TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to the production of mesh from concrete- reinforcing rods, wire or other material of prismatic cross-section by deposition welding.

STATE OF THE ART - DISADVANTAGES

[0002] According to the state of the art, meshes for reinforcing building projects are produced from rebars by the method of resistance welding. During resistance welding the rods are subjected to compression one on the other, voltage is generated, and current flows through them. As a result of the electrical resistance heat is produced, which heat topically melts the material of the crossed rebars that, under force of compression are autogenously welded.

[0003] During resistance welding the two rebars are mutually drawn nearer because the melting of material has as consequence the reduction of their true cross-sections. The reduction of cross-section results in reduction of the mesh endurance and as a consequence the endurance of the building construction. Especially with large diameters, the problem is acute and for this reason the regulations limit the applications of resistance welding.

[0004] Furthermore, large diameters require large compressive forces and very strong currents, which technically limit the efficiency of the method. Resistance welding machines for meshes are energy-hungry and high-cost to build. [0005] The meshes from materials of large diameter cannot be produced by resistance welding and are manually welded. Materials to be welded are manually placed in suitable locations, and subsequently are manually welded with

deposition of material on the various crossings of transverse and longitudinal members.

[0006] Specialized meshes such as meshes with different diameter wires, with double wires, or with different grid holes are, in the majority, also manually produced. The wires are manually placed in the appropriate locations and subsequently manually welded using electrical welding with addition of material.

OBJECTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0007] An object of the present invention is to present a method which bypasses the problems of resistance welding in production of meshes, and which permits welding of materials for the automatic production of meshes comprised from small to arbitrarily large diameters.

[0008] An object of the present invention is to present a system which produces mesh from material of any diameter without distorting the cross-sections of the materials subjected to welding.

Method

[0009] The method and the mechanism are presented in an exemplary sense in the following drawings:

Fig. 1 : The start of the method

Fig. 2: The mechanism of the method

[0010] According to the method of the present invention, there is a row of longitudinal rebars (2) upon which are deposited one (1) or more transverse rebars (1). There is no limitation as to the number of as well as the respective distances among the longitudinal and the transverse rebars. Also, the distances between rebars may be the same or different. According to the method one or more electrical deposition welders (3) weld the transverse members (2) with the longitudinal members (1) at as many crossings as selected according to a predefined programming of welding spots.

[0011] The method of the present invention does not distort or reduce the diameter of the rebar at the welding spot, so that the rebars retain their mechanical characteristics.

[0012] The method permits the full automation of production of mesh from wire material, rebars or other material of prismatic cross-section.

[0013] According to the method, there is no limit to the diameter of the rebars. The degree of difficulty of welding is independent of the diameters of the rebars.

[0014] According to the method the diameters of the longitudinal and transverse members may be the same or different.

[0015] According to the method the diameters among the transverse rebars may differ, and the diameters among the longitudinal rebars may differ.

[0016] According to the method, one or more welding heads may weld the transverse members on the longitudinal members by moving either along the lengths of the transverse members, or along the lengths of the longitudinal members, or over the plane of the mesh so as to weld preselected different crossings of wires. [0017] According to the method the welding heads may be transported to the welding spots, and also the wires and the under-production mesh may be transported.

[0018] According to the method there may be as many welding heads as the number of crossings of a transverse member with the longitudinal members for greatest productivity.

[0019] According to the method more than one welding head may weld more than one transverse rebar based on a program.

[0020] According to the method more than one welding head may weld more than one of the transverse rebars, which rods need not necessarily be consecutive.

[0021] According to the method the longitudinal and transverse rebars may originate from spools, being uncoiled, straightened, cut, and guided to the welding region so as to be welded.

[0022] According to the method the longitudinal rebars may be precut and straightened and guided to the welding region manually or automatically via a feeder and transport mechanisms.

[0023] According to the method the transverse rebars may be precut and straightened and guided to the welding region manually or automatically via a feeder and transport mechanisms.

[0024] According to the method the transverse as well as the longitudinal rebars may be straightened and precut and transported manually, or automatically via feeders and transport mechanisms to the welding region. [0025] According to the method, transverse and longitudinal rebars are welded with electrical deposition welding irrespective of the manner of removal of the produced mesh.

[0026] According to the method, the transverse rebars may be located above or below the longitudinal members and be welded.

[0027] According to the method, two transverse members may be welded, above and below the longitudinal members, simultaneously.

[0028] According to the method, two longitudinal members may be welded, above and below the transverse wires.

[0029] According to the method there may be produced mesh containing mutually identical longitudinal members or mutually identical transverse members, as well as mesh with grid openings having transverse members and/or longitudinal members of differing lengths.

[0030] According to the method mesh may be welded at particular preselected spots and not at all of the crossings.

System

[0031 ] The method of the present invention is implemented in an exemplary sense in the system that is described in following.

[0032] According to the proposed implementation of the method the transverse members (1) are supplied from a storage of transverse members and feeding mechanism (6) towards the region of welding. The longitudinal members (2) enter the region of welding and subsequently are pulled together with the produced mesh by carrier (7) by the action of grabs (8).

[0033] The welding head (3) is located on carrier (4) which travels on guides on bridge (5) transversely relative to the longitudinal members.

[0034] The function of the system is as follows: The transverse member (1) is deposited in the location of welding. The welding head (3) deposition welds the transverse member on the longitudinal members at preselected spots, moving the head along the length of the bridge (5). With the ending of the welding of the transverse member, carrier (7) executes the next step transporting the mesh and the longitudinal member to a suitable distance. Following that, the next longitudinal member is deposited and the head (3) welds this longitudinal member (1) on the longitudinal members (2) at the preselected crossings.

[0035] Production begins with the placement of the longitudinal members, the depositing of the first transverse member, and its welding. In following, the welded transverse member and the longitudinal members are advanced by the action of carrier (7) and grabs (8) for a suitable step, followed by the depositing and the welding of the subsequent transverse members.

[0036] The coordination and control of all of the functions of the process of production of mesh may be effected by a suitable electronic computer in which we enter the required characteristics of the product to be produced.

THE ADVANTAGGES OF OUR METHOD

[0037] The advantages of the present method and system are:

[0038] It makes possible the welding of any large diameter wires and sections without the reduction of their cross section at the spots welded, and consequently without reduction of the endurance.

[0039] The welding mechanism is exceptionally simple.

[0040] The production cost of mesh, especially at large diameter, is significantly reduced.

[0041] The consumption of electric energy is significantly less than resistance welding.

[0042] The function of the machine is easily automated, and its maintenance is simple and of very low cost.

[0043] The present invention is not limited in any manner by the exemplary implementation described and depicted in the accompanying drawings, but may be implemented in many forms and dimensions without departing from the scope of protection claimed for this invention.

[0044] In implementations of the invention the material employed as well as the dimension of the individual elements may be commensurate with the requirements of particular applications.

[0045] In each claim where technical characteristics are referred to and followed by reference numerals, they are included only to increase comprehension of the claim and in this manner these reference numerals do not limit the interpretation of claimed elements which are identified in exemplary form by them.