Inlet guide mechanism for wire feeder
AssigneeThe Lincoln Electric Company
InventorsDaniel N. Grimm, Brian L. Verrilli
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Abstract
An inlet guide mechanism for a wire feeder used with an arc welder wherein the guide mechanism comprises: a housing with a wire guiding passageway having an entrance end and an exit end for directing welding wire to the wire feeder, a plurality of closely spaced spherical guide balls and a support structure for rotatably mounting the guide balls in a pattern circumferentially around the entrance end of the wire passageway whereby a wire entering the passageway engages the spherical surface of at least one of the guide balls.
Claims22
An inlet guide mechanism for a wire feeder used with an arc welder, said guide mechanism comprising:
- a housing with a wire guiding passageway having an entrance end and an exit end for directing welding wire to said wire feeder, a plurality of spherical guide balls, and support means for mounting said balls in a pattern circumferentially around said entrance end of said passageway and supporting said balls for annular rotation circumferentially around said entrance end, said pattern providing for a wire entering said passageway to engage the spherical surface of at least one of said guide balls.
A method for guiding a wire from a wire spool to a wire feeder of an arc welder, said method comprises the steps of:
- (a) directing said wire through a wire passageway having an entrance end;
- (b) providing said entrance end of said passageway with a plurality of closely spaced spherical balls surrounding said passageway and supported for annular rotation circumferentially around said entrance end of said passageway;
- and,
- (c) allowing said wire to engage at least one of said balls as it enters said passageway.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.