Friction stir welding head and method for controlling a friction stir welding head
AssigneeAirbus Deutschland GmbH
InventorHartmut Ostersehlte
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention relates to a friction stir welding head having a housing and a welding tool with a rotating welding pin and a rotating shoulder tool for welding workpieces which rest on a workpiece rest, with the shoulder tool, which rotates in synchronism with the welding pin, coaxially surrounding the welding pin. According to the invention, a first distance between a first laser rangefinder and a welding pin section 4a can be determined by means of the first laser rangefinder. This makes it possible to determine at least one change in the distance between the welding pin tip and the workpiece rest by means of a first laser rangefinder.
Claims16
A friction stir welding head comprising:
- a housing, and
- a welding tool comprising a rotating welding pin and a rotating shoulder tool for welding workpieces which rest on a workpiece rest,
- wherein the shoulder tool, which rotates in synchronism with the welding pin, coaxially surrounds the welding pin, and
- wherein a first distance between a first laser rangefinder and a welding pin section can be determined by means of the first laser rangefinder.
A friction stir welding head comprising:
- a stationary housing, and
- a welding tool comprising a rotating welding pin and a rotating shoulder tool for welding workpieces which rest on a workpiece rest,
- wherein the shoulder tool, which rotates in synchronism with the welding pin, coaxially surrounds the welding pin,
- wherein a laser tracker is arranged directly on the workpiece rest, and
- wherein at least one distance between a welding pin section and the workpiece rest can be measured by means of the laser tracker in order to determine the distance between the welding pin tip and the workpiece rest.
A method for open-loop control of a friction stir welding head, comprising the following steps:
- a) definition of a nominal value for the distance between the welding pin tip and the workpiece rest,
- b) setting of the distance to an initial value,
- c) start of the friction stir welding process for joining the workpieces in the bead formation area by means of the welding tool,
- d) measurement of the distance by means of at least one laser rangefinder,
- e) lowering of the welding pin in the vertical direction when the currently measured distance is greater than the initial value,
- f) raising of the welding pin in the vertical direction when the currently measured distance is less than the initial value, and
- g) repetition of steps d) to f) until the friction stir welding process has been completed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.