APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC CONTROL OF A MACHINE FOR FLASH BUTT WELDING OF METAL PARTS

• US 3,748,431 A
• Filed: 06/04/1971
• Issued: 07/24/1973
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/1971
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Alexandr Shmulevich Gelman, Anatoly Fedorovich Shakhnov, Anatoly Ivanovich Bondarev, Ezra Shmulevich Slepak, Leonid Pavlovich Desyatskov, Sergei Nikolaevich Melbard, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Vivsik, Vladimir Sergeevich Morozov
• Original Assignee: Alexandr Shmulevich Gelman, Anatoly Fedorovich Shakhnov, Anatoly Ivanovich Bondarev, Ezra Shmulevich Slepak, Leonid Pavlovich Desyatskov, Sergei Nikolaevich Melbard, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Vivsik, Vladimir Sergeevich Morozov
• Inventors: Melbard, Sergei Nikolaevich, Shakhnov, Anatoly Fedorovich, Gelman, Alexandr Shmulevich, Slepak, Ezra Shmulevich, Vivsik, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich, Bondarev, Anatoly Ivanovich, Desyatskov, Leonid Pavlovich, Morozov, Vladimir Sergeevich
• Primary Examiner(s): Staubly, R. F.
• Application Number:
  US05/150,124
• Time in Patent Office: 781 Days
• Field of Search: 219/97,98,108,110,127
• US Class Current: 219/97
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 11/246 for flash welding

Abstract

An apparatus belonging to the class of adaptive automaticcontrol systems, comprising elements which allow welding to be conducted according to a preset program of the flashing current changing as a function of movement of the movable platen and to respond, with the help of feedback, to changes occurring in the welding process, for instance, changes in the torque of the drive of the movable platen, which influence changes in welding current, with a high degree of accuracy. A distinctive feature of the apparatus is the use of an adjusting regulator with a memory cell, which permits the preset program to be automatically adjusted in the most advantageous manner in accordance with changing conditions, for instance, variations in the crosssection of the workpiece from one welding process to another within tolerable limits, changes in the material of the workpiece being welded, etc.

Claims

1. An apparatus for automatic control of a flash butt welding machine for metal parts, comprising, in combination, a control box controlling in the machine a drive for a moving platen carrying one of said metal parts, a welding-current sensor deriving a signal from a transformer forming part of the welding machine, said sensor being connected to said control box, a travel sensor for said moving platen connected to said control box via a current-setting device, and a regulator adjusting the signals of said welding-current sensor to changing welding conditions, depending on the magnitude of the signal furnished by said welding-current sensor, after transients in the welding current, ordinarily present during the early state of flashing, have subsided, said current-setting device and said adjusting regulator constituting means for comparing signals from said welding-current sensor and said current-setting device, and adjusting the current in the welding machine as a function of the distance traveled by said moving platen.

2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which said adjusting regulator incorporates a resistance bridge one arm of which is connected to the output of said welding-current sensor, and another arm which is connected to the input of said current-setting device, and a storage network, connected to the output of said resistance bridge on one side and to said input of the current-setting device on the other, for storing the adjusted value of the welding current.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim 2, in which said storage network contains a cathode follower the input circuit of which is connected to said output of the resistance bridge via a capacitor and the output circuit of which is connected to said current-setting device.

4. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which said travel sensor has a disc with through holes, coupled to said moving platen so that it rotates as this platen moves, and further comprising a light source on one side of said disc and a photo-cell on the other, while a transducer of said travel sensor is a light-pulse counter.