Patents by Inventor Atsuhiro Kawamoto

Atsuhiro Kawamoto has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20120000895
    Abstract: A welding control method for a welding device having an output characteristic with a predetermined gradient showing a relation between a welding output voltage and a welding output current. By setting a set target welding voltage that is higher than the set initial welding voltage according to a difference between the set initial welding voltage and the welding output voltage, the welding output voltage is controlled to be the set target welding voltage. Thus, a proper arc length can be achieved early by correcting the change of the arc length due to, for example, motion of the hands of a welding operator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 18, 2010
    Publication date: January 5, 2012
    Applicant: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Kimiya Sato, Yasushi Mukai, Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Akira Nakagawa, Masaru Kowa
  • Patent number: 8080763
    Abstract: A wire feeding speed is decreased to a level lower than a base wire feeding speed in a short-circuiting period, and set to the base wire feeding speed in an arcing period. During the arcing period, a welding current is increased to a predetermined peak value by means of current control from the start of arcing to a first predetermined time, the welding current is then supplied with a welding voltage, a source voltage of which is controlled constant, from the first predetermined time to a second predetermined time, and the welding current is decreased to a predetermined base current by means of current control from the second predetermined time until the end of the arcing period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Junji Fujiwara, Yasushi Mukai, Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Masaru Kowa
  • Patent number: 8076611
    Abstract: A welding device includes a welding torch, a memory, a power supply, an input section, a selector, and a controller. The welding torch includes a welding tip having a feeder for supplying electric power to a welding wire. The memory stores a plurality of welding conditions in which a feeder-work-piece to be welded distance is associated with at least one a length of the wire supplied per unit time, a weight of the wire supplied per unit time, and a set electric current. The power supply supplies electric power between the wire and the work-piece. The input section receives an input of a set value of a feeder-work-piece distance. The selector selects one of the welding conditions stored in the memory based on the set value. The controller controls the power supply based on the welding condition selected by the selector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Yasushi Mukai, Junji Fujiwara, Masaru Kowa
  • Patent number: 8049140
    Abstract: Disclosed here is a pulse welding control method and a pulse arc welding device capable of improving arc stability, and decreasing the amount of spatters. The structure contains arc short-circuit judging section (13) for judging a welding state; setting section (21) for defining parameters used for a short-circuit period and an arc period; secondary control section (25); and driving section (18). Secondary control section (25) sharply decreases welding current on detecting a moment when the tip of a wire has a neck just before recovery from the short circuit, according to at least any one of outputs from a welding current value detector, a welding voltage value detector, and the setting section. Driving section (18) selects from outputs of a pulse-waveform circuit section and a dip-waveform circuit section according to the signal from the setting section and the output from the arc short-circuit section, and outputs the selected data to a switching element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Yasushi Mukai, Masaru Kowa
  • Publication number: 20110226749
    Abstract: A welding control method alternately repeats a short circuit period, during which a welding wire and an object to be welded short-circuit, and an arc period, during which an arc is generated and discharged, to weld the object to be welded. The method compares average output voltage, which is an average of welding voltage calculated during welding, to set voltage preliminarily set, and controls a welding output current produced when an arc is generated based on the comparison result therefrom, to regulate the meltage of the wire for adjusting the arc length, which brings the short circuit cycle closer to a constant one when a disturbance (e.g. extended or shortened arc length) occurs.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 2, 2010
    Publication date: September 22, 2011
    Inventors: Kimiya Sato, Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Akira Nakagawa, Junji Fujiwara
  • Patent number: 7928340
    Abstract: A control method for an arc welding apparatus having a function of prohibiting detection of neck based on a change amount of welding voltage and an arc welding apparatus using the method. Thus, since neck determination can be carried out accurately by preventing wrong detection of neck, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of spatter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Kei Aimi, Hidetoshi Oyama, Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Masaru Kowa
  • Publication number: 20100224608
    Abstract: A control method for an arc welding apparatus having a function of prohibiting detection of neck based on a change amount of welding voltage and an arc welding apparatus using the method. Thus, since neck determination can be carried out accurately by preventing wrong detection of neck, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of spatter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 26, 2010
    Publication date: September 9, 2010
    Inventors: Kei Aimi, Hidetoshi Oyama, Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Masaru Kowa
