Abstract: A wire cleaner having a chamber and containing an arc ring for passing a wire therethrough, such that when the wire and arc ring are provided with opposite electrical potentials, an electric arc discharge occurs from the wire to the arc ring which carries off impurities from the surface of the wire. An inert gas is used to purge the chamber to prevent oxidation of the wire during and following the discharge from the wire. A pair of annular permanent magnets are positioned around the wire on each side of the arc ring to produce a magnetic field parallel to the wire which interacts with the electrical arc discharge and causes the arc to rotate around the circumferences of the wire and arc ring, thereby cleaning the entire wire. A second embodiment is provided in which the pair of permanent annular magnets is replaced by a variable strength electromagnet surrounding the arc ring and wire path. Other embodiments employ a pair of arc rings to carry the electric current so that two arcs are created in tandem.

Abstract: A wire cleaner having a chamber and containing an arc ring for passing a wire therethrough, such that when the wire and arc ring are provided with opposite electrical potentials, an electric arc discharge occurs from the wire to the arc ring which carries off impurities from the surface of the wire. An inert gas is used to purge the chamber to prevent oxidation of the wire during and following the discharge from the wire. A pair of annular permanent magnets are positioned around the wire on each side of the arc ring to produce a magnetic field parallel to the wire which interacts with the electrical arc discharge and causes the arc to rotate around the circumferences of the wire and arc ring, thereby cleaning the entire wire. A second embodiment is provided in which the pair of permanent annular magnets is replaced by a variable strength electromagnet surrounding the arc ring and wire path.

Abstract: An optically controlled welding system (10) wherein a welding torch (12) having through-the-torch viewing capabilities is provided with an optical beam splitter (56) to create a transmitted view and a reflective view of a welding operation. These views are converted to digital signals which are then processed and utilized by a computerized robotic welder (15) to make the welding torch responsive thereto. Other features includes an actively cooled electrode holder (26) which minimizes a blocked portion of the view by virtue of being constructed of a single spoke or arm (28) and a weld pool contour detector (14) comprising a laser beam directed onto the weld pool with the position of specular radiation reflected therefrom being characteristic of a penetrated or unpenetrated condition of the weld pool.

Abstract: An improved hollow electrode 10 and hollow electrode working tip 14 for a gas tunsten arc welding apparatus is disclosed. The hollow electrode face is formed as a lune-shaped radial surface 16 having two tapered intersecting cone-shaped angled surfaces 18. The improved electrode working tip provides a controllable stable arc resulting in an improved weld.

Abstract: A gas cup extension assembly (10) is mounted on a standard electric welding torch gas cup (11) to enable welding in areas with limited access. The gas cup assembly (10) has a tubular insert (14) that fits within the gas cup (11) but extends a lower externally threaded portion (17) downward through the gas cup exit opening. A tubular extension (18) is screwed onto the threaded portion (17) so as to be placed tight against the lower edge of the gas cup (11). The upper portion (20) of the extension has a rim (21) to define the outer perimeter of the seat edge about the entrance opening so a gasket (24) may be placed to effect an air tight seal between the tubular insert (14) and tubular extension (18). The tubular extension (18) will have its lower portion (19) shaped as desired for the particular welding activity and may easily be replaced with another extension having a different shaped lower portion.

Abstract: A welding monitoring system is constructed having an arc welder (16) mounted in an enclosure (12) containing a pair of periscopically positioned mirrors (56, 60). A welding electrode (64) extends from the welder (16) through an opening (58) in the mirror (56) and through an opening (62) in the enclosure (12). The mirror (56) is inclined to reflect an image of a welding operation to the mirror (60), which in turn is inclined to reflect the image through an opening (72) in the enclosure (12) to a third mirror (98). This mirror (98) is mounted in an adjoining region (100) between support members (84, 86) which are coupled perpendicularly to each other, with one member (86) coupled to the enclosure (12) by a rotatable coupling (92). The coupling (92) allows the enclosure (12) and the welder (16) to be rotated about an axis (71) and locked in a selected position by set screws (88).

Abstract: An electric welding torch (10) with an internal viewing system is provided an annular arc light reflector (34) to reflect light from the arc (30) back onto the workpiece. The reflector (34) has a vertical split or gap (40) in its surrounding wall to permit adjacent wall ends forming the split (40) to be sprung open slightly to permit the reflector to be removed or slipped onto the torch housing or gas cup (24). The upper opening (25) of the reflector (34) is slightly smaller than the torch housing or gas cup (24) and therefore, when placed on the torch housing or gas cup (40) has that springiness to cause it to clamp tightly on the housing or gas cup (24). The split or gap (40) also serves to permit the feed of weld wire therethrough to the weld area.

Abstract: A conical shaped mirror (34) fits on the end of a welding torch (10) to reflect light from the arc (30) back onto the workpiece. The torch (10) has an internal coaxial viewing system consisting of a lens (12) which focuses the field of view of the weld scene of the workpiece onto the end (16) of a fiberoptic bundle (18). The transmitted image of the fiberoptic bundle (18) is provided to a camera lens (20) which focuses it onto a TV sensor array (23) for transmission. The reflected arc (30) light illuminates the dark areas of the weld area and thereby provides a more detailed image for the viewing system.