.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a machine for the resistance butt welding of pipes constructed so that it can be easily employed not only as a stationary facility but also as a movable one adapted to cope with the welding of individual pipes into a continuous pipeline directly in the field.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a machine for resistance butt welding of a layout which ensures rapid withdrawal of hydraulic actuating cylinders and their replacement by spare ones in the field without taking apart the welding manipulator, In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, a machine for the resistance butt welding of pipes by fusion comprises: a welding transformer embracing the pipes welded ., from the outside; current leads of said welding transformer;
a manipulator which serves the purpose of aligning,and moving the pipes welded in course of welding, is disposed inside the pipes welded and incorporates: a body of said manipulator;
an aligning unit mounted movably with respect to said body ~of manipulator, an ali~ning unit mounted immovably with .~ .
~. ,.
.
. . - : . .
~15 respect to said body of manipulator and insulated electric-ally fro~ said body of manipulator, clamps of the pipes welded disposed radially in said movable and immova~le aligning units, hydraulic cylinde~rs of said clamps of the pipes welded, means of moving the pipes in course of weld- :
ing, hydraulic cylinders of said means of moving the pipes, the bodies of said cylinders being immovably attached to said body of said movable aligning unit between said hydraulic cylinders which are mounted on said aligning unit and actuate said clamps of one of the pipes welded, piston rods of said hydraulic cylinders of said means of moving the pipes in course of welding, said piston rods being immovably attached to said body of manipulator, a hydraulic system for feeding and controlling said hydraulic cylinders actuat-ing the clamps of the pipes welded and said means of moving the pipes, a rod for moving said manipulator relatively to the welded joints of pipes, said rod being immovably attached to said body of manipulator and made hollow a partition sub-dividing longitudinally the bore of said rod into two spaces, one intended to be filled with a working fluid and the other accommodating on said partition said hydraulic system for feeding and controlling the actuators of said clamps of the pipes welded and said means of moving the pipes.
By virtue of the fact that the rod is immovably attached to the body of manipulator, is made hollow and is :;
, .
subdivided longitudinally by the partition into two spaces, there is a possibility to fill the lower space with a work-ing fluid and to accommodate in the upper a hydraulic system for feeding and controlling the actuators o~ the clamps holding ~ast the pipes welded and the means o~ moving~ the pipes in course o~ welding.
Since the means of moving the pipes in course o~ weld-in~ consists o~ a number of hydraulic cy].inders whose bodies are immovably attached to the body of` the movable aligning unit between the h~draulic cylinders which are mounted the-reon and actuate the clamps holding fast one o~ the pipes welded, there is a possibility to unitize the h~draulic cylinder~ moving the pipes with those holding these f'ast on one hand and to create conditions enablin~ a rapid removal o~ any of' the hydraulic c~linders in the event o~ breakdow~
and the replacement of it by a spare one on the ~ther hand.
It is expedient that the body o* each aligning unit is given the form o~ a cylinder placed inside another cylinder, both cylinders being interconnected at the end faces, and that the hydraulic cylinders actuating the clamps o~ the pipe~ welded are attached to the outside cylinders whereas mounted on the inside cylinder with provision for travel along its axis there is a cone which is rigidly attached to the piston rods o~ said hydraulic cylinders and interacts with the pipe clamps receiving support therefrom. Owing to .
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, ~
.
: : .
, .
~079815 said arrangement of aligning unit, the reliability of the manipulator is enhanced and the movable aligning unit can be unitized with its immovable counterpart so that the re-pairability of the manipulator in the field is consequently promoted.
The present invention will be best understood from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention when this description is being read in con-junction with the accompanying drawings in which: .
Fig. 1 is a general view of the machine for the resistance butt welding of pipes according to the invention ...
used a stat.ionary equipment for welding individual pipes into extended pipe lengths, Fig. 2 is a general view of the same machine adaptedfor welding either individual pipes or extended pipe lengths into a continuous pipeline, Fig, 3 is a section on line I-I of Fig. 2, The machine for the resistance butt welding of pipes disclosed comprises a welding .transformer 1 (Fig. 1) with current leads 2, said transformer embracing pipes 3--and 4 welded from the outside, and a manipulator 5 disposed inside `; the p.ipes 3 and 4 welded, The welding manipulator 5 incorpo-rates a rod 6 immovably attached to a body 7 of the manipu-. lator 5 disposed whereon are an aligning unit 8 and an aligning UIlit 9 which are made movable and immovable, res-pectively, relatively to the manipulator body 7 and serve to hold ~ast the pipes 3 and 4 welded.
