The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 13, 1978
Filed:
Jun. 25, 1976
Urban A Schneider, Pensacola, FL (US);
Robert D Sigman, Pensacola, FL (US);
Westinghouse Electric Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for preheating filler material to a temperature approaching its melting point prior to deposit within a weld zone. The weld zone and deposited filler material are then heated sufficiently to form an integral weldment. The power imparted to preheat the filler material is automatically, programmably, controlled as a predetermined function of the filler material deposition rate to obtain smooth melting of the filler material within the weld zone at any given filler material feed speed. In an application to welding an extended seam along a workpiece wherein the weld zone is moved along the seam, the power employed to heat the weld zone and the filler material feed speed are additionally controlled as a function of the speed of movement of the weld zone along the seam. In an application to welding generally cylindrical members along a designated circumferential weld seam, the method and apparatus of this invention simultaneously produce substantially identical welds at a plurality of spaced weld zones along the weld seam symmetrically situated about an axis bisecting the axis of revolution of the member by automatically controlling and establishing a substantially identical ratio of heat input to volume of deposited metal along the weld seam at each of the weld zones at any given point in time. Identical welds are achieved by automatically, programmably, controlling the power employed to preheat the filler material at each welding location as a function of the corresponding filler material feed speed and the respective feed speed and power imparted to each weld zone as a programmed function of the speed of the weld zone along the seam and the respective feed speed and welding power corresponding to each of the other weld zones along the seam.