594,038. Uniting by fusion. LINDE AIR PRODUCTS CO. June 22, 1945. No. 16027. Convention date, Aug. 15, 1944. [Class 83 (iv)] In a portable welding apparatus a wheeled carriage has a frame to support a motor which drives the carriage and the feed mechanism of a welding rod reel and feed unit. The unit is mounted to tilt about an axis extending in the general direction of travel of the carriage.The machine may thus be adjusted for butt and fillet welding. The carriage C, Fig. 2, comprises a frame 10 having handles 11 at each end and is mounted on wheels 14, 20. The frame has transverse slots 54 so that a bracket 50 supporting a motor M may be adjustably secured by bolts 52. The motor armature 40, Fig. 3, carries a worm 42 meshing with a pinion 44 keyed to a shaft 36 on one end of which the carriage drive pulley 33 is mounted, whilst the other end has a crown gear 92 to drive a cooperating crown gear G on the end of a shaft S. Shaft S has the drive roll 90 for the welding rod mounted on its other end and is supported in bearings 88 of a housing K which is tiltable as shown by the chain dot lines, on gears 92, G which maintain rotation ; a flexible cover 94 excluding dust. Pulley 33, Fig. 1, is of the split type with a pair of cones 34, 34, held together by an internal spring to provide a maximum effective diameter of a groove 38 containing a driving belt 18. The belt drives a pulley 32 operating gears within a housing 24, to drive wheels 14 through a chain 26 and sprocket 28, on axle 12, about which the housing has limited rotation and is secured by a screw 30. Screw 30 may be used to alter the tension of belt 18 separating cones 34 and reducing the diameter of the groove 38 and the carriage speed. A gear lever 25 has positions "neutral," '' forward " and " reverse ". A member 58 on bracket 50 has a clamp 60 supporting a bar 13, which is connected to the housing K at one end and supports the welding rod reel R at the other. Slight rotation of bar B causes tilt of the reel and the rod-feed device so that the relation between the two is undisturbed and the feeding load on motor M is constant. The reel R is, however, adjustable independently by means of its clamp 70. Further small guide rolls 96, 98 are mounted on brackets 100, 102 respectively, which extend from the housing K and are connected by a turn-buckle 106 to allow adjustment of the distance between them and give the desired degree of curvature to the welding rod. Bracket 102 is adjustable on the housing to control the direction, of movement of the rod W. Two bearings 108, Fig. 1, on bracket 50 are tapped to receive a screw having a head 112, and this screw retains a bracket 114 so that it has limited movement about the screw, as may be determined by stops 122. A socket 118 integral with bracket 114 receives a stem 120 at the end of which is affixed a bracket 136 having a clamp 138 to engage the stem and a clamp 142 engaging a sleeve 140 in which is mounted an arm A. The arm is slidably mounted but prevented from rotating by a tongue on the sleeve engaging a groove in its periphery. Pivoted at the end of arm A is a clamp 132 which carries a fork 130 and pilotwheel 128 as well as a bracket 148 which forms a mounting for nozzle N. A vertical hole in bracket 148 accommodates a hose 154 connected to a hopper H containing granular inorganic welding medium the supply of which may be regulated by valve 156. A voltmeter 80, ammeter 82 and speedometer 84 may be included, the latter having a flexible drive 86 from the gear-box housing. If desired, the bracket 50 with the reel and feed mechanism and nozzle &c. assembly may be removed and used as a stationary apparatus with the work moved relatively to it. Separate compressed-air or electric motors may be used to propel the carriage and drive the feed mechanism and arm A may have a spring to urge the pilot wheel assembly laterally with respect to the carriage. Specification 433,723 is referred to.