A rotary grip (9) grips a nozzle (11) in a component replacement area (V2) in a forward rotation or in a reverse rotation about a central axis of the nozzle (11). A rotary storage (4) stores a plurality of nozzles (11) at predetermined intervals in a circumferential direction about an axis of rotation (C1) and moves each of the plurality of nozzles (11) to a component supply area (V1) by rotating about the axis of rotation (C1). A component transporter (7) transports each nozzle (11) from the component supply area (V1) to the component replacement area (V2). A clutch assembly (8) transmits rotation and blocks transmission of rotation between the rotary storage (4) and a drive motor (5).

A robotic shear stud welding system includes a stud feeder, a ferrule feeder, at least one work zone, a robot, and a welding gun. The stud feeder is configured to hold a plurality of studs and feed a single stud therefrom. The ferrule feeder is configured to hold a plurality of ferrules and feed a single ferrule therefrom. The robot has a controllable arm that is configured to accurately move between the stud feeder, the ferrule feeder, and each of the at least one work zones. The welding gun is attached to the distal end of the controllable arm. The welding gun is configured to pick up the single stud from the stud feeder, pick up the single ferrule from the ferrule feeder and position the single ferrule at a bottom of the single stud, and shoot the single stud to a workpiece in one of the at least one work zones.

A method of resistance spot welding a steel workpiece and an aluminum or aluminum alloy workpiece together includes several steps. One step involves inserting a cover between the aluminum or aluminum alloy workpiece and an adjacent welding electrode. In another step, the adjacent welding electrode is pressed against cover, and another opposed welding electrode is pressed against the steel workpiece at a weld site. In yet another step, electrical current is passed between the welding electrodes, passed through the cover, and passed through the workpieces in order to initiate and grow a molten weld pool within the aluminum or aluminum alloy workpiece.

A method of resistance spot welding a steel workpiece and an aluminum or aluminum alloy (aluminum) workpiece together includes several steps. One step involves providing a workpiece stack-up with a steel workpiece and an aluminum workpiece. Another step involves attaching a cover over a weld face of a welding electrode. The cover is made of a metal material with an electrical resistivity that is greater than an electrical resistivity of a material of the welding electrode. Yet another step involves performing multiple individual resistance spot welds to the workpiece stack-up. The cover abuts the aluminum workpiece while the individual resistance spot welds are performed. And another step involves removing the cover from the welding electrode after the individual spot welds are performed.

An arc welding apparatus includes a conductor tube assembly that has a collar assembly with a collar body that is biased by a spring. A consumable assembly is mechanically secured to the conductor tube and displaces the collar body and the collar body imparts a biasing force against the consumable assembly pretensioning the consumable assembly on the conductor tube assembly.

A welding gun is provided that includes an elongated body having a longitudinal axis, a neck assembly connectable to the elongated body, and a handle including a sleeve portion mounted around and longitudinally fixed relative to the elongated body, and a grasping portion extending lengthwise radially outwardly from the sleeve portion. The welding gun also includes a rotation mechanism including an inner structure fixedly provided along an outer periphery of the elongated body and having a number of circumferentially distributed engaging elements, and an outer structure fixedly provided along an inner periphery of the sleeve portion and having a number of circumferentially distributed engaging elements. The engaging elements of the outer structure cooperate with the engaging elements of the inner structure for releasably locking the elongated body into a plurality of discrete angular positions relative to the sleeve portion about the longitudinal axis.

Apparatuses, systems, and/or methods for providing welding systems or portions of welding systems that provide a tip-retention device that is configured to direct gas radially towards a contact tip.

An automatic welding machine includes a link actuator in which a distal end side link hub is coupled to a proximal end side link hub via three or more link mechanisms and the position of the distal end side link hub relative to the proximal end side link hub can be arbitrarily changed. The automatic welding machine is provided with one or more linear motion actuators configured to cause the proximal end side link hub of the link actuator to advance/retract relative to a mount along respective axes, and a welding torch is mounted on the distal end side link hub. The automatic welding machine further includes a movement mechanism on which peripheral devices connected to the welding torch via cables are mounted so as to be movable in one or more axial directions.

An automatic welding machine includes a link actuator in which a distal end side link hub is coupled to a proximal end side link hub via three or more link mechanisms and the position of the distal end side link hub relative to the proximal end side link hub can be arbitrarily changed. The automatic welding machine is provided with one or more linear motion actuators configured to cause the proximal end side link hub of the link actuator to advance/retract relative to a mount along respective axes, and a welding torch is mounted on the distal end side link hub. The automatic welding machine further includes a movement mechanism on which peripheral devices connected to the welding torch via cables are mounted so as to be movable in one or more axial directions.

A method for providing a welding score, comprising determining an initial position of a welding operation, determining a terminal position of the welding operation, determining a welding path between the initial position and the terminal position, and determining the welding score based on the welding path, wherein the welding score takes into account one or both of a time used for welding and a length of the welding path. A system comprising a welding torch, and a computer configured to: determine an initial position of a welding operation, determine a terminal position of the welding operation, determine a welding path between the initial position and the terminal position, determine a welding score, wherein the welding score takes into account a time used for welding and/or a length of the welding path, and comparing the welding score to a score threshold.