Tandem arc welding head and a welding arrangement for overlapping arcs to a cold wire electrode

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10994362-B2
Application number	US-201114366018-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 23, 2011
Priority date	Dec 23, 2011
Publication date	May 4, 2021
Grant date	May 4, 2021

Abstract

An arc electric welding head comprising a first contact device housing a first duct for feeding a first electrode and providing electrical contact between a first power source and said first electrode, a second contact device housing a second duct for feeding a second electrode and providing electrical contact between a second power source and said second electrode, said first and second contact devices being electrically insulated from each other, said first and second ducts being parallel.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electric arc welding head comprising:
a first contact device housing a first duct for feeding a first electrode to a weld puddle while providing electrical contact between a first power source and said first electrode; and
a second contact device housing a second duct for feeding a second electrode to the weld puddle while providing electrical contact between a second power source and said second electrode, said first and second contact devices being electrically insulated from each other,
wherein said first and second ducts are parallel to each other and the first duct is separated from the second duct by a first distance which allows a first arc formed between said first electrode and a workpiece on which the weld puddle is formed and a second arc formed between said second electrode and the work piece to have an overlapping region, and
wherein said arc electric welding head further comprises a third insulated duct for feeding a cold wire into said overlapping region, a center of the third duct being separated from a center of the first duct by a second distance that is less than three times a diameter of the first duct and the center of the third duct being separated from a center of the second duct by a third distance that is less than three times a diameter of the second duct so that the first electrode, the second electrode, and the cold wire each operate in the weld puddle.

2. An electric arc welding head according to claim 1 , wherein:
said first contact device is connected to a first retainer element including a first retaining part carrying a first contact plate and a second retaining part carrying a second contact plate, said first and second retaining parts being movable with respect to each other so that a dimension of a gap between said first and second contact plates is adjustable,
said second contact device is connected to a second retainer element including a third retaining part carrying a third contact plate and a fourth retaining part carrying a fourth contact plate, said third and fourth retaining parts being movable with respect to each other so that a dimension of a gap between said third and fourth contact plates is adjustable, and
said first and second retainer elements are separated by an insulating body housing a duct for said cold wire, and said first and second retainer elements being connected via an insulated connection to form an integrated unit.

3. An electric arc welding head according to claim 2 , wherein said insulated connection is a pipe extending through said first and second retainer elements and said insulating body.

4. An electric arc welding head according to claim 1 , wherein said first, second and third ducts are arranged in parallel.

5. An electric arc welding head according to claim 1 , wherein said first and second ducts lie in a first plane and said third duct lies in a second plane which is orthogonal to the first plane.

6. An electric arc welding head according to claim 1 , wherein said first, second and third ducts all lie in a first plane.

7. An electric arc welding head according to claim 1 , wherein said third duct is positioned between said first and second ducts.

8. An electric arc welding head according to claim 1 , wherein said first and second ducts have different diameters for feeding respective electrodes having different diameters.

9. An electric arc welding head according to claim 1 , wherein said first contact device comprises a metallic body in which said first duct is formed, said second contact device comprises a metallic body in which said second duct is formed, and a body of insulating material separates said first contact device from said second contact device, wherein said third duct is formed in said body of insulating material.

10. An electric arc welding head according to claim 9 , wherein said first and second contact devices each abut a respective side of said body of insulating material to form an integral body.

11. An electric arc welding head according to claim 10 , wherein said first and second contact devices include a first essentially semi cylindrical envelope surface forming an outer surface of said welding head, a second essentially flat side abutting said body of insulating material, and an end face at which an aperture of said duct is positioned.

12. An electric arc welding head according to claim 10 , wherein said first and second contact devices are clamped together with said body of insulating material to form a cylindrical body in a lower portion of said welding head at which apertures of said first, second and third ducts are located.

13. A welding system comprising: a first wire feeder for feeding a first consumable electrode, a second wire feeder for feeding a second consumable electrode, a third wire feeder for feeding a cold wire, a first power source connected to a first contact device for providing electrical contact between said first power source and said first electrode, and a second power source connected to a second contact device for providing electrical contact between said second power source and said second electrode, wherein the welding system further includes a welding head according to claim 1 .

14. A welding system comprising:
a first wire feeder for feeding a first consumable electrode to a weld puddle,
a second wire feeder for feeding a second consumable electrode to the weld puddle,
a third wire feeder for feeding a cold wire to the weld puddle,
a first power source connected to a first contact device housing a first duct and providing electrical contact between said first power source and said first electrode, and
a second power source connected to a second contact device housing a second duct providing electrical contact between said second power source and said second electrode,
wherein said first and second contact devices are arranged in an integral welding head so that a first arc formed between said first electrode and a workpiece on which the weld puddle is formed and a second arc formed between said second electrode and the work piece generate an overlapping region, and
wherein said welding arrangement further comprises an insulated duct for feeding the cold wire into said overlapping region, a center of the insulated duct being separated from a center of the first contact device by a first distance that is less than three times a diameter of the first duct and the center of the insulated duct being separated from a center of the second duct by a second distance that is less than three times a diameter of the second duct so that the first electrode, the second electrode, and the cold wire each operate in the weld puddle.

15. The welding system of claim 14 , wherein the first duct and the second duct lie in a first plane and the insulated duct lies in a second plane which is orthogonal to the first plane.

16. The welding system of claim 14 , wherein the first duct, the second duct, and the insulated duct all lie in a first plane.

17. The welding system of claim 14 , wherein the insulated duct is positioned between the first duct and the second duct.

18. The welding system of claim 14 , wherein the first duct and the second duct have adjustable duct diameters for feeding consumable electrodes of different diameters.

19. The welding system of claim 14 , wherein the first contact device comprises a metallic body in which the first duct is formed, the second contact device comprises a metallic body in which the second duct is formed, and the insulated duct is formed in a body of insulat

Assignees

• Raudsepp Hannes
• Esab Ab

Inventors

• Raudsepp Hannes

Classifications

• B23K9/0017 Primary

  using more than one electrode · CPC title

• B23K9/188

  making use of several electrodes · CPC title

• B23K9/1735 Primary

  making use of several electrodes · CPC title

• B23K9/121

  Devices for the automatic supply of at least two electrodes one after the other · CPC title

• B23K9/32

  Accessories · CPC title