AU2014277710A1 - A portable wind shield assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

A wind shield assembly for use with a hand held welding gun of the type which supplies an inert shielding gas about the welding arc. The assembly includes a wind shield panel capable of being supported in close proximity to a welding arc and upwind thereof so as to shield the inert gas envelope directed to the welding arc, a releasable support mounting for the wind shield panel attachable to the welding gun for supporting the wind shield panel, and a manipulable support stem interconnecting the wind shield panel and the releasable support mounting which may be manipulated to position the wind shield panel for support by the welding gun in close proximity to the welding arc and in a desired shielding orientation. '36 Fig. 2 3Fig. 3 - ----- -2 1 -32 Fici. 4

Description

1 Title A portable wind shield assembly Technical Field This invention relates to a portable wind shield assembly for inert gas welding. 5 Background Art The use of an inert gas welding shield such as in MIG and TIG welding has many advantages compared to arc welding with fluxed rods as it uses a shielding gas applied about the welding arc to permit new metal to be deposited which is not covered in solidified flux residue. In addition in MIG welding, the new metal is applied via a consumable metal .0 wire which may be fed continuously or intermittently as desired and this greatly facilitates the efficiency of the welding process. However a significant drawback of MIG welding is that it is upset by air flow across the weld zone as the air flow dissipates the shielding gas about the welding arc. Thus its use outdoors is generally limited to use in non-windy conditions. Portable windbreak stands and the like are sometimes utilised to deflect wind away from the .5 welding zone, however the use of such stands is often inconvenient and ineffective. Attempts have been made to provide handheld windbreaks which may be positioned adjacent the weld zone. However due to the wide variety of articles that are welded, the devices proposed to date have a very limited application. These devices are also relatively cumbersome or fragile and cannot be carried conveniently in a welder's tool kit. Thus they 0 are frequently not at hand when they could be used advantageously. In order to be useful for carrying in a tool kit any such shielding device should preferably be robust, of simple form and compact. This invention aims to provide a portable wind shield assembly which will be suitable for use with a hand held welding gun of the type which supplies an inert shielding gas about the 25 welding arc, such as a MIG welding gun, and which will be effective in use. Other aspects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description. Summary of Invention With the foregoing in view, this invention in one aspect resides broadly in a wind shield assembly for use with a hand held welding gun of the type which supplies an inert shielding 30 gas about the welding arc, including: a wind shield panel capable of being supported in close proximity to a welding arc and upwind thereof so as to shield the inert gas envelope directed to the welding arc; a releasable support mounting for the wind shield panel attachable to the welding 2 gun for supporting the wind shield panel, and a manipulable support stem interconnecting the wind shield panel and the releasable support mounting which may be manipulated to position the wind shield panel for support by the welding gun in close proximity to the welding arc and in a desired shielding orientation. 5 Preferably the wind shield panel is formed from lightweight material whereby the load imposed on the manipulable support stem and/or its connection to the welding gun is minimised in order that the shielding panel is more easily maintained in the desired shielding orientation by the support stem and/or its connection to the welding gun. This also enables the overall weight of the wind shield assembly to be minimised so that it does not .0 significantly increase the weight required to be supported by a welder when the wind shield assembly is attached to their welding gun. The wind shield panel may be formed of any material or of a combination of materials required for a particular welding application. For example the wind shield panel may include a resilient brush type seal providing an edge which may substantially conform to an irregular .5 workpiece face. It may also include a curtain or edging of non-flammable material which may increase the effective shielding area of the wind shield panel without substantially increasing its weight and which may conform to pass about obstacles adjacent the weld path. The wind shield panel is suitably formed with a workpiece engaging edge which may be operatively positioned during welding, in close proximity to a workpiece, or in abutting 10 relationship with a flat workpiece surface upwind of the welding arc. Preferably the support stem is attached to the wind shield panel remote from the or each workpiece engaging edge to assist in manipulating the workpiece engaging edge into a suitable shielding position. The remote attachment also enables a user to grasp the supporting stem adjacent its attachment to the wind shield panel to manipulate the wind shield panel during welding while maintaining 25 a grasp of the wind shield panel distant and/or partially shielded from the welding arc. The support stem could be centrally or otherwise attached to the wind shield panel which may have several workpiece engaging edges. Furthermore an additional handle could be provided for manipulating the wind shield panel if desired. In one form the wind shield panel is formed from relatively thin metal plate such as 30 aluminium plate which may be easily shaped by a user to suit the application, such as, for example, by re-shaping the edge to be positioned adjacent the workpiece to suit the profile of the workpiece being welded. The wind shield panel may also be reshaped for refurbishing an edge or for reducing the size of a supplied wind shield panel to suit a particular application of the wind shield panel.

