NL2004379C2

NL2004379C2 - Welding wire winder and welding wire feeder.

Info

Publication number: NL2004379C2
Application number: NL2004379A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Takuo Hirakawa
Original assignee: Kobe Seiko Sho Kobe Steel Kk
Priority date: 2009-03-16
Filing date: 2010-03-11
Publication date: 2012-07-24
Also published as: NL2004379A; KR101116537B1; CN101837388B; CN101837388A; KR20100105426A

Description

WELDING WIRE WINDER AND WELDING WIRE FEEDER

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention 5 The present invention relates to a welding wire winder for winding a solid welding wire or a flux-containing welding wire. The solid welding wire is formed by continuously drawing a wire wound around a bobbin. The flux-containing welding wire is formed by drawing a wire 10 obtained by molding and rolling a steel strap wound around a bobbin into a pipe shape while continuously supplying flux thereto.

The present invention also relates to a welding-wire-material feeder used to manufacture a welding wire product 15 by continuously feeding a material, such as a steel bar or a steel strap, that is wound around a bobbin in a manufacturing process or to a welding wire feeder used to continuously feed the welding wire wound around a bobbin and rewind the welding wire around a small-diameter spool.

20 2. Description of the Related Art

Referring to Figs. 15A and 15B, a manufacturing process of a flux-containing welding wire will be described as an example of a general welding-wire manufacturing process.

Fig. 15A is a schematic block diagram illustrating the 25 manufacturing process of a flux-containing welding wire.

2

Fig. 15B is a schematic block diagram illustrating a process of rewinding the welding wire manufactured by the manufacturing process shown in Fig. 15A.

First, a steel strap (material) with a weight of about 5 1 ton which is wound around a bobbin is supplied to a manufacturing section by driving a motor (feeding step SI). Then, the thus-supplied steel strap is washed to remove rust preventive oil adhering thereto, and is dried (degreasing step S2). Next, a flux-containing wire having a diameter of 10 about 3 mm to 5 mm is formed by gradually molding and rolling the steel strap into a pipe shape with molding-and-rolling rollers while continuously supplying flux thereto (molding-and-rolling step S3).

Then, the thus-obtained wire is gradually drawn by a 15 wire drawing die so that the diameter thereof is reduced to a predetermined diameter in the range of 0.8 mm to 2.4 mm (drawing step S4). Then, the wire is washed to remove grease, such as drawing lubricant, applied to the wire in the drawing step, and then lubricating oil and rust 20 preventive oil are applied to the surface of the .wire (washing-and-oiling step S5). The thus-manufactured welding wire is wound around a bobbin (winding step S6).

The welding wire manufactured as described above cannot be readily handled while it is wound around the bobbin 25 because of the weight thereof. Therefore, the bobbin is 3 attached to a feeder, and the welding wire is fed to a small-diameter reel (feeding step SI) and is rewound around the reel according to the request of the customer (rewinding step S8).

5 In a process of manufacturing a solid welding wire, the wire material is formed in a circular shape in cross section and it is not necessary to supply flux to the wire material. Therefore, the above-described molding-and-rolling step S3 is not necessary. Other steps of the process of 10 manufacturing the solid welding wire are the same as those of the process of manufacturing the above-described flux-containing welding wire. However, there may be a case in which a pickling step, an annealing step, a copper plating step, etc., are necessary in accordance with the type of the 15 welding wire to be formed.

The welding wire winder according to the present invention relates to a welding wire winder used in the winding step S6 in the above-described process of manufacturing the flux-containing welding wire or the solid 20 welding wire.

A wire winding method and a wire winding device according to the related art will now be described with reference to Figs. 16 and 17. Fig. 16 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a wire winding device 25 according to a first example of the related art. Fig. 17 is 4 a perspective view illustrating a winding device according to a second example of the related art.

In the wire winding device according to the first example of the related art, a spool 51 is rotated by a motor 5 54 and a wire 55 to be wound around the spool 51 is guided by a traverser 52. A sensor 57 is provided to detect the rotational speed of the spool 51, and a forward/reverse rotation servo motor 56 is provided to drive the traverser 52. A controller 58 controls the rotation of the 10 forward/reverse rotation servo motor 56 so that the traverser 52 reciprocates at a speed proportional to the rotational speed of the spool 51 determined on the basis of a signal from the sensor 57 (see Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Registration Application Publication No. 6-18360).

15 According to a wire winding method of the second example of the related art, the speed at which a wire 63 is fed is adjusted to a constant speed, and the rotational speed of a spool 61 is detected. A winding width in a spool axis direction along which the wire 63 to be wound around 20 the spool 61 is moved is adjusted in accordance with the detected rotational speed of the spool 61. The wire winding device according to the second example of the related art includes a winding mechanism 66 that rotates the spool 61 so that the wire 63 is wound around the spool 61; a traverse 25 mechanism 67 that moves the wire 63 to be wound around the 5 spool 61 in the spool axis direction; a wire-feeding-speed adjusting mechanism that adjusts the speed at which the wire 63 is fed to a constant speed; a rotational-speed detecting means 69 that detects the rotational speed of the spool 61; 5 and a controller 65 that adjusts the winding width, by which the wire 63 is moved, in accordance with the detected rotational speed of the spool 61 (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-219890).

The welding-wire-material feeder or the welding wire 10 feeder according to the present invention respectively relate to a welding-wire-material feeder used in the feeding step SI of feeding the material, such as a steel bar or a steel strap in the above-described process of manufacturing the flux-containing welding wire or the solid welding wire 15 or a welding wire (product) feeder used in the feeding step S7 of feeding the welding wire before the rewinding step.

A wire supplying method and a wire supplying apparatus according to the related art will now be described with reference to Figs. 18 and 19. Fig. 18 is a perspective view 20 illustrating the state in which a bar material is supplied from a traverse winding bobbin according to a third example of the related art, and Fig. 19 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a hoop-material supplying device according to a fourth example of the related art.

25 In a method for supplying a bar material according to 6 the third example of the related art, a traverse winding coil 71 and a palette 73 are placed on a turntable 74 of an uncoiler 70 such that an axial line of a core of the traverse winding coil 71 extends vertically. The turntable 5 74 is rotated in an unwinding direction of the traverse winding coil 71, so that a bar material 72 is continuously unwound and supplied from an outermost winding layer 75 of the traverse winding coil 71 while a side edge portion of the traverse winding coil 71 is not in contact with a 10 mounting surface (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-220063).

In this method for supplying the bar material 72, the traverse winding coil 71 is simply placed on the turntable 74 such that the axial line of the core of the traverse 15 winding coil 71 extends vertically. Therefore, it is not possible to continuously unwind and supply the bar material 72 while applying a tension thereto. For this reason, this method is not suitable for a process of manufacturing a welding wire by continuously feeding a material wound around 20 a bobbin or for a process of continuously feeding a welding wire wound around a bobbin and rewinding the welding wire around a small-diameter spool.

