DESC:TECHNICAL FIELD
The present disclosure relates to a split-pole welding machine, and more specifically it relates to removal of kick cables from a split-pole welding machine, and using of water cooled copper bus bars, instead.
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
Currently, available welding machines comprise welding cables which are arranged, interconnected and equated such that the cables cannot kick apart, as is usual with the more common type of cable. Such cables are known as kickless cables (which are twin-poled, laid upon an interlacing-spider with alternatively, for nullifying the magnetic-flux directly with each other pole and indirectly, the fatigue-stress and strain in individual copper-bunches of each pole) and have the great advantage that they have a much longer working life since they are not subjected to violent movements and fatigue-failures. The cables are handled and connected to a transformer of the welding machine with great facility and they ensure a decreased Power-Drop Factor of the source of supply.
Figure 1 shows a welding machine 10 with kick-cable configuration, in accordance with a prior art embodiment. The welding machine comprises two kick cables, first cable (12) and second cable (14), connected to either sides of a welding machine transformer (16). Both the kick-cables (12) and (14) are flexible cables. The first cable (12) is connected to the transformer (16) and other side having a robotic gun (18), which is a moving end. Length of the first kick-cable (12) is 3.5 m long. The first cable (12) is suspended using a wire rope balancer (20) on a pulley. The second kick-cable (14) is connected to a strut gun (22) of a fixed end. The length of this cable (14) is 3.5 m long.

These welding machines have the disadvantages of heavy current-losses, frequent breakdowns in the machine, major time loss in break-down account, highly susceptible to frequent fatigue failures, more Spare-Part consumption, rigorous condition monitoring requirement on the kick-cables, inconsistent spot-quality, aging of kick cables, more spot cost, require more skilled maintenance, more spare parts cost and not eco-friendly due the usage of more copper and rubber waste generation from the consumed kick-cables. Also, the highly-skilled work-men are required have to properly route the cables, failing which, there would be sure-shot ‘near-future’ failure of the cables.

There exists a need for a weld machine system without kick-less cables and eliminating the drawbacks of the conventional system.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, a welding machine is provided. The welding machine includes a fixed arm sub-system and a moving arm sub-system. The fixed arm sub-system includes at least one electricity conducting bar. The at least one electricity conducting bar has a first end portion and a second end portion. The first end portion of the electricity conducting bar being functionally connected to a transformer and the second end portion of the electricity conducting bar is functionally connected to a fixed electrode. The moving arm sub-system includes at least one electricity conducting bar and an electricity conducting cable. The at least one electricity conducting bar has a first end portion and a second end portion, wherein the first end portion of the electricity conducting bar is functionally connected to the transformer. The electricity conducting cable has a proximal end portion and a distal end portion. The proximal end portion of the electricity conducting cable is coupled to the second end portion of the electricity conducting bar and the distal end portion of the electricity conducting cable is coupled to a moving electrode.

In one embodiment, the at least one electricity conducting bar is of metal.

More specifically, in another embodiment, the at least one electricity conducting bar is a water-cooled copper-bar.

The first end portion of the electricity conducting bar may be functionally connected to the transformer by means of a plurality of conductive bars and a conducting bracket.

The plurality of conductive bars may be water-cooled copper-bars.

The second end portion of the electricity conducting bar is functionally connected to the fixed electrode by means of a flexible laminated shunt and a strut gun.

In one embodiment, the at least one electricity conducting bar is of metal.

More specifically, the at least one electricity conducting bar may be of a water-cooled copper-bar.

The first end portion of the electricity conducting bar may be functionally connected to the transformer by means of at least one conductive bar and at least one conducting bracket.

The at least one electricity conducting cable may be a water cooled jumper cable.

The at least one electricity conducting cable may be supported by a wire rope balancer.

The at least one insulated bracket (108) facilitates holding of the at least one electricity conducting bar.

The distal end portion of the electricity conducting cable (116) may be coupled to a moving electrode of the welding machine by means of a robotic gun.

OBJECTIVE OF THE DISCLOSURE

One object of the present disclosure is to provide a weld machine with water cooled permanent copper bar, and removal of kick-cables.

One object of the present disclosure is to provide a weld machine which is simple, reduces power consumption, robust having longer life than conventional welding machine with kick-cables.

Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a weld machine that is comparatively more economical.

Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a weld machine that is easy to operate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The novel features and characteristic of the disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. The disclosure itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures. One or more embodiments are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures wherein like reference numerals represent like elements and in which:
Figure 1 illustrates a welding machine with kick-cables in accordance with prior art embodiment; and
Figure 2 illustrates a welding machine replacing kick-cables by water-cooled copper bars, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
The figures depict embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE
The foregoing has broadly outlined the features and technical advantages of the present disclosure in order that the detailed description of the disclosure that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the disclosure. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the disclosure, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present disclosure. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in the figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated and make part of this disclosure.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a replacement of kick-cables, which connects a weld transformer to plurality of electrodes of the weld gun. The kick-cables are replaced by water-cooled copper bars, which reduces the overall power consumption and thereby, reduce the cost of the system. The replacement of kick cables holds good for the arrangement in which one end of the welding device is fixed and the other end is movable.

