JP2002001536A - Welding wire feeder and welding wire feed system using it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately judge replacement timing of a wire pack, and easily feed welding wire stored in the wire pack to a wire welding machine side. SOLUTION: A mounting part 6 which is provided in the top part of a wire pack 1 and a mounting part 8 which is provided in the end part of a feed tube 7 extending from the wire welding machine side are hold at the lower part and the upper part of a feeder main body 11a, welding wire W inside the wire pack 1 is nipped between a pair of rollers 13a and 13b which is provided in a wire feed means 12, and sequentially fed out to the feed tube 7 side by rotation of both rollers 13a and 13b. The welding wire W passing through a wire feed path in the feeder main body 11a is monitored by a wire detection means 22, and when passage of the end of welding wire W is detected, a command to encourage replacement of the wire pack 1 is executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a welding wire feeder capable of smoothly supplying a welding wire stored in a wire pack to a wire feeder of a wire welding machine, and a welding wire using the same. Regarding the feeding system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a wire welding machine mounted on a welding machine such as a welding robot, a wire pack is often used as a welding wire supply source since a large amount of welding wire is used continuously. This wire pack contains a large amount (100 to 3) inside a drum-sized insulated.
00Kg) of welding wire.

[0003] The reason why a wire pack is used as a supply of welding wire is as follows. 1) The replacement frequency of the welding wire is reduced, and the replacement work is facilitated. 2) Purchase cost is reduced. 3) Since the welding wire is wound and stored with a relatively large curvature, the welding wire is less warped or bent, so that the welding accuracy is improved and the handleability is good.

[0004] Usually, a wire welding machine is provided with a welding torch, a conduit tube connected to the welding torch to supply a welding current, and a wire feeder arranged behind the tube. Further, a wire pack is connected to the wire feeder via a feed tube, and the welding wire wound and stored in the wire pack is pulled out by a wire feeder and supplied to a welding torch, thereby achieving arc welding. Is performed.

[0005] Arc welding generates strong ultraviolet rays, and when a wire welding machine is mounted on a welding robot,
The welding work area is divided from the viewpoint of work safety, and it is prohibited to enter the welding work area while the welding robot is operating.

[0006] Therefore, the wire pack is a place where it can be exchanged,
That is, it is installed at a place away from the welding work area. For this reason, the distance between the wire feeder provided in the wire welding machine and the wire pack may be as large as, for example, several tens of meters.

In such a case, in order to supply a new welding wire from the wire pack side to the wire feeder, the tip of the welding wire protruding from the wire pack is connected to the feeder connected to the wire feeder. Although they are sequentially sent out through a tube, performing this manually requires a great deal of labor.

[0008] For this reason, there is a technique for feeding a welding wire housed in a wire pack to a wire feeder side by using a feeder (welding wire feeder) as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-19864. Proposed.

In this prior art, an adapter attached to a wire outlet provided on the upper surface of a wire pack and a proximal end of a feed tube connected to a wire feeder are connected to a lower portion of the feeder. The tip of the welding wire, which is connected to the holder provided on the upper portion and is exposed from the adapter, is guided to the feeding tube through a pair of rollers provided on the feeding device.

Then, a pair of rollers are rotated by driving a motor, and the welding wire held between the two rollers is sequentially fed to the feeding tube side. When the tip of the welding wire reaches the wire feeder, Stop the motor drive and stop feeding the welding wire.

[0011]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, the leading end of the welding wire housed in a new wire pack is used for sending out the tip of the welding wire to the wire feeder provided in the wire welding machine. It is necessary for the operator to visually monitor whether or not the welding wire stored in the used wire pack has been used up, that is, when to replace the wire pack with a new one. Therefore, management is complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has an object to provide a welding wire feeder and a welding wire feeding system using the same, which can accurately determine the time of replacement of a wire pack and can facilitate management. The purpose is to provide.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, a first welding wire feeder according to the present invention is a welding device for feeding a welding wire drawn from a wire pack to a feed tube communicating with a wire welding machine side. In the wire feeder, holding means for holding wire guide means extending from the wire pack and the feed tube are provided on the wire drawing side and the wire supply side of the feeder body, and between the holding means. A wire sending means capable of sending the welding wire is provided, and a wire detecting means is provided in a wire feeding path of the sending machine body.

In such a configuration, when the passage of the rear end of the welding wire fed from the wire pack is detected by the wire detecting means provided on the main body of the transmitter, the wire is provided on a new wire pack. Wire guide means,
The wire guide means on the feed tube side is held by holding means provided on the lower and upper parts of the main body of the feeder, and the tip of the welding wire exposed from the wire guide means on the wire pack side is sent out. The wire is guided to the wire guide means on the feed tube side through the wire sending means provided between the two wire guide means of the machine body. Next, the wire feeding means is driven to draw out the welding wire in the wire pack and feed the wire to the wire welding machine through the feeding tube.

In this case, preferably, 1) the holding means has a slider supported so as to be able to advance and retreat with respect to the main body of the sending device, and a holding portion for holding the wire guide means is provided at the tip of the slider. A grip portion is provided at a rear portion of the slider, and the grip portion is opposed to a fixed grip portion formed on the transmitter body.

2) The slider is divided into the wire drawing-in side and the wire feeding side, and one of the grip portions provided on the wire drawing-in slider and the wire feeding-side slider is compared with the other. It is characterized by being formed large.

Further, the first welding wire feeding system according to the present invention uses the welding wire feeder having the above-described structure,
One or more air supply means are connected in a wire supply system path from the wire pack to the wire welder provided in the wire welder at a predetermined interval, and the air supply means in the wire supply path is connected. A backflow prevention member is interposed on the upstream side of the portion where the backflow is performed.

In such a configuration, when air is supplied from the air supply means when the welding wire is fed into the wire feed path, the air is supplied to the downstream side because the backflow preventing member is interposed on the upstream side. It is guided to the side and assists the feeding of the welding wire with air pressure.

In this case, preferably, 1) a wire slack adjusting section is provided in the vicinity of the wire feeder side of the wire feeding path, and the welding wire feeding section disposed on the wire slack adjusting section and the wire pack side. At least one other welding wire feeder is disposed between the wire slack adjusting device and one of the other welding wire feeders is disposed in the vicinity of the wire slack adjusting portion; A wire slack detecting means for detecting a slack state of the welding wire is provided, and when the wire slack detecting means detects a slack amount of the welding wire, each of the welding wire feeders is driven. .

2) The air supply means supplies air for a set time after a set time has passed after the tip of the welding wire is supplied from the welding wire feeder.

3) The delivery speed of the welding wire delivery device disposed on the distal side from the wire pack is higher than the delivery speed of the welding wire delivery device provided on the proximal side of the wire pack. Side.

4) Each of the welding wire feeders is capable of intermittently feeding the welding wire, and the welding wire feeder disposed on the distal side from the wire pack is located near the wire pack. The feed interval is set so that the average feed rate is larger than that of the welding wire feeder disposed on the side.

5) The transmission start timing is set so that the transmission is started in order from the welding wire transmitter on the wire slack adjusting section side to the welding wire transmitter on the wire pack side. I do.

[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention.

1 is a wire pack, in which a large amount of welding wire W is wound and housed between an outer cylinder 2 and an inner cylinder 3, and a conical cover 5 is mounted on the upper part of the outer cylinder 2. I have. At the top of the conical cover 5, an attachment portion 6 such as a screw portion as an example of a wire guide is provided. The attachment portion 6 is formed in a shape that can be connected to an attachment portion 8 that is an example of a wire guide provided at an end of the feeding tube 7.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a welding wire feeder, 11a
Is a transmitter main body of the welding wire transmitter 11. As shown in FIG. 2, a wire sending means 12 is attached to the sending body 11a.
Is housed. The wire feeding means 12 is composed of a drive roller 13a and an idler roller 13b capable of narrowing the pressure.
And the idler roller 13b is
1a, and is rotatably supported by the drive roller 13a.
Are pivotally supported by the swing plate 14.

In addition, a horizontally long roller window 11b for exposing both rollers 13a and 13b is opened at the front of the main body 11a. Further, a wire supply groove 11c and a wire drawing groove 11d which are continuous with the roller window 11b are opened above and below the narrow pressure portion of both rollers 13a, 13b. The upper and lower ends are open.

The oscillating plate 14 includes the drive roller 13
a below the center of rotation of the supporter 1
5, the drive roller 13a is separated from the idler roller 13b by pivoting in the counterclockwise direction in the figure.

Further, a motor 16 is fixed to the swinging plate 14, and the motor 16 is
a through a speed reduction mechanism 17. In this embodiment, the speed reduction mechanism 17 includes a worm wheel provided on the drive roller 13a and a worm gear provided on the motor 16, but is not limited thereto.

