U.S. patent application number 17/678842 was filed with the patent office on 2022-09-01 for positive-pressure-sealed container for a weld consumable.
The applicant listed for this patent is Hobart Brothers LLC. Invention is credited to Joseph C. Schneider.
Application Number | 20220274761 17/678842 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000006221682 |
Filed Date | 2022-09-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20220274761 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Schneider; Joseph C. |
September 1, 2022 |
POSITIVE-PRESSURE-SEALED CONTAINER FOR A WELD CONSUMABLE
Abstract
The present disclosure relates generally to a
positive-pressure-sealed container that encapsulates a welding
consumable in order to limit exposure of the welding consumable to
an outer environment.
Inventors: |
Schneider; Joseph C.;
(Greenville, WI) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Hobart Brothers LLC |
Troy |
OH |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000006221682 |
Appl. No.: |
17/678842 |
Filed: |
February 23, 2022 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
63154398 |
Feb 26, 2021 |
|
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|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 77/04 20130101;
B65D 2577/041 20130101; B65D 81/2084 20130101; B65D 81/264
20130101; B65D 81/2061 20130101; B65D 85/04 20130101 |
International
Class: |
B65D 81/20 20060101
B65D081/20; B65D 77/04 20060101 B65D077/04; B65D 81/26 20060101
B65D081/26; B65D 85/04 20060101 B65D085/04 |
Claims
1. A package for a weld consumable comprising: a
positive-pressure-sealed container encapsulating a welding
consumable; wherein the positive-pressure-sealed container is
pressurized using a gas such that the pressure inside the
positive-pressure-sealed container exceeds atmospheric
pressure.
2. The package of claim 1, wherein the positive-pressure-sealed
container is a bag.
3. The package of claim 1, further comprising an outer container
that encapsulates the positive-pressure-sealed container.
4. The package of claim 3, wherein the outer container is a second
bag, a cardboard box, or a bucket.
5. The package of claim 4, wherein the outer container is a second
bag, and the second bag is tear-resistant and poke-resistant.
6. The package of claim 1, wherein the welding consumable is an
aluminum welding wire, a self-shielded wire, a flux-cored wire, a
metal-cored wire, or a filler rod.
7. The package of claim 1, wherein the positive-pressure-sealed
container contains nitrogen, carbon dioxide, or an inert gas.
8. The package of claim 1, wherein the positive-pressure-sealed
container contains an inert gas and the inert gas is argon.
9. The package of claim 1, wherein the positive-pressure-sealed
container contains a desiccant.
10. The package of claim 1, further comprising a pressure indicator
that indicates or is configured to indicate whether the pressure
inside the positive-pressure-sealed container exceeds atmospheric
pressure.
11. A method for manufacturing a package for a weld consumable
comprising: providing a welding consumable and an unsealed
container; encapsulating the welding consumable within the unsealed
container; at least partially sealing the container to produce an
at-least-partially-sealed container; adding a gas to the
at-least-partially-sealed container to increase to above
atmospheric pressure the pressure inside the
at-least-partially-sealed container; and sealing the
at-least-partially-sealed container to produce an airtight,
positive-pressure-sealed container wherein the pressure inside the
container is above atmospheric pressure.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the unsealed container is a
bag.
13. The method of claim 11, further comprising encapsulating the
positive-pressure-sealed container inside an outer container.
14. The method of claim 11, wherein the outer container is a second
bag, a cardboard box, or a bucket.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the outer container is a second
bag, and the second bag is tear-resistant and poke-resistant.
16. The method of claim 11, wherein the welding consumable is an
aluminum welding wire, a self-shielded wire, a flux-cored wire, a
metal-cored wire, or a filler rod.
17. The method of claim 11, wherein the positive-pressure-sealed
container contains nitrogen, carbon dioxide, or an inert gas.
18. The method of claim 11, wherein the positive-pressure-sealed
container contains an inert gas and the inert gas is argon.
19. The method of claim 11, wherein the positive-pressure-sealed
container contains a desiccant.
