Patent Description:
In pipe or wire billet manufacturing, butt welding is frequently applied to join separate segments of wire billet end-to-end to obtain a continuous wire billet with a desired length. In an existing butt-welding process, two coils of wire billet are manually welded end-to-end with the joint being ground, and then the butt-welded two coils of wire billet are manually flipped to be re-ordered into an integral coil, followed by next round of welding. Since a coil of wire billet is usually heavy and easy to become loose, the manual flipping operation is not only highly physically demanding but also prone to safety hazards.

<CIT> discloses a steel wire, used for re-inforcing concrete, which is made in a rolling mill from a billet. The resulting coil of wire is too short for some purposes, so a device is used to join the ends of two coils. The ends of each coil, the so-called 'hooks', are first cut-off by power shears and then clamped into grooves in the welding head. The clamping electrodes move together, bringing the cut ends into contact with each other, and a weld is made using the 'current-shock' or the burn-off arc method. The welding produces a thickening of burred metal which is removed by cutting edges on the electrodes, as the hot joint is drawn through the head after welding.

In view of the above, conventional wire billet butt-welding methods are not only less productive and highly physically demanding, but also have safety hazards. Therefore, a novel wire billet butt-welding method is provided herein.

To overcome problems of conventional wire billet butt-welding such as high labor intensity, potential safety hazards, and low productivity, the disclosure provides a wire billet butt-welding apparatus, which enables automatic loading, automatic flipping, and automatic discharging; the highly automated level improves work efficiency, and reduces the labor intensity of operators.

The disclosure provides a wire billet butt-welding apparatus, comprising: a rotary plate and a butt-welding stock receiver, the rotary plate and the butt-welding stock receiver being arranged in adjacency, a stock receiving rod being provided on the butt-welding stock receiver, the butt-welding stock receiver being rotatable to enable the stock receiving rod to switch between a butt-welding position, a stock receiving position, and a stock discharging position, a plurality of mounting portions being circumferentially provided on the rotary plate, each mounting portion being rotatable about a central axis of the rotary plate, a stock pushing mechanism being configured to push a coil of wire billet from the mounting portion to the stock receiving rod being provided in a central portion of the rotary plate, wherein the wire billet butt-welding apparatus further comprises a wire billet butt-welder (<NUM>), the wire billet butt-welder (<NUM>) being disposed at the butt-welding position (B), and wherein the stock receiving rod (<NUM>) comprises two rod bodies arranged in parallel at an interval, the two rod bodies being mutually independent and rotatable synchronously about a same axis.

In the above technical solution, the wire billet butt-welding apparatus may realize semi-automatic butt-welding operations; the rotary plate and the butt-welding stock receiver may realize automatic loading, automatic flipping, and automatic discharging, which reduces the manual workload, lowers the safety hazards, improves the production efficiency, and implements the continuous welding of heavy coils.

Preferably, each of the mounting portions is provided with two mounting bars parallel to each other and equally spaced from the two rod bodies.

Preferably, the stock pushing mechanism comprises a stock pushing rod and a stock push driving part, wherein while the mounting portion is rotating, the stock pushing mechanism stays still such that one end of the stock pushing rod keeps facing the stock receiving position, and the stock push driving part drives the stock pushing rod to perform an intermittent retract-extend motion.

Preferably, the butt-welding position and the stock discharging position are distributed at two sides of the stock receiving position.

Preferably, the wire billet butt-welder comprises a horizontal rail and a sliding platform slidingly connected on the horizontal rail, a welding mechanism and a welding-scar removing mechanism which are oppositely disposed being fixed on the sliding platform, the welding-scar removing mechanism comprising a punching part, a grinding part, a sliding rack, and a vertical rail, the vertical rail being fixed on the sliding platform, the punching part and the grinding part being fixed on the sliding rack and slidingly connected to the vertical rail via the sliding rack, wherein the grinding part is disposed below the punching part.

Preferably, the wire billet butt-welder further comprises a stock unloading part, the stock unloading part comprising a stock pulling hook, a stock pulling cylinder, a stock unloading rail, and a stock unloading hook, the stock pulling cylinder being fixed to an upper end of the vertical rail, the stock pulling hook being fixed on an extension rod of the stock pulling cylinder, one end of the stock pulling hook facing an area between the welding mechanism and the welding-scar removing mechanism, the stock unloading rail being mounted at an upper end of the welding mechanism along a horizontal direction, the stock unloading hook being slidingly connected on the stock unloading rail, a movement range of the stock unloading hook being intersected with a movement range of the stock pulling hook.

A wire billet butt-welding apparatus comprises a rotary plate, a butt-welding stock receiver, and a wire billet butt-welder for welding, the wire billet butt-welder comprising a welding mechanism and a welding-scar removing mechanism, the welding-scar removing mechanism comprising a punching part, a grinding part, a sliding rack, and a vertical rail, the vertical rail being fixed on the sliding platform, the punching part and the grinding part being fixed on the sliding rack and slidingly connected to the vertical rail via the sliding rack, wherein the grinding part is disposed below the punching part.

