Adjustable workpiece cradles for a robotic welding system
OwnerMike Kaldy, Andrew Ryan Lien +2inventors
InventorsMike Kaldy, Andrew Ryan Lien, Stephen Cribb, Greg Firestone
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Abstract
An adjustable workpiece cradle for a welding system includes a support frame, an elongate flexible member coupled to the support frame and extending along a pathway that forms a concave receptacle configured to laterally receive an elongate workpiece for the welding system, and an adjustment module coupled to the flexible member, wherein the adjustment module includes a powertrain configured to selectably adjust the size of the concave receptacle formed by the pathway of the flexible member.
Claims26
An adjustable workpiece cradle for a welding system, the workpiece cradle comprising:
- a support frame;
- an elongate flexible member coupled to the support frame and extending along a pathway that forms a concave receptacle configured to laterally receive an elongate workpiece for the welding system;
- and
- an adjustment module coupled to the flexible member, wherein the adjustment module comprises a powertrain configured to selectably adjust the size of the concave receptacle formed by the pathway of the flexible member.
A method for performing a welding operation using a welding system, method comprising:
- (a) inserting a workpiece into an adjustable workpiece cradle of the welding system, whereby the workpiece is received in a concave receptacle formed by a flexible member of the adjustable workpiece cradle;
- (b) adjusting the size of the concave receptacle formed by the cradle based on a size of the workpiece;
- and
- (c) rotating the workpiece about a longitudinal axis of the workpiece as the workpiece is supported by the adjustable workpiece cradle;
- and
- (d) welding the workpiece as the workpiece is rotated about its longitudinal axis and is supported by the adjustable workpiece cradle.
An adjustable workpiece cradle for a welding system, the workpiece cradle comprising:
- a support frame;
- an elongate flexible member coupled to the support frame and defining a pathway having a concave receptacle configured to laterally receive an elongate workpiece for the welding system;
- and
- a grounding module for electrically grounding the workpiece, wherein the grounding module comprises a grounding roller configured to maintain electrical contact between the grounding roller and the workpiece as the workpiece is rotated about a longitudinal axis of the workpiece.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.