~ he i~nmovable aligning~ unit 9 is secured to the body 7 of the manipulator 5 by means of two ring hal~es 10 and an end plate 11. ~he manipulator bod~ 7 is electrically insulat-ed from the aligning unit 9 by sleeves 12 and a washer 13.
Attached to outside cylinders 14 of the bodies of the align-ing units 8 and 9 are hydraulic cylinders 15 actuating clamps 16 which hold fast the pipes 3 and 4 welded. Piston rods 17 of the hydraulic c~linders 15 are connected to ccnes 18 moun-ted o~ inside cylinders 19 of the bodies of the ali~ning units 8 and 9 with provision for travel along their a~is.
~he side surfaces o~ the cones 18 provide support for the clamps 16 capable of moving in radial grooves of the outside cylinders 14 of the bodies of the aligning units 8 and 9.
~he number of the clamps 16 provided in the aligning units 8 and 9 depends on the diameter of the pipes welded. ~he clamps 16 are pressed against the side surfaces of the cones 18 by the action of return springs 23 diæposed in longitudinal grooves. Each of the return springs 20 abuts the bottom of the corresponding clamp 16 with one of its ends and a bar 21 with the other end, said bar being disposed in a transver-se groove of the clamp 16 and rigidly attached to the outside cylinder~ 19 vorming the bodies of the aligning units 8 and . .
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, 'L'he movable aligning unit 8 is displaced relatively tothe manipulator body 7 with the aid of a means of moving the pipes in course of welding which is a mechanism made up of a number o~ hydraulic cylinders 22 whose bodies are immovably attached to the outside cylinder 14 of the body o~ the movable aligning unit 8 between the hydraulic cylin-ders 15 actuating the clamps 16 holding fast the pipe 3 whe-reas the pi~ton rod~ 23 of the hydraulic cylinder~ 22 are immovabl~ attached to the ~ody 7 of the manipulator 5. ~he rod 6 serving to move the manipulator 5 with respect to the pipes 3 and 4 welded is immovably attached to the body 7.
~he rod 6 is made hollow and ~itted with a partition 24 subdividing longitudinall~ the rod bore into two spaces.
While the lower space 25 o~ the rod 6 serves as a reservoir for the ~luid used in the hydraulic system o~ the manipula-tor 5, the upper space 26 of the rod 6 accommodates on the partition 24 a hydraulic system 27 which serves the purpose of feeding and controlli~g the hydraulic c~linders 15 ac-tuating the clamps 6 o~ the pipes 3 and 4 welded and also the hydraulic cylinders 22 mo~ing the pipes 3 and 4 in course o~ welding. Hinged co~er plates 28 are fitted to the rod 6 to prevent ~oreign articles and sludge ~rom entering the hydraulic system 27.
~ he external items of the welding machine, i.e., the trans~ormer 1 and the current leads 2, are secured to a roll , ~
~079~15 table 29 which, dependin~ on the conditions, is either placed on the ground if the machine is used as a stationary plant or is suspended ~rom a pipe-laying boom or a~y other handling means i~ the machine is employed in its movable application. ~he manipul~tor 5 is provided with several ~airs o~ wheels 30 which rest on the pipes 3 and 4 welded and serve to move the manipulator 5 relatively to the pi-pes. ~he wheels 30 in each pair are arranged one with res-pect to the other so as to form an angle o~ 60-90 deg.
When operating under stationary conditions for joining individual pipes i~to extended pipe lengths as shown in Fig. 1, the manipulator 5 is secured with one o~ its ends in a bearing 31 resting on a bracket 32 which is held ~ast to the roll 3~able 29. r~he other poin-t of support for the mani-pulator 5 is provided in the ~orm of a plate 33 which is fitted to the rod 6 o~ the manipulator 5 and comes abutting against a aack 34 i~ the pipe 3 is absent. In a stationary application o~ the weldin~ machine, the pipes are moved re-latively to the manipulator 5 by means o~ rollers 35 of the roll table 29, said rollers obtaining motion ~rom a drive (not shown in ~ig~ 1).
