Welding pin holding member

Abstract

A welding pin holding member 1 includes a holding piece 11 for locking the outer circumference of a washer 32 of a welding pin 3. The holding piece 11 has a prescribed bending elasticity. As a result of a welding gun 2 being pulled with a prescribed force, the holding state of the welding pin 3 is released from a holding state of the welding pin 3 in which the washer is locked.

Description

Weld pin holding member

[0001] The present invention relates to a welding pin holding member capable of holding a welding pin attached to a welding gun.

[0002] Stud welding has been known as a method for fastening fire-resistant covering materials to metal substrates such as steel frames. A welding gun as disclosed in Patent Document 1 is commonly used as a device for performing stud welding.

[0003] That is, a welding pin can be attached to the power supply plug of the welding gun by a magnet. The welding gun welds the tip of the pin portion of the welding pin, which has penetrated the fire-resistant coating, to the metal base material by bringing the tip of the pin portion into contact with the metal base material and discharging the electric charge supplied from the power supply. This welding gun allows the welding pin to be welded to the metal base material, fixing the fire-resistant coating to the metal base material.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-015017

[0005] However, if the welding pin is not properly welded to the metal substrate and a welding defect occurs, as described above, there is a risk that the welding pin will fall off the metal substrate or fire-resistant coating due to vibration or wind. If the welding pin falls and lands with its tip facing up, a person could step on it and suffer serious injury. For this reason, in the past, during welding, workers would palpate each welded welding pin or pass an inspection current through the welding pin after welding to check the weld condition. This required a lot of work for the worker.

[0006] In view of the above problems, the present invention aims to provide a welding pin holding member that makes it possible to check the fixed state of a welding pin to a metal base material more efficiently and effectively than conventional methods.

[0007] One embodiment of the present invention is a welding pin holding member that is provided on a welding gun capable of welding a welding pin to a metal base material, and that has a holding piece that engages the outer periphery of the washer portion of the welding pin, and the holding piece has a predetermined elasticity, and when the welding gun is pulled with a predetermined strength from the holding state of the welding pin that engages the washer portion, the holding state of the welding pin is released.

[0008] Furthermore, in one embodiment of the present invention, the holding piece of the welding pin holding member is characterized in that it has a locking protrusion that protrudes toward the center of the washer portion and locks the outer peripheral end of the washer portion.

[0009] In one embodiment of the present invention, the welding pin holding member is provided on a power supply plug of the welding gun.

[0010] Furthermore, in one embodiment of the present invention, the number of the holding pieces provided on the welding pin holding member is plural.

[0011] In one embodiment of the present invention, the welding pin holder has a holder piece support portion on which the plurality of holder pieces are supported and a fixing portion for fixing the welding pin to the power supply plug, and is detachable from the power supply plug.

[0012] According to the present invention, the weld pin holder has a plurality of retaining pieces that have a predetermined bending elasticity and that lock onto the washer portion of the weld pin, and the plurality of retaining pieces are configured to release the weld pin from its held state in which the washer portion is locked when the welding gun is pulled with a predetermined strength. This makes it possible to efficiently and effectively check for weld defects in the weld pin by simply pulling the welding gun after welding, without the need for a worker to palpate the weld pin after welding as in the conventional case.

[0013] Furthermore, since the weld pin holder of the present invention can be attached to a conventional welding gun or a welding gun power supply plug, there is no need for an inspection gun for inspecting the weld condition of the weld pin or a mechanism for applying an inspection current. Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to provide a low-cost, highly versatile means for inspecting the weld condition.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a side view of a welding pin holding member attached to a power supply plug in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view of the welding pin holding member in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a side view of the welding pin holding member from various directions in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a side view illustrating a holding piece in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a series of operational modes for checking the fixed state of the welding pin in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a series of operational modes for checking the fixed state of the welding pin in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a series of operational modes for checking the fixed state of the welding pin in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a view illustrating a series of operational modes for when the welding pin has been poorly welded in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a view illustrating a series of operational modes for when the welding pin has been poorly welded in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a welding pin holder according to the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiment.

[0016] With regard to a weld pin holder 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1A shows a side view of the weld pin holder 1 attached to a power supply plug 21 of a welding gun 2, and FIG. 1B shows a front view of the weld pin holder 1.

[0017] 2 shows side views of the weld pin holding member 1 from various directions, and FIG. 3 shows side views of the holding piece 11.

