Claims:WE CLAIM

1. A system for forming welds at a plurality of welding sites, with each of the plurality of welding sites having predefined welding parameters to form the weld thereat, the system comprising:
a welding arrangement comprising:
a welding torch adapted to be disposed at each of the plurality of welding sites to form the weld thereat; and
a power source disposed in electrical connection with the welding torch to provide electrical power thereto, the power source having multiple channels with each channel being independently programmable to vary the provided electrical power from the power source;
a controller coupled to the power source, the controller configured to regulate the provided electrical power to the welding torch by activating one of the multiple channels of the power source;
a machine-readable instruction associated with each of the plurality of welding sites, the machine-readable instruction providing information about the predefined welding parameters for the corresponding associated welding site of the plurality of welding sites; and
a reader in signal communication with the controller,
wherein:
the reader is configured to:
read the machine-readable instruction associated with a particular welding site, when the welding torch is disposed at the said particular welding site of the plurality of welding sites, and
transmit the corresponding information about the predefined welding parameters for the said particular welding site to the controller, and
the controller is configured to:
receive, from the reader, information about the predefined welding parameters for the said particular welding site, and
regulate the provided electrical power to the welding torch by activating a particular channel in the power source programmed to provide electric power corresponding to the predefined welding parameters for the said particular welding site.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the controller is integrated into the power source.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the controller provides a user interface to receive user inputs for programming one or more of the multiple channels independently in the power source.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the channels in the power source are programmed to provide different predefined electrical powers to the welding torch, with one or more of the predefined electrical powers mapped to one or more of the predefined welding parameters of the plurality of welding sites, and wherein the machine-readable instruction provides information about a channel identification number indicative of the particular channel mapped to provide the predefined electrical power corresponding to the predefined welding parameters for the particular welding site associated therewith.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the reader is mounted on the welding torch.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the machine-readable instruction is transmitted via a RFID transmitter mounted at the corresponding welding site, and wherein the reader includes an RFID reader.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the machine-readable instruction is in the form of one or more of a barcode and a QR code, and wherein the reader includes an optical scanner.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the machine-readable instruction is provided adjacent to the particular welding site, such that while the welding torch is disposed to initiate forming the weld at the particular welding site the reader is positioned to read the machine-readable instruction associated with the corresponding particular welding site.

9. A method for forming welds at a plurality of welding sites, with each of the plurality of welding sites having predefined welding parameters to form the weld thereat, the method comprising:
associating a machine-readable instruction with each of the plurality of welding sites, the machine-readable instruction providing information about the predefined welding parameters for the corresponding associated welding site of the plurality of welding sites;
providing a welding torch adapted to be disposed at each of the plurality of welding sites to form the weld thereat;
providing a power source disposed in electrical connection with the welding torch to provide electrical power thereto, the power source having multiple channels with each channel being independently programmable to vary the provided electrical power from the power source;
providing a controller coupled to the power source, the controller configured to regulate the provided electrical power to the welding torch by activating one of the multiple channels of the power source;
providing a reader in signal communication with the controller;
reading, by the reader, the machine-readable instruction associated with a particular welding site, when the welding torch is disposed at the said particular welding site of the plurality of welding sites;
transmitting, by the reader, the corresponding information about the predefined welding parameters for the said particular welding site to the controller;
receiving, by the controller, information about the predefined welding parameters for the said particular welding site; and
regulating, by the controller, the provided electrical power to the welding torch by activating a particular channel in the power source programmed to provide electric power corresponding to the predefined welding parameters for the said particular welding site.

10. The method according to claim 9 further comprising:
providing a user interface for the controller to receive user inputs for programming one or more of the multiple channels independently in the power source;
programming the channels in the power source, via the user interface, to provide predefined electrical powers to the welding torch, with one or more of the predefined electrical powers mapped to one or more of the predefined welding parameters of the plurality of welding sites; and
configuring the machine-readable instruction to provide information about a channel identification number indicative of the particular channel mapped to provide the predefined electrical power corresponding to the predefined welding parameters for the particular welding site associated therewith.