In case the welding machine is employed ~or joining pi-pes into a continuous pipeline as shown in ~'ig~ 2, the ma-nipulator 5 can be moved ~rom joint to joint by various means as, ~or example, a tractor hitched to the rod 6 or the power-driven wheels 30.
g _ 107981~
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The machine operates on the ~ollowing lines. Bef`ore welding is started, the aligning units 8 and 9 are set apart a~ far as possible. ~or welding under stationary condi-tions (see Fig. 1), the pipe 3 is fed by the rollers 35 of the roll table 29 towards the manipulator 5 until it reaches the jack 34. At this instant the jack 34 is lowered and the manipulator 5 enters the pipe 3 with its ~ront wheels 30 and then the travel of the pipe 3 down the roll tahle 29 towards the bracket 32 is resumed, continuing until the right-hand end ~ace of the pipe, as shown in the drawing, is midway between the aligning units 8 and 9. At this stage, the clamps 16 of the aligning unit 8 are applied to the pipe 3 by ~dmitting working ~luid into the spaces A o~ the hyd-raulic cylinders 15 o~ the aligning unit 8 whereas the ~luid contained in the spaces B o~ said cylinders is drained into the lower space 25 of the rod 6. As a result, the cone 18 con~ected to the piston rods 17 of the hydraulic cylinders 15 moves in the aligning unit 8 to the ri~ht according to the drawing so that its side surface ~orces the clamps 16 o~ the aligning unit 8 apart~ this action applyi~g the clamps to the pipe 3 which is consequently held ~ast. Next, tho pipe 4 is placed on the roll table 29 and b~ the rollers 35 into a position where it co~tacts the pipe 3 and must be clamped by the clamps ~6 of the aligning unit g. To that end, working ~luid is admitted into the spaces A o~ the hydraulic ..
cylinders 15 of the alig~ing~ unit 9 whereas -the fluid con-tained in the spaces B o~ said cylinders is drained into the space 25. AS a result~ the cone 18 of the aligning unit 9 : -connected to the piston rods 17 of the hydraulic cylinders 15 moves in the ali~nin~ unit 9 to the left according to th~ drawin~ so that its side surface forces the clamps 16 of the aligning unit 9 apart, this action applyin~ the clamps to the pipe 4 which is consequently held fast.
Since the aligning~ units 8 and 9 are of the same size and are accommodated on the same body 7~ the clamping of the pipes 3 and 4 brings said pipes into alignment one with the other. Once the pipes are clamped, the current leads 2 ~rom the welding transformed 1 are applied to the pipes and the current is cut in~ After that, working Yluid is admit-ted into the spaces C of the hydraulic cylinders 22 accord-ing to a special programme, using the system 27 o~ ~eeding and control, whereas the fluid contained in the space D is drained into the lower space 25 of the rod 6. This causes the bodie~ of the hydraulic cylinders 22 to start moving integrally with the aligning unit 8 and the pipe 3 so as to enable the process o~ resistance butt welding by fusion to take place.
0~ completing the process of welding finished by upset-ting, workin~ fluid is admitted into the spaces B of the hydraulic cylinders 15 of the aligning units 8 and 9 whereas -10'79815 the ~luid contained in the spaces A of said cylinders i~
drained into the space 25 of the rod 6. The distance between the coneæ 18 of the aligning units 8 and 9 consequently in-creases and the clamps 16 o~ the aligning units 8 and 9 move inwardly towards the axis of the body 7 of the manipulator 5 under the action of the springs 20, releasing thus the hold on the pipes 3 and 4 welded. On removing the current leads 2 o~ the welding transformer 1 ~rom the pipee 3 and 4 welded, ~luid is admitted into the spaces D of the hydraulic cylinders 22 wheres the Yluid contained in the space~ C o~
said cylinders is drained into the space 25. This causes the aligning units 8 and 9 to move apart and the pipes 3 and 4 welded, which are in fact a double-length section, are car-ried by the roller~ 35 o~ the roll table 29 to the right, leaving the welding machine. As soon as the left-hand end face o~ the double-length pipe ~ection passes the jack 34 on its way to the right, said jack is li~ted, giving support to the manipulator 5 which rests thereupon with the plate 33. ~he double-length pipe section continues its right-ward travel, giving way to the next pair of pipes, and the welding cycle is then repeated.
