AUTOMATIC WELDING EQUIPMENT AND ITS GROOVE SHAPE MEASURING METHOD

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic welding method which is capable of precisely measuring the shape of a groove including a narrow deep groove without increasing the size of a welding torch and its driving mechanism. SOLUTION: In a welding torch 1, a welding wire 2 is taken in by being guided by a guide roller 3, sent out by being driven by a feeding roller 4, with bend corrected by a strainer 5, and delivered through a welding tip 6. A power feeding terminal 7 is installed between the strainer 5 and the welding tip 6, while a current supplied from a power cable 8 is supplied to the welding wire 2 through the power feeding terminal 7. In the entrance of the glider roller 3 group, an encoder roll 10 and a press roll 11 are provided, and an encoder is connected to the encoder roll 10. Since the wire feed can be accurately grasped by the encoder, its utilization enables accurate shape measurement of a groove.