Patent GB-911538-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in welding torches
IPC: B23K9/028
Filed: 1958-12-18
Abstract: 911,538. Arc torches. FOSTER WHEELER Ltd. Dec. 18, 1958 [Dec. 26, 1957], No. 40911/58. Class 39 (3). [Also in Group XXII] A torch for fusion welding a tube 80 to a tube plate 81 comprises an electrode 67 carried by an electrical conductor tube 27 supported in a housing 10 for connection to a source of current and for rotation about its longitudinal axis and a pilot member coaxial with the conductor tube and insulated therefrom and projecting beyond the end of that tube so that it can be engaged in the tube to be welded and position the electrode for making the weld, the electrode being connected to the conductor tube outside the housing and offset from the axis of that tube so that on rotation of that tube the electrode moves in a circular path about the tube to be welded. The housing comprises a cylindrical electrically-conductive upper section 11 screwed into an insulating intermediate section 12 in turn screwed into an insulating lower section 13. The conductor tube 27, e.g. of copper, within the housing, is connected at its upper end to a counterbore in an insulating block 28 rotatably mounted by a member 33 in a ball bearing 37. A bevel gear 38 is secured to the member 33 by a nut 40 and meshes with a bevel pinion 41 mounted in the housing section 11 and connected to a driveshaft 42 joined by a flexible cable to a rotating source of power. The tube 27 extends to below the lower end of housing section 13 and carries an electrode holder assembly 51 which comprises a bored cylindrical member 52 having an eccentric portion 54 on which is mounted a split collar 58 carrying an electrode 67 in an arm 65. A tubular carrier shaft 70 is mounted within the tube 27, extends upwardly through a bore 48 of an adjusting screw 16 in the top 14 of the housing section 11 and downwardly past the collar 58. An insulating sleeve 71 is fitted between the tube 27 and shaft 70 and secured to the latter and at its upper end engages the lower end of the shank 46 of the screw 16. An adaptor 72 at the lower end of the shaft 70 carries the pilot assembly 79 for entry into the tube to be welded which comprises a bored member 82 having a frusto-conical portion 84 and a threaded portion 85 and over the member 82 a number of longitudinally extending segments 92 held together by resilient rings 92 and 93 and held on the member 82 by a lock-nut 98. Electric current is supplied to the torch by a segmented ring-shaped brush 99 held together on the conductor tube 27 by a spring 107, the brush being connected through the housing to a source of current. A cooling fluid, e.g. water conductor 128 is disposed within the shaft 70 and extends into the bore of member 82, the fluid passing from a supply pipe down this conductor and returns in the annular space between the conductor and shaft 70 to pipe 141. A cooling fluid jacket 143 is arranged about the lower end of tube 27 and is supplied with fluid via tubes 151 connected to the conduits 128, 141. A supply of inert shielding gas is connected to an inlet 109 to flow through passages between the jacket 143 and the housing to an annular passage between a deflector plate 147 and a deflector shield 24. A transparent cylindrical gas shield 160 is secured in a rubber ring 161 to the end of the housing. In operation, the pilot assembly 79 is inserted into the tube to be welded until ribs 94 on the segments 90 engage the tube end, the weight of the torch transmitted through the screw 16, insulating sleeve 71 and carrier shaft 70 causing the segments to expand and grip the tube. The vertical position of the electrode is adjusted by turning the screw 16 and horizontal adjustment may be effected by turning collar 58 on the eccentric 54. The electrode is rotated from the drive shaft 42 and an arc is formed between the tube and the electrode in an inert gas atmosphere to fuse the tube end and tube plate together. Automatic control of the torch may be provided.