If the welding machine is used for joi~ing individual pipes into a continuous pipeline (see Fig. 2), the welding manipulator 5 is moved by some means o~ handling, a tractor ~or example, in ~he pipe 4 through the intermediary of the 12 _ ~ . ..
, ' ~ ' rod 6 as far as this is necessary to place -the left-harld end ~ace of said pipe midway between the ali~ninOr units 8 and 9.
~he clamps 16 of the ali~ning unit 9 take hold o~ the pipe 4 in the same sequence of events as described above and then a next pipe 3 is fed onto the manipulator 5, using the pipe--laying boom, by an amount ~-Jhich places the pipe 3 in con-tact with the pipe 4. On clampingr the pipe 3 with the clamps 16 of the alig~in~ unit 8, the roll table 29 is moved with the aid o~ the pipe-laying boom -to the le~t so that the joint between the pipes 3 and 4 is midway between the cur-rent leads 2 of the trans~ormer 1. Next, the current leads
The field of the preferred application of the inven-tion is the welding of big-bore pipes where the invention may be employed either in the form of a movable machine welding individual pipes into a continuous string directly on the site of laying a pipeline or in the form of stationary equipment of a field plant located close to the site to supply extended pipe lengths.
There are known in the art machines for the resis-tance butt welding of pipelines which are used only for the welding of individual pipes into a continuous string. Also known is resista~ce welding equipment finding application only as a means of joining individual pipes into extended pipe lengths at field plants.
Further known is a machine for the resistance butt-; welding of pipes hy fusion comprising a welding transformer with current leads, said transformer embracing the pipes ~0 welded from the outside, and a manipulator disposed insidethe pipes welded for the purpose of aligning and moving same in course of welding, said manipulator incorporatlng align-ing units - one moving relatively to the manipulator body and the other not - with radially disposed clamps holding fast the pipes welded and hydraulic cylinders actuating said pipe clamps, a rod for moving the manipulator with respect to the welded joints of pipes and a hydraulic system for feeding and con-trolling the clamps of the pipes welded as well as a means of moving the pipes in course of welding. In the known ma-chine, said hydraulic system of feeding and controlling is located outside the pipes welded, is bulky and exceeds in its size the inside diameter of the pipes welded. If the known machine is used for welding individual pipes into a continuous pipeline in the field, said hydraulic system of feeding and control must be disconnected on welding a joint from the manipulator disposed inside the pipe, hauled to the next joint and again connected to the manipulator to perform the next welding cycle. Since all the operations involved are ardous and labour-consuming, practically it is expedient to employ the known machine as a stationary equipment for welding individual pipes into extended pipe lengths.
Another disadvantage of the known machine is the difficulty experienced in repairing the machine and rendering it serviceable. The point is that the manipulator body it-self performs the function of the piston rods of the hydraulic cylinders actuating the clamps holding fast the pipes welded.
In this case, the breal~down even of a single hydraulic cylin-der actuating a pipe-holding clamp calls for its repair in the situ, entailing complete disassembly of the manipulator or the replacement of at least one of the aligning units.
- . . . . . .. . ~ . . ~ .
Since the repair of a hydraulic system in situ, particularly in the field, poses numerous difficulties and is undesirable the only way out is to replace an entire portion of the machine wherein most of the components retain their service-ability.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a machine for the resistance butt welding of pipes constructed so that it can be easily employed not only as a stationary facility but also as a movable one adapted to cope with the welding of individual pipes into a continuous pipeline directly in the field.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a machine for resistance butt welding of a layout which ensures rapid withdrawal of hydraulic actuating cylinders and their replacement by spare ones in the field without taking apart the welding manipulator, In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, a machine for the resistance butt welding of pipes by fusion comprises: a welding transformer embracing the pipes welded ., from the outside; current leads of said welding transformer;
a manipulator which serves the purpose of aligning,and moving the pipes welded in course of welding, is disposed inside the pipes welded and incorporates: a body of said manipulator;
an aligning unit mounted movably with respect to said body ~of manipulator, an ali~ning unit mounted immovably with .~ .
~. ,.
.
. . - : . .
