Patent ID: 8575517

Claim:
A system, comprising: a welding wire feeder, comprising: a wheel assembly consisting essentially of a first wheel and a second wheel disposed opposite from one another compressively about a wire feed region; and a first gear coupled to the first wheel, wherein the first wheel comprises a central passage, opposite slots disposed axially along the central passage, and opposite recesses disposed on an axial end of the first wheel angularly away from the opposite slots, wherein the first gear comprises opposite protrusions disposed in the opposite recesses at the axial end of the first wheel, the first gear comprises a passage aligned with the central passage in the first wheel, and the first gear comprises slots aligned with the opposite slots in the first wheel; wherein the first wheel has a first rotational direction; wherein the second wheel has a second rotational direction opposite from the first rotational direction; wherein the first and second wheels are drivingly coupled together to output substantially equal tangential speeds in the wire feed region; and wherein the first wheel comprises a shaft coupled to a motor.