A hoop-material supplying device 80 according to the fourth example of the related art includes a 25 forward/backward moving mechanism 83 for moving a chucking 7 member 82 that chucks a copper wire L, which is unwound and pulled out from an uncoiler 81, in a forward direction in which the copper wire L is pulled out and a backward direction in which the copper wire L is fed back. The hoop-5 material supplying device 80 also includes a movable pulley 84 around which the copper wire L stretched in a section between the uncoiler 81 and a back end A of the movable area of the chucking member 82 is wound. The movable pulley 84 can reciprocate in a direction for increasing the stretching 10 length of the copper wire L in the above-described section and a direction for reducing the stretching length of the copper wire L in the above-described section.

The hoop-material supplying device 80 includes a wire WR different from the copper wire L, and the wire WR 15 connects the movable pulley 84 to a support column 86 which moves together with the chucking member 82 in accordance with the forward/backward moving operation performed by the forward/backward moving mechanism 83 (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-84241).

20 In the above-described winding device, the weight of the welding wire wound around the bobbin (spool) is generally about 1 ton, and it is therefore extremely difficult to manually attach the bobbin (spool) to a chucking means in the winding device. In addition, in the 25 drawing process performed as a front-end process, the 8 rigidity of the welding wire is increased by work hardening and a bending tendency is given to the welding wire. Furthermore, a back tension is also applied to the wire owing to the resistance generated in the washing-and-oiling 5 step performed after the drawing step. As a result, a winding tension of 10 kg to 30 kg is generally applied in the process of winding the welding wire around the bobbin, and there is a risk that a winding failure or a winding shape defect will occur.

10 In the hoop-material supplying device 80 according to the fourth example of the related art, the forward/backward moving mechanism 83 and other components have a complex mechanism and the supplying device requires high manufacturing costs.

15

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide a welding wire winder in which a bobbin can be reliably and easily attached to and detached from a chucking 20 means, which is capable of correcting the bending tendency of the welding wire while causing the welding wire that is being wound to traverse, and which can wind the welding wire without causing a winding failure or a winding shape defect.

A second object of the present invention is to provide 25 a feeder for feeding a welding wire material or a welding 9 wire in which a bobbin can be reliably and easily attached to and detached from a chucking means, in which a feeding tension can be applied to the welding wire material or the welding wire in a feeding process, in which the feeding 5 tension can be controlled at a constant value, and which can be manufactured at a low cost.

To achieve the above-described first object, a welding wire winder according to the present invention includes chucking means to which a bobbin is attached, the chucking 10 means including a pair of tapered surfaces that face each other in an axial direction and an extending-and-retracting mechanism capable of attaching the bobbin to the chucking means and detaching the bobbin from the chucking means by relatively moving the pair of tapered surfaces in the axial 15 direction.

In addition, the welding wire winder also includes a rotating shaft connected to the chucking means and driven by a driving motor to rotate the bobbin so that a welding wire is wound around the bobbin, an engagement member including a 20 pin being fixed to the rotating shaft, the pin being movable in the axial direction and engageable with a pin hole by being inserted into the pin hole, the pin hole being provided in a side surface of the bobbin and extending in the axial direction; and raising-and-lowering means which, 25 when the bobbin is empty and is to be attached to the 10 chucking means or when the bobbin is full and is to be detached from the chucking means, raises a bobbin mounting base, on which the bobbin is mounted, thereby allowing the extending-and-retracting mechanism to attach the bobbin to 5 the chucking means or detach the bobbin from the chucking means, the raising-and-lowering means lowering the bobbin mounting base to a retracted position during a process of winding the welding wire.

With this structure, the bobbin, which weighs about 1 10 ton, can be reliably and easily attached to and detached from the chucking means.

In the welding wire winder having the above-described structure, the extending-and-retracting mechanism may include a fluid-pressure cylinder, and an operating pressure 15 circuit of a fluid pressure for the fluid-pressure cylinder may be provided with a pressure switch that detects the fluid pressure and outputs a pressure reduction signal if the fluid pressure is reduced to a predetermined pressure or less. With this structure, a warning can be issued if the 20 holding force is insufficient in the state in which the bobbin is attached.

The welding wire winder having the above-described structure may further include a disk brake capable of carrying out an emergency stop for stopping the rotation of 25 the rotating shaft, the disk brake including a brake pad 11 fixed to the rotating shaft and a hydraulic caliper attached to a winder frame. With this structure, even when, for example, it is necessary to carry out an emergency stop of the winder to avoid danger, the rotation of the rotating 5 shaft can be reliably stopped in a short time.

The welding wire winder having the above-described structure may further include engagement cancelling means capable of cancelling the engagement between the pin and the pin hole by pushing the side surface of the bobbin at which 10 the pin of the engagement member is inserted into the pin hole when the bobbin is to be detached from the chucking means. With this structure, the engagement between the bobbin and the chucking means can be easily canceled.

The welding wire winder having the above-described 15 structure may further include a traverse on which bending-tendency correcting means for correcting a bending tendency of the welding wire and a guide roller are provided, the traverse being driven by a dedicated motor. The welding wire may be guided and wound around the bobbin while the 20 bending tendency is corrected and while a traverse angle and a contact angle are set to respective predetermined angles in the process of winding the welding wire. With this structure, the welding wire is guided while the bending tendency thereof is corrected, and is wound around the 25 bobbin without causing entanglement or a winding shape 12 defect.

In the case where the traverser is not provided with the guide roller, the angle at which the welding wire enters the bending-tendency correcting means vary in accordance 5 with the movement of the traverser. In the case where the traverser is provided with the guide roller, the angle at which the welding wire enters the bending-tendency correcting means is maintained constant. Therefore, compared to the traverser without the guide roller, the 10 bending tendency of the welding wire can be more reliably corrected by the bending-tendency correcting means.

In the welding wire winder having the above-described structure, the bending-tendency correcting means for correcting the bending tendency of the welding wire includes 15 two or more roller groups which each include a plurality of rollers arranged in a staggered pattern and in which the rollers are arranged in different directions. With this structure, the bending tendency of the welding wire can be reliably corrected.

20 In the welding wire winder having the above-described structure, a traverse width of the traverser can be adjustable in accordance with positions at which a pair of stroke end stoppage sensors are disposed. With such a structure, the traverse width can be set to an arbitrary 25 width.

13

In the welding wire winder having the above-described structure, an electric conduction bar may be disposed above a position around a path line of the welding wire and electricity may be supplied to the electric conduction bar 5 and the welding wire that is being wound around the bobbin. If the welding wire breaks and comes into contact with the electric conduction bar, a closed circuit is formed between the welding wire and the electric conduction bar so that the breakage of the welding wire is detectable. With this 10 structure, a countermeasure against the breakage of the welding wire, which is an abnormal state, can be quickly taken and reduction in yield can be prevented.

The welding wire winder having the above-described structure may further include a safety cover capable of 15 sliding in the axial direction, the safety cover being provided at a rear side of the bobbin at the side opposite to a path line of the welding wire that is wound around the bobbin attached to the chucking means. When the safety cover is provided, the bobbin can be prevented from being 20 touched by a person during the process of winding the welding wire.