Preferably, the punching part comprises an upper-left punch head, a lower-left punch head, an upper-right punch head, and a lower-right punch head, and the upper-left punch head, the lower-left punch head, the upper-right punch head, and the lower-right punch head punch synchronously to form a circular punching area.

Preferably, the grinding part comprises a C-shaped plate, a grinding rack, a friction wheel, and a sanding belt, the grinding rack being fixedly connected to the C-shaped plate, the friction wheel being provided on the grinding rack, the sanding belt being mounted on the friction wheel, the C-shaped plate being configurable to drive the grinding rack to rotate about an axis of the C-shaped plate, a horizontal movement of the sliding platform and a vertical movement of the sliding rack enabling the welding mechanism, the punching part, and the grinding part to move sequentially to a workpiece position to operate.

Preferably, the grinding part further comprises a grinding clamping fixing portion and a grinding driving portion, the grinding driving portion comprising a drive motor, driving wheels, and a synchronization belt; there are four driving wheels being provided and distributed outside the C-shaped plate, wheel faces of the four driving wheels abutting against an outer sidewall of the C-shaped plate to limit the C-shaped plate, an output end of the drive motor being connected to one of the driving wheels, the plurality of driving wheels being connected with each other via the synchronization belt, a rubber layer being applied over the outer sidewall of the C-shaped plate; the grinding clamping fixing portion is configured to clamp a to-be-ground wire billet, the grinding clamping fixing portion comprising two grinding clamping unit distributed at two sides of the grinding part.

Preferably, the punching part comprises a first clamping assembly, the first clamping assembly comprising a left clamping unit and a right clamping unit, the left clamping unit comprising a lower-left stationary plate and an upper-left movable plate, the right clamping unit comprising a lower-right stationary plate and an upper-right movable plate, the upper-left punch head being mounted on the upper-left movable plate, the lower-left punch head being mounted on the lower-left stationary plate, the upper-right punch head being mounted on the upper-right movable plate, the lower-right punch head being mounted on the lower-right stationary plate, a connecting line between centers of the upper-left punch head and the lower-left punch head being crisscrossed with a connecting line between centers of the upper-right punch head and the lower-right punch head, a V-shaped guide groove being provided on each of the lower-left stationary plate, the upper-left movable plate, the lower-right stationary plate, and the upper-right movable plate, an arc-shaped portion with a same profile as a wire billet surface being formed on a bottom of the V-shaped guide groove.

A wire billet butt-welding method, based on the wire billet butt-welding apparatus described above, including the following steps:.

With this technical solution, the wire billet butt-welding method may realize semi-automatic butt-welding operations; the rotary plate and the butt-welding stock receiver may realize automatic loading, automatic flipping, and automatic discharging, which reduces the manual workload, lowers the safety hazards, improves the production efficiency, and implements the continuous welding of heavy coils.

Preferably, in S5, before the rotary plate feeds the second coil of wire billet to the stock receiving rod of the butt-welding stock receiver, the stock receiving rod is rotated to tighten the wire billet between the first coil of wire billet and the second coil of wire billet.

In the above technical solution, tightening refers to winding the wire billet between the butt-welded first coil of wire billet and second coil of wire billet such that the wire billet being integrally wound on the coil of the first wire billet, which guarantees the integrity of the two butt-welding joined coils of wire billet and avoids the loose wire billet between the coils of wire billet from affecting transportation or being damaged due to collision with other structures during subsequent transportation and processing.

Preferably, in S4, while the second coil of wire billet is being rotated to the stock receiving position, the stock receiving rod is rotated to synchronously tighten the wire billet between the first coil of wire billet and the second coil of wire billet.

In the above technical solution, tightening refers to winding the wire billet between the butt-welded first coil of wire billet and second coil of wire billet such that the wire billet being integrally wound on the coil of the first wire billet, which guarantees the integrity of the two butt-welding joined coils of wire billet and avoids the loose wire billet between the coils of wire billet from affecting transportation or being damaged due to collision with other structures during subsequent transportation and processing. While the second coil of wire billet is rotating to the stock receiving position, it is synchronously tightened. The tightening may also occur when the rotary plate and the butt-welding stock receiver are rotating, preventing loose wire from being bent and damaged, or from being bent by clamping, whereby the product quality may be improved.