In one non-limiting embodiment, the subject disclosure a welding machine replacing kick-cables by water-cooled copper bars, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The weld system includes a fixed end having a water-cooled copper bars, a plurality of water-line’s link-tubes, conductive bars-uniting bracket and an insulated bar-holding bracket. A 3.5 m long water-cooled permanent copper-bar is on the fixed arm side and a flexible laminated shunt is connected to at a fixed end/ arm electrode/ strut- gun. Also, the system includes a moving end having a water-cooled copper-bar. The moving end side can be extended by a jumper cable. In one embodiment, the jumper cable is suspended by a wire rope balancer. In one embodiment, the water cooled copper-bar is 3.5 meter long permanent copper-bar on the movable arm side, extended by a 1.5-Mtr. long water-cooled jumper cable.

The system at fixed end or electrode end, the copper bar is used to connect one of the transformer terminals to the electrode. The copper bar is supported by the insulated bar-holding brackets. The conductive bar-uniting brackets are used at the junction of two copper bars. The water-line’s link-tube is provided to circulate the water along the tubes for reducing the temperature of the system. The flexible laminated shunt connects the copper bar to the electrode/ strut gun. The presence of the shunt gives the electrode/strut gun a minute flexibility. At the moving end of the welding system, the copper bar is used to connect the other end of the transformer to the electrode. Since, the movable end needs to be more flexible, the jumper cable is used, extending from the bar. This cable is suspended by the wire-rope balancer.

Referring to Figure 2, a welding machine (100) is disclosed. The welding machine (100) includes a fixed arm sub-system (200) and a moving arm sub-system (300).

The fixed arm sub-system (200) includes at least one electricity conducting bar (102). In one embodiment, the at least one electricity conducting bar (102) is of metal that is electrically conductive. More specifically, in another embodiment, the at least one electricity conducting bar (102) is a water-cooled copper-bar. The at least one electricity conducting bar has a first end portion (124) and a second end portion (126). The first end portion (124) of the electricity conducting bar (102) is functionally connected to a transformer (128). In one embodiment, the first end portion (124) of the electricity conducting bar (102) is functionally connected to the transformer (128) by means of a pair of conductive bars (120) and a conducting bracket (106). More specifically, the first end portion (124) of the electricity conducting bar may be functionally connected to the transformer (128) by means of a plurality of small conductive bars (120) to enable the solid-bars (102) getting adopted to the welding machine 110’ construction-constraints. Also, the same number of conducting brackets (106) may be used as that of the conductive bars (120). In one embodiment, the plurality of conductive bars (120) may be water-cooled copper-bars. The second end portion (126) of the electricity conducting bar (102) is functionally connected to a fixed electrode (130). The second end portion (126) of the electricity conducting bar (102) is functionally connected to the fixed electrode (130) by means of a flexible laminated shunt (110) and a strut gun (112). In one embodiment, the flexible laminated shunt (110) is cooled by air. The flexible laminated Shunt (110) facilitates limited-mobility of the fixed electrode (130). The strut gun (112) is a fixed strut gun. More specifically, in one embodiment, the second end portion (126) of the electricity conducting bar (102) is functionally connected to the fixed electrode (130) in the fixed strut gun (112) by means of the flexible air cooled laminated shunt (110).

The moving arm sub-system (300) includes at least one electricity conducting bar (114) and an electricity conducting cable (116). The at least one electricity conducting bar (114) has a first end portion (132) and a second end portion (134). The first end portion (132) of the electricity conducting bar (114) is functionally connected to the transformer (128). The first end portion (132) of the electricity conducting bar (114) is functionally connected to the transformer (128) by means of the conductive bar (120) and the conducting bracket (106). More specifically, the first end portion (132) of the electricity conducting bar (114) may be functionally connected to the transformer (128) by means of a plurality of small conductive bars (120) to enable the solid-bars (102) getting adopted to the welding machine 110’ construction-constraints. Also, the same number of conducting brackets (106) may be used as that of the conductive bars (120). In one embodiment, the at least one electricity conducting bar (114) is of metal. More specifically, in another embodiment, the at least one electricity conducting bar (114) is a water-cooled copper-bar.

The electricity conducting cable (116) has a proximal end portion (136) and a distal end portion (138). The proximal end portion (136) of the electricity conducting cable (116) is coupled to the second end portion (134) of the electricity conducting bar (114). The distal end portion (138) of the electricity conducting cable (116) is coupled to a moving electrode (140). In one embodiment, the at least one electricity conducting cable (116) may be a water cooled jumper cable. The jumper cable is a water-cooled cable, the copper-core is in the form of copper-strands, in a single, skewed bunch, surrounding which, the water flows all at its periphery and encased by a rubber-sheathing hose with 2 worm-type end-clamps and 2 brass-nipples. Further, the at least one electricity conducting cable (114) is supported by a wire rope balancer (118). The distal end portion (138) of the electricity conducting cable (116) may be coupled to a moving electrode 140 of the welding machine by means of a robotic gun. Further, the at least one insulated bracket (108) facilitates holding of the at least one electricity conducting bar (102) and (114) with the near-by structural members of the machine and its surrounding area. Further, in one embodiment, each of the electricity conducting bar (102) and (114) includes a centrally-fluted water-cooled paths, all along the entire runs of the bars. Furthermore, the welding machine (100) includes a plurality of water-line’s link-tubes (104a and 104b) for cooling of the electricity conducting bar (102) and (114). In one non limiting embodiment, the electricity conducting bar (102) and (114) has a length of 3.5 meter. Similarly, in one non-limiting embodiment, the electricity conducting cable (116) has a length of 1.5 meter.