  • Publication number: 20100126976
    Abstract: A welding device includes a welding torch, a memory, a power supply, an input section, a selector, and a controller. The welding torch includes a welding tip having a feeder for supplying electric power to a welding wire. The memory stores a plurality of welding conditions in which a feeder-work-piece to be welded distance is associated with at least one a length of the wire supplied per unit time, a weight of the wire supplied per unit time, and a set electric current. The power supply supplies electric power between the wire and the work-piece. The input section receives an input of a set value of a feeder-work-piece distance. The selector selects one of the welding conditions stored in the memory based on the set value. The controller controls the power supply based on the welding condition selected by the selector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 30, 2007
    Publication date: May 27, 2010
    Applicant: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Yasushi Mukai, Junji Fujiwara, Masaru Kowa
  • Publication number: 20100059492
    Abstract: A welding control unit has a common power section for detecting contact of a welding material and for welding. A material contact detector for detecting contact of the welding material and a workpiece, and a power controller are built in the welding control unit. This stabilizes a bead shape in starting welding. The number of components can also be reduced, resulting in more inexpensive equipment. In addition, only a space for installing the welding control unit is needed without any additional space.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 20, 2007
    Publication date: March 11, 2010
    Applicant: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Kei Aimi, Yasushi Mukai, Yukinori Hirota
  • Publication number: 20090289044
    Abstract: An arc welding control method carries out weld with a welding current and a welding speed different from those at a steady welding period according to intrinsic resistivity of a weld wire or a base material at a welding start period and a welding end period, so as to obtain a satisfactory welding quality.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 11, 2007
    Publication date: November 26, 2009
    Applicant: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Junji Fujiwara, Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Akira Nakagawa
  • Patent number: 7598475
    Abstract: An arc welding control method for repeating alternately a short circuit period allowing a welding wire to short circuit with respect to a member to be welded and an arc period allowing arc recurrence and arc discharge to thereby weld the member to be welded, in which a welding output current just after arc recurrence is controlled to be higher than a welding output current just before arc recurrence for a set given period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2009
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Yasushi Mukai, Kei Aimi, Masaru Kowa
  • Publication number: 20090152252
    Abstract: Disclosed here is a pulse welding control method and a pulse arc welding device capable of improving arc stability, and decreasing the amount of spatters. The structure contains arc short-circuit judging section (13) for judging a welding state; setting section (21) for defining parameters used for a short-circuit period and an arc period; secondary control section (25); and driving section (18). Secondary control section (25) sharply decreases welding current on detecting a moment when the tip of a wire has a neck just before recovery from the short circuit, according to at least any one of outputs from a welding current value detector, a welding voltage value detector, and the setting section. Driving section (18) selects from outputs of a pulse-waveform circuit section and a dip-waveform circuit section according to the signal from the setting section and the output from the arc short-circuit section, and outputs the selected data to a switching element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2005
    Publication date: June 18, 2009
    Inventors: Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Yasushi Mukai, Masaru Kowa
  • Publication number: 20090127242
    Abstract: A control method for an arc welding apparatus having a function of prohibiting detection of neck based on a change amount of welding voltage and an arc welding apparatus using the method. Thus, since neck determination can be carried out accurately by preventing wrong detection of neck, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of spatter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2005
    Publication date: May 21, 2009
    Inventors: Kei Aimi, Hidetoshi Oyama, Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Masaru Kowa
  • Patent number: 7525066
    Abstract: In a consumable electrode type welding method, while feeding a welding wire 1, a welding torch 4 is moved by a robot manipulator 9 in a direction where the welding torch 4 is pulled apart from a base metal 7, so that an initial arc is generated while the welding wire 1 is separated from the base metal 7. This not only can eliminate the need for the reversing operation of the robot manipulator 9 and thus can reduce the waste time to thereby be able to reduce a tact time but also can stabilize an arc in the welding start portion and thus can reduce the “unexpected stop” effectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2009
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Yasushi Mukai, Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Tatsuya Ikeda, Hiroyuki Nakata, Masaru Kowa
  • Publication number: 20080314884
