Importance

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Abstract

An improved vehicle wheel welding station which minimizes the stoppages of the welding station to replace the contact tip and/or welding wire conduit includes an wheel support fixture for supporting a vehicle wheel and at least three welding torches supported relative to the wheel support fixture. Each of the welding torches is movable with respect to the fixture in a generally radial direction between a retracted non-working position and an extended working position. Each of the welding torches including a generally straight body defining an upper end portion and an opposite lower end portion. The upper end portion of each torch is operatively connected to a conduit assembly adapted to contain and feed a weld wire into the body, and the lower end portion is operatively connected to a nozzle assembly adapted to produce a weld along a selected arcuate portion of a wheel assembly. The station further includes a drive assembly for rotating one of the wheel support fixture and the three welding torches relative to the other one of the wheel support fixture and the three welding torches. The three welding torches are oriented in a crossing relationship relative to one another wherein the upper end portion of the body of a first one of the three welding torches is located above the lower end portion of the body of an adjacent second one of the three welding torches, and the lower end portion of the body of the one of the three welding torches is located below the upper end portion of the body of an adjacent third one of the three welding torches.

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First Claim