Ignition systems for exothermic welding
AssigneeERICO International Corporation
InventorsGreg Martinjak, Nicholas J. Turner
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The disclosed technology provides improved systems and methods for exothermic welding. An ignition strip can include a printed circuit board (PCB). The PCB can include a first contact, a second contact, and a dielectric layer with an aperture. A first conductive layer can define a first trace between the first contact and the aperture along a first side of the dielectric layer. A second conductive layer can define a second trace between the second contact and the aperture along a second side of the dielectric layer. The aperture can define an insulating gap between the first trace and the second trace to cause a spark for ignition of welding material upon application of a breakdown voltage across the first and second contacts.
Claims20
An ignition strip for exothermic welding, the ignition strip comprising:
- a printed circuit board (PCB) that includes:
- a first contact;
- a second contact;
- a dielectric layer with an aperture;
- a first conductive layer defining a first trace between the first contact and the aperture along a first side of the dielectric layer;
- and
- a second conductive layer defining a second trace between the second contact and the aperture along a second side of the dielectric layer;
- the aperture defining an insulating gap between the first trace and the second trace to cause a spark for ignition of welding material upon application of a breakdown voltage across the first and second contacts.
An exothermic welding device comprising:
- a weld container defining an internal volume that includes a main charge of welding material;
- a cover that closes the internal volume to retain the main charge of welding material;
- and
- an igniter that includes a printed circuit board (PCB) that defines an insulating gap between a first trace and a second trace to provide a spark for ignition of the main charge of welding material upon application of a breakdown voltage across the insulating gap, the PCB having a first end that protrudes outside of the weld container for application of the breakdown voltage.
A method of welding conductive components together, the method comprising:
- providing an igniter that includes a printed circuit board (PCB) that defines a dielectric layer and an air gap between a first trace and a second trace;
- aligning a weld container for a welding operation, with a first end of the igniter extending into the weld container and the weld container including a main charge of welding material;
- applying a breakdown voltage across the air gap, via the first and second traces, to provide a spark that ignites a charge of welding material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.