The welding wire winder having the above-described structure may further include a dancer roller device around which the welding wire is wound in a front-end process and a 25 dancer-roller-position detector which detects a dancer 14 roller position of the dancer roller device, and a winding tension applied to the welding wire may be controllable at a constant tension on the basis of a detection signal obtained by the dancer-roller-position detector. With this structure, 5 a winding failure or a winding shape defect due to variation in winding tension can be prevented.

To achieve the second object, according to the present invention, a feeder for feeding a welding wire material or a welding wire from a bobbin around which the welding wire 10 material or the welding wire is wound includes chucking means to which the bobbin is attached, the chucking means including a pair of tapered surfaces that face each other in an axial direction and an extending-and-retracting mechanism capable of attaching the bobbin to the chucking means and 15 detaching the bobbin from the chucking means by relatively moving the pair of tapered surfaces in the axial direction.

In addition, the feeder also includes a rotating shaft connected to the chucking means and driven by a driving motor to rotate the bobbin so that the welding wire material 20 or the welding wire is fed from the bobbin, an engagement member including a pin being fixed to the rotating shaft, the pin being movable in the axial direction and engageable with a pin hole by being inserted into the pin hole, the pin hole being provided in a side surface of the bobbin and 25 extending in the axial direction; and raising-and-lowering 15 means which, when the bobbin is to be attached to or detached from the chucking means, raises a bobbin mounting base, on which the bobbin is mounted, thereby allowing the extending-and-retracting mechanism to attach the bobbin to 5 the chucking means or detach the bobbin from the chucking means, the raising-and-lowering means lowering the bobbin mounting base to a retracted position during a process of feeding the welding wire material or the welding wire.

With this structure, a full bobbin, which weighs about 10 1 ton, can be reliably and easily attached to the chucking means and an empty bobbin can be reliably and easily detached from the chucking means. In addition, a feeding tension can be reliably applied to the welding wire product or the wire material thereof.

15 In the feeder having the above-described structure, the extending-and-retracting mechanism may include a fluid-pressure cylinder, and an operating pressure circuit of a fluid pressure for the fluid-pressure cylinder may be provided with a pressure switch that detects the fluid 20 pressure and outputs a pressure reduction signal if the fluid pressure is reduced to a predetermined pressure or less. With this structure, an extending-and-retracting mechanism that has a simple structure and that is commercially available can be used. In addition, a warning 25 can be issued if the holding force is insufficient in the 16 state in which the bobbin is attached.

The feeder having the above-described structure may further include a disk brake capable of carrying out an emergency stop for stopping the rotation of the rotating 5 shaft, the disk brake including a brake pad fixed to the rotating shaft and a hydraulic caliper attached to a feeder frame. With this structure, even when, for example, it is necessary to carry out an emergency stop of the feeder to avoid danger, the rotation of the rotating shaft can be 10 reliably stopped in a short time.

The feeder having the above-described structure may further include engagement cancelling means capable of cancelling the engagement between the pin and the pin hole by pushing the side surface of the bobbin at which the pin 15 of the engagement member is inserted into the pin hole when the bobbin is to be detached from the chucking means. With this structure, the engagement between the bobbin and the chucking means can be easily canceled.

The feeder having the above-described structure may 20 further include a photoelectric sensor disposed above the bobbin attached to the chucking means, the photoelectric sensor being capable of detecting a remaining amount of the welding wire material or the welding wire fed from the bobbin attached to the chucking means. A control operation 25 may be performed to decelerate or stop the rotation of the 17 bobbin on the basis of a detection signal obtained by the photoelectric sensor. With this structure, when the remaining amount of the welding wire material or the welding wire fed from the bobbin is reduced to zero, the rotation of 5 the bobbin can be immediately stopped and the next full bobbin can be quickly attached to the chucking means.

The feeder having the above-described structure may further include a safety cover capable of sliding in the axial direction, the safety cover being provided at a rear 10 side of the bobbin at the side opposite to a path line of the welding wire material or the welding wire fed from the bobbin attached to the chucking means. With this structure, the bobbin can be prevented from being touched by a person during the process of feeding the welding wire material or 15 the welding wire.

The feeder having the above-described structure may further include a dancer roller device around which the welding wire material or the welding wire is wound in a back-end process; and a dancer-roller-position detector 20 which detects a dancer roller position of the dancer roller device. A feeding tension applied to the welding wire material or the welding wire may be controllable at a constant tension on the basis of a detection signal obtained by the dancer-roller-position detector. With this structure, 25 the feeding tension can be controlled at a constant tension 18 by an inexpensive structure, and an entanglement or a feeding failure due to variation in feeding tension can be prevented.

5 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a partially sectioned view illustrating the main section of a welding wire winder according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the welding wire winder shown 10 in Fig. 1 viewed from the left side;

Fig. 3 is a partially cut-out plan view of the welding wire winder shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detailed enlarged plan view illustrating a traverser shown in Fig. 3; 15 Fig. 5 is a front view of the traverser shown in Fig, 4;

Fig. 6 is a front view of a dancer roller device including a fluid-pressure cylinder;

Fig. 7 is a front view of a dancer roller device 20 including a counterweight;

Fig. 8 is a sectional side view of Fig. 7 taken along line VIII-VIII;

Fig. 9 is a partially sectioned view illustrating the main section of a welding-wire-material feeder according to 25 a first embodiment of the present invention; 19

Fig. 10 is a side view of the welding-wire-material feeder shown in Fig. 9 viewed from the right side;

Fig. 11 is a plan view of the welding-wire-material feeder shown in Fig. 9; 5 Fig. 12 is a partially sectioned view illustrating the main section of a welding wire feeder according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 13 is a side view of the welding wire feeder shown in Fig. 12 viewed from the right side; 10 Fig. 14 is a schematic sectional view illustrating the state in which a welding wire is wound in an unstable manner in the process of winding back the welding wire around a bobbin;

Fig. 15A is a block diagram illustrating a 15 manufacturing process of a flux-containing welding wire;

Fig. 15B is a block diagram illustrating a process of rewinding the welding wire manufactured by the manufacturing process shown in Fig. 15A;

Fig. 16 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a 20 wire winding device according to a first example of the related art;

Fig. 17 is a perspective view illustrating a winding device according to a second example of the related art;

Fig. 18 is a perspective view illustrating the state in 25 which a bar material is supplied from a traverse winding 20 bobbin according to a third example of the related art; and Fig. 19 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a hoop material supplying device according to a fourth example of the related art.

5

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Δ welding wire winder according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to Figs. 1 and 5. Fig. 1 is a partially sectioned view 10 illustrating the main section of a welding wire winder according to the embodiment of the present invention. Fig.

2 is a side view of the welding wire winder shown in Fig. 1 viewed from the left side. Fig. 3 is a partially cut-out plan view of the welding wire winder shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 15 4 is a detailed enlarged plan view illustrating a traverser shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a front view of the traverser shown in Fig. 4.

In the welding wire winder according to the embodiment of the present invention, a bobbin 2 is attached to a 20 chucking means 1 and is rotated by a rotating shaft 3 that is driven by a driving motor M and connected to the chucking means 1, so that a welding wire W is wound around the bobbin 2 that is being rotated. The chucking means 1 includes a pair of tapered projecting surfaces (tapered surfaces) 4a 25 and 4b that face each other in an axial direction of the 21 rotating shaft 3 and an extending-and-retracting mechanism 5 with which the bobbin 2 can be attached to and detached from the chucking means 1 by moving the driven tapered projecting surface 4b, which is one of the tapered projecting surfaces 5 4a and 4b, along the axial direction C.

