Abstract:
A contol apparatus for a single-phase full-wave resistance welder in which anti-parallel connected thyristors are connected in series with a primary winding of a welding transformer and which controls a firing phase θn of the thyristors to adjust a welding current, includes storage means for calculating and storing a square sum SK in such a manner that a sinusoidal value VK=K0sinθK having a given peak value is divided at predetermined phase intervals (1°) within a predetermined phase range (180°), and the square sum SK=V1 2  +V2 2  +V3 2  +. . . VK 2  of the sinusoidal value VK with respect to each phase θK is calculated in units of divided phases θK (θK=1°, 2°, 3°, . . . , 180°) in advance, and Vx calculating means for reading out square sums Sn and Sm of the firing phase θn and energization end phase θm from the storage means and calculating a normalized effective value Vx of an effective voltage applied to the welding transformer.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a control apparatus of resistance welders and, more particularly, to a control apparatus of resistance welders, which can improve voltage control precision of single-phase full-wave resistance welders using a thyristor. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Resistance welders are also called a &#34;spot welder&#34;, and are widely used in general industrial applications such as an assembly line of a vehicle. Of the resistance welders, a single-phase full-wave resistance welder is of most popular type. 
     The single-phase full-wave resistance welder controls a primary voltage applied to a welding transformer using a switching element such as a thyristor, thereby controlling a secondary current of the welding transformer, i.e., a welding current. 
     As a control system, a current control system wherein a primary or secondary current of the welding transformer is fed back and a voltage control system wherein a voltage applied to a primary side of the welding transformer is fed back are known. 
     The current control system allows high-precision welding current control but requires a current detector such as a current transformer, search coil, and the like, resulting in an expensive system. In this case, when the welding transformer has two or more guns, if there is a gun through which no welding current flows, a current flowing through the remaining gun is increased accordingly. Meanwhile, the voltage control system cannot achieve high-precision welding current control but is inexpensive and economical. 
     FIG. 2A shows a waveform when a power supply voltage is represented by v, a primary current of the welding transformer is represented by i, and firing angle θn is 90° in the single-phase full-wave resistance welder. 
     Since the welding transformer has a power factor&lt;1, current i is monotonously increased from zero to θn, and is then monotonously decreased and returns to zero at θm, thus completing half-cycle energization. In the next half cycle, a similar current flows in an opposite polarity. A power supply voltage indicated by hatching in the range of θn to θm is applied to the welding transformer in a half-cycle energization interval. 
     In the voltage control system, the voltage of the hatched portion is detected and fed back every half cycle. 
     When the voltage of the hatched portion is detected at every given sampling time to obtain an effective value, since initial and end values of this voltage are not zero, a detection error is generated depending on sampling start and end timings. If a sampling period is shortened, the detection error can be eliminated. However, if another control, monitoring, and the like are performed together, processing capacity of a microcomputer of a control apparatus is exceeded. As a result, a plurality of microcomputers are necessary, resulting in an expensive system. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is a first object of the present invention to provide a control apparatus of resistance welders, which can reduce a processing load on a microcomputer and can precisely detect an effective voltage applied to a welding transformer in a predetermined sampling period at high speed. It is a second object of the present invention to provide a control apparatus of resistance welders, which can realize an inexpensive high-precision voltage control system, and can display a use rate of the welding transformer. 
     The control apparatus of the present invention is applied to, e.g., a single-phase full-wave resistance welder in which anti-parallel coupled thyristors are connected in series with a primary winding of a welding transformer, and firing phase θn of each thyristor is controlled to adjust a welding current. In this control apparatus, a given phase range of sinusoidal value VK=K0 sinθK having a given peak value is divided in units of phases θK at predetermined phase intervals, and square sum SK=V1 2  +V2 2  +V2 2  +. . . VK 2  of the sinusoidal values VK with respect to the phases θK is calculated in advance. The calculated square sum SK is stored in a storage means. Square sums Sn(=V1 2  +. . . Vn 2 ) and Sm(=V1 2  +. . . Vm 2 ) of firing phase θn and energization end phase θ m  of the thyristors are read out from the storage means. On the basis of θn and θm, normalized effective value Vx of an effective voltage applied to the welding transformer is calculated by a first calculating means. 
     The control apparatus of the present invention can comprise the following arrangement. Voltage v of an AC power supply is detected by a voltage detection means. Based on detected voltage v, effective voltage Vrms of the AC power supply is calculated by a calculating means. Based on the effective voltage Vrms and the normalized effective value Vx, effective voltage Vt applied to the welding transformer is calculated by a second calculating means. Based on the effective value Vx, use rate P of the welding transformer is calculated by a third calculating means. The use rate P is displayed on a display means. Furthermore, effective current Irms of the welding transformer is detected by a current detection means. 
     In the above arrangement, immediately after half-cycle energization of voltage v is completed, the first calculating means executes the following arithmetic operation to calculate value Vx: 
     
