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AssigneeFronius International GmbH
InventorsAndreas PRINZ, Stefan AUMAIR, Franz HOFMANNINGER, Michael MUSS
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To ensure safe operation of a welding apparatus, low-voltage pulses occurring on a low-voltage side of the welding apparatus are transformed into high-voltage pulses occurring on a high-voltage side of the welding apparatus, an arc is ignited between an electrode and a workpiece during an ignition mode and/or idling mode using the high-voltage pulses, provision is made, in the ignition mode and/or in the idling mode, for a time window that extends from a starting time point to an end time point, an amount of ignition energy at the electrode is determined during the time window and compared with an energy limit value, and an action is triggered in the event of the energy limit value being exceeded, in order to prevent further high-voltage pulses in the time window.
A method for safe operation of a welding apparatus, low-voltage pulses occurring on a low-voltage side of the welding apparatus being transformed into high-voltage pulses occurring on a high-voltage side of the welding apparatus, an arc being ignited between an electrode and a workpiece during an ignition mode and/or idling mode using the high-voltage pulses, wherein, in the ignition mode and/or in the idling mode and/or in a welding mode, a time window that extends from a starting time point to an end time point is provided, an amount of ignition energy occurring at the electrode being determined during the time window and compared with an energy limit value, and in that an action is triggered in the event of the energy limit value being exceeded, in order to prevent further high-voltage pulses in the time window.
An energy limiting unit for a welding apparatus having a low-voltage side and a high-voltage side, wherein the energy-limiting unit comprises at least one energy determination unit which is designed to determine an amount of ignition energy occurring at an electrode in an ignition mode and/or an idle mode and/or a welding mode of the welding apparatus during a time window which extends from a starting time point to an end time point, in that the energy limiting unit comprises at least one energy comparison unit which is designed to compare the amount of ignition energy to a predetermined energy limit value, and in that the energy limiting unit comprises at least one blocking unit which is designed to trigger an action when the energy limit value is exceeded, in order to prevent an occurrence of further ignition energy at the electrode in the time window.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.