As described above, the chucking means 1 includes the pair of tapered projecting surfaces 4a and 4b that face each other in the axial direction C. When the extending-and-retracting mechanism 5 extends, the tapered projecting 10 surfaces 4a and 4b, which are respectively included in a driving chucking means la and a driven chucking means lb, are fitted to tapered recessed surfaces 2a formed in the bobbin 2 at both ends thereof in the axial direction. Accordingly, the axial center of the bobbin 2 is 15 automatically aligned with the axial center of the chucking means 1.

A pneumatic or hydraulic fluid-pressure cylinder is preferably used as the extending-and-retracting mechanism 5 since such a fluid-pressure cylinder has a simple structure 20 and is commercially available. In addition, a pneumatic or hydraulic circuit (operating pressure circuit) of a fluid pressure for the fluid-pressure cylinder is preferably provided with a pressure switch (not shown) that detects the pneumatic or hydraulic pressure and outputs a pressure 25 reduction signal if the pressure is reduced to a 22 predetermined pressure or less.

In such a case, the pressure reduction signal from the pressure switch can be transmitted to a warning means (not shown), such as a warning buzzer or a warning lamp, and a 5 warning that the holding force is insufficient can be issued when the bobbin 2 is being attached or after the bobbin 2 is attached. At the same time, the pressure reduction signal is also transmitted to a controller 13. If a control means included in the controller 13 determines that the pressure 10 has been reduced to a predetermined pressure or less, the control means preferably activates a disc brake 10, which will be described below, to carry out an emergency stop of the rotating shaft 3 and transmits a stop signal to the driving motor M.

15 An engagement member 6 having pins 6a movable in an axial direction C is fixed to the rotating shaft 3. The bobbin 2 is provided with pin holes 2b that extend in the axial direction C in side surfaces thereof. The pins 6a of the engagement member 6 can be engaged with the pin holes 2b 20 in the bobbin 2 by being inserted into the pin holes 2b.

The engagement structure between the pins 6a of the engagement member 6 and the pin holes 2b in the bobbin 2 is provided to compensate for an insufficient holding force with which the bobbin 2 is held by the chucking means 1, so 25 that the driving torque of the rotating shaft 3 can be 23 reliably transmitted to the bobbin 2. Preferably, the number of pairs which each include one pin 6a and one pin hole 2b is two to six.

In addition, an engagement canceling means 7 is 5 provided. In the process of detaching the bobbin 2 from the chucking means 1, the engagement canceling means 7 cancels the engagement between the pins 6a and the pin holes 2b in the bobbin 2 by pushing the side surface of the bobbin 2 at which the pins 6a of the engagement member 6 are inserted 10 into the pin holes 2b in the axial direction C. As shown in Fig. 1, the engagement canceling means 7 includes a pneumatic or hydraulic fluid-pressure cylinder 7a and a contact plate 7b attached to a cylinder rod of the fluid-pressure cylinder 7a at an end thereof. The engagement 15 canceling means 7 is attached to a winder frame that faces the side surface of the bobbin 2.

A bobbin mounting base 8 on which the bobbin 2 is mounted is provided below the chucking means 1. The bobbin mounting base 8 is used to attach the bobbin 2 to the 20 chucking means 1 or detach the bobbin 2 from the chucking means 1. As shown in Fig. 2, the bobbin mounting base 8 is provided with a raising-and-lowering means 9. Before or after a winding process, the raising-and-lowering means 9 raises the bobbin mounting base 8 so that the axial center 25 of the bobbin 2 is aligned with the axial center C of the 24 chucking means 1. In this state, the bobbin 2 can be attached to or detached from the chucking means 1 by an extending and retracting operation performed by the extending-and-retracting mechanism 5. During the process of 5 winding the welding wire W, the raising-and-lowering means 9 lowers the bobbin mounting base 8 to a retracted position.

Preferably, the raising-and-lowering means 9 includes a pneumatic or hydraulic fluid pressure cylinder 9a and a link 9b since such a mechanism is simple and is commercially 10 available. When the fluid pressure cylinder 9a is caused to extend, the link 9b is raised so as to stand upright. Accordingly, the bobbin mounting base 8, which is supported by a support pin 8a in a pivotable manner, is raised upward. Fig. 2 shows the state in which the bobbin mounting base 8 15 has been raised by the raising-and-lowering means 9. In the case where the bobbin mounting base 8 and the raising-and-lowering means 9 structured as described above are used, processes of detaching a full bobbin, which is heavy, from the chucking means 1 after the completion of the winding 20 process and attaching an empty bobbin to the chucking means 1 before restarting the winding process can be facilitated.

In addition, as shown in Fig. 1, the disc brake 10 includes a brake pad 10a that is fixed with a key to the rotating shaft 3 and hydraulic calipers 10b attached to the 25 winder frame. In the case where, for example, the holding 25 force with which the bobbin 2 is held is insufficient and it is necessary to carry out an emergency stop of the bobbin 2, the rotation of the rotating shaft 3 can be stopped by the disc brake 10.

5 An electric conduction bar 11 is disposed above a position around a path line of the welding wire W, and electricity is supplied to the electric conduction bar 11 and the welding wire W that is being wound around the bobbin 2. If the welding wire W breaks and comes into contact with 10 the electric conduction bar 11, a closed circuit is formed between the welding wire W and the electric conduction bar 11 and a breakage detection signal is generated. The conduction current is transmitted to the controller 13, so that the breakage of the welding wire W can be detected.

15 The warning means, such as a warning buzzer or a warning lamp, can be activated in response to the breakage detection signal. Therefore, a countermeasure against the abnormal state, that is, the breakage of the welding wire W, can be quickly taken and reduction in yield can be prevented.

20 A safety cover 12 that can slide in the axial direction C is provided at the rear side of the bobbin 2 at the side opposite to the path line of the welding wire W that is wound around the bobbin 2 attached to the chucking means 1. During the winding process, the rear side of the bobbin 2, 25 which is being rotated, is covered by the safety cover 12.

26

Therefore, the rotating portion of the winder can be prevented from being touched by a person. It is necessary to place a rope or the like at the side of the bobbin 2 where the path line of the welding wire W wound around the 5 bobbin 2 is located, so that no one will come near the path line.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the welding wire winder according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a traverser 21 including a bending-tendency correcting means 10 22 for correcting the bending tendency of the welding wire W, a first guide roller 23a, and a second guide roller 23b.

The traverser 21 is driven by a dedicated geared motor 24.

The bending-tendency correcting means 22 for correcting the bending tendency of the welding wire is preferably a 15 bending-tendency-correcting roller unit including two or more roller groups which each include a plurality of bending correcting rollers arranged in a staggered pattern and in which the rollers are arranged in different directions. For example, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the bending-tendency 20 correcting means 22 includes a horizontal roller group 22a in which the rollers are horizontally arranged and a vertical roller group 22b in which the rollers are vertically arranged. Each roller is structured such that the roller can be moved toward or away from the path line of 25 the welding wire W in a direction perpendicular to the path 27 line by an adjustment screw 22c. With this structure, a roller contact pressure that is necessary to correct the bending tendency of the welding wire W can be adjusted.