3 In a preferred form the wind shield panel is substantially rectangular with the length of its edges being in the range of 50mm to 120mm. For example the windshield may be 75mm wide and assembly 100mm deep with the attachment to the support stem being provided adjacent the shorter side opposite the workpiece engaging edge and medially between the 5 longer sides. This size will generally provide knuckle clearance from the workpiece for a gloved hand grasping the stem adjacent its connection to the wind shield panel to manipulate the workpiece engaging edge into an operative position adjacent a workpiece. The wind shield panel may be of any form as required to suit an application. For example the wind shield panel may be of non-planar form or include a non-planar edge, such as of .0 streamlined form so that it may be positioned to partly extend around the welding zone and to split the airflow into streams either side of the weld zone. Alternatively the wind shield panel may be in the form of a partially open enclosure which partly encompasses the tip of the welding gun to which it is attached to create a shielded weld zone within the enclosure. The wind shield panel may be removably attached to the support stem such that a selected .5 wind shield panel may be supported to suit a particular application. The support stem may be manipulated in any desired manner which permits the operative support of the shielding panel and includes an articulated multi component stem having adjacent stem components which are selectively positionable and lockable to one another such as by friction, clamping, indexing, ratcheting or any combination of holding means for 10 holding adjusted components in an adjusted attitude. Preferably the manipulable support stem is of compliant form which can be readily bent to a desired shape which it maintains and the support stem and its connections to the welding gun and/or the wind shield panel permit rotation of the wind shield panel whereby the wind shield panel may be selectively positioned in a desired shielding orientation relative to the 25 welding gun. For this purpose the wind shield panel may be rotatably attached to the support stem such that it may be rotated about the support stem axis at its junction with the wind shield panel. Alternatively or additionally, the manipulable support stem may be of a form which permits limited length-wise rotation of the support stem to assist in positioning the wind shield panel in a desired shielding orientation relative to the welding gun. 30 The manipulable support stem interconnecting the wind shield panel and the support mounting is preferably sufficiently long to permit the wind shield panel to be positioned with the workpiece engaging edge thereof supported beyond the end of the welding tip of the 4 supporting welding gun as this enables effective use when the welding gun is angled away from the workpiece and/or the wind shield panel. The support stem could be formed of articulated segments which may be easily angled and rotated with respect to one another to remain in its non-linear form after manipulation to a 5 desired shape and orientation, or of pliable tubular material, such as spiral wound tube as sold under the trade mark ARMOURFLEX, which may be bent and twisted into a desired configuration. Both these types of stems are commonly used to supply targeted cooling lubricant to work pieces being machined. The releasable support mounting may attach to the welding gun through a complementary .0 connection provided on the welding gun or it may releasably attach to the support stem. In one form the releasable support mounting is releasably engageable with a complementary connection formed in the welding gun handle. For example, the releasable support mounting may be a bayonet type support mounting on the manipulable support stem formed to engage with a slotted socket connection provided in the welding gun handle. .5 Alternatively the connection on the welding gun could include projections which lock into a complementary base forming the releasable support mounting or the like or the connection could be a stud extending from the welding gun and provided with a wing nut or the like for clamping the releasable support mounting to the welding gun. The releasable support mounting could provide a snap-on connection to the welding gun for ease of connection by a 0 welder wearing gloves and a helmet. Many other forms of commonly used releasable mountings could also be used as desired. Further it is preferred that the releasable support mounting mounts the stem angularly to the welding gun and suitably substantially at right angles thereto as this enables a relatively short manipulable support stem to be utilised which has the desired degree of adjustment 25 and standoff from the welding gun such that it will not interfere with the normal operation of the welding gun. At the same time this configuration provides sufficient distal support of the wind shield panel which enables a welder's gloved hand to grasp the support stem to manipulate the wind shield panel for positioning/repositioning during welding. This configuration also permits such operations to be performed without significantly increasing 30 the weight of the wind shield assembly such as by the use of a separate handle on the wind shield panel. For this purpose, the support stem is suitably in the order of 0.3 metre long but this will vary with welding gun size and configuration.

