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US 12,728,473 B2Granted
Systems and methods to control welding processes using weld pool attributes
AssigneeIllinois Tool Works Inc.
InventorSteven B. Massey, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed are systems and methods for controlling welding processes in real-time, or near real-time, as a function of a measured weld pool attribute. The welding-type system includes power conversion circuitry and control circuitry. The power conversion circuitry converts input power to welding-type power for use by a welding torch to form a weld pool. The control circuitry control one or more parameters of the welding-type system during a welding operation based on one or more attributes of the weld pool determined using a sensor configured to capture the one or more attributes of the weld pool. The one or more attributes may include, for example, a width of the weld pool and/or a depth of depression in weld pool.
Claims20
A welding-type system, comprising:
- power conversion circuitry configured to convert input power to welding-type power for use by a welding torch to form a weld pool;
- control circuitry configured to control one or more parameters of the welding-type system during a welding operation based on one or more attributes of the weld pool determined using a sensor configured to capture the one or more attributes of the weld pool;
- and
- a display device,
- wherein:
- the control circuitry is configured to determine, based on sensory data obtained by the sensor, weld pool measurements relating to at least one attribute of the weld pool;
- the control circuitry is configured to control the display device to display to an operator, during the welding operation, a real-time scene of the welding operation and a popup window over said real-time scene;
- the control circuitry is configured to control the popup window to display an instruction that adjusts at least one of the one or more parameters to the operator, and to determine the instruction based on the weld pool measurements;
- the control circuitry is configured to, in response to determining that the operator has not complied with the instruction to adjust the at least one of the one or more parameters within a predetermined amount of time, take automatic corrective action to adjust the at least one of the one or more parameters based on the weld pool measurements;
- and
- the popup window is at least partially transparent or semi-transparent to enable an operator to view the real-time scene.
8 more elements
A method to control a welding-type system during a live are welding operation, the method comprising:
- controlling, via control circuitry, power conversion circuitry to convert input power to welding-type power for use by a welding torch during the live arc welding operation;
- capturing, via a sensor, one or more attributes of a weld pool formed using the welding torch during the live arc welding operation;
- determining, via the control circuitry, based on sensory data obtained via the sensor, weld pool measurements relating to at least one attribute of the weld pool;
- determining, via the control circuitry, based on at least the weld pool measurement, at least one corrective action, wherein the corrective action comprises adjusting at least one parameter of the welding-type system;
- providing, to an operator, a recommendation to take the corrective action based on said one or more attributes;
- and
- in response to determining that the operator has failed to take the corrective action within a predetermined amount of time, controlling, via the control circuitry, one or more parameters of the welding-type system during the live arc welding operation based on the one or more attributes of the weld pool, wherein the one or more attributes includes a width of the weld pool.
4 more elements
A welding-type system, comprising:
- power conversion circuitry configured to convert input power to welding-type power for use by a welding torch to form a weld pool;
- a sensor configured to capture one or more attributes of the weld pool during a live are welding operation conducted by an operator and transmit a sensor signal to the control circuitry comprising one or more measured attributes;
- an operator interface configured to display alerts an operator to take corrective action based on said one or more measured attributes, wherein the corrective action comprises adjusting at least one parameter of the welding-type system;
- and
- control circuitry configured to determine the corrective action based on the sensor signal and to control one or more parameters of the welding-type system during the live arc welding operation to maintain a width of the weld pool at a target width value during the live arc welding operation, the controlling of the one or more parameters comprising:
- monitoring the sensor signal to determine one or more weld pool measurements;
- determining whether the width of the weld pool deviates from a threshold of the target width value based on the one or more weld pool measurements;
- in response to determining that the width of the weld pool deviates from the threshold of the target width value, determining whether the operator has taken the corrective action within a predetermined amount of time;
- and
- in response to determining that the operator has not taken the corrective action within the predetermined amount of time, modifying the one or more parameters of the welding-type system based on a difference between the target width value and at least one of the one or more weld pool measurements.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.