Mobile welding system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9724789-B2
Application number	US-201414550496-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 21, 2014
Priority date	Dec 6, 2013
Publication date	Aug 8, 2017
Grant date	Aug 8, 2017

Abstract

A mobile welding system that does not rely exclusively on a track to define the path of the welder. The present invention generally provides a mobile welder adapted to move along a work piece, the mobile welder including a chassis supporting a motor assembly; a travel assembly attached to the chassis and adapted to support the chassis over a portion of the work piece, wherein the motor is coupled to the travel assembly to selectively cause the chassis to move relative to the work piece; a controller connected to the motor assembly to control movement of the chassis relative to the work piece; a chassis holder connected to the chassis, the chassis holder being adapted to provide a force holding the chassis a selected distance from the work piece; and a welder supported on the chassis, the welder including an implement adapted to perform a welding operation, wherein the implement is supported on the chassis at a location where the implement and the chassis define an uninterrupted line of sight from the implement to the work piece, wherein the chassis holder is spaced from the line of sight a distance sufficient to prevent the chassis holder from interfering with the welding operation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A mobile welder adapted to move along a work piece, the mobile welder comprising:
a chassis;
a travel assembly attached to the chassis and adapted to support the chassis over a portion of the work piece;
a motor assembly supported on the chassis and coupled to the travel assembly to selectively cause the chassis to move relative to the work piece;
a controller connected to the motor assembly to control movement of the chassis relative to the work piece;
a chassis holder connected to the chassis, the chassis holder being adapted to provide a force holding the chassis a selected distance from the work piece, wherein the chassis holder comprises at least one magnet assembly, and wherein the at least one magnet assembly includes a magnet rotatatably mounted between a ferrous material and a non-ferrous material to selectively control application of a magnetic field toward the workpiece; and
a welder supported on the chassis, the welder including an implement adapted to perform a welding operation.

2. The mobile welder of claim 1 , wherein an orientation of the magnet assembly is adjustable to accommodate the workpiece to provide a desired holding force and minimize magnetic interference with the operation of the mobile welder.

3. The mobile welder of claim 2 , wherein the at least one magnet assembly is spaced from the workpiece by a gap, wherein the at least one magnet assembly is movable to adjust the gap to produce full saturation of a magnetic field generated by the at least one magnet assembly within the workpiece.

4. The mobile welder of claim 1 , wherein the motor assembly includes four motors supported on the chassis, and the travel assembly includes four Mecanum wheels, wherein each of the wheels is coupled to one of the four motors.

5. The mobile welder of claim 1 , wherein the welding operation is selected from the group consisting of welding, brazing, soldering, coating, hardfacing, and cutting.

6. The mobile welder of claim 1 , wherein the implement is selected from the group consisting of an arc welding torch, a MIG torch, a TIG torch, a flame torch, a laser, a waterjet, and a plasma cutter.

7. The mobile welder of claim 1 , wherein the controller is in communication with a motion controller and a welder controller housed within the welder to simultaneously control motion of the chassis and operation of the implement.

8. The mobile welder of claim 7 , wherein the welder controller is connected to an implement drive that moves the implement within a plane extending outward from the welder, wherein control of operation of the implement by the controller includes controlling the implement drive to position the implement independently of the chassis.

9. The mobile welder of claim 8 , wherein the controller includes a remote controller having a first interface adapted to control motion of the chassis and a second interface adapted to control motion of the implement.

10. The mobile welder of claim 9 , wherein the first interface is a joystick, and wherein the second interface is a knob mounted on the joystick and rotatable about an axis of the joystick.

11. The mobile welder of claim 10 , wherein the implement is movable in the plane between an inner limit and an outer limit and, wherein a center point is defined between the inner and outer limit; and wherein rotation of the knob in a clockwise direction moves the center point outward and counterclockwise rotation of the knob moves the center point inward, and wherein the inner and outer limit move with the center point by operation of the knob.

12. The mobile welder of claim 1 , wherein the welder is removably attached to the chassis.

13. The mobile welder of claim 12 , wherein the chassis includes a section of track supported thereon and the welder includes a track locking assembly that removably attaches the welder to the section of track.

14. The mobile welder of claim 1 further comprising a wire feeder and wire supply supported on the chassis, the wire feeder being operatively connected to feed wire from the wire supply to the implement.

15. The mobile welder of claim 1 , wherein the at least one magnet assembly is connected to a rotatable mechanism that allows for selective tilting of the magnet assembly relative to the workpiece.

16. A mobile welder adapted to move along a work piece, the mobile welder comprising:
a chassis;
a travel assembly attached to the chassis and adapted to support the chassis over a portion of the work piece;
a motor assembly supported on the chassis and coupled to the travel assembly to selectively cause the chassis to move relative to the work piece;
a controller connected to the motor assembly to control movement of the chassis relative to the work piece;
a chassis holder connected to the chassis, the chassis holder being adapted to provide a force holding the chassis a selected distance from the work piece, the chassis holder including at least one magnet supported on the chassis and adjustable to define a gap between the magnet and the workpiece; and
a welder supported on the chassis, the welder including an implement adapted to perform a welding operation, wherein the gap is adjustable to obtain a desired holding force and minimize interference of a magnetic field from the magnet with the welding operation;
wherein the controller includes a remote controller having a first interface adapted to control motion of the chassis and a second interface adapted to control motion of the implement,
wherein the first interface is a joystick, and wherein the second interface is a knob mounted on the joystick and rotatable about an axis of the joystick.

17. The mobile welder of claim 16 , wherein the controller includes a welder controller adapted to control operation of the welder.

18. The mobile welder of claim 17 , wherein the controller is located remotely of the chassis and connected by a wired connection to provide power and control signals to the welder and the motor assembly.

19. The mobile welder of claim 16 wherein the controller includes a pendant that is located remotely of the chassis, the pendant including a welder controller, wherein the pendant is connected to the motor assembly and the welder by at least one of a wired connection and a wireless connection to provide control signals to the motor assembly and the welder.

20. The mobile welder of claim 16 , wherein the travel assembly includes four Mecanum wheels, wherein the motor assembly is adapted to selectively drive each of the four Mecanum wheels to move the chassis in at least one of a forward, backward, left, right, diagonal or curved path.

Assignees

• Lincoln Global Inc

Inventors

• Matthews William T
• Wahlen Patrick S
• Cole Stephen R
• Schlee Bruce A
• Schlee Keith L

Classifications

• B23K37/02

  Carriages for supporting the welding or cutting element · CPC title

• B23K37/0282

  Carriages forming part of a welding unit · CPC title

• B23K37/0211

  travelling on a guide member, e.g. rail, track · CPC title

• B60Y2200/60

  Industrial applications, e.g. pipe inspection vehicles · CPC title

• B60Y2200/80

  Other vehicles not covered by groups B60Y2200/10 - B60Y2200/60 · CPC title