Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
Ref No. 69064-CA
POSITIVE-PRESSURE-SEALED CONTAINER
FOR A WELD CONSUMABLE
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims benefit of priority from U.S. provisional
patent
application no. 63/154,398, filed February 26, 2021, and from U.S. non-
provisional
patent application no. 17/678,842, filed February 23, 2022.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Before use, welding consumables are at risk of being exposed to an
outer
environment. Such exposure can detrimentally affect the properties of the
welding
consumable. The environment can affect the properties of the welding
consumable, particularly if the environment is humid, dirty, and contains
hydrogen
or oxygen.
[0003] In order to protect a welding consumable from exposure to an outer
environment, weld consumable manufacturers today may place finished weld
consumable products in packaging such as a sealed or unsealed plastic wrap, a
cardboard box, or both. One concern with these methods of packaging is the
limitation in preventing the environmental elements from seeping through small
leakage gaps of the packaging material and thereby contaminating the
consumable. For example, some weld consumables are placed in a vacuum-
sealed container. Unfortunately, in a vacuum-sealed container, a small breach
or
pinhole size opening may create a pathway through the container, and, with a
negative pressure inside the container, a low-pressure vacuum will pull in gas
from
the surrounding environment, which could lead to exposure and contamination.
[0004] As such, there exists a need for weld consumable packaging that limits
or prevents the welding consumable from experiencing detrimental environmental
exposure.
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Ref No. 69064-CA
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
[0005] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a package for a weld
consumable comprises: providing a positive-pressure-sealed container
encapsulating a welding consumable, wherein the positive-pressure-sealed
container is pressurized using a gas such that the pressure inside the
positive-
pressure-sealed container exceeds atmospheric pressure.
[0006] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for
manufacturing a package for a weld consumable comprises: providing a welding
consumable and an unsealed container; encapsulating the welding consumable
within the unsealed container; at least partially sealing the container to
produce an
at-least-partially-sealed container; adding a gas to the at-least-partially-
sealed
container to increase to above atmospheric pressure the pressure inside the at-
least-partially-sealed container; and sealing the at-least-partially-sealed
container
to produce an airtight, positive-pressure-sealed container wherein the
pressure
inside the container is above atmospheric pressure.
[0007] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and
the
following detailed description describe various embodiments and are intended
to
provide an overview or framework for understanding the nature and character of
the claimed subject matter. The accompanying drawings are included to provide
a
further understanding of the various embodiments, and are incorporated into
and
constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate the various
embodiments described herein, and together with the description serve to
explain
the principles and operations of the claimed subject matter.
DRAWINGS
[0008] The following is a description of the examples depicted in the
accompanying drawings. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and certain
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Ref No. 69064-CA
features and certain views of the figures may be exaggerated in scale or in
schematic for clarity or conciseness.
[0009] FIG. 1A illustrates an example welding consumable.
[0010] FIG. 1B illustrates example packaging for welding consumables.
[0011] FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating an example method for manufacturing
a
positive-pressure-sealed container.
[0012] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an example method for manufacturing
a
neutral-pressure-sealed container.
[0013] The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description,
will
be better understood when read in conjunction with the figures. It should be
understood that the claims are not limited to the arrangements and
instrumentality
shown in the figures. Furthermore, the appearance shown in the figures is one
of
many ornamental appearances that can be employed to achieve the stated
functions of the apparatus.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] In the following detailed description, specific details may be set
forth to
provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure.
However, it will be clear to one skilled in the art when disclosed examples
may be
practiced without some or all of these specific details. For the sake of
brevity, well-
known features or processes may not be described in detail. In addition, like
or
identical reference numerals may be used to identify common or similar
elements.
[0015] One or more specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be
described below. In an effort to provide a concise description of these
embodiments, all features of an actual implementation may not be described in
the
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Ref No. 69064-CA
specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such
actual
implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous
implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers'
specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related
constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it
should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time
consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design,
fabrication,
and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this
disclosure.
[0016] When introducing elements of various embodiments of the present
disclosure, the articles "a," "an," "the," and "said" are intended to mean
that there
are one or more of the elements. The terms "comprising," "including," and
"having"
are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements
other
than the listed elements. Furthermore, as used herein, "approximately" may
generally refer to an approximate value that may, in certain embodiments,
represent a difference (e.g., higher or lower) of less than 0.01%, less than
0.1%,
or less than 1% from the actual value. That is, an "approximate" value may, in
certain embodiments, be accurate to within (e.g., plus or minus) 0.01%, within
0.1%, or within 1% of the stated value. Likewise, two values described as
being
"substantially the same" or "substantially similar" are approximately the
same, and
a material that is described as being "substantially free" of a substance
includes
approximately 0% of the substance. The terms "metal-core" and "metal-cored"
are
used herein to refer to tubular wires having a metallic sheath and a granular
core,
wherein the core primarily includes metallic alloying powders with low amounts
(i.e., less than about 5 wt. %) of non-metallic components (e.g., slag forming
agents, metal oxides, stabilizers). For example, see ANSI/ANS A5.9
Specifications
for Bare Stainless Steel Welding Electrodes and Rods. As used herein, the term
"non-metallic component" refers to elements and compounds of elements that are
not metals or metalloids (e.g., hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen,
phosphorous,
sulfur, halides).
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Ref No. 69064-CA
[0017] According to certain embodiments of the present disclosure, a positive-
pressure-sealed container encapsulates a welding consumable. The welding
consumable may be, for example, a spool of welding wire 100, as shown in FIG.
1A. After manufacturing, the weld consumable is placed into a container 110,
which may be, for example, a plastic bag, as shown in FIG. 1B. The container
is
then sealed to become a positive-pressure-sealed container using a known clean
and/or dry gas source to provide the pressurization. The container 110 may
then
be placed into an outer package 120, which may be, for example, a cardboard
box,
as shown in FIG. 1B. Multiple containers 110 may be placed into a single outer
package 120. According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the
positive-
pressure-sealed container could be a bucket or other packaging, rather than a
plastic bag.
[0018] As an example, one could use a pressurized source of inert gas, such as
argon, to pressurize a bag that contains a spool of freshly-manufactured
consumable weld wire. As an alternative to using an inert gas, one could use
nitrogen, carbon dioxide, or dry compressed air. The bag is then sealed while
the
inside of the bag and the consumable weld wire are under pressure, thereby
locking in the clean, pressurized gas. The bag may be sealed while the inside
of
the bag and the consumable weld wire are maintained in a controlled
environment,
such as an environmentally-sealed chamber, to limit exposure of the welding
consumable to an outer environment.. According to such an embodiment, even if
a small hole is introduced, the positive pressure differential will help to
limit or
prevent contamination of the weld consumable contained inside. Optionally, to
provide an extra level of protection, a second, outer layer of packaging could
be
added. This outer layer could optionally also be positive pressure sealed, but
would
not necessarily need to be positive pressure sealed. For example, a positive-
pressure-sealed bag is placed into another package such as a vacuum-sealed
heavy duty bag. This heavy duty bag could be tear- and poke-resistant.
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-02-26
Ref No. 69064-CA
Alternatively, the outer package could be a cardboard box, a bucket, or other
packaging.
[0019] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the positive-
pressure-sealed container contains a desiccant, such as silica.
[0020] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the positive-
pressure-sealed container comprises pressure indicator that indicates or is
configured to indicate whether the pressure inside the positive-pressure-
sealed
container exceeds atmospheric pressure. This indicator could be a bubble that
expands or protrudes when the pressure inside the positive-pressure-sealed
container exceeds atmospheric pressure. The indicator could also be in the
form
of a meter that is able to display a pressure reading indicating the pressure
inside
the positive-pressure-sealed container.
[0021] The flow chart in FIG. 2 illustrates an example method for
manufacturing
a package for a weld consumable 200 in which the weld consumable is packaged
inside a positive-pressure-sealed container. The method comprises: providing a
welding consumable and an unsealed container 202; encapsulating the welding
consumable within the unsealed container 204; at least partially sealing the
container to produce an at-least-partially-sealed container 206; adding a gas
to the
at-least-partially-sealed container to increase to above atmospheric pressure
the
pressure inside the at-least-partially-sealed container 208; and sealing the
at-
least-partially-sealed container to produce an airtight, positive-pressure-
sealed
container wherein the pressure inside the container is above atmospheric
pressure
210.
[0022] According to certain embodiments of the present disclosure, a neutral-
pressure-sealed container encapsulates a welding consumable. For example, a
newly-manufactured weld consumable is placed into a container. The container
is
then sealed to become a neutral-pressure-sealed container. The bag is then
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Ref No. 69064-CA
sealed while the inside of the bag and the consumable weld wire are maintained
in a controlled environment or area, such as an environmentally-sealed
chamber,
to limit exposure of the welding consumable to an outer environment..
According
to such an embodiment, even if a small hole is introduced, the neutral
pressure will
provide an improvement over negative-pressure-sealed containers, which could
"suck in" contaminants from the surrounding environment. Optionally, to
provide
an extra level of protection, a second, outer layer of packaging could be
added.
This outer layer could optionally be positive or neutral pressure sealed. For
example, a neutral-pressure-sealed bag is placed into another package such as
a
vacuum-sealed heavy duty bag. This heavy duty bag could be tear- and poke-
resistant. Alternatively, the outer package could be a cardboard box, a
bucket, or
other packaging. According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the
neutral-pressure-sealed container could be a bucket or other packaging.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the neutral-pressure-
sealed
container contains a desiccant, such as silica.
[0023] The flow chart in FIG. 3 illustrates an example method for
manufacturing
a package for a weld consumable 300 in which the weld consumable is packaged
inside a neutral-pressure-sealed container. The method comprises: providing a
welding consumable and an unsealed container 302; placing the welding
consumable and the unsealed container in a controlled environment in order to
limit exposure of the welding consumable to an outer environment 303;
encapsulating the welding consumable within the unsealed container 304; at
least
partially sealing the container to produce an at-least-partially-sealed
container 306;
sealing the at-least-partially-sealed container to produce an airtight,
neutral-
pressure-sealed container wherein the pressure inside the container is at or
close
to atmospheric pressure 310.
[0024] The method of packaging described in the present disclosure could be
used for any weld consumable, including a variety of consumable types, such
as:
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wire spools, wire drums, stick electrodes, or filler rod. The wire could be
self-
shielded wire, flux-cored wire, a metal-cored wire, or a filler rod. The
method of
packaging described in the present disclosure may be particularly advantageous
in the case of an aluminum weld consumable, due to aluminum's strong tendency
to oxidize and potentially trap hydrogen and contaminants within the oxidized
layer.
[0025] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, when filling the
container with gas, one may take care regarding the volume of gas inside the
container. More specifically, one may aim to limit the volume of gas added in
order
to ensure that the container can still fit into an outer package. For example,
where
the container is a plastic bag and the outer package is a cardboard box, one
might
limit the gas added to the plastic bag so that the plastic bag can fit into
the
cardboard box without causing the sides of the cardboard box to bulge.
According
to another aspect of the present disclosure, one might specifically design the
shape of the plastic bag in order to ensure that it fits into the cardboard
box. Where
multiple plastic bags are being placed into a single cardboard box, it may be
even
more important to limit the level of inflation to ensure that the multiple
plastic bags
can all be inserted into the single cardboard box.
[0026] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, it may be
advantageous to manufacture the positive-pressure-sealed container at a lower
altitude than a location to which the positive-pressure-sealed container will
later be
shipped. This is because the lower ambient pressure (surrounding atmospheric
pressure) at the higher location will cause a greater expansion of the gas
inside
the positive-pressure-sealed container. This may also mean that one may wish
to
over-inflate the positive-pressure-sealed container when manufacturing at a
higher
altitude and under-inflate the positive-pressure-sealed container when
manufacturing at a lower altitude.
[0027] While only certain features of the present disclosure have been
illustrated
and described herein, many modifications and changes will occur to those
skilled
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in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are
intended
to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of
the
present disclosure.
[0028] Some of the elements described herein are identified explicitly as
being
optional, while other elements are not identified in this way. Even if not
identified
as such, it will be noted that, in some examples, some of these other elements
are
not intended to be interpreted as being necessary, and would be understood by
one skilled in the art as being optional.
[0029] While the present disclosure has been described with reference to
certain implementations, it will be understood by those skilled in the art
that various
changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from
the scope of the present method or system. In addition, many modifications may
be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the
present
disclosure without departing from its scope. For example, systems, blocks, or
other
components of disclosed examples may be combined, divided, re-arranged, or
otherwise modified. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the
particular
implementations disclosed. Instead, the present disclosure will include all
implementations falling within the scope of the appended claims.
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