Patent GB-945497-A (GB)
Title: Process and apparatus for welding
IPC: B23K9/028
Filed: 1960-06-09
Abstract: 945,497. Welding by fusion; grinding. ESSO RESEARCH & ENGINEERING CO. June 9, 1960 [July 6, 1959], No. 20289/60. Headings B3D and B3R. Metal members, e.g. plates or pipes, are welded by bringing the members into abutting or near abutting relationship, cutting a gap or groove of depth to width ratio of 3: 1 to 7:1 1 between at least part of the members using combination apparatus adapted to perform cutting and welding and traversing the combination apparatus along the gap or groove to arc weld the members by feeding a consumable electrode into the gap or groove at a rate of 5 . . . 20 times the traversing speed. The cutter is an abrasive disc or saw. The weld is made by gas shielded metal arc welding using carbon dioxide argon or helium or mixtures of carbon dioxide and argon or helium and an electrode wire W, Fig. 9, that is narrower than the gap between the members, the tip of the electrode being maintained below the surface of the members. A portable machine for buttwelding pipes 11, Figs. 3and 4, clamped in end-toend abutment has a crane attachment 12a rigid with a sleeve 12 secured on one of the pipes by centring wedge pairs 13 operated together. An annular frame 14 journalled on the sleeve 12 is rotatable by worm gearing driven by a motor 15. An abrasive disc 41 mounted on the frame 14 and driven by an air motor is movable into engagement with the ends of the pipes 11 so that by rotation of the frame 14 a gap is formed between the pipes 11 equal in width to the width of the disc 41. Welding wire W is fed from a reel 25 through a tube 27 to the welding head H by feed rolls driven through a clutch 22 by a motor 21. A plate 2 to which the welding head H is pivotally attached to allow adjustment of the welding angle in the plane of the seam has slots 25 through which pass pins 3 secured to the frame 14. A roller 4 on the plate 2 runs on the pipe 11 to maintain the correct spacing of the welding head H from the seam, the plate 2 being spring urged towards the pipe 11. Limited movement of the plate 2 longitudinally of the pipes is allowed for under the guidance of spring- loaded pivoted spacing arms 32 which engage in the gap to guide the head H and to maintain the correct gap spacing. Welding is preferably performed by cutting the gap round half the periphery, welding that half, cutting the remainder together with the ends of the welded portion and completing the welding. The welding and cutting may be automatically controlled by cam projections on the sleeve 12 actuating switches on the frame 14. In a modification for welding pipes 11, Fig. 7, secured together by an expanding mandrel 113, the welding head 151 is floatingly mounted as described above on an arcuate frame 133 to which is pivoted an arm 147 carrying an abrasive wheel cutter 141. Motor-driven pinions 137, 137a engage a rack 136 on an arcuate support 131 attached to a clamp 115 fixed on one of the pipes 11. The frame 133 is fully rotatable about the support 131 and carries a wire reel 161 and feed rollers 171. In a further modification for welding abutting flat plates 331, Fig. 12, a carriage 329 supports an abrasive cutting disc 141a, a wheel 330 running in the gap to maintain the correct spacing between the plates 331, and a welding torch 217. The carriage 329 is traversed by a milled surface 335 on the spacing wheel 330.