Patent Publication Number: US-2021161717-A1

Title: Auto-darkening welding helmet and welding apparatus equipped with the same

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a 371 National Stage of International Application No. PCT/CN2018/118064 filed Nov. 29, 2018, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. CN201821311377.9 filed Aug. 15, 2018, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field 
     The present application generally relates to an auto-darkening welding helmet and a welding apparatus equipped with the auto-darkening welding helmet. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     In a welding operation, an operator usually wears a welding helmet on his/her head to prevent him/her from being hurt by spattering matters and various harmful rays caused by welding-arc ignition. In a conventional welding helmet, a light filter is a key component to protect eyes of the operator from the harmful rays. The conventional welding helmet requires that the operator has to observe a location where the welding-arc ignition will occur before the welding helmet is worn on his/her head in place, and then carries out a blind welding operation after the welding helmet is in place. Such a blind welding operation may result in much inconvenience on welding sites. 
     To this end, auto-darkening welding helmets have been developed in recent years. An auto-darkening welding helmet is generally provided with an auto-darkening filter. The main working principle of the auto-darkening filter is in that the filter is provided with a liquid crystal panel which is in a transparent state prior to the welding-arc ignition and becomes in an opaque state immediately after the welding-arc ignition so as to protect the eyes of the operator. 
     Usually, the auto-darkening welding helmet is provided with an adjusting knob or button such that before the welding helmet is used, the operator shall preset operating parameters of the auto-darkening filter such as such as SENSITIVITY, DELAY TIME, SHADE, and WELD MODE or the like from his/her experiences depending on set operating parameters of a relevant electric welding machine. Afterwards, the operator will wear the welding helmet on his/her head to carry out a test welding operation. If the operator feels his/her eyes uncomfortable during the test welding operation with the preset auto-darkening filter, the welding helmet has to be taken off to set the operating parameters of the auto-darkening filer from experiences again, which results in much inconvenience on welding sites. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present application is aimed at proposing an improved auto-darkening welding helmet such that before it is worn by an operator, its operating parameters can be automatically reasonably set depending on operating parameters of a relevant electric welding machine. Afterwards, the operator can directly wear the welding helmet on his/her head to conveniently carry out a welding operation. Therefore, a test welding operation as mentioned previously will be avoided. 
     According to one aspect, the present application provides an auto-darkening welding helmet, comprising: 
     a helmet casing; 
     an auto-darkening filter secured on the helmet casing; 
     a wireless communication module installed in the helmet casing and configured to wirelessly communicate data to and from an external apparatus, and 
     a control circuit installed on the helmet casing and configured to set at least one of an operating parameter of the auto-darkening filter or a prompt message based on data received from the external apparatus, 
     wherein the auto-darkening filter is configured to be operated independently of the external apparatus. 
     Optionally, the auto-darkening welding helmet further comprises a display screen including a LCD or LED display and configured to exhibit or adjust the set operating parameter. 
     Optionally, the external apparatus is an electric welding machine, data received from the electric welding machine depends on an operating parameter of the electric welding machine, and the operating parameter of the electric welding machine comprises at least one of a welding current, welding type, welding material type, or soldering wire size. 
     Optionally, the auto-darkening welding helmet further comprises a sensor installed on either the helmet casing or the auto-darkening filter and configured to collect data including at least one of an ambient temperature, humidity, noise, or air quality, 
     wherein the wireless communication module is configured to transfer collected data to the external apparatus. 
     Optionally, the wireless communication module comprises a WIFI module, a Bluetooth module, an infrared communication module, a ZigBee module, an 802.15.4 protocol based module, a wireless HART module, or a Z-wave module. 
     Optionally, the operating parameter of the auto-darkening filter comprises SHADE, SENSITIVITY, DELAY TIME, and WELD MODE. 
     Optionally, the prompt message includes at least one of a long working alarm of an operator or a poor working environment alarm of the operator. 
     According to another aspect, the present application provides a welding apparatus, comprising: 
     an electric welding machine including a first wireless communication module; 
     a welding torch connected to the electric welding machine via a cable; 
     a gas cylinder connected to the electric welding machine via a pipeline; and 
     an auto-darkening welding helmet comprising: 
     a helmet casing, 
     an auto-darkening filter secured on the helmet casing, 
     a second wireless communication module installed in the helmet casing and configured to wirelessly communicate with the electric welding machine, and 
     a control circuit installed on the helmet casing and configured to set an operating parameter of at least one of the auto-darkening filter or a prompt message based on data received from the electric welding machine, 
     wherein the second wireless communication module is configured to wirelessly communicate data to and from the first wireless communication module. 
