Welding wire spool shroud

Claim 1

An enclosed welding wire storage and feed system comprising a spool having an upright hollow cylindrical section, a pair of axially spaced, radially outwardly extending, circular flange members disposed at the respective ends of said cylindrical section, a multi-layered coil of welding wire wrapped about the cylindrical spool section and contained between said flange members, said wire wrapped spool being supported upon one of said flange members such that the other flange is disposed vertically above said one flange, a wire pay-off device supported in the upper end of said spool proximate said other flange, said device including a rotatable orbit arm, said orbit arm having a first end extending radially beyond said other flange and terminating in a first wire guide element, a leg element projecting upwardly from the other end of said orbit arm and terminating at its upper end in a second wire guide element generally coaxially aligned with the axis of said cylindrical spool portion and spaced vertically above the upper end of said spool, a free end of wire from said coil extending through said first and second wire guides, and a non-porous protective shroud enclosing said wire pay-off device and said spool, said protective shroud being supported upon the second wire guide element of the wire pay-off device in vertically and horizontally spaced relation to said spool and said shroud including means permitting access to said spool.