Ring gear based welding system
First Claim
1. A welding system for welding a pipe joint between two pipe sections, the welding system comprising:
- a. a traveling base carriage;
b. a carriage positioning mechanism engaging the traveling base carriage;
c. a ring gear assembly mounted on the traveling base carriage, the ring gear assembly comprising;
i. half ring sections, each including at least one gear track;
ii. a ring gear mount attaching the half ring sections to the traveling base carriage, the ring gear mounts allowing the half ring sections to separate and guiding the half ring sections into mating engagement;
d. at least one weld head assembly mounted on the ring gear assembly, the at least one weld head assembly including;
i) a welding torch;
ii) a torch positioner, and ii) a position sensor;
e. a system controller programmed to control at least the carriage positioning mechanism and the at least one weld head assembly to perform the following steps;
i. setting a velocity of the traveling base carriage to approximate a pipe joint'"'"'s lateral movement in a direction along a length of the pipe sections, in order to maintain a position of the at least one weld head assembly approximately at the pipe joint;
ii. adjusting a path of the welding torch to accommodate a geometry of the pipe joint as detected by the position sensor; and
iii. allowing the traveling base carriage to maintain the velocity approximate the pipe joint'"'"'s lateral movement while adjusting the path of the welding torch to weld the pipe joint.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A welding system having a traveling base carriage, a carriage positioning mechanism engaging the base carriage; and a ring gear assembly mounted on the base carriage. The ring gear assembly will include: (i) two half ring sections, each having at least one gear track; (ii) a ring gear mount attaching each of the half ring sections to the base carriage, where the ring gear mounts allow the half ring sections to separate and guide the half ring sections into mating engagement. The system further includes at least one weld head assembly mounted on the ring gear assembly. The weld head assembly includes: i) a welding torch; ii) a torch positioner, and iii) a position sensor. A system controller is programmed to control at least the carriage positioning mechanism and the weld head assembly in order to perform the steps of: (i) setting a velocity of the base carriage to approximate the pipe joint'"'"'s lateral movement in order to maintain the position of the weld head assembly approximately at the pipe joint; and (ii) adjusting a path of the welding torch to accommodate a geometry of the pipe joint as detected by the position sensor.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A welding system for welding a pipe joint between two pipe sections, the welding system comprising:
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a. a traveling base carriage; b. a carriage positioning mechanism engaging the traveling base carriage; c. a ring gear assembly mounted on the traveling base carriage, the ring gear assembly comprising; i. half ring sections, each including at least one gear track; ii. a ring gear mount attaching the half ring sections to the traveling base carriage, the ring gear mounts allowing the half ring sections to separate and guiding the half ring sections into mating engagement; d. at least one weld head assembly mounted on the ring gear assembly, the at least one weld head assembly including;
i) a welding torch;
ii) a torch positioner, and ii) a position sensor;e. a system controller programmed to control at least the carriage positioning mechanism and the at least one weld head assembly to perform the following steps; i. setting a velocity of the traveling base carriage to approximate a pipe joint'"'"'s lateral movement in a direction along a length of the pipe sections, in order to maintain a position of the at least one weld head assembly approximately at the pipe joint; ii. adjusting a path of the welding torch to accommodate a geometry of the pipe joint as detected by the position sensor; and iii. allowing the traveling base carriage to maintain the velocity approximate the pipe joint'"'"'s lateral movement while adjusting the path of the welding torch to weld the pipe joint. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A welding system comprising:
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a. a traveling base carriage; b. a carriage positioning mechanism engaging the traveling base carriage; c. a ring gear assembly mounted on the traveling base carriage such that a pipe section extending through a center opening in said ring gear assembly is not connected to and is capable of moving in a lateral direction independently of the ring gear assembly; d. at least one weld head assembly mounted on the ring gear assembly and capable of moving relative to the ring gear assembly, the at least one weld head assembly including;
i) a welding torch;
ii) a torch positioner, and iii) a position sensor;e. a system controller programmed to control at least the carriage positioning mechanism and the at least one weld head assembly to perform the following steps; i. detecting a pipe joint along a line of pipe sections; ii. setting a velocity of the traveling base carriage to approximate the pipe joint'"'"'s lateral movement in order to maintain the position of the at least one weld head assembly approximately at the pipe joint; iii. simultaneously scanning of the pipe joint with the position sensor and welding of the pipe joint with the welding torch; and iv. adjusting a path of the welding torch to accommodate a geometry of the pipe joint as detected by the position sensor. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A welding system comprising:
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a. a traveling base carriage; b. a carriage positioning mechanism engaging the traveling base carriage; c. a ring gear assembly mounted on the traveling base carriage, wherein (i) a pipe section extends through a center opening in said ring gear assembly, and (ii) the ring gear assembly is not connected to and is capable of moving independently of the pipe section; d. at least one weld head assembly mounted on the ring gear assembly and capable of moving relative to the ring gear assembly, the at least one weld head assembly including;
i) a welding torch;
ii) a torch positioner, and iii) a position sensor;e. a system controller programmed to control at least the carriage positioning mechanism and the at least one weld head assembly to perform at least the following steps; i. moving the traveling base carriage along the length of the pipe section and detecting a pipe joint associated with the pipe section; ii. setting a velocity of the traveling base carriage to approximate a pipe joint'"'"'s lateral movement in order to maintain a position of the at least one weld head assembly approximately at the pipe joint; iii. welding of the pipe joint with the welding torch. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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Specification