Apparatus and method for feeding fabricated welding wire

Claim 1

A WELDING APPARATUS COMPRISING A STATIONARY COIL OF FABRICATED WELDING WIRE DEFINED BY A CONTINUOUS LONGITUDINALLY LAP-SEAMED TUBE COMPRESSING A POWDERED CORE, SAID COIL BEING DISPOSED IN AN OPEN CONTAINER ABOUT A VERTICAL AXIS; DRIVING MEANS DISPOSED ABOVE AND JUST TO ONE SIDE OF SAID COIL, AN END OF SAID WIRE LEAVING THE COIL AT A DEPARTURE POINT AND LEADING UPWARD FROM SAID COIL, AND BEING ENGAGED BY SAID DRIVING MEANS, SAID DRIVING MEANS DRIVING SAID WIRE TOWARD A WELDING POINT; UNITARY SUPPORT MEANS SUPPORTING SAID COIL AND SAID DRIVING MEANS AND FIXING THEIR SPATIAL RELATION, THE DISTANCE MEASURED ALONG THE WIRE FROM SAID DEPARTURE POINT TO SAID DRIVE MEANS BEING LESS THAN THE MEAN CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE COIL, AND A GUIDE EYE SECURED TO SAID SUPPORT MEANS AND DISPOSED IN A HORIZONTAL PLANE TWO-THIRDS THE DISTANCE ABOVE SAID CONTAINER TO SAID DRIVING MEANS AND OFFSET FROM THE AXIS OF SAID COIL IN A HORIZONTAL DIRECTION TOWARD SAID DRIVING MEANS A DISTANCE APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO ONETENTH THE MEAN DIAMETER OF THE COIL, SAID EYE ENCOMPASSING THE WIRE IN ITS TRAVEL BETWEEN THE DEPARTURE POINT AND THE DRIVING MEANS.