[0018] 1A to 3, the welding pin holding member 1 of this embodiment is provided on a welding gun 2 capable of welding the welding pin 3 shown in Figures 4A, 4B, 4C, etc. The welding pin holding member 1 has a plurality of holding pieces 11 that have a predetermined elasticity (bending elasticity) and lock onto the washer portion 32 of the welding pin 3. When the welding gun 2 is pulled with a predetermined strength, the holding pieces 11 release the welding pin 3 from its holding state in which the washer portion 32 is locked. The washer portion 32 has, for example, a shallow dish-like washer shape.

[0019] 1A, the welding pin holding member 1 is made of stainless steel and is configured to be detachably attached to the power supply plug 21 of the welding gun 2. The welding pin holding member 1 has a plurality of (three in this embodiment) holding pieces 11 for holding the welding pins 3, which are fixed to an annular holding piece support portion 12. The plurality of holding pieces 11 are fixed to the holding piece support portion 12 at equal intervals (i.e., 120-degree intervals), for example.

[0020] Furthermore, a fixing portion 112 for fixing the holding piece 11 to the power supply plug 21 is formed on the side of the holding piece 11 facing the power supply plug 21, and is attached to the power supply plug 21 together with the annular holding piece support portion 12 described above.

[0021] In the illustrated embodiment, the welding pin holding member 1 is configured to be detachable from the power supply plug 21. Therefore, even when the power supply plug 21, which is a consumable item, is replaced, the welding pin holding member 1 can be attached to the replaced power supply plug 21.

[0022] The welding pin holder 1 of the present invention is not necessarily limited to the illustrated embodiment. For example, by changing the mounting structure, it is naturally possible to configure it so that it is detachable from the welding gun 2. Furthermore, the welding pin holder 1 of the present invention is not limited to a configuration that is detachable from the welding gun 2. It may also be provided integrally with the power supply plug 21 or the welding gun 2. The spacing between the multiple holding pieces 11 does not have to be equal. For example, to make it easier to insert the washer portion 32 of the welding pin 3 from the side of the welding pin holder 1, the spacing between specific two holding pieces 11 may be larger than the spacing between the other holding pieces 11. Furthermore, the holding pieces 11 and the holding piece support portion 12 may be integrally structured so that the holding pieces 11 protrude from the holding piece support portion 12. In this case, the multiple holding pieces 11, the holding piece support portion 12, and the multiple fixing portions 112 are integrally structured.

[0023] 4A and other figures, the holding piece 11 of this embodiment includes a locking protrusion 111 that protrudes toward the center of the washer portion 32 of the welding pin 3 and locks the outer peripheral end of the washer portion 32. More specifically, the locking protrusion 111 is bent with an inclined surface toward the center of the washer portion 32.

[0024] With the above-described configuration of the retaining piece 11, when the welding gun 2 is pulled with a predetermined strength from the state in which the welding pin 3 is retained by the washer 32, the retaining piece 11 is deformed outward (in the radial direction of the washer 32, in the direction of arrow D2 in FIG. 4B ), and the outer peripheral end of the washer 32 slides on the inclined surface of the retaining protrusion 111, thereby releasing the retained state of the welding pin 3. In this embodiment, the retaining state of the welding pin 3 is released by applying a tensile force of, for example, 30 N or more to the washer 32.

[0025] 4A, 4B, and 4C show a series of operations for checking the fixed state of welding pin 3. First, as shown in Fig. 4A, welding pin 3 before welding is placed on power supply plug 21, and welding pin 3 is attracted to power supply plug 21 by the magnetic force of power supply plug 21, and welding pin 3 is held by welding pin holder 1.

[0026] Next, the welding pin 3 is penetrated through the fire-resistant coating (not shown) and welded to a metal base material 40, such as a steel frame. As shown in FIG. 4B , after welding of the welding pin 3 is completed, the welding gun 2 is pulled in the direction of arrow D1, and the welding pin 3 is pulled by the welding pin holding member 1 (locking protrusion 111). If the pin portion 31 of the welding pin 3 is firmly welded to the metal base material 40, the weld strength of the welding pin 3 to the metal base material 40 exceeds the elastic force (bending elastic force) of the holding piece 11, causing the holding piece 11 to deform outward (in the direction of arrow D2). Finally, as shown in FIG. 4C , the holding state of the welding pin 3 is released. It can be seen that the pin portion 31 of the welding pin 3 is welded to the metal base material 40 with sufficient strength.

