Welding gun and check ring

Abstract

A welding gun is provided with: a welding gun body section to which a nozzle member is attached to the tip side; a cylindrical mounting body into which the welding gun body part is inserted and which is restricted from moving in the axial direction toward the tip side by a restriction part provided on the welding gun body part; an outer cylinder which is fastened to the mounting body at a position closer to the axial front end side than the restricting part so as to restrict the axial movement of the outer cylinder when the outer cylinder is externally mounted on the gun body part of the welding gun; and a retainer ring into which the welding gun body section is inserted so as to restrict the rotation of the outer cylinder body with respect to the welding gun body section.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a welding torch and a retaining ring for the welding torch that restricts relative rotation of an outer cylinder with respect to the torch body portion of the welding torch. Background Art

[0002] Generally, a welding torch for arc welding is composed of a torch body, a tip body, an outer cylinder of a sleeve, an insulating sleeve, a throttling member, a power supply tip, a nozzle, and the like. The nozzle among these constituent members is used for the purpose of ejecting a shielding gas composed of an inert gas, carbon dioxide gas, etc. toward a welding portion, and is installed at the front end of the welding torch. Due to its installation position, the front end of the nozzle is very close to the welding portion, so spatter generated during arc welding adheres to the front end of the nozzle. When the spatter adheres to the front end of the nozzle, the ejection port of the shielding gas is blocked by the spatter, resulting in poor shielding gas. As one of the solutions to this problem, conventionally, there has been a method of periodically automatically or manually replacing the nozzle.

[0003] In Patent Document 1, there is described a welding torch in which the movement of the torch body toward the axially front end side is restricted to a specified position by a nut member, and the nozzle is detachably installed on the front end side of the nut member, so that the nozzle can be installed without providing an external thread portion on the outer peripheral surface of the front end of the torch body.

[0004] Prior Art Documents

[0005] Patent Documents

[0006] Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2022 - 172566 Summary of the Invention

[0007] Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0008] In the welding torch described in Patent Document 1, the nozzle and the nut member rotate in conjunction with each other about the torch body, so there is a problem that when performing an automatic or manual operation of removing the nozzle and maintaining the welding torch, the operator spends time and effort in the operation of disassembling the constituent members of the welding torch. In particular, in the automation of the assembly or disassembly of the nozzle, if the nozzle and the nut member rotate in conjunction with each other about the torch body, the assembly or disassembly operation may fail, and there is a possibility of spending more time than in the manual operation of removing the nozzle.

[0009] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a welding torch and a retaining ring that can restrict rotation of an outer cylinder that supports a nozzle provided on a torch body portion about the torch body portion with a simple structure.

[0010] Means for Solving the Problems

[0011] The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following structure.

[0012] (1)A welding torch, wherein,

[0013] The welding torch includes:

[0014] A welding torch body part, which mounts a nozzle member on the front end side;

[0015] A cylindrical mounting body, which is inserted through by the welding torch body part and is restricted from moving axially forward by a restricting part provided on the welding torch body part;

[0016] An outer cylinder, which is fastened and connected to the mounting body at a position axially forward of the restricting part, so that axial movement is restricted in a state of being externally mounted on the welding torch body part; and

[0017] A retaining ring, which is inserted through by the welding torch body part in a manner of restricting the rotation of the outer cylinder relative to the welding torch body part.

[0018] (2)The welding torch according to (1), wherein,

[0019] A restricting surface that abuts against a cut surface formed on the outer peripheral surface of the welding torch body part is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the retaining ring,

[0020] A locking part that locks with a locked part formed on the outer cylinder is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the retaining ring.

[0021] (3)The welding torch according to (2), wherein,

[0022] The locked part is provided as a concave part formed by cutting a part of the circumferential direction of the base end part of the outer cylinder,

[0023] The locking part is provided as a convex part arranged in the concave part.

[0024] (4)The welding torch according to (1), wherein,

[0025] The welding torch has a tube body made of an insulating material that insulates between the welding torch body part and the outer cylinder by being externally mounted on the welding torch body part detachably,

[0026] Supply holes and recovery holes penetrating in the radial direction are arranged and configured at different positions in the axial direction and the circumferential direction on the tube body,

[0027] A circulation path that guides the cooling water supplied from the supply holes to the recovery holes is formed between the outer surface side of the tube body and the inner surface side of the outer cylinder,

[0028] The welding torch body part includes an outer gun barrel and a gun body inner barrel that is installed inside the gun body outer barrel and extends axially forward of the gun body outer barrel,

[0029] On the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder of the gun body, there are formed: a supply path for supplying cooling water between the inner cylinder of the gun body and the outer cylinder of the gun body; a supply-side opening portion that extends axially from the supply path and opens at a position on the front end side in the axial direction with respect to the outer cylinder of the gun body, crossing the position opposed to the supply hole; a recovery path for recovering cooling water between the inner cylinder of the gun body and the outer cylinder of the gun body; and a recovery-side opening portion that extends axially from the recovery path and opens at a position on the front end side in the axial direction with respect to the outer cylinder of the gun body, crossing the position opposed to the recovery hole.