5 In a preferred arrangement the releasable support mounting is formed to attach to welding guns which are not provided with a complementary connection for the support mounting. For example the releasable support mounting could be a releasable clamping or clip-on connection to the tubular neck of the welding gun which typically extends from its handle to 5 the gas shroud mounting. The neck of most welding guns is a cranked round section tubular neck shaped to position the welding tip in a desired angular position relative to the handle. A preferred form of support mounting for use on such cranked necks is a pair of aligned spring clips which are spaced apart on a base so as to be clipped into engagement with respective cranked portions of the neck. In such an arrangement, rotation of the clips about .0 the neck beyond a plane containing the axes of the cranked portions is additionally resisted compared to support by a pair of the same clips on co-axial neck sections. This facilitates the use of lighter spring clips and easier connection to and disengagement from the stem. Such a mounting also facilitates attachment of the support mounting with gloved hands for operative support of the wind shield panel. .5 Furthermore such a mounting better resists rotation of the support mounting about the stem resultant from the weight of the support stem and wind shield panel during use and/or during manipulation of the wind shield panel, assisting in maintaining the wind shield panel in its desired position and orientation. However it does not prevent such rotation which may occur to assist the wind shield panel to deflect resiliently about an obstacle in its welding path. 0 A welding gun provided with a quick release connection suitable for operatively securing a wind shield assembly according to this invention to the welding gun constitutes a further aspect of this invention. Brief Description of Drawings In order that this invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect 25 reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate typical embodiments of this invention, and wherein: Fig. 1 illustrates one embodiment of this invention; Fig. 2 is a view from upwind of a workpiece which illustrates the embodiment of Fig. 1 being used to shield the deposit of a vertical weld from oncoming wind; 30 Fig. 3 illustrates manipulation of the wind shield panel during welding; Fig. 4 corresponds to Fig. 2 and viewed from the downwind side of the workpiece, and Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate further shielding panels according to this invention.

6 Description of embodiments Fig. 1 illustrates a welding wind shield assembly 10 for use with a MIG welding gun. The shield assembly 10 comprises a releasable support assembly 12 connected to a flat substantially rectangular shielding panel 14 by a support stem assembly 16 which utilises a 5 spiral wound tube stem 18 of the type which can be manipulated by hand to a bent shape in which it will remain until forced into a different shape. The stem 18 may also be rotated along its length to a limited degree within which range of rotation it will remain in its rotated orientation until forcibly returned to its non-rotated orientation. In this embodiment the support stem assembly 16 is about 300mm long and the shielding .0 panel 14 is formed from 1mm thick aluminium plate having length/breadth dimensions of assembly 100mm x 75mm. This provides an arrangement in which the combined weight of the shielding panel 14 and the stem 18 exert insufficient load on the spiral wound stem 18 to cause it to bend or twist due to their weight. The stem assembly 16 includes connection means 19 at its remote end through which it is .5 connected to the shielding panel 14 centrally at one of its ends 20, the other end 21 being formed as a straight edge for engagement against a planar work surface adjacent the inert gas envelope formed about a welding arc. The other end of the stem assembly 16 connects rigidly to the releasable support assembly 12 which, in this embodiment, includes a rectangular base 23 from which a pair of aligned metal spring clips 24 extend away from the 1o stem 18 in spaced apart relationship. Each spring clip 24 is formed with splayed end portions 25 so that the clips may be roughly aligned with the neck of a welding gun and forced or snapped into engagement therewith to operatively secure the wind shield assembly 10 to the welding gun. This assists quick engagement of and removal from the wind shield assembly 10 with the neck of a welding gun by a user with a gloved hand. 25 A typical use of the windshield is illustrated in Fig. 2 which illustrates workpieces 30 and 31 supported on a workbench 32 and being welded together by a welder performing a vertical weld 33, in this instance in windy conditions, requiring the use of the wind shield assembly 10 illustrated in Fig. 1, to shield the inert gas envelope formed about the welding arc. It will be seen that the stem 18 has been manipulated into a U-shape and rotated so as to support 30 the shielding panel 14 with its straight workpiece engaging edge 21 substantially in abutting relationship with the upwind member 30 whereby as the welder moves the welding gun up or down to form the weld, the shielding panel remains positioned closely adjacent the inert gas envelope to prevent this gas envelope being displaced from the welding zone by the oncoming wind.