     Optionally, the welding apparatus comprises a memory unit including a relational database that stores correspondences between operating parameters of the electric welding machine and the auto-darkening filter. 
     Optionally, the welding apparatus is configured to send data, based on currently set operating parameters of the electric welding machine, to the auto-darkening welding helmet, and 
     the auto-darkening filter is configured to according to the relational database automatically set the operating parameters based on the received data from the electric welding machine. 
     Optionally, the first wireless communication module is configured to be coupled to a cloud server over a wireless network, and the first wireless communication module is configured to update the relational database by using the wireless network. 
     Optionally, the relational database is established based on previous uses of at least one of the auto-darkening welding helmet or the electric welding machine. 
     Optionally, the first wireless communication module is coupled to a cloud server over a wireless network and configured to at least one of (i) upload ambient data and the operating parameters from the second wireless communication module to the cloud server or (ii) transfer data from the cloud server to the second wireless communication module. 
     Optionally, the welding apparatus is configured to transfer a prompt message from the cloud server to the auto-darkening welding helmet, 
     based on the prompt message, the auto-darkening filter is configured to display an alarm by exhibition on at least one of a display screen of the auto-darkening filter, a sound, or a vibration, wherein the display screen comprises a LCD or LED display. 
     According to another aspect, the present application provides an auto-darkening welding helmet, comprising: 
     a helmet casing; 
     an auto-darkening filter secured on the helmet casing; and 
     a wireless communication module and a control circuit which are installed on and/in the helmet casing, wherein the wireless communication module is able to be in wireless data communication with an external apparatus, and based on data received from the external apparatus, the control circuit is able to set an operating parameter of the auto-darkening filter and/or a prompt message, and wherein the auto-darkening filter is able to be operated independently of the external apparatus. 
     Optionally, the auto-darkening welding helmet also comprises a LCD/LED display screen on which the set operating parameter is able to be exhibited or adjusted. 
     Optionally, the external apparatus is an electric welding helmet, data received from the electric welding helmet depends on an operating parameter of the electric welding helmet, and the operating parameter of the electric helmet comprises welding current, welding type, welding material type, soldering wire size or the like. 
     Optionally, installed on the helmet casing and/or the auto-darkening filter is a sensor to collect data such as ambient temperature, humidity, noise, air quality or the like, and the collected data are able to be transferred to the external apparatus via the wireless communication module. 
     Optionally, the wireless communication module comprises a WIFI module, a Bluetooth module, an infrared communication module, a ZigBee module, an 802.15.4 protocol based module, a wireless HART module, a Z-wave modules or any other suitable low power wireless communication module. 
     Optionally, the settable operating parameter of the auto-darkening filter comprises SHADE, SENSITIVITY, DELAY TIME, and WELD MODE. 
     Optionally, the prompt message includes a long working alarm of an operator, a poor working environment alarm of the operator or the like. 
     According to another aspect, the present application provides a welding apparatus, comprising: 
     an electric welding machine provided with a wireless communication module; 
     a welding torch connected to the electric welding machine via a cable; 
     a gas cylinder connected to the electric welding machine via a pipeline; and 
     an auto-darkening welding helmet as mentioned above, wherein a wireless communication module of the auto-darkening welding helmet is in wireless data communication with the wireless communication module of the electric welding machine. 
     Optionally, the welding apparatus is provided with a memory unit in which a relational database including the correspondences between operating parameters of the electric welding machine and an auto-darkening filter of the auto-darkening welding helmet are stored. 
     Optionally, depending on the relational database, the welding apparatus sends data based on currently set operating parameters of the electric welding machine to the auto-darkening welding helmet such that the operating parameters of the auto-darkening filter are able to be automatically set based on the received data. 
     Optionally, the wireless communication module of the electric welding machine is able to be coupled to a cloud server over a wireless network such that the relational database is able to be updated. 
     Optionally, the relational database is established on the basis of experiences of operators who use the auto-darkening welding helmet and/or the electric welding machine. 
     Optionally, the wireless communication module of the welding apparatus is able to be coupled to a cloud server over a wireless network, and is able to upload ambient data and the operating parameters from the wireless communication module of the auto-darkening welding helmet to the cloud server and/or transfer data from the cloud server to the wireless communication module of the auto-darkening welding helmet. 