[0027] In this embodiment, the bending elastic force of the holding piece 11 is configured such that the holding state of the welding pin 3 is released when a tensile force of 30 N or more is applied, and when the holding state of the welding pin 3 is finally released, it can be confirmed that there are no welding defects in the welding pin 3.

[0028] 5A , after welding of the welding pin 3 is completed, the welding gun 2 is pulled in the direction of arrow D1, and the welding pin 3 is pulled by the welding pin holding member 1, causing the holding piece 11 to deform slightly outward (in the direction of arrow D2). However, if there is a welding defect in the pin portion 31 of the welding pin 3, the welding strength of the welding pin 3 to the metal base material 40 becomes smaller than the bending elastic force of the holding piece 11. As shown in FIG. 5B , the tip of the pin portion 31 breaks before the holding state of the welding pin 3 is released, and the holding state of the welding pin 3 is ultimately not released. In other words, the welding pin 3 comes off the metal base material 40, but remains held by the welding pin holding member 1. This allows immediate confirmation of a welding defect in the welding pin 3.

[0029] As described above, the present invention makes it possible to efficiently and effectively check for the presence or absence of welding defects in the welding pin 3 simply by pulling the welding gun 2 after welding, without the need for the worker to palpate the welding pin 3 as in the conventional case.

[0030] Furthermore, the weld pin holder 1 of the present invention can be attached to a conventional welding gun 2 or power supply plug 21 of the welding gun 2, eliminating the need for an inspection gun for inspecting the welding condition or a mechanism for supplying an inspection current. This makes it possible to provide a low-cost, highly versatile means for inspecting the welding condition.

[0031] (Other Embodiments) Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the following modifications are also possible, for example.

[0032] In the embodiment of the welding pin holder 1 described above, three holding pieces 11 are provided, but the number is not necessarily limited to this as long as the configuration allows for checking for defective welding of the welding pin 3. That is, the number of holding pieces 11 may be two or more, or may be one. When there is one holding piece 11, the holding piece 11 may have a shape such as a semicircular ring that can engage the washer portion 32.

[0033] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the weld pin holding member 1 is made of stainless steel, but this is not necessarily limited to this, and it may be made of other metals or resins, for example.

[0034] 3 and the like, the retaining projections 111 are formed on the holding pieces 11 by bending a plate-like member. Although this configuration can reduce the processing time and manufacturing costs, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this processing method.

[0035] In this embodiment, the welding pin 3 is released from its held state when a tensile force of 30 N or more is applied, but this is not necessarily limited to this, and the holding strength can be set as needed. Specifically, the holding strength of the welding pin 3 can be changed by adjusting the bending elasticity by changing the plate thickness or plate width of the holding piece 11 of the welding pin holding member 1.

[0036] Furthermore, the installation manner of the welding pin holder 1 in the above-described embodiment is merely an example, and the manner of attachment to the power supply plug 21 or the welding gun 2 can be changed as appropriate.

[0037] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings, the specific configurations are not limited to these embodiments. The scope of the present invention is defined by the claims, not by the description of the above-mentioned embodiments, and includes all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims. Furthermore, the specific methods described in the above examples can be modified within the scope of solving the problems of the present invention.

[0038] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Welding pin holding member 11 Holding piece 111 Locking protrusion 112 Fixing portion 12 Holding piece support portion 2 Welding gun 21 Power supply plug 3 Welding pin 31 Pin portion 32 Washer portion 40 Metal base material

Claims

1. A welding pin holding member provided on a welding gun capable of welding welding pins, the welding pin holding member having a holding piece that engages the outer periphery of the washer portion of the welding pin, the holding piece having a predetermined elasticity, and which releases the welding pin from its held state in which the washer portion is engaged when the welding gun is pulled with a predetermined strength.

2. The welding pin holder according to claim 1, characterized in that the holding piece has a locking projection that protrudes toward the center of the washer and locks the outer peripheral edge of the washer.

3. The welding pin holder according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the welding pin holder is provided on the power supply plug of the welding gun.

4. The welding pin holding member according to claim 3, characterized in that the number of said holding pieces is plural.

5. The welding pin holder according to claim 4, characterized in that the welding pin holder has a holder piece support portion on which the plurality of holder pieces are supported, and a fixing portion for fixing the welding pin holder to the power supply plug, and is detachable from the power supply plug.

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