In conclusion, the disclosure offers at least the following advantageous effects: <NUM>. By designing a rotary plate and pre-placing a plurality of coils of wire billet on the rotary plate, fast and automatic feeding is enabled via rotation of the rotary plate during the welding procedure, whereby feeding efficiency is enhanced. After two coils of wire billet are welded, the stock receiving rod on the butt-welding stock receiver may automatically flip the coils of wire billet, which reduces the workload of manual flipping and offers reliable flipping, thereby reducing the safety hazards; <NUM>. The disclosure enhances the wire billet butt-welding efficiency; <NUM>. The disclosure enables tightening of the wire billet between the first coil of wire billet and the second coil of wire billet, avoiding the loose wire billet between the coils of wire billet from affecting transportation or being damaged due to collision with other structures during subsequent transportation and processing. The disclosure enables synchronous tightening while the second coil of wire billet is rotating to the stock receiving position, preventing the loose wire from being bent and damaged, or from being bent by clamping when the rotary plate and the butt-welding stock receiver are rotating, whereby product quality may be improved. The butt-welder may simultaneously perform multiple procedures including wire billet butt-welding, welding-scar punching and removal, grinding, and discharging, which simplifies operations and improves the production efficiency. The four punch heads punching synchronously may remove the welding-scars protruding circumferentially from the wire billet welding joints, which enhances the welding-scar treatment efficiency. The wire billet needn't be transported during the operation, avoiding the issues such as time and energy wasted on transferring the wire billet between various procedures, as well as the proneness to be damaged.

Reference Numerals: <NUM>. wire billet butt-welder; <NUM>. horizontal rail; <NUM>. sliding platform; <NUM>. welding mechanism; <NUM>. work station; <NUM>. first straightening part; <NUM>. second straightening part; <NUM>. lower positioning die; <NUM>. upper positioning die; <NUM>. shearing part; <NUM>. punching part; <NUM>. upper-left punch head; <NUM>. lower-left punch head; <NUM>. upper-right punch head; <NUM>. lower-right punch head; <NUM>. first clamping assembly; <NUM>. lower-left stationary plate; <NUM>. upper-left movable plate; <NUM>. lower-right stationary plate; <NUM>. upper-right movable plate; <NUM>. second clamping assembly; <NUM>. lower stationary die; <NUM>. upper movable die; <NUM>. arc-shaped groove; <NUM>. V-shaped guide groove; <NUM>. upper guide plate; <NUM>. lower guide plate; <NUM>. grinding part; <NUM>. C-shaped plate; <NUM>. grinding rack; <NUM>. friction wheel; <NUM>. sanding belt; <NUM>. first drive motor; <NUM>. driving wheel; <NUM>. lower stationary die; <NUM>. upper movable die; <NUM>. third drive part; <NUM>. V-shaped guide groove; <NUM>. sliding rack; <NUM>. vertical rail; <NUM>. stock pulling hook; <NUM> connecting portion; <NUM> movable portion; <NUM>. stock pulling cylinder; <NUM>. stock unloading rail; <NUM>. stock unloading hook; <NUM>. rotary plate; <NUM>. butt-welding stock receiver; <NUM>. coil of wire billet; <NUM>. stock pushing mechanism; <NUM> stock pushing rod; <NUM> stock push driving part; <NUM>. stock receiving rod; <NUM>. mounting bar; <NUM>. mounting portion; A. stock receiving position; B. butt-welding position; C. stock discharging position.

Hereinafter, the technical solutions of the disclosure will be described in a clear and comprehensive manner through example embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is noted that the embodiments described infra are only preferred examples, not the entirety of the embodiments of the disclosure. Other embodiments derived by those skilled in the art based on the example embodiments without exercise of inventive efforts may fall within the scope of protection of the appended claims.

Embodiment <NUM>: Referring to <FIG>, a wire billet butt welding apparatus comprises: a rotary plate <NUM> and a butt-welding stock receiver <NUM>; a stock receiving rod <NUM> is provided on the butt-weld stocker receiver <NUM>; the butt-welding stock receiver <NUM> is rotatable to enable the stock receiving rod <NUM> to switch between butt-welding position B, stock receiving position A, and stock discharging position C; the stock receiving rod <NUM> comprises two rod bodies arranged in parallel at an interval, the two rod bodies being independent from each other and operable to rotate synchronously about a same axis; a plurality of mounting portions <NUM> for placing coils of wire billet <NUM> are arranged along the periphery of the rotary plate <NUM>, the mounting portions <NUM> being rotatable about the central axis of the rotary plate <NUM>, each mounting portion <NUM> being provided with two mounting bars <NUM> which are parallel to each other and equally spaced from the two rod bodies; a stock pushing mechanism <NUM> is provided in the central portion of the rotary plate <NUM>, the stock pushing mechanism <NUM> comprising a stock pushing rod <NUM> and a stock push driving part94. <NUM>; when the mounting portions <NUM> rotate, the stock pushing mechanism <NUM> stays still, such that one end of the stock pushing rod <NUM> constantly faces the stock receiving position A; and the stock push driving part <NUM> drives the stock pushing rod <NUM> to perform an intermittent retract-extend motion.

