Laser welding apparatus employing a tilting mechanism
First Claim
1. A machine for producing a weld between material pieces at a seam, said machine comprising:
- a welding head;
a gantry suspending said welding heada first tilting mechanism operably pivoting said welding head along a first plane; and
a second tilting mechanism operably pivoting said welding head along a second plane offset from said first plane;
said welding head being tilted about a pivot point located at said seam.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for working material employs a tilting mechanism which tilts a head about a theoretical point disposed upon the sheet material. The welding or cutting head is defined as a laser head and the pivot point corresponds with the laser beam focal point. The laser head projects a laser beam directly upon the sheet material without the use of redirecting steerable mirrors. At least a pair of tilting mechanisms are employed to tilt the welding or cutting head along differing rotational planes. Various axial slides are employed in combination with a gantry. A laser vision system tracks a welding seam and a pre-weld gap. The tilting mechanism creates a tailored blank butt weld between dissimilar materials. A method of operating the present invention is also provided.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A machine for producing a weld between material pieces at a seam, said machine comprising:
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a welding head; a gantry suspending said welding head a first tilting mechanism operably pivoting said welding head along a first plane; and a second tilting mechanism operably pivoting said welding head along a second plane offset from said first plane; said welding head being tilted about a pivot point located at said seam. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A machine for producing a weld between material pieces, said machine comprising:
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a welding head; a gantry suspending said welding head substantially above said material pieces; adjacent edges of said material pieces defining a seam; a first driving bearing device having a first set of teeth arranged in a partially circular manner; a first driven bearing device having a first drive transmission engagable with said first set of teeth for selectively controlling pivoting of said first driving bearing device in relation to said first driven bearing device; a second driving bearing device having a second set of teeth arranged in a partially circular manner; a second driven bearing device having a second drive transmission engagable with said second set of teeth for selectively controlling pivoting of said second driving bearing device in relation to said second driven bearing device; said first driven bearing device being coupled to said second driving bearing device, at least one of said bearing devices being coupled to said gantry; and a linear slide coupled to said first driving bearing device; all of said bearing devices being slidable in response to said linear slide and said second bearing devices pivot in response to movement of said first driven bearing device relative to said first driving bearing device so as to move and tilt said welding head; said welding head being tilted about a pivot point located at said seam whereby said welding head welds together said adjacent edges of said material pieces at said seam. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. In combination, a welding machine and a tailored blank weld between dissimilar thickness material sheets, said combination comprising:
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a welding laser optic; a gantry bridge having a set of linear slides coupling said laser optic to said bridge; adjacent edges of said material sheets defining a seam, said laser optic being tilted about a laser beam focal point which is disposed at said seam whereby said laser optic tailor blank welds together said adjacent edges of said material sheets at said seam; a first tilting mechanism operably pivoting said laser optic along a first plane; and a second tilting mechanism operably causing said laser optic to pivot about said focal point along a second plane substantially perpendicular to said first plane. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A machine for producing a welded seam between material pieces, said machine comprising:
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a welding head; a gantry suspending said welding head; a first primary bearing device having a first interfacing surface arranged in a partially circular manner; a first secondary bearing device engagable with said first interfacing surface for selectively pivoting in relation to said gantry; a second primary bearing device having a second interfacing surface arranged in a partially circular manner; a second secondary bearing device engagable with said second interfacing surface for selectively pivoting in relation to said gantry; at least one of said bearing devices being coupled to said gantry; and a first linear slide coupled to said first bearing devices; all of said bearing devices moving in response to movement of said linear slide; said second bearing devices pivoting in response to movement of one of said first bearing devices relative to the other of said first bearing devices thereby tilting said welding head; said welding head being tilted about a pivot point coinciding with said seam. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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Specification