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US 9,808,882 B2Granted
System and method for controlling wire feed speed
AssigneeIllinois Tool Works Inc.
InventorRichard Martin Hutchison
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of controlling a welding system includes providing a welding wire to a welding torch at a first wire feed speed, providing a pulsed power output to the welding wire via a contact point of the welding torch, determining, utilizing a sensing system, a contact-point-to-work-distance (CPWD) between the contact point and a workpiece, and changing, utilizing a controller, the wire feed speed of the welding wire to a second wire feed speed based at least in part on the determined CPWD.
Claims20
A method of controlling a welding system comprising:
- receiving an input via an operator interface relating to an operator preference;
- providing a welding wire to a welding torch at a first wire feed speed;
- providing a pulsed power output to the welding wire via a contact point of the welding torch;
- determining, utilizing a sensing system, a contact-point-to-work-distance (CPWD) between the contact point and a workpiece, wherein determining the CPWD comprises determining an arc length based at least in part on the pulsed power output, determining a resistance of a powered portion of the welding wire based at least in part on the pulsed power output, determining an electrode extension based at least in part on a functional relationship between the resistance and the electrode extension, and determining the CPWD based at least in part on the arc length and the electrode extension;
- and
- changing, utilizing a controller, a wire feed speed of the welding wire to a second wire feed speed during an operator-controlled weld based at least in part on the determined CPWD and the input of the operator preference received via the operator interface.
3 more elements
A method of controlling a welding system comprising:
- providing a welding wire to a welding torch at a first wire feed speed;
- providing a pulsed power output to the welding wire via a contact point of the welding torch;
- determining, utilizing a sensing system, a contact-point-to-work-distance (CPWD) between the contact point and a workpiece, wherein determining the CPWD comprises:
- determining an arc length based at least in part on the pulsed power output, wherein the arc length comprises a distance between an end of the welding wire and the workpiece;
- determining a resistance of a powered portion of the welding wire based at least in part on the pulsed power output, wherein the powered portion comprises a portion of the welding wire between the contact point and the end of the welding wire;
- determining an electrode extension based at least in part on a functional relationship between the resistance and the electrode extension;
- and
- determining the CPWD based at least in part on a sum of the arc length and the electrode extension;
- and
- changing, utilizing a controller, a wire feed speed of the welding wire from the first wire feed speed by a gain factor to a second wire feed speed during an operator-controlled weld based at least in part on the determined CPWD, wherein the gain factor is set based at least in part on an operator preference received via an operator interface of the welding system.
7 more elements
A welding system comprising:
- an operator interface configured to receive an input relating to an operator preference;
- a wire feeder coupled to a torch and configured to provide a welding wire to the torch, wherein the torch comprises a contact tip with a contact point;
- a sensing system configured to determine a contact-point-to-work-distance (CPWD) between the contact point of the torch and a workpiece, wherein the sensing system is configured to determine a resistance of the welding wire within the torch based at least in part on changes to a current and a voltage of a welding waveform, the sensing system is configured to determine an arc length and an electrode extension based at least in part on a functional relationship between the resistance and the electrode extension, and the sensing system is configured to determine the CPWD based at least in part on the arc length and the electrode extension;
- and
- a controller coupled to the wire feeder, wherein the controller is configured to control a wire feed speed (WFS) of the wire feeder during an operator-controlled weld based at least in part on the determined CPWD and the input of the operator preference received via the operator interface.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.