To transfer the coils of wire billet <NUM> on the rotary plate <NUM> to the butt-welding stock receiver <NUM>, the disclosure provides a design of disposing the stock pushing mechanism <NUM> in the central portion of the rotary plate <NUM>, the stock pushing mechanism <NUM> comprising a stock pushing rod <NUM> and a stock push driving part <NUM>, one end of the stock pushing rod <NUM> facing the stock receiving position A, the stock push driving part <NUM> driving the stock pushing rod <NUM> to perform an intermittent retract-extend motion. The stock pushing structure enables automatic convey of the coils of wire billet <NUM> on the rotary plate <NUM> to the butt-welding stock receiver <NUM>, which reduces the manual labor and ensures the continuous proceeding of butt-weld joining.

To reduce footprint of the entire butt-welding operation, in the disclosure, the butt-welding position B and the stock discharging position C are arranged at two sides of the stock receiving position A. This arrangement may reduce transfer stroke of the stock between different positions during the entire operation process, whereby the production efficiency is enhanced.

In the disclosure, the two rod bodies of the stock receiving rod <NUM> are driven to rotate by the same drive part, which reduces the equipment cost and facilitates the layout; in addition, this design may better ensure rotating synchronization of the two rod bodies, thereby ensuring the stability in flipping of the coils of wire billet <NUM>.

Based on the embodiment <NUM>, the wire billet butt-welding apparatus further comprises a wire billet butt-welder <NUM>, the wire billet butt-welder <NUM> being disposed at the butt-welding position B. The wire billet butt-welder <NUM> is configured to collectively perform a wire billet butt-welding operation, a seam welding-scar removing operation by punching, and a seam grinding operation. As illustrated in <FIG>, the wire billet butt-welder <NUM> comprises a horizontal rail <NUM> and a sliding platform <NUM> slidingly connected on the horizontal rail <NUM>, a welding mechanism <NUM> and a welding-scar removal mechanism oppositely disposed being provided on the sliding platform <NUM>. As can be seen from the figures that, the welding mechanism <NUM> and the welding-scar removal mechanism are integrated and can slide horizontally along the horizontal rail <NUM> as an entirety.

The welding-scar removal mechanism comprises a punching part <NUM>, a grinding part <NUM>, a sliding rack <NUM>, and a vertical rail <NUM>, the vertical rail <NUM> being fixed on the sliding platform <NUM>, the punching part <NUM> and the grinding part <NUM> being fixed on the sliding rack <NUM> and slidingly connected to the vertical rail <NUM> via the sliding rack <NUM>. It can be seen that the punching part <NUM> and the grinding part <NUM> are integrated via the sliding rack <NUM>, such that they may slide up and down along the vertical rail <NUM> as an entirety, where the grinding part <NUM> is disposed below the punching part <NUM>, and the operate in the same vertical plane. The punching part <NUM> comprises an upper-left punch head <NUM>, a lower-left punch head <NUM>, an upper-right punch head <NUM>, and a lower-right punch head <NUM>, the upper-left punch head <NUM>, the lower-left punch head <NUM>, the upper-right punch head <NUM>, and the lower-right punch head <NUM> punching synchronously to form a circular punched area, punching directions of the four punch heads being along the axial direction of the wire billet. The grinding part <NUM> comprises a C-shaped plate <NUM>, a grinding rack <NUM>, a friction wheel <NUM>, and a sanding belt <NUM>, where the grinding rack <NUM> is fixedly connected to the C-shaped plate <NUM>, three friction wheels <NUM> distributed circumferentially are disposed on the grinding rack <NUM>, and the sanding belt <NUM> is mounted on the friction wheels <NUM>; the C-shaped plate <NUM> can bring the grinding rack <NUM> to rotate about the axis of the C-shaped plate <NUM>; horizontal movement of the sliding platform <NUM> and vertical movement of the sliding rack <NUM> enable the welding mechanism <NUM>, the punching part <NUM>, and the grinding part <NUM> to sequentially move to the workpiece position to perform corresponding operations.

