Retainer for a welding wire container and welding wire container

Abstract

A retainer is described for exerting a braking effect on wire provided as a spool in a container. The retainer has a plate-like elastic element with a contact surface adapted for resting on the wire, an outer circumference adapted for being guided in the container, and an inner circumference adapted for allowing the wire to pass through. The plate-like elastic element has an elasticity such that one of the inner and outer circumferences sags down, under the proper weight of the retainer, by a distance of at least 10 mm when the retainer is supported at the other of the inner and outer circumference.

Claims

1. A container having a bottom, and circumferential walls extending upwardly from said bottom, containing a coil of welding wire formed of a plurality of windings of welding wire contained in the welding wire container, and an internal retainer positioned on the coil of wire for exerting a braking effect on the wire stored in the container as the wire is withdrawn from the container, said retainer comprising a ring-shaped elastic element formed of a non-magnetic material having a contact surface in part supported on said coil of wire, and a surface opposite said contact surface said ring-shaped elastic element having an outer circumference adapted for being guided in said container, and an inner circumference having a uniform uninterrupted edge adapted for allowing said wire to pass through, said ring-shaped elastic element having physical characteristics of a thickness in a range of 0.3 mm to 12 mm, and being formed of a plastic material having a flexibility such that when an outer 10 mm circumference of said ring-shaped elastic element is supported, unsupported regions of said ring-shaped elastic element sag down, under their own weight, by a distance of at least 10 mm and not more than 50 mm, whereby a controlled braking effect of pay-out of the welding wire from the container results due solely to the weight of and friction of the retainer acting on the wire.

2. The container of claim 1 wherein said distance is at least 20 mm.

3. The container of claim 1 wherein said ring-shaped elastic element is formed of polycarbonate.

4. The container of claim 1 wherein said retainer is transparent.

5. The container of claim 1 wherein said ring-shaped elastic element is provided with a reinforcement ring which extends along said outer circumference.

6. The container of claim 1 wherein said contact surface has a roughness which is different from a roughness of a surface which is opposite said contact surface.

7. A container having a bottom, and circumferential walls extending upwardly from said bottom, containing a coil of welding wire formed of a plurality of windings of welding wire contained in the welding wire container, and an internal retainer positioned on the coil of wire for exerting a braking effect on the wire stored in the container as the wire is withdrawn from the container, said retainer having a ring-shaped elastic element formed of a non-magnetic material having a contact surface in part supported on said coil of wire, and a surface opposite said surface, said ring-shaped elastic element having an outer circumference adapted for being guided in said container, and an inner circumference having a uniform uninterrupted edge adapted for allowing said wire to pass through, said ring-shaped elastic element having a thickness in a range of 0.3 mm to 12 mm, and being formed of a plastic material having physical characteristics of a flexibility such that when the retainer is supported centrally by a 10 mm wide support, unsupported regions of said ring-shaped elastic element sag down, under their own weight, by a distance which is between 5% and 40% of said diameter of said retainer, whereby a controlled braking effect of pay-out of the welding wire from the container results due solely to the weight of and friction of the retainer acting on the wire.

8. The container of claim 7 wherein said distance is at least 10% of said diameter.

9. The container of claim 8 wherein said distance is at least 15% of said diameter.

10. The container of claim 7 wherein said distance is not more than 40% of said diameter.

11. The container of claim 7 wherein said ring-shaped elastic element is provided with a reinforcement ring which extends along said outer circumference.

12. The container of claim 7 wherein said contact surface has a roughness which is different from a roughness of a surface which is opposite said contact surface.

13. A container having a bottom, and circumferential walls extending upwardly from said bottom, containing a welding wire coil formed from a plurality of windings of welding wire contained in the welding wire container, and an internal retainer which rests on an upper surface of said coil, said retainer having a ring-shaped elastic element formed of non-magnetic material having a contact surface in part resting on said coil of wire, and a surface opposite said contact surface, said retainer having an outer circumference adapted for being guided in said container, and an inner circumference having a uniform uninterrupted edge adapted for allowing said wire to pass through, said ring-shaped elastic element being formed of a plastic material having physical characteristics of a thickness in a range of 0.3 mm to 12 mm, flexibility E selected based on a yield limit and a specific weight of the wire, and a width of the retainer, wherein the flexibility E is determined by the following formula: $E=\frac{0.2\%\mathrm{yield}\mathrm{limit}}{\mathrm{specific}\mathrm{weight}*B}$ wherein: the 0.2% yield limit of the welding wire is in N/mm.sup.2; the specific weight of the welding wire is in g/cm.sup.3; B is the width of the retainer from said inner to said outer circumference in mm, such that unsupported regions of said retainer sag down, under their own weight whereby a controlled braking effect on pay-out of said wire as the wire is withdrawn from the container results solely due to the weight and friction of the retainer acting on the wire.

