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Gap welding processRelated Patent Categories: Electric Heating, Metal Heating (e.g., Resistance Heating), For Bonding With Pressure (e.g., Resistance Welding), Systems Of Current Supply, Controlled In Response To Current, Voltage, Or TemperatureGap welding process description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060191875, Gap welding process. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CLAIM OF PRIORITY [0001] Priority is claimed based on U.S. Provisional Application serial No. 60/209,040 filed Jun. 2, 2000. STATEMENT OF INVENTORSHIP [0002] Assignee Holland Company believes that the subject matter disclosed in FIG. 2 was the sole invention of Richard L. Thelen. Assignee Holland Company believes the subject matter in FIG. 3 was co-invented by Richard L. Thelen, James Mumaw of Lincoln Electric Company and Steve Sulc of Fanuc Robotics North America. That portion of FIG. 4 not specified as sole invention of Richard L. Thelen or co-invented by Richard L. Thelen, James Mumaw of Lincoln Electric Company and Steve Sulc of Fanuc Robotics North America was not invented by Richard L. Thelen and no rights therein will be claimed. These disclosures are made to comply with section 112 of 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 112. GAP WELDING PROCESS [0003] This proposed method and operation would electronically determine the location, orientation and size of the gap between two pieces that are to be welded together relative to the robotic welder's own coordinates. The gap welding process would adjust the predetermined welding coordinates to conform to the gap as presented, set the spatial association between the welder and the gap and then produce a sound weld. BACKGROUND [0004] During gas shielded arc welding of steel railroad rails in the field, difficulties have arisen in the past when the welding of gaps were reliant on the operators ability to position the pieces of rail to within the specified weld gap limitations. As in the case of on-site welding of large essentially immovable objects, positioning pieces of welding equipment to within the weld gap limitations can be very difficult or impossible to accomplish. Typically, robotic gas shielded arc welding has been very effective when welding is performed under controlled conditions, such as in a test laboratory, and the item to be welded can be brought to the stationary robotic welder and positioned to produce a weld gap that is within tolerance. On-site welding of large essentially immovable objects utilizing gas shielded arc welding has been ineffective until this point because of (1) the difficulties in positioning an easily transportable robotic arc welding device precisely with respect to the gap between two pieces to be welded when the pieces are stationary and repositioning is virtually impossible, (2) positioning the pieces to be welded precisely with respect to each other to define the weld gap to be welded by a nominal weld program is difficult and (3) the inability to accurately cut the faces of the pieces to be welded so that the geometrical planes created by the faces, that define the gap, are parallel to each other. [0005] It was desirable to design a system that can sense the location and size of the gap between two pieces to be welded and automatically orient the gas arc welder to the proper location with respect to the gap to perform the welding function. It was also desirable to instantaneously gather information during the welding process to adjust data to allow the weld program to adapt to the weld gap. It was desirable to store the weld program data in a format that allows for easy manipulation of this data during the welding process. When automation is added, it is possible to properly align and modify the weld coordinates so a sound and accurate weld can be produced between two pieces. SUMMARY OF INVENTION [0006] The present invention provides a gap welding process that determines the location, orientation and shape of the gap between two pieces to be welded and then uses that information, along with data stored in spreadsheet format and feedback data to gas shield arc weld the gap. The preferred welding method is gas shield arc welding but electroslag welding may also be substituted into the gap welding process. The invention has three processes, the gap sensing process, the data transfer process and the robotic welding process which work simultaneously to produce a complete and accurate weld despite variations in the size and position of the weld gap. [0007] The gap sensing process is designed to accurately measure the location and size of the gap to be welded and save the acquired information to allow the robotic control program to modify the program data. The gap sensing process utilizes a High Level Programming Language program to maneuver the robotic welder to touch specific locations on the faces and edges of the pieces forming the weld gap or ancillary fixturing to determine the weld gap's exact location, orientation and shape. [0008] The data transfer process uses a data conversion program to (1) process welding data stored in files in a spreadsheet format, (2) convert the welding data into weld programming data and (3) make the weld program data available for use by the robotic control programs. The principle for the format of data stored in spreadsheet is relative to each of the user frames and alternation of the user frames as the welding process continues. The stored welding data includes, but is not limited to, point position, user frame to be used, weld schedule, seam tracking schedule, weave schedule, azimuth orientation, travel speed, wait time, weave time and digital output control data. [0009] The gap welding process allows for the use of data from the gap sensing process to orient the welding torch to the proper coordinates for welding of the gap. It is further designed to compare weld program data provided by the data transfer process to current welding parameters in the form of feedback data to make welding calculations. The welding program then uses these calculations to determine subsequent weld process operations. [0010] The robotic welding process uses data that has been downloaded into the robotic control program from the data transfer process, in the form of weld program data, to properly position the torch during welding. The robotic control program is written in a "Higher Level Programming Language". Data used by the robotic control program includes feedback data, weld variance data and weld program data. Feedback data are readings taken during the weld cycle of real time welding conditions. [0011] With the gap sensing, data transfer, and robotic welding processes working together, the gap welding process can produce a complete and accurate weld despite variations in the location, orientation and shape of the weld gap. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0012] FIG. 1 a is a table showing an overview of the steps in the gap welding process. [0013] FIG. 1 b is a flow diagram displaying an overview of the gap welding process. [0014] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of the data download process with an expanded description of the properties of the data conversion program. [0015] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of the gap sensing process. [0016] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of the gap welding process incorporating weld program data, weld variance data and welding feedback data. [0017] FIG. 5 is an elevational drawing of the robotic welder at the weld gap. [0018] FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the weld gap. Continue reading about Gap welding process... Full patent description for Gap welding process Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Gap welding process patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Gap welding process or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Pipe/connector weld joint, and methods of welding same Next Patent Application: Method of performing physical vapor deposition with rf plasma source power applied to the target using a magnetron Industry Class: Electric heating ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Gap welding process patent info. 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