         Vx=K1·√S180-Sn+Sm 
    
     (where K1 and S180 are constants) 
     The second calculating means executes the following arithmetic operation on the basis of the calculated value Vx and separately calculated effective voltage Vrms of the AC power supply so as to calculate effective voltage Vt applied to the welding transformer: 
     
         Vt=Vrms·Vx/V180 
    
     (where V180 is a constant) 
     The third calculating means executes the following arithmetic operation on the basis of Vx to calculate use rate P of the welding transformer: 
     
         P=100Vx/V180 
    
     The use rate P is externally displayed by the display means. 
     Effective voltage Vt and effective current Irms calculated as described above are used for voltage control and current control as feedback signals. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment according to the present invention; 
     FIGS. 2A and 2B are waveform charts for explaining the operation of the present invention; and 
     FIGS. 3A and 3B are flow charts showing examples of processing sequences of a calculating means used in the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIG. 1. 
     In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes anti-parallel connected thyristors; 2, a welding transformer; 3, a current transformer for detecting a primary current of welding transformer 2; 4, a voltage detector for detecting a power supply voltage of AC power supply 100 and outputting signal v; and 5, a voltage detector for detecting thyristor terminal voltage (anode-cathode voltage) Vth. Reference numeral 6 denotes a control unit for calculating and outputting firing phase θn; 7, a latch for latching phase θn output from control unit 8, a clock pulse generator for generating clock pulses CP having a given frequency; 9, a phase counter for counting clock pulses CP and outputting phase data θ(t) of voltage v; 10, a comparator for comparing output θ(t) of counter 9 with phase θn; and 11, a pulse amplifier (PA). Reference numeral 12 denotes a zero-voltage detector for outputting pulses P12 every time voltage v detected by voltage detector 4 becomes zero. Reference numeral 13 denotes a current detector for outputting signal i having a voltage proportional to secondary current i3 of current transformer 3. Reference numerals 14 and 15 denote A/D converters for converting analog signals v and i into corresponding digital signals Dv and Di; 16, a Vrms calculator for calculating effective value Vrms of a sinusoidal power supply voltage; and 17, an Irms calculator for calculating effective value Irms of a sinusoidal current. Reference numeral 18 denotes a data table (storage means) storing normalization data (to be described later); 19, a Vx calculator for calculating normalized effective voltage Vx applied to the welding transformer on the basis of firing phase angle θn and energization end phase angle θm (to be described later) using the normalization data; 20, a Vt calculator for calculating effective voltage Vt applied to the welding transformer on the basis of Vrms and Vx; 21, a P calculator for calculating use rate P of the welding transformer on the basis of Vx; and 22, a display for displaying the use rate P. 
     In the above arrangement, count value θ(t) of phase counter 9 is counted up in synchronism with pulses CP output from clock pulse generator 8. Counter 9 is reset to zero in response to output P12 of zero-voltage detector 12, and outputs phase signal θ(t) synchronous with a power supply voltage. 
     Control unit 6 receives control target value Ref, and effective voltage Vt or effective current Irms of the welding transformer is fed back thereto. Control unit 6 calculates firing angle θn in accordance with these signals Ref and Vt (or Irms), and writes it in latch 7. Comparator 10 outputs pulse P10 when phase signal θ(t) coincides with firing angle θn. Pulse P10 is supplied to thyristors 1 through pulse amplifier 11. Thyristors 1 are fired in response to output pulse P11 of amplifier 11. 
     Control unit 6 is arranged to selectively respond to one of voltage control feedback signal Vrms and current control feedback signal Irms. 
     The principal part of this invention is a part for calculating effective voltage Vt of welding transformer 2 using normalized data, and will be described below. 
     Table 1 below shows an example of normalization data stored in data table 18. This example shows instantaneous value VK obtained by normalizing phase angle θK in units of 1° within the range of 1° to 180° and square sum SK calculated in advance (K=1 to 180, and in this case, K=θK). VK is an integer part of 255 sinθK in the case of 8 bits. However, VK is not stored as data but is presented for the sake of descriptive convenience. Square sum SK is a sum of squares of instantaneous values VK, and values given by the following equations are calculated and stored in advance: 
     
         S1=V1.sup.2, S2=S1+V2.sup.2 S3=S2+V3.sup.2, . . . 
    
     
         SK=S(K-1)+VK.sup.2, . . . , S180=S179+V180.sup.2 
    
     
                       TABLE 1______________________________________Index   Phase Angle  Instantaneous                           Square Sum(K)     (θK)   Value (VK) (SK)______________________________________1       1            4          162       2            8          803       3            13         24989      89           254        2,879,52690      90           255        2,944,55191      91           254        3,009,067177     177          13         5,823,997178     178          8          5,824,061179     179          4          5,824,077180     180          0          5,824,077______________________________________ 
    
     Note that when calculating portions (6, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21), in FIG. 1 are constituted by an RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) type high-speed MPU, square sums SK in Table 1 may be calculated in real time. In this case, SK need not be calculated in advance. 
     Vx calculator 19 fetches firing phase angle data θn, and monitors detection signal Vth of a thyristor terminal voltage (anode-cathode voltage). Vx calculator 19 detects energization end phase angle θm on the basis of phase signal θ(t) upon a change in Vth generated in a turn-off state. Thereafter, calculator 19 reads out square sums Sn(=S(n-1)+Vn 2 ) and Sm(=S(m-1)+Vm 2 ) from data table 18, and executes an arithmetic operation given by equation (1): 
     
