Weld monitor system
First Claim
1. A weld monitor system for use with a resistance type welding machine having a welding electrode and a pressure applying compressive member which applies pressure to parts welded by the welding machine, the weld monitor system operative to monitor and record currents and pressures by which parts are joined by welding performed by the welding machine, and to monitor pressure applied by a compressive member to parts welded by the welding machine, the weld monitor system comprising:
- a current transformer coil for measuring current applied to welding electrodes of the welding machine,at least one welding pressure transducer for measuring pressures applied by an electrode of the welding machine to parts joined by welding performed by the welding machine,at least one compressive member pressure transducer for measuring pressure applied by a compressive member of the welding machine to parts welded by the welding machine, anda recording device for recording values measured by the current transformer coil and the pressure transducers.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A weld monitor system measures and records physical conditions under which welds are made between parts weld fused by an automated welding machine. Analog data of pressure in hydraulic circuits of hydraulically driven operations of an automatic welding machine, and analog data of weld current amperages applied to welding electrodes of the welding machine is acquired and stored by the weld monitor system to provide an archival record of the physical conditions of the formation of all welds made by the automatic welding machine. The weld monitor system compares the data to a predetermined range of values and sends a control signal to a welding machine controller indicative of the results of the data comparisons. An automatic part identification unit of the weld monitor system sequentially applies permanent unique indicia to parts weld assembled so that weld assembly data for uniquely identified parts can be readily retrieved from the stored data. Welding condition data acquired by the weld monitor system provides a broad range source of production process data on which to perform statistical process control analysis.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A weld monitor system for use with a resistance type welding machine having a welding electrode and a pressure applying compressive member which applies pressure to parts welded by the welding machine, the weld monitor system operative to monitor and record currents and pressures by which parts are joined by welding performed by the welding machine, and to monitor pressure applied by a compressive member to parts welded by the welding machine, the weld monitor system comprising:
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a current transformer coil for measuring current applied to welding electrodes of the welding machine, at least one welding pressure transducer for measuring pressures applied by an electrode of the welding machine to parts joined by welding performed by the welding machine, at least one compressive member pressure transducer for measuring pressure applied by a compressive member of the welding machine to parts welded by the welding machine, and a recording device for recording values measured by the current transformer coil and the pressure transducers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of monitoring physical conditions under which parts are welded together and formed by an automatic welding machine, the method of monitoring comprising the steps of:
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measuring current applied to a plurality of welding electrodes of the welding machine placed in contact with parts to be welded together, and simultaneously measuring corresponding pressures in hydraulic circuits of the welding machine which hydraulically power placement of the electrodes in contact with the parts and placement of a compressive member of the welding machine in contact with parts welded together by the automatic welding machine. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A weld monitor device which monitors physical conditions under which parts are joined by welding performed by a welding machine, the weld monitor device comprising:
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a current measuring device for measuring a weld current applied to a weld electrode of the welding machine, a first pressure sensing device for measuring a mechanical pressure applied by an electrode of the welding machine to parts joined by welding performed by the welding machine, and a second pressure sensing device for measuring a mechanical pressure applied by a compressive member of the welding machine. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A brake shoe welding machine monitoring, marking and recording system for use with an automatic brake shoe resistance welding machine, the system comprising,
a current measuring device for measuring current applied to a welding electrode of the welding machine placed in contact with parts to be joined by welds into the form of a brake shoe, a first pressure measuring device for measuring a pressure of the contact of said welding electrode upon the parts, a second pressure measuring device for measuring a pressure applied by a brake shoe forming planisher of the welding machine to the parts joined by welds into the form of a brake shoe, signal generators connected to said pressure measuring devices for generating signals indicative of the pressure measurements of said first and second pressure measuring devices, a marking device for applying permanent unique markings to at least one part of each brake shoe formed by parts joined by welds, a marking device for applying permanent unique markings to at least one part of each brake shoe formed by parts joined by welds, a marking signal generator for generating signals indicative of said unique markings, said marking signal generator connected to said electronic storage device, and an electronic storage device connected to said signal generators for storing said signals.
Specification