GB735707A - Improvements in welding methods and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

735,707. Uniting by fusion. AIR REDUCTION CO., Inc. June 30, 1952 [May 15, 1952], No. 16408/52. Class 83 (4). Welding-apparatus comprises means for supplying heat to the welding zone on a work-piece W to form a weld puddle, means for guiding a filler wire 18 towards the welding zone and for imparting a permanent curvature to the filler wire, and means for operatively connecting said guiding and curvature imparting means to said heating means. The welding head may be supplied by an oxy-acetylene or other gas flame or by an electric arc from an electrode 4 which may be of non-consumable material, such as tungsten or thoriated tungsten. An annular stream of cooling water and shielding gas, such as argon or helium, passes through a nozzle 5 and a handle 3. The filler wire 18 is fed through a flexible insulated sleeve 17 to a wearresistant sleeve 20, e.g. of carbide-bearing metal, mounted in a block 12 which is welded or brazed to a clamp 7 adjustably secured to the body of the welding torch for rotatable, vertical and angular adjustment. Two rolls 24, 34 bend the wire beyond its elastic limit to a curvature which is usually of about 1 inch radius but which may be varied by adjustment of a set-screw 32 mounted at one end of a rocker arm 28 pivotally connected to the block and carrying the roll 34. The latter has a peripheral groove, to ensure that the curvature of the wire lies in the same plane as the axis of the torch. The end of the filler wire forms a bond with the work-piece as it fuses so that the feed of the wire, which normally lies between the speeds of 10 and 90 inches per minute, propels the torch along the seam. The angle between the wire, which may support the entire weight of the torch, and the surface of the work-piece should not be more than 20 degrees and preferably not more than 10 degrees. The bending means may be located at right-angles to the handle 3 to provide a better view of the seam. Specifications 700,659 and 727,484 are referred to.