US Patent No: 7,692,117

Number of patents in Portfolio can not be more than 2000

Wire gripper for a drive unit of a wire feeder

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ALSO PUBLISHED AS: 20060138114
ATTORNEY / AGENT: (SPONSORED)
 

Importance

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Abstract

A gripping device is disclosed for a set of pinch rollers used in a wire feeder that supplies a welding operation with a consumable welding wire. The welding wire passes between the pinch rollers whereby the pinch rollers engage the wire with a gripping force and incrementally rotate to control the outflow of the wire to the welding operation. The gripping device has a first member which is displaceable relative to a second member and a spring mechanism extending between the first and second members which has at least a first and a second spring modulus. The spring mechanism produces the gripping force as the first and the second members are displaced toward one another. The gripper urges one roller of the set of pinch rollers toward the other roller of the set to engage the wire and to apply the gripping force. By including a spring with a first and second spring modulus, the gripper can apply a first range of gripping forces with the force produced by the first spring modulus and a second range of gripping forces with the force produced by the second spring modulus.

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First Claim

Related Publications

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Patent Owner(s)

Patent OwnerAddressTotal Patents
LINCOLN GLOBAL, INC.CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA481

International Classification(s)

Inventor(s)

Inventor Name Address # of filed Patents Total Citations
Belfiore, Brian J Highland Heights, OH 5 18
Enyedy, Edward A Eastlake, OH 39 118
Nelson, Bryan Chardon, OH 15 21

Cited Art

Patent Info (Count) # Cites Year
 
LINCOLN GLOBAL, INC. (16)
4,247,751 Automatic presettable welding system 15 1978
4,731,518 Gun and cable for gas metal arc welding 28 1986
5,277,314 Retainer ring for welding wire container disclosure 53 1993
5,369,243 Method and system for determining operating characteristics of arc welding wire 5 1993
5,816,466 Wire feeding apparatus 41 1996
5,845,862 Mechanism for braking the unwinding of a bundle of metallic wire housed in a drum 30 1997
5,836,539 Inlet guide mechanism for wire feeder 13 1997
5,981,906 Method of welding the ends of pipe together using dual welding wires 20 1997
5,819,934 Wire transport drum 43 1997
5,973,291 Method and system for determining the feedability of welding wire 14 1998
6,267,291 Coded and electronically tagged welding wire 21 1999
6,557,742 Drive roller for wire feeding mechanism 16 2001
6,596,972 Welding accessory arrangement 34 2001
6,596,970 Method of determining cable impedance 6 2002
6,627,848 Guide device for electric arc torch welding 5 2002
7,026,574 Wire gripper for a drive unit of a wire feeder 17 2003
 
LINCOLN ELECTRIC COMPANY, THE (3)
4,532,406 Arc welding torch having integrated wire feed 18 1984
5,060,882 Wire supply reel support device 17 1990
5,155,330 Method and apparatus for GMAW welding 16 1991
 
ELPATRONIC AG (2)
5,622,637 Process for seam welding an overlapping sheet-metal seam 7 1995
5,951,885 Method and apparatus for generating welding pressure in a roller seam welding machine 5 1997
 
ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC. (2)
2005/0224,486 Wire feeder pinch force mechanism 2 2005
2005/0224,484 Drive roll release mechanism 3 2005
 
A2C GROUPE PRATIC-ADEMVA (1)
5,072,872 Device for transporting materials in strip, sheet, or filament form 14 1990
 
AMP INCORPORATED (1)
4,354,626 Apparatus for feeding a plurality of wires 6 1980
 
AUREX, S.A. DE C.V. (1)
5,205,412 Recyclable package for a stack of rolls of magnetic tape 24 1992
 
BATH IRON WORKS CORPORATION (1)
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BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA (1)
6,228,213 Production of microcrystalline cellulose by reactive extrusion 13 1998
 
BOOTSMAN HOLDING B.V. (1)
6,561,528 Wheeled device 6 2002
 
CUV "PROGRESS" (1)
4,261,499 Planetary wire-feeding device 11 1978
 
EATON CORPORATION (1)
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ESSEX TECHNOLOGY, INC. (1)
4,582,198 Wire shipping and dispensing package 35 1985
 
FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD. (1)
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GENESIS SYSTEMS GROUP, LTD. (1)
5,521,355 Welding torch assembly and method 10 1995
 
GROUP DEKKO, INC. (1)
5,078,269 Wire shipping and dispensing container 23 1990
 
HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES, INC. (1)
6,892,810 Gripper block for coiled tubing injector with variable tubing size capability 9 2003
 
HIGH STEEL STRUCTURES, INC. (1)
4,659,904 Shut-down control device for welding carriage and method 6 1985
 
I.E.M.C.A. S.P.A. INDUSTRIA ELETTROMECCANICA COMPLESSI AUTOMATICI (1)
5,584,648 Bar guide device for bar feeders in machine tools 5 1995
 
INSTITULE PO ZAVARYAVANE (1)
4,205,771 Electrode wire-feeding device having means for automatically adjusting the pushing force for the electrode wire 9 1978
 
KABELMETAL ELECTRO GMBH (1)
5,489,056 Endless chain conveying device with spring biased wedge tensioner 4 1993
 
KABUSHIKI KAISHA KOBE SEIKO SHO (KOBE STEEL, LTD.) (1)
4,869,367 Welding wire container 52 1985
 
LINCOLN ELECTRIC HOLDINGS, INC. (1)
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M.K. PRODUCTS, INC. (1)
6,568,578 Welding wire feed mechanism 30 2001
 
MINERALS TECHNOLOGIES INC. (1)
4,235,362 Wire-feeding apparatus 16 1979
 
MINNESOTA MINING AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY (1)
5,109,983 Package for an optical fiber jumper 32 1991
 
MITSUBISHI DENKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA (1)
5,053,598 Wire electrode feeding apparatus 6 1990
 
OXO WELDING EQUIPMENT CO., INC. (1)
4,508,954 Portable arc voltage wirefeed welding system 35 1984
 
P.E.I. PROTEZIONI ELABORAZIONI INDUSTRIALI S.R.L. (1)
5,775,619 Roller for winding and unwinding a protective cover equipping a machine tool or the like 6 1996
 
RIETER INGOLSTADT SPINNEREIMASCHINENBAU AG (1)
5,309,603 Device and process to compress and guide a fiber sliver 5 1992
 
ROCKFORD MANUFACTURING GROUP, INC. (1)
5,497,928 Apparatus for feeding wire having a linearly movable roller pinch pair with guide rod 8 1994
 
SIDERGAS S.R.L. (1)
5,494,160 Container for packaging and unwinding a coil of wire 44 1994
 
SOUTHWIRE COMPANY (1)
4,277,011 Quick adjusting elongated object guide 10 1979
 
THE ESAB GROUP, INC. (1)
6,427,894 Electrode wire feeder for an arc welding system 17 2000
 
THE ORIGINAL LINCOLN LOGS LTD. (1)
4,842,669 Method of manufacture and assembly system for a structural wall panel 6 1987
 
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AS REPRESENTED BY THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (1)
6,213,375 Manually operated welding wire feeder 9 1999
 
WILBUR ROBERT L. SOUTHWEST HARBOR, MAINE 04679 (1)
4,268,248 Portable preheater 10 1979
 
OTHER [CHECK PATENT PROFILE FOR ASSIGNMENT INFORMATION] (4)
4,426,046 Wire drive system 8 1981
4,623,063 Fibreboard container for coil material 39 1986
5,090,647 Hose trolley 9 1991
5,410,126 Portable AC/DC wire feed welder 25 1994

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