     Optionally, the welding apparatus transfers a prompt message provided by the cloud server to the auto-darkening welding helmet such that the auto-darkening filter is able to give an alarm by exhibition on its LCD/LED display screen, and/or sound and/or vibration. 
     According to the technical means of the present application, preparation time at the welding site is saved, and thus work efficiency is improved. In the meanwhile, user management of the welding helmet and apparatus management of the electric welding machine are integrated into the category of cloud management to improve enterprise management efficiency. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The foregoing and other aspects of the present application will be fully understood from the following detailed explanations in combination with the attached drawings. It should be noted that although the drawings are given in different proportions for clarity purposes, they should not be deemed to affect understanding to the present application. In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  schematically illustrates a welding apparatus according to the present application, which is equipped with an auto-darkening welding helmet according to an embodiment of the present application and is able to be coupled to a cloud server over a wireless network; 
         FIGS. 2A and 2B  are perspective views schematically illustrating the auto-darkening welding helmet according to an embodiment of the present application; 
         FIG. 3  schematically illustrates a control block diagram for the auto-darkening welding helmet according to the present application; and 
         FIG. 4  schematically illustrates a control flowchart for an auto-darkening filter according to an embodiment of the present application. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the drawings of the present application, features having the same configure or a similar function may be represented by the same reference numerals. 
       FIG. 1  schematically illustrates one embodiment of a welding apparatus according to the present application. The welding apparatus comprises an electric welding machine  300 , a gas cylinder  400  (for example an argon gas cylinder), and a welding torch  500 . The electric welding machine  300 , the gas cylinder  400  and the welding torch  500  are connected to each other by cables or pipelines in a manner known in the art. Besides, the welding apparatus also comprises a wireless communication module  100   a  for example disposed on the electric welding machine  300 . The wireless communication module  100   a  is connected to an interior electric circuit  301  (as shown by  FIG. 3 ) of the electric welding machine  300  to transfer operating parameters of the electric welding machine such as welding current, welding type, welding material type, soldering wire size or the like, and a prompt message. 
     It should be understood that the wireless communication module  100   a  is not limited to be provided at a location in the electric welding machine  300  as shown by  FIG. 1 . Rather, for example, the wireless communication module can be hiddenly in-built in a housing of the electric welding machine  300 . 
       FIGS. 2A and 2B  are perspective views schematically illustrating an auto-darkening welding helmet  1  according to an embodiment of the present application. The welding helmet  1  comprises a helmet casing  10 , an auto-darkening filter  20  installed on the helmet casing  10 , and a headband structure (not shown) operatively coupled to the helmet casing  10 . 
     For clarity, in the context of the present application, it is specified that the term “front face” or “front side” refers to a face or side towards outside and departing from the face of an operator when the welding helmet has been worn on his/her head; and the term “back face” or “back side” refers to a face of side towards inside and to the face of the operator when the welding helmet has been worn on his/her head. 
     As illustrated, a solar cell unit module  21 , a light-control module  22 , a liquid crystal panel  23  and a display screen  24  are integrated in a body of the auto-darkening filter  20 . The display screen  24  can be used to exhibit various operating parameters of the liquid crystal panel  23  such as SENSITIVITY, DELAY TIME, SHADE, and WELD MODE or the like. The display screen  24  can be a display screen including a LCD or LED display. Moreover, a battery can be installed on an interior surface of the helmet casing  10 , by which battery the auto-darkening filter  20 , the display screen  24  or their control circuit can be power-supplied via electrical cables. It should be understood that the battery can be a rechargeable battery. 
     The solar cell unit module  21  and the light-control module  22  are located on a front face of the body, and the LCD or LED display screen  24  is located on a back face of the body, such that the operator can easily observe how the various operating parameters of the auto-darkening filter  20  are set before the welding helmet  1  is worn on his/her head. 
     The display screen  24  can be used to exhibit the operating parameters of the auto-darkening filter  20  such as SHADE, SENSITIVITY, DELAY, operating modes such as WELD, CUTTING and GRIND or the like; or battery remaining capacity. The display screen  24  itself can be a touchable display screen on which virtual touch keys can be provided such that the operating parameters of the auto-darkening filter  20  can be manually adjusted. In an optional or alternative embodiment, the display screen  24  can be replaced by a non-touchable display screen which is provided with physical touch keys to adjust the parameters. 
