Welding machine, system and method therefor
First Claim
1. A welding machine, comprising:
- an embedded controller having a processor and memory;
a network gateway interface device coupled to the embedded controller;
a machine operating program segment stored in a memory portion of the embedded controller;
a gateway communication program segment stored at least partially in a memory portion of the embedded controller; and
a resource sharing program segment stored in a memory portion of the embedded controller, whereby the resource sharing program segment allocates processing time of the processor between the gateway communication program segment and the machine operating program segment.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A welding machine having an embedded controller with a processor, a network gateway interface device coupled to the embedded controller, an operating program segment stored in a memory of the embedded controller, a gateway communication program segment stored at least partially in the memory of the embedded controller, and a resource sharing program segment stored in the memory of the embedded controller, the resource sharing program segment allocates processing time of the processor between the gateway communication program segment and the operating program segment. The machine may be monitored, controlled, accessed and updated with software over a network from a remote user interface, embodied for example on an Internet browser.
105 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A welding machine, comprising:
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an embedded controller having a processor and memory;
a network gateway interface device coupled to the embedded controller;
a machine operating program segment stored in a memory portion of the embedded controller;
a gateway communication program segment stored at least partially in a memory portion of the embedded controller; and
a resource sharing program segment stored in a memory portion of the embedded controller, whereby the resource sharing program segment allocates processing time of the processor between the gateway communication program segment and the machine operating program segment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A welding system comprising:
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a welding machine having a processor based embedded controller with memory, user controlled input devices coupled to the embedded controller, processor controlled output devices coupled to the embedded controller, and a gateway interface device coupled to the embedded controller;
a machine operating program segment stored in a memory portion of the embedded controller;
a gateway communication program segment stored at least partially in a memory portion of the embedded controller;
a resource sharing program segment stored in a memory portion of the embedded controller, the resource sharing program segment allocating processing time of the processor between the gateway communication program segment and the machine operating program segment;
a network gateway coupled to the gateway interface device of the embedded controller by a gateway communications link. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for a welding machine having a processor based embedded controller remotely accessible over a network, comprising:
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communicating between a remote user interface and a network gateway over the network using a network communication protocol;
communicating between the network gateway and the welding machine over a gateway communications link using a gateway communication program protocol different from the network communication protocol;
bridging communications between the network and the gateway communication link with a gateway bridge program. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for a welding machine monitoring system, the machine having a processor based embedded controller with memory, the method comprising;
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enabling the machine to communicate over a network by establishing a network communication link between the welding machine and the network;
conmunicating with the welding machine from a remote user interface embodied as a virtual control panel on an Internet browser over the network;
monitoring operational parameters of the machine from the remote user interface;
communicating between the remote user interface and a network gateway over the network using a TCP/IP network communication protocol;
communicating between the network gateway and the machine over a gateway communications link using a gateway communication protocol different from the TCP/IP network communication protocol;
bridging communications between the network and the gateway communications link with a gateway bridge program. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for welding machine software reconfiguration, the machine having a processor based embedded controller with memory and a machine operating program segment stored therein, the method comprising:
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enabling the machine to communicate over a network by establishing a network communication link between the machine and the network;
communicating with the machine over the network from a remote user interface embodied as a virtual control panel on an Internet browser;
transferring software over the network from the remote user interface to a memory portion of the embedded controller;
communicating between the remote user interface and a network gateway over the network using a network communication protocol, communicating between the network gateway and the machine over a gateway communications link using a gateway communication protocol different from the network communication protocol, bridging communications between the network and the gateway communication link with a gateway bridge program;
implementing the gateway communication protocol with a gateway communication segment stored in a memory portion of the embedded controller, allocating processing time of the processor on the embedded controller between execution of the welding machine operating program segment and the gateway communication program segment and with a resource sharing program segment stored in a memory portion of the embedded controller.
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Specification