DE8235774U1 - Plug connections for welding cables - Google Patents

Description

Dalex-Werke · ; ; ; , ■; · :,·..·■ :

üiepenberg & Co. GmbH .· L ,Bi _a tiii2.k. \. ^: .:.\
5248 Knowledge

The present invention relates to plug connections for welding lines, which can withstand rough welding operations and are suitable both for connecting simple welding lines and for connecting welding lines with additional gas or water lines.

Simple welding cables are used for the electrical connection of welding power sources with stick electrode holders or workpiece clamps and for the electrical connection of various equipment in welding equipment.

Welding lines with additional gas or water lines are used for connecting TIG welding torches and similar devices. These welding torches are connected to the power sources or extension lines using hose packages. In the hose packages, the welding line and the shielding gas line are housed within a common casing and provided with common connection nipples. During operation, the shielding gas also cools the welding line. Common connection nipples are usually available for the welding current and shielding gas lines. A common plug connection with external insulation is now to be created for this.

If the gas cooling is not sufficient for more powerful TIG welding torches, cooling water is passed through the common casing and the common connection nipples instead of the shielding gas. In these cases, too, a common plug device with external insulation should be created, the socket parts and plugs of which should often also be equipped with valves that automatically close the water line when the plug connection is disconnected.

Various plug connections are known for connecting simple welding cables. These also include plug connections in which the plug is inserted into the socket and mechanically locked by turning them against each other. However, these are only used to connect simple welding cables, e.g. with the stick electrode holder and the workpiece clamp or to connect various equipment from

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S. welding equipment. There are also plug connections where the welding wire guide for MIG/MAG welding, the control lines, the shielding gas and in some cases also the cooling water are routed via a large common plug connection.

Frequently used plug connections for welding cables have a socket part with a longitudinal groove and annular groove. The corresponding plug has a retaining pin that is attached to the plug in such a way that it slides into the socket part's longitudinal groove when plugged in and into the annular groove when turned against each other. Because the annular groove has a slight incline, the connection is made electrically and mechanically by turning against each other. These plug connections are designed similarly to the German utility model 1 971 103 and are only used to connect simple welding cables, e.g. to the electrode holder or the workpiece clamp.

For MIG/MAG welding torches, similarly constructed plug connections for welding cables are known, but in these, inserts with supply connections for shielding gas, control lines and welding wire (welding filler material) are fitted in the plug and socket. The insert is designed to rotate and is rotated by the plug during the connection process. The system is described in the German patent specification 2 041 290 and is only used for MIG/MAG welding equipment, but not for simple welding cables, e.g. for the rod electrode holder or the workpiece clamp.

Other plug connections for welding cables are also known which simultaneously connect welding current cables, shielding gas cables, control cables and the welding wire ^guide . Their special features are central guide tubes for the welding wire and additional clamping and locking devices which are located outside the socket and plug parts and do not simultaneously serve the welding current cable. Such plug connections are described in the Swiss patent 460 978 and in the US patent 3 479 302 and are only used for MIG/MAG welding equipment.

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The previously known plug connections were built either for simple welding cables or for welding cables in conjunction with other supply cables, e.g. for shielding gas, cooling water, welding wire, control currents.

The plug connections for simple welding cables are handy and robust. However, they cannot be used to connect the welding current and gas lines or the welding current and water lines to the TIG welding torches.

Known connectors for welding cables with supply

Connections for shielding gas, cooling water, welding wire and control currents _K

are large, unwieldy and sensitive to rough welding operations. They are unsuitable for simple welding lines because they are too large and too heavy in relation to the lines.

Simple welding lines are used for metal arc welding with stick electrodes. In TIG welding, however, shielding gas or cooling water are carried with the welding lines in a common casing. Two connection points are currently required for this, namely for simple welding lines and a second for the shared welding current and shielding gas line or welding current and cooling water line, which, however, for safety reasons, can only be connected to the power source alternately. For the two connection points, a very complex high-current switch is therefore also required. Both welding processes - metal arc welding with stick electrodes and TIG welding - work with similar welding power sources and are often used alternately. This is the case, for example, with high-quality welding in pipeline and power plant construction, where the root layer is carried out using the TIG welding process and the fill layers are carried out using the metal arc welding process with stick electrodes on the same weld seams.

The present invention is based on the task of creating handy, robust and inexpensive plug connections for welding lines, which are suitable either for connecting simple welding lines or for connecting welding lines with additional gas or water lines.

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The solution to this problem according to the invention consists of socket parts and plugs, the designs and mode of operation of which are given by way of example in the following descriptions and sketches.

The socket parts according to Fig. 1 with longitudinal and annular groove 11 are similar to the known socket parts for simple welding lines. However, they have an additional deeper hole 12, an axial through hole 13 and a rear connection 14 designed as a nipple or hole for the shielding gas line. The welding line connection is either combined with the connection 14 or attached directly to the metal body of the socket part.