     As shown by  FIG. 1 , the welding helmet  1  is also provided with a wireless communication module  100   b . For instance, the wireless communication module  100   b  is disposed on the helmet casing  10  above the auto-darkening filter  20 . It should be understood by one ordinary person in the art that as an alternative, the wireless communication module  100   b  can be disposed at any location of the helmet casing  10  where signal emission or reception cannot be affected, for example can be hiddenly in-built in the helmet casing  10 . 
     The wireless communication module  100   b  can be connected to a control circuit  700  of the welding helmet  1 , as shown by  FIG. 3 , such that the control circuit can transfer information to the wireless communication module  100   a  or receive information from the wireless communication module  100   a  via the wireless communication module  100   b . The wireless communication modules  100   a  and  100   b  can be Wireless Fidelity (WIFI) modules, Bluetooth modules, infrared communication modules, ZigBee modules, 802.15.4 protocol based modules, wireless HART modules, Z-wave modules or other suitable low power wireless communication modules. 
       FIG. 3  schematically illustrates a control block diagram for the auto-darkening welding helmet  1  according to the present application. The control circuit  700  comprises a central processing unit, a memory unit and a sensor collector. Preset processing programs are saved in the memory unit such that the central processing unit can handle received data depending on the programs. The battery is connected to the liquid crystal panel  23  and the display screen  24  through the control circuit  700  of the welding helmet  1 . Besides, the control circuit  700  is connected to the wireless communication module  100   b . In this way, due to data exchange between the wireless communication modules  100   a  and  100   b , the control circuit  700  of the welding helmet  1  can handle data received from the wireless communication module  100   a , for example the electric welding machine  300 &#39;s operating parameters such as welding currents, welding types, welding material types, soldering wire sizes or the like, and prompt messages including the operator&#39;s long working alarm, the operator&#39;s poor working environment alarm or the like. 
     The interior electric circuit  301  of the electric welding machine  300  also comprises a central processing unit and a memory unit. A relational database, reflecting correspondences between the operating parameters of the electric welding machine and the operating parameters of different types of auto-darkening filters, can be stored/saved in the memory unit. Such a relational database is established depending on experiences of operators who use the welding helmet and/or the electric welding machine and, when leaving the factory, can be in advance stored/saved in the memory unit of the electric welding machine  300 . Optionally, the database can be periodically updated over a wireless network. For instance, as shown by  FIGS. 1 and 3 , the interior electric circuit  301  of the electric welding machine  300  can be coupled to a cloud server  200  via the wireless communication module  100   a . In this way, the relational database stored/saved in the electric welding machine  300  can be updated at any time according to demands through the cloud server  200 . In the meanwhile, the cloud server  200  is able to directly handle data from the electric welding machine  300  or handle and analyze data uploaded via the welding helmet  1 , and then download the handled data to the electric welding machine  300  or the welding helmet  1 . 
       FIG. 4  schematically illustrates a control flowchart according to an embodiment of the present application, which is used for the auto-darkening filter  20  of the welding helmet  1 . At step S 10 , the operator switches on the auto-darkening filter  20 . At step S 20 , wireless data communication is established between the wireless communication module  100   b  of the auto-darkening filter  20  and the wireless communication module  100   a  of the electric welding machine  300 . At step S 30 , using the established wireless data communication, the control circuit  700  of the auto-darkening filter  20  is ready to receive information transferring from the interior electric circuit  301  of the electric welding machine  300 . At step S 40 , depending on the received information, the interior electric circuit  301 , based on the relational database and considering the current operating parameter setting of the electric welding machine  300  (such as the set values of the present welding current, welding type, welding material type, soldering wire size or the like) and the prompt messages (such as the operator&#39;s long working alarm, the operator&#39;s poor working environment alarm or the like), sends instructions of how to set the operating parameters of the filter to the control circuit  700  of the auto-darkening filter  20 . At step S 50 , based on the received instructions, the control circuit  700  sets the operating parameters of the auto-darkening filter  20  (such as SHADE, SENSITIVITY, DELAY, operating modes or the like), and optionally the already set operating parameters can be exhibited on the display screen  24  for the operator&#39;s reference. 
     After step S 50 , if the operator has no objection with the already set operating parameters of the auto-darkening filter  20 , he/she can begin to carry out a welding operation directly after the welding helmet is worn on his/her head. Otherwise, using the display screen  24 , the operating parameters of the auto-darkening filter  20  can be readjusted. 
