Patent Application
20090090699
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This invention relates to welding. More particularly, the invention is related to a system and method for electroslag welding vertically aligned workpieces, in particular spliced vertical columns.
My U.S. Pat. No. 6,297,472, issued Oct. 2, 2001, discloses and claims a welding system and method including a distributed welding control system that allows a welding operator to program automated welding cycles for various welding operations, and which is particularly useful for installing stiffener plates onto structural beams. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,297,472, the welding system includes a welding fixture with a pair of opposing, positionally adjustable welding shoes, and lock screws for attaching a workpiece such as an I-beam. A rotary straight wire feeder removes the cant and helix from welding wire as it is fed to the welding torch. The welding torch is attached to the power cables coming from the welding power supply and is a receptacle for the consumable guide tube. Wire feed conduits are attached to the wire feeder on one end and the welding torch on the other. During the welding operation, welding wire is feed from the wire feeder, through the wire feed conduits to the welding torch. The wire then travels through the welding torch to the consumable guide tube and is attached to the output of the welding torch. The consumable guide tube and the welding wire carry the welding current to the molten weld puddle at the bottom of the weld cavity.
My U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/731,414, filed Dec. 9, 2003 and related U.S. Pat. No. 7,429,716, discloses and claims a modular welding system for performing quick, easy and high quality welds. The modular welding system of application Ser. No. 10/731,414, and related U.S. Pat. No. 7,429,716 issued Sep. 30, 2008, includes a basic component system and a modular fixture component system. The basic component system provides the basic components necessary to perform a quality weld efficiently.
The modular component system interfaces with the basic component system and provides a particular welding fixture assembly that performs a particular type of weld. More particularly, a stiffener type modular component system and a butt/tee type modular system fixture system are disclosed and claimed. The modular welding system of application Ser. No. 10/731,414, and related U.S. Pat. No. 7,429,716, easily may be integrated with the basic components of the system and method for electroslag welding spliced vertical columns for high-rise building fabrication and erection.
My U.S. Pat. No. 7,038,159, issued May 2, 2006, discloses and claims a system and method for electroslag butt-welding expansion joint rails comprising a distributed welding control system. The method includes defining a weld cavity with a first expansion joint rail, a second expansion joint rail, a plurality of gland shoes, and a pair of butt shoes, and can be adapted for welding an expansion joint rail to a support beam. The system and method of U.S. Pat. No. 7,038,159 easily may be integrated with the basic components of the system and method for electroslag welding spliced vertical columns for high-rise building fabrication and erection.
My U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,443, issued Dec. 12, 2006, discloses and claims a consumable guide tube including a thin first elongate strip, a second elongated strip, and a plurality of insulators. An embodiment of U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,443 includes a thin first elongate strip that is a low carbon cold-rolled steel strip, and a second elongated strip which is a low carbon hot-rolled steel strip. The guide tube of U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,443 can also be configured to include two or more longitudinal channels, and easily is adaptable to the system and method for electroslag welding spliced vertical columns for high-rise building fabrication and erection.
My U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/591,190, filed Oct. 30, 2006, discloses and claims a consumable guide tube including a thin first elongate strip, a second elongated strip, and a plurality of insulator modules. An embodiment of application Ser. No. 11/591,190 includes a thin first elongate strip that has a front face and a back face. The front face has at least one longitudinal channel. The second elongated strip has is a front face and a back face and the front face is of the second elongated strip is configured to be coupled to the front face of the thin first elongated strip. The plurality of insulator modules are deposited on the back face of the thin first elongated strip and on the back face of the second elongated strip. Preferably, the thin first elongated strip is a low carbon cold rolled steel strip, and the second elongated strip is a low carbon hot rolled steel strip. The guide tube of application Ser. No. 11/591,190 can also be configured to include two or more longitudinal channels. The guide tube of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/591,190 can also be configured to include two or more longitudinal channels, and easily is adaptable to the system and method for electroslag welding spliced vertical columns for high-rise building fabrication and erection.
The following disclosure provides a system and method for electroslag welding vertically aligned work-pieces for structures with unlimited multiple floor levels, in particular spliced vertical columns. An embodiment includes a distributed control system having a plurality of controller modules and a common bus connecting each controller module. Each controller module includes at least one operator control panel module. The system includes at least one welding torch configured to receive at least one consumable guide tube that is placed into the welding cavity. The welding torch is coupled to the welding fixture adjacent to each centerline. The system also includes first and second elongated, parallel rotating shafts according to U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,443 and pending U.S. Non-provisional Utility patent application Ser. No. 11/202,020, which are herein incorporated; first and second linear actuators according to U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,443 and pending U.S. Non-provisional Utility patent application Ser. No. 10/731,414 and related U.S. Pat. No. 7,429,716, which are herein incorporated. These actuators are movably mounted on the rotating shafts and include an assembly for longitudinally translating the linear actuators along the shafts as the shafts rotate according to U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,443 and pending U.S. Non-provisional Utility patent application Ser. No. 10/731,414 and related U.S. Pat. No. 7,429,716, which are herein incorporated. The system also includes an assembly for sensing movement of the linear actuators according to U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,443 and pending U.S. Non-provisional Utility patent application Ser. No. 10/731,414 and related U.S. Pat. No. 7,429,716, which are herein incorporated, and a protective housing assembly for enclosing the rotating shafts, the actuators, the longitudinally translating assembly, and the sensing assembly, for oscillating each welding torch with the cavity.