[0030] The supply path and the supply-side opening portion and the recovery path and the recovery-side opening portion are formed at different positions in the circumferential direction.

[0031] The retaining ring is formed with other engaging portions that engage with other engaged portions formed on the tubular body, and restricts the rotation of the tubular body relative to the welding gun body portion.

[0032] The welding gun according to (4), wherein

[0033] The supply path and the supply-side opening portion and the recovery path and the recovery-side opening portion are provided by two planes formed on the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder of the gun body at different phases in the circumferential direction.

[0034] The welding gun according to (4), wherein

[0035] The other engaging portion of the retaining ring is formed by making the axial side surface of the retaining ring project axially.

[0036] A retaining ring, wherein

[0037] The retaining ring is formed as an annular shape externally mounted on the welding gun body portion.

[0038] On the inner peripheral surface, there is formed a restricting surface that abuts against a cut surface formed on the outer peripheral surface of the welding gun body portion.

[0039] On the outer peripheral surface, there is formed a convex portion that is disposed in a concave portion formed at the axial end of an outer cylindrical body externally mounted on the welding gun body portion.

[0040] The retaining ring restricts the rotation of the outer cylindrical body about the welding gun body portion as an axis.

[0041] The retaining ring according to (7), wherein

[0042] The retaining ring disposes the convex portion projecting axially in a concave portion formed at the axial end of the tubular body, thereby restricting the rotation of the tubular body about the welding gun body portion as an axis. The tubular body is made of an insulating material externally mounted on the welding gun body portion to insulate between the welding gun body portion and the outer cylindrical body.

[0043] Advantages of the Invention

[0044] According to the present invention, by providing a retaining ring with a simple structure on the body portion of the welding torch, the relative rotation of the outer cylinder supporting the nozzle with respect to the body portion of the welding torch can be restricted. Therefore, the removal operation of the nozzle becomes easy, and the operator can smoothly and easily perform the installation operation of installing the outer cylinder on the body portion of the welding torch and the removal operation of removing the outer cylinder from the body portion of the welding torch. Thus, the maintainability of the welding torch is improved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a welding robot using a welding torch to which the present invention is applied.

[0046] Figure 2 is a perspective view showing a welding torch to which the present invention is applied.

[0047] Figure 3 is a side view showing a welding torch to which the present invention is applied.

[0048] Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of a welding torch to which the present invention is applied.

[0049] Figure 5 is a bottom view showing the body portion of the welding torch.

[0050] Figure 6 (A) of is a perspective view showing an insulating sleeve, Figure 6 and (B) of is a central cross-sectional view showing the insulating sleeve.

[0051] Figure 7 is a main partial cross-sectional view of a welding torch showing a circulation path of cooling water.

[0052] Figure 8 (A) to Figure 8 (C) of are a perspective view, a front view, and a side view showing a retaining ring.

[0053] Figure 9 is a main partial perspective view showing an installation method of the retaining ring. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0054] Hereinafter, the structure of a welding torch to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that each drawing is prepared for the description of the present invention, and the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the illustrated contents.

[0055] First, in order to grasp the overall situation of the welding torch to which the present invention is applied, a welding robot using the welding torch will be described based on Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a welding robot using a welding torch according to an embodiment. Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a welding robot using a welding torch according to an embodiment.

[0056] The welding robot 1 is equipped with a wire packaging cylinder 2, a welding gun cable 3, a wire feeding device 4, a welding power source 5, a manipulator 6, and a welding gun 10 as Figure 1 shown. It should be noted that Figure 1 the reference numeral A in

[0057] The wire packaging cylinder 2 is a supply source of the welding wire W and stores a prescribed amount of the welding wire W. For example, copper-plated wire, non-copper-plated wire, etc. can be used as the welding wire W. Figure 1 shown.

[0058] The welding gun cable 3 supplies the welding current supplied from the welding power source 5, the welding wire W stored in the wire packaging cylinder 2, and the shielding gas supplied from a shielding gas storage device (not shown) to the welding gun 10. One end of the welding gun cable 3 is connected to the wire feeding device 4, and the other end is connected to the welding gun 10.

[0059] The wire feeding device 4 releases the welding wire W via the welding gun cable 3 using rollers or the like and feeds it to the welding gun 10. And by providing this wire feeding device 4, the welding wire W is automatically supplied to the welding gun 10.

[0060] The welding power source 5 is a supply source of the welding current and supplies the welding current to the welding gun 10 via the wire feeding device 4 and the welding gun cable 3.

[0061] The manipulator 6 is a multi-joint robot having the welding gun 10 attached to its tip and is controlled in its operation by a robot control device (not shown).