Description:SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FORMING WELDS AT PLURALITY OF WELDING SITES

FIELD OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE
[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to a welding machine, and more particularly to a system and a method for forming welds at a plurality of welding sites, either in a single workpiece or multiple workpieces, with each of the plurality of welding sites having predefined welding parameters to form the weld thereat.

BACKGROUND
[0002] Welding has become an indispensable technique for multiple industries, for connecting different parts/components to each other by fusion. Welding is still frequently carried out as manual work and herein requires a high degree of skill in order to achieve a high welding quality. Particularly the reproducibility of the obtained welding result is of great importance here. With a view to cost-reduction and process control, however, recourse is increasingly being made where possible to more automated forms of welding. Robotized welding in particular has become very common, especially in the automobile and pipe welding industries, and has also spread to other industries over time. Because a welding robot can be fully programmed and can position the welding torch relative to the workpiece with a high degree of precision, generally, a very high welding quality can thus be achieved with an equally high degree of reproducibility which may not be possible with manual welding.
[0003] A problem does however occur with such automated welding techniques where different components, or different sites (regions) in a single component, may require different welding parameters to form weld thereat. Herein, the welding parameters may be one or more of output voltage and output current of a power source as provided to the welding machine. Thus, it may be required to regulate the output voltage, output current, and switch the power source output ON and OFF as well as change the power source mode, to comply with the welding parameters at a particular welding site during the welding process, in order to form a proper weld thereat. This problem may also be encountered in manual welding operations, where the operator of the welding machine may either need supporting personnel to manually set the output of the power source each time as per the welding parameters of the next site where to form the weld, or the operator may need to himself/herself to leave the welding station and move to the power source to manually set the output of the power source.
[0004] Some solutions have been proposed in the art to facilitate controlling the power source of the welding machine using a remote-control device that connects to the power source, and which can be used to regulate the output voltage, current, and switch the welding power source output ON and OFF. However, such remote-control device would still require manual intervention by the operator each time the welding machine needs to be reset for a particular set of welding parameters. That is, the operator may have to switch the remote-control device, from the welding torch in hand, and further may rely on his/her experience to select the proper welding parameters via the remote-control device. This may be a nuisance for the operator of the welding machine and may result in loss of productive time.
[0005] The present disclosure has been made in view of such considerations, and it is an object of the present disclosure to provide systems and methods for forming welds at a plurality of welding sites, with each of the plurality of welding sites having predefined welding parameters to form the weld thereat, and which allows to not require any manual intervention on part of the operator of the welding machine for setting outputs of the power source in consideration of the predefined welding parameters at a particular welding site.

SUMMARY
[0006] In an aspect, a system for forming welds at a plurality of welding sites, with each of the plurality of welding sites having predefined welding parameters to form the weld thereat, is disclosed. The system comprises a welding arrangement. The welding arrangement comprises a welding torch adapted to be disposed at each of the plurality of welding sites to form the weld thereat. The welding arrangement also comprises a power source disposed in electrical connection with the welding torch to provide electrical power thereto. The power source has multiple channels with each channel being independently programmable to vary the provided electrical power from the power source. The system also comprises a controller coupled to the power source. The controller is configured to regulate the provided electrical power to the welding torch by activating one of the multiple channels of the power source. The system further comprises a machine-readable instruction associated with each of the plurality of welding sites. The machine-readable instruction provides information about the predefined welding parameters for the corresponding associated welding site of the plurality of welding sites. The system further comprises a reader in signal communication with the controller. Herein, the reader is configured to read the machine-readable instruction associated with a particular welding site, when the welding torch is disposed at the said particular welding site of the plurality of welding sites, and transmit the corresponding information about the predefined welding parameters for the said particular welding site to the controller. Further, the controller is configured to receive, from the reader, information about the predefined welding parameters for the said particular welding site, and regulate the provided electrical power to the welding torch by activating a particular channel in the power source programmed to provide electric power corresponding to the predefined welding parameters for the said particular welding site.