20. The method of claim 11, further comprising including in the
positive-pressure-sealed container a pressure indicator that
indicates or is configured to indicate whether the pressure inside
the positive-pressure-sealed container exceeds atmospheric
pressure.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims benefit of priority from U.S.
provisional patent application No. 63/154,398, filed Feb. 26, 2021,
which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety
herein.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Before use, welding consumables are at risk of being exposed
to an outer environment. Such exposure can detrimentally affect the
properties of the welding consumable. The environment can affect
the properties of the welding consumable, particularly if the
environment is humid, dirty, and contains hydrogen or oxygen.
[0003] In order to protect a welding consumable from exposure to an
outer environment, weld consumable manufacturers today may place
finished weld consumable products in packaging such as a sealed or
unsealed plastic wrap, a cardboard box, or both. One concern with
these methods of packaging is the limitation in preventing the
environmental elements from seeping through small leakage gaps of
the packaging material and thereby contaminating the consumable.
For example, some weld consumables are placed in a vacuum-sealed
container. Unfortunately, in a vacuum-sealed container, a small
breach or pinhole size opening may create a pathway through the
container, and, with a negative pressure inside the container, a
low-pressure vacuum will pull in gas from the surrounding
environment, which could lead to exposure and contamination.
[0004] As such, there exists a need for weld consumable packaging
that limits or prevents the welding consumable from experiencing
detrimental environmental exposure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
[0005] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a package
for a weld consumable comprises: providing a
positive-pressure-sealed container encapsulating a welding
consumable, wherein the positive-pressure-sealed container is
pressurized using a gas such that the pressure inside the
positive-pressure-sealed container exceeds atmospheric
pressure.
[0006] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a
method for manufacturing a package for a weld consumable comprises:
providing a welding consumable and an unsealed container;
encapsulating the welding consumable within the unsealed container;
at least partially sealing the container to produce an
at-least-partially-sealed container; adding a gas to the
at-least-partially-sealed container to increase to above
atmospheric pressure the pressure inside the
at-least-partially-sealed container; and sealing the
at-least-partially-sealed container to produce an airtight,
positive-pressure-sealed container wherein the pressure inside the
container is above atmospheric pressure.
[0007] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general
description and the following detailed description describe various
embodiments and are intended to provide an overview or framework
for understanding the nature and character of the claimed subject
matter. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further
understanding of the various embodiments, and are incorporated into
and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings
illustrate the various embodiments described herein, and together
with the description serve to explain the principles and operations
of the claimed subject matter.
DRAWINGS
[0008] The following is a description of the examples depicted in
the accompanying drawings. The figures are not necessarily to
scale, and certain features and certain views of the figures may be
exaggerated in scale or in schematic for clarity or
conciseness.
[0009] FIG. 1A illustrates an example welding consumable.
[0010] FIG. 1B illustrates example packaging for welding
consumables.
[0011] FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating an example method for
manufacturing a positive-pressure-sealed container.
[0012] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an example method for
manufacturing a neutral-pressure-sealed container.
[0013] The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed
description, will be better understood when read in conjunction
with the figures. It should be understood that the claims are not
limited to the arrangements and instrumentality shown in the
figures. Furthermore, the appearance shown in the figures is one of
many ornamental appearances that can be employed to achieve the
stated functions of the apparatus.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] In the following detailed description, specific details may
be set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments
of the present disclosure. However, it will be clear to one skilled
in the art when disclosed examples may be practiced without some or
all of these specific details. For the sake of brevity, well-known
features or processes may not be described in detail. In addition,
like or identical reference numerals may be used to identify common
or similar elements.
[0015] One or more specific embodiments of the present disclosure
will be described below. In an effort to provide a concise
description of these embodiments, all features of an actual
implementation may not be described in the specification. It should
be appreciated that in the development of any such actual
implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous
implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the
developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related
and business-related constraints, which may vary from one
implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that
such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but
would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication,
and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of
this disclosure.
[0016] When introducing elements of various embodiments of the
present disclosure, the articles "a," "an," "the," and "said" are
intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The
terms "comprising," "including," and "having" are intended to be
inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than
the listed elements. Furthermore, as used herein, "approximately"
may generally refer to an approximate value that may, in certain
embodiments, represent a difference (e.g., higher or lower) of less
than 0.01%, less than 0.1%, or less than 1% from the actual value.