[0062] In the following embodiments, the extending direction of the welding gun 10 is referred to as the axial direction. For the axial direction of the welding gun 10, the direction in which the welding wire W is released is referred to as the front or the front end side. For the axial direction of the welding gun 10, the direction opposite to the direction in which the welding wire W is released is referred to as the rear or the base end side.

[0063] Next, based on Figures 2 to 7 the structure of the welding gun 10 of the present embodiment will be described. Figures 2 to 3 is a perspective view and a side view showing a welding gun to which the present invention is applied, Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of a welding gun to which the present invention is applied, Figure 5 is a bottom view showing the gun body part of the welding gun, Figure 6 in (A) is a perspective view showing an insulating sleeve, Figure 6 in (B) is a central cross-sectional view showing the insulating sleeve, Figure 7 is a main partial cross-sectional view of the welding gun showing the circulation path of the cooling water.

[0064] The welding gun 10 automatically feeds the welding wire W into the cylinder and performs arc welding using the welding wire W. As Figure 2As shown, the welding gun 10 is equipped with a power supply fitting 11 and a cooling water supply unit 12 .

[0065] The current supply fitting 11 is used to detect contact between the nozzle 16 and the base material A by passing a weak current through the nozzle. The cooling water supply unit 12 is used to circulate and supply cooling water to the welding gun 10 .

[0066] (Welding gun 10)

[0067] Welding gun 10 Figure 4 As shown in the figure, the welding gun has a barrel 20 , a nozzle body 13 , a throttle 14 , a contact tip 15 , a nozzle 16 , an insulating sleeve 17 , a nozzle mounting mechanism 30 , and a retaining ring 40 .

[0068] The nozzle mounting mechanism 30 includes a nut member 31 , an outer cylinder 32 , and a restricting member 33 , and detachably mounts the nozzle 16 to the front end side of the welding gun barrel 20 .

[0069] The retaining ring 40 restricts the outer cylinder 32 supporting the nozzle 16 and the insulating sleeve 17 from rotating relative to the welding gun barrel 20 .

[0070] (Welding gun body 20)

[0071] The welding gun body 20 includes: a gun body inner tube part 21 having a cylindrical shape; and a gun body outer tube part 22, into which the gun body inner tube part 21 is inserted. The gun body inner tube part 21 and the gun body outer tube part 22 are integrated in a state where the inner surface of the gun body outer tube part 22 is fitted with the outer surface of the gun body inner tube part 21. It should be noted that the gun body inner tube part 21 is formed longer than the gun body outer tube part 22 in a manner that the front end and the rear end of the gun body outer tube part 22 protrude in the axial direction.

[0072] A conduit (not shown) for guiding the welding wire W supplied from the welding gun cable 3 is inserted into the gun body inner tube portion 21. The rear side of the gun body inner tube portion 21 is supported by a welding gun holder (not shown), and the nozzle 16 and the nozzle body 13 are mounted to the gun body inner tube portion 21 so as to extend at the axial front end side.

[0073] Between the inner barrel portion 21 of the gun body, the outer barrel portion 22 of the gun body and the insulating sleeve 17, as shown in FIG. Figure 5 As shown, a pair of cutout surfaces along the longitudinal direction are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the gun body inner tube portion 21 to form a supply path 23 for supplying cooling water and a recovery path 24 for recovering cooling water.

[0074] The supply path 23 and the recovery path 24 are formed to protrude from the front and rear ends of the gun body outer tube portion 22 in the longitudinal direction.

[0075] On the axial base end sides of the supply path 23 and the recovery path 24, a supply side connection portion 23b and a recovery side connection portion 24b connected to the cooling water supply portion 12 are formed. Through the cooling water supply portion 12 connected to the supply side connection portion 23b and the recovery side connection portion 24b, cooling water is supplied to the supply path 23 and recovered from the recovery path 24.

[0076] On the other hand, among the front end sides of the supply path 23 and the recovery path 24, one side is formed longer in the front end direction than the other side. In the illustrated example, the recovery path 24 is formed longer in the front end direction than the supply path 23.

[0077] (Nozzle body 13)

[0078] The nozzle body 13 has a cylindrical shape and has a mechanism for supporting the throttle member 14 and the contact tip 15. The nozzle body 13 is formed of an electrically conductive material such as metal.

[0079] On the inner surface of the front end of the nozzle body 13, an internal thread portion (not shown) for fastening and connecting the contact tip 15 is formed.

[0080] On the outer surface of the rear end of the nozzle body 13, an external thread portion (not shown) for fastening and connecting to the internal thread portion formed at the front end of the inner cylinder portion 21 of the gun body is formed. In addition, the nozzle body 13 forms a certain space between the inner surface of the nozzle body 13 and the outer surface of the conduit by making the inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the conduit.

[0081] A cylindrical throttle member 14 is inserted into the nozzle body 13 from the front end. On the outer circumference of the nozzle body 13, a flange portion 13a is formed which restricts the sliding of the inserted throttle member 14 by abutting at a specified position. In addition, in the nozzle body 13, a plurality of through holes 13b for the flow of the shielding gas are formed at equal intervals along the circumferential direction in the portion where the throttle member 14 is assembled.

