Systems for robotic stud arc welding without ferrule

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for arc welding a stud to a workpiece without the use of a ferrule are disclosed. Apparatus according to the invention include a stud arc welding gun having a spacer at a distal end thereof, and a chuck adapted to receive a stud having a diameter of more than about ⅜ inch. A stud feeding device is coupled to the gun for automatically loading studs into the gun. The stud feeding device can include a bowl feeder and a stud feeding conduit via which studs are transferred from the bowl feeder to the stud gun. A gun positioning device, such as an arm of a robot, is coupled to the gun, and automatically positions the gun such that the spacer is against a receiving surface of the workpiece. A controller coupled to the stud gun initiates a stud arc welding process to arc weld the stud to the workpiece.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.