US 4,358,949 AGranted

Argon purity tester

AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force

InventorsJames M. MacFarland, Bernard W. Kappe

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Abstract

An inert gas purity tester having a housing made of transparent material and in which is located a thin wire tungsten filament. The filament is electrically connected to a variable electrical power source from, for example, an inert gas welding apparatus in order to provide a regulated flow of current to pass through the filament. The power source is then regulated until the filament glows white. The housing also has formed therein an inlet and outlet for allowing the flow of inert gas to pass therethrough. During the passage of gas through the housing, a trace of smoke detected at the white glowing filament indicates the presence of an impurity of oxygen within the inert gas such as argon. Viewing is continued until no more smoke is detected and it is therefore established that the impurity is no longer present in the gas. Thereafter, inert gas welding can be successfully undertaken.

Claims9

Dependent claims

An inert gas purity tester comprising a housing, said housing including a transparent member open at one end thereof and a base plate removably sealing said open end of said transparent member;

means located within said housing for passing a current therethrough, said current passing means including a pair of conductive elements and a thin wire filament electrically connected therebetween and wherein one of said conductive elements is grounded;
means operably connected to said housing for passing said inert gas through said housing at a preselected flow rate;
and means operably connected to the other of said conductive elements for providing sufficient current to pass through said thin wire element in order to cause said thin wire filament to glow white, said current providing means including an electrical power source having means for controlling the power output therefrom, means for removably connecting said power source to said other conductive element, and means connected to said power source for turning said power source to its fully on position whereby the presence of an impurity within said inert gas passing through said housing causes smoke to appear adjacent said thin wire filament thereby indicating the existance of said impurity within said inert gas.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.