Patent Abstract:
A wire handling facilitator in the form of a backpack. An apparatus that is useful for handling small rolls of wire that is to be welded into channels of metal surfaces.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This is a Continuation Application of U.S. patent application Ser. 13/371,662 filed Feb. 13, 2012, the entirety of which application is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention deals with an apparatus that is useful for handling small segments of wire that is to be welded. Coiled wire is commercially packed, shipped and stored in a coiled configuration, most of the time using a storage container. However, this packed commercial wire is usually packed in large quantities, that is, many hundreds of feet which cannot be carried by any workman. 
         [0003]    There exists equipment that is useful for handling large quantities of stored wire when used in a welding apparatus. Such equipment can be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/931,007, filed Jan. 21, 2011 in the name of Thomas W. Burns, the inventor in this patent application. 
         [0004]    What is disclosed and claimed herein is a small device that allows one to carry a small quantity of wire along with the equipment to feed the wire into a welding apparatus. In use for welding, where the wire is fed to a welding gun, the wire enters the gun through the rear of the gun and is subjected to electrical energy wherein it melts and is placed into channels in the metal to be welded to form a weld bead. Even with small quantities of wire, if not controlled, the wire, upon leaving the tip of the welding gun, and before it is melted, typically bends in any given direction and does not lay into the channel to form the bead. Thus, one is forced to use very short segments of wire (which do not retain the cast of the coiled wire), or the wire is short enough that it can be hand bent to get rid of the wire cast and provide a straight piece of wire. 
         [0005]    Even in longer segments, the wire, if not controlled; tends to re-coil, that is, attempts to resume its original cast, or bends out of linearity and causes disruptions in the equipment, which causes a disruption of the welding process and a possible shutdown of the equipment for repair. It also provides snarled and bent wire which is useless for re-use and is costly to replace. 
         [0006]    Thus, what is disclosed and claimed herein is a wire handling facilitator in the form of a backpack. The wire handling facilitator comprises a housing having a front, a back, and a central wrap around side wall joining the back. The front is a hinged door. 
         [0007]    Located and supported within the housing is a spool. The spool has a centered first axle having a distal end and a near end. The first axle is supported at the distal end by attachment to an inside back wall surface. The near end has detachedly attached to it, a spool retainer. 
         [0008]    There is an alignment wheel mounted on a second axle, wherein a distal end of the second axle is fixedly attached to the inside back wall surface. There is a brake pedal having a near end and a distal end wherein the near end has a first opening in it. The brake pedal is mounted on the second axle through the first opening, there being a second opening near the near end of the brake pedal. The second opening has a near end of a tension spring detachedly attached to it, wherein the opposite end of the tension spring is detachedly attached to the wire handling facilitator housing nearby. 
         [0009]    The alignment wheel is aligned to receive a wire from the spool in an outer groove of the alignment wheel. There is a wire drive puller and driver (drive rollers, drive wheels). The wire drive puller and driver is comprised of a housing having a front wall and a back wall. 
         [0010]    There is a first opening in the front wall and a second opening in the back wall, each of the first opening and the second opening has a guide bushing inserted in it. There is a set of two drive rollers each having a centered axle, and an outside circumference, the set of drive rollers being vertically aligned with the alignment wheel and the drive rollers are vertically aligned with each other. The drive rollers are in close proximity to each other at the respective outside circumferences. There is a means of controlling the drive roller tensions. 
         [0011]    There is a set of two idler rollers each having a centered axle and an outside circumference wherein the set of idler rollers is aligned with the alignment wheel and vertically aligned with each other. The idler rollers are in close proximity to each other at the outside circumferences. There is a means of controlling the speed of rotation of the drive rollers along with a drive motor attached to the drive rollers for powering and driving the drive rollers. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    The accompanying drawings illustrate preferred embodiments of the disclosed method so far devised for the practical application of the principles thereof, and in which: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  is a full side view of a device of this invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a full back view of a device of this invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a full front view of a device of this invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]    Turning now to  FIG. 1 , which is a full side view of a device  1  of this invention, there is shown a housing  2  which is comprised of a front  3 , a back  4 , and a central wrap around side wall  5  joining the back  4 . The front  3  is comprised of a hinged door held in place and moveable for opening by hinges  6 . The number of hinges  6  is not critical, as long as they will hold the door in place and allow opening of the door without interference. The number of hinges  6  in  FIG. 1  is shown as three. The shape of the housing  2  is also not critical. The back  4  of the housing  2  is configured essentially according to the configuration of the front  3 . The housing  2  is held together by attachment to the wrap around side wall  5  which is shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0017]    There is a spool  7  that is supported on the back wall  4  by an axle assembly  8 . There is a retainer  9  for the spool  7  on the axle  8 . 
         [0018]    There is a wire speed adjustment assembly  12  on the outside surface of the wrap around side wall  5  which controls the speed of any wire  15  (shown in phantom in  FIG. 1 ) being unspooled from the spool  7 . 
         [0019]    There is a fastener  13  for the front door and two belt loop rings  14  for attachment to a workman&#39;s belt. This allows the workman to handle the device  1  and its wire without having to use his hands. 
         [0020]    There is an in-line guide wheel  16  that gathers the wire  15  as it moves from the spool  7  and guides it into the drive wheels  17  and the idler wheels  18  in the drive wheel housing  19 . There is a bushing  20  in the front wall  21  of the drive wheel housing  19  that accommodates the efficient transport of the wire  14  to the drive wheels  17  and the idler wheels  18 . There is also a bushing  22  in the back wall  23  of the housing  19  to accommodate the transport of the wire  15  out of the back of the device  1 . 
         [0021]    The guide wheel  16  has rotatably attached to the axle  25 , a brake  26 , which extends to the edge surface of the spool  7  and provides a braking or snubbing action on the spool  7  such that the wire  15  does not unwind and snarl. The brake  25  has a tensioning device  27 , which is comprised of a spring  28  that is attached to the brake  25  and the opposite end is attached to the wrap around side  2 . 
         [0022]    Turning now to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , which are respectively, a full wraparound back side of the device  1  and a full wraparound front side view of the device  1 , there is shown housing  2 , the front  3 , the back  4 , the wrap around side  5 , the hinges  6 , the spool  7 , the axle assembly  8 , the retainer  9  for the spool  7 , guide pins  10  for the spool  7 , wire spool speed control  12 , the fastener  13  for the front  3 , the belt loop ring  14 , the wire  15 , the guide wheel  16 , the idler wheels  18 , the drive wheel housing  19 , the bushing  22 , in the back wall  23  of housing  19 , and in addition, there is shown the motor  29  which drives the drive wheels  17 . The designation  30  denotes a drive wheel tensioning device that allows for tensioning the drive wheels  17 . 
         [0023]    Shown in  FIG. 1  is a portion of the power and gas supply assembly  31  that goes to the welding gun (not shown). This supply assembly contains the electrical power for the gun and also the inert gas supply that is required on such guns. The inert gases usually consist of a gas selected from the group consisting of argon, helium, and carbon dioxide. 
         [0024]    The drive wheels  17  pull the wire  15  from the spool  7  and feed it through the idler wheels  18  and then through the bushing  22  and thence into the back end of a gun equipped to weld the wire into grooves and seams for work product to be welded. 
         [0025]    While the present invention has been disclosed with reference to certain embodiments, numerous modifications, alterations and changes to the described embodiments are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims. Accordingly, it is intended that the present invention not be limited to the described embodiments, but that it has the full scope defined by the language of the following claims, and equivalents thereof.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1