The traverser 21 is controlled by the controlling means 5 included in the controller 13 so as to guide the welding wire W in the following manner. That is, the traverser 21 is reciprocated in the axial direction C while a traverse angle a (see Fig. 3) between the welding wire W that is being wound around the bobbin 2 and the axial direction C is 10 maintained at a substantially right angle and while the welding wire W that is being wound around the bobbin 2 is prevented from overlapping itself on the winding surface.

The traverser 21 is reciprocated by rotating a horizontal ball screw 25, which extends in the axial direction C, in 15 forward and reverse directions.

At the same time, the traverser 21 is controlled by the controlling means included in the controller 13 so as to guide the welding wire W such that the welding wire W that is being wound extends in a substantially horizontal 20 direction at the winding surface. At this time, the traverser 21 is gradually raised so as to maintain a contact angle β between the welding wire W that is being wound around the bobbin 2 and the winding surface of the bobbin 2 at a substantially constant angle. The traverser 21 is 25 raised by rotating a vertical ball screw 26, which extends 28 in the vertical direction.

With the above-described structures'of the traverser 21 and the controller 13, the welding wire W is guided and wound around the bobbin 2 while the bending tendency of the 5 welding wire W is reliably corrected without causing entanglement of the welding wire W or a winding shape defect. In the case where the traverser 21 is not provided with the first guide roller 23a, the angle at which the welding wire W enters the bending-tendency-correcting roller unit 22 vary 10 in accordance with the movement of the traverser 21. In the case where the traverser 21 is provided with the first guide roller 23a, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the angle at which the welding wire W enters the bending-tendency-correcting roller unit 22 is maintained constant. Therefore, compared 15 to the case in which the traverser 21 is not provided with the first guide roller 23a, the bending tendency of the welding wire W can be corrected by the bending-tendency-correcting roller unit 22 in a more stable state.

A traverse width of the traverser 21 can be adjusted in 20 accordance with the positions where a pair of stroke-end stoppage sensors is disposed. Therefore, the traverse width can be set to an arbitrary width. The stroke-end stoppage sensors may be, for example, limit switches or photoelectric sensors, which are commercially available. When one of the 25 stroke-end stoppage sensors detects a contact or a passage 29 of a movable portion of the traverser 21, a detection signal is transmitted to the controller 13. Then, the controller 13 transmits a reverse rotation signal for reversing the rotational direction of the motor to the geared motor 24.

5 As described above, in the welding wire winder according to the embodiment of the present invention, a chucking means includes a pair of tapered surfaces that face each other in an axial direction and an extending-and-retracting mechanism capable of attaching a bobbin to the 10 chucking means and detaching the bobbin from the chucking means by relatively moving the pair of tapered surfaces in the axial direction. An engagement member including a pin is fixed to a rotating shaft, and a pin hole is provided in a side surface of the bobbin. The pin of the engagement 15 member can be engaged with the pin hole in the bobbin by being inserted into the pin hole. A raising-and-lowering means is provided to raise a bobbin mounting base on which the bobbin is mounted when the bobbin is empty and is to be attached to the chucking means or when the bobbin is full 20 and is to be detached from the chucking means. During a process of winding the welding wire, the raising-and-lowering means lowers the bobbin mounting base to a retracted position. Therefore, the bobbin can be reliably and easily attached to or detached from the chucking means. 25 In addition, a traverser is provided which includes a 30 bending-tendency-correcting roller unit for correcting the bending tendency of the welding wire and a guide roller and which is driven by a dedicated geared motor. The welding wire that is being wound around the bobbin is guided such 5 that the traverse angle and the contact angle are set to respective predetermined angles while the bending tendency of the welding wire is corrected. Thus, the welding wire is guided while the bending tendency of the welding wire is corrected, and is wound around the bobbin without causing 10 entanglement of the welding wire or a winding shape defect.

With reference to Figs. 6 to 8, a structure will be described in which a dancer roller device around which the welding wire is wound in a front-end process (process performed before the welding wire reaches the first guide 15 roller 23a in Fig. 3). In this structure, a winding tension applied to the welding wire is controlled by the dancer roller device. Fig. 6 is a front view of a dancer roller device 31 including a fluid pressure cylinder 36. Fig. 7 is a front view of a dancer roller device 41 including a 20 counterweight. Fig. 8 is a sectional side view of Fig. 7 taken along line VIII-VIII.

In the dancer roller device 31 including the fluid pressure cylinder 36, the welding wire W is wound a plurality of turns around a fixed roller 32 and a dancer 25 roller 33. Then, the welding wire W is caused to pass 31 through the traverser 21 of the above-described welding wire winder and is wound around the bobbin 2. The position of the dancer roller 33 in the horizontal direction can be varied in accordance with the extension and retraction of 5 the fluid pressure cylinder 36. A dancer arm 34 is connected to the dancer roller 33 in a pivotable manner.

A rotary encoder (dancer-roller-position detector) 35 is connected with a coupling (not shown) to a rotating shaft 34a of the dancer arm 34. The rotary encoder constantly 10 detects the position of the dancer roller 33 in the horizontal direction on the basis of a voltage change, and transmits a position detection signal to a controller (not shown).

In the case where the winding tension applied to the 15 welding wire W is low, the controller outputs a signal to control a cylinder rod 36a of the fluid pressure cylinder 36 such that the cylinder rod 36a retracts. Accordingly, the dancer roller 33 is moved horizontally to, for example, a position shown by 33a and the tension applied to the welding 20 wire W is increased as a result. Conversely, in the case where the winding tension applied to the welding wire W is high, the cylinder rod 36a of the fluid pressure cylinder 36 is controlled such that the cylinder rod 36a extends. Accordingly, the dancer roller 33 is moved horizontally to, 25 for example, the original position and the tension applied 32 to the welding wire W is reduced as a result. In this manner, the winding tension is adjusted to a constant value.

In the dancer roller device 41 including a counterweight shown in Fig. 7, the welding wire W is wound a 5 plurality of turns around a first fixed roller 42 and a dancer roller 43. Then, the welding wire W is wound around a second fixed roller 44, is caused to pass through the traverser 21 of the above-described welding wire winder, and is wound around the bobbin 2. A first weight 46a hangs from 10 a shaft frame 43a of the dancer roller 43. A chain 47 is connected to the shaft frame 43a of the dancer roller 43 at one end thereof, and a second weight 46b is connected to the other end of the chain 47. Thus, the dancer roller 43 is suspended by the chain 47 that is stretched around a 15 sprocket 45.