The integrally designed butt-welder designed in the present invention can collectively perform a plurality of procedures of wire billet butt-welding, such as welding, welding-scar removal by punching the seam, seam grinding, etc. The welding assembly in the welding mechanism <NUM> may adopt an existing structure, so long as it can butt-weld the wire billet. A horizontal rail <NUM> and a vertical rail <NUM> are provided on the butt-welder, such that the welding mechanism <NUM> may move horizontally, the punching part <NUM> and the grinding part <NUM> may not only move horizontally with the welding mechanism <NUM> along the horizontal rail <NUM>, but also may separately move vertically along the vertical rail <NUM>. The wire billet in the equipment may be fixed by an automated device; or, before performing the operations noted supra, two coils of wire billet to be welded may be manually fixed end-to-head in a stationary fixture on the wire billet butt-welder. During the operations noted supra, the position of wire billet is fixed, and the actions are implemented by movement of the operating parts on the butt-welder. Specifically, via combinations between the horizontal and vertical movements, the operating parts are moved to the welding scar position of the wire billet to work. Firstly, the welding mechanism <NUM> translates to the wire billet position, where the two coils of wire billet are aligned end-to-head and then butt-weld joined; after the welding, residual solder is likely left at the seam position, which generally protrudes on the surface of the wire billet; secondly, the sliding platform <NUM> and the sliding rack <NUM> move such that the punching part <NUM> moves to the welding-scar position of the wire billet, where the four punch heads of the punching part <NUM> synchronously punch the residual solder protruding on the wire billet, realizing coarse processing to the excessive solder; the punching procedure removes a large part of the residual solder, but there still lefts a little solder (burrs, flashes, etc.), and the punching operation cannot guarantee surface smoothness of the seam position either; finally, the sliding rack <NUM> moves upward such that the grinding part <NUM> moves to the welding-scar position of the wire billet, where the wire billet accesses the inside of the C-shaped plate <NUM> via an opening of the C-shaped plate <NUM>, and then the C-shaped plate <NUM> drives, via the grinding rack <NUM>, the sanding belt <NUM> to rotate circumferentially around the seam position of the wire billet; in cooperation with rotation of the sanding belt <NUM> itself, the seam is ground circumferentially; upon completion of the grinding, the grinding part <NUM> moves away from the wire billet via the opening of the C-shaped plate <NUM>. Now, all procedures, including wire billet butt welding, residual solder punching-off, and seam grinding, are completed. This realizes collective processing of the multiple procedures on the same equipment, significantly simplifying the process of wire billet butt-welding and improving production efficiency. Meanwhile, the punching-first grinding-later processing order may ensure the seam treatment efficiency and quality. The automatic actions described supra are all driven by corresponding drives, where one of the friction wheels <NUM> is driven by a drive to rotate to further bring the sanding belt <NUM> to rotate.

To enable a better cyclic operation, the disclosure further comprises a stock unloading part configured to move the ground wire billet away from the operating area so as to facilitate next round of wire billet welding. The stock unloading part comprises a stock pulling hook <NUM>, a stock pulling cylinder <NUM>, a stock unloading rail <NUM> and a stock unloading hook <NUM>, the stock pulling cylinder <NUM> being fixed on an upper end of the vertical rail <NUM>, the stock pulling hook <NUM> being fixed on an extension rod of the stock pulling cylinder <NUM>, one end of the stock pulling hook <NUM> facing the area between the welding mechanism <NUM> and the welding-scar removing mechanism, the stock unloading rail <NUM> being mounted on an upper end of the welding mechanism <NUM> in the horizontal direction, the stock unloading hook <NUM> being slidingly connected on the stock unloading rail <NUM>, a movement range of the stock unloading hook <NUM> being intersected with a movement range of the stock pulling hook <NUM>. The stock unloading part enables hooking of the ground workpiece and pulling of the wire billet away from the operating part under the action of the stock pulling cylinder <NUM>, such that the butt-welded wire billet exits the operation area to facilitate proceeding of next round, whereby automatic discharge is realized. Specifically, to unload, the stock pulling cylinder <NUM> drives the stock pulling hook <NUM> to access and hook the workpiece, and then drives the stock pulling hook <NUM> to move upward till the stock pulling hook <NUM> reaches the same height as the stock unloading hook <NUM>; then, the stock unloading hook <NUM> moves horizontally to the position of the stock pulling hook <NUM> and then the stock pulling hook <NUM> moves downward slightly; at this point, the wire billet will fall onto the stock unloading hook <NUM> under the action of gravity; then, the stock unloading hook <NUM> slides reversely to hook the workpiece to pass over the upper portion of the welder, whereby the workpiece exits the operation area, which facilitates proceeding of next round of wire billet loading and welding. When the stock pulling cylinder <NUM> is pulling the wire billet, the fixing mechanisms on the welder need to loosen the wire billet.

It is to be understood that in an embodiment, the stock pulling hook <NUM> comprises a connecting portion <NUM> fixed to the stock pulling cylinder <NUM>, a movable portion <NUM> hinged on the connecting portion <NUM>, and a torsional spring connected between the connecting portion <NUM> and the movable portion <NUM>, the movable portion <NUM> having a retracted state and a deployed state and being switchable between the retracted state and the deployed state, the torsional spring maintaining the movable portion <NUM> in the retracted state; during the process of the stock pulling cylinder <NUM> driving the stock pulling hook <NUM> to move downwards, the lower side of the movable portion <NUM> engages and abuts against the wire billet; the free end of the movable portion <NUM> is pushed by the wire billet to rotate upward by a certain angle, such that the movable portion <NUM> switches from the deployed state to the retracted state; after the movable portion <NUM> bypasses the wire billet, under the action of the torsional spring, the movable portion <NUM> switches back to the deployed state again from the retracted state; at this point, when the stock pulling cylinder <NUM> is driving the stock pulling hook <NUM> to move upwards, the movable portion <NUM> engages the wire billet again and hooks the workpiece to move upward.

