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US 4,420,848 AGranted
Method and apparatus for manufacturing welded capped wheel nuts
AssigneeBuell Industries, Inc.
InventorPhilip D. Becker
Life of this patent
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AssigneeBuell Industries, Inc.
InventorPhilip D. Becker
Estimating the term…
A method and apparatus for wheel nut cap welding in which two capped wheel nuts are axially aligned with their capped ends facing one another and spaced apart from one another by a cylindrical electrically conductive ring the opposite ends of which contact the sheath of the capped nut adjacent the area at which the weld has to be formed. The capped nuts and ring are telescopically assembled within a cylindrical guide sleeve of insulating material so that the conical, threaded opening end of each of the nuts extends beyond the ends of the guide sleeve where they are each contacted by cylindrical electrodes having conical indentations to fit the nut conical ends. The cylindrical ring positioned between the nuts constitutes a connecting electrode within the guide sleeve of insulating material so that the electrical current may pass from one of the electrodes in contact with the conical end of a nut through the nut and connecting electrode and to the other electrode contacting the conical end of the other nut to form a welding circuit. The welding method and apparatus provides the advantages of producing two welded capped nuts per welding cycle while developing a more consistent welding current pattern and greater efficiency in use of welding current while utilizing an easily maintained electrode in contact with the sensitive welding surfaces of the caps.
The method of welding a cap to a nut body to form a welded capped nut comprising the steps of taking a pair of nuts each having a nut body with a bottom engaging end, a top end opposite said bottom end, a threaded opening between the two ends for receiving a securing stud, a plurality of wrench flats extending between said top end and said bottom end, a sheath-like cap covering said top end and said wrench flats, said cap being capable of contacting said top end of said nut body, positioning said pair of capped nuts in linear spaced-apart alignment with their top ends opposed to one another, positioning an open ring-like connector of electrically conductive material between said aligned capped nuts and in contact with said tops thereof, surrounding said aligned capped nuts with an open sleeve of electrically nonconductive material, the ends of said sleeve extending to at least a portion of the respective nut bodies leaving said bottom ends thereof exposed, bringing one each of a pair of welding electrodes into contact with each respective exposed bottom end, applying sufficient pressure to said electrodes to cause said ring-like connector to urge said caps of each nut into contact with said top ends of said nut body and to form a welding electrical circuit, and applying a current between said electrodes sufficient to weld each of said caps to their respective nut bodies at a location of contact between said caps and said top end of said nut body.
Apparatus for welding a cap to a nut body to form a welded capped nut having a nut body with a bottom engaging end, a top end opposite the bottom end, a threaded opening between the two ends for receiving a securing stud, a plurality of wrench flats extending between said top end and said engaging end, a sheath-like cap covering said top end and said wrench flats and capable of contacting said top end of said nut body, said apparatus comprising an open ring-like connector of electrically conductive material adapted to be positioned between a paw of linearly aligned spaced-apart capped nuts with said top ends opposite one another and in contact with said caps thereof, an open sleeve of electrically nonconductive material for surrounding said aligned capped nuts, the ends of the cylindrical sleeve extending to at least a portion of said respective nut bodies leaving said engaging ends thereof exposed, a pair of welding electrodes adapted to contact each respective exposed engaging end, means for applying sufficient pressure to said electrodes to cause said ring-like connector to urge said caps of each nut into contact with said top ends of said nut body and to form a welding electrical current path, and means for applying a current between said electrodes sufficient to weld each of said caps to their respective nut bodies at a location of contact between said caps and said top end of said nut body.
The method of welding a cap to a wheel nut comprising the steps of holding two capped nuts in an aligned position wherein the capped nuts pair is held capped end to capped end and spaced by a ring-like connector of electrically conductive material, placing a sleeve of electrically non-conductive material around said aligned nuts to leave thread engaging ends of the nuts exposed, bringing electrodes into contact with said exposed end of each nut, and then applying pressure to at least one of said electrodes while applying welding current through said electrodes, said capped nut pair, and through said connector to weld said caps to said nuts at points of contact where said nut and cap are pressed together.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.