The welding machine (100) helps in reducing the power consumption, as conduction losses in the copper bars are less compared to the kick cables. The copper bars are water-cooled to absorb the heat generated by the system during welding. The problem caused due to the pre-mature failure out of cables is also resolved by the arrangement using the copper bars.

The system comprises copper bars in place of kick-cables at the fixed end, extending a flexible laminated shunt from the copper bar tube at the fixed electrode end of the weld gun and extending a water-cooled jumper cable from the copper bar tube at the movable electrode end of the weld gun. Thus, the system comprises a mobile cable end i.e. a moving end, which is of shortened length having flexible lamina shunt. This helps in more life of the cable, for example of at least eight months’ durability.

The advantages of the system are that, the system does not have lengthy kick-cables existing, but only a flexible cable at the moving end. Also, the system comprises a flexi-shunt and flexible jumper-cable; thereby the system reduces current-losses which may be curtailed by around 30% of power consumption of a convention system. Also, the system reduces break down time. Further, the system has jumper-cable, which is not so susceptible to fatigue failures, owing to its lesser diameter. Furthermore, the system has the advantage of consistent spot-quality, as aging of kick-cables is not existing, lesser spot cost, even a semi-skilled maintain the system. The system of the present disclosure reduces or few copper/ rubber scrap generation, which is environmental friendly.

Also, the system without kick-cables provides the advantages such as, but not limited to lesser spare-part cost expenditure, due to low consumption of shunt/ jumper-cables. Thus, the kick-less cable system reducing the annual maintenance charges of the weld machine. The system is eco-friendly, as copper and rubber scraps have been eliminated by for example about 70% compared with the conventional systems. As the inherent resistance of new copper kick-cable is higher, when compared to that of the solid, copper-bar now, the welding target-current has been lowered from 14 kA to 10 kA at the transformer-end.

EQUIVALENTS
With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances, where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

In addition, where features or aspects of the disclosure are described in terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the Markush group.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.
,CLAIMS:We claim:

1. A welding machine (100) comprising:
• a fixed arm sub-system (200), said fixed arm sub-system (200) comprising:
o at least one electricity conducting bar (102) having a first end portion (124) and a second end portion (126), wherein said first end portion (124) of said electricity conducting bar (102) being functionally connected to a transformer (128) and said second end portion (126) of said electricity conducting bar (102) functionally connected to a fixed electrode (130); and
• a moving arm sub-system (300), said moving arm sub-system (300) comprising:
o at least one electricity conducting bar (114) having a first end portion (132) and a second end portion (134), wherein said first end portion (132) of said electricity conducting bar (114) being functionally connected to said transformer (128); and
o an electricity conducting cable (116) having a proximal end portion (136) and a distal end portion (138), wherein said proximal end portion (136) of said electricity conducting cable (116) being coupled to said second end portion (134) of said electricity conducting bar (114) and said distal end portion (138) of said electricity conducting cable (114) being coupled to a moving electrode (140).

2. The welding machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one electricity conducting bar (102) is of metal.

3. The welding machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one electricity conducting bar (102) is a water-cooled copper-bar.

4. The welding machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first end portion (124) of said electricity conducting bar (102) is functionally connected to said transformer (128) by means of a plurality of conductive bars (120) and a conducting bracket (106).

5. The welding machine as claimed in claim 4, wherein said plurality of conductive bars (120) is water-cooled copper-bars.

6. The welding machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second end portion (126) of said electricity conducting bar (102) is functionally connected to said fixed electrode (130) by means of a flexible laminated shunt (110) and a strut gun (112).

7. The welding machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one electricity conducting bar (114) is of metal.

8. The welding machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one electricity conducting bar (114) is a water-cooled copper-bar.

9. The welding machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first end portion (132) of said electricity conducting bar (114) is functionally connected to said transformer (128) by means of at least one conductive bar (120) and at least one conducting bracket (106).

10. The welding machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one electricity conducting cable (116) is a water cooled jumper cable.

11. The welding machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one electricity conducting cable (114) is supported by a wire rope balancer (118).

12. The welding machine as claimed in claim 1, further comprises at least one insulated bracket (108) for facilitating holding of said at least one electricity conducting bar (102 or 114).

13. The welding machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said distal end portion (138) of said electricity conducting cable (116) being coupled to a moving electrode of said welding machine by means of a robotic gun.
Dated this 31st day of March, 2015
Gopinath A. S.
IN/PA-1852
Of K & S Partners
Agent for the Applicant