Welder Apparatus and Methods
Processes of providing power to a welding wand are provided that include pulsing power from a power source to an inductor, and then providing constant power from the inductor to the welding wand.
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This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/340,904 which was filed Nov. 1, 2016, entitled “Welder Apparatus and Methods”, which claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/249,555 which was filed on Nov. 2, 2015, entitled “Welder Apparatus and Methods”, the entirety of each of which is incorporated by reference herein.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe technical field is welding apparatus and methods, particularly, battery powered and/or portable welding apparatus and methods.
BACKGROUNDFor shop work, such as automobile repair, for example, it is more and more important to be able to weld materials in an inert atmosphere utilizing welders that have constant feed wiring assemblies. It is desirable that these welders are small and/or portable and can be moved to different locations of the shop and/or transported using a vehicle to remote locations outside the shop, for example. The present disclosure provides a welder assembly that can utilize automotive type batteries and be portable to different locations while providing constant feed wiring for welding in inert locations.
Embodiments of the disclosure are described below with reference to the following accompanying drawings.
This disclosure is submitted in furtherance of the constitutional purposes of the U.S. Patent Laws “to promote the progress of science and useful arts” (Article 1, Section 8).
The welding apparatus and methods will be described with reference to
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In accordance with example implementations, these processes may be utilized in connection with the processing circuitry described. The processes may use software and/or hardware of the following combinations or types. For example, with respect to server-side languages, the circuitry may use Java, Python, PHP, .NET, Ruby, Javascript, or Dart, for example. Some other types of servers that the systems may use include Apache/PHP, .NET, Ruby, NodeJS, Java, and/or Python. Databases that may be utilized are Oracle, MySQL, SQL, NoSQL, or SQLLite (for Mobile). Client-side languages that may be used, this would be the user side languages, for example, are ASM, C, C++, C#, Java, Objective-C, Swift, Actionscript/Adobe AIR, or Javascript/HTML5. Communications between the server and client may be utilized using TCP/UDP Socket based connections, for example, as Third Party data network services that may be used include GSM, LTE, HSPA, UMTS, CDMA, WiMax, WiFi, Cable, and DSL. The hardware platforms that may be utilized within processing circuitry include embedded systems such as (Raspberry PI/Arduino), (Android, iOS, Windows Mobile)—phones and/or tablets, or any embedded system using these operating systems, i.e., cars, watches, glasses, headphones, augmented reality wear etc., or desktops/laptops/hybrids (Mac, Windows, Linux). The architectures that may be utilized for software and hardware interfaces include x86 (including x86-64), or ARM.
This processing circuitry can be configured to control the welder and be part of and also include a weld control board, FET switches, current sensor, and control potentiometers. This control can monitor the weld current and system voltage to ensure that the system is working within the established limits set in the firmware of the master control unit, which is also part of the processing circuitry. As an example, by switching the FET switches on and off, a pulsating DC current is fed to the weld inductor that generates the welding power. The processing circuitry board is also coupled to control power from the batteries to the inductor that also has a feedback loop as part of the firmware that allows for consistent power. As an example, the processing circuitry will pulse power to the inductor, but with the feedback loop, the inductor would generate a constant power. This power is generated as the inductor extends the 24 volts provided to an enhanced power.
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In operation of welding apparatus 10, gas piping can bring inert gas into the gas solenoid valve with opens and closes depending on the welding switch trigger position desired. The piping can carry gas to the wire feed mechanism, which has the piping and welding wand integrated into it as shown. There are example operating scenarios, such as turning the switch as shown on the front panel to the on position. Adjusting the wire feed and power potentiometers can change voltages to the controller. These voltages can set up duty cycles that will be used to drive the wire feed motor and the welding power. The processing circuitry can be configured to check the battery voltages to ensure that they are adequate for welding operations and can go into standby mode to wait for the trigger switch to close. When the trigger switch is closed, the controller opens the gas flow valve, and DC pulses start the wire feed motor feeding wire down the wand. Welding continues until the trigger is released, for example. According to example implementations, the main power switch can be connected between the positive side of the lower battery and the negative side of the upper battery. Closing the switch turns on 24 volt power to the system, and there is a 12 volt voltmeter that can be configured to monitor one or more of the batteries to report on system power levels. Batteries can be recharged with a 12 volt charger accessory mounted on top of the system. Current can be monitored by a current transformer on the negative bus bar, for example. Voltage can be monitored from the power supply.
In compliance with the statute, embodiments of the invention have been described in language more or less specific as to structural and methodical features. It is to be understood, however, that the entire invention is not limited to the specific features and/or embodiments shown and/or described, since the disclosed embodiments comprise forms of putting the invention into effect.
Claims
1. A process of providing power to a welding wand that includes pulsing power from a power source to an inductor, and then providing constant power from the inductor to the welding wand.
2. The process of claim 1 wherein the power is pulsed from a DC power source.
3. The process of claim 2 wherein the DC power source is a battery source.
4. The process of claim 3 wherein the battery source is a 12 V battery source.
5. The process of claim 3 wherein the battery source is a pair of 12 V batteries.
6. The process of claim 5 wherein the pair of 12V batteries are aligned in series
7. The process of claim 1 further comprising using processing circuitry to facilitate the transfer of power from the power source to the inductor and then to the wand.
8. The process of claim 1 wherein the processing circuitry provides a feedback loop as part of firmware and monitors the providing of power using the feedback loop.
9. The process of claim 1 further comprising feeding wiring to the welding wand.
10. The process of claim 1 further comprising providing gases to the welding wand.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 12, 2021
Publication Date: Jul 1, 2021
Applicant: American Innovative Manufacturing, LLC (Spokane Valley, WA)
Inventors: John Hjaltalin (Spokane Valley, WA), Michael McKinney (Kennewick, WA), Samuel Palmer (Spokane, WA)
Application Number: 17/200,571