Welding ring gauge

A welding gauge for an insert ring on the end of a pipe with a first slide member defining a pipe engaging gauging surface and with a second slide member slidably mounted on a first slide member along a path perpendicular to the path of the gauging surface. The second slide member has a ring engaging recess which projects out over the gauging surface to hold the welding ring in place on the end of a pipe. The slide members can be locked together in any position for adjustment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates generally to holding gauges for use in the welding 
trade and more particularly to a holding gauge for locating and holding an 
insert ring on the beveled end of a pipe while it is tack welded in place. 
Pipes which are butt welded end-to-end typically are beveled so that the 
weld metal fills the groove formed by the bevels when the pipes abut. More 
recently, a consumable insert ring is placed between the pipes when they 
are placed end-to-end and this ring is consumed as the joint is welded to 
become part of the weld metal connecting the two pipes. The location of 
this insert ring on the bevels between the two pipes is critical in order 
for the resulting weld to pass inspection for high pressure use. To hold 
the ring in place while the final weld is made, the ring is initially tack 
welded at several places around the bevel on one of the pipes. Once the 
ring is tack welded into place, the other pipe is placed in position and 
the final weld is completed. There has not been any device heretofore 
which permits the insert ring to be accurately located on the bevel of a 
pipe while it is being tack welded in position. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
These and other problems and disadvantages associated with the prior art 
are overcome by the invention disclosed herein by providing a gauge which 
has the capability of accurately locating the insert ring on the bevel on 
the end of a pipe and to positively hold the ring in position on the bevel 
while it is being tack welded into place. As a result, less time is 
required by the welder to locate and hold the insert ring and the weld 
produced is of uniform quality. 
The invention is incorporated in a gauge which has a first slide member 
that defines a gauging surface thereon. The gauging surface is adapted to 
abut the inside of a pipe adjacent its end to locate the first slide 
member on the pipe. A second slide member is slidably mounted on the first 
slide member for movement generally normal to the gauging surface so that 
a portion of the second slide member can project out over the beveled end 
of the pipe when the first slide member is abutting the inside surface of 
the pipe. That portion of the second slide member which projects over the 
end of the pipe is provided with a holding recess that will engage the 
insert ring to locate it on the bevel on the pipe. The second slide member 
is equipped with a handle that can be manually grasped and is oriented so 
that the force exerted on the handle will be directed on the insert ring 
generally coaxial with the length of the side wall of the pipe. Locking 
means is provided for adjustably affixing the first and second slide 
members with respect to each other so that the distance that the recess is 
located from the gauging surface can be changed to permit the insert ring 
to be located in different positions along the surface of the bevel. 
Locking means is also provided with a holder to hold accessories that may 
be used in tack welding the ring to the bevel on the pipe such as a purge 
lense to keep the welding area purged of air during the welding process. 
These and other features and advantages of the invention disclosed herein 
will become more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed 
description and accompanying drawings wherein like characters of reference 
designate corresponding parts throughout the several views and in which:

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the invention is 
incorporated in a gauge 10. The gauge 10 includes a first slide member 11 
which slidably mounts a slide assembly 12 thereon. A locking component 14 
is provided which can selectively fix the first slide member and slide 
assembly relative to each other so that the gauge 10 can be used to locate 
a welding insert ring as will become more apparent. 
The first slide member 11 is abutted against the side of the pipe adjacent 
the end thereof while the slide assembly 12 is adjusted relative to the 
first slide member 11 so that it overlies the bevel on the end of the 
pipe. The workman can then hold the insert ring in position on the bevel 
as will become more apparent. 
The first slide member 11 is an L-shaped member with a slide leg 15 
connected at one end to a gauging leg 16 integral with the slide leg 15 
and projecting outwardly from the slide leg 15 generally perpendicular 
thereto. A gauging surface 18 is defined along the projecting side edge of 
the gauging leg 16. The gauging surface 18 is designed to rest against the 
inside surface of the pipe wall so as to locate the gauge 10 with respect 
to the pipe. In use, the gauging leg 16 is located so that it is generally 
parallel to the centerline of the pipe. This places the slide leg 15 so 
that it is generally perpendicular to the centerline of the pipe. The 
outwardly projecting edge of the slide leg 15 defines a slide surface 19 
thereon oriented perpendicular to the gauging surface 18 and adapted to 
slidably support the slide assembly 12 as will become more apparent. 
The slide assembly 12 includes a second slide member 20 which is also 
L-shaped. Slide member 20 has a slide leg 21 corresponding generally to 
the slide leg 15 on the first slide member 11. The slide leg 21 defines a 
slide surface 22 which cooperates with the slide surface 19 on the first 
slide member 11 so that the first and second slide members can slide with 
respect to each other. This causes the second slide member to move along 
the path perpendicular to the gauging surface 18. The second slide member 
20 also has a handle leg 24 integral with that end of the slide leg 21 in 
the vicinity of the gauging leg 16 and projects outwardly from the slide 
leg 21 in a direction opposite to the direction in which the gauging leg 
16 extends from the slide leg 15 on the first slide member 11. The outer 
projecting end of the handle leg 24 mounts a handle 25 thereon. The outer 
projecting corner of the juncture between slide leg 21 and handle leg 24 
is provided with a ring recess 26 which opens onto the slide surface 22. A 
cutout 28 is provided along the outwardly facing side edge of the handle 
leg 24 which opens into the ring recess 26. The insert recess 28 is 
designed to receive a replaceable insert 29 therein with the projecting 
end of the insert 29 adjacent the ring recess 26 forming a continuation 
thereof so that the ring recess 26 is completed by the insert 29 and has a 
generally semi-circular shape as best seen in FIG. 1. 
An attachment screw 30 passes through the insert 29 and is threaded into 
the handle leg 24 to hold the insert in place in use. Because the welding 
takes place close to this portion of the gauge, it is necessary to 
periodically replace the insert 29 as the end of the insert 29 is burned 
away. 
From FIG. 1, it will be seen that the ring recess 26 can be shifted toward 
and away from the gauging surface 18 along a path of movement 
perpendicular to the gauging surface 18. The size and shape of the ring 
recess 26 is selected to conform to the cross-sectional shape of the 
insert ring being tack welded onto the bevel of the pipe. A pair of 
indicator dots 31 are illustrated in FIG. 1 on the slide leg 15 adjacent 
the slide surface 19 thereon. These indicator dots 31 are located so that 
the insert ring is located in different positions on the end of the pipe 
by moving the projecting end of the second slide member 20 so that it 
lines up with a selected one of the dots. 
The locking component 14 is a tubular member defining a passage 
therethrough with a cross-sectional shape and size to just slidably 
receive the two slide legs 15 and 21 of the slide members 11 and 20 
therethrough as best seen in FIG. 2. This holds the two slide members 
coplanar with each other as they slide back and forth with respect to each 
other. A locking screw 32 is threaded through the locking component 14 to 
engage the slide leg 21 on the second slide member 20 as best seen in 
FIGS. 1 and 2 so that the two slide members can be locked with respect to 
each other as the screw is tightened. Loosening the screw permits the 
slide members to again be adjusted with respect to each other. 
When it is desirable to use a purge lense with the gauge, a clip member 34 
is provided which can be attached to the side of the locking component 14 
as best illustrated in FIG. 4 using attachment screw 35. The clip member 
24 has an opening through it so that the purge lense can be inserted 
therein and adjusted to a desired position relative to the ring holding 
recess 26 in the slide assembly 12. A locking screw 36 is provided for 
locking the purge lense in place in the clip during use.