The welding system and method including a distributed welding control system allows the combination and use of features of my several above cited patents and/or patent applications, as more particularly incorporated and described herein, to allow a welding operator to program automated welding cycles for various welding operations, and is particularly useful for splicing vertical aligned structural columns for high-rise building fabrication and erection having an acute angle gap between the columns flanges. A disclosed embodiment of the welding system and method includes a forty-five degree angle gap between the spliced columns for high-rise building fabrication and erection.
On-site erection of buildings is accomplished by stacking one vertical support column on top of another and welding the two stacked columns together. The bottom column flanges are cut square, and the web is generally beveled,
For buildings with unlimited multiple floor levels, the generally accepted practice for welding the top of the bottom column flange to the bottom of the top flange is a 30-degree, 45-degree, or 60 degree bevel,
The thicker the column flanges, the more weld passes that are needed to join the two column flanges and column webs together. For flanges that are two inches thick, 8 to 16 man-hours are necessary to generate the number of weld passes to join each column flange and column web together, or a total of 16 to 34 man-hours per column.
The system and method for electroslag welding spliced vertical columns allows welding of both columns simultaneously. The typical welding time takes approximately thirty minutes. This rapid welding system and method can result in a building being welded much faster, allowing for completion and occupancy of the building in a much shorter time period than using the multi-pass FCAW, flux cored wire welding processes.
The system and method for electroslag welding spliced vertical columns is equally applicable to box-beam column architecture for buildings with unlimited multiple floor levels.
Other features, advantages, and objects of the system and method for electroslag welding spliced vertical columns will become apparent with reference to the following description and accompanying drawings.
These together with other objects of the system and method for electroslag welding spliced vertical columns, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are described with particularity in the claims attached to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the system and method for electroslag welding spliced vertical columns, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the attached drawings and descriptive materials in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the system and method for electroslag welding spliced vertical columns will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings as further described.
Referring more specifically to the drawings, for illustrative purposes the electroslag welding system and method used in buildings with unlimited multiple floor levels is embodied generally in
It also will be appreciated that the system may vary as to configuration and as to the details of the parts, and that the method of using the system may vary as to details and to the order of steps, without departing from the basic concepts as disclosed herein. The system and method for electroslag welding are disclosed generally in terms of welding vertical columns, as this particular type of welding operation is widely used. However, the disclosed system and method may be used in a large variety of welding applications, as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.
Referring now to
An embodiment includes welding shoes 30 which further comprise a thermally and electrically insulating coating
Each pair of vertical workpieces, 300 and 310, to be spliced comprise means for vertical alignment 250 of the pair until the welding process has been completed.
A welding torch 60 is configured to receive at least one consumable guide tube 70 which is placed into the welding cavity 40. The welding torch 60 is coupled to the welding fixture adjacent to each centerline and is connected to apparatus means for oscillating the welding torch about the centerline 200 within each cavity 40.
An embodiment of the system provides a gap 320 oriented at a forty-five degree angle between paired vertical workpieces, 300 and 310.
Another embodiment of the system further comprises at least one portable platform to carry two wire feeders, each capable of feeding at least 2-to-4 welding wires. This platform carries the welding wire for the welding operation. The portable platform has provisions for accepting the cable assemblies for providing welding power to the welding torch and consumable guide tube. This assembly is capable of moving from column to column to perform the welding operation.
Yet another embodiment of the system further comprises at least one or more welding wires (not shown). The welding wire contains proper mechanical and chemical properties capable of making welds with sufficient mechanical properties to pass any and all the applicable welding codes required for the columns being welded.
A further embodiment of the system comprises a flux dispensing means (not shown), according to U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,443 and pending U.S. Non-provisional Utility patent application Ser. No. 11/202,020, which are herein incorporated, for providing flux to a welding site adjacent each welding torch.
Another embodiment of the system includes copper welding shoes 30 that further comprise the proper thermal and electrical cooling properties sufficient to complete the weld without losing the molten weld puddle, at least one sump 60 located at the bottom of the weld cavity, and at least one set of run-off tab 70 adjacent to the top portion of each welding cavity. Each pair of welding shoes comprises copper having means for temperature control of the shoes. The welding shoe pair 30 may be air-cooled or water-cooled shoes. Opposable pairs of copper shoes are located on either side of weld cavity to retain the molten puddle during the welding operation.
An embodiment of the system comprises at least one distributed control system 500. Each distributed control system 500 comprises a plurality of controller modules 510 and a common bus connecting each of the plurality of controller modules 510, wherein each controller module 510 comprises at least one operator control panel module.
