The wire feed mechanism includes a feed roll, a pressure roll, a pressure arm, and a pressure mechanism. The feed roll rotates around a rotation axis. The pressure roll is displaceable relative to the feed roll. The pressure arm has a first end and a second end that are separate from each other, and rotatably supports the pressure roll. The pressure mechanism engages with the pressure arm so that a pressure force is applied from the pressure roll to the feed roll with a wire held between the feed roll and the pressure roll. A force-receiving portion is provided at an end of the pressure arm. When the pressure roll presses the feed roll, the pressure mechanism applies a force to the force-receiving portion in a direction that is substantially parallel to the direction in which the wire is fed.

A system for controlling multiple wire feed motors for use in a welding-type system including a push motor controlled to operate at a target wire feed speed and a pull motor disposed in a welding torch controlled to apply a target torque to the fed welding wire. Such a system eliminates shaving and bird nesting of welding wire.

Systems and methods are provided for manually setting up a wire drive assembly of a welding power supply and automatically setting up welding power supply parameters. A drive roll is configured with multiple grooves for receiving multiple wires of different types and/or different diameters. A sensor can detect the configuration of the drive roll such as, for example, being configured to receive a particular wire type with a particular diameter in a particular groove, by detect a distance to the drive roll. The welding power supply can use this information to automatically set the wire speed.

A welding or additive manufacturing wire drive system includes a spindle. First and second welding wire spools are mounted on the spindle. The spools include a flange, a mounting hub, a barrel, and a wire electrode wound on the barrel. At least two drive rolls simultaneously draw first and second wire electrodes from the spools. A clutch disk is mounted on the spindle and has respective frictional surfaces in contact with one or both of the flange and mounting hub on the spools to frictionally engage the spools. The clutch disk allows the spools to slip relative to each other during an operation of the at least two drive rolls such that the spools rotate at different speeds while the wire electrodes are drawn from the spools.

A wire shaping device for shaping a welding wire stored in a bulked storage container shapes the welding wire by flexing of the welding wire as it is drawn around sheaves. The wire shaping device can be located immediately adjacent to a wire feeding device of the welder. In use, the wire shaping device may include an inlet port for receiving the wire, a first rotatable sheave for receiving the wire from the inlet port, the first rotatable sheave being rotatable in a first direction; a second rotatable sheave for receiving the wire from the first rotatable sheave, the second rotatable sheave being rotatable in a second direction opposite of the first direction; and an outlet port for receiving the wire from the second rotatable sheave. The wire shaping device may also include a mounting plate and first and second rollers operatively associated with the first and second sheaves, respectively.

An orientation and guide mechanism for a welding system includes a pair of opposed guide members. A weld wire having a non-round cross-section is fed through a guide passageway formed between the guide members, each of which have recessed channels that combine to define the guide passageway. The guide passageway has a non-round shape corresponding to the non-round shape of the wire. The orientation mechanism and the guide members thereof is adjustable relative to a welding device of the weld system, such that the orientation of the wire can be controlled and maintained by adjusting the orientation mechanism. The wide side of the wire may be adjusted to be presented to a radiant energy source, and/or the non-round wire may be adjusted relative to the desired weld seam.

Welding is performed by alternately switching a pulse arc welding period (where welding is performed by forward feeding a welding wire by a rotation for the forward feeding of a push side feeding motor and a rotation for the forward feeding of the pull side feeding motor and feeding a peak current and a base current) and a short-circuiting transition arc welding period (welding is performed by forward/backward feeding the welding wire by the rotation for the forward feeding of the push side feeding motor and a rotation for the forward/backward feeding of the pull side feeding motor and feeding a short-circuiting current and an arc current). During the short-circuiting transition arc welding period, a forward feeding peak value Wsp and/or a backward feeding peak value Wrp of a pull feeding speed Fw are compensation-controlled based on a wire storage amount of an intermediate wire storage.

A wire feeding device configured to feed welding wire from a wire feeding source to a welding torch is provided with: an intermediate wire feeding source that is disposed between the wire feeding source and the welding torch and is configured to temporarily store the welding wire fed from the wire feeding source and to feed the stored welding wire to the welding torch; a first feeding part that feeds the welding wire at the wire feeding source to the intermediate wire feeding source; a second feeding part that feeds the welding wire stored in the intermediate wire feeding source to the welding torch; and a feed control unit that controls speed of feeding the welding wire by each of the first feeding part and the second feeding part.

A welding or additive manufacturing wire drive system includes a welding wire spool and first and second drive rolls. One or both of the drive rolls has a circumferential groove. The system includes a first welding wire, drawn from the welding wire spool, and located between the drive rolls in the circumferential groove, and a second welding wire, drawn from the welding wire spool, and located between the drive rolls in the circumferential groove. The first welding wire contacts the second welding wire between the first drive roll and the second drive roll. The first welding wire further contacts a first sidewall portion of the circumferential groove, and the second welding wire further contacts a second sidewall portion of the circumferential groove. Both of the first welding wire and the second welding wire are radially offset from a central portion of the circumferential groove.

An example wire feeder includes: a wire supply support configured to supply welding wire; a wire drive assembly configured to feed wire to a welding gun from the wire supply support; a support base defining a lower surface, the wire supply support and the wire drive assembly supported by the support base, the support base being pivotable from an operational position to a travel position; a handle at a first end of the support base; and at least one reduced friction element extending from a second end of the support base so that the support base is in contact with a support surface when the support base is in the operational position, and the reduced friction element is in engagement with the support surface and the support base is out of contact with the support surface when the support base is pivoted to the travel position.