US 4,440,588 A · Hot air welder for welding roofing material

Abstract

An improved hot air welder which includes a blower communicating with a heater assembly mounted on a chassis wherein the chassis has coupled thereto a pressure wheel and tracking wheel, includes means for adjusting the angle of orientation of the pressure wheel and tracking wheel with respect to the chassis in order to obtain a proper pressure bias through the pressure wheel on the seam over which the pressure wheel rides, and for providing a proper orientation of the tracking wheel according to the slope of the roof upon which the welder is driven. The welder can accommodate inside and outside seams with equal facility. The air dam has an improved roller track to more evenly apply pressure against the underlying roofing material. A guide member slidably engages and accommodates roofing material from both the left and right sides to assist in guiding the hot air welder along the seam to be welded. A constant speed blower controlled by a gate valve controls the amount of air to the heater assembly. An alarm is included within the heater assembly for sensing insufficient temperature when the welder is operating and for sounding an audible alarm to indicate to the operator that insufficient heat is being delivered to the seam to manufacture a suitable weld.

Claims28

Dependent claims

An improvement in a hot air roof welder for joining adjacent, overlapping layers of thermoplastic material comprising:

a chassis;
a heater assembly having a shaped delivery port arranged and configured for disposition between two overlapping layers of thermoplastic material, said shaped delivery port being coupled to the remaining portion of said heater assembly so that said shaped delivery port is reversible with respect to said chassis, said shaped delivery port having an inside and outside orientation with respect to said chassis;
and
an air dam movably coupled to said chassis and disposed in relation to said shaped delivery port and chassis such that said air dam is disposed in a predetermined relationship with respect to said shaped delivery port, said air dam being disposed between said shaped delivery port and chassis when said shaped delivery port is arranged and configured in said inside orientation, said shaped delivery port being disposed between said air dam and said chassis when said shaped delivery port is arranged and configured in said outside orientation, said air dam forming in part in said thermoplastic material a barrier to confine hot air from said heater assembly to an area in proximity to said shaped delivery port and for downwardly urging said thermoplastic material thereby facilitating close contact between said shaped delivery port and said overlapping portions of said thermoplastic material,
whereby a hot air welder is devised which is capable of manufacturing inside and outside welded seams with equal ease and facility.

2 more elements

An improvement in a hot air welder for welding overlapping and adjacent thermoplastic materials, said hot air welder including an air blower, said improvement comprising:

a chassis;
a heater assembly communicating with said air blower through a slidable tube, said slidable tube having a first detent and second detent position with respect to said chassis;
a shaped delivery port removably coupled to the output of said heater assembly arranged and configured to be disposed between overlapping portions of said adjacent thermoplastic material;
a blower box coupled to said chassis, the output of said air blower communicating with said blower box, and said slidable tube being slidable within and disposed in said blower box and communicating therewith;
and
an air dam coupled to said chassis,
wherein said shaped delivery port is selected from a first shaped delivery port for an inside seam welding position and a second shaped delivery port for an outside seam welding position and is coupled to said heater assembly through a quick release mechanism, said heater assembly and said shaped delivery port being arranged and configured to said inside seam welding position when said tube is disposed in said first detent position, and wherein said heater assembly and shaped delivery port is configured and disposed in said outside seam welding position when said tube is disposed in said second detent position, said air dam being selectively disposable with respect to said chassis and coupled thereto in an inside position between said shaped delivery port and chassis when said shaped delivery port is configured in said inside seam welding position, and said dam being positioned outside said shaped delivery port when said shaped delivery port is configured and disposed in said outside seam welding position,
whereby said hot air welder for welding seams in thermoplastic material may be reversibly configured to weld either inside or outside seams with equal ease and facility.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Hot air welder for welding roofing material

Life of this patent

Hot air welder for welding roofing material

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims28