Process and apparatus for the welding of synthetic resin structures

Claim 2

In a process for welding end faces of synthetic resin profile elements together, wherein in step (a) the end faces of the profile elements to be welded together are heated by being brought into contact with a heating plate until initial melting occurs; in step (b) the heating plate is removed from between the end faces and the softened end faces are pressed together to form a weld seam and in step (c) a weld bead formed when said end faces are pressed together is removed, the improvement wherein during steps (a) and (b) each profile element is positioned between and guided by at least two wedge-like converging guide rail means that engage the profile element on at least two opposing outside surfaces thereof, each guide rail means including a leading edge that is parallel to and spaced from the end faces of the profile elements to be welded whereby a melting zone is left vacant and the weld bead formation is restricted to a minimum space so that the weld bead formation can be removed in step (c) while said profile elements are still in the warm condition; the end faces of said profile elements are pressed together in step (b) until the leading edges of the guide rail means almost contact one another whereby a portion of the weld bead formation is trimmed off and during step (c) the remaining portion of the weld bead formation is removed while said profile elements are positioned between said guide rail means by moving a scraper means transversely across the leading edges of said guide rail means while the profile elements are still in the warm condition.

Claim 3

The process of claim 1, wherein said leading edges together define a laterally limited mold space when said profile elements are pressed together.

Claim 4

The process of claim 1, wherein said leading edges and respective guide rail means form transversely-extending V-shaped notches when said profile elements are pressed together, a weld bead being formed in said V-shaped notches when said profile elements are pressed together, and the weld beads being scraped-off by movement of the scraper means through said V-shaped notches.

Claim 5

In an auxiliary apparatus for a welding machine for welding together and for removal of a weld bead formation of synthetic resin profile elements, wherein said auxiliary apparatus includes a heating plate, and displaceable guide means at least partially encompassing the profile elements and extending into close proximity to the end faces of the profile elements to be welded together, said guide means being displaceable relative to one another such that the end faces of the profile elements to be welded are contacted with said heating plate to effect melting thereof, the heating plate is moved from between the end faces and the guide means are further displaced to compress the profile elements together to cause the formation of a weld seam and a weld bead, the improvement wherein each guide means comprises at least two wedge-shaped converging guide rails for engaging the profile elements on at least two opposing outside surfaces thereof, each guide rail including a leading edge that is parallel to and spaced from the end faces of the profile elements to be welded whereby a welding zone is left vacant and the welding bead formation is restricted to a minimum space during contact with said heating plate and compression of said profile elements whereby the weld bead formation can be removed while said profile elements are still in the warm condition; the guide means engaging each profile element being displaceable towards each other to press the end faces of said profile elements together until the leading edges of the guide rails almost contact one another and a portion of the weld bead formation is trimmed off and said guide means being maintained at a stationary position while the remaining portion of the weld bead formation is removed by a scraper which is movable transversely across the leading edges of said guide rails.

Claim 6

In an auxiliary apparatus for a welding machine for welding together and for removal of a weld bead formation of synthetic resin profile elements, wherein said auxiliary apparatus includes a heating plate, and displaceable guide means at least partially encompassing the profile elements and extending into close proximity to the end faces of the profile elements to be welded together, said guide means being displaceable relative to one another such that the end faces of the profile elements to be welded are contacted with said heating plate to effect melting thereof, the heating plate is moved from between the end faces and the guide means are further displaced to compress the profile elements together to cause the formation of a weld seam and a weld bead, the improvement wherein each guide means comprises at least two wedge-shaped converging guide rails for engaging the profile elements on at least two opposing outside surfaces thereof, each guide rail including a leading edge that is parallel to and spaced from the end faces of the profile elements to be welded whereby a welding zone is left vacant and the welding bead formation is restricted to a minimum space during contact with said heating plate and compression of said profile elements whereby the weld bead formation can be removed while said profile elements are still in the warm condition; the guide means engaging each profile element being displaceable towards each other to press the end faces of said profile elements together until the leading edges of the guide rails almost contact one another and a portion of the weld bead formation is trimmed off and said guide means being maintained at a stationary position while the remaining portion of the weld bead formation is removed by a scraper which is movable transversely across the leading edges of said guide rails.

Claim 7

The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the wedge-like converging guide rails encompassing each profile element and the leading edges of each rail together define a V-shaped groove when said converging guide rails encompassing each profile element are displaced towards each other, said scraper means scraping off the weld bead formed in said V-shaped groove.

Claim 8

The apparatus of claim 4, wherein each guide rail terminates at its associated leading edge in a wedge-shaped configuration.

Claim 9

The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said guide rails are arranged so that said profile elements when welded together form a miter joint.

Claim 10

The apparatus of claim 7, wherein guide rails engaging the same profile elements are unattached to one another.

Claim 11

The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising a plurality of slide means, at least one guide rail engaging each profile element being mounted on a respective slide means.

Claim 12

The apparatus of claim 9 further comprising a plurality of clamping means, one clamping means associated with each of said slide means.

Claim 13

The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the improvement further comprises a resilient knife blade attached to each guide rail and providing the leading edge thereof, each knife blade being carried in a recess of the respective guide rails.

Claim 14

The apparatus of claim 11, wherein each knife blade is fixedly mounted on the respective guide rail, said apparatus further comprising means for adjusting the position of each knife blade on the respective guide rail.

Claim 15

The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said guide rails and said knife blades are metallic.

Claim 16

The apparatus of claim 11, wherein each knife blade is fixedly mounted on the respective guide rail.

Claim 17

The apparatus of claim 14, wherein said knife blades are resilient.

Claim 18

The apparatus of claim 15, wherein guide rails engaging the same profile elements are unattached to one another.

Claim 19

In an auxiliary apparatus for a welding machine for welding together and for removal of a weld bead formation of synthetic resin profile elements, wherein said auxiliary apparatus includes a heating plate, and displaceable guide means at least partially encompassing the profile elements and extending into close proximity to the end faces of the profile elements to be welded together, said guide means being displaceable relative to one another such that the end faces of the profile elements to be welded are contacted with said heating plate to effect melting thereof, the heating plate is moved from between the end faces and the guide means are further displaced to compress the profile elements together to cause the formation of a weld seam and a weld bead, the improvement wherein each guide means comprises at least two wedge-shaped converging guide rails for engaging the profile elements on at least two opposing outside surfaces thereof, each guide rail including a knife blade attached to each guide rail and providing the leading edge thereof, each knife blade being carried in a recess of the respective guide rails that each knife blade is parallel to and spaced from the end faces of the profile elements to be welded whereby a welding zone is left vacant and the welding bead formation is restricted to a minimum space during contact with said heating plate and compression of said profile elements whereby the weld bead formation can be removed while said profile elements are still in the warm condition, the guide means being displaceable towards each other to press the end faces of said profile elements together until the edges of the knife blades almost contact one another and a portion of the weld bead formation is trimmed off and means for scraping off any remaining portion of said weld bead formation.

Claim 20

In an auxiliary apparatus for a welding machine for welding together and for removal of a weld bead formation of synthetic resin profile elements, wherein said auxiliary apparatus includes a heating plate, and displaceable guide means at least partially encompassing the profile elements and extending into close proximity to the end faces of the profile elements to be welded together, said guide means being displaceable relative to one another such that the end faces of the profile elements to be welded are contacted with said heating plate to effect melting thereof, the heating plate is moved from between the end faces and the guide means are further displaced to compress the profile elements together to cause the formation of a weld seam and a weld bead, the improvement wherein each guide means comprises at least two wedge-shaped converging guide rails for engaging the profile elements on at least two opposing outside surfaces thereof, each guide rail including a knife blade attached to each guide rail and providing the leading edge thereof, each knife blade being carried in a recess of the respective guide rails that each knife blade is parallel to and spaced from the end faces of the profile elements to be welded whereby a welding zone is left vacant and the welding bead formation is restricted to a minimum space during contact with said heating plate and compression of said profile elements whereby the weld bead formation can be removed while said profile elements are still in the warm condition, the guide means being displaceable towards each other to press the end faces of said profile elements together until the edges of the knife blades almost contact one another and a portion of the weld bead formation is trimmed off and means for scraping off any remaining portion of said weld bead formation.

Claim 21

A process for welding end faces of synthetic resin coated profile elements together, said profile elements being coated with a cover layer of thermoplastic material, wherein in step (a) the end faces of the profile elements to be welded together are heated by being brought into contact with a heating plate until initial melting occurs; in step (b) the heating plate is removed from between the end faces and the softened end faces are pressed together to form a weld seam and in step (c) a weld bead formed when said end faces are pressed together is removed, and wherein during steps (a) and (b) each profile element is positioned between and guided by at least two wedge-like converging guide rail means that engage the profile element on at least two opposing outside surfaces thereof with the cover layer of each element being positioned to meet at the weld seam, each guide rail means including a leading edge that is parallel to and spaced from the end faces of the profile elements to be welded whereby a melting zone is left vacant and the weld bead formation is restricted to a minimum space so that the weld bead formation can be removed in step (c) while said profile elements are still in the warm condition; the end faces of said profile elements are pressed together in step (b) until the leading edges of the guide rail means almost contact one another whereby a portion of the weld bead formation is trimmed off and in step (c) the remaining portion of the weld bead formation is removed while said profile elements are positioned between said guide rail means by moving a scraper means transversely across the leading edges of said guide rail means while the profile elements are still in the warm condition whereby the cover layers are welded together to provide a continuous coating in the zone of the weld seam.

Claim 22

A process for welding end faces of synthetic resin coated profile elements together, said profile elements being coated with a cover layer of thermoplastic material, wherein in step (a) the end faces of the profile elements to be welded together are heated by being brought into contact with a heating plate until initial melting occurs; in step (b) the heating plate is removed from between the end faces and the softened end faces are pressed together to form a weld seam and in step (c) a weld bead formed when said end faces are pressed together is removed, and wherein during steps (a) and (b) each profile element is positioned between and guided by at least two wedge-like converging guide rail means that engage the profile element on at least two opposing outside surfaces thereof with the cover layer of each element being positioned to meet at the weld seam, each guide rail means including a leading edge that is parallel to and spaced from the end faces of the profile elements to be welded whereby a melting zone is left vacant and the weld bead formation is restricted to a minimum space so that the weld bead formation can be removed in step (c) while said profile elements are still in the warm condition; the end faces of said profile elements are pressed together in step (b) until the leading edges of the guide rail means almost contact one another whereby a portion of the weld bead formation is trimmed off and in step (c) the remaining portion of the weld bead formation is removed while said profile elements are positioned between said guide rail means by moving a scraper means transversely across the leading edges of said guide rail means while the profile elements are still in the warm condition whereby the cover layers are welded together to provide a continuous coating in the zone of the weld seam.

Claim 23

The process of claim 18, wherein the cover layer is a colored layer.

Claim 24

An auxiliary apparatus for a welding machine for welding together and for removal of a weld bead formation of synthetic resin profile elements coated with a cover layer of thermoplastic material, wherein said auxiliary apparatus includes a heating plate, and displaceable guide means at least partially encompassing the profile elements and extending into close proximity to the end faces of the profile elements to be welded together, said guide means being displaceable relative to one another such that the end faces of the profile elements to be welded are contacted with said heating plate to effect melting thereof, the heating plate is moved from between the end faces and the guide means are further displaced to compress the profile elements together to cause the formation of a weld seam and a weld bead, and wherein each guide means comprises at least two wedge-shaped converging guide rails for engaging the profile elements on at least two opposing outside surfaces thereof, each guide rail including a leading edge that is parallel to and spaced from the end faces of the profile elements to be welded whereby a welding zone is left vacant and the welding bead formation is restricted to a minimum space by the external guide rails preventing further transmission of heat and compression of said profile elements so that the weld bead formation can be removed while said profile elements are still in the warm condition; the guide means being displaceable towards each other to press the end faces of said profile elements together until the leading edges of the guide rails almost contact one another and a portion of the weld bead formation is trimmed off and said guide means being maintained at a stationary position while the remaining portion of the weld bead formation is removed by a scraper means while said profile elements are positioned in the warm condition between said guide means whereby said cover layers provide a continuous coating in the zone of the weld seam.

Claim 25

An auxiliary apparatus for a welding machine for welding together and for removal of a weld bead formation of synthetic resin profile elements coated with a cover layer of thermoplastic material, wherein said auxiliary apparatus includes a heating plate, and displaceable guide means at least partially encompassing the profile elements and extending into close proximity to the end faces of the profile elements to be welded together, said guide means being displaceable relative to one another such that the end faces of the profile elements to be welded are contacted with said heating plate to effect melting thereof, the heating plate is moved from between the end faces and the guide means are further displaced to compress the profile elements together to cause the formation of a weld seam and a weld bead, and wherein each guide means comprises at least two wedge-shaped converging guide rails for engaging the profile elements on at least two opposing outside surfaces thereof, each guide rail including a leading edge that is parallel to and spaced from the end faces of the profile elements to be welded whereby a welding zone is left vacant and the welding bead formation is restricted to a minimum space by the external guide rails preventing further transmission of heat and compression of said profile elements so that the weld bead formation can be removed while said profile elements are still in the warm condition; the guide means being displaceable towards each other to press the end faces of said profile elements together until the leading edges of the guide rails almost contact one another and a portion of the weld bead formation is trimmed off and said guide means being maintained at a stationary position while the remaining portion of the weld bead formation is removed by a scraper means while said profile elements are positioned in the warm condition between said guide means whereby said cover layers provide a continuous coating in the zone of the weld seam.

Claim 26

The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said scraper means for removing the remaining portion of the weld bead formation is a scraper which is moveable transversely across the leading edges of said guide rails.

Claim 27

The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the cover layer is a colored layer.