A solenoid 18 fixed to the main body 11a is connected to one side of the upper part of the swing plate 14. The solenoid 18 projects downward when in the OFF state. Therefore, in this state, the swinging plate 14 is stopped in a state where it is rotated by a predetermined angle in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 2, and the drive roller 13a is in a state separated from the idler roller 13b.

The motor 16 is capable of normal rotation and reverse rotation, and a forward rotation switch 19a and a reverse rotation switch 19b, which are turned ON only while being pressed, are provided on the transmitter body 11a. Are both switches 19a, 19b
ON / OFF operation in conjunction with.

The holding means 2 is provided at a lower portion of the main body 11a on the wire drawing side and an upper portion on the wire supplying side.
0 and 21 are provided. These holding means 20, 21
Have sliders 20a and 21a,
The sliders 20a and 21a are provided horizontally at the lower and upper portions of the transmitter main body 11a so as to be able to advance and retreat.
1d and the wire supply groove 11c, respectively, and are opposed to the side walls of the grooves 11c and 11d.

The holding portions 20b and 21b are formed in a semicircular shape capable of holding the mounting portion 6 provided at the upper part of the wire pack 1 and the mounting portion 8 provided at the end of the feeding tube 7, respectively. (See FIG. 4).

Further, movable grip portions 20c, 21c are provided at the rear ends of the sliders 20a, 21a, and the movable grip portions 20c, 21c are formed in an L-shape in directions facing each other.

At the rear ends of the sliders 20a, 21a, holding portions 20b, 21b at the front end are provided with grooves 11d, 11d.
springs 20d, 21d constantly biasing in the direction of the side wall of c
Is interposed. The mounting portion 6 on the wire pack 1 side
Needs to be held more firmly than the mounting portion 8 on the feed tube 7 side, so that the spring 20d is
The spring constant is set to a value larger than d.

Therefore, the lower movable grip portion 20c has a wider span of the grip portion so that the lower movable grip portion 20c can be gripped more strongly than the upper movable grip portion 21c.

On the other hand, the movable gripper 2 is provided on the transmitter body 11a.
A grip window 11e for exposing 0c and 21c is formed, and an outer frame portion of the grip window 11e forms a fixed grip portion 11f. The fixed grip portion 11f is sandwiched between the thumb and the forefinger, and the movable grip portions 20c and 21c are gripped in the manner of gripping the grip force meter, thereby holding the grip portions 20b and 20b at the distal ends.
21b can be opened with one hand.

In the path through which the welding wire W of the main body 11a passes (in the present embodiment, the rollers 13a, 13a
The wire detecting means 22 is disposed between the narrow pressure portion b and the wire supply groove 11c). This wire detecting means 22
Is a non-contact sensor such as a proximity switch, a contact sensor using a shutter or the like, a voltage sensor for detecting a voltage applied to the welding wire, and the like. Any device can be used as long as it can detect that the end has passed, and outputs an ON signal while the passage of the welding wire W is detected.

As shown in FIG. 3, a mounting portion 8 is attached to the distal end of the feeding tube 7 via an adapter 24. It is preferable that the feed tube 7 has insulation, flexibility, and low sliding resistance on the inner peripheral surface. In order to satisfy the demand, in the present embodiment, a tube made of a fluororesin is used. Is adopted.

As described above, the distal end of the mounting portion 8 is formed in a shape that can be connected to the mounting portion 6 provided on the upper part of the wire pack 1.
1a is held by a holding portion 21b provided at the tip of a holding means 21 disposed on the wire supply side.

A base 8a protrudes from one side of the mounting portion 8, and an air supply means 25 is connected to the base 8a. Further, a backflow prevention member 8b is mounted on the upstream side of the opening of the base 8a in the mounting portion 8.
The backflow prevention member 8b is for preventing the air supplied from the air supply means 25 from flowing back to the upstream side. For example, a hole for passing the welding wire W is formed at the center of a circle. It consists of a reed valve.

The air supply means 25 is connected to the base 8a. The air supply means 25 has an opening / closing valve 26 attached to the base 8a. An air hose 27 communicating with an air supply source (not shown) is attached to the opening / closing valve 26 via a nipple 28. The opening / closing valve 26 is opened / closed by a solenoid 29 provided therewith.

The distal end of the feed tube 7 is connected to a wire feeder provided in a wire welder (not shown).

Next, the operation of the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described. When replacing the wire pack 1 with a new one, first, a wire drawing groove 11d formed at a lower end of the transmitter main body 11a and a wire supply groove 11c formed at an upper end, and a top portion of the wire pack 1 are provided. Attachment portions 6 and 8 provided at the lower end of the feeding tube 7 are attached.