When, for example, the dancer roller 43 is moved upward or downward in accordance with the variation in tension applied to the welding wire W, the chain 47 connected to the shaft frame 43a of the dancer roller 43 also moves upward or 20 downward in accordance with the movement of the dancer roller 43. When the chain 47 moves upward or downward, the sprocket 45 is rotated accordingly. The rotation of the sprocket 45 is transmitted to a displacement detector (dancer-roller-position detector) 48, such as a 25 potentiometer, through a gear 45a disposed coaxially with 33 the sprocket 45 and a gear 48a. Since the rotation is transmitted to the displacement detector 48, the position (displacement) of the dancer roller 43 is continuously detected and a position (displacement) detection signal is 5 transmitted to the controller 13.

With this structure, the variation in the winding tension applied to the welding wire W is detected and the balance between the conveying speed at which the welding wire W is supplied to the winder and the winding speed is 10 controlled. This is because the speed variation is one of the causes that make the winding tension unstable and it is necessary to make the speed variation as small as possible. In the case where the winding speed of the welding wire W is higher than the conveying speed thereof, the dancer roller 15 43 moves upward. Then, when the position of the dancer roller 43 is detected by the displacement detector 48, the control means included in the controller 13 reduces the winding speed of the winder. Thus, the winding speed is adjusted such that the winding speed becomes equal to the 20 conveying speed of the welding wire W.

Conversely, in the case where the winding speed of the welding wire W is lower than the conveying speed thereof, the dancer roller 43 moves downward. Then, when the position of the dancer roller 43 is detected by the 25 displacement detector 48, the control means included in the 34 controller 13 increases the winding speed of the winder.

Thus, the winding speed is adjusted such that the winding speed becomes equal to the conveying speed of the welding wire W. In this manner, the winding speed is controlled 5 such that the variation in the winding tension applied to the welding wire W can be reduced. Thus, the conveying speed and the winding speed are adjusted to a constant value.

As described above, in the welding wire winder according to the present invention, a chucking means 10 includes a pair of tapered surfaces that face each other in an axial direction and an extending-and-retracting mechanism capable of attaching a bobbin to the chucking means and detaching the bobbin from the chucking means by relatively moving the pair of tapered surfaces in the axial direction.

15 An engagement member including a pin is fixed to a rotating shaft, and a pin hole is provided in a side surface of the bobbin. The pin of the engagement member can be engaged with the pin hole in the bobbin by being inserted into the pin hole. A raising-and-lowering means is provided which 20 raises a bobbin mounting base when the bobbin is attached to or detached from the chucking means. During a process of winding the welding wire, the raising-and-lowering means lowers the bobbin mounting base to a retracted position.

Thus, a welding wire winder in which the bobbin can be 25 reliably and easily attached to or detached from the 35 chucking means can be provided.

In addition, the welding wire winder according to the present invention includes a traverser which includes a bending-tendency correcting means for correcting the bending 5 tendency of the welding wire and a guide roller and which is driven by a dedicated motor. Therefore, the welding wire is guided while the bending tendency of the welding wire is corrected, and is wound around the bobbin without causing entanglement of the welding wire or a winding shape defect. 10 In addition, the welding wire winder according to the present invention includes a dancer roller device around which the welding wire is wound in a front-end process. A dancer-roller-position detector is provided to detect the position of the dancer roller. The winding tension applied 15 to the welding wire can be controlled at a constant tension on the basis of a detection signal obtained by the dancer-roller-position detector. Therefore, a winding failure or a winding shape defect due to variation in winding tension can be prevented.

20 A welding-wire-material feeder according to a first embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to Figs. 9 to 11 and Fig. 6. Fig. 9 is a partially sectioned view illustrating the main section of the welding-wire-material feeder according to the first 25 embodiment of present invention. Fig. 10 is a side view of 36 the welding-wire-material feeder shown in Fig. 9 viewed from the right side. Fig. 11 is a plan view of the welding-wire-material feeder shown in Fig. 9. In the welding-wire-material feeder according to the first embodiment of the 5 present invention, the dancer roller device shown in Fig. 6 is used to control a feeding tension.

The welding-wire-material feeder according to the first embodiment of the present invention is used to manufacture a welding wire (product) by continuously feeding a material, 10 such as a steel bar or a steel strap, wound around a bobbin in a manufacturing process.

The structure of the welding-wire-material feeder shown in Figs. 9 to 11 is basically the same as the structure of the welding wire winder shown in Figs. 1 to 3. Therefore, 15 the same or corresponding components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and explanations of the structures and functions thereof are thus omitted.

When the chucking means 1, the bobbin mounting base 8, and the raising-and-lowering means 9 shown in Figs. 9 to 11 20 are used, a full bobbin, around which a welding wire material R is wound and which weighs about 1 to 2 tons, can be reliably and easily attached to the chucking means 1. Then, after the completion of the feeding process, the bobbin, which has become empty, can be reliably and easily 25 detached from the chucking means 1. In addition, the 37 feeding tension can be reliably applied to the welding wire material R. Since an inexpensive, commercially available extending-and-retracting mechanism is used, the cost can be reduced.

5 A photoelectric sensor 28 capable of detecting the remaining amount of welding wire material R fed from the bobbin 2 attached to the chucking means 1 is disposed above the bobbin 2 attached to the chucking means 1. The photoelectric sensor 28 transmits a detection signal to the 10 controller 13, and the controller 13 outputs a control signal for decelerating or stopping the rotation of the bobbin 2. Therefore, when the remaining amount of the welding wire material R fed from the bobbin 2 is reduced to zero, the rotation of the bobbin 2 can be immediately 15 stopped and the next full bobbin can be quickly attached to the chucking means 1.

The welding-wire-material feeder having the above-described structure preferably includes a tension controlling means for controlling the feeding tension of the 20 welding wire material R in a back-end process. The tension controlling means may be, for example, a dancer roller device around which the welding wire material R is wound.

The device shown in Fig. 6 is used as the dancer roller device.

25 As described above, in the welding-wire-material feeder 38 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the bobbin 2 is attached to the chucking means 1 and is rotated by the rotating shaft 3 that is driven by the driving motor M and connected to the chucking means 1.

5 Accordingly, the welding wire material R wound around the bobbin 2 is fed from the bobbin 2 that is being rotated.

The chucking means 1 includes a pair of tapered surfaces 4a and 4b that face each other in an axial direction C and an extending-and-retracting mechanism 5 with which the bobbin 2 10 can be attached to and detached from the chucking means 1 by relatively moving the tapered surfaces 4a and 4b in the axial direction C.

In addition, in the welding-wire-material feeder, an engagement member 6 having pins 6a movable in an axial 15 direction C is fixed to the rotating shaft 3. The bobbin 2 is provided with pin holes 2b that extend in the axial direction C in side surfaces thereof. The pins 6a of the engagement member 6 can be engaged with the pin holes 2b in the bobbin 2 by being inserted into the pin holes 2b. A 20 raising-and-lowering means 9 is provided which raises a bobbin mounting base 8, on which the bobbin 2 is mounted, when the bobbin 2 is to be attached to or detached from the chucking means 1. In this state, the bobbin 2 can be attached to or detached from the chucking means 1 by an 25 extending and retracting operation performed by the 39 extending-and-retracting mechanism 5. During a process of feeding the welding wire material R, the raising-and-lowering means 9 lowers the bobbin mounting base 8 to a retracted position. Therefore, processes of attaching a 5 full bobbin to the chucking means 1 and detaching the bobbin from the chucking means 1 after the bobbin becomes empty can be reliably and easily performed, and the feeding tension can be reliably applied to the welding wire material R.

