Patent ID: 11931835
Assignee: LINCOLN GLOBAL, INC.
Field: Machine tools (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A pulsed arc welding system, comprising:
a welding gun having a contact tip;
a waveform generator configured to generate a pulsed welding waveform;
a power supply configured to generate a determined number of welding output pulses in response to the pulsed welding waveform;
a wire feeder configured to feed a welding wire electrode toward a workpiece through the welding gun; and
a controller, having at least one processor, programmed to control operation of the waveform generator, the power supply, and the wire feeder during a pulsed welding operation to mitigate damage to the welding gun due to tangling of the welding wire electrode by:
(a) having the waveform generator generate the pulsed welding waveform and having the power supply generate and output a series of the determined number of welding output pulses based on the pulsed welding waveform, as calculated by the controller, to form an arc between the welding wire electrode and the workpiece as the welding wire electrode is fed toward the workpiece by the wire feeder,
(b) having the power supply stop generating the determined number of welding output pulses after generating and outputting the determined number of welding output pulses while allowing the welding wire electrode to continue to be fed toward the workpiece in an attempt to electrically short to the workpiece;
(c) the controller attempting to confirm that the welding wire electrode has electrically shorted to the workpiece within a determined error time period, as calculated by the controller, after stopping generation of the determined number of welding output pulses, by the controller processing feedback information related to at least one of a welding output voltage and a welding output current received from the power supply, and
(d) repeating steps (a) through (c) if electrical shorting of the welding wire electrode has been confirmed within the determined error time period, else
the controller shutting down the pulsed arc welding system to mitigate damaging the welding gun.