Weld shielding apparatus and method of use by controlling shielding gas timing relative to welding
AssigneePacesetter, Inc.
InventorsJustin King, Russell Bruch, Nicholas R. Hamor, Kurt Erickson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A resistance weld shielding control system includes a computer that is executed to control a fixture to receive and hold at least one part to be welded. The computer also controls one or more electrodes to apply electrical energy to the part for welding the at least one part, and controls a gas delivery system to direct an inert gas onto the part for shielding the part from the ambient atmosphere via a nozzle. The nozzle is configured in the fixture such that the fixture holds the nozzle in a fixed physical relationship to the part.
Claims18
A weld shielding control system, comprising:
- a control circuit comprising at least one memory for storing instructions that when executed by at least one processor, is executed to:
- identify a fixture from among multiple fixtures, each of the fixtures being configured to receive and hold at least one part;
- obtain from at least one memory one of multiple welding profile records stored in the at least one memory, each of the welding profile records being associated with a different one of fixtures, the obtained welding profile record being the welding profile record associated with the identified fixture,
- each of the welding profile records setting forth weld parameters that are different for different weld profile records;
- control at least one electrode to apply electrical energy to the at least one part held by the identified fixture so as to weld the at least one part held by the identified fixture;
- and
- control a gas delivery system to direct an inert gas onto the at least one part held by the identified fixture so as to shield the at least one part held by the identified fixture from the ambient atmosphere when the at least one part held by the identified fixture is being welded,
- the gas delivery system being controlled according to the weld parameters set forth in the obtained welding profile record.
A method comprising:
- identifying, using instructions stored in at least one memory and executed by at least one processor, a fixture from among multiple fixtures, each of the fixtures being configured to receive and hold at least one part;
- obtaining from at least one memory one of multiple welding profile records stored in the at least one memory, each of the welding profile records being associated with a different one of fixtures, the obtained welding profile record being the welding profile record associated with the identified fixture,
- each of the welding profile records setting forth weld parameters that are different for different weld profile records;
- controlling, using the instructions, at least one electrode to apply electrical energy to the at least one part held by the identified fixture so as to weld the at least one part held by the identified fixture;
- and
- controlling, using the instructions, a gas delivery system to direct an inert gas onto the at least one part held by the identified fixture so as to shield the at least one part held by the identified fixture from the ambient atmosphere when the at least one part held by the identified fixture is being welded, the gas delivery system being controlled according to the weld parameters set forth in the obtained welding profile record.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.