That is, a fixed grip portion 11f formed on one side of the transmitter main body 11a is sandwiched between the thumb and the index finger, and the wire drawing groove 1 exposed in the grip window 11e.
The movable grip portion 20 provided on the holding means 20 on the 1d side
c, and the movable grip portion 20c is
Pull against the urging force of.

Then, the slider 20a integrally formed with the movable grip portion 20c is retracted, and the space between the holding portion 20b provided at the tip thereof and the side wall of the wire drawing groove 11d opposed thereto is widened. The mounting portion 6 provided at the top of the conical cover 5 of the wire pack 1 is made to face the expanded space.

Next, the gripping force on the movable grip portion 20c is released, and the holding portion 20 is released by the urging force of the spring 20d.
Between the b and the side wall, the mounting portion 6 on the side of the wire pack 1 is held under a narrow pressure.

Similarly, the movable grip 21c provided on the holding means 21 on the side of the wire supply groove 11c exposed on the grip window 11e is pulled, and the slider 21a is
By retracting against the urging force of 1d, the gap between the holding portion 21b provided at the tip of the slider 21a and the side wall of the wire drawing groove 11d opposed thereto is widened, and the feeding is performed in the widened space. The attachment portion 8 provided at the end of the supply tube 7 is inserted, the gripping force on the movable grip portion 21c is released, and the urging force of the spring 21d causes the gripping portion 21b and the side wall to move between the holding portion 21b and the side wall. Is held at a narrow pressure.

In this case, the movable grips 20c, 21c
Since the fixed grip portion 11f is gripped between the thumb and the index finger, the transmitter body 11a is also supported by one hand at the same time.
a is supported by the right hand, and the mounting parts 6, 8 are supported by the left hand.
Can be mounted, and the workability is good.

Since the mounting portion 6 on the wire pack 1 side needs to be held stronger than the mounting portion 8 on the feed tube 7, the spring constant of the spring 20d is set to a large value. For this reason, when the movable grip portion 20c is gripped and the holding portion 20b is expanded, a large urging force of the spring 20d is applied as a reaction force.
Since it is formed with a wider span than the movable grip portion 21c on the wire supply groove 11c side, the holding portion 20b can be relatively easily expanded.

As a result, the mounting portions 6, 8 are vertically opposed to each other via the narrow pressure portion between the pair of rollers 13a, 13b. At this time, the swing plate 14 that supports the drive roller 13a is stopped by the solenoid 18 while being rotated by a predetermined angle in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. It is stopped in a state where it is spread in a predetermined manner.

Next, the tip of the welding wire W, which is exposed by a predetermined length from the mounting portion 6 on the wire pack 1 side, is passed through the space between the rollers 13a and 13b and is mounted on the feeding tube 7 facing the upper side. Guide to section 8 and insert the tip slightly.

Thereafter, when the forward rotation switch 19a is turned on, the motor 16 rotates forward and simultaneously the solenoid 1
8 turns ON. Reduction mechanism 1 by forward rotation of motor 16
7, the drive roller 13a rotates forward, and the ON operation of the solenoid 18 causes the motor 16 and the swing plate 14 supporting the drive roller 13a to rotate clockwise in FIG. And the idler roller 13b narrows the welding wire W.
By the rotation of 3a and 13b, the welding wire W wound and housed in the wire pack 1 is pulled out and sequentially delivered to the feed tube 7 side.

When the welding wire W needs to be sent again,
The reverse rotation switch 19b is turned on to rotate the motor 16 reversely.

If the path length of the feed tube 7 for sending out the welding wire W is relatively long, the air supply means 25 is attached to the base 8a protruding from one side of the mounting portion 8 on the feed tube 7 side. With the solenoid 18 of the air supply means 25
N, the open / close valve 26 is opened, and the air supplied from an air supply source (not shown) via the air hose 27 is discharged into the mounting portion 8.

Then, the air discharged into the mounting portion 8 tends to flow to both the upstream side of the transmitter main body 11a and the downstream wire welding machine.
Since b is provided, the air is supplied in the downstream direction. As a result, the welding wire W fed into the feeding tube 7 is smoothly guided without being bent by the air pressure flowing in the pipeline.

Then, when the tip of the welding wire W reaches a wire feeder provided in the wire welding machine,
The pressing force on the forward rotation switch 19a is released, and the motor 1
6 is turned off to stop supplying the welding wire W. Then, the solenoid 18 also turns OFF, and the swing plate 1
4 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG.
The narrow pressure of the welding wire W by 3a, 13b is released.