[0082] (Throttle member 14)

[0083] The throttle member 14 has a mechanism for rectifying the shielding gas.

[0084] In the state where the throttle member 14 is assembled to the nozzle body 13, a plurality of through holes 14a for the flow of the shielding gas are formed at equal intervals along the circumferential direction at a position closer to the front end side than the through holes formed in the nozzle body 13. Thus, the throttle member 14 smoothly guides the shielding gas flowing into the inner circumferential side to the through holes 14a, and can prevent the shielding gas from generating turbulence.

[0085] (Contact tip 15)

[0086] The contact tip 15 has a mechanism for supplying the welding current to the welding wire W and guiding the welding wire W to the base material A to be welded. The contact tip 15 is formed of an electrically conductive material such as metal.

[0087] In the contact tip 15, as a function of guiding the welding wire W, a slender guiding hole 15a is formed with an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the welding wire W. The guiding hole 15a is formed so that the welding wire W fed from the nozzle body 13 side via the conduit can slide in the internal space while contacting its inner peripheral surface.

[0088] (Nozzle 16)

[0089] The nozzle 16 has a mechanism for spraying shielding gases such as argon and carbon dioxide gas supplied from a gas supply device (not shown) onto the base material A to be welded.

[0090] The nozzle 16 is formed in a cylindrical shape capable of accommodating the nozzle body 13, the throttle member 14, and the contact tip 15 in an integrally assembled state inside.

[0091] (Nozzle mounting mechanism 30)

[0092] The nozzle mounting mechanism 30 has a nut member 31 slidably provided along the axial direction of the gun body outer cylinder portion 22, an outer cylinder body 32 interposed between the nut member 31 and the nozzle 16, and a restricting member 33 mounted on the front end side of the gun body outer cylinder portion 22.

[0093] The nut member 31 is a cap nut through which the gun body outer cylinder portion 22 is inserted and is slidably provided along the gun body outer cylinder portion 22. Thus, the nut member 31 functions as a mounting body for mounting the outer cylinder body 32 provided with the nozzle 16 on the gun body outer cylinder portion 22.

[0094] The nut member 31 has a bottomed cylindrical shape open at the front. The bottom 31b of the nut member 31 is formed with an insertion hole (not shown) for the gun body outer cylinder portion 22 to be inserted. An internal thread portion 31a for fastening and connecting the outer cylinder body 32 is formed on the front side of the inner surface of the nut member 31.

[0095] The restricting member 33 is a resin-made ring-shaped member and is mounted and fixed at a specified position on the front end side of the gun body outer cylinder portion 22 by being inserted from the front end side of the welding gun body portion 20.

[0096] The restricting member 33 has a positioning member 34 formed of an O-ring that fits into a groove portion (not shown) on the front outer surface side of the gun body outer cylinder portion 22. The restricting member 33 through which the gun body outer cylinder portion 22 is inserted may also be configured such that its axial position is specified at a specified position where it abuts against the positioning member 34. This structure can be referred to Figure 5 .

[0097] The outer cylindrical body 32 has a cylindrical shape. On the front outer surface of the outer cylindrical body 32, as a mechanism for supporting the nozzle 16, an external thread portion 32a for fastening and connecting the rear end of the nozzle 16 is formed. On the rear outer surface of the outer cylindrical body 32, an external thread portion 32b for fastening and connecting the internal thread portion 31a formed on the nut member 31 is formed.

[0098] According to the nozzle mounting mechanism 30 of this structure, by the front surface of the bottom portion 31b of the nut member 31 abutting against the rear surface of the restricting member 33, the nut member 31 that slides along the outer barrel portion 22 of the gun body is restricted from sliding forward more than the restricting member 33. On the other hand, by fastening and connecting the rear portion of the outer cylindrical body 32 to the front portion of the nut member 31, the nut member 31 is restricted from sliding backward more than the restricting member 33.

[0099] That is, the axial positions of the outer cylindrical body 32 and the nut member 31 of the welding gun body portion 20 can be fixed by the nozzle mounting mechanism 30. Therefore, the nozzle 16 fastened and connected to the outer cylindrical body 32 can be arranged to extend toward the front end side in the axial direction of the welding gun body portion 20.

[0100] It should be noted that in the above example, the nozzle 16 is configured to be detachable from the outer cylindrical body 32, but it may also be a structure in which the outer cylindrical body 32 and the nozzle 16 are integrally formed. In this case, the nut member 31 can be directly detachably mounted on the nozzle 16.

[0101] In addition, the restricting member 33 only needs to be a structure capable of positioning the nut member 31 and the outer cylindrical body 32 at a specified position on the front end side of the outer barrel portion 22 of the gun body, and is not limited to the above structure. For example, it may also be a structure in which the restricting member 33 is not separated from the outer barrel portion 22 of the gun body, but a stepped portion for positioning the nut member 31 is integrally formed on the outer surface of the outer barrel portion 22 of the gun body.

