Digital meter for cutting or welding system and method of displaying digital data for same

A cutting or welding system which displays data to a user thereof, the system comprising:

• an arc torch including at least an electrode having an arc discharge end and means for creating an electrical arc extending from the electrode to a workpiece;
• and
• a cutting or welding power source operatively connected to said arc torch for supplying power to said arc torch, said power source including at least a power circuit comprising an electrical input line positioned to receive power from an external power supply, a transformer having a primary side connected to said input line and a secondary side, a rectifier operatively connected to the secondary side of said transformer, and an output line connected to said rectifier, a sensor operatively connected to said output line for sensing an electrical signal representative of a voltage level and an electrical signal representative of a current level, a digital display positioned to display digital data representative of the voltage level and the current level, and a display controller operatively connected to said voltage and current level sensor and said digital display for controlling said digital display responsive to said sensor, said display controller including a sampler responsive to said sensor for sampling a predetermined number of electrical signals representative of a voltage level and a current level, an averager responsive to said sampler for averaging the predetermined number of samples, and a memory operatively connected to said averager for storing data representative of voltage and current levels to be displayed to an operator of the cutting or welding system.

A power source for a cutting or welding system which displays data to a user thereof, the power source comprising:

• a power circuit comprising an electrical input line positioned to receive power from an external power supply, a transformer having a primary side connected to said input line and a secondary side, a rectifier connected to the secondary side of said transformer, and an output line connected to said rectifier;
• a voltage sensor operatively connected to said output line for sensing electrical signals representative of a voltage level;
• a current sensor operatively connected to the secondary side of said transformer for sensing electrical signals representative of a current level;
• a digital display positioned to display digital data to a user of the power source;
• and
• a display controller operatively connected to said voltage and current level sensors and to said digital display for controlling said digital display responsive to said sensors, said display controller including a sampler responsive to said sensors for sampling a predetermined number of electrical signals representative of voltage and current and an averager responsive to said sampler for averaging the predetermined number of samples to display to an operator of the power source.

A method of displaying data on a digital display for a cutting or welding system comprising:

• sampling an electrical signal representative of a voltage level a predetermined number of times;
• sampling an electrical signal representative of a current level a predetermined number of times;
• averaging the sampled voltage levels and the sampled current levels;
• and
• communicating data representative of the average voltage level and the average current level to the digital display of a welding system for display thereon.