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. 18, 2002
Filed:
Dec. 04, 2000
Thomas Andrew Lorincz, Hollister, CA (US);
Therma Corporation, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
An orbital welder includes a weld tip, a rotational controller, and a translational controller. The rotational controller causes the weld tip to rotate about an axis passing through the tube to be welded. As the weld tip rotates about the axis, the translational controller causes the weld tip to move longitudinally with respect to the axis, forming non-planar orbital welds. In one embodiment, the translational controller includes a rotor disposed to rotate about the axis. The translational controller further includes a carrier that is slidably attached to the rotor, and the weld tip is fixed to the carrier. As the rotor rotates about the axis, the carrier moves longitudinally with respect to the axis, such that the weld tip follows a non-planar orbital weld pattern. In a particular embodiment, a portion of the carrier is biased against a surface a cam block. The surface of the cam block is contoured to displace the carrier longitudinally with respect to the axis of rotation as the rotor rotates about the axis.