7 It will also be seen from Fig. 2 and 3 that the spaced clips 24 of the support assembly 12 engage about respective cranked portions 41 and 42 of the neck 35 so as to bias the releasable support assembly to a stable engaged position relative to the plane containing the cranked axis of the neck, which position is on the underside of the neck 35. This 5 provides a secure clip-on connection with sufficient grip to maintain the position of the support assembly 12 on the stem 41 during manipulation of the wind shield assembly 10 for operative positioning of the shielding panel 14. However if during welding the shielding panel 14 strikes an obstacle, the releasable support assembly 12 can rotate about the stem to allow the welding to continue without interruption, .0 at least until the shielding panel 14 is manipulated by a welder's free hand to a new position. This may occur without interrupting the welding process. The quick release connection also permits a welder to quickly remove the windshield assembly 10 from the welding gun 36 or manually position the shielding panel 14, if desired, such as in positions where stable support from the gun 35 may be impractical. .5 Fig. 4 is a view corresponding to Fig. 3 but viewed from the downwind side of the workpieces 30 and 31. This view shows the close proximity between the edge 21 of the shielding panel 14 and the inert gas envelope 50 about the welding arc formed at the tip 38 which enables the weld 33 to be deposited continuously even though the welder may be operating in windy conditions, In use, the shielding panel 14 creates a localised stagnant zone downwind 0 thereof and about the inert gas envelope 50. Fig. 5 illustrates an alternate form of shielding panel 55 which is of the open channel form having outer edges 56 and 57 which may be positioned against a workplace to provide a shield at either side of weld being formed by a welding gun 36 positioned with its tip 38 projecting through a U-shaped cutout 58 formed in the base wall 59 of the open channel 25 shielding panel 55. The stem 18 is connected to the base wall 59 at the end thereof remote from the cutout 58. In this embodiment the stem 18 is adapted to push into a tapered socket 61 formed in the handpiece 60. Fig. 6 illustrates another form of shielding panel 65 which is of angle form so as to provide a V-shaped face to the prevailing wind to deflect the wind to either side of a weld zone 30 illustrated at 66. In this embodiment the stem 18 is adapted to snap into a tapered socket 67 formed in the handpiece 68 and provided with a release button 69 which may be operated to release the snap-in connection 67 for removal of the wind shield assembly 70 from the handpiece 68.

