This invention relates to an improvement in orbital welding heads.
There are a variety of orbital welding heads on the market for use in tube-to-tube welding. These prior art devices are often bulky or specialized. Some are not provided with a cassette, which allows for a full 360.degree. viewing of the alignment between the tubes. Some devices are equipped with a cassette that is non-symmetrical, that is, the cassette can only fit onto the welding head in one direction. Most of these cassettes have protuberances, such as the latch which holds the cassette to the head or which closes the cassette around the tubes, that preclude the welding device from being used in tight spaces.
Some prior art devices are provided with water cooling to the power lines but not to the welding head itself. In one such device, the water lines are run down the same lines as the power cables and therefore cool the power cables, thus permitting the use of more smaller and more flexible cables, but in that device, the head itself is not cooled.
In some other devices, a water jacket is associated with the head. Such devices, however, are bulky, making the entire assembly extremely wide.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds