Weld testing system and method for a welding assembly
First Claim
1. A welding assembly for in-line spot welding using welding electrodes of a welding machine, the welding assembly comprising:
- a non-destructive weld testing system configured to monitor the welding electrodes during spot welding of the spot welds and analyze weld data generated during the spot welding to determine whether a spot weld is an anomaly, the weld testing system comprising;
a non-destructive weld testing tool mounted on a robot and being robotically controlled, the weld testing tool having a phased-array ultrasonic transducer configured to test spot welds in-line that are determined by the weld testing system to be anomalies; and
a control module configured to control movement of the weld testing tool to test anomalous spot welds in response to the weld testing system determining that the anomalous spot welds are anomalies.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A non-destructive weld testing system for testing spot welds includes a weld monitoring tool monitoring at least one weld characteristic of the spot welds and generating weld data based on the at least one weld characteristic; a weld analysis tool analyzing the weld data to determine a weld quality of each spot weld based on analysis criteria; and a non-destructive weld testing tool configured to test spot welds. The weld testing system causes the weld testing tool to target testing of spot welds determined by the weld analysis tool to have a weld quality beyond a threshold weld quality. The weld testing tool may be a robot-mounted phased array transducer generating weld test data based on testing results and provides feedback to the weld analysis tool correlating to the weld test data. The weld analysis tool updates the analysis criteria based on the weld test data.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A welding assembly for in-line spot welding using welding electrodes of a welding machine, the welding assembly comprising:
a non-destructive weld testing system configured to monitor the welding electrodes during spot welding of the spot welds and analyze weld data generated during the spot welding to determine whether a spot weld is an anomaly, the weld testing system comprising; a non-destructive weld testing tool mounted on a robot and being robotically controlled, the weld testing tool having a phased-array ultrasonic transducer configured to test spot welds in-line that are determined by the weld testing system to be anomalies; and a control module configured to control movement of the weld testing tool to test anomalous spot welds in response to the weld testing system determining that the anomalous spot welds are anomalies. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A non-destructive weld testing system for testing spot welds performed by welding electrodes of a welding machine, the weld testing system comprising:
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a weld monitoring tool monitoring at least one weld characteristic of the spot welds, the weld monitoring tool generating weld data based on the at least one weld characteristic; a weld analysis tool analyzing the weld data to determine a weld quality of each spot weld based on analysis criteria; and a non-destructive weld testing tool configured to test spot welds, wherein the weld testing system causes the weld testing tool to target testing of spot welds in response to the weld analysis tool determining that the spot welds have a weld quality beyond a threshold weld quality, the weld testing tool generating weld test data based on testing results, the weld testing tool providing feedback to the weld analysis tool correlating to the weld test data, the weld analysis tool updating the analysis criteria based on the weld test data. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of non-destructive weld testing spot welds performed by welding electrodes of a welding machine, the method comprising:
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monitoring at least one weld characteristic of the spot welds; generating weld data based on the at least one weld characteristic; analyzing the weld data to determine a weld quality of each spot weld based on analysis criteria to determine spot welds that are anomalies; testing spot welds in response to the spot welds being determined to be anomalies; generating weld test data based on testing results of the tested spot welds; and providing feedback correlating to the weld test data to update the analysis criteria based on the weld test data. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification