Machine vision robotic stud welder
AssigneeStructural Services, Inc.
InventorsJames T. Benzing, William R. Haller, Jacob Bruce Patterson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure teaches systems and methods for robotic welding of studs onto the surface of I-beams. The systems and methods use machine vision to identify and locate welding sites on a surface of a beam or girder, moves and aligns studs to the welding sites, and welds studs to the surface at these sites.
Claims21
An apparatus for automatically welding studs on a surface of a beam at pre-marked welding sites located on the surface of the beam, the beam having a longitudinal axis, the apparatus comprising:
- a carriage that is operably configured to be moveable parallel to the longitudinal axis of the beam;
- at least one imager connected to the carriage, the imager being operably configured to capture a plurality of images of the surface of the beam as the carriage is being moved;
- at least one welding assembly attached to the carriage, the at least one welding assembly being in data communication with the computer and being moveable relative to the location of the carriage;
- and
- a computer in data communication with the at least one imager and the at least one welding assembly, the computer being operably configured to identify at least one pre-marked welding site that is located on the surface of the beam in one or more of the plurality of images and to determine the location of the at least one pre-marked welding site relative to the location of the carriage and relative to the location of the at least one welding assembly;
- wherein the computer is operably configured to command the at least one welding assembly to automatically place and weld a stud to the surface of the beam at the at least one pre-marked welding site.
A method for automatically welding studs on a surface of a beam at pre-marked welding sites located on the surface of the beam, the beam having a longitudinal axis, the method comprising:
- instructing a carriage to move parallel to the longitudinal axis of the beam, the carriage having at least one imager attached thereto, the imager being operably configured to automatically capture a plurality of images of the surface of the beam as the carriage is moving;
- instructing the at least one imager to capture the plurality of images of the surface of the beam and communicate image data regarding the plurality of images to a computer, the computer being in data communication with the at least one imager and at least one welding assembly that is attached to the carriage, the computer being operably configured to identify at least one pre-marked welding site that is located on the surface of the beam in one or more of the plurality of images and to determine the location of the at least one pre-marked welding site relative to the location of the carriage and relative to the location of the at least one welding assembly;
- and
- instructing the at least one welding assembly to place and weld a stud to the surface of the beam at the at least one pre-marked welding site.
A stud feeding assembly for automatically feeding welding studs to a weld area, the stud feeding assembly comprising:
- a top plate;
- a bottom plate opposing the top plate, the bottom plate having a cutout therein;
- and
- a plurality of stud tubes located between the top plate and the bottom plate, each of the stud tubes having a top opening and a bottom opening and being sized to hold a plurality of welding studs therein;
- wherein the respective bottom end of each of the plurality of stud tubes can be individually moved into alignment with the cutout located in the bottom plate such that a welding stud located in the respective stud tube can pass through the cutout, whereas welding studs located in the other one or more stud tubes of the plurality of stud tubes cannot simultaneously pass through the bottom plate.
-29. (canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.