[0007] In one or more embodiments, the controller is integrated into the power source.
[0008] In one or more embodiments, the controller provides a user interface to receive user inputs for programming one or more of the multiple channels independently in the power source.
[0009] In one or more embodiments, the channels in the power source are programmed to provide different predefined electrical powers to the welding torch, with one or more of the predefined electrical powers mapped to one or more of the predefined welding parameters of the plurality of welding sites. Herein, the machine-readable instruction provides information about a channel identification number indicative of the particular channel mapped to provide the predefined electrical power corresponding to the predefined welding parameters for the particular welding site associated therewith.
[0010] In an embodiment, the reader is mounted on the welding torch.
[0011] In an embodiment, the machine-readable instruction is transmitted via a RFID transmitter mounted at the corresponding welding site. Herein, the reader includes an RFID reader.
[0012] In another embodiment, the machine-readable instruction is in the form of one or more of a barcode and a QR code. Herein, the reader includes an optical scanner.
[0013] In one or more embodiments, the machine-readable instruction is provided adjacent to the particular welding site, such that while the welding torch is disposed to initiate forming the weld at the particular welding site the reader is positioned to read the machine-readable instruction associated with the corresponding particular welding site.
[0014] In another aspect, a method for forming welds at a plurality of welding sites, with each of the plurality of welding sites having predefined welding parameters to form the weld thereat, is disclosed. The method comprises associating a machine-readable instruction with each of the plurality of welding sites, the machine-readable instruction providing information about the predefined welding parameters for the corresponding associated welding site of the plurality of welding sites. The method further comprises providing a welding torch adapted to be disposed at each of the plurality of welding sites to form the weld thereat. The method further comprises providing a power source disposed in electrical connection with the welding torch to provide electrical power thereto, the power source having multiple channels with each channel being independently programmable to vary the provided electrical power from the power source. The method further comprises providing a controller coupled to the power source, the controller configured to regulate the provided electrical power to the welding torch by activating one of the multiple channels of the power source. The method further comprises providing a reader in signal communication with the controller. The method further comprises reading, by the reader, the machine-readable instruction associated with a particular welding site, when the welding torch is disposed at the said particular welding site of the plurality of welding sites. The method further comprises transmitting, by the reader, the corresponding information about the predefined welding parameters for the said particular welding site to the controller. The method further comprises receiving, by the controller, information about the predefined welding parameters for the said particular welding site. The method further comprises regulating, by the controller, the provided electrical power to the welding torch by activating a particular channel in the power source programmed to provide electric power corresponding to the predefined welding parameters for the said particular welding site.
[0015] In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises providing a user interface for the controller to receive user inputs for programming one or more of the multiple channels independently in the power source.
[0016] In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises programming the channels in the power source to provide predefined electrical powers to the welding torch, with one or more of the predefined electrical powers mapped to one or more of the predefined welding parameters of the plurality of welding sites; and configuring the machine-readable instruction to provide information about a channel identification number indicative of the particular channel mapped to provide the predefined electrical power corresponding to the predefined welding parameters for the particular welding site associated therewith.
[0017] The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0018] For a more complete understanding of example embodiments of the present disclosure, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates a diagrammatic perspective view representation of a system being exemplary implemented for forming welds at a plurality of welding sites, with each of the plurality of welding sites having predefined welding parameters to form the weld thereat, in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0020] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram representation of the system of FIG. 1, in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0021] FIG. 3 illustrates a diagrammatic perspective view representation of an exemplary implementation of a reader to read a machine-readable instruction associated with a particular welding site in the system of FIG. 1, in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0022] FIG. 4A illustrates a diagrammatic perspective view representation of a welding torch with a reader mounted thereon for the system of FIG. 1, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0023] FIG. 4B illustrates a diagrammatic perspective view representation of a welding torch with a reader mounted thereon for the system of FIG. 1, in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; and
[0024] FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart listing steps involved in a method for forming welds at a plurality of welding sites, with each of the plurality of welding sites having predefined welding parameters to form the weld thereat, in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0025] In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to these specific details.