That is, an "approximate" value may, in certain embodiments, be
accurate to within (e.g., plus or minus) 0.01%, within 0.1%, or
within 1% of the stated value. Likewise, two values described as
being "substantially the same" or "substantially similar" are
approximately the same, and a material that is described as being
"substantially free" of a substance includes approximately 0% of
the substance. The terms "metal-core" and "metal-cored" are used
herein to refer to tubular wires having a metallic sheath and a
granular core, wherein the core primarily includes metallic
alloying powders with low amounts (i.e., less than about 5 wt. %)
of non-metallic components (e.g., slag forming agents, metal
oxides, stabilizers). For example, see ANSI/ANS A5.9 Specifications
for Bare Stainless Steel Welding Electrodes and Rods. As used
herein, the term "non-metallic component" refers to elements and
compounds of elements that are not metals or metalloids (e.g.,
hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorous, sulfur,
halides).
[0017] According to certain embodiments of the present disclosure,
a positive-pressure-sealed container encapsulates a welding
consumable. The welding consumable may be, for example, a spool of
welding wire 100, as shown in FIG. 1A. After manufacturing, the
weld consumable is placed into a container 110, which may be, for
example, a plastic bag, as shown in FIG. 1B. The container is then
sealed to become a positive-pressure-sealed container using a known
clean and/or dry gas source to provide the pressurization. The
container 110 may then be placed into an outer package 120, which
may be, for example, a cardboard box, as shown in FIG. 1B. Multiple
containers 110 may be placed into a single outer package 120.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the
positive-pressure-sealed container could be a bucket or other
packaging, rather than a plastic bag.
[0018] As an example, one could use a pressurized source of inert
gas, such as argon, to pressurize a bag that contains a spool of
freshly-manufactured consumable weld wire. As an alternative to
using an inert gas, one could use nitrogen, carbon dioxide, or dry
compressed air. The bag is then sealed while the inside of the bag
and the consumable weld wire are under pressure, thereby locking in
the clean, pressurized gas. The bag may be sealed while the inside
of the bag and the consumable weld wire are maintained in a
controlled environment, such as an environmentally-sealed chamber,
to limit exposure of the welding consumable to an outer
environment. According to such an embodiment, even if a small hole
is introduced, the positive pressure differential will help to
limit or prevent contamination of the weld consumable contained
inside. Optionally, to provide an extra level of protection, a
second, outer layer of packaging could be added. This outer layer
could optionally also be positive pressure sealed, but would not
necessarily need to be positive pressure sealed. For example, a
positive-pressure-sealed bag is placed into another package such as
a vacuum-sealed heavy duty bag. This heavy duty bag could be tear-
and poke-resistant.
[0019] Alternatively, the outer package could be a cardboard box, a
bucket, or other packaging.
[0020] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the
positive-pressure-sealed container contains a desiccant, such as
silica.
[0021] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the
positive-pressure-sealed container comprises pressure indicator
that indicates or is configured to indicate whether the pressure
inside the positive-pressure-sealed container exceeds atmospheric
pressure. This indicator could be a bubble that expands or
protrudes when the pressure inside the positive-pressure-sealed
container exceeds atmospheric pressure. The indicator could also be
in the form of a meter that is able to display a pressure reading
indicating the pressure inside the positive-pressure-sealed
container.
[0022] The flow chart in FIG. 2 illustrates an example method for
manufacturing a package for a weld consumable 200 in which the weld
consumable is packaged inside a positive-pressure-sealed container.
The method comprises: providing a welding consumable and an
unsealed container 202; encapsulating the welding consumable within
the unsealed container 204; at least partially sealing the
container to produce an at-least-partially-sealed container 206;
adding a gas to the at-least-partially-sealed container to increase
to above atmospheric pressure the pressure inside the
at-least-partially-sealed container 208; and sealing the
at-least-partially-sealed container to produce an airtight,
positive-pressure-sealed container wherein the pressure inside the
container is above atmospheric pressure 210.