[0102] (Insulating sleeve 17)

[0103] The insulating sleeve 17 has a function of preventing the electricity introduced into the welding gun body portion 20 from flowing to the nozzle 16. The insulating sleeve 17 is formed of an insulating material such as synthetic resin. It should be noted that the insulating sleeve 17 is an example, and it only needs to be a tubular body made of an insulating material.

[0104] The insulating sleeve 17 is a tubular body having a cylindrical shape. The inner diameter dimension of the insulating sleeve 17 is larger than the outer diameter dimension of the inner barrel portion 21 of the gun body, and the outer diameter dimension of the insulating sleeve 17 is smaller than the inner diameter dimensions of the nozzle 16 and the outer cylindrical body 32. The insulating sleeve 17 is fitted and housed in the outer cylindrical body 32, and on the other hand, the front portion of the inner barrel portion 21 of the gun body exposed in front of the outer barrel portion 22 of the gun body is fitted and housed.

[0105] The insulating sleeve 17 is provided with supply holes 17a and recovery holes 17b penetrating therethrough in the radial direction at different positions in the axial direction and the circumferential direction. As Figure 6 shown in (A) of Figure 6 and (B) of

[0106] , the supply holes 17a are arranged on the base end side in the axial direction of the insulating sleeve 17, and the recovery holes 17b are arranged on the front end side in the axial direction of the insulating sleeve 17. Further, a circumferential groove portion 17c with a reduced diameter in the radial direction is recessed in the middle portion in the axial direction of the insulating sleeve 17, and the recovery holes 17b are formed to open on the groove portion 17c.

[0107] Between the inner surface of the insulating sleeve 17 and a pair of cut surfaces formed on the outer surface of the inner barrel portion 21 of the gun body, the front end portions of the supply path 23 and the front end portions of the recovery path 24 are formed. Specifically, the axially front end side of the supply path 23 becomes a supply side opening portion 23a that opens beyond the position opposed to the supply hole 17a, and the axially front end side of the recovery path 24 becomes a recovery side opening portion 24a that opens beyond the position opposed to the recovery hole 17b. Figure 5 and Figure 7 .

[0108] Here, the insulating sleeve 17 is fixed to a specified position with respect to the axial rotation position of the inner barrel portion 21 of the gun body by a snap ring 40. Thereby, the supply holes 17a are arranged at positions opposed to the supply path 23 of the inner barrel portion 21 of the gun body, and the recovery holes 17b are arranged at positions opposed to the recovery path 24 of the inner barrel portion 21 of the gun body.

[0109] A circulation path 25 as an annular space is formed between the outer surface of the insulating sleeve 17 and the inner surface of the outer cylinder body 32. The circulation path 25 can return the cooling water supplied from the supply side opening portion 23a through the supply hole 17a to the recovery side opening portion 24a through the recovery hole 17b.

[0110] According to this structure, by arranging the supply holes 17a and the recovery holes 17b at different positions in the axial direction and the circumferential direction, the cooling water flowing into the circulation path 25 can flow not only in the circumferential direction but also in the axial direction on the outer surface of the inner barrel portion 21 of the gun body. Therefore, the cooling efficiency of the welding torch 10 brought by the cooling water is improved.

[0111] According to the above-mentioned welding torch 10, the welding wire W supplied from the welding torch cable 3 can be supplied to the guide hole 15a at the front end of the contact tip 15 via a conduit inserted into the nozzle body 13. In addition, the welding torch 10 can supply the welding current supplied from the welding power source 5 to the welding wire W via the welding torch body 20, the nozzle body 13, and the contact tip 15. Moreover, the welding torch 10 can supply the shielding gas supplied to the space formed between the inner surface of the nozzle body 13 and the outer surface of the conduit from the front end of the nozzle 16 toward the base material A via the through hole 13b of the nozzle body 13 and the throttle member 14.

[0112] Next, the retaining ring 40 will be described based on Figures 4 to 9 FIGS. (A) to Figure 8 FIGS. (C) of Figure 8 are a perspective view, a front view, and a side view showing the retaining ring, Figure 9 and is a partial perspective view showing the mounting method of the retaining ring.

[0113] The retaining ring 40 is an annular member that is inserted through the welding torch body 20 and provided at the front end of the outer barrel portion 22 of the gun body. Restricting surfaces 41, 41 that are a pair of parallel planes formed by cutting off a part of the circular inner surface are formed on the retaining ring 40. A locking portion 42 that is a convex portion protruding radially outward is formed on the retaining ring 40. This structure can be referred to in Figure 8 FIGS. (A) to Figure 8 FIGS. (C) of

[0114] The restricting surface 41 has a function of supporting the retaining ring 40 on the front end side of the outer barrel portion 22 of the gun body in a state of restricting rotation about the axis of the welding torch body 20.