14. The container of claim 13 wherein said elastic flexibility E is within a range 0.08 to 0.14.

15. The container of claim 13 wherein said ring-shaped elastic element is formed of polycarbonate.

16. The container of claim 13 wherein said retainer is transparent.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention will now be described with reference to the enclosed drawings. In the drawings,

(2) FIG. 1 shows a prior art container with retainer in a cross section;

(3) FIG. 2 shows the elastic behavior of the prior art retainer when tested in a first type of set-up;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a container according to the invention with a retainer according to a first embodiment of the invention;

(5) FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a container according to the invention with a retainer according to a second embodiment of the invention;

(6) FIG. 5 shows the first type of set-up for determining the appropriate elasticity of a retainer according to the invention, and two embodiments of the retainer according to the invention;

(7) FIG. 6 shows a second type of set-up for determining the appropriate elasticity of a retainer according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(8) A welding wire container 10 with a welding wire retainer 12 as known from the prior art is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The container 10 has a rectangular inner cross section (e.g. octagonal), side walls 14 (two side walls are shown), a bottom 16 and a lid 18.

(9) In the interior of the container 10, a welding wire coil 20 is accommodated. The welding wire coil 20 consists of a certain amount of welding wire 22 which is coiled so as to form a hollow body with a ring-shaped cross section. The portion of the welding wire which is currently being withdrawn from the container is designated with reference numeral 24.

(10) On the upper side of the welding wire coil 20, the retainer 12 is provided. The retainer 12 has a plate-like body with a central opening 28 which is delimited by an inner circumference 30. An outer circumference 32 of retainer 12 serves for guiding the retainer within the container, in particular between the side walls 14.

(11) The retainer 12 lies on the upper side of the welding wire coil 20, the retainer 12 being always generally parallel to lid 18.

(12) Conventional prior art retainers are made from a thick plastic element which is generally rigid. This will be explained with reference to FIG. 2. If the retainer as used in the container of FIG. 1 is supported along its outer circumference 32 by means of a support 40 which follows the outer contour of retainer 12 and has a small width x (e.g. not more than 10 mm), then the inner circumference 30 of the prior art retainer 12 sags downwardly by a distance s which is not more than 10 mm. This is due to the fact that the plate-like retainer is essentially rigid.

(13) The result of retainer 12 being rigid can be seen in FIG. 1.

(14) Retainer 12 exerts, owing to its weight and the friction between the retainer 12 and the welding wire 24, a braking effect on the welding wire 24 when the welding wire is withdrawn from container 10. This braking effect results in a certain traction force which is necessary for pulling the wire from the coil 20. The traction force however results in the welding wire 24 being bent in a region B where it passes around the inner circumference 30 of retainer 12.

(15) In order to avoid the welding wire 24 from being bent when passing around the inner circumference 30 of retainer 12, the invention provides a retainer 12 which is elastic. A first embodiment of the retainer is shown in FIG. 3, where the same reference numerals are being used as in FIG. 1.

(16) Retainer 12 is as a plate-like elastic element which can simply be cut out from a thin sheet made of elastic material. As elastic material, plastic with the necessary elasticity is preferred, in particular polycarbonate. The inherent elasticity of the plate-like elastic element allows deforming the plate-like element which however returns to its original position as soon as the pressure is released.

(17) The behavior of the retainer can be seen in FIG. 3. Retainer 12 bends and deforms only at the very point (and closely adjacent thereto) where it is engaged by the wire 24 being paid out while the remaining portion of retainer 12, not engaged, remains still and undeformed to control the remaining strands and the rest of the wire coil 20.

(18) As soon as the wire 24 has passed the engaged point of plate-like elastic element 13, the deformed portion returns to its original undeformed condition. This provides a dynamic controlling action that actively follows the movement of the wire strand being paid out, adapting itself to the wire 24 without deforming it.

(19) It can be seen that due to the particular elasticity of the plate-like elastic element which forms retainer 12, the inner contour of the retainer adjacent inner circumference 30 is deformed by the wire such that the retainer is locally curved upwardly, thereby preventing any sharp bending of the welding wire.

