Method and system for welding railroad rails

A method for automatically filling the narrow gap between facing end walls of adjacent first and second railway rails by depositing vertically spaced layers of molten metal in said gap with an electric arc welding torch using a robotic mechanism that moves said torch in a path in said gap in a pattern controlled by a low level robotic executive program from a spatial position to a next spatial position, said method comprising:

• (a) providing a master data array for an ideal gap configuration, said master data array constituting a series of positions making up an idealized progression of said torch to fill said ideal gap in a number of vertically spaced layers made up of multiple positions, each of said positions identified by (1) at least four coordinates, (2) the layer in which the torch position is a part and (3) the welding parameters to be executed until the torch reaches the next fixed position;
• (b) outputting said series of positions from said data array for causing movement of said torch from position to position to perform said welding parameters;
• (c) constructing a first reference plane by sensing points on the end wall of said first rail;
• (d) constructing a second reference plane by sensing points on the end wall of said second rail;
• (e) using said first and second reference planes to construct a representation of the actual gap being filled;
• (f) modifying the outputted positions form said data array for use in controlling movement of said torch based upon deviation of said actual gap from said ideal gap.

A system for automatically filling the narrow gap between facing end walls of adjacent first and second railway rails by depositing vertically spaced layers of molten metal in said gap with an electric arc welding torch using a robotic mechanism that moves said torch in a path in said gap in a patter controlled by a low level robotic executive program from a spatial position to a next spatial position, said system comprising a master data array for an ideal gap configuration, said master data array constituting a series of positions making up an idealized progression of said torch to fill said ideal gap in a number of vertically spaced layers made up of multiple positions, each of said positions identified by at least (1) four coordinates, (2) the layer in which the torch position is a part and (3) the welding parameters to be executed until the torch reaches the next fixed position;

• a computer for outputting said series of positions from said data array for use by said robotic mechanism to cause movement of said torch from position to position to perform said welding parameters;
• a program for constructing a first reference plane by sensing points on the end wall of said first rail and a second reference plane by sensing points on the end wall of said second rail;
• a basic background program using said first and second reference planes to construct a representation of the actual gap being filled;
• a background program modifying the outputted positions form said data array for use in controlling movement of said torch based upon deviation of said actual gap from said ideal gap.