Hand-operated remote control unit and mounting structure for an arc welding machine

Abstract

A hand-operated remote control unit has a housing containing a rotary potentiometer whose shaft carries a pinion which is driven by a rack having a spring loaded push button attached thereto. An eccentric cam is mounted on the potentiometer shaft adjacent a microswitch in which the cam surface is in contact with the switch when the push button is in its unactuated position. When the push button is actuated, the cam rotates releasing the switch, and the rack and pinion varies the resistance of the potentiometer to vary the welding current. A plurality of hat section holders are positioned on different surfaces of the housing for mounting an adjustable ring-shaped clamp having bayonet extensions thereon which fit into the hat section holders. The adjustable ring-shaped clamp which has a set screw therein is adapted to be adjustably mounted on the handle of the welding torch. The adjustable clamp may be moved up and down to a desired position on the welding torch and the welding torch may be rotated 360.degree. therein. The plurality of hat section mounts into which the clamp fits permits further adjustment and placement of the welding torch to adapt it to reach difficult places and at the same time permit operation of the push button with various digits of the hands. Accordingly, finger tip control of the welding current is achieved without the necessity of moving the torch even while wearing bulky insulating gloves.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.