     For instance, according to the control flowchart of  FIG. 4 , in an embodiment that the welding current of the electric welding machine  300  is selected as DC  50 A, the welding type is selected as TIG, the welding material type is selected as carbon steel, and the soldering wire size is selected as 1.6, the control circuit  700  is able to automatically set the SHADE, the SENSITIVITY, the DELAY, and the operating mode of the auto-darkening filter  20  as 9, 7, 5, and WELD respectively after the wireless data communication has been established between the welding helmet and the electric welding machine  300 . In this way, no test welding operation will be required to adjust the operating parameters of the auto-darkening filter  20 , and the operator can directly wear the welding helmet  1  on his/her head to carry out his/her work. 
     Furthermore, in order to ensure the safety of the operator, the relational database stored in the memory unit of the electric welding machine  300  shall be configured in such a way that it can provide maximum safety redundancy. That is, on the basis of the operators&#39; experiences, the correspondences of the relational database shall be stipulated according to the upper limit of the safety limit range required by the industry or regulations. Moreover, the electric welding machine  300  can be configured such that it is automatically coupled to the cloud server  200  every time the electric welding machine is powered on, to ensure that the relational database stored therein can be always updated in the latest state. In another alternative embodiment, the electric welding machine  300  can be provided with another data interface for example an USB (universal serial bus) interface, such that the relational database can be updated via a portable storage device such as an U-disk or the like. 
     Although as already explained in the above embodiments the welding helmet  1  is able to establish the wireless data communication with the electric welding machine  300 , it should be understood by the ordinary person that in an alternative embodiment the welding helmet  1  is able to establish wireless data communication with an independent external device different than the electric welding machine  300 . Said independent external device can be installed on an existing electric welding machine of no wireless networking capability as a retrofitting device for it. The independent external device has the same function as the interior electric circuit  301  of the electric welding machine  300 . Therefore, the control flowchart of  FIG. 4  can be achieved by the independent external device receiving the operating parameters of the retrofitted electric welding machine and, depending on the relational database, sending to the welding helmet  1  instructions of how to set its operating parameters. 
     In an optional or alternative embodiment, the helmet casing  10  and/or the auto-darkening filter  20  can be installed with a sensor  600 , for example an environmental sensor, for acquiring/collecting ambient temperature, humidity, noise, air quality, etc. Therefore, the acquired/collected data and data such as the operator&#39;s working duration time can be transferred to an external apparatus for example the electric welding machine  300  or to the cloud server  200  in wireless data communication with the independent external device. The cloud server  200  is able to analyze the data, after being received, and download the analyzed results to the welding helmet  1  or its control circuit  700 . For instance, a relevant prompt message can be downloaded to the welding helmet  1  directly via the cloud server  200  or via the external device, such that the auto-darkening filter  20  is able to give an alarm by means of exhibition of the LCD/LED display screen  24  and/or sound and/or vibration. 
     In the embodiments of the present application, the auto-darkening filter can be operated independently of the external apparatus such as the electric welding machine. 
     Using the technical means of the present application, it will be unnecessary for the operator to carry out a test welding operation to adjust the parameters of the auto-darkening filter for various electric welding machines. Therefore, welding work time is saved and work efficiency is improved. Furthermore, injuries to a novice operator who does not understand how to correctly set the operating parameters of the electric welding machine or the auto-darkening filter are avoided. In addition, besides that the operating parameters of the auto-darkening filter  20  can be automatically set before the auto-darkening welding helmet is worn on the operator&#39;s head, the central processing unit of the control circuit  700  is able to real-time automatically change the operating parameters of the auto-darkening filter  20 , depending on the operating parameters of the electric welding machine  300 , at the time when the auto-darkening welding helmet is being worn on the operator&#39;s head. 
     Moreover, using the technical means of the present application, user management of the welding helmet and apparatus management of the electric welding machine are integrated into the category of cloud management to improve enterprise management efficiency. In the meanwhile, by collecting and monitoring information on ambient temperature, humidity, noise, air quality at the site where the operator works and the working duration time of the operator, it provides data basis for the optimization and perfection of an enterprise use management system. 
     Although specific embodiments of the present application are substantively described here, they are given for illustrative purposes only and cannot be deemed to constrain the scope of the present application. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application, various replacements, alternations and modifications can be thought out.