         Vx=K1.·√S180-Sn+Sm                         (1) 
    
     (where K1 and S180 are constants) 
     Calculated value Vx means a normalized effective voltage applied to the welding transformer. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2B, if θm *  =θm-180°, voltage waveform W1 between phase angles 180° and θm is equal to waveform W2 between phases 0° and θm * . An effective voltage between θn and θm is equal to a sum effective voltage of voltages between 0° to θm* and between θn and 180°. Since phase counter 9 is reset to zero every 180° (half cycle of v), the value of energization end phase angle θm is detected as θm * . Therefore, immediately after energization to transformer 2 is completed, data table 18 is accessed to calculate Vx in a short period of time. 
     FIG. 3A shows a processing sequence for calculating normalized effective voltage Vx. 
     First, Vx calculator 19 shown in FIG. 1 comprising, e.g., a microcomputer, reads firing phase angle data θn from data table 18 (step S11). 
     Calculator 19 receives terminal voltage Vth of thyristors 1 detected by voltage detector 5. When voltage Vth is a small value corresponding to the ON voltage of thyristors 1 (YES in step S12) and thereafter becomes sufficiently larger than the ON voltage of thyristors 1 (YES in step S13), calculator 19 reads data θ(t) from phase counter 9 (step S14). 
     Calculator 19 refers to data table 18 having the content as shown in Table 1 using data θm and θ(t) obtained until step S14, thus obtaining square sums Sn and Sm (step S15). When square sums Sn and Sm are obtained, calculator 19 performs a calculation of equation (1) (step S16) and outputs normalized effective voltage Vx. 
     On the other hand, effective voltage Vrms of a power supply voltage is detected and updated every half cycle by Vrms calculator 16. Vt calculator 20 calculates effective voltage Vt applied to welding transformer 2 using Vx and Vrms on the basis of equation (2), and outputs it as a feedback signal. 
     
         Vt=Vrms·Vx/V180                                   (2) 
    
     for V180=K1·S180(constant) 
     When voltage control is selected, control unit 6 performs voltage control using Vt as a feedback signal. 
     Irms calculator 17 detects a current from firing phase angle θn to energization end phase angle θm at a predetermined sampling period, and calculates and outputs effective current Irms. When current control is selected, control unit 6 performs current control using Irms as a feedback signal. 
     P calculator 21 calculates and outputs use rate P of the welding transformer using Vx on the basis of equation (3), and display 22 externally displays it. 
     
         P=100·Vx/V180                                     (3) 
    
     Thus, the use rate of the welding transformer can be continuously monitored. 
     FIG. 3B shows a processing sequence for calculating effective value Vrms of a power supply voltage. 
     When zero-voltage detector 12 in FIG. 1 detects a zero-crossing point of power supply voltage v, it generates zero-crossing point detection pulse P12 (YES in step S21). Since power supply voltage v when pulse P12 is generated is zero, Vrms calculator 16 in FIG. 1, comprising, e.g., a microcomputer, outputs Vrms=0 (step S22). 
     Calculator 16 receives power supply voltage data Dv obtained by converting analog power supply voltage v into digital data by A/D converter 14 (step S23). Calculator 16 calculates new power supply voltage effective value Vrms using power supply voltage data Dv and power supply voltage effective value Vrms from detector 12 on the basis of the following equation: 
     
         Vrms=Vrms+VK.sup.2                                         (4) 
    
     Vrms calculated by the above equation is used as new Vrms (step S24). 
     Subsequently, it is checked based on data Dv if the phase of voltage v is advanced by 180° (half cycle) (step S25). If the phase shift is smaller than 180° (NO in step S25), it is checked if the phase of voltage v is advanced by a predetermined value (e.g., 1°) (step S26). If the phase shift is smaller than 1° (NO in step S26), it is waited until the phase is advanced by 1° from the present phase (step S27). If the phase of voltage v is advanced by 1° (YES in step S26), the flow returns to the processing loop of steps S23 to S25. 
     If it is detected in step S25 that the phase shift has reached 180° (YES in step S25), calculator 16 calculates new power supply voltage effective value Vrms on the basis of the following equation: 
     
         Vrms=K0·√Vrms                              (5) 
    
     Vrms calculated by the above equation is output as new Vrms (step S28). 
     According to the present invention, an effective voltage applied to the welding transformer can be accurately detected at high speed, and high-precision voltage control can be achieved. Since sampling in voltage detection need not be performed at high speed, inexpensive, economical high-precision voltage control can be realized. Since use rate P of the welding transformer can be displayed, a control margin can be monitored, the apparatus is easy to use, and a reliable operation can be performed. The use rate of the welding transformer can also be displayed when current control is selected. An appropriate capacitance of the welding transformer can be easily selected.