GB1458116A - Arc welding device - Google Patents

Abstract

1458116 Welding by fusion WELDING SPECIALITIES Inc 30 April 1974 18847/74 Heading B3R [Also in Division H5] In a MIG or TIG welding gun, the gun barrel comprises the end of a welding current conducting cable assembly 1, an end of the cable assembly having secured thereto a terminal fitting 9 for accepting a contact tube or electrode, and a handle 3 being secured about the cable assembly at a position spaced from said fitting. In the MIG gun shown, the cable assembly 1 comprises a hollow current conductor 7 of copper strands preferably in a plurality of opposite handed wound layers, an outer insulating sheath 8, e.g. of neoprene or silicone rubber, and a flexible inner, consumable electrode feed, tube 6, e.g. smooth walled or coiled. An end fitting 9 has a sleeve portion 12 interposed between the sheath 8 and the conductor 7 and secured to the latter as by swaging or brazing. A nozzle support insulating sleeve 13 is secured over the end of the sheath 8 and carries a replaceable gas nozzle 14. An electrode contact tube 15 is threaded into the fitting 9, and current conduction at the threaded connection may be improved by use of a conductive gel. The handle 3, e.g. of circular or oval crosssection, is mounted on the cable assembly by means of a block 17 which also carries a gas supply tube 16 having one end adapted to receive a gas supply hose 18 and the other end secured to the sleeve 13 so as to feed shielding gas into the latter and hence into the nozzle 14. The handle may carry a trigger switch 4 in a welding current control line. The gas supply tube 16 may be rigid or flexible to enable provision of, respectively, a rigid or a flexible adjustable nozzle end. An interference fit of say 0À005 to 0À200 inch between the sheath 8 and the conductor 7 provides a construction of cable assembly enabling the latter to be bent into, and remain in, a desired configuration. In the TIG gun of Fig. 3 (not shown), a tungsten electrode (15<SP>1</SP>) replaces the contact tube 15, the tube 6 is used for gas feeding, with the fitting 9 being suitably ported, and, where a rigid nozzle end is required, a retaining rod (16<SP>1</SP>) or suitable configuation secures the block 17 and the sleeve 13 together in place of the tube 16. Filler rod or wire may be fed exteriorly of the nozzle. The guns may have interchangeable gas supply tubes 16 or nozzle end retaining rods (16<SP>1</SP>). Barrel length may be adjusted by movement of the block 17.