Welding positioner

Claim 2

A welding positioner for clamping an object to be welded, comprising: a pair of rings, and rollers mounting said rings for rotation; a stationary supporting bed secured to each ring; movable supporting beds in each of said rings hydraulic cylinder means provided on each movable supporting bed engageable with said ring to secure said each movable supporting bed to said ring; additional hydraulic cylinder means provided on each supporting bed for clamping the object to be welded; rails mounted on each movable supporting beds in said two rings, and adapted to receive a carriage carrying said object and to transfer said carriage to and from other rails positioned adjacent said rings; lifting means adjacent said rings adapted to engage said bedsupported rails for removing said movable supporting beds from contact with said rings; and means for rotating said rings.

Claim 3

Apparatus for receiving an object of the approximate size of a ship module or block from a carriage on rails adjacent said apparatus, for clamping said received object, for turning said clamped object to facilitate performance of work thereon, and for then returning said object to a position on said carriage on said adjacent rails, comprising: a pair of substantially vertically oriented rings; means mounting said rings rotatably in axially spaced-apart coaxial relation, with the centers thereof clear to receive said object; motor means for rotating said rings to desired angular positions; a plurality of beds in each of said rings, at least two of said beds in each said ring being circumferentially movable relative tO their corresponding ring, each of said beds having remotely actuatable clamping means for clamping and unclamping said object; at least one set of rails secured to one rail-supporting bed in one of said rings and to another corresponding rail-supporting bed in the other of said rings, said at least one set of rails being alignable with said adjacent rails by appropriate circumferential motion of said rail-supporting beds; controllable holding means adjacent said rings controllable either to hold fixed any selected one of said movable beds while its corresponding ring rotates thereby to effect said relative circumferential motion, or to cause said selected bed to rotate circumferentially with said corresponding ring; and remotely controllable means operable: to control said motor means and said holding means for orienting said beds to the positions desired for receiving and later clamping said object and for aligning one of said sets of rails with said adjacent rails so that said carriage carrying said object can be moved onto said one set of rails and within both of said rings; to control said clamping means for clamping said received object; to control said holding means for causing each of said beds to rotate with its corresponding ring; to control said motor means for rotating said rings and said clamped object after said carriage is withdrawn to said adjacent rails, to facilitate work on said object; to control said motor means to align one of said at least one set of rails with said adjacent rails to permit return of said carriage to within said rings; and to control said clamping means for unclamping said object and returning it to said carriage for withdrawal to said adjacent rails.

Claim 4

Apparatus for receiving an object of the approximate size of a ship module or block from a carriage on rails adjacent said apparatus, for clamping said received object, for turning said clamped object to facilitate performance of work thereon, and for then returning said object to a position on said carriage on said adjacent rails, comprising: a pair of substantially vertically oriented rings; means mounting said rings rotatably in axially spaced-apart coaxial relation, with the centers thereof clear to receive said object; motor means for rotating said rings to desired angular positions; a plurality of beds in each of said rings, at least two of said beds in each said ring being circumferentially movable relative tO their corresponding ring, each of said beds having remotely actuatable clamping means for clamping and unclamping said object; at least one set of rails secured to one rail-supporting bed in one of said rings and to another corresponding rail-supporting bed in the other of said rings, said at least one set of rails being alignable with said adjacent rails by appropriate circumferential motion of said rail-supporting beds; controllable holding means adjacent said rings controllable either to hold fixed any selected one of said movable beds while its corresponding ring rotates thereby to effect said relative circumferential motion, or to cause said selected bed to rotate circumferentially with said corresponding ring; and remotely controllable means operable: to control said motor means and said holding means for orienting said beds to the positions desired for receiving and later clamping said object and for aligning one of said sets of rails with said adjacent rails so that said carriage carrying said object can be moved onto said one set of rails and within both of said rings; to control said clamping means for clamping said received object; to control said holding means for causing each of said beds to rotate with its corresponding ring; to control said motor means for rotating said rings and said clamped object after said carriage is withdrawn to said adjacent rails, to facilitate work on said object; to control said motor means to align one of said at least one set of rails with said adjacent rails to permit return of said carriage to within said rings; and to control said clamping means for unclamping said object and returning it to said carriage for withdrawal to said adjacent rails.

Claim 5

Apparatus in accordance with claim 2, in which: said beds comprise one bed in each of said rings which is fixed with respect to its corresponding ring and two beds which are movable; said at least one set of rails comprises two sets of rails each joining a different corresponding pair of said movable beds in said two rings; said motor means comprises a motor and a peripheral drive for at least one of said rings; said holding means comprise hydraulic-cylinder lifting means for lifting the lowermost one of said beds in each of said rings with respect to its corresponding ring, to permit rotation of said last-named ring with respect to said lowermost bed, and hydraulic-cylinder locking means for locking any selected beds to their corresponding rings to rotate therewith; said clamping means comprises hydraulic cylinder means positioned to lift said object from said carriage during clamping, and to lower it to said carriage during unclamping.