Weld bead shaping apparatus and weld bead shaping method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9533377-B2
Application number	US-201214364571-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 11, 2012
Priority date	Dec 13, 2011
Publication date	Jan 3, 2017
Grant date	Jan 3, 2017

Abstract

A weld bead shaping apparatus including: a gouging torch for gouging an object to be shaped; a shape sensor for measuring a shape of the object; a slider apparatus and an articulated robot for driving the gouging torch and shape sensor; an image processing apparatus; and a robot controlling apparatus. The image processing apparatus includes: a shape data extracting unit extracting shape data of the object, from a measurement result obtained by the shape sensor; and a weld reinforcement shape extracting/removal depth calculating unit calculating a weld reinforcement shape of the weld bead from a difference between the shape data and a preset designated shape of the object, and calculating a removal depth by which gouging is performed, based on the weld reinforcement shape. The robot controlling apparatus controls the slider apparatus, the articulated robot, and the gouging torch based on the weld reinforcement shape and the removal depth.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A weld bead shaping apparatus comprising:
a shape data extracting unit that extracts shape data of an object to be shaped on which a weld bead existing on the object is formed, from a measurement result obtained by a shape sensor that measures a shape of the object to be shaped;
a weld reinforcement shape extracting/removal depth calculating unit that calculates a weld reinforcement shape of the weld bead from a difference between the shape data and a preset designated shape of the object to be shaped, and calculates a removal depth by which gouging is performed using a gouging torch, on a basis of the weld reinforcement shape;
a target position/torch posture calculating unit that calculates a target position and a posture of the gouging torch on a basis of the weld reinforcement shape and the removal depth;
a gouging condition calculating unit that calculates a gouging condition on the basis of the weld reinforcement shape and the removal depth;
a driving apparatus that drives the gouging torch and the object to be shaped and a controlling apparatus that controls the gouging torch, on a basis of: the target position and the posture of the gouging torch that are calculated by the target position/torch posture calculating unit; and the gouging condition calculated by the gouging condition calculating unit;
a pass sequence selecting unit that compares the shape data with the designated shape, and divides a track of the gouging in a case where there is a portion in which reinforcement of the weld bead is insufficient for the designated shape;
an inflection point/intersection point extracting unit that extracts, as an intersection point, a point at which the shape data and the designated shape intersect with each other, and extracts, as an inflection point, an apex of a valley portion of the weld bead on the shape data that is excessively reinforced with reference to the designated shape, wherein
in a case where a number of the intersection points is more than two, the pass sequence selecting unit calculates a distance between adjacent ones of the intersection points,
in a case where the distance is more than a predetermined value, the pass sequence selecting unit divides the track of the gouging, and
in a case where the distance is equal to or less than the predetermined value, the pass sequence selecting unit does not divide the track of the gouging.

2. The weld bead shaping apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an inflection point/intersection point extracting unit that extracts, as an intersection point, a point at which the shape data and the designated shape intersect with each other, and extracts, as an inflection point, an apex of a valley portion of the weld bead on the shape data that is excessively reinforced with reference to the designated shape, wherein
the weld reinforcement shape extracting/removal depth calculating unit calculates the weld reinforcement shape on a basis of a difference between the shape data and the designated shape, between adjacent ones of the intersection points or the inflection points, calculates a maximum weld reinforcement in each weld reinforcement shape, and calculates the removal depth using at least an average value of the maximum weld reinforcements.

3. The weld bead shaping apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the driving apparatus includes an articulated robot, and
the gouging torch and the shape sensor are attached to the articulated robot with a relative position therebetween being fixed.

4. The weld bead shaping apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the driving apparatus includes a slider apparatus having a plurality of shafts, and
an articulated robot is provided to any one of the shafts of the slider apparatus.

5. The weld bead shaping apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a welding torch for welding the object to be shaped on which the weld bead is formed; and
a mode switching unit that performs the welding using the welding torch in a case where the weld bead is insufficient for the designated shape.

6. The weld bead shaping apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the controlling apparatus acquires teaching data to the driving apparatus by means of an off-line teaching system.

7. The weld bead shaping apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the gouging torch is a plasma gouging torch.

8. The weld bead shaping apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the gouging torch includes a nozzle that jets plasma gas for gouging the weld bead and jets cooling gas for removing slag generated during the gouging.

9. A weld bead shaping method comprising:
a shape measuring step of measuring a shape of an object to be shaped;
a shape data extracting step of extracting shape data of the object to be shaped, on a basis of a measurement result obtained in the shape measuring step;
a weld reinforcement shape extracting/removal depth calculating step of calculating a weld reinforcement shape of a weld bead existing on the object from a difference between the shape data and a preset designated shape of the object to be shaped, and calculating a removal depth by which gouging is performed, from the weld reinforcement shape;
a target position/torch posture calculating step of calculating a target position and a posture of a gouging torch on a basis of the weld reinforcement shape and the removal depth;
a gouging condition calculating step of calculating a gouging condition on the basis of the weld reinforcement shape and the removal depth;
a controlling step of controlling a driving apparatus that drives the gouging torch for the gouging and the object to be shaped, on a basis of: the target position and the posture of the gouging torch that are calculated in the target position/torch posture calculating step; and the gouging condition calculated in the gouging condition calculating step,
a pass sequence selecting step that compares the shape data with the designated shape, and divides a track of the gouging in a case where there is a portion in which reinforcement of the weld bead is insufficient for the designated shape;
an inflection point/intersection point extracting step that extracts, as an intersection point, a point at which the shape data and the designated shape intersect with each other, and extracts, as an inflection point, an apex of a valley portion of the weld bead on the shape data that is excessively reinforced with reference to the designated shape, wherein
in a case where a number of the intersection points is more than two, the pass sequence selecting step calculates a distance between adjacent ones of the intersection points,
in a case where the distance is more than a predetermined value, the pass sequence selecting step divides the track of the gouging, and
in a case where the distance is equal to or less than the predetermined value, the pass sequence selecting step does not divide the track of the gouging.

Assignees

• Toshiba Kk

Inventors

• Hamada Takashi
• Kato Tsuyoshi
• Aoyama Kazuo

Classifications

• B23K2101/001

  Turbines · CPC title

• C21D9/505

  Cooling thereof · CPC title

• Y10S901/03

  Teaching system · CPC title

• B23K9/095

  Monitoring or automatic control of welding parameters · CPC title

• B23K9/12

  Automatic feeding or moving of electrodes or work for spot or seam welding or cutting · CPC title