[0115] The restricting surface 41 can fit and fix the inner surface of the retaining ring 40 at a specified position on the front outer surface of the outer barrel portion 22 of the gun body by abutting against a pair of cut surfaces 43, 43 formed at a specified position on the front outer surface of the outer barrel portion 22 of the gun body. This structure can be referred to in Figure 9 .

[0116] The locking portion 42 has a function of restricting the axial rotation of the outer cylinder body 32 and the insulating sleeve 17 relative to the retaining ring 40 by being locked to locking portions 44A, 44B that are recesses formed on the base end side of the outer cylinder body 32 and the base end side of the insulating sleeve 17.

[0117] The locking portion 42 has a first locking portion 42a that protrudes radially outward from the retaining ring 40 and a second locking portion 42b that protrudes forward in the axial direction from the axial side surface of the retaining ring 40. In the illustrated example, a single convex portion protrudes radially outward and forward, and is used as both the first locking portion 42a and the second locking portion 42b. It should be noted that the first locking portion 42a and the second locking portion 42b may also be constituted by separate convex portions.

[0118] The first locking portion 42a is arranged in the first locked portion 44A which is a recessed portion cut out from the front of the base end side of the outer cylinder 32, so that the outer cylinder 32 can be restricted from rotating about the welding gun barrel 20. That is, the nozzle 16 attached to the outer cylinder 32 can also be restricted from rotating about the welding gun barrel 20 as the axis.

[0119] The second locking portion 42b is disposed in the second locked portion 44B which is a recessed portion cut out from the base end side of the insulating sleeve 17 toward the front. Thus, the retaining ring 40 can restrict the rotation of the insulating sleeve 17 about the welding gun barrel 20 as an axis.

[0120] By providing the retaining ring 40 on the welding gun 10, the outer cylinder 32 is restricted from rotating relative to the welding gun barrel 20. Therefore, when the nozzle 16 is removed from the welding gun 10, the outer cylinder 32 does not rotate in conjunction, and only the nozzle 16 can be simply rotated, so the nozzle 16 can be removed from the welding gun 10 smoothly and easily.

[0121] Similarly, when the nozzle 16 is removed from the welding gun 10 , the outer cylinder 32 does not rotate in conjunction with the outer cylinder 32 , and only the nut member 31 can be simply rotated. Therefore, the outer cylinder 32 to which the nozzle 16 is fastened can be removed from the nut member 31 smoothly and easily.

[0122] In addition, by providing the retaining ring 40 on the welding gun 10, the insulating sleeve 17 is restricted from rotating about the welding gun body 20, so that the supply hole 17a and the recovery hole 17b can be reliably arranged opposite to the supply side opening 23a and the recovery side opening 24a, respectively. In other words, the supply hole 17a and the supply side opening 23a and the recovery hole 17b and the recovery side opening 24a can be offset in the axial direction and arranged at different phases in the circumferential direction.

[0123] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and the combination of the various structures of the embodiments, changes and applications made by those skilled in the art based on the description in the specification and well-known technologies are also intended by the present invention and included in the scope of protection requested.

[0124] As described above, the following matters are disclosed in this specification.

[0125] (1) A welding gun, wherein:

[0126] The welding gun has:

[0127] A welding gun body having a nozzle member mounted on the front end side thereof;

[0128] a cylindrical mounting body which is inserted through the welding gun body and whose axial movement toward the front end side is restricted by a restricting portion provided on the welding gun body;

[0129] An outer cylinder body, which is fastened and connected to the mounting body at a position axially forward of the restricting portion, so that axial movement is restricted in a state of being externally mounted on the gun body of the welding torch; and

[0130] A retaining ring, which is inserted through the gun body of the welding torch in a manner that restricts rotation of the outer cylinder body relative to the gun body of the welding torch.

[0131] According to this structure, by providing the retaining ring, rotation of the outer cylinder body that supports the nozzle in conjunction with the gun body of the welding torch is restricted, so that the removal operation of the nozzle becomes easy, and an operator can smoothly and easily perform the installation operation of axially rotating the mounting body to fasten and connect the outer cylinder body and the removal operation of releasing the fastening connection using tools such as a wrench. Therefore, the maintainability of the welding torch is improved.

[0132] (2)The welding torch according to (1), wherein,

[0133] A restricting surface that abuts against a cut surface formed on the outer peripheral surface of the gun body of the welding torch is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the retaining ring,

[0134] A locking portion that locks with a locked portion formed on the outer cylinder body is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the retaining ring.

[0135] According to this structure, rotation of the mounting body and the outer cylinder body in conjunction with the gun body of the welding torch can be restricted using a simple structure with a reduced number of components and manufacturing costs.

[0136] (3)The welding torch according to (2), wherein,

[0137] The locked portion is provided as a recess formed by cutting a part of the circumferential direction of the base end portion of the outer cylinder body,

[0138] The locking portion is provided as a convex portion disposed within the recess.