[0026] Reference in this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. The appearance of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Further, the terms “a” and “an” herein do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced items. Moreover, various features are described which may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others. Similarly, various requirements are described which may be requirements for some embodiments but not for other embodiments.
[0027] Furthermore, in the following detailed description of the present disclosure, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be understood that the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the present disclosure.
[0028] Embodiments described herein may be discussed in the general context of computer-executable instructions residing on some form of computer-readable storage medium, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable storage media may comprise non-transitory computer-readable storage media and communication media; non-transitory computer-readable media include all computer-readable media except for a transitory, propagating signal. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.
[0029] Some portions of the detailed description that follows are presented and discussed in terms of a process or method. Although steps and sequencing thereof are disclosed in figures herein describing the operations of this method, such steps and sequencing are exemplary. Embodiments are well suited to performing various other steps or variations of the steps recited in the flowchart of the figure herein, and in a sequence other than that depicted and described herein.
[0030] Some portions of the detailed descriptions that follow are presented in terms of procedures, logic blocks, processing, and other symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. In the present application, a procedure, logic block, process, or the like, is conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps or instructions leading to a desired result. The steps are those utilizing physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, although not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated in a computer system. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as transactions, bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, samples, pixels, or the like.
[0031] Referring now to FIG. 1, illustrated is a diagrammatic perspective view representation of a system 100 for forming welds at a plurality of welding sites, with each of the plurality of welding sites having predefined welding parameters to form the weld thereat, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. In particular, FIG. 1 provides an exemplary implementation of the system 100 for forming welds at two welding sites, namely a first welding site 102 and a second welding site 104. Although, the two welding sites 102, 104 are shown, it may be contemplated that more than two welding sites may be there without any limitations. In an example, as shown in FIG. 1, each of the two welding sites 102, 104 may include a set of parts, or two or more components, which may be needed to be welded together. Herein, the two welding sites 102, 104 are, respectively, supported at two welding fixtures, namely a first welding fixture 106 and a second welding fixture 108 which, in turn, may be mounted on a workbench 110 or the like. In the present example, the two welding sites 102, 104 may have different welding parameters (as described later in more detail) to form weld thereat. In another example, the two welding sites 102, 104 may be different regions/areas in a single component, such as a pipe or the like. For example, in manufacturing of a pipe, a sheet may be folded to form the shape of a cylindrical pipe, which may then be welded at seam thereof; and herein the welding sites may include ends of the seam, and middle portion of the seam which may have different welding parameters as compared to the said ends of the seam.
[0032] FIG. 1 further provides a welding arrangement 112 implemented for forming the welds at the two welding sites 102, 104. FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram representation of the system 100 with the welding arrangement 112, in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 in combination, as shown, the welding arrangement 112 includes a welding torch 114 adapted to be disposed at each of the plurality of welding sites, such as the two welding sites 102, 104, to form the weld thereat. The welding arrangement 112 further includes a power source 116 disposed in electrical connection with the welding torch 114 to provide electrical power thereto. In the present examples, the power source 116 is a dedicated power source for the welding arrangement 112. Herein, the welding torch 114 defines the location of the welding operation with respect to the welding sites 102, 104; and the power source 116 converts incoming AC power (as typically supplied from the power grid) to an appropriate DC power for a welding operation. A welding cable 118 is coupled between the power source 116 and the welding torch 114 to transfer the electric current from the power source 116 to the welding torch 114.