8 In use, the shielding panel 10 needs to be held in close proximity or in abutting relationship with an upwind portion of the job being welded. The surface along which the shielding panel may be moved to effect the weld may be rough or have projections which interfere with the free movement of the shielding panel 14 thereacross. When this occurs, the shielding panel 5 may deflect resiliently to pass the obstacle by causing rotational displacement of the releasable support assembly 12 which can deflect resiliently from its stable attached position about the cranked portion of the neck as illustrated by arrow 37 in Fig. 2. Furthermore, as illustrated in Fig. 3, at any time a welder's free hand 40 may grasp the stem 18 adjacent the shielding panel 14 and manipulate the panel 14 to suit the welding .0 conditions, such as to move the panel 14 past an obstacle which may have been in its path. Some obstacles may require momentary removal of the wind shield assembly 10. In such cases the easy removal and quick re-fitting of the wind shield assembly 10 by a user's gloved hand will greatly facilitate the utility of this embodiment. It will be seen from the above that a wind shield panel made in accordance with the present .5 invention may be of simple robust form which can be carried unobtrusively in a welder's toolbox where it won't be easily damaged by placement of heavier tools on it especially if the relatively large shielding panel is formed of malleable and not brittle material which will not be irreparably damaged by rough placement of other heavy welding tools on top of it in a tool box. 1o A malleable shielding panel can be readily straightened if bent and permits a welder to vary its size or shape as required, using simple tools such as a pair of tin snips, to suit a particular application. If desired the panel may be replaceably connected so that a welder may select a suitable panel for a particular job. At any time the wind shield panel may be quickly retrieved from the toolbox and attached to the welding gun, and just as quickly detached if desired. 25 Thus the welding tool will be conveniently available should conditions warrant its use, permitting welding to continue in windy conditions. In the illustrated embodiments, the use of a spiral wound stem with sufficient frictional resistance between the spiral turns or link segments to stay in the configuration into which it has been manipulated, in combination with a releasable support assembly which is biased 30 into a stable relationship on the neck 35 of the welding gun but which may be rotated to accommodate relative movement between the shielding panel and the tip during welding, provides a tool which will not unexpectedly interfere with the welding operation being performed. Furthermore the simple lightweight form of the welding tool will not significantly 9 increase weight of the welding gun when it is attached thereto to the extent that a welder would find it extremely tiring to continue welding with the wind shield panel attached to the welding gun. All the dimensions for embodiments of this invention are provided as indicative measures 5 only and may be varied as desired. However it is preferred that dimensions be utilised which result in the wind shield assembly being lightweight so as to minimise the additional strain imposed on a welder by the extra weight of a wind shield assembly according to this invention operatively connected to a welding gun. This benefit is also assisted by the use of a quick release connection of the wind shield panel to the welding gun so that as soon as .o prevailing wind conditions allow welding without the use of a wind shield assembly, a welder may quickly remove the wind shield assembly and put it aside without interrupting the welding process and of course quickly re-install it when required. It is to be understood that individual features illustrated in each embodiment could also be incorporated into other embodiments described and/or illustrated herein. However for 5 succinctness this specification does not contain illustrations and/or descriptions of all embodiments containing all possible variations of such features. It will of course be realised that while the above has been given by way of example of this invention all such modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of this invention as is 1O defined in the appended claims.

Claims (18)

1. A wind shield assembly for use with a hand held welding gun of the type which supplies an inert shielding gas about the welding arc, including: a wind shield panel capable of being supported in close proximity to a welding arc 5 and upwind thereof so as to shield the inert gas envelope directed to the welding arc; a releasable support mounting for the wind shield panel attachable to the welding gun for supporting the wind shield panel, and a manipulable support stem interconnecting the wind shield panel and the releasable support mounting which may be manipulated to position the wind shield panel for support by .0 the welding gun in close proximity to the welding arc and in a desired shielding orientation.

2. A wind shield assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the support stem and/or its releasably support mounting permits rotation of the wind shield panel about the welding gun. .5

3. A wind shield assembly as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the wind shield panel is rotatable about the support stem axis.

4. A wind shield assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the support stem is formed of pliable tubular material which may be bent and twisted into a 20 desired configuration.

5. A wind shield assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the wind shield panel is formed from lightweight material. 25

6. A wind shield assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the wind shield panel is formed with a straight workpiece engaging edge disposed remote from its connection to the manipulable support stem. 11

7. A wind shield assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the wind shield panel is formed from relatively thin metal plate.

8. A wind shield assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the 5 wind shield panel is a substantially rectangular panel having length and breadth dimensions in the range of 50mm to 120mm.

9. A wind shield assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the wind shield panel is removably attached to the support stem. .0

10. A wind shield assembly as claimed in claim 9, wherein the removal attachment between the wind shield panel and the support stem permits rotation of the wind shield panel about the support stem. .5

11. A wind shield assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims , wherein the support stem permits the wind shield panel to be supported in a shielding position beyond the end of the welding tip of the supporting welding gun.

12. A wind shield assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the 20 releasable support mounting resiliently biases the support stem to a stable supported position on the welding gun.

13. A wind shield assembly as claimed in claim 12, wherein the releasable support mounting is a clip-on connection to the tubular neck of the welding gun. 25

14. A wind shield assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein the clip-on connection includes a pair of aligned spaced-apart push-on spring clips. 12

15. A wind shield assembly as claimed in claim 14, wherein the push-on spring clips are spaced apart to permit push-on engagement with respective cranked portions of the neck.

16. A wind shield assembly as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 15, wherein the 5 releasable support mounting mounts the support stem substantially at right angles to the neck of the welding gun.

17. A wind shield assembly as claimed in claim 16, wherein the length of the support stem is in the order of 0.3 metres. .0

18. A welding gun provided with a quick release connection for operatively supporting a complementary wind shield assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12.