Welding gun with a displacement measuring system

A handheld welding gun for welding an element to a component according to a welding process, the handheld welding gun comprising:

• a housing with a main portion and a grip with a trigger, the grip extending from the main portion,
• a holding unit mounted on the main portion and adapted to movably hold one element between a lift position and a plunge position,
• a linear actuator unit with a linear actuator housing and a linear actuator rod adapted to actuate the holding unit in order to move the element between the lift position and the plunge position, the linear actuator rod extending partly inside and partly outside the linear actuator housing,
• a nozzle surrounding the holding unit and adapted to contact the component,
• a welding current contact element arranged in the housing and adapted to direct a welding current to the element,
• a sensor unit adapted to measure a parameter during the welding process,
• a processing system with a control card adapted to control the parameter of the welding process,
• a displacement measuring system communicating with the control card, and
• wherein the linear actuator, the displacement measuring system and the control card are connected together, and the actuator unit is mounted in the main portion at an opposite side of the holding unit.