[0023] According to certain embodiments of the present disclosure,
a neutral-pressure-sealed container encapsulates a welding
consumable. For example, a newly-manufactured weld consumable is
placed into a container. The container is then sealed to become a
neutral-pressure-sealed container. The bag is then sealed while the
inside of the bag and the consumable weld wire are maintained in a
controlled environment or area, such as an environmentally-sealed
chamber, to limit exposure of the welding consumable to an outer
environment. According to such an embodiment, even if a small hole
is introduced, the neutral pressure will provide an improvement
over negative-pressure-sealed containers, which could "suck in"
contaminants from the surrounding environment. Optionally, to
provide an extra level of protection, a second, outer layer of
packaging could be added. This outer layer could optionally be
positive or neutral pressure sealed. For example, a
neutral-pressure-sealed bag is placed into another package such as
a vacuum-sealed heavy duty bag. This heavy duty bag could be tear-
and poke-resistant. Alternatively, the outer package could be a
cardboard box, a bucket, or other packaging. According to another
aspect of the present disclosure, the neutral-pressure-sealed
container could be a bucket or other packaging. According to
another aspect of the present disclosure, the
neutral-pressure-sealed container contains a desiccant, such as
silica.
[0024] The flow chart in FIG. 3 illustrates an example method for
manufacturing a package for a weld consumable 300 in which the weld
consumable is packaged inside a neutral-pressure-sealed container.
The method comprises: providing a welding consumable and an
unsealed container 302; placing the welding consumable and the
unsealed container in a controlled environment in order to limit
exposure of the welding consumable to an outer environment 303;
encapsulating the welding consumable within the unsealed container
304; at least partially sealing the container to produce an
at-least-partially-sealed container 306; sealing the
at-least-partially-sealed container to produce an airtight,
neutral-pressure-sealed container wherein the pressure inside the
container is at or close to atmospheric pressure 310.
[0025] The method of packaging described in the present disclosure
could be used for any weld consumable, including a variety of
consumable types, such as: wire spools, wire drums, stick
electrodes, or filler rod. The wire could be self-shielded wire,
flux-cored wire, a metal-cored wire, or a filler rod. The method of
packaging described in the present disclosure may be particularly
advantageous in the case of an aluminum weld consumable, due to
aluminum's strong tendency to oxidize and potentially trap hydrogen
and contaminants within the oxidized layer.
[0026] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, when
filling the container with gas, one may take care regarding the
volume of gas inside the container. More specifically, one may aim
to limit the volume of gas added in order to ensure that the
container can still fit into an outer package. For example, where
the container is a plastic bag and the outer package is a cardboard
box, one might limit the gas added to the plastic bag so that the
plastic bag can fit into the cardboard box without causing the
sides of the cardboard box to bulge. According to another aspect of
the present disclosure, one might specifically design the shape of
the plastic bag in order to ensure that it fits into the cardboard
box. Where multiple plastic bags are being placed into a single
cardboard box, it may be even more important to limit the level of
inflation to ensure that the multiple plastic bags can all be
inserted into the single cardboard box.
[0027] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, it
may be advantageous to manufacture the positive-pressure-sealed
container at a lower altitude than a location to which the
positive-pressure-sealed container will later be shipped. This is
because the lower ambient pressure (surrounding atmospheric
pressure) at the higher location will cause a greater expansion of
the gas inside the positive-pressure-sealed container. This may
also mean that one may wish to over-inflate the
positive-pressure-sealed container when manufacturing at a higher
altitude and under-inflate the positive-pressure-sealed container
when manufacturing at a lower altitude.
[0028] While only certain features of the present disclosure have
been illustrated and described herein, many modifications and
changes will occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore,
to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all
such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of
the present disclosure.
[0029] Some of the elements described herein are identified
explicitly as being optional, while other elements are not
identified in this way. Even if not identified as such, it will be
noted that, in some examples, some of these other elements are not
intended to be interpreted as being necessary, and would be
understood by one skilled in the art as being optional.
[0030] While the present disclosure has been described with
reference to certain implementations, it will be understood by
those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and
equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of
the present method or system. In addition, many modifications may
be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the
teachings of the present disclosure without departing from its
scope. For example, systems, blocks, or other components of
disclosed examples may be combined, divided, re-arranged, or
otherwise modified. Therefore, the present disclosure is not
limited to the particular implementations disclosed. Instead, the
present disclosure will include all implementations falling within
the scope of the appended claims, both literally and under the
doctrine of equivalents.
* * * * *