It is to be understood that in another embodiment, an upper end of the cylinder body of the stock pulling cylinder <NUM> is hinged with the vertical rail, and a lower end of the cylinder body of the stock pulling cylinder <NUM> is connected to the vertical rail via an elastic member, thereby fixing the stock pulling cylinder <NUM> to the vertical rail. The stock pulling cylinder <NUM> has a first state and a second state and is switchable between the first state and the second state. The elastic member keeps the stock pulling cylinder <NUM> in the first state. During the process of the stock pulling cylinder <NUM> driving the stock pulling hook <NUM> to move downwards, the lower side of the stock pulling hook <NUM> engages and abuts against the wire billet. The stock pulling cylinder <NUM> is pushed by the wire billet to overcome the elastic force of the elastic member to rotate about the hinging axis and switch to the second state. After the stock pulling hook <NUM> bypasses the wire billet, the stock pulling hook <NUM> switches back from the second state to the first state again under the action of the elastic member; at this point, when the stock pulling cylinder <NUM> is driving the stock pulling hook <NUM> to move upwards, the stock pulling hook <NUM> re-engages the wire billet to hook the workpiece to move upwards. In this solution, the stock pulling hook <NUM> is not necessarily of a movable avoidance structure, which may be provided as a stationary structure so as to be more durable and reliable. In addition, the hinged position of the stock pulling cylinder <NUM> with respect to the vertical rail is distant from the stock pulling hook <NUM>, such that respective structures at the hinged position, the position of the elastic member, and the position of the stock pulling hook <NUM> may constitute a lever structure upon engagement with the wire billet; in this way, even a small pushing force at the position of the stock pulling hook <NUM> may cause the stock pulling cylinder <NUM> to rotate, which prevents wire billet deformation due to excessive resistance. After the telescopic rod of the stock pulling cylinder <NUM> is retracted, the magnification effect of the lever structure is diminished, which ensures that when the other parts are operating, the stock pulling cylinder <NUM> may be securely fixed to the vertical rail, such that displacement and shake do not easily occur.

The welding mechanism <NUM> described herein comprises a welder, a first clamping unit, and a second clamping unit; a first straightening part <NUM> and a second straightening part <NUM> are disposed at two sides of the horizontal rail <NUM>, straightening centers of the first straightening part <NUM> and the second straightening part <NUM> being located on a same linear line, centers of the first clamping unit and the second clamping unit being collinear and in flush with the straightening centers of the first straightening part <NUM> and the second straightening part <NUM>, the welder being disposed between the first clamping unit and the second clamping unit, where the first clamping unit and the second clamping unit each comprise a lower positioning die <NUM> and an upper positioning die <NUM>, one side of the upper positioning die <NUM> being rotatably connected on the lower positioning die <NUM>, the lower positioning die <NUM> and the upper positioning die <NUM> being fitted with each other to form a holding cavity. The first straightening part <NUM> and the second straightening part <NUM> are configurable to straighten two coils of wire billet to be butt-weld joined, respectively; after the welding mechanism <NUM> moves to the wire billet position, the straightened wire billets are fixed by the first clamping unit and the second clamping unit, respectively;the fixed wire billets are then butt-welded end-to-head, where the first clamping unit and the second clamping unit each comprise a lower positioning die <NUM> and an upper positioning die <NUM>, and one side of the upper positioning die <NUM> is rotatably connected on the lower positioning die <NUM>; with this structural design, during operation, the wire billet can be held end-to-head by rotating; in addition, the two coils of wire billet are integrated after being welded, such that the rotationally connected structure may facilitate the integrally welded wire billet to exit the clamping unit without interference, thereby facilitating the welding mechanism <NUM> to discharge. The first straightening part <NUM> and the second straightening part <NUM> themselves may adopt existing straightening-enabled parts.

To guarantee a better welding effect, a shearing part <NUM> is provided at the side of the first straightening part <NUM> and the straightening part <NUM> proximal to the welder, respectively; the shearing part <NUM> comprises a hydraulic drive and a scissor, the scissor having a shear area whose central line is collinear with the central line of the corresponding straightening part. Provision of the shearing part <NUM> is to cut off the tip of the wire billet; since the wire coil tip usually has an oxidized layer, a blur, and a non-straightened portion, it needs to be cut off before welding so as to guarantee a better welding quality.