A welding-wire-product feeder according to a second 10 embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to Figs. 12 to 14 and Figs. 7 and 8. Fig. 12 is a partially sectioned view illustrating the main section of a welding wire feeder according to the second embodiment of present invention. Fig. 13 is a side view of the welding 15 wire feeder shown in Fig. 12 viewed from the right side.

Fig. 14 is a schematic sectional view illustrating the state in which the welding wire is wound in an unstable manner in the process of winding back the welding wire around a bobbin. In the welding wire feeder according to the second 20 embodiment of the present invention, the dancer roller device shown in Figs. 7 and 8 is used to control the feeding tension.

The welding wire feeder according to the second embodiment of the present invention is used to continuously 25 feed the welding wire wound around a bobbin and rewind the 40 welding wire around a small-diameter spool. The second embodiment of the present invention differs from the above-described first embodiment in that a traverser is provided and that the dancer roller device has a different structure.

5 Other structures of the second embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment. Therefore, only the traverser and the dancer roller device will be described.

In the welding-wire-material feeder according to the first embodiment of the present invention, no traverser is 10 provided to reciprocate the welding wire material R in the winding width direction of the bobbin 2. In addition, the dancer roller device for applying the feeding tension to the welding wire material R includes a fluid-pressure cylinder.

In contrast, the welding-wire-product feeder according 15 to the second embodiment of the present invention includes a traverser 21. The traverser 21 includes a guide roller 25, an extending-and-retracting means 29a, and guide rods 29b. The guide rods 29b are slidably supported by the extending-and-retracting means 29a such that the guide rods 29b can 20 reciprocate in the horizontal direction. A fluid-pressure cylinder, a ball screw, etc., may be used as the extending-and-retracting means 29a.

If a winding shape defect occurs in the process of rewinding the welding wire W around a small-diameter spool 25 using the welding wire feeder, the traverser 21 is used to 41 operate the welding wire feeder as a winder for winding back the welding wire W from the spool to the bobbin 2.

In the case where the traverser 21 is not used in the process of operating the welding wire feeder as a winder for 5 winding back the welding wire W from the spool to the bobbin 2, there is a risk that the following problem will occur. That is, referring to Fig. 14, a previously wound welding wire W may be placed on a crest section and a subsequently wound welding wire W may be placed on a root section. In 10 this case, there is a risk that the previously wound welding wire W on the crest section will be displaced toward the root section and be placed on the subsequently wound welding wire. In such a case, if the welding wire W that has been wound back to the bobbin 2 is rewound around the small-15 diameter spool again, entanglement of the welding wire W will occur.

In the welding wire feeder according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the traverser 21 serves to maintain a suitable winding shape in the process of 20 winding back the welding wire W from the small-diameter spool to the bobbin 2. Therefore, when the welding wire W that has been wound back to the bobbin 2 is rewound around the small-diameter spool again, entanglement of the welding wire W can be prevented.

25 This type of traverser 21 will be described in more 42 detail. Preferably, the guide roller 25 included in the traverser 21 can be horizontally extended by the extending-and-retracting means 29a to a position 25a shown by the two-dot chain lines in Fig. 12. That is, the traverser 21 5 preferably can traverse over substantially a half of the winding width of the bobbin 2, that is, from a path line Wl of the welding wire W at the center of the bobbin 2 to a path line W2 at an end portion of the bobbin. In a side view, as shown in Fig. 13, the path lines Wl and W2 of the 10 welding wire W are located between a path line Wa for when the rewinding operation is started and the bobbin is empty and a path line Wb for when the rewinding operation is completed and the bobbin is full.

The guide roller 25 included in the traverser 21 is 15 structured such that the axial center Cr thereof can be inclined with respect to the path line Wl. Preferably, the guide roller 25 is inclined such that the crossing angles Θ1 and Θ2 between the axial center Cr and the path lines Wa and Wb are close to the right angle. In such a case, contact 20 friction between the guide roller 25 and the welding wire W can be reduced.

Referring to Fig. 12, when the guide roller 25 is extended by the extending-and-retracting means 29a, the guide roller 25 comes into contact with the welding wire W 25 at the path line Wl. Then, when the guide roller 25 is 43 further extended, the guide roller 25 reaches the path line W2 while being in contact with the welding wire W. Then, when the guide roller 25 is retracted by the extending-and-retracting means 29a, the welding wire W returns to the path 5 line Wl. Then, when the guide roller 25 is further retracted by the extending-and-retracting means 29a (when the guide roller 25 is moved further toward the left than the path line Wl in Fig. 12), the welding wire W remains at the path line Wl owing to the rewinding tension applied 10 thereto.

Then, the extending-and-retracting means 29a causes the guide roller 25 to repeat the above-described traversing movement, so that a suitable winding shape can be maintained when the welding wire W is wound back from the small-15 diameter spool to the bobbin 2. As a result, entanglement can be prevented when the welding wire product W is rewound around the small-diameter spool again. In this way, the guide roller 25 is caused to traverse by substantially a half of the winding width of the bobbin 2. Therefore, a 20 suitable winding shape can be maintained in the process of winding back the welding wire W from the small-diameter spool to the bobbin 2.

The welding wire feeder according to the second embodiment of the present invention is provided with the 25 dancer roller device 41 including a counterweight as shown 44 in Figs. 7 and 8. With this structure, the variation in the winding tension applied to the welding wire W is detected and the balance between the feeding speed and the conveying speed at which the welding wire W is fed from the feeder is 5 controlled. The control system is the same as that in the above-described case where the dancer roller device is used in the winder.

As described above, according to the welding wire feeder according to the second embodiment of the present 10 invention, the traverser 21 having a simple structure is provided for use in the process of winding back the welding wire W from the small-diameter spool to the bobbin 2. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the traverser 21 can be reduced. In addition, a suitable winding shape can be 15 maintained by the traverser 21 in the process of winding back the welding wire W around the bobbin 2, and entanglement of the welding wire W can be prevented in the process of rewinding the welding wire W around the small-diameter spool again.

20 In the above-described explanations of the structures according to the embodiments of the present invention, the dancer roller device including the fluid-pressure cylinder shown in Fig. 6 is used in the welding-wire-material feeder according to the first embodiment and the dancer roller 25 device including the counterweight shown in Fig. 8 is used 45 in the welding wire feeder according to the second embodiment. However, conversely, the dancer roller device including the counterweight may be used in the welding-wire-material feeder according to the first embodiment and the 5 dancer roller device including the fluid-pressure cylinder may be used in the welding wire feeder according to the second embodiment.

Alternatively, the dancer roller device including the fluid-pressure cylinder or the dancer roller device 10 including the counterweight may be used in both the welding-wire-material feeder according to the first embodiment and the welding wire feeder according to the second embodiment.