[0139] According to this structure, machining of the outer cylinder body can be minimized, so that costs can be further reduced.

[0140] (4)The welding torch according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein,

[0141] The welding torch has a tube body made of an insulating material that insulates between the gun body of the welding torch and the outer cylinder body by being externally mounted on the gun body of the welding torch in a detachable manner,

[0142] Supply holes and recovery holes penetrating in the radial direction are arranged and disposed at different positions in the axial direction and the circumferential direction of the tube body,

[0143] A circulation path is formed between the outer surface side of the pipe body and the inner surface side of the outer cylinder body to guide the cooling water supplied from the supply hole to the recovery hole.

[0144] The body part of the welding torch includes an outer cylinder of the body and an inner cylinder of the body that is installed inside the outer cylinder of the body and extends toward the axial front end side more than the outer cylinder of the body.

[0145] On the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder of the body, there are formed: a supply path for supplying cooling water between the inner cylinder of the body and the outer cylinder of the body; a supply side opening part that extends axially from the supply path and opens at a position on the axial front end side more than the outer cylinder of the body and beyond the position opposed to the supply hole; a recovery path for recovering cooling water between the inner cylinder of the body and the outer cylinder of the body; and a recovery side opening part that extends axially from the recovery path and opens at a position on the axial front end side more than the outer cylinder of the body and beyond the position opposed to the recovery hole.

[0146] The supply path and the supply side opening part and the recovery path and the recovery side opening part are formed at different positions in the circumferential direction.

[0147] The retaining ring is formed with other engaging parts that engage with other engaged parts formed on the pipe body, and restricts the rotation of the pipe body relative to the body part of the welding torch.

[0148] According to this structure, by arranging the supply hole and the recovery hole that constitute the circulation path at different positions in the axial direction and the circumferential direction, the cooling water can flow efficiently, so the cooling efficiency of the body part of the welding torch is improved.

[0149] (5)The welding torch according to (4), wherein

[0150] The supply path and the supply side opening part and the recovery path and the recovery side opening part are provided by two planes formed on the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder of the body at different phases in the circumferential direction.

[0151] According to this structure, the supply side opening part and the recovery side opening part can be formed simply, so the cost can be suppressed more.

[0152] (6)The welding torch according to (4), wherein

[0153] The other engaging part of the retaining ring is formed by making the axial side surface of the retaining ring protrude axially.

[0154] According to this structure, the insulating sleeve can be engaged without forming a plurality of convex parts, so the structure is simplified.

[0155] (7)A retaining ring, wherein

[0156] The retaining ring is formed as a ring that is externally mounted on the gun body of the welding torch,

[0157] A restricting surface that abuts against a cut surface formed on the outer peripheral surface of the gun body of the welding torch is formed on the inner peripheral surface,

[0158] A convex portion that is disposed within a concave portion formed at an axial end of an outer cylindrical body externally mounted on the gun body of the welding torch is formed on the outer peripheral surface,

[0159] The retaining ring restricts the outer cylindrical body from rotating about the gun body of the welding torch.

[0160] According to this structure, it is possible to restrict the relative rotation of the outer cylindrical body with respect to the gun body of the welding torch using a single retaining ring having a simple shape, and thus it is possible to suppress the cost and labor to a low level.

[0161] (8) The retaining ring according to (7), wherein,

[0162] The retaining ring disposes the convex portion protruding in the axial direction within a concave portion formed at an axial end of a tubular body, thereby restricting the tubular body from rotating about the gun body of the welding torch. The tubular body is made of an insulating material externally mounted on the gun body of the welding torch to insulate between the gun body of the welding torch and the outer cylindrical body.

[0163] According to this structure, it is possible to restrict the relative rotation of the outer cylindrical body and the tubular body with respect to the gun body of the welding torch using a single retaining ring.

[0164] As described above, various embodiments have been described with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is of course not limited to this example. As long as a person skilled in the art, various modification examples or correction examples can obviously be conceived within the scope described in the patent technical solution, and these are of course also understood to belong to the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, the respective constituent elements in the above-described embodiments can be arbitrarily combined without departing from the gist of the invention.

