Wire retaining ring for a welding system

A wire retaining ring for a coil of welding wire, the coil includes a coil top and a coil bottom, a feeding end of the welding wire extends from the coil top and a trailing end of the wire extends from the coil bottom, the trailing end of the coil of wire being joinable to the feeding end of another coil of wire, the wire retaining ring comprising:

• a discontinuous inner ring that has an inner radius and an inner gap;
• a discontinuous outer ring that has an outer radius, which is greater than the inner radius, the outer ring is substantially concentrically disposed with regard to the inner ring;
• at least two spokes that each extend radially from the inner ring to the outer ring, the spokes intersect the outer ring to create a plurality of segments along a circumference of the outer ring;
• and
• a wire guide extending radially from the inner ring to the outer ring and having a first portion and a second portion, where the wire guide includes a slot having a slot width and separating the first portion of the guide from the second portion of the guide, the slot defining a discontinuity in the inner ring and a discontinuity in the outer ring.

An endless wire payoff system for coiled wire comprising:

• a first container that contains a first coil of wire that has a feeding end and a trailing end, the feeding end is fed through the wire feeder for a welding operation;
• a second container that contains a second coil of wire that has a feeding end and trailing end, the feeding end is connected to the trailing end of the first coil;
• a first wire retaining ring disposed on top of the first coil and a second wire retaining ring disposed on top of the second coil, where each wire retaining ring includes a discontinuous inner ring that has an inner radius and an inner gap;
• a discontinuous outer ring that has an outer radius, which is greater than the inner radius, the outer ring is substantially concentrically disposed with regard to the inner ring;
• at least two spokes that each extend radially from the inner ring to the outer ring, the spokes intersect the outer ring to create a plurality of segments along a circumference of the outer ring;
• and
• a wire guide extending radially from the inner ring to the outer ring and having a first portion and a second portion, where the wire guide includes a slot having a slot width and separating the first portion of the guide from the second portion of the guide, the slot defining a discontinuity in the inner ring and a discontinuity in the outer ring and disposed in a location in place of one of the plurality of spokes, wherein the trailing end of the first coil of wire is positioned within the slot.