~15 respect to said body of manipulator and insulated electric-ally fro~ said body of manipulator, clamps of the pipes welded disposed radially in said movable and immova~le aligning units, hydraulic cylinde~rs of said clamps of the pipes welded, means of moving the pipes in course of weld- :
ing, hydraulic cylinders of said means of moving the pipes, the bodies of said cylinders being immovably attached to said body of said movable aligning unit between said hydraulic cylinders which are mounted on said aligning unit and actuate said clamps of one of the pipes welded, piston rods of said hydraulic cylinders of said means of moving the pipes in course of welding, said piston rods being immovably attached to said body of manipulator, a hydraulic system for feeding and controlling said hydraulic cylinders actuat-ing the clamps of the pipes welded and said means of moving the pipes, a rod for moving said manipulator relatively to the welded joints of pipes, said rod being immovably attached to said body of manipulator and made hollow a partition sub-dividing longitudinally the bore of said rod into two spaces, one intended to be filled with a working fluid and the other accommodating on said partition said hydraulic system for feeding and controlling the actuators of said clamps of the pipes welded and said means of moving the pipes.
By virtue of the fact that the rod is immovably attached to the body of manipulator, is made hollow and is :;
, .
subdivided longitudinally by the partition into two spaces, there is a possibility to fill the lower space with a work-ing fluid and to accommodate in the upper a hydraulic system for feeding and controlling the actuators o~ the clamps holding ~ast the pipes welded and the means o~ moving~ the pipes in course o~ welding.
Since the means of moving the pipes in course o~ weld-in~ consists o~ a number of hydraulic cy].inders whose bodies are immovably attached to the body of` the movable aligning unit between the h~draulic cylinders which are mounted the-reon and actuate the clamps holding fast one o~ the pipes welded, there is a possibility to unitize the h~draulic cylinder~ moving the pipes with those holding these f'ast on one hand and to create conditions enablin~ a rapid removal o~ any of' the hydraulic c~linders in the event o~ breakdow~
and the replacement of it by a spare one on the ~ther hand.
It is expedient that the body o* each aligning unit is given the form o~ a cylinder placed inside another cylinder, both cylinders being interconnected at the end faces, and that the hydraulic cylinders actuating the clamps o~ the pipe~ welded are attached to the outside cylinders whereas mounted on the inside cylinder with provision for travel along its axis there is a cone which is rigidly attached to the piston rods o~ said hydraulic cylinders and interacts with the pipe clamps receiving support therefrom. Owing to .
. :
, ~
.
: : .
, .
~079815 said arrangement of aligning unit, the reliability of the manipulator is enhanced and the movable aligning unit can be unitized with its immovable counterpart so that the re-pairability of the manipulator in the field is consequently promoted.
The present invention will be best understood from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention when this description is being read in con-junction with the accompanying drawings in which: .
Fig. 1 is a general view of the machine for the resistance butt welding of pipes according to the invention ...
used a stat.ionary equipment for welding individual pipes into extended pipe lengths, Fig. 2 is a general view of the same machine adaptedfor welding either individual pipes or extended pipe lengths into a continuous pipeline, Fig, 3 is a section on line I-I of Fig. 2, The machine for the resistance butt welding of pipes disclosed comprises a welding .transformer 1 (Fig. 1) with current leads 2, said transformer embracing pipes 3--and 4 welded from the outside, and a manipulator 5 disposed inside `; the p.ipes 3 and 4 welded, The welding manipulator 5 incorpo-rates a rod 6 immovably attached to a body 7 of the manipu-. lator 5 disposed whereon are an aligning unit 8 and an aligning UIlit 9 which are made movable and immovable, res-pectively, relatively to the manipulator body 7 and serve to hold ~ast the pipes 3 and 4 welded.
~ he i~nmovable aligning~ unit 9 is secured to the body 7 of the manipulator 5 by means of two ring hal~es 10 and an end plate 11. ~he manipulator bod~ 7 is electrically insulat-ed from the aligning unit 9 by sleeves 12 and a washer 13.
Attached to outside cylinders 14 of the bodies of the align-ing units 8 and 9 are hydraulic cylinders 15 actuating clamps 16 which hold fast the pipes 3 and 4 welded. Piston rods 17 of the hydraulic c~linders 15 are connected to ccnes 18 moun-ted o~ inside cylinders 19 of the bodies of the ali~ning units 8 and 9 with provision for travel along their a~is.
