U.S. patent application number 13/671865 was filed with the patent office on 2013-08-15 for wire handling facilitator.
This patent application is currently assigned to ALCOTEC WIRE CORPORATION. The applicant listed for this patent is AlcoTec Wire Corporation. Invention is credited to Thomas W. Burns.
Application Number | 20130206892 13/671865 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47289031 |
Filed Date | 2013-08-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130206892 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Burns; Thomas W. |
August 15, 2013 |
Wire Handling Facilitator
Abstract
A wire handling facilitator in the form of a backpack. An
apparatus that is useful for handling small rolls of wire that is
to be welded into channels of metal surfaces.
Inventors: |
Burns; Thomas W.; (Traverse
City, MI) |
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Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
AlcoTec Wire Corporation; |
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|
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
ALCOTEC WIRE CORPORATION
Traverse City
MI
|
Family ID: |
47289031 |
Appl. No.: |
13/671865 |
Filed: |
November 8, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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13371662 |
Feb 13, 2012 |
8328070 |
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13671865 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
242/421 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B23K 9/124 20130101;
B65H 49/322 20130101; B23K 9/32 20130101; B65H 59/36 20130101; B65H
51/10 20130101; B23K 9/1333 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
242/421 |
International
Class: |
B65H 23/06 20060101
B65H023/06 |
Claims
1. A portable wire handling facilitator, comprising: a housing; a
spool rotatably mounted within the housing, the spool configured to
receive a quantity of wire; a guide wheel rotatably mounted within
the housing adjacent the spool, the guide wheel configured to
receive the wire from the spool and to direct the wire to first and
second drive wheels; and a brake configured to provide a braking
action on the spool, the brake having a first end coupled to the
guide wheel and a second end contacting an edge surface of the
spool to provide a snubbing action on the spool.
2. The portable wire handling facilitator of claim 1, wherein the
brake comprises a brake lever coupled to the guide wheel.
3. The portable wire handling facilitator of claim 1, further
comprising a spring coupled between the brake and the housing.
4. The portable wire handling facilitator of claim 1, wherein the
first and second drive wheels are configured to pull the wire from
the spool and to direct it out of the housing.
5. The portable wire handling facilitator of claim 1, further
comprising a drive housing enclosing the first and second drive
wheels.
6. The portable wire handling facilitator of claim 5, further
comprising a bushing mounted to the drive housing, the bushing
positioned to receive the wire from the spool and to guide it to
the first and second drive wheels.
7. The portable wire handling facilitator of claim 1, wherein the
housing is sized and configured to enable it to be carried by a
user.
8. The portable wire handling facilitator of claim 1, further
comprising at least one belt loop ring attached to the housing for
attachment of a work belt.
9. A wire handling facilitator, comprising: a housing; a spool
rotatably mounted within the housing, the spool configured to
receive a quantity of wire; a brake lever having a first end
coupled to the guide wheel and a second end contacting an edge
surface of the spool to provide a snubbing action on the spool, the
brake lever configured to brake rotation of the spool; and a guide
wheel coupled to the brake, the guide wheel configured to receive
the wire from the spool and to direct the wire to first and second
drive wheels; wherein the first and second drive wheels are
configured to pull the wire from the spool and to direct it out of
the housing.
10. The wire handling facilitator of claim 9, further comprising a
spring coupled between the brake lever and the housing.
11. The wire handling facilitator of claim 9, further comprising a
drive housing enclosing the first and second drive wheels, the
drive housing further comprising first and second idler wheels, the
idler wheels for receiving the wire from the first and second drive
wheels and for directing the wire out of the drive housing.
12. The wire handling facilitator of claim 11, further comprising a
first bushing mounted to the drive housing, the first bushing
positioned to receive the wire from the guide wheel and to guide
the wire to the first and second drive wheels.
13. The wire handling facilitator of claim 12, further comprising a
second bushing mounted to the drive housing, the second bushing
positioned to receive the wire from the first and second idler
wheels and to direct the wire out of the drive housing.
14. The wire handling facilitator of claim 9, wherein the housing
is sized and configured to be carried by a user.
15. The wire handling facilitator of claim 9, further comprising at
least one belt loop ring attached to the housing for attaching to a
work belt.