The preferred embodiment of a welding system, in which at least one pair of vertically aligned workpieces, 300 and 310 are brought together so that a forty-five degree angled gap 320 having a gap center line exists between the workpieces, 300 and 310, comprises: (a) at least one stationary welding fixture 12, each fixture comprising means for releasably coupling 20 to at least one workpiece, one or more pairs of opposing welding shoes 30 placed on each side of the gap 320 to form a welding cavity 40 between the workpieces the shoes, and means for symmetrically positioning the welding shoes 12 adjacent the cavity 40; (b) at least one welding torch 160 configured to receive at least one consumable guide tube placed into the welding cavity 40, the welding torch coupled to the welding fixture 12 adjacent to each center line; and (c) apparatus comprising: first and second elongated, hardened parallel shafts driven by a rotating threaded shaft (not shown) according to U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,443 and pending U.S. Non-provisional Utility patent application Ser. No. 11/202,020, which are herein incorporated; first and second linear actuators (not shown), the actuators movably mounted on the hardened shafts, driven by a rotating threaded shaft; means for longitudinally translating the linear actuators along the shafts as the threaded shaft rotates (not shown) according to U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,443 and pending U.S. Non-provisional Utility patent application Ser. No. 11/202,020, which are herein incorporated; first and second linear actuators (not shown) according to U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,443 and pending U.S. Non-provisional Utility patent application Ser. No. 11/202,020, which are herein incorporated; first and second linear actuators (not shown) according to U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,443 and pending U.S. Non-provisional Utility patent application Ser. No. 11/202,020, which are herein incorporated; first and second linear actuators (not shown); means for sensing movement of the linear actuators (not shown) according to U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,443 and pending U.S. Non-provisional Utility patent application Ser. No. 11/202,020, which are herein incorporated; first and second linear actuators (not shown); and protective housing means (not shown) for enclosing the rotating shafts, the actuators, the longitudinally translating means, and the sensing means, for oscillating each welding torch with the cavity.
An embodiment includes a distributed control system that includes an oscillator controller module, a wire feed controller module, and a welding power supply controller module.
The preferred embodiment welding system further comprises at least one flux dispenser 100, each flux dispenser comprising: a hopper (not shown) according to U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,443 and pending U.S. Non-provisional Utility patent application Ser. No. 11/202,020, which are herein incorporated; a rotating geared wheel positioned below the hopper according to U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,443 and pending U.S. Non-provisional Utility patent application Ser. No. 11/202,020, which are herein incorporated (not shown); a belt block (not shown) according to U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,443 and pending U.S. Non-provisional Utility patent application Ser. No. 11/202,020, which are herein incorporated having a recessed area housing the geared wheel; and at least one drop tube (not shown) associated with a lower portion of the recessed area.
The preferred embodiment welding system 10 further comprises at least one welding shoe bottom clamping assembly 120, each clamping assembly 120 comprising: first and second pairs of welding shoes 30; assembly for positionally adjusting the first pair of welding shoes relative to each other; assembly for positionally adjusting the second pair of welding shoes relative to each other; and assembly for positionally adjusting the first pair of welding shoes relatively to the second pair of welding shoes.
The preferred embodiment welding system further comprises a distributed control system 500, the distributed control system includes a plurality of control modules, at least one of the control modules having an operator control module with a bus connecting the plurality of control modules,
The method of electroslag welding at least two vertical metal substrates, 300 and 310, having inside and outside surfaces used in buildings with unlimited multiple floor levels comprises the steps of:
The method of electroslag welding at least two vertical metal substrates, 300 and 310, having inside and outside surfaces used in buildings with unlimited multiple floor levels further comprises the steps of:
For this method of electroslag welding at least two vertical metal substrates, 300 and 310, having inside and outside surfaces for use in buildings with unlimited multiple floor levels, the first substrate 300 comprises a vertically aligned I-beam column having a top surface angled 45 degrees to a horizontal plane perpendicular to the first substrate alignment and the second substrate 310 comprises a vertically aligned I-beam column having a bottom surface angled 45 degrees to a horizontal plane perpendicular to the second substrate alignment, such that the first substrate top surface and the second substrate bottom surface define the gap 320 between the substrates, 300 and 310.
The method of electroslag welding at least two vertical metal substrates, 300 and 310, having inside and outside surfaces useful in buildings with unlimited multiple floor levels, further comprises the step of:
The method of electroslag welding at least two vertical metal substrates having inside and outside surfaces useful in buildings with unlimited multiple floor levels, further comprises the step of:
A more detailed description of the control system is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,038,159 and pending U.S. Non-provisional Utility patent application Ser. No. 10/731,414 and related U.S. Pat. No. 7,429,716, which both are hereby incorporated by reference.
Referring more specifically to the drawings, for illustrative purposes the electroslag welding system and method used in taller buildings with unlimited multiple floor levels is embodied generally in
This U.S. non-provisional patent application is based upon and claims the filing date of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/977,438 filed Oct. 4, 2007.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60977438 | Oct 2007 | US |
