Kobe Steel, Ltd.

Yoji Ogata

Toshihiko Watanabe

Mitsurou Soga

Ryuji Murai

Masashi Nagashima

A recovery type flux feeding assembly is disclosed. The assembly includes a virgin flux hopper and a waste flux hopper with a flux feed conduit connected to the bottom of the waste flux hopper. The hoppers are separated by a drop stop which selectively permits flux from the virgin flux hopper to enter the waste flux hopper so that the flux exiting through the flux feed is a mixture of the two. A flux return assembly consists of a flux recovery port positioned adjacent the waste flux from the weld, a cyclone attached to the top of the waste flux hopper and a conduit connecting the two. An air injector injects air into a midpoint of the conduit between the flux recovery port and the cyclone so that the cyclone is kept at a positive pressure and the waste flux therein is not sucked out. Conduits are included between the tops of the hoppers for equalizing the pressures therebetween. In one embodiment, the virgin flux hopper surrounds and is entirely above the waste flux hopper while in another embodiment the two are adjacent and on substantially the same level.

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Fujisawa, Japan

Yoji Ogata