16. A portable wire handling facilitator, comprising: a spool
rotatably mounted within a housing, the spool configured to receive
a quantity of wire; a brake coupled at one end to the guide wheel,
the brake having an opposite end for contacting an edge surface of
the spool to provide a snubbing action on the spool to adjust
rotation of the spool; and a guide wheel configured to receive the
wire from the spool and to direct the wire to first and second
drive wheels, the guide wheel being coupled to an end of the brake;
wherein the first and second drive wheels are configured to pull
the wire from the spool.
17. The portable wire handling facilitator of claim 16, further
comprising a drive housing, the drive housing enclosing the first
and second drive wheels and first and second idler wheels, wherein
the idler wheels are configured to receive the wire from the first
and second drive wheels and to direct the wire out of the drive
housing.
18. The portable wire handling facilitator of claim 16, further
comprising a first bushing mounted to the drive housing, the first
bushing positioned to receive the wire from the guide wheel and to
guide it to the first and second drive wheels.
19. The portable wire handling facilitator of claim 18, further
comprising a second bushing mounted to the drive housing, the
second bushing positioned to direct the wire out of the drive
housing.
20. The portable wire handling facilitator of claim 16, wherein the
housing is sized and configured to be carried by a user.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This is a Continuation Application of U.S. patent
application Ser. 13/371,662 filed Feb. 13, 2012, the entirety of
which application is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention deals with an apparatus that is useful for
handling small segments of wire that is to be welded. Coiled wire
is commercially packed, shipped and stored in a coiled
configuration, most of the time using a storage container. However,
this packed commercial wire is usually packed in large quantities,
that is, many hundreds of feet which cannot be carried by any
workman.
[0003] There exists equipment that is useful for handling large
quantities of stored wire when used in a welding apparatus. Such
equipment can be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No.
12/931,007, filed Jan. 21, 2011 in the name of Thomas W. Burns, the
inventor in this patent application.
[0004] What is disclosed and claimed herein is a small device that
allows one to carry a small quantity of wire along with the
equipment to feed the wire into a welding apparatus. In use for
welding, where the wire is fed to a welding gun, the wire enters
the gun through the rear of the gun and is subjected to electrical
energy wherein it melts and is placed into channels in the metal to
be welded to form a weld bead. Even with small quantities of wire,
if not controlled, the wire, upon leaving the tip of the welding
gun, and before it is melted, typically bends in any given
direction and does not lay into the channel to form the bead. Thus,
one is forced to use very short segments of wire (which do not
retain the cast of the coiled wire), or the wire is short enough
that it can be hand bent to get rid of the wire cast and provide a
straight piece of wire.
[0005] Even in longer segments, the wire, if not controlled; tends
to re-coil, that is, attempts to resume its original cast, or bends
out of linearity and causes disruptions in the equipment, which
causes a disruption of the welding process and a possible shutdown
of the equipment for repair. It also provides snarled and bent wire
which is useless for re-use and is costly to replace.
[0006] Thus, what is disclosed and claimed herein is a wire
handling facilitator in the form of a backpack. The wire handling
facilitator comprises a housing having a front, a back, and a
central wrap around side wall joining the back. The front is a
hinged door.
[0007] Located and supported within the housing is a spool. The
spool has a centered first axle having a distal end and a near end.
The first axle is supported at the distal end by attachment to an
inside back wall surface. The near end has detachedly attached to
it, a spool retainer.
[0008] There is an alignment wheel mounted on a second axle,
wherein a distal end of the second axle is fixedly attached to the
inside back wall surface. There is a brake pedal having a near end
and a distal end wherein the near end has a first opening in it.
The brake pedal is mounted on the second axle through the first
opening, there being a second opening near the near end of the
brake pedal. The second opening has a near end of a tension spring
detachedly attached to it, wherein the opposite end of the tension
spring is detachedly attached to the wire handling facilitator
housing nearby.
[0009] The alignment wheel is aligned to receive a wire from the
spool in an outer groove of the alignment wheel. There is a wire
drive puller and driver (drive rollers, drive wheels). The wire
drive puller and driver is comprised of a housing having a front
wall and a back wall.
[0010] There is a first opening in the front wall and a second
opening in the back wall, each of the first opening and the second
opening has a guide bushing inserted in it. There is a set of two
drive rollers each having a centered axle, and an outside
circumference, the set of drive rollers being vertically aligned
with the alignment wheel and the drive rollers are vertically
aligned with each other. The drive rollers are in close proximity
to each other at the respective outside circumferences. There is a
means of controlling the drive roller tensions.