~he side surfaces o~ the cones 18 provide support for the clamps 16 capable of moving in radial grooves of the outside cylinders 14 of the bodies of the aligning units 8 and 9.
~he number of the clamps 16 provided in the aligning units 8 and 9 depends on the diameter of the pipes welded. ~he clamps 16 are pressed against the side surfaces of the cones 18 by the action of return springs 23 diæposed in longitudinal grooves. Each of the return springs 20 abuts the bottom of the corresponding clamp 16 with one of its ends and a bar 21 with the other end, said bar being disposed in a transver-se groove of the clamp 16 and rigidly attached to the outside cylinder~ 19 vorming the bodies of the aligning units 8 and . .
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.
'' ' .
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, 'L'he movable aligning unit 8 is displaced relatively tothe manipulator body 7 with the aid of a means of moving the pipes in course of welding which is a mechanism made up of a number o~ hydraulic cylinders 22 whose bodies are immovably attached to the outside cylinder 14 of the body o~ the movable aligning unit 8 between the hydraulic cylin-ders 15 actuating the clamps 16 holding fast the pipe 3 whe-reas the pi~ton rod~ 23 of the hydraulic cylinder~ 22 are immovabl~ attached to the ~ody 7 of the manipulator 5. ~he rod 6 serving to move the manipulator 5 with respect to the pipes 3 and 4 welded is immovably attached to the body 7.
~he rod 6 is made hollow and ~itted with a partition 24 subdividing longitudinall~ the rod bore into two spaces.
While the lower space 25 o~ the rod 6 serves as a reservoir for the ~luid used in the hydraulic system o~ the manipula-tor 5, the upper space 26 of the rod 6 accommodates on the partition 24 a hydraulic system 27 which serves the purpose of feeding and controlli~g the hydraulic c~linders 15 ac-tuating the clamps 6 o~ the pipes 3 and 4 welded and also the hydraulic cylinders 22 mo~ing the pipes 3 and 4 in course o~ welding. Hinged co~er plates 28 are fitted to the rod 6 to prevent ~oreign articles and sludge ~rom entering the hydraulic system 27.
~ he external items of the welding machine, i.e., the trans~ormer 1 and the current leads 2, are secured to a roll , ~
~079~15 table 29 which, dependin~ on the conditions, is either placed on the ground if the machine is used as a stationary plant or is suspended ~rom a pipe-laying boom or a~y other handling means i~ the machine is employed in its movable application. ~he manipul~tor 5 is provided with several ~airs o~ wheels 30 which rest on the pipes 3 and 4 welded and serve to move the manipulator 5 relatively to the pi-pes. ~he wheels 30 in each pair are arranged one with res-pect to the other so as to form an angle o~ 60-90 deg.
When operating under stationary conditions for joining individual pipes i~to extended pipe lengths as shown in Fig. 1, the manipulator 5 is secured with one o~ its ends in a bearing 31 resting on a bracket 32 which is held ~ast to the roll 3~able 29. r~he other poin-t of support for the mani-pulator 5 is provided in the ~orm of a plate 33 which is fitted to the rod 6 o~ the manipulator 5 and comes abutting against a aack 34 i~ the pipe 3 is absent. In a stationary application o~ the weldin~ machine, the pipes are moved re-latively to the manipulator 5 by means o~ rollers 35 of the roll table 29, said rollers obtaining motion ~rom a drive (not shown in ~ig~ 1).
In case the welding machine is employed ~or joining pi-pes into a continuous pipeline as shown in ~'ig~ 2, the ma-nipulator 5 can be moved ~rom joint to joint by various means as, ~or example, a tractor hitched to the rod 6 or the power-driven wheels 30.
g _ 107981~
.