(20) A second embodiment of the retainer is shown in FIG. 4. The difference between the first and second embodiment is that the second embodiment uses a reinforcement ring 50 which defines the outer contour of retainer 12. The majority M of the width B of the annular retainer 12 is however not covered by reinforcement ring 50 so that the plate-like elastic element is exposed. The advantage of the second embodiment over the first embodiment is that a very thin and thereby flexible plate-like elastic element can be used with the second embodiment without there being any risk that the stability and rigidity of the entire retainer 12 is not sufficient for securely keeping it on top of the welding wire coil. The plate-like elastic element can here be formed of a very thin, flexible material like rubber or silicon, with the reinforcement ring 50 acting as a rigid, supportive frame.

(21) For both embodiments, the outer contour of retainer 12, defined by outer circumference 32, matches the contour of the inside of container 10, with a slight play being provided between the inner contour of the container 10 and the outer contour of the retainer 12. This play allows retainer 12 to freely descend in the interior of container 10 when the height of the welding wire coil 20 decreases.

(22) Further, the diameter of the opening 28 defined by the inner circumference 30 of the retainer 12 is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of welding wire coil 20 so that no area of the top of the wire coil 20 is exposed to air contamination. In other words, the retainer plate completely covers the top side of the coil.

(23) The inner contour 30 of plate-like elastic element 12 has a uniform, uninterrupted edge, without there being any additional flaps, fingers or dents.

(24) The optimal thickness to obtain a sufficient level of elasticity of the retainer varies and is in relation with the dimensions of the retainer itself: the larger the plate, the thicker it must be, and vice versa. In general, the elasticity of the retainer must not be excessively high as this could result in a deformation of the entire retainer such that it drops into the interior of the welding wire coil, resulting in a jamming of the whole system. At the same time, the elasticity of the retainer must be sufficient for allowing the plate-like elastic element to yield under the traction forces acting on the welding wire such that the welding wire is not deformed.

(25) The suitable elasticity of the retainer can very easily be determined with the set-up as shown in FIG. 5. The set-up is the same as already shown in FIG. 2, namely a support 40 which is narrow (with a thickness x of no more than 10 mm) and which supports the outer circumference 32 of the retainer.

(26) The retainer 12 as shown in FIG. 4 is shown in continuous lines in FIG. 5. It can be seen that the outer circumference 32 remains basically undeformed due to reinforcement ring 50. The inner circumference 30 sags down by a distance s which is at least 10 mm and preferably at least 20 mm.

(27) The retainer of FIG. 3 is shown in dashed lines. Here again, the inner circumference 30 sags down by a distance s which is at least 10 mm and preferably at least 20 mm. Owing to the desired stability of the retainer, the inner circumference 30 of retainer 12 will not sag down more than 50 mm.

(28) A retainer 12 according to the invention will exhibit the same behavior if the set-up is reversed such that it supports the retainer along the inner circumference 30 rather than along the outer circumference 32.

(29) A different set up for choosing the correct elasticity of retainer 12 is shown in FIG. 6. Here, a narrow support (again having a width x of not more than 10 mm) is used which supports the retainer centrally along a diameter. A conventional, rigid retainer will, when supported by a narrow support 50 which extends along a diameter of the retainer, deform under its proper weight such that opposite sides sag down by a distance s which is not more than 5% of the diameter of the retainer. An inventive retainer 12 will show a larger deformation. Opposite ends of a retainer 12 according to the invention will sag down by a distance s which is more than 5% of the diameter of the retainer, in particular more than 15%. In order to guarantee a sufficient proper stability of the retainer, the elasticity is chosen such that opposite sides of the retainer do not sag down more than 40% of the diameter of the retainer.

(30) It has been determined that the 0.2% yield limit of the welding wire in the container and also the specific weight of the welding wire are decisive factors for determining a suitable elasticity of retainer 12. Taking further into account the dimensions of the retainer, it has been found out that an elasticity factor E can be determined with the following formula:

(31) $E=\frac{0.2\%\mathrm{yieldlimit}}{\mathrm{specificweight}*B}$
with: the 0.2% yield limit of the welding wire in N/mm.sup.2; the specific weight of the welding wire in g/cm.sup.3; B being the widths of the retainer from said inner to said outer circumference in mm;

(32) The best results were achieved with an elasticity E in a range of 0.05 to 0.4, in particular well within the range of 0.08 to 0.14.

(33) If a transparent material like thin polycarbonate is used to produce the retainer, it is also possible to visually inspect the complete wire movements and layers behavior.

(34) It also possible to use, for cutting the retainer out, plastic sheets which have a polished and therefore more slippery surface on one side and a milled and therefore rougher surface on the opposite side, so that the retainer can conveniently be turned upside down as needed, in order to increase or decrease the retainer strands controlling action, for example depending on the wire diameter, the wire hardness or the wire surface finish.