[0011] There is a set of two idler rollers each having a centered
axle and an outside circumference wherein the set of idler rollers
is aligned with the alignment wheel and vertically aligned with
each other. The idler rollers are in close proximity to each other
at the outside circumferences. There is a means of controlling the
speed of rotation of the drive rollers along with a drive motor
attached to the drive rollers for powering and driving the drive
rollers.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] The accompanying drawings illustrate preferred embodiments
of the disclosed method so far devised for the practical
application of the principles thereof, and in which:
[0013] FIG. 1 is a full side view of a device of this
invention.
[0014] FIG. 2 is a full back view of a device of this
invention.
[0015] FIG. 3 is a full front view of a device of this
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] Turning now to FIG. 1, which is a full side view of a device
1 of this invention, there is shown a housing 2 which is comprised
of a front 3, a back 4, and a central wrap around side wall 5
joining the back 4. The front 3 is comprised of a hinged door held
in place and moveable for opening by hinges 6. The number of hinges
6 is not critical, as long as they will hold the door in place and
allow opening of the door without interference. The number of
hinges 6 in FIG. 1 is shown as three. The shape of the housing 2 is
also not critical. The back 4 of the housing 2 is configured
essentially according to the configuration of the front 3. The
housing 2 is held together by attachment to the wrap around side
wall 5 which is shown in FIG. 2.
[0017] There is a spool 7 that is supported on the back wall 4 by
an axle assembly 8. There is a retainer 9 for the spool 7 on the
axle 8.
[0018] There is a wire speed adjustment assembly 12 on the outside
surface of the wrap around side wall 5 which controls the speed of
any wire 15 (shown in phantom in FIG. 1) being unspooled from the
spool 7.
[0019] There is a fastener 13 for the front door and two belt loop
rings 14 for attachment to a workman's belt. This allows the
workman to handle the device 1 and its wire without having to use
his hands.
[0020] There is an in-line guide wheel 16 that gathers the wire 15
as it moves from the spool 7 and guides it into the drive wheels 17
and the idler wheels 18 in the drive wheel housing 19. There is a
bushing 20 in the front wall 21 of the drive wheel housing 19 that
accommodates the efficient transport of the wire 14 to the drive
wheels 17 and the idler wheels 18. There is also a bushing 22 in
the back wall 23 of the housing 19 to accommodate the transport of
the wire 15 out of the back of the device 1.
[0021] The guide wheel 16 has rotatably attached to the axle 25, a
brake 26, which extends to the edge surface of the spool 7 and
provides a braking or snubbing action on the spool 7 such that the
wire 15 does not unwind and snarl. The brake 25 has a tensioning
device 27, which is comprised of a spring 28 that is attached to
the brake 25 and the opposite end is attached to the wrap around
side 2.
[0022] Turning now to FIGS. 2 and 3, which are respectively, a full
wraparound back side of the device 1 and a full wraparound front
side view of the device 1, there is shown housing 2, the front 3,
the back 4, the wrap around side 5, the hinges 6, the spool 7, the
axle assembly 8, the retainer 9 for the spool 7, guide pins 10 for
the spool 7, wire spool speed control 12, the fastener 13 for the
front 3, the belt loop ring 14, the wire 15, the guide wheel 16,
the idler wheels 18, the drive wheel housing 19, the bushing 22, in
the back wall 23 of housing 19, and in addition, there is shown the
motor 29 which drives the drive wheels 17. The designation 30
denotes a drive wheel tensioning device that allows for tensioning
the drive wheels 17.
[0023] Shown in FIG. 1 is a portion of the power and gas supply
assembly 31 that goes to the welding gun (not shown). This supply
assembly contains the electrical power for the gun and also the
inert gas supply that is required on such guns. The inert gases
usually consist of a gas selected from the group consisting of
argon, helium, and carbon dioxide.
[0024] The drive wheels 17 pull the wire 15 from the spool 7 and
feed it through the idler wheels 18 and then through the bushing 22
and thence into the back end of a gun equipped to weld the wire
into grooves and seams for work product to be welded.
[0025] While the present invention has been disclosed with
reference to certain embodiments, numerous modifications,
alterations and changes to the described embodiments are possible
without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as
defined in the appended claims. Accordingly, it is intended that
the present invention not be limited to the described embodiments,
but that it has the full scope defined by the language of the
following claims, and equivalents thereof.
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