The machine operates on the ~ollowing lines. Bef`ore welding is started, the aligning units 8 and 9 are set apart a~ far as possible. ~or welding under stationary condi-tions (see Fig. 1), the pipe 3 is fed by the rollers 35 of the roll table 29 towards the manipulator 5 until it reaches the jack 34. At this instant the jack 34 is lowered and the manipulator 5 enters the pipe 3 with its ~ront wheels 30 and then the travel of the pipe 3 down the roll tahle 29 towards the bracket 32 is resumed, continuing until the right-hand end ~ace of the pipe, as shown in the drawing, is midway between the aligning units 8 and 9. At this stage, the clamps 16 of the aligning unit 8 are applied to the pipe 3 by ~dmitting working ~luid into the spaces A o~ the hyd-raulic cylinders 15 o~ the aligning unit 8 whereas the ~luid contained in the spaces B o~ said cylinders is drained into the lower space 25 of the rod 6. As a result, the cone 18 con~ected to the piston rods 17 of the hydraulic cylinders 15 moves in the aligning unit 8 to the ri~ht according to the drawing so that its side surface ~orces the clamps 16 o~ the aligning unit 8 apart~ this action applyi~g the clamps to the pipe 3 which is consequently held ~ast. Next, tho pipe 4 is placed on the roll table 29 and b~ the rollers 35 into a position where it co~tacts the pipe 3 and must be clamped by the clamps ~6 of the aligning unit g. To that end, working ~luid is admitted into the spaces A o~ the hydraulic ..
cylinders 15 of the alig~ing~ unit 9 whereas -the fluid con-tained in the spaces B o~ said cylinders is drained into the space 25. AS a result~ the cone 18 of the aligning unit 9 : -connected to the piston rods 17 of the hydraulic cylinders 15 moves in the ali~nin~ unit 9 to the left according to th~ drawin~ so that its side surface forces the clamps 16 of the aligning unit 9 apart, this action applyin~ the clamps to the pipe 4 which is consequently held fast.
Since the aligning~ units 8 and 9 are of the same size and are accommodated on the same body 7~ the clamping of the pipes 3 and 4 brings said pipes into alignment one with the other. Once the pipes are clamped, the current leads 2 ~rom the welding transformed 1 are applied to the pipes and the current is cut in~ After that, working Yluid is admit-ted into the spaces C of the hydraulic cylinders 22 accord-ing to a special programme, using the system 27 o~ ~eeding and control, whereas the fluid contained in the space D is drained into the lower space 25 of the rod 6. This causes the bodie~ of the hydraulic cylinders 22 to start moving integrally with the aligning unit 8 and the pipe 3 so as to enable the process o~ resistance butt welding by fusion to take place.
0~ completing the process of welding finished by upset-ting, workin~ fluid is admitted into the spaces B of the hydraulic cylinders 15 of the aligning units 8 and 9 whereas -10'79815 the ~luid contained in the spaces A of said cylinders i~
drained into the space 25 of the rod 6. The distance between the coneæ 18 of the aligning units 8 and 9 consequently in-creases and the clamps 16 o~ the aligning units 8 and 9 move inwardly towards the axis of the body 7 of the manipulator 5 under the action of the springs 20, releasing thus the hold on the pipes 3 and 4 welded. On removing the current leads 2 o~ the welding transformer 1 ~rom the pipee 3 and 4 welded, ~luid is admitted into the spaces D of the hydraulic cylinders 22 wheres the Yluid contained in the space~ C o~
said cylinders is drained into the space 25. This causes the aligning units 8 and 9 to move apart and the pipes 3 and 4 welded, which are in fact a double-length section, are car-ried by the roller~ 35 o~ the roll table 29 to the right, leaving the welding machine. As soon as the left-hand end face o~ the double-length pipe ~ection passes the jack 34 on its way to the right, said jack is li~ted, giving support to the manipulator 5 which rests thereupon with the plate 33. ~he double-length pipe section continues its right-ward travel, giving way to the next pair of pipes, and the welding cycle is then repeated.
If the welding machine is used for joi~ing individual pipes into a continuous pipeline (see Fig. 2), the welding manipulator 5 is moved by some means o~ handling, a tractor ~or example, in ~he pipe 4 through the intermediary of the 12 _ ~ . ..
, ' ~ ' rod 6 as far as this is necessary to place -the left-harld end ~ace of said pipe midway between the ali~ninOr units 8 and 9.