    Abstract: A wire feeding speed is decreased to a level lower than a base wire feeding speed in a short-circuiting period, and set to the base wire feeding speed in an arcing period. During the arcing period, a welding current is increased to a predetermined peak value by means of current control from the start of arcing to a first predetermined time, the welding current is then supplied with a welding voltage, a source voltage of which is controlled constant, from the first predetermined time to a second predetermined time, and the welding current is decreased to a predetermined base current by means of current control from the second predetermined time until the end of the arcing period.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 12, 2006
    Publication date: December 25, 2008
    Applicant: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Junji Fujiwara, Yasushi Mukai, Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Masaru Kowa
  • Publication number: 20080169276
    Abstract: In a conventional consumable electrode type welding method, owing to the need of the reversing operation of a robot manipulator, an extra response time as well as acceleration and deceleration times are necessary and, at the same time, the feed speed of a welding wire is not be able to catch up with the melting speed of the welding wire to thereby extend the length of an arc, resulting in the unstable arc. In a consumable electrode type welding method according to the invention, while feeding a welding wire 1, a welding torch 4 is moved by a robot manipulator 9 in a direction where the welding torch 4 is pulled apart from a base metal 7, so that an initial arc is generated while the welding wire 1 is separated from the base metal 7. This not only can eliminate the need for the reversing operation of the robot manipulator 9 and thus can reduce the waste time to thereby be able to reduce a tact time but also can stabilize an arc in the welding start portion and thus can reduce the “unexpected stop” effectively.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2005
    Publication date: July 17, 2008
    Applicant: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasushi Mukai, Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Tatsuya Ikeda, Hiroyuki Nakata, Masaru Kowa
  • Patent number: 6555785
    Abstract: A welding condition inputting equipment capable of setting the welding conditions such as welding current and welding voltage easily and securely is disclosed. The welding condition inputting equipment comprises an operating section for inputting the welding conditions, a determining section for selecting items, and a display section for displaying selected items. When the welding conditions are input, the operating section outputs the conditions to the determining section. When the conditions are input in the determining section, the determining section selects items relating to welding corresponding to the conditions, and outputs the items to the display section. When the items are input in the display section, the display section displays the items. The operating section specifically includes a dial, a switch, and a push-in dial switch integrally combining a dial rotation detecting part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2003
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Akihiko Kitajima, Norikazu Osaki, Kunio Kubo, Koji Hamamoto, Shigeki Yonemori, Yoshiyuki Tabata
  • Publication number: 20020023721
    Abstract: A welding condition inputting equipment capable of setting the welding conditions such as welding current and welding voltage easily and securely is disclosed. The welding condition inputting equipment comprises an operating section for inputting the welding conditions, a determining section for selecting items, and a display section for displaying selected items. When the welding conditions are input, the operating section outputs the conditions to the determining section. When the conditions are input in the determining section, the determining section selects items relating to welding corresponding to the conditions, and outputs the items to the display section. When the items are input in the display section, the display section displays the items. The operating section specifically includes a dial, a switch, and a push-in dial switch integrally combining a dial rotation detecting part.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 10, 2001
    Publication date: February 28, 2002
    Inventors: Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Akihiko Kitajima, Norikazu Osaki, Kunio Kubo, Koji Hamamoto, Shigeki Yonemori, Yoshiyuki Tabata
  • Patent number: 6225597
    Abstract: When a welding voltage is lowered, a pulse period is shortened or a peak current is reduced so that an average of a pulse frequency is not changed. Therefore, short circuit is regularly generated and a quantity of generated spatter is reduced. When the welding voltage is changed immediately before a melting drop separates from a tip of a wire, separation of the melting drop is predicted and the pulse period is ended. Due to the foregoing, a melting drop is regularly shifted at each pulse, and a quantity of generated spatter is reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2001
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Koji Hamamoto, Yoshiaki Tanaka, Akira Nakagawa
  • Patent number: 6207928
    Abstract: In a consumable electrode type arc welding method, when short circuit shift welding is conducted at the start of an arc in the process of pulse arc welding and also when an inclinations of a rise or fall is decreased in the case of starting an arc in the process of pulse welding and also when an inclination of a short circuit current is increased, short circuit, which irregularly occurs at the start of an arc, can be released in a short period of time and the arc can be stabilized early. When the generation of a magnetic arc blow is suppressed, it becomes possible to form proper welding beads. Due to the foregoing, the efficiency of welding work can be enhanced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2001
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Akira Nakagawa, Yoshiaki Tanaka, Koji Hamamoto, Hidetoshi Oyama, Akiko Ueda, Toshinori Hongu, Shigeki Yonemori