In addition, in the above-described explanations of the welding wire feeder according to the second embodiment of 15 the present invention, the traverser includes the guide roller that can be horizontally extended and retracted by the extending-and-retracting means having a simple structure and that traverses by substantially a half of the winding width of the bobbin. However, the guide roller may, of 20 course, traverse over the entire winding width of the bobbin.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A welding wire winder, comprising: a clamping device to which a reel is attached, wherein the clamping device comprises two conical surfaces that face each other in an axial direction and a straightening and retracting mechanism 5 capable of connecting the reel to the clamping device and releasing the reel from the clamping device by relatively moving the pair of conical surfaces in the axial direction; a rotating shaft connected to the clamping device and driven by a drive motor to rotate the reel so that a welding wire is wound around the reel, and a coupling member comprising a pin attached to the rotating shaft in which the pin is movable in the reel axial direction and connectable to a pin hole by being inserted into the pin hole, the pin hole being provided in a side surface of the reel and extending in the axial direction; and lifting and lowering device which, if the reel is empty and must be attached to the clamping device or if the reel is full and needs to be released from the clamping device, a base for placing the reel on which the reel is placed , thereby raising the extension and retraction mechanism to attach the reel to the clamping device or to release the reel from the clamping device, the lifting and lowering device providing the base for placing the reel moves down to a retracted position during a welding wire winding process, wherein the lifting and lowering device comprises a rotatable fluid pressure cylinder and a connection piece rotatably connected to the fluid pressure cylinder, and wherein the fluid pressure cylinder extends to rotate the connection piece to raise the base for placing the reel so that, before or after the winding process, an axial center of the reel on the same the height is kept as an axial center of the clamping device.

The welding wire winder according to claim 1, wherein the stretch-and-pull mechanism comprises a fluid pressure cylinder, and a fluid pressure operating circuit for the fluid pressure cylinder is provided with a pressure switch that detects the fluid pressure and outputs a pressure reduction signal when the fluid pressure is reduced up to a predetermined pressure or less.

The welding wire winder according to claim 1, further comprising: a disc brake capable of performing an emergency stop for stopping the rotation of the rotating shaft, the disc brake comprising a brake disc attached to the rotating shaft and a hydraulic caliper 15 attached on a chassis of the winder.

4. The welding wire winder according to claim 1, further comprising: means for canceling the coupling capable of canceling the coupling between the pin and the pin hole by pressing against the side surface of the reel in which the coupling portion is inserted into the pin hole when the reel is to be released from the clamping device.

5. The welding wire winder according to claim 1, further comprising: a traversing device on which a means for correcting the bending inclination for correcting the bending inclination of the welding wire and a guide roller are provided, the traversing device being driven by a separate motor, the welding wire is guided and wound around the reel while the bending inclination is corrected and while a traversing angle and a contact angle are set at respective predetermined angles in the winding process of the welding wire.

The welding wire winder according to claim 5, wherein the means for correcting the bending inclination for correcting the bending inclination of the welding wire comprises two or more roller groups each comprising a plurality of rollers arranged in a zigzag pattern and in which the rollers are arranged in different directions are posted.

7. The welding wire winder according to claim 5, wherein a traverse width of the traverse device is adjustable in accordance with positions in which two stop sensors are provided for at the end of the stroke.

8. The welding wire winder according to claim 1, wherein an electrically conductive rod is disposed above a position around a line line of the welding wire and electricity is supplied to the electrically conductive rod and the welding wire that is wound around the reel, and wherein when the welding wire breaks and comes into contact with the electrically conductive rod, a closed circuit is formed between the welding wire and the electrically conductive rod, so that the breaking of the welding wire 20 is detectable.

9. The welding wire winder according to claim 1, further comprising: a safety cover capable of slidingly moving in the axial direction, the safety cover being provided on a rear side of the reel, on the side opposite a line of the welding wire which is around the reel attached to the clamping device is wound.

10. The welding wire wrapper of claim 1, further comprising: a dance roll device around which the welding wire is wound in a front-end process; and a dance roll position detector that detects a dance roll position of the dance roll device, wherein a winding voltage applied to the welding wire is adjustable to a constant voltage on the basis of a detection signal obtained by the dance roll position detector.

11. A feeding device for feeding a welding wire material or a welding wire of a reel around which the welding wire material or the welding wire is wound, the feeding device comprising: clamping device to which the reel is fastened, wherein the clamping device comprises two conical surfaces which are in an axial direction are facing each other and a stretch and retract mechanism capable of securing the reel to the clamping device and releasing the reel from the clamping device by relatively moving the two conical surfaces in the axial direction; a rotating shaft connected to the clamping device and driven by a drive motor to rotate the reel so that the welding wire material or the welding wire of the reel is supplied, and a coupling member comprising a pin attached to the rotating shaft in which the pin is movable is in the axial direction and connectable to a pin hole by being inserted into the pin hole, the pin hole being provided in a side surface of the reel and extending in the axial direction; and lifting and lowering device which, when the reel is to be attached to the clamping device or is to be detached from the clamping device, raises a base for placing the reel on which the reel is placed, thereby extending retracting mechanism allowing to attach the reel to the clamping device or to detach the reel from the clamping device, the lifting and lowering device lowering the base for placing the reel to a retracted position during a winding process of the welding wire material or welding wire, wherein the lifting and lowering device comprises a rotatable fluid pressure cylinder and a connection piece rotatably connected to the fluid pressure cylinder, and wherein the fluid pressure cylinder extends to rotate the connection piece around the base for placing of the reel so that, before or after the winding process, an axial center of the reel is at the same height e is held as an axial center of the clamping device.

12. The supply device of claim 11, wherein the stretch-and-pull mechanism comprises a fluid pressure cylinder, and an operating pressure circuit of a fluid pressure for the fluid pressure cylinder is provided with a pressure switch that detects the fluid pressure and outputs a pressure reduction signal when the fluid pressure is reduced to a fluid pressure predetermined pressure or less.

13. The feeding device according to claim 11, further comprising: a disc brake capable of performing an emergency stop for stopping the rotation of the rotating shaft, the disc brake comprising a brake disc attached to the rotating shaft and a hydraulic brake caliper attached to a feed device chassis.

14. The feeding device as claimed in claim 11, further comprising: a means for lifting the coupling which is capable of lifting the coupling between the pin and the pin hole by pressing against the side surface of the reel in which the coupling part in the pin hole is inserted when the reel is to be released from the clamping device.

15. The feeding device according to claim 11, further comprising: a photoelectric sensor disposed above the reel attached to the clamping device, wherein the photoelectric sensor is capable of the remaining amount of welding wire material or welding wire supplied from the reel connected to the clamping device is detected, wherein a control operation is performed to delay or stop the rotation of the reel on the basis of a detection signal 5 obtained by the photoelectric sensor.

16. The feeding device according to claim 11, further comprising: a safety cover capable of slidingly moving in the axial direction, the safety cover being provided on a rear side of the reel, on the side opposite a web line of the welding wire material or welding wire which of the reel attached to the clamping device.

The feeding device of claim 11, further comprising: a dance roll device around which the welding wire material or welding wire is wound in a back-end process; and a dance roll position detector that detects a dance roll position of the dance roll device, wherein a supply voltage applied to the welding wire material or the welding wire is controllable at a constant voltage on the basis of a detection signal obtained by the dance roll position detector.