When the air is supplied by operating the air supply means 25, the solenoid 29 is turned off to close the opening / closing valve 26 and stop the air supply.

Then, the movable grip portions 20c and 21c are gripped again to release the holding of the narrow pressure on the mounting portions 6 and 8, and the roller window 11b opened at the front of the transmitter main body 11a as it is. , And from the wire supply groove 11c and the wire drawing groove 11d which are opened at the top and bottom thereof,
The welding wires W exposed between the mounting portions 6 and 8 and between them are removed, and the welding wire feeding device 11 is removed.

Next, the mounting portion 8 provided at the end of the feeding tube 7 is connected to the mounting portion 6 on the wire pack 1 side, and the wire feeder on the wire welding machine side is turned on.
Restart the welding operation.

Incidentally, the welding operation may be started in a state where the welding wire feeder 11 is mounted without being removed from between the mounting portions 6 and 8. In this case, both rollers 1
Since the space between 3a and 13b is open, there is no resistance when the welding wire W is pulled in. In addition, since the welding wire feeder 11 is always attached, the passage of the welding wire W can be monitored based on the output signal of the wire detection means 22 and the passage of the terminal end of the welding wire W can be detected.
By monitoring the output signal of the wire detecting means 22 in another place such as a control room, it is possible to accurately determine the replacement time of the wire pack 1 and the management becomes easy.

FIGS. 5 to 8 show a second embodiment of the present invention. For example, in a large-scale factory, when a plurality of wire packs 1 are gathered at one place and the welding wire W is fed from this to a wire welding machine attached to a welding machine such as a welding robot, the feeding is performed. Smooth supply of the welding wire W is likely to be hindered by sliding resistance in the tube 7 or the like.

In such a case, the welding wire feeder 11 described in the first embodiment is provided in multiple stages in the middle of the wire feeding path, and is provided at the end thereof to send out each welding wire. The communication between the machines 11 by the feeding tube 7 enables smooth feeding even when the wire feeding path is long.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, three welding wire feeders 11 (hereinafter, distinguished from the first to third welding wire feeders M1 to M3) are used to form a first welding wire feeder. The transmitter M1 is mounted on the wire pack 1 as in the first embodiment, the third welding wire transmitter M3 is disposed at the end of the feed path, and the second welding wire transmitter M is provided halfway.
2 is connected, and each of the welding wire feeders M1 to M3 is connected by a feed tube 7.

The third welding wire feeder M3 is disposed upstream of a wire slack adjusting section 32 disposed near a wire feeder 31 provided in the wire welding machine. The wire slack adjusting portion 32 is a thin semicylindrical box in which a void is formed by laminating an acrylic board or the like.
A wire slack detecting means 33 is provided on the side where the slack amount of the welding wire W decreases.

The wire slack detecting means 33 turns on when the amount of slack of the welding wire W is insufficient, that is, when the pulling of the welding wire W is started, and turns on the mechanical contact such as a tension switch. Not only those having, but also those detecting the voltage applied to the welding wire W during the welding operation may be used.

By providing the wire slack adjusting portion 32 near the wire feeder 31, the feed amount from the welding wire feeder M3 side and the feed amount of the welding wire W supplied from the wire feeder 31 to the welding torch side are provided. Can be adjusted, and control of each of the welding wire feeders M1 to M3 becomes easy.

The operation of each of the welding wire feeders M1 to M3 is centrally controlled in a control room (not shown) or the like.

That is, during the welding operation, the wire feeder 31 attached to a welding machine such as a welding robot is operated.
From the wire pack 1 side, each welding wire feeder M1 to M3,
Then, the welding wire W is supplied through the feeding tube 7 in a predetermined manner.

At this time, the control device provided in the control room or the like reads the output signal of the wire detecting means 22 provided in each of the welding wire feeders M1 to M3, and detects the passage of the welding wire W at the end. To detect. This process is performed according to a wire passage detection routine shown in FIG.

First, the output signals from the wire detecting means 22 provided in each of the welding wire feeders M1 to M3 are read, and when all the wire detecting means 22 are ON, the routine exits through steps S1 to S3. .

On the other hand, when the wire detecting means 22 of the first welding wire feeder M1 is OFF, that is, when the wire detecting means 22 detects the passage of the end of the welding wire W, it is accommodated in the wire pack 1. Since all the used welding wires W have been used up, the process branches to step S4, where a command for replacing the wire pack 1 with a new one is output to the control room or a related department, and the routine is exited. This routine is repeatedly executed until the pack 1 is set.