[0033] In the welding arrangement 112, the placement of the welding torch 114 at a location proximate to any of the welding sites 102, 104 allows electrical current provided by the power source 116 to be delivered to the welding torch 114 via the welding cable 118. Although not shown, the welding torch 114 conducts electrical current to a consumable wire electrode via a contact tip located in a neck assembly therein, leading to arcing between the egressing wire electrode and the respective welding site 102, 104. This resulting arc completes an electrical circuit including with the power source 116, welding cable 118, welding torch 114, wire electrode (not shown), the respective welding site 102, 104, and ground, typically at the power source 116. The arcing generates a relatively large amount of heat causing the workpiece at the respective welding site 102, 104 and/or the filler metal of the electrode to transition to a molten state, thereby facilitating the weld. Such operations may be contemplated by a person skilled in the art and thus have not been described in detail herein for the brevity of the present disclosure.
[0034] In the welding arrangement 112, the power source 116 may be designed to run in one of a number of modes including constant voltage and constant current. In particular, the power source 116 is designed to condition raw power supplied from a utility line or engine driven power supply and output power usable by the welding process. As such, the power source 116 includes one or more transformer assemblies (not shown) to condition the raw power. The output of the power source 116 is generally controlled by associated operational circuitry that regulates the secondary or output side of the power conditioning components. As such, the power source 116 may be initially powered but not provide a welding output until the secondary power circuit is energized through the closing of a high current DC contactor or other switching assembly. As discussed, the power source 116 is regulated such that a secondary or welding power output is provided when the welding torch 114 is activated, signalling commencement of the welding process. That is, in this regard, a welding circuit is not created between the welding torch 114 and the power source 116, until the welding torch 114 is activated and is placed in relative proximity with the respective welding site 102, 104.
[0035] In one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the power source 116 has multiple channels (not shown). Herein, as per the embodiments, each channel is independently programmable to vary the provided electrical power from the power source 116. In one example, the channels in the power source 116 may utilize switching transistors, with the base of the switching transistors being driven by a pair of metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (FETs, like MOSFETs as known in the art). The FETs have their source terminals tied together to the base of the main switching transistor. The gates of each of the FETs have independently adjustable impedances connected between them and the source of a pulse width modulated control signal for controlling the output of the power source 116. Thereby, each channel in the power source 116 enables varying the provided electrical power from the power source 116. In particular, each channel allows to provide different output voltage and different output current from the power source 116 which, as discussed later in more detail, may be required to cater to different welding parameters for the different welding sites, such as the two welding sites 102, 104.
[0036] Herein, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the two welding sites 102, 104 may have predefined welding parameters to form the weld thereat. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, in one or more examples, the predefined welding parameters for the first welding site 102 may be different than the predefined welding parameters for the second welding site 104. In some other examples, the predefined welding parameters for the first welding site 102 may be same as the predefined welding parameters for the second welding site 104 without any limitations. In the present examples, the welding parameters may include one or more of output voltage and output current of the power source 116 as provided to the welding torch 114. As may be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that it may be required to regulate the output voltage, output current, and switch the power source 116 ON and OFF as well as change mode of the power source 116, to comply with the welding parameters at a particular welding site, such as the two welding sites 102, 104, during the welding process, in order to form a proper weld thereat. In the present embodiments, the channels in the power source 116 are programmed to provide different predefined electrical powers to the welding torch 114, with one or more of the predefined electrical powers mapped to one or more of the predefined welding parameters of the plurality of welding sites, such as the two welding sites 102, 104, thus enabling to form the proper welds thereat.
[0037] In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the system 100 further includes a controller 120 coupled to the power source 116. Herein, the controller 120 is configured to regulate the provided electrical power to the welding torch 114 by activating one of the multiple channels of the power source 116. That is, by changing the active channel of the power source 116, the controller 120 is able to regulate any one or more of the output voltage and the output current from the power source 116 as being supplied to the welding torch 114, in the welding arrangement 112. Thus it may be appreciated that with the present welding arrangement 112, it may be possible to adapt the power source 116 as per the welding parameters of a particular welding site, such as the two welding sites 102, 104, during the welding process, in order to form a proper weld thereat. In one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the controller 120 is integrated into the power source 116. That is, the controller 120 may form part of or integrated into a housing of the power source 116, rather than being an external controller and, in turn, coupled to the power source 116.