~he clamps 16 of the ali~ning unit 9 take hold o~ the pipe 4 in the same sequence of events as described above and then a next pipe 3 is fed onto the manipulator 5, using the pipe--laying boom, by an amount ~-Jhich places the pipe 3 in con-tact with the pipe 4. On clampingr the pipe 3 with the clamps 16 of the alig~in~ unit 8, the roll table 29 is moved with the aid o~ the pipe-laying boom -to the le~t so that the joint between the pipes 3 and 4 is midway between the cur-rent leads 2 of the trans~ormer 1. Next, the current leads
2 of the welding transformer 1 are applied to the pipes 3 and 4 to be welded and the current is ~witched on to start the process of resistance but welding by continuous ~usion which goes on as des¢ribed above. On completin~ the welding, the pipes 3 and 4 are released of both the clamps 16 of -the aligning units 8 and 9 and of the current leads 2 and 1. ~he aligning units 8 and 9 are moved apart to set the welding machine into starting poisition, the welding manipulator 5 is transfered to the le~t-hand end face of the pipe 3, using the handling means a~ailable t and then the welding cycle is repeated.
' .
' .
Claims (2)
1. A machine for the resistance butt welding of pipes by fusion comprising: a welding transformer embracing the pipes welded from the outside; current leads of said welding transformer; a manipulator which serves the purpose of aligning and moving the pipes welded in course of welding, is disposed inside the pipes welded and incorporates: a body of said manipulator; an aligning unit mounted movably with respect to said body of manipulator; an aligning unit moun-ted immovably with respect to said body of manipulator and insulated electrically from said body of manipulator; clamps of the pipes welded disposed radially in said movable and immovable aligning units; hydraulic cylinders of said clamps of the pipes welded; means of moving the pipes in course ofwelding; hydraulic cylinders of said means of mov-ing the pipes, the bodies of said cylinders being immovably attached to said body of said movable aligning unit between said hydraulic cylinders which. are mounted on said aligning unit and actuate said clamps of one of the pipes welded;
piston rods of said hydraulic cylinders of said means of moving the pipes in course of welding, said piston rods being immovably attached to said body of manipulator; a hyd-raulic system for feeding and controlling said hydraulic cy-linders actuating the clamps of the pipes welded and said means of moving the pipes; a rod for moving said manipulator relatively to the welded joints of pipes, said rod being im-movably attached to said body of manipulator and made hollow a partition subdividing longitudinally the bore of said rod into two spaces, one intended to be filled with a working fluid and the other accommodating on said partition said hydraulic system for feeding and controlling the actuators of said clamps of the pipes welded and said means of moving the pipes.
piston rods of said hydraulic cylinders of said means of moving the pipes in course of welding, said piston rods being immovably attached to said body of manipulator; a hyd-raulic system for feeding and controlling said hydraulic cy-linders actuating the clamps of the pipes welded and said means of moving the pipes; a rod for moving said manipulator relatively to the welded joints of pipes, said rod being im-movably attached to said body of manipulator and made hollow a partition subdividing longitudinally the bore of said rod into two spaces, one intended to be filled with a working fluid and the other accommodating on said partition said hydraulic system for feeding and controlling the actuators of said clamps of the pipes welded and said means of moving the pipes.
2. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the body of each aligning unit of the manipulator is given the form of a cylinder placed inside another cylinder, both cylinders being interconnected at the end face, and attached to the outside cylinder of said body are the hydraulic cylinders actuating the clamps of the pipes welded whereas mounted on the inside cylinder with provision for travel along its axis there is a cone which is rigidly attached to the piston rods of said hydraulic cylinders and interacts with the clamps of pipes, receiving support from the cone.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA252,157A CA1079815A (en) | 1976-05-10 | 1976-05-10 | Machine for the resistance butt welding of pipes |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA252,157A CA1079815A (en) | 1976-05-10 | 1976-05-10 | Machine for the resistance butt welding of pipes |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1079815A true CA1079815A (en) | 1980-06-17 |
Family
ID=4105921
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA252,157A Expired CA1079815A (en) | 1976-05-10 | 1976-05-10 | Machine for the resistance butt welding of pipes |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1079815A (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN100460142C (en) * | 2005-12-07 | 2009-02-11 | 天津市天锻压力机有限公司 | Automotive four-door two-lid flexible formation mfg. system |
-
1976
- 1976-05-10 CA CA252,157A patent/CA1079815A/en not_active Expired
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN100460142C (en) * | 2005-12-07 | 2009-02-11 | 天津市天锻压力机有限公司 | Automotive four-door two-lid flexible formation mfg. system |
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