To ensure a stable punching effect, the punching part <NUM> described herein comprises a first clamping assembly <NUM>, the first clamping assembly <NUM> comprising a left clamping unit and a right clamping unit, the left clamping unit comprising a lower-left stationary plate <NUM> and an upper-left movable plate <NUM>, the right clamping unit comprising a lower-right stationary plate <NUM> and an upper-right movable plate <NUM>, the upper-left punch head <NUM> being mounted on the upper-left movable plate <NUM>, the lower-left punch head <NUM> being mounted on the lower-left stationary plate <NUM>, the upper-right punch head <NUM> being mounted on the upper-right movable plate <NUM>, the lower-right punch head <NUM> being mounted on the lower-right stationary plate <NUM>, the connecting line between the centers of the upper-left punch head <NUM> and the lower-left punch head <NUM> being crisscrossed with the connecting line between the centers of the upper-right punch head <NUM> and the lower-right punch head <NUM>, a V-shaped guide groove <NUM> being provided on each of the lower-left stationary plate <NUM>, the upper-left movable plate <NUM>, the lower-right stationary plate <NUM>, and the upper-right movable plate <NUM>, an arc-shaped portion with a same profile as the wire billet surface being formed at the bottom of the V-shaped guide groove <NUM>. The first clamping assembly <NUM> can ensure a stable fixation effect, leading to a more stable punching operation; by arranging the four punch heads in a crisscrossed manner, when punching the welding scar, the four punch heads punch pairwise synchronously from both sides of the welding scar, which may ensure stable stress applied to the wire billet during punching, avoiding damages to the wire billet; moreover, the punching operation may significantly improve welding-scar removal efficiency; the design of V-shaped guide groove <NUM> facilitates locating of the wire billet. A drive is connected to the upper-left movable plate <NUM> and the upper-right movable plate <NUM>, respectively, the drive being configured to drive the upper-left movable plate <NUM> and the upper-right movable plate <NUM> to move radially. The synchronous punching forms a circular punched area, and the punching directions of the four punch heads are along the axial direction of the wire billet; a drive is connected to each of the left clamping unit and the right clamping unit, the drive being configured to drive the left clamping unit and the right clamping unit to move axially, and during punching, the axial movement direction of the left clamping unit is opposite to that of the right clamping unit.

To better understand the operation of the four punches, refer to <FIG>, where I is the joint cross-sectional diagram of the punch heads at two sides, II and III are positional diagrams of the cross-sections of the punch heads at a single side, respectively, from which it can be seen that A and C are disposed at a same side, B and D at the other side; the connecting line between A and C is normal to the connecting line between B and D; upon punching, A and C move to the right side, and B and D move to the left side, whereby residual solders at the seam position are subjected to opposite acting forces.

Furthermore, the punching part <NUM> further comprises a second clamping assembly, the second clamping assembly comprising a second clamping unit disposed at two sides of the first clamping assembly <NUM>, the clamping center line of the second clamping unit is collinear with the clamping center lines of the left clamping unit and the right clamping unit, the second clamping unit comprises a lower stationary die <NUM> and an upper movable die <NUM>, each of the lower stationary die <NUM> and the upper movable die <NUM> being provided with an arc-shaped groove <NUM>, a lower guide plate <NUM> being provided at both ends of the lower stationary die <NUM>, an upper guide plate <NUM> being provided at both ends of the upper movable die <NUM>, a V-shaped guide groove <NUM> being provided on each of the upper guide plate <NUM> and lower guide plate <NUM>, a bottom of the V-shaped guide groove <NUM> being in communication with the arc-shaped groove <NUM>. The second clamping assembly and the first clamping assembly <NUM> cooperate with each other to realize four-point wire billet locating and clamping, which ensures a more stable clamping effect. Provision of the arc-shaped groove <NUM> facilitates locating of the wire billet.

To achieve a better seam cleaning effect, respective cross sections ofthe upper-left punch head <NUM>, the lower-left punch head <NUM>, the upper-right punch head <NUM>, and the lower-right punch head <NUM> are of a <NUM>° sector structure; respective inner surfaces of the upper-left punch head <NUM>, the lower-left punch head <NUM>, the upper-right punch head <NUM>, and the lower-right punch head <NUM> are of an arc shape with the same profile as the wire billet surface. The four punch heads jointly form a circular punched area, which may realize one-time welding-scar removal to the maximum extent; by providing an arc-shaped inner surface, the punch heads may be well fitted to the wire billet surface, which improves the welding-scar removal quality.

One of embodiments of the grinding part <NUM> described herein comprises a grinding clamping fixing portion and a grinding driving portion; the grinding driving portion comprises a drive motor, a driving wheel <NUM>, and a synchronization belt, where four driving wheels <NUM> are provided and distributed outside the C-shaped plate <NUM>, respective wheel faces of the four driving wheels <NUM> abutting against the outer wall of the C-shaped plate <NUM> to limit the C-shaped plate <NUM>,an output end of the drive motor being connected to one of the driving wheels <NUM>, the plurality of driving wheels <NUM> being connected via the synchronization belt, a rubber layer being applied over the outer sidewall of the C-shaped plate <NUM>; the grinding clamping fixing portion is configured to clamp to-be-ground wire billet, the grinding clamping fixing portion comprising two grinding clamping unit distributed at two sides of the grinding part <NUM>. Rotation of the C-shaped plate <NUM> is implemented via its friction with the driving wheels <NUM>, whereby stepless rotation of the C-shaped plate <NUM> is realized; in this way, adaptive grinding may be performed dependent on different seam conditions of wire billet, e.g., different extents of grinding may be implemented by rotating the C-shaped plate <NUM> by different turns; in addition, this arrangement manner facilitates resetting of the C-shaped plate <NUM>, thereby enhancing its continuous operation capability and efficiency.