[0038] As used herein, the term “controller” generically includes the known types of analog and digital logic control implementations that can be used to implement a control circuit for the power source 116, and may refer to circuit implementations utilizing such circuits for transforming an electrical signal in accordance with a mathematical operation or algorithm. Persons skilled in the control system art may recognize that such controller 120 can be implemented with analog or digital circuits and combinations of them. The mathematical operations of the controller 120 may be implemented with any of a variety of commercially available microprocessors, microcontrollers or other computing circuits. As known in the current state of the art, analog circuit and mathematical operations can be economically performed by software programmed digital circuits having software algorithms that simulate analog circuit operations and perform mathematical operations. Many of these operations can be performed by discrete logic, programmable logic array (PLA), programmable gate array (PGA) or digital signal processor (DSP) implementations, as well as by microprocessors or microcontrollers.
[0039] In some embodiments, the controller 120 provides a user interface (schematically shown with the numeral 122 in FIG. 2). The user interface 122 is used to receive user inputs for programming one or more of the multiple channels independently in the power source 116. Herein, the user interface 122 may be accessed by a user, such as an operator of the welding arrangement 112, beforehand to configure the power source 116 for different welding parameters to be implemented during the welding operation for forming the welds at a particular welding site, such as the two welding sites 102, 104. As may be appreciated this may simplify the welding operation later-on, as the operator of the welding arrangement 112 may simply select the appropriate channel which is preconfigured to provide output voltage and/or output current based on the defined welding parameters at a particular welding site. In one example, the user interface 122 may be in the form of graphical user interface which may be accessed by the user, using a computing device or the like connected to the controller 120. In another example, the user interface 122 may be in the form of a keypad or the like, which may be mounted on the housing of the power source 116 itself and accessible from outside to the user, to provide user inputs for programming of the various channels therein.
[0040] Further, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the system 100 includers a machine-readable instruction 124 associated with each of the plurality of welding sites, such as the two welding sites 102, 104. Herein, the machine-readable instruction 124 provides information about the predefined welding parameters for the corresponding associated welding site of the plurality of welding sites, such as the two welding sites 102, 104. That is, the machine-readable instruction 124 may have the information about the welding parameters required for a particular welding site, embedded therein. The term “machine-readable instruction”, as used herein, is a set of digital instructions which may be read by a machine, such as an algorithm, a program, code, software, and the like. The term “machine-readable instruction” is employed herein in a generic sense to refer to any type of machine code or set of machine-executable instructions that may be employed to cause a machine (e.g., a computer or another type of processor) to implement the various examples described herein.
[0041] As discussed, the channels in the power source 116 are programmed to provide different predefined electrical powers to the welding torch 114, with one or more of the predefined electrical powers mapped to one or more of the predefined welding parameters of the plurality of welding sites, such as the two welding sites 102, 104. Herein, the machine-readable instruction 124 provides information about a channel identification number indicative of the particular channel mapped to provide the predefined electrical power corresponding to the predefined welding parameters for the particular welding site associated therewith. The information to be communicated is related to the power source 116 and includes welding power source output command information (amperage/voltage control), welding circuit on/off information (power source output contactor control), and power source mode control (constant voltage/constant current).
[0042] In one embodiment, the machine-readable instruction 124 is in the form of a radio signal or RF signal. The term "radio signal" or “RF signal” as used herein means all signal forms which are suitable for the implementation of the present invention. Such machine-readable instruction 124 may be transmitted via a RFID transmitter 124a (as shown in FIG. 1) mounted at the corresponding welding site, such as the two welding sites 102, 104. In another embodiment, the machine-readable instruction 124 is in the form of one or more of a barcode and a QR code. As used in the present disclosure, the term “barcode” refers to 1d or 2d barcode, colour barcode, or more generally, any machine-readable symbology that contains information. Further, the term “QR code,” as used herein, encompasses, in particular, any data matrix code, and is a two-dimensional code, which usually consists of a square or rectangular matrix with coloured dots, and thus represents encoded data in binary form. That is, in the present embodiment, the machine-readable instruction 124 typically refers to the machine-readable symbology in printed or displayed form. It should be appreciated that embodiments of the present disclosure can utilize any unique or substantially unique form of image-based identification. For instance, pictures, graphical codes, bitmaps, matrix barcodes, Micro QR codes, combinations thereof, and the like can be used in substitution of the barcode or the QR code as described herein, without departing from the spirit and the scope of the present disclosure. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 3, the machine-readable instruction 124 has been depicted in the form of a QR code 124b.
