Apparatus for field welding seams in vertical plate

Claim 1

IN A PROCESS FOR WELDING A VERTICAL SEAM BETWEEN UPSTANDING ELEMENTS, THE STEPS COMPRISING POSITIONING A COLUMN OF GRANULAR WELDING FLUX AGAINST SAID VERTICAL SEAM TO LATERALLY COVER A LENGTH OF SAID VERTICAL SEAM, SUPPLYING A WELDING ELECTRODE THROUGH THE UPPER END OF SAID FLUX COLUMN TO SAID SEAM FOR FUSION BY THE DISCHARGE OF ELECTRIC CURRENT FROM ITS END AND DEPOSITION OF WELD METAL IN SAID SEAM, SAID ELECTRODE SUPPLIED SUFFICIENTLY BELOW THE TOP END OF SAID COLUMN TO ASSURE BLANKETING OF SAID ELECTRIC CURRENT DISCHARGE AND SAID METAL DEPOSITION BY SAID FLUX, TRAVERSING THE DISCHARGE END OF SAID ELECTRODE UPWARDLY IN SAID SEAM, CONTINUOUSLY SUPPLYING GRANULAR FLUX TO THE UPPER END OF SAID COLUMN TO ELONGATE SAID COLUMN UPWARDLY AT A RATE TO SUBSTANTIALLY MAINTAIN A PREDETERMINED POSITIONED RELATION BETWEEN THE UPPER END OF SAID COLUMN AND THE DISCHARGE END OF SAID ELECTRODE, MAINTAINING SAID COLUMN AT SUBSTANTIALLY A PREDETERMINED LENGTH, AND MAINTAINING THE FLUX IN SAID COLUMN OF SUBSTANTIALLY PREDETERMINED LENGTH SUBSTANTIALLY IMMOBILE RELATIVE TO THE PORTION OF SAID SEAM COVERED THEREBY FROM THE TIME SAID FLUX IS ADDED TO SAID COLUMN TO THE TIME SAID FLUX IS REMOVED FROM SAID COLUMN.