Patent Description:
Limitations and disadvantages of conventional systems for selecting parameters in a welding system will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such approaches with some aspects of the present method and system set forth in the remainder of this disclosure with reference to the drawings.

A welding-type power source according to the present invention is defined in claim <NUM>, apparatus for quick selection of custom parameters and factory reset parameters.

These and/or other aspects will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of some example embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Various embodiments of the disclosure allow the user to easily set applicable welding parameters by toggling between stock and custom parameters by pressing a button on a user interface. Accordingly, this may eliminate the need for a user to access every parameter and search through the parameter range on screen, while allowing the user to know that the default values may be acceptable for most common applications.

When this feature is activated by pressing a button, an indicator such as, for example, a light, will illuminate as a way to quickly identify that the feature is activated. Holding the button for a period of time will perform a factory reset of the entire unit.

Accordingly, an embodiment gives the welders the simplicity of one button to set up parameters except the amperage ("heat") setting.

Various advantages of an embodiment of the disclosure may be, for example: reduce training and setup time associated with selecting the acceptable parameters; reduce product rework associated with improper parameters being utilized; eliminate or reduce the troubleshooting time by quickly allowing all applicable parameters to be set to determined custom values with the press of a button; eliminate or reduce the troubleshooting time by having the factory reset function on the front user interface; allow for the user to toggle between factory settings and custom settings for comparison/training purposes; allow the users the flexibility of setting the max amperage separately from the other parameters to achieve the output control scaling/response rates they desire; supervisors can quickly check that welders are utilizing factory parameters simply by glancing at the indicator (e.g., light or LED) on the button; etc..

<FIG> is a high-level block diagram of an example welding-type power source in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to <FIG>, there is shown a welding-type power source <NUM> that comprises power conversion circuitry <NUM>, a user interface <NUM>, and control circuitry <NUM>. There is also shown a welding torch <NUM> that may receive welding-type power from the power conversion circuitry <NUM> in the welding-type power source <NUM> via an electric cable <NUM>.

The power conversion circuitry <NUM> receives input power from, for example, a power source that may provide <NUM> VAC, <NUM> VAC, <NUM> VAC, etc., and outputs welding-type power. The user interface <NUM> provides various input and output devices for entering/controlling use of the welding-type power source <NUM> as well as various output devices for showing the status and/or information regarding the welding-type power source <NUM>.

The control circuitry <NUM> comprises a hardware device capable of executing instructions to perform specific functions. Accordingly, the control circuitry <NUM> comprises any of a number of different types of processors, memory, logic circuitry, etc., for controlling the welding-type power source <NUM>.

<FIG> is a drawing of an example user interface in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to <FIG>, there is shown the example user interface <NUM> from <FIG>. The user interface (UI) <NUM> has displays <NUM>. While these are shown as two separate displays, various embodiments of the disclosure may have a single display, or more than two displays.

As an example, the UI <NUM> may also show four selections for welding types <NUM>-<NUM>. A welding type may be selected by, for example, the selector <NUM>. To select a welding type, the selector <NUM> may be turned until the arrow points to the specific welding type. Each of the welding types <NUM>-<NUM> may also have a corresponding light <NUM>-<NUM> that may turn on when that welding type is selected. There is also an encoder <NUM> that may be used to increase or decrease a menu item value such as, for example, a welding current. There are also Input1 device <NUM> and Input2 device <NUM> with their respective lights <NUM> and <NUM>. The Input devices may be, for example, a push button, a toggle switch, a membrane button, etc..

The Input1 device <NUM> may be, for example, a menu button that, when pressed, will show various levels of menus. For example, a short press may bring up a first menu, a longer press may bring up a second menu, etc. Once a desired menu is displayed, a shorter press than the short press for the first menu may allow advancement to the next menu item. If a menu item can be adjusted in value, the encoder <NUM> may be used to adjust the value for the displayed menu item. The menu name may be displayed on, for example, one or both of the displays <NUM> for a period of time. After that, the first menu item may be displayed with its value. Accordingly, a user may select a different value for that menu item, or move on to the next menu item.

After accessing a menu, timing out by not touching the Input1 device <NUM> or the encoder <NUM> for a default amount of time may exit the menu mode. The menu mode may also be exited by, for example, pressing the Input1 device <NUM> for a period longer than the longest period to access the last menu. When the menu is exited, the presently set welding current may be displayed on the displays <NUM>. For example, one display <NUM> may display the words "Welding Current" and the other display <NUM> may display the welding current in the number of amperes.

The light <NUM> associated with the Input1 device <NUM> may turn on, for example, when a menu is accessed, and turn off when the menu mode is exited.

The Input2 device <NUM> may be, for example, a preconfigured state button. The light <NUM> associated with the Input2 device <NUM> may turn on when the welding-type power source <NUM> enters the preconfigured state, and turn off when the preconfigured state is exited. The preconfigured state may be entered by pressing the Input2 device <NUM> when the welding-type power source <NUM> is not in the preconfigured state, and exited by pressing the Input2 device <NUM> when the welding-type power source <NUM> is in the preconfigured state.

When the preconfigured state is entered, the control circuitry <NUM> in <FIG> loads a predetermined set of welding parameters for use in controlling the power conversion circuitry <NUM>. The welding current may be displayed in the displays <NUM>. When first powered on, the control circuitry <NUM> may set the welding current to a default value. If desired, a user may then adjust the welding current to a desired value using, for example, the encoder <NUM>. While the welding current is adjusted, all other parameters selected to be a part of the preconfigured state are not changed. Accordingly, the preconfigured state presents a useful welding parameters for the specific welding type selected from the welding types <NUM>-<NUM>.

Once a welding current is changed, that value is stored in the welding-type power source <NUM> where the change is persistent across power cycles. Accordingly, the welding current can be used in the future until it is changed. Various embodiments of the disclosure may provide a warning when an attempt is made to change any other parameter while in the preconfigured state. For example, the menu and menu items may be accessed using the Input1 device <NUM>. However, trying to change the menu item values using the encoder <NUM> may result in, for example, the displays <NUM> flashing an error message. The error message may be flashed on and off for a period of time, or displayed constantly for a period of time. Various embodiments may, for example, blink all of the associated lights on the UI <NUM>. Accordingly, it can be seen that various things can be done to indicate an error condition.

While the various lights <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> are generically described as lights, various embodiments of the disclosure may use LEDs, or any other light emitting devices. Furthermore, the welding type selected, the menu mode accessed, and/or the preconfigured state entered may all be displayed, for example, in the displays <NUM> in addition to being shown via the various lights <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>, or in place of one or more of the various lights <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>.

The Input1 device <NUM> may also be used to factory reset of the welding-type power source <NUM>. For example, when the Input1 device <NUM> is pressed for a certain amount of time, a message may be displayed on the displays <NUM> indicating that a factory reset will take place. Keeping the Input1 device <NUM> pressed longer will result in a factory reset. There may be, for example, a count-down indicating how much longer the Input1 device <NUM> needs to be kept pressed for the factory reset. Releasing the Input1 device <NUM> at any time prior to the count-down ending will result in no factory reset taking place.

As explained previously, the displays <NUM> may display the selected welding current value. However, when a welding operation is taking place, that is when there is welding current being provided by the power conversion circuitry <NUM> to the welding torch <NUM>, an actual welding current and actual welding voltage may be displayed on the displays <NUM>. Accordingly, when the welding operation stops or pauses, that is when there is no welding current provided to the welding torch <NUM>, the selected welding current value is again displayed on the displays <NUM>.

