Welding assurance control techniques
First Claim
1. In an electrical welder including a movable platen for carrying a part to be welded and for spacing a first end and a second end of said part, a transformer having a primary winding and having a secondary winding electrically coupled to said platen, and tap means for coupling a primary voltage to an adjustable portion of said primary winding, improved apparatus for ensuring that said tap means is correctly adjusted for the welding of said part comprising in combination:
- means for spacing said first and second ends of said part by at least a predetermined distance;
means for measuring said primary voltage and said secondary voltage;
means for generating a first signal having a first value proportional to the ratio of the primary voltage to the secondary voltage and for determining whether said first value lies within a predetermined range of values; and
means for indicating to an operator the presence of said first value in relation to said predetermined range.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques for assuring the accuracy of the welding of a part including a part calibration cycle, a tap check cycle and a gap detection cycle. The part calibration cycle determines the electrical load presented by the part to the welder transformer. The tap check cycle verifies that the operator has set the correct tap on the primary of the welder transformer, The gap detection cycle finds the actual spacing between the platen when the ends of the part are substantially touching so that the ends of the part can be accurately spaced at the beginning of the weld cycle.
70 Citations
28 Claims
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1. In an electrical welder including a movable platen for carrying a part to be welded and for spacing a first end and a second end of said part, a transformer having a primary winding and having a secondary winding electrically coupled to said platen, and tap means for coupling a primary voltage to an adjustable portion of said primary winding, improved apparatus for ensuring that said tap means is correctly adjusted for the welding of said part comprising in combination:
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means for spacing said first and second ends of said part by at least a predetermined distance; means for measuring said primary voltage and said secondary voltage; means for generating a first signal having a first value proportional to the ratio of the primary voltage to the secondary voltage and for determining whether said first value lies within a predetermined range of values; and means for indicating to an operator the presence of said first value in relation to said predetermined range. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. In an electrical welder including a movable platen for carrying a part to be welded and for spacing a first end and a second end of said part, a transformer having a primary winding and having a secondary winding electrically coupled to said platen, and tap means for coupling a primary voltage to an adjustable portion of said primary winding, an improved process for ensuring that said tap means is correctly adjusted for the welding of said part comprising in combination the steps of:
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spacing said first and second ends of said part by at least a predetermined distance; measuring said primary voltage and said secondary voltage; generating a first signal having a first value representing the ratio of the primary voltage to the secondary voltage corrected for the electrical load of said part; determining whether said first value lies within a predetermined range of values; and indicating to an operator the presence of said first value in relation to said predetermined range. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. In an electrical welder including a movable platen for carrying a part to be welded and for spacing a first end and a second end of said part, a transformer having a primary winding and having a secondary winding electrically coupled to said platen, and tap means for varying the effective turns ratio of said primary and secondary windings, improved apparatus for representing the electrical load presented to said secondary winding by said part comprising in combination:
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means for spacing said first end and said second end of said part by at least a predetermined distance; means for measuring said primary voltage and said secondary voltage; means for generating a first signal having a first value representing the ratio of the primary voltage to the secondary voltage multiplied by said turns ratio; and means for storing a calibration signal proportional to said first value, whereby said electrical load is represented. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. In an electrical welder including a movable platen for carrying a part to be welded and for spacing a first end and a second end of said part, a transformer having a primary winding and having a secondary winding electrically coupled to said platen, and tap means for varying the effective turns ratio of said primary and secondary windings, an improved process for representing the electrical load presented to said secondary winding by said part comprising in combination the steps of:
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spacing said first end and said second end of said part by at least a predetermined distance; measuring said primary voltage; measuring said secondary voltage; generating a first signal having a first value representing the ratio of the primary voltage to the secondary voltage multiplied by said turns ratio; and storing a calibration signal proportional to said first value, whereby said electrical load is represented. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. In an electrical welder including a movable platen for spacing a first end and a second end of a part to be welded, a transformer having a secondary winding coupled to said platen for generating a secondary voltage, and a primary winding of said transformer to which is applied a primary voltage, improved apparatus for separating said first and second ends of said part by a predetermined initial distance at the beginning of a welding cycle comprising in combination:
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voltage detection means for detecting said primary voltage and said secondary voltage; position detecting means for detecting the position of said platen; and control means for opening a gap between said first and second ends of said part, for closing said gap until said detected primary voltage and said detected secondary voltage indicate that said first and seconds ends of said part have substantially touched, and for measuring the position of said platen at which said first and second ends substantially touched, whereby said part is positioned to the welding process. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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25. In an electrical welder including a movable platen for spacing a first end and a second end of a part to be welded, a transformer having a secondary winding coupled to said platen for generating a secondary voltage, and a primary winding of said transformer to which is applied a primary voltage, an improved process for separating said first and second ends of said part by a predetermined initial distance at the beginning of a welding cycle comprising in combination the steps of:
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detecting said primary voltage and said secondary voltage; detecting the position of said platen; opening a gap between said first and second ends of said part; closing said gap until said detected primary voltage and said detected secondary voltage indicate that said first and seconds ends of said part have substantially touched; and measuring the position of said platen at which said first and second ends substantially touched, whereby said part is positioned to initiate the welding process. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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Specification