Welding wire feeder device
AssigneeEsab AB
InventorJorma Kalevi Vesanen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A wire feeder device for feeding a welding wire in a feeding direction is disclosed. The wire feeder device includes one or more roller chains and a plurality of first and second gripper members. The gripper members are movable from an open position to a closed position to contact and grip the welding wire. In use, the first and second gripper members are longitudinally movable with the roller chain(s) so that the welding wire is pulled along a substantially linear path. The first and second gripper members may be orientated in a vertical (i.e., coplanar) orientation or a horizontal, lateral orientation. The gripper members may include a built-in centering function to center a position of the welding wire.
Claims18
A wire feeder device for feeding a welding wire in a feeding direction from an input end to an output end comprising:
- at least one gripper assembly for contacting and feeding the welding wire, the gripper assembly including a roller chain;
- and first and second sprockets operatively coupled to the roller chain so that rotation of the first and second sprockets causes the roller chain to rotate;
- and
- a plurality of first and second gripper members on the roller chain, the first and second gripper members being movable from an open position to a closed position to contact and grip the welding wire, the first and second gripper members being longitudinally movable with the roller chain so that the welding wire is moved from the input end to the output end;
- wherein the first and second gripper members include a centering feature to center a position of the welding wire substantially parallel with a longitudinal axis of the first and second gripper members;
- and
- wherein the first and second gripper members each include a projection and a cutout, the projection of the first gripper member being receivable within the cutout of the second gripper member;
- the projection of the second gripper member being receivable within the cutout of the first gripper member.
A wire feeder device for feeding a welding wire in a feeding direction from an input end to an output end comprising:
- at least one gripper assembly for contacting and feeding the welding wire, the gripper assembly including a roller chain;
- and first and second sprockets operatively coupled to the roller chain so that rotation of the first and second sprockets causes the roller chain to rotate;
- and
- a plurality of first and second gripper members, the first and second gripper members being movable from an open position to a closed position to contact and grip the welding wire, the first and second gripper members being longitudinally movable with the roller chain so that the welding wire is moved from the input end to the output end;
- wherein the at least one gripper assembly is a single gripper assembly, the roller chain including a plurality of individual chain links coupled to one another to form a chain, each individual link of the roller chain being associated with one of the plurality of first gripper members and one of the plurality of second gripper members, the first and second gripper members being orientated in a side-by-side relationship on each individual link.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.