Known plugs for simple welding cables according to Fig. 2 have plug pins 25 with lugs, rear connections 24 for simple welding cables and insulating sleeves 20. The plugs are plugged into socket parts according to Fig. 1, the lugs of the plug pins 25 slide in the longitudinal grooves of the plug socket parts and when turned against each other in the ring grooves 11, which have a slight pitch. Plugs and socket parts are electrically and mechanically well connected to each other. These plugs lack the extension with ring groove and sealing ring. They are therefore shorter than the plugs according to the invention according to Fig. 3. They do not seal the hole 12 according to Fig. 1 and do not open the valves of the socket parts according to Fig. 4 when plugged into them.

The plugs for welding current and shielding gas lines according to Fig. 3 have, in addition to the plug parts according to Fig. 2, an extension 36 with an annular groove and sealing ring 37, a through hole 33 for the shielding gas and a rear connection 34 for the welding line with additional shielding gas line. This connection can be designed as a nipple or socket. When plugged into the socket parts according to Fig. J, the sealing ring closes the hole 12 to the area around the plug, but leaves the through holes 13 and 33 open for the gas flow.

The socket parts with valve according to Fig. 4 are constructed like the socket parts according to Fig. 1. However, they also have self-closing valves in a basically known design with ring, plate or

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Ball seal. When a plug according to Fig. 3 is inserted into a socket according to Fig. 4, the sealing ring 37 closes the hole 42 to the outside of the plug. When pushed further, the plug extension 36 presses on the valve tappet 48, pushes it forward, compresses the valve spring and opens the valve seal 49.

The protective gas or cooling water can now flow from the connection 44 through the through hole 43 on the valve tappet and the ring, plate or ball seal through the through hole 33 to the rear connection 34. By turning them in opposite directions, the nose of the plug pin 35 is moved in the ring groove 41 so that a good electrical and mechanical connection is created and this is secured against accidental loosening .

The plugs with valves according to Fig. 5 are constructed like the plugs according to Fig. 3. However, they have additional self-closing valves in the known design with ring, plate or ball seals. When the plug according to Fig. 5 is inserted into a socket part according to Fig. 4, the sealing ring 57 closes the hole 42 to the outside of the plug. When pushed further, the valve tappet 58 of the plug presses on the valve tappet 48 of the socket part, pushes both tappets towards the rear connections, presses the springs of the valve tappets together and opens the valve seals 59 and 49.

The protective gas or cooling water can now flow unhindered from the rear connection 44 through the bore 43 past the valve tappet 48, the ring, divider or ball seals 49 and 59 and the valve tappet 58 through the through hole ^r to the rear connection 54. The electrical and mechanical connection is established and secured by turning them against each other.

Depending on the application, the socket parts and plugs described can be permanently mounted on equipment as device sockets or device plugs, but they can also be attached to movable cables as coupling sockets or plugs. Because all plugs can be plugged into any socket parts, these welding cable connections can be used universally on all welding equipment that uses the metal arc welding process and the TIG process.

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Welding processes. Welding power sources can be easily and safely converted from TIG welding to metal arc welding with stick electrodes using the plug connections for welding cables according to the invention. The cooling water required only for TIG welding does not run out when the welding cable plug connection is disconnected, nor when a plug for simple welding cables is plugged in, as is used for metal arc welding with stick electrodes. A further advantage of the plug connection for welding cables according to the invention is its simple, cost-saving and very robust design.

Claims (4)

Plug connections for welding parts: 1. Plug connections for welding cables, the plug and socket parts of which are arranged coaxially and can be locked by pushing them into one another and turning them against one another, characterized in that an additional bore (12), a central through hole (13) and a rear connection (14) for the gas supply line are arranged in the socket part (Fig. 1) in such a way that a welding line plug (Fig. 2) of a simple welding line or a welding line plug (Fig. 3) with a cylindrical plug extension (36), sealing ring (37) and central through hole (33) which is attached to a combined welding current and gas line can be plugged into the socket. 2. Plug connections for welding cables according to claim 1, characterized in that an automatically closing valve (49) is installed, which is opened by the plug extension when the plug (Fig. 3 or 5) of the combined welding current and gas line is inserted into the socket part. 3. Plug connections for welding lines according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the central through hole is used for water and either a welding line plug (Fig. 2) of the simple welding line or a welding line plug (Fig. 3) with a cylindrical plug extension, sealing ring and central through hole, which is attached to a combined welding current and water line, is inserted into the socket part (Fig. 4). 4. Plug connections for welding lines according to claim 3, characterized in that an automatically closing valve (59) is also mounted in the plug part (Fig. 5), which also opens when the plug is inserted into the socket part.