[0165] It should be noted that this application is based on a Japanese patent application (Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-207021) filed on December 23, 2022, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0166] Description of Reference Numerals

[0167] 1 Welding robot

[0168] 2 Wire packaging cylinder

[0169] 3 Welding torch cable

[0170] 4 Wire feeding device

[0171] 5 Welding power source

[0172] 6 Manipulator

[0173] 10 Welding torch

[0174] 11 Energizing fitting

[0175] 12 Cooling water supply part

[0176] 13 Tip body

[0177] 13a Flange part

[0178] 13b Through hole

[0179] 14 Throttle part

[0180] 14a Through hole

[0181] 15 Conductive tip

[0182] 15a Guide hole

[0183] 16 Nozzle

[0184] 17 Insulating sleeve (pipe body)

[0185] 17a Supply hole

[0186] 17b Recovery hole

[0187] 17c Groove part

[0188] 20 Welding torch body part

[0189] 21 Inner barrel part of the gun body (inner barrel of the gun body)

[0190] 22 Outer barrel part of the gun body (outer barrel of the gun body)

[0191] 23 Supply path

[0192] 23a Supply side opening part

[0193] 23b Supply side connection part

[0194] 24 Recovery path

[0195] 24a Recovery side opening part

[0196] 24b Recovery side connection part

[0197] 25 Circulation path

[0198] 30 Nozzle mounting mechanism

[0199] 31 Nut member (mounting body)

[0200] 31a Internal thread part

[0201] 31b Bottom

[0202] 32 Outer cylinder

[0203] 32a External thread part

[0204] 32b External thread part

[0205] 33 Restricting member (restricting part)

[0206] 40 Retaining ring

[0207] 41 Restricting surface

[0208] 42 Locking part (protrusion)

[0209] 42a First locking part

[0210] 42b Second locking part

[0211] 43 Cutting surface

[0212] 44 Locked part (recess)

[0213] 44A First locked part

[0214] 44B Second locked part

[0215] A Base material

[0216] W Welding wire

Claims

1. A welding torch, wherein, the welding torch includes: a welding torch body portion to which a nozzle member is attached on the front end side; a cylindrical mounting body which is inserted through by the welding torch body portion and is restricted from moving axially toward the front end side by a restricting portion provided on the welding torch body portion; an outer cylinder which is fastened and connected to the mounting body at a position axially closer to the front end side than the restricting portion, so that axial movement is restricted in a state of being externally mounted on the welding torch body portion; and a snap ring which is inserted through by the welding torch body portion in a manner that restricts rotation of the outer cylinder relative to the welding torch body portion.

2. The welding torch according to claim 1, wherein, a restricting surface that abuts against a cut surface formed on the outer peripheral surface of the welding torch body portion is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the snap ring, a locking portion that locks with a locked portion formed on the outer cylinder is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the snap ring.

3. The welding torch according to claim 2, wherein, the locked portion is provided as a recess formed by cutting a part of the circumferential direction of the base end portion of the outer cylinder, the locking portion is provided as a protrusion disposed within the recess.

4. The welding torch according to claim 1, wherein, the welding torch has a tube body made of an insulating material that insulates between the welding torch body portion and the outer cylinder by being detachably externally mounted on the welding torch body portion, supply holes and recovery holes that penetrate in the radial direction are arranged and disposed at different positions in the axial direction and the circumferential direction on the tube body, a circulation path that guides the cooling water supplied from the supply holes to the recovery holes is formed between the outer surface side of the tube body and the inner surface side of the outer cylinder, the welding torch body portion includes an outer cylinder of the body and an inner cylinder of the body that is installed inside the outer cylinder of the body and extends axially closer to the front end side than the outer cylinder of the body, a supply path that supplies cooling water between the inner cylinder of the body and the outer cylinder of the body, a supply side opening portion that extends axially from the supply path and opens at a position axially closer to the front end side than the outer cylinder of the body and beyond a position opposed to the supply hole, a recovery path that recovers cooling water between the inner cylinder of the body and the outer cylinder of the body, and a recovery side opening portion that extends axially from the recovery path and opens at a position axially closer to the front end side than the outer cylinder of the body and beyond a position opposed to the recovery hole are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder of the body, the supply path and the supply side opening portion are formed at different positions in the circumferential direction from the recovery path and the recovery side opening portion, the snap ring is formed with another locking portion that locks with another locked portion formed on the tube body, and restricts rotation of the tube body relative to the welding torch body portion.

5. The welding torch according to claim 4, wherein, the supply path and the supply side opening portion and the recovery path and the recovery side opening portion are provided by two planes formed on the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder of the body at different phases in the circumferential direction.

6. The welding torch according to claim 4, wherein, the other locking portion of the snap ring is formed by making the axial side surface of the snap ring protrude axially.

7. A snap ring, wherein, the snap ring is formed as a ring-shaped member externally mounted on a welding torch body portion A restricting surface is formed on the inner circumferential surface to abut against a cut surface formed on the outer circumferential surface of the gun body of the welding torch. A convex portion is formed on the outer circumferential surface and is disposed within a recess formed at an axial end of an outer cylinder externally fitted to the gun body of the welding torch. The retaining ring restricts the rotation of the outer cylinder about the gun body of the welding torch as an axis.

8. The retaining ring according to claim 7, wherein the retaining ring disposes the convex portion protruding in the axial direction within a recess formed at an axial end of the tube body, thereby restricting the rotation of the tube body about the gun body of the welding torch as an axis, and the tube body is made of an insulating material externally fitted to the gun body of the welding torch to insulate between the gun body of the welding torch and the outer cylinder.

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