Patent Publication Number: US-2015075410-A1

Title: Sandwich design welding table

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a class of welding table in general, and particularly to a sandwich design welding table used in welding industry. The present invention comprises a sandwich design metal table top with a matrix of round access holes, angled metal table legs with mounting holes, magnetic tool holders, tool trays and table links. Said matrix of round access holes are made for mounting conventional clamps, work holding and alignment tools. Said sandwich design metal table top comprises two relatively thin but rigid metal plates separated by cylindrical bushings at some locations of the round access holes and welded together by square metal strips along the edges. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Welding tables used in welding industry typically comprises flat table top with a number of round holes for inserting clamping tools. The flat table top is made of relatively thick metal plate so that the clamping tools or other accessories can be inserted to the round holes with enough stability and friction force to clamp the workpiece firmly. Due to the thickness of the metal table top, it will make the welding table comparatively heavy. On the other hand, the round holes on the table top have to be made by precise drilling which is an expensive process in manufacturing. The welding tables are normally rectangular in shape. However, the smallest working area will be one welding table and the form factor will normally be limited to a rectangle. It is the intention of the present invention to overcome these disadvantages. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention comprises a sandwich design metal table top with a matrix of round access holes throughout the surface area. The round access holes are made to the standard diameter so that common clamping tools and workholding accessories can be inserted through them. The sandwich design table top is made of two relatively thin but rigid metal plates of the same size and shape with a multiple number of cylindrical bushings placed in between at some locations of the round access holes to form the effective thickness of a normal welding table top. The two metal plates are aligned and welded together with square metal strips filling the gaps along the edges of the two metal plates. This construction results in a lighter welding table top without the expense of rigidity. The effective thickness of the sandwich design welding table top will offer the same function for the round access holes to hold clamping tools as that of a solid metal plate. 
     Since the sandwich design welding table top is made of two relatively thin metal plates, the round access holes can be manufactured by stamping instead of drilling. Stamping is a cheaper manufacturing process compared to drilling. 
     The cylindrical bushings are placed between the two thin metal plates at some locations of the round access holes only. The round access holes located immediately next to the table top edges are left without the cylindrical bushings so that the empty holes along the edges can be used to hang welding table accessories such as a tool tray. 
     The square metal strips along the edges of the sandwich design table top are equipped with screw holes to mount the stop plates for workpiece holding and alignment. The holes on the stop plates are elongated so that the protruding height of the stop plates are adjustable. 
     The table legs of the present invention are made of angled metal plates instead of sold metal. This reduces the total weight of the present invention and the manufacturing cost also. However, the stability of the present invention remains the same. Table legs are equipped with mounting holes for attaching accessories such as magnetic tool holders. 
     Table links can be used to connect multiple number of the present invention to form a welding platform of larger working area and various shape according to user requirement. Since the sandwich design table top composes of two relatively thin metal plates instead of one thick metal plate, it can be cut to any desired size and shape by laser cutting machine easily. This adds flexibility to the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of a corner portion of the sandwich design table top of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the present invention along section A-A with the addition of a tool tray hanged in the free round access hole; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a corner of the present invention with the stopping plate; 
         FIG. 5  is a side view of the present invention with the magnetic tool holder added; and 
         FIG. 6  is a partial top view showing two of the present invention connected together with the table link. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With the help of the drawings and the detail description below, the features of the present invention will be apparent and fully understandable. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the present invention comprises a sandwich design metal table top  1  having a matrix of round access holes  2  throughout the surface area. These round access holes  2  and  2   a  are made to the standard diameter so that common clamping tools and workholding accessories can be inserted through them. The sandwich design metal table top  1  is supported by a number of table legs  3  equipped with leveling pads  4 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the table legs  3  is made of angled metal plates instead of solid metal in order to reduce the weight of the welding table. Table legs  3  are equipped with holes  5  for attaching accessories such as magnetic tool holders  6  as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the sandwich design metal table top comprises two identical relatively thin metal plates  7  and  8 , one on the top and one on the bottom. Both thin metal plates  7  and  8  are equipped with a matrix of round access holes  2  and  2   a  with the same diameters. Thin metal plate  7  is placed on top of thin metal plate  8  with square metal strips  9  and  10  in between and aligned with edges  11  and  12  respectively. Cylindrical bushings  13  are places between thin metal plate  7  and thin metal plate  8  aligned with some of the round access holes  2 . The inside diameter of the cylindrical bushing  13  is the same as the diameter of the round access holes  2 . Those round access holes  2   a  located immediately next to the edges  11  and  12  of the thin metal plate  8  are free of the cylindrical bushings  13  so that these empty round access holes  2   a  can be used for hanging welding table accessories such as a tool tray  20  as shown in  FIG. 3 . Thin metal plate  7  and thin metal plate  8  are welded to square metal strips  9  and  10  holding all the bushings  13  in between some locations of the round access holes  2 , forming the sandwich design metal table top  1  of the welding table. Those round access holes  2  with cylindrical bushings  13  in between will form the same tooling hole of a conventional welding table and can be used to hold clamping tools and workholding accessories. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , along the outside edge of the square metal strips  9  and  10 , screw holes  14  are equipped. These screw holes  14  can be used to mount the stop plate  15 . Stop plate  15  is an angle metal plate and it is made to have elongated holes  16  along one surface and round holes  17  on the other surface. When the stop plate  15  is mounted to the surface of the square metal strip  9  with screws through elongated holes  16  to screws holes  14 , the protrusion of the upper edge of stop plate  15  above the surface of thin metal plate  7  can be adjusted as necessary by the operator. 
     If the working area of one sandwich design welding table is not large enough, more than one present invention can be linked together by table link  19 .  FIG. 6  shows one sandwich design metal table top  1   a  is linked to another sandwich design metal table top  1   b  by table link  19 . Table link  19  is a rectangular metal plate equipped with six round holes. Table link  19  is fixed to both sandwich design metal table top by four screws  18 . Multiple table link  19  can be used to link multiple sandwich design welding tables together to form a welding table with larger working area. If necessary, the sandwich design metal table top  1  can be cut by laser cutting machine to a smaller size or different shape other than rectangle since the sandwich design metal table top  1  is made of thin metal plates  7  and  8 .