[0043] In one or more embodiments, the system 100 further includes a reader 126. The reader 126 may generally be associated with the welding torch 114. In the present embodiments, the reader 126 is mounted on the welding torch 114. Such arrangement allows that the reader 126 moves with the welding torch 114, and as the welding torch 114 is disposed at a particular welding site, such as any one of the two welding sites 102, 104, the reader 126 may also be disposed at the same welding site. As discussed, the machine-readable instruction 124 is provided at the welding site, such as the two welding sites 102, 104. Specifically, the machine-readable instruction 124 is placed adjacent to the particular welding site, say the welding site 102, where the weld is to be formed, such that while the welding torch 114 is disposed to initiate forming the weld at the particular welding site 102, the reader 126 is positioned to read the machine-readable instruction 124 associated with the corresponding particular welding site 102. This allows that when the welding operation is initiated at a particular welding site, the information about the predefined welding parameters for the corresponding welding site is pre-read by the reader 126. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1 in which the machine-readable instruction 124 is shown to be provided by the RFID transmitter 124a, the reader 126 is in the form of a RFID transmitter 126a; and in the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 3 in which the machine-readable instruction 124 is shown as the QR code 124b, the reader 126 is in the form of a QR code optical reader 126b (such as a mobile camera). In alternate embodiments, the reader 126 may be separate from the welding torch 114 without departing from the spirt and the scope of the present disclosure. In such case, it may be contemplated that an operator may hold the reader 126 in another hand (or in the same hand next to the welding torch 114) when reading the machine-readable instruction 124.
[0044] In another embodiment, the welding arrangement 112 may include robotic arm (not shown) and the welding torch 114 may be mounted on the robotic arm which may be configured to move the welding torch 114 to each of the plurality of welding sites, such as the two welding sites 102, 104, first to be in position to read the machine-readable instruction 124 associated with the particular welding site, and subsequently to be in position to initiate forming the weld at the corresponding particular welding site. In such embodiment, the welding site, such as the two welding sites 102, 104, may include proximity sensors (not shown) to assist the robotic arm with corresponding proximity sensor reader to adjust its position to be disposed to cause the reader to read the machine-readable instruction 124 associated with the particular welding site. In yet another embodiment, one or more of the plurality of welding sites, such as the two welding sites 102, 104, are disposed in a workpiece (such as, a pipe to be welded), and the welding arrangement 112 may include a positioning apparatus (not shown) configured to move and/or rotate the workpiece, in order to position the said one or more of the plurality of welding sites to face the welding torch 114 to allow for forming the weld thereat. Other similar arrangements may be contemplated by a person skilled in the art and thus not described herein for the brevity of the present disclosure.
[0045] In the present embodiments, the reader 126 is configured to read the machine-readable instruction 124 associated with a particular welding site, such as the two welding sites 102, 104, when the welding torch 114 is disposed at the said particular welding site. FIG. 3 illustrates a diagrammatic perspective view representation of an exemplary implementation of the reader 126 to read the machine-readable instruction 124 associated with the first welding site 102, in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, in which the machine-readable instruction 124 is transmitted via a RFID transmitter mounted at the corresponding welding site, the reader 126 includes an RFID reader (as shown in FIG. 4A). In another embodiment, in which the machine-readable instruction 124 is in the form of one or more of a barcode and a QR code, the reader 126 includes an optical scanner (as shown in FIG. 4B). Herein, the optical scanner may be a camera or the like. It may generally be contemplated that the reader 126 may be selected based on the type of the machine-readable instruction 124 being associated with the welding site. Herein, the reader 126 is disposed in signal communication with the controller 120. The reader 126 may be disposed in signal communication with the controller 120 by wired or wireless means without any limitations. In case of wired means, such a wire (not shown) may be part of the welding cable 118, for example, in the same sheath as the welding cable 118, or running along therewith. For wireless means, the reader 126 may employ any suitable wireless standard, such as, but not limited to, WIFI, Bluetooth®, Bluetooth Low Energy® (BLE) or the like.
