Device and method for welding hard material elements onto teeth of a saw blade

Device (2) for welding hard material elements (4) onto teeth (6) of a saw blade (8), including a band or circular saw blade, comprising:

• a saw blade feed device (12) for moving the saw blade (8) in a feed direction (14), such that a respective intended tooth (6a) of the saw blade (8) can be brought into a target position (16) in a working region (10) of the device (2),
• a first centering device (30) for centering the saw blade (8) transversely to the feed direction (14) and for fixing the saw blade (8) while a respective hard material element (4) is welded on,
• a supply device (28) for supplying the respective hard material element (4),
• a second centering device (32) for centering the respective hard material element (4) transversely to the feed direction (14) before the welding,
• a resistance welding device (24) having a welding electrode (26) that can be deployed into the working region (10) and withdrawn from the working region (10),
• the supply device (28) being configured to supply and transfer the respective hard material element (4) to the welding electrode (26), and deploy the welding electrode (26) with the respective hard material element (4) transferred thereto into the working region (10) so that the respective hard material element (4) can be brought toward the respective intended tooth (6a) in the target position (16) to abut the respective intended tooth (6a), characterized in that
• the second centering device (32) is configured to center the respective hard material element (4) abutting the respective intended tooth (6a) relative to the centering of the fixed saw blade (8), and
• the first centering device (30) and the second centering device (32) are provided in a common assembly (38), such that the centering of the saw blade (8) by the first centering device (30) predetermines a centering position for a subsequent centering of the respective hard material element (4) by the second centering device (32).