At this time, the welding operation has been continued,
Therefore, the end of the welding wire W is gradually advanced in the direction of the wire slack adjusting portion 32.

Then, in response to the replacement command of the wire pack 1, the wire pack 1 is replaced with a new one, and the tip of the welding wire W wound and stored in the new wire pack 1 is connected to the first welding wire. When the wire welding machine M1 faces the feeding tube 7 connected to the upper part through the wire sending machine M1, the wire detecting means 22 of the first welding wire sending machine M1 detects the welding wire W and turns on. Proceed to step S2.

Then, at step S2, the wire detecting means 22 provided in the second welding wire feeder M2 is turned off by the O.
If N, that is, if the passage of the end of the welding wire W before replacement has not been detected, the process exits the routine via step S3, and the wire detecting means 22 detects the passage of the end of the welding wire W and turns off. Wait until.

Then, when the wire detection means 22 provided in the second welding wire feeder M2 is turned off, that is, when the wire detection means 22 detects the passage of the end of the welding wire W before replacement. Branches to step S5, turns on the motor 16 provided in the first and second welding wire feeders M1 and M2 in the normal rotation direction, and exits the routine.

Then, the drive roller 13 connected to the motor 16 provided in the first welding wire feeder M1 is connected.
a, and the welding wire W, which is narrowed between the idler roller 13b, is sent out of the feed tube 7 in the direction of the second welding wire feeder M2. When reaching the second welding wire feeder M2, the pair of rollers 13a, 13b provided on the second welding wire feeder M2 is rotated by the motor 16, so that the pair of rollers 13a, 13b is located between the two rollers 13a, 13b. The tip of the welding wire W is sandwiched and fed into the downstream feed tube 7.

As a result, the second welding wire feeder M
2 is provided with a welding wire W
The routine proceeds from step S2 to step S3 in order to detect the passage and turn on.

At this time, the motors 16 of the first and second welding wire feeders M1 and M2 are returned to the feed operation during the normal welding operation.

Then, in step S3, the wire detecting means 22 provided in the third welding wire feeder M3 is turned on.
In other words, if the passage of the end of the welding wire W before replacement has not yet been detected, the routine directly exits from the routine, and waits until the wire detecting means 22 detects the passage of the end of the welding wire W and turns off. .

When the wire detecting means 22 of the third welding wire feeder M3 is turned off, that is, when the wire detecting means 22 detects the passage of the end of the welding wire W before replacement, step S6 is executed. Then, the motor 16 provided in all the welding wire feeders M1 to M3 is turned ON in the normal rotation direction, and the routine is exited.

When the wire detecting means 22 provided in the third welding wire feeder M3 detects that the terminal of the welding wire W has passed, the terminal of the welding wire W before the replacement is changed to the third terminal.
From the welding wire feeder M3, and the wire slack adjuster 3
2 hangs down.

On the other hand, when the motor 16 provided in all the welding wire feeders M1 to M3 is turned on in step S6, the tip of the new welding wire W is moved from the second welding wire feeder M2 to the third welding wire M3. When the wire is sent out in the direction of the wire feeder M3 and the wire detecting means 22 provided in the third welding wire feeder M3 detects the tip of the welding wire W and turns on, the routine exits and all welding is performed. The motor 16 provided in the wire feeders M1 to M3 is stopped.

As described above, since the welding wire feeders M1 to M3 are arranged in multiple stages in the feeding route of the welding wire W, even if the feeding route is relatively long, the welding wire W cannot be forced. You can send out without. In this case, in each of the welding wire feeders M2 and M3, when the passage of the end of the welding wire W before replacement is detected, the tip of the new welding wire W is sent out immediately thereafter, so The tip of the new welding wire W does not collide with the end of the welding wire W, and the tip of the new welding wire W can be gradually advanced in a state of following the end of the welding wire W before replacement.

In this case, the base 8a protruding sideways from the mounting portion 8 mounted on each feed tube 7
The air supply 25 is connected, and air is fed into the feeding tube 7 in conjunction with the operation of sending out a new welding wire W, or the feeding operation of the welding wire W and the feeding of air are alternately repeated to perform welding. The feeding of the wire W may be assisted by air pressure.

Next, from the third welding wire feeder M3,
A new welding wire W protruding from the tip is drawn out by a predetermined length, and is set in a wire feeder 31 provided in addition to the wire welding machine of the welding machine.

The process of pulling out the welding wire W is described in FIG.
Is performed according to the welding wire feeding routine shown in FIG.