[0046] In the present system 100, the reader 126 is configured to read the machine-readable instruction 124 associated with a particular welding site, when the welding torch 114 is disposed at the said particular welding site of the plurality of welding sites. In other words, when the welding torch 114 is disposed at a particular welding site, such as any of the two welding sites 102, 104, say the welding site 102, to initiate forming the weld thereat, the reader 126 is so placed to read the machine-readable instruction 124 associated with the corresponding welding site 102. The reader 126 then transmits the corresponding information about the predefined welding parameters for the said particular welding site 102 to the controller 120. Herein, the controller 120 is configured to receive, from the reader 126, information about the predefined welding parameters for the said particular welding site 102. The controller 120 is then configured to regulate the provided electrical power to the welding torch 114 by activating a particular channel in the power source 116 programmed to provide electric power corresponding to the predefined welding parameters for the said particular welding site 102.
[0047] The present disclosure further provides a method for forming welds at a plurality of welding sites, with each of the plurality of welding sites having predefined welding parameters to form the weld thereat. FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart 500 listing steps involved in the present method for forming welds at a plurality of welding sites, with each of the plurality of welding sites having predefined welding parameters to form the weld thereat. It may be appreciated that the teachings of the system 100, as described above, may apply mutatis mutandis to the method as described herein below.
[0048] At step 502, the method includes associating a machine-readable instruction with each of the plurality of welding sites, the machine-readable instruction providing information about the predefined welding parameters for the corresponding associated welding site of the plurality of welding sites. At step 504, the method includes providing a welding torch adapted to be disposed at each of the plurality of welding sites to form the weld thereat. At step 506, the method includes providing a power source disposed in electrical connection with the welding torch to provide electrical power thereto, the power source having multiple channels with each channel being independently programmable to vary the provided electrical power from the power source. At step 508, the method includes providing a controller coupled to the power source, the controller configured to regulate the provided electrical power to the welding torch by activating one of the multiple channels of the power source. At step 510, the method includes providing a reader in signal communication with the controller. At step 512, the method includes reading, by the reader, the machine-readable instruction associated with a particular welding site, when the welding torch is disposed at the said particular welding site of the plurality of welding sites. At step 514, the method includes transmitting, by the reader, the corresponding information about the predefined welding parameters for the said particular welding site to the controller. At step 516, the method includes receiving, by the controller, information about the predefined welding parameters for the said particular welding site. At step 518, the method includes regulating, by the controller, the provided electrical power to the welding torch by activating a particular channel in the power source programmed to provide electric power corresponding to the predefined welding parameters for the said particular welding site.
[0049] The system 100 and the method (as represented by the flowchart 500) of the present disclosure, thus, allows to form welds at a plurality of welding sites, with each of the plurality of welding sites having predefined welding parameters to form the weld thereat, without requiring any manual intervention on part of the operator of the welding machine for setting outputs of the power source in consideration of the predefined welding parameters at a particular welding site. The operator may simply move the welding torch 114 to the desired welding site to cause the reader 126 to read the machine-readable instruction 124 associated with the corresponding welding site, which in turn cause the controller 120 to set the required welding parameters, corresponding to the particular welding site, for the power source 116. This results in reduced hassle for the operator of the welding apparatus 112, significantly reduced possible human-error on part of the operator, and further leads to increased productive time.
[0050] The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present disclosure to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The exemplary embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the present disclosure and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the present disclosure and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.