T-joint welding fixture
AssigneeHobart Brothers Company
InventorVytautas J. Jusionis
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for welding a branch tube to a header tube includes a fixture having a pair of clamps for supporting the fixture on the header tube. A welding head on the fixture includes a clamp to hold the branch tube in place relative to the header tube. The welding head also includes a collet extending into contact with the header tube. The header tube, the collet and the welding head form a limited volume chamber that contains shielding gas in the vicinity of the joint between the branch tube and the header tube. The welding head includes a mechanism for rotating a tungsten welding electrode around the intersection of the branch tube and the header tube to form the welded joint.
Claims3
A welding fixture for use in welding a branch tube to a header tube, said fixture comprising
- a frame member for supporting said fixture to the header tube,
- a clamp on said frame member for holding the branch tube in place relative to the header tube and said fixture,
- a collet extending from said fixture into contact with the header tube,
- said fixture, said collet and said clamp forming a chamber for containing shielding gas in the vicinity of the joint between the branch tube and the header tube
- means for introducing shielding gas into said chamber, and
- an orbital welding head surrounding the branch tube including a welding electrode mounted for rotation around a joint formed between the branch tube and the header tube.
A welding fixture for use in welding a branch tube to a header tube, said fixture comprising
- a frame member having first and second ends,
- a first clamp at said first end of said frame member for supporting said fixture on the header tube on one side of the branch tube,
- a second clamp at said second end of said frame member for supporting said fixture on the header tube on the other side of the branch tube,
- a third clamp on said frame member for holding the branch tube in place relative to the header tube and said fixture,
- a collet extending from said frame member into contact with the header tube,
- said fixture, said collet and said third clamp forming a chamber for containing shielding gas in the vicinity of the joint between the branch tube and the header tube,
- means for introducing shielding gas into said chamber, and
- an orbital welding head surrounding the branch tube including a welding electrode mounted for rotation around a joint formed between the branch tube and the header tube.
A method of welding a branch tube to a header tube comprising the steps of
- attaching a fixture to the header tube,
- holding the branch tube in place relative to the fixture and to the header tube by means of a clamp
- forming a shielding gas chamber in the immediate vicinity of the joint between the header tube and the branch tube by means of a collet extending from the fixture into contact with the header tube surrounding the joint to be welded and the branch tube clamp,
- introducing shielding gas into the chamber defined by the welding fixture, and
- welding the branch tube to the header tube by rotating a welding electrode around the joint formed between the branch tube and the header tube.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.