WORKPIECE-BASED SETTING OF WELD PARAMETERS

• US 20120325792A1
• Filed: 05/31/2012
• Published: 12/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Illinois Tool Works Inc.
• Original Assignee: Illinois Tool Works Inc.
• Inventors: Ferkel, Stephen Paul, Stein, Alan Edward
• Granted Patent: US 10,888,947 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 219/148
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 9/32 Accessories earthing connections H01R
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 11/28 Special adaptation for recording picture point data, e.g. for profiles

Abstract

Various embodiments of welding systems that enable determination of suitable weld settings for a weld part are provided. In one embodiment, a welding system includes a weld part having at least one weld joint to be welded. The welding system also includes a visual acquisition system including an imaging device and being adapted to acquire a visual representation of the weld part and to convert the visual representation into a digital signal representative of the weld part features. The welding system further includes a part recognition system having processing circuitry and memory. The processing circuitry is adapted to receive the digital signal and to compare the digital signal to a database stored in the memory to identify the weld part, weld settings appropriate for welding the weld part, or both.

Claims

1. A welding system, comprising:

a visual acquisition system comprising an imaging device and being configured to acquire a visual representation of a weld part and to convert the visual representation into digital data representative of weld part features; and

a part recognition component comprising processing circuitry configured to receive the digital data and to compare the digital signal to stored data to identify the weld part and weld settings associated with the weld part.

2. The welding system of claim 1, comprising a welding power supply configured to communicate with the part recognition component to receive the weld settings and to alter setup of the welding power supply to implement the weld settings.

3. The welding system of claim 1, wherein the visual acquisition system is disposed in or on a welding helmet configured to be worn by a welding operator.

4. The welding system of claim 1, wherein the imaging device comprises a digital camera configured to capture the visual representation and to convert the digital representation to the digital data.

5. The welding system of claim 1, wherein the visual acquisition system comprises a power source and a power regulator configured to cooperate to supply power to the imaging device.

6. The welding system of claim 1, wherein the part recognition component is configured to distinguish between multiple parts having respective associated weld settings.

7. The welding system of claim 6, wherein the part recognition component references a database containing part identifications and respective associated weld settings.

8. The welding system of claim 7, wherein the weld settings include selection of an appropriate welding process or regime.

9. A welding system, comprising:

an identification tag associated with a weld part and encoding data corresponding to the weld part;

an identification tag reader configured to read the encoded code and to convert the data into electrical data; and

a part recognition component comprising processing circuitry configured to receive the electrical data and to compare the electrical data to stored data to identify weld settings appropriate for welding the weld part.

10. The welding system of claim 9, wherein the identification tag comprises a bar code.

11. The welding system of claim 9, wherein the identification tag comprises a radiofrequency identification tag.

12. The welding system of claim 9, comprising a welding power supply configured to receive the weld settings and to alter setup of the welding power supply to implement the received weld settings.

13. The welding system of claim 9, wherein the part recognition part recognition component is configured to distinguish between multiple parts having respective associated weld settings.

14. The welding system of claim 9, wherein the encoded code comprises a serial number associated with the weld part.

15. A method for identifying weld settings, comprising:

acquiring digital data representative of a visual image of a weld part;

extracting one or more distinguishing features of the weld part from the digital data;

comparing the one or more distinguishing features to stored data to locate a matching weld part;

determining weld settings appropriate for welding the weld part based on settings suitable for welding the matching weld part; and

providing the weld settings to a welding power supply configured to weld the weld part.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein determining the weld settings comprises referencing a database of weld settings corresponding to known weld parts.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more distinguishing features comprise a part shape, a part size, a distance between two features of the weld part, or a combination thereof.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein acquiring the digital representation comprises imaging the weld part with a camera disposed in a welding helmet.

19. The method of claim 15, comprising alerting a welding operator when the features of the matching weld part are outside of an allowed tolerance when quantitatively compared to the features of the weld part.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the weld settings include selection of an appropriate welding process or regime.