Processing unit for a circular weld

Abstract

Processing unit for producing a circular weld, comprising a welding torch (1) with a nozzle (2), a handle (10) and a gas supply, wherein the welding torch (1) has at least one coupling element by means of which a reflective surface (16, 25) can be fixed on the welding torch (1), wherein the coupling element is attached to the welding torch (1) via a clamping ring eyelet (14) which encloses the handle (10) and has a clamping device, wherein the ring eyelet (14) is connected via a connecting bridge (18) to a first joint and this joint is connected via a connecting element to at least a second joint, and wherein the reflective surface (16, 25) has a connecting piece (17, 27) which is provided at its free end with a joint piece or ball joint (22, 28).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a processing unit for producing a circular weld, comprising a welding torch with a nozzle, a handle and a gas supply, wherein the welding torch has at least one coupling element by means of which a mirror surface can be defined on the welding torch.

[0002] Welding work typically involves the use of welding torches with a nozzle, handle, and gas supply, the gas composition of which depends on the material being welded. Often, it is necessary to weld round workpieces together or to other components of a system. For this reason, circumferential welding is required, which necessitates guiding a machining unit around the workpiece. This is especially important when the system itself is large enough to be non-rotatable, thus requiring precise guidance around the round workpieces.

[0003] Mirrors are known from the prior art that are attached to the workpiece using a magnet, allowing the welder to guide the welding torch in the area behind the workpiece, which is not visible to the welder. With larger pipe sections, the mirror must be repeatedly realigned or repositioned when welding particularly large, round parts. Repositioning is necessary whenever the weld seam is no longer visible in the mirror, in which case the welding process must be interrupted, potentially affecting the weld seam and in any case requiring more time.

[0004] US patent 2009 / 0 161 212 A1 discloses a welding torch with a coupling element for a mirror. The mirror can be adjusted, for example, for circumferential welding and is preferably held by two metal wires, which are attached to the welding torch by means of a metal spring clamp. However, if the welder wants to adjust the mirror, there is a risk that the metal spring clamp could slip off the welding torch when the wires are bent, thus considerably hindering the adjustment process.

[0005] US Patent 6,069,340 discloses an electric welding clamp equipped with a mirror that is held to the clamp by a metal spring clamp. This design also carries the risk that the metal spring clamp could slip off the clamp when adjusting the mirror, thus failing to provide a secure hold.

[0006] For the aforementioned reasons, the invention is based on the objective of providing a processing unit which enables a welding process, in particular a circumferential welding, without interruption.

[0007] According to the invention, to solve the problem, the coupling element consists of a clamping ring eyelet which is attached to the welding torch, wherein the ring eyelet encloses the handle and has a clamping means and is connected via a connecting web to a first joint, and this joint is connected via a connecting element to at least a second joint, wherein the reflective surface is connected to the second joint via a connecting piece. Further advantageous embodiments of the processing unit can be found in the dependent claims.

[0008] A reflective surface, which the welder needs to guide the welding torch nozzle around larger, round workpieces, is in this case directly connected to the welding torch via a coupling element. Because the reflective surface is attached directly to the welding torch, it is guided around the round workpiece along with the torch, allowing the welding process to be carried out without interruption, as there is no need to readjust or reposition the reflective surface. Due to its direct attachment to the welding torch, the reflective surface is constantly adjusted, so no readjustment of the mirror is required for circular welding, and thus the welding process can be carried out almost without interruption.

[0009] In an embodiment of the invention, the coupling element has at least one joint to adjust the reflective surface relative to the welding torch nozzle. The coupling element serves to attach the coupling element to the welding torch, and the joint allows for adjustment of the reflective surface relative to the torch nozzle, enabling individual adjustment for each welding process. The joint provides the reflective surface with at least two degrees of freedom for adjustment, and the number of degrees of freedom can be increased by adding further joints.

[0010] In a further embodiment of the invention, the at least one joint is provided to be a ball joint. A ball joint increases the adjustability because the ball element already allows adjustability over three degrees of freedom.

[0011] In a further embodiment of the invention, the coupling element is attached to the handle of the welding torch. This direct attachment to the handle ensures the tracking of the reflective surface during the welding process and prevents damage to the reflective surface from heat exposure.

[0012] In a particular embodiment of the invention, the coupling element is attached to the welding torch via a clamping ring eyelet, which encloses the handle and includes a clamping device. Attachment to the welding torch is easily possible retroactively using a clamping ring eyelet, wherein the ring eyelet, for example, encloses the handle and can be clamped to the handle by means of a clamping device.

[0013] To increase adjustability, the eyelet is connected via a connecting link to a first joint, and this joint is then connected via a connecting element to at least a second joint. This allows for a greater distance to the workpiece and also increases the number of degrees of freedom. Advantageously, the eyelet can be connected via a connecting piece to a ball joint, so that even a single connecting link provides multiple degrees of freedom.

[0014] In a further embodiment of the invention, the reflective surface has a connecting piece which is equipped at its free end with a joint or ball joint. Just as the eyelet is equipped with a first joint, in particular a ball joint, the reflective surface can also be equipped with a connecting piece which is equipped at its free end with a joint or ball joint. The joints or ball joints on the first connecting web of the eyelet and the connecting piece with joint or ball joint on the reflective surface can be connected to each other via joint receptacles. Therefore, not only is the number of degrees of freedom increased, but a sufficient distance to the workpiece is also ensured, with the adjustability of the reflective surface being so versatile that virtually every area of ​​the weld seam is covered, especially in the case of circumferential welds.

[0015] In a further embodiment of the invention, the reflective surface consists of a polished or chrome-plated metal surface, for example, a polished stainless steel surface, or a mirror with a frame. The alternatives shown are ideally suited to the harsh conditions of such welding operations and guarantee a long service life for the reflective surface, allowing the processing unit with the reflective surface to be repeatedly placed on a workshop trolley or workbench during welding. Preferably, the reflective surface is held interchangeably in a metal frame, and its shape can be chosen as desired. For example, it can be round or rectangular.The joint connections used can be designed in such a way that subsequent tensioning of the joints is possible, making the adjustment of the mirrored surface difficult and thus preventing adjustment during work interruptions.

[0016] The essential idea of ​​the present invention is to equip a welding torch with a reflective surface which is attached directly to the welding torch by means of a coupling element, so that it can be guided during the welding process. The welder simply needs to align the mirror so that he can see the welding nozzle at all times via the reflective surface in order to guide it around the workpiece during the welding process and to carry out the weld in a controlled manner.

[0017] The invention will be further illustrated using the figures below.

[0018] They show: Fig. 1 in a schematic view a welding torch with nozzle and workpiece, Fig. 2 in a schematic view a welding torch with a reflective surface and Fig. 3 two possible design variants of the reflective surface.

[0019] Fig. Figure 1 shows a welding torch 1 as required for welding metals. Only the torch head or nozzle 2 of the welding torch 1 is shown. A workpiece 3 is processed using the welding torch 1, with a welding rod 4 being used to supply the welding material. The workpiece 3 to be processed is heated by a flame 5, so that molten material 6 forms in a depression, some of which is supplied as metal via the welding rod 4. The molten material 6 solidifies into a material 7 as the welding torch 1 is advanced. In this way, it is possible, for example, to join two workpieces 3 together, which can be flat or partially flat and partially round. Fig. Figure 1 shows the basic procedure for welding workpieces.

[0020] Fig. Figure 2 shows an exemplary side view of a welding torch 1 with a handle 10, a connecting screw 11, and a nozzle 2 for performing a welding process, in particular a circumferential welding process. The handle 10 is equipped with knobs 12 on the grip side and tapers into an extension section 13 leading to the nozzle 2. A ring eye 14 is attached to the extension section 13 via a screw connection 15. Thus, the reflective surface 16 can be directly connected to the welding torch 1. During a welding process with the nozzle 2, the reflective surface 16 moves along with the torch, allowing the welder to observe the areas of the workpieces to be joined in the reflective surface 16 and to perform a weld seam that can be produced almost without interruption, especially in circumferential welding.The reflective surface 16 has a connecting piece 17, while the ring eyelet 14 has a connecting web 18, which, in the illustrated embodiment, transition at their ends into a ball joint connected to each other via a ball joint mount 19. The ball joint mount 19 allows adjustment of the reflective surface 16 through more than three degrees of freedom, enabling individual adjustment of the reflective surface 16 for each welding process. The ball joint mount 19 is equipped with a screw connection 20, which allows for adjustment of the clamping force, ensuring a tight fit and preventing the reflective surface 16 from being moved from its originally set position during the welding process.The reflective surface 16 can be made of a polished or chrome-plated metal, a stainless steel surface or, if applicable, a mirror, wherein the reflective surface 16 is interchangeably fixed in a surrounding frame 21.

[0021] Fig. Figure 3 shows two possible configurations of a reflective surface. In the first subfigure, the reflective surface 16 is shown according to Fig. Figure 2 shows a circumferential frame 21, wherein a connecting piece 17 is integrally formed on the frame 21, which terminates in a ball joint 22. The second illustrated embodiment starts with a rectangular reflective surface 25, which is received in a frame 26. In this case, too, there is a connecting piece 27, which terminates in a ball joint 28. Reference symbol list 1 welding torch 2 nozzles 3 workpieces 4 welding rods 5 flame 6 Material 7 Material 10 Handle 11 Connection fitting 12 studs 13 Extension section 14 ring eyelet 15 screw connection 16 area 17 Connecting piece 18 Connecting bridge 19 Ball joint mount 20 screw connections 21 frames 22 Ball joint 25 area 26 frames 27 Connecting piece 28 Ball joint QUOTES INCLUDED IN THE DESCRIPTION

[0000] This list of documents cited by the applicant was automatically generated and is included solely for the reader's convenience. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA accepts no liability for any errors or omissions. Cited patent literature

[0000] US 2009 / 0 161 212 A1

[0004] US 6 069 340

[0005]

Claims

[1] Processing unit for producing a circular weld, comprising a welding torch (1) with a nozzle (2), a handle (10) and a gas supply, wherein the welding torch (1) has at least one coupling element by means of which a reflective surface (16, 25) can be fixed on the welding torch (1), wherein the coupling element is attached to the welding torch (1) via a clamping ring eyelet (14) which encloses the handle (10) and has a clamping device, wherein the ring eyelet (14) is connected via a connecting bridge (18) to a first joint and this joint is connected via a connecting element to at least a second joint, and wherein the reflective surface (16, 25) has a connecting piece (17, 27) which is provided at its free end with a joint piece or ball joint (22, 28). [2] Processing unit according to claim 1, characterized by, that the coupling element has at least one joint to adjust the reflective surface (16, 25) relative to the nozzle (2) of the welding torch (1). [3] Processing unit according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by , that the reflective surface (16, 25) is adjustable over at least two degrees of freedom. [4] Processing unit according to one of claims 1, 2 or 3, characterized by , that at least one joint consists of a ball joint (22, 28). [5] Processing unit according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by , that the coupling element is attached to the handle (10) of the welding torch (1). [6] Processing unit according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized by , that the ring eyelet (14) is connected to a ball joint (22, 28) via a connecting piece (17, 27). [7] Processing unit according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized by, that the reflective surface (16, 25) can be moved over the handle (10) during welding, especially arc welding. [8] Processing unit according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized by , that the reflective surface (16, 25) consists of a polished or chrome-plated metal surface, a polished stainless steel surface or a mirror. [9] Processing unit according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized by , that the reflective surface (16, 25) is held interchangeably in a frame (21, 26).

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