Welding torch alignment monitor

Abstract

Devices for monitoring, calibrating and maintaining a manufacturing robot. The first device comprises a reference pin mounted to a first member and a reference aperture located on a second adjacent member wherein the reference pin is inserted into the reference aperture when the two members are at their zero reference location. A second device checks tip alignment by periodically passing the welding tip of a welding torch through a V-shaped notch in a gauging block. The gauging block is electrically conductive and if the tip contacts the sidewalls of the V-shaped notch an electrical circuit is completed signalling the robot controller of tip misalignment. A third device comprises a shielding gas monitor having a closed tube to which the welding torch is applied for expelling shielding gas into the tube. The tube is in fluid communication with a flow gauge that measures gas flow and signals the controller if gas flow is insufficient.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.