First, in step S11, the output of the feed switch 34 provided near the wire slack adjusting section 32 is read, and the routine is repeatedly executed until the feed switch 34 is turned on, and the feed switch 34 is turned on. When the process proceeds to step S12, the entire welding wire delivery machine M1
Then, the motor 16 provided in .about.M3 is turned on to exit the routine.

When each motor 16 is turned on, a pair of rollers 13 provided in each of the welding wire feeders M1 to M3 is provided.
a, 13b rotate simultaneously, and the welding wire W wound and stored in the wire pack 1 is sent out. The feeding of the welding wire W by each of the welding wire feeders M1 to M3 is continued while the feed switch 34 is being pressed, and when the feed switch 34 is released, the feed switch 34 is turned off, and the routine proceeds to step The process directly exits from S11 and stops the motor 16 provided in all the welding wire feeders M1 to M3.

The operator turns on / off the feed switch 34.
By operating F, the length of the welding wire W pulled out from the third welding wire feeder M3 toward the wire slack adjusting section 32 is adjusted.

Then, the end of the welding wire W before replacement is
After confirming that the welding wire W has come off from the wire feeder 31 provided in the welding machine, the tip of a new welding wire W drawn out to the wire slack adjusting unit 32 is set in the wire feeder 31.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the passage of the end of the welding wire W before replacement is determined by each of the welding wire feeders M2 and M2.
When detected by the wire detecting means 22 provided in M3, immediately after the end of the welding wire W, the tip of the new welding wire W is sent out and made to stand by, and continues to the end of the welding wire W before replacement. Since the tip of the new welding wire W is set to the wire feeder 31 provided in the welding machine, the time for stopping the welding machine for setting the welding wire W basically corresponds to the time required for the welding wire W It is only necessary to set the tip of the welding machine to the wire feeder 31 provided in the welding machine, and the operating efficiency of the welding machine can be increased.

[0093] Then, the welding operation is continued,
When a new welding wire W is sequentially sent from the wire feeder 31 to the welding torch, the slack amount of the welding wire W in the wire slack adjusting unit 32 gradually decreases, and when the welding wire W comes into contact with the wire slack detecting means 33 in due course. The wire slack detecting means 33 is turned on, and the welding wire W
Supply is started.

Since the wire slack adjusting section 32 is provided near the wire feeder 31, unnecessary wire pushing force is applied to the wire feeder 31 side, and an excessive pulling load is applied to the wire feeder 31. In addition, the welding wire W can be supplied to the welding torch at a stable speed.

The supply control of the welding wire W is performed according to a welding wire supply amount control routine shown in FIG.

First, in step S21, the output of the wire slack detecting means 33 is read, and the wire slack detecting means 3 is read.
The routine is repeatedly executed until the wire 3 is turned on. When the wire slackness detecting means 33 is turned on, that is, when the wire slackness detecting means 33 detects the start of pulling of the welding wire W, the process proceeds to step S22, and all welding is performed. The motor 16 provided in the wire feeders M1 to M3 is turned on, and the welding wire W wound and stored in the wire pack 1 is turned on.
Send out.

The motor 16 provided in each of the welding wire feeders M1 to M3 has a lower feed speed than a motor provided on the downstream side of the wire supply path compared with a motor provided on the upstream side. Is set to the high-speed side. By increasing the feed speed of the motor 16 on the wire slack detecting means 33 side, the slack of the welding wire W in the feed tube 7 is eliminated, and the feed tube 7 can be fed straight out. The number of contact points in the inside 7 is reduced, and the welding wire W can be sent out with a smaller load.

In order to easily control the feed amount of the welding wire W, the rotation speed of the motor 16 provided in each of the welding wire feeders M1 to M3 is kept constant, and the average feed amount is determined by the wire feed path. The motor 16 is turned on / off intermittently so that the number of the motors disposed downstream is greater than the number of motors disposed downstream of the welding wire transmitter M1. The adjustment may be made for each of the values M3 to M3. Since the rotation of each motor 16 is constant, not only control becomes easy, but also the structure can be simplified.

In this case, the welding start timing of the welding wire W is sequentially turned ON from the motor 16 on the wire slack detection means 33 side to the motor 16 on the wire pack 1 side, so that the welding wire W on the wire slack detection means 33 side is turned on. To make the feeding tube 7 slack during the first feeding.

Further, when the welding wire W is fed, air may be fed into the feeding tube 7 from the air feeding means 25 after feeding the welding wire W for a certain time.

