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US 5,816,466 AGranted
Wire feeding apparatus
AssigneeThe Lincoln Electric Company
InventorLee E. Seufer
Life of this patent
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AssigneeThe Lincoln Electric Company
InventorLee E. Seufer
Estimating the term…
Apparatus is provided for feeding consumable welding electrode wire from a supply reel to a welding gun and comprises pairs of drive roll and drive gear assemblies associated with a wire guide plate assembly for feeding the wire along a linear path through the apparatus. The drive rolls are removably mounted on corresponding support shaft structures by a split snap ring component. The guide plate assembly comprises a guide plate having a guide slot milled therein and a cover plate overlying the slot to provide a wire guide passageway through the apparatus which is constantly linear and aligned with the wire drive rolls. A spring biased force transmitting assembly is associated with the support shaft structure for the upper drive roll and drive gear of each pair for adjusting the driving engagement between the drive rolls and a wire therebetween, and the force transmitting components are mounted on a pivotal arm and cover displaceable between closed and opened positions in which the force transmitting assemblies are respectively in operative and inoperative positions relative to the upper drive roll and drive gear assemblies. In the open position of the pivotal arm and cover, the drive rolls and drive plate assembly are accessible for removal and replacement.
In a wire feeding mechanism for moving a wire in a given direction along a path and comprising a support, drive roll means on said support for drivingly engaging said wire, means for rotating said drive roll means to move said wire in said direction, and guide means on said support for guiding movement of said wire along said path, the improvement comprising:
A guide plate assembly for guiding movement of wire in a wire feeding mechanism including wire drive rolls, comprising first and second guide plate members having longitudinally opposite ends, laterally outer sides, top and bottom sides and opposed facially engaging planar inner surfaces, a slot in the inner surface of said first guide plate member between the opposite ends thereof for receiving wire to be guided, the planar inner surface of said second guide plate member covering said slot, and opposed recesses in said opposed planar inner surfaces of said first and second guide plate members, said opposed recesses providing drive roll openings through said top and bottom sides, said drive roll openings having longitudinally spaced inner ends intersecting said slot.
In a wire feeding mechanism for moving wire in a given direction along a path and comprising a support, first and second drive roll means on said support for engaging diametrically opposite sides of said wire, and means for rotating said drive roll means to move said wire in said direction, the improvement comprising:
In a wire feeding mechanism for moving a wire in a given direction along a path and comprising a support, at least two drive rolls on said support for drivingly engaging said wire therebetween, means for rotating said drive rolls to move said wire in said direction, and means for biasing one drive roll of said drive rolls in the direction of engagement thereof with said wire, the improvement comprising:
Apparatus for feeding wire in a given direction along a path, comprising a support member, first and second drive roll and drive gear assemblies, each said assembly including a support collar having a collar axis and a drive roll and a drive gear coaxially mounted on said collar for rotation therewith, means including first and second support shafts for respectively supporting the collars of said first and second assemblies for rotation about the corresponding collar axis, said first and second support shafts being mounted on said support member for the drive rolls of said first and second assemblies to be diametrically opposed and for the drive gears of said first and second assemblies to be drivingly interengaged, guide plates having opposite ends and comprising a first guide plate member having a planar inner surface and a wire guide slot therein between said opposite ends and a second guide plate member having a planar inner surface covering said guide slot and providing a wire guiding passageway therewith, said guide plates including drive roll openings between said ends and intersecting said passageway, means for removably mounting said guide plates on said support member for said passageway to provide said path and for said diametrically opposed drive rolls to extend into said drive roll openings to engage diametrically opposite sides of wire in said passageway, means to rotate one of said drive gears of said first and second assemblies for said drive rolls to move said wire in said direction, and means for applying a biasing force against said first support shaft in a direction for biasing the drive roll of said first assembly diametrically toward the drive roll of said second assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.