The grinding clamping unit comprises a lower stationary die <NUM> and an upper movable die <NUM>, an arc-shaped groove being provided on the lower stationary die <NUM> and the upper movable die <NUM>, respectively, a lower guide plate being provided at each end of the lower stationary die <NUM>, an upper guide plate being provided at each end of the upper movable die <NUM>, a V-shaped guide groove <NUM> being provided on each of the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate, the bottom of the V-shaped guide groove <NUM> being in communication with the arc-shaped groove. The top-down snap-fitting structure between the lower stationary die <NUM> and the upper movable die <NUM> facilitates the wire billet to access the position for being fixed, and the design of arc-shaped groove facilitates locating of the wire billet and ensures a better fixation effect.

To facilitate entry of the wire billet and ensure the stability of the overall structure, the C-shaped plate <NUM> described herein has an opening with a radius angle of <NUM>°-<NUM>°. The opening of the C-shaped plate <NUM> cannot be too large; otherwise, the C-shaped plate <NUM> would move unstably; while a too small opening is inconvenient for the wire billet to enter.

The integral butt-welder structure described herein can collectively process multiple procedures of wire billet butt-welding, including straightening, clamping, welding, seam welding-scar removing by punching, seal grinding, and unloading, which significantly enhances operating efficiency; in addition, during the operation, the workpiece does not move; orderly proceeding between various procedures is implemented by movement of the operating parts, whereby the product quality can be effectively guaranteed.

Referring to <FIG>, a wire billet butt-welding method implemented by the wire billet butt-welding apparatus described in Embodiment <NUM> and Embodiment <NUM> comprises:.

It is seen that the butt-welding method described herein realizes semi-automatic butt-welding operation, and with the rotary plate <NUM> and the butt-welding stock receiver <NUM>, automatic loading, automatic flipping, and automatic discharge are enabled, which reduces the manual workload and the safety hazards while improving the production efficiency.

The number n of the coils of wire billet in the disclosure may be <NUM>, <NUM>, or <NUM>, which may be set dependent on production needs, thereby offering more flexibility to the production.

This embodiment differs from the Embodiment <NUM> in that in step S4, while the second coil of wire billet is rotating to the stock receiving position, the stock receiving rod rotates to synchronously tighten the wire billet between the first coil of wire billet and the second coil of wire billet. In the technical solution described supra, tightening refers to winding the loose wire billet between the butt-welded first and second coils of wire billet, such that it is wound integrally into the first coil of wire billet, thereby guaranteeing integrity of the two butt-welded coils of wire billet, avoiding the loose wire billet between the coils of wire billet from affecting transportation or from being damaged due to collision with other structures in subsequent transportation and processing. While the second coil of wire billet is rotating to the stock receiving position, it is synchronously tightened. The tightening may also occur when the rotary plate and the butt-welding stock receiver are rotating, preventing loose wire from being bent and damaged, or from being bent by clamping, whereby product quality may be improved. Remaining procedures of this embodiment are identical to Embodiment <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A wire billet butt-welding apparatus, comprising: a rotary plate (<NUM>) and a butt-welding stock receiver (<NUM>), the rotary plate (<NUM>) and the butt-welding stock receiver (<NUM>) being arranged in adjacency, a stock receiving rod (<NUM>) being provided on the butt-welding stock receiver (<NUM>), the butt-welding stock receiver (<NUM>) being rotatable to enable the stock receiving rod (<NUM>) to switch between a butt-welding position (B), a stock receiving position (A), and a stock discharging position (C), a plurality of mounting portions (<NUM>) being circumferentially provided on the rotary plate (<NUM>), each mounting portion (<NUM>) being rotatable about a central axis of the rotary plate (<NUM>), a stock pushing mechanism (<NUM>) being configured to push a coil of wire billet (<NUM>) from the mounting portion (<NUM>) to the stock receiving rod (<NUM>) being provided in a central portion of the rotary plate (<NUM>);
wherein the wire billet butt-welding apparatus further comprises a wire billet butt-welder (<NUM>), the wire billet butt-welder (<NUM>) being disposed at the butt-welding position (B), and wherein the stock receiving rod (<NUM>) comprises two rod bodies arranged in parallel at an interval, the two rod bodies being mutually independent and rotatable synchronously about a same axis.