Then, the flow advances to step S23 to start counting the feed time. When the feed time reaches the set time, the routine exits and the motor 16 of all the welding wire feeders M1 to M3 is stopped.

The feed time is a time required for sending the welding wire W to the wire slack adjusting section 32 and obtaining a sufficient slack amount, and is obtained in advance from experiments and the like.

When the wire slack detecting means 33 is of a type for detecting the voltage applied to the welding wire W, the movement of the contact itself of the wire slack detecting means 33 is mechanically detected, and the wire feed is detected. A defective state may be detected. That is, when the voltage applied to the welding wire W is detected by the electric contact, when the electric contact is moved, it is determined that the feeding is defective, and a warning is issued to the control room or the like to prompt an inspection.

[0104]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the passage of the end of the welding wire is detected by the wire detecting means, the time for replacing the wire pack can be accurately determined, and the management becomes easy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a wire pack and a welding wire feeder according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional front view of the same welding wire feeder.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of FIG. 1;

4 (a) is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 3, and FIG. 4 (b) is a bottom view of a main part of the welding wire feeder.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a welding wire feeding system according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a wire passage detection routine.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a welding wire feed routine.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a welding wire supply amount control routine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Wire pack 6, 8 Attaching part (wire guide means) 7 Feeding tube 8b Backflow prevention member 11 Welding wire sending device 11a Sending device main body 11c Wire supply groove 11d Wire drawing groove 11f Fixed grip portion 12 Wire sending means 20, 21 Holding Means 20a, 21a Slider 20b, 21b Clamping part 20c, 21c Movable grip part 22 Wire detecting means 25 Air supply means 32 Wire slack adjusting part 33 Wire slack detecting means W Welding wire

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A welding wire feeder for feeding a welding wire drawn from a wire pack to a feeding tube communicating with a wire welding machine side, wherein the wire pack and the wire feeding side of the wire feeder body have a wire drawing side and a wire feeding side. Holding means for holding wire guide means extending from the feeding tube; and a wire sending means capable of sending the welding wire between the holding means; and a wire sending path of the sending machine body. A welding wire feeder comprising a wire detecting means. 2. The holding means has a slider supported so as to be able to advance and retreat with respect to the main body of the sending machine. A holding portion for holding the wire guide means is provided at a leading end of the slider. The welding wire feeder according to claim 1, wherein a grip portion is provided, and the grip portion is provided to face a fixed grip portion formed on the transmitter body. 3. The slider is divided into the wire drawing side and the wire feeding side, and one of the grip portions provided on the wire drawing side slider and the wire feeding side slider is compared with the other. The welding wire feeder according to claim 2, wherein the welding wire feeder is formed large. 4. An air supply means or a plurality of air supply means are connected at predetermined intervals in a wire supply path from the wire pack to a wire welder provided in the wire welder, and The welding wire feeding system using a welding wire feeder according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a backflow prevention member is provided upstream of a portion to which the air supply means is connected. 5. A wire slack adjusting section is provided near the wire feeder side of the wire feeding path, and another wire slack adjusting section is provided between the wire slack adjusting section and the welding wire feeder arranged on the wire pack side. At least one of the above welding wire feeders is disposed, and one of the other welding wire feeders is disposed near the wire slack adjusting portion side, and the welding wire slack is loosened at the wire slack adjusting portion. 5. A wire slack detecting means for detecting a state is provided, and when each of the wire slack detecting means detects an insufficient slack amount of the welding wire, each of the welding wire feeders is driven. A welding wire feeding system using the welding wire feeder according to any one of the above. 6. The welding apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said air supply means supplies air for a set time after a set time has passed after the tip of said welding wire is supplied from said welding wire feeder. Welding wire feeding system using a wire feeder. 7. The delivery speed of the welding wire delivery device disposed distally from the wire pack is higher than the delivery speed of the welding wire delivery device disposed proximally of the wire pack. The welding wire feeding system using the welding wire feeder according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the welding wire feeding system is set on the side. 8. Each of said welding wire feeders is capable of intermittently feeding said welding wire, and said welding wire feeder disposed distally from said wire pack is located proximally of said wire pack. 7. The welding using the welding wire feeder according to claim 5, wherein the feeding interval is set so that the average feeding amount is larger than that of the welding wire feeder arranged on the side. Wire feeding system. 9. A transmission start timing is set so that transmission is started in order from the welding wire transmitter on the wire slack adjusting section side to the welding wire transmitter on the wire pack side. A welding wire feeding system using the welding wire feeder according to claim 8.