<FIG> shows a block diagram of an example control circuitry in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to <FIG>, there is shown an example control circuitry <NUM> that may be used with various embodiments of the disclosure, and may be similar to the control circuitry <NUM> in <FIG>. The control circuitry <NUM> may comprise, for example, a processor <NUM>, memory <NUM>, a communication interface <NUM>, and an IO interface <NUM>. The processor <NUM> may comprise, for example, one or more of processors (CPUs, GPUs, etc.), controllers, system on chips, ASICs, etc..

The memory <NUM> may include non-volatile memory <NUM> and volatile memory <NUM>. The storage described for holding local data may be part of the memory <NUM> or comprise separate memory. The operating system <NUM> and applications <NUM> may be stored in, for example, the non-volatile memory <NUM>, and may be copied to volatile memory <NUM> for execution by the processor <NUM>. Various aspects of the disclosure may use different memory architectures that are design and/or implementation dependent. For example, some aspects of the disclosure may have the operating system <NUM> and applications <NUM> in the non-volatile memory <NUM> executed at least in part from the non-volatile memory <NUM>.

The communication interface <NUM> may allow the control circuitry <NUM> to communicate with other devices via, for example, a wired protocol such as USB, Ethernet, Firewire, etc., or a wireless protocol such as Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), Wi-Fi, etc. The wired or wireless protocol may also be, for example, a proprietary protocol. The various types of radios for communication may be referred to as a transceiver for the sake of simplicity. The communication may be, for example, with various sensors and/or devices that can relay sensor data. The communication interface <NUM> may also be used to communicate with other networks such as local networks, cellular networks, etc..

The control circuitry <NUM> may also comprise the IO module <NUM> for communication with a user via the input devices <NUM> and output information to be displayed on output devices <NUM>. The input devices <NUM> may comprise, for example, switches, slide switches, membrane switches, buttons, touch sensitive screen, which may be a part of a display, a microphone, etc. The touch sensitive screen may have soft buttons, switches, slide switches, etc. that emulate their physical counterparts. The input devices <NUM> may also comprise, for example, various sensors, cameras, etc. The output devices <NUM> may comprise, for example, display(s), speaker(s), LED(s), vibration motor(s), etc..

The processor <NUM> may operate using different architectures in different embodiments. For example, the processor <NUM> may use the memory <NUM> to store instructions to execute, or the processor <NUM> may have its own memory (not shown) for its instructions.

Various embodiments may use other architectures where the different functionalities may be grouped differently. For example, the grouping may be in different integrated circuit chips. Or the grouping may combine different devices such as the IO module <NUM> and the communication interface <NUM> together, etc. Additionally, the control circuitry <NUM> may refer logically to various physical devices. For example, one or more of the output devices <NUM> may be at a different location than one or more of the input devices <NUM>.

The UI <NUM> and the controller circuitry <NUM> of <FIG> may be similar to the control circuitry <NUM> of <FIG>. Accordingly, the IO module <NUM> may be similar to the UI <NUM> and the remainder of the control circuitry <NUM> may be similar to the control circuitry <NUM> of <FIG>.

While various electrical and mechanical devices may have been described for the user interface <NUM>, various aspects of the disclosure may comprise different applicable devices. For example, the user interface <NUM> may comprise a display device <NUM> that is touch sensitive. Accordingly, the various devices <NUM>-<NUM> and/or any corresponding lights may be a part of the display device <NUM>, or a portion of the devices <NUM>-<NUM> and/or any corresponding lights may be a part of the display device <NUM>.

As used herein, a welding-type power source refers to any device capable of using input power to supply power for welding, cladding, plasma cutting, induction heating, laser (including laser welding, laser hybrid, and laser cladding), carbon arc cutting, gouging, resistive preheating, and/or control circuitry, and control circuitry as well as ancillary circuitry associated therewith, where the device may be, but is not limited to autotransformers, transformers, transformer-rectifiers, inverters, converters, resonant power supplies, quasi-resonant power supplies, switch-mode power supplies, etc..

The present systems may be realized in hardware, software, and/or a combination of hardware and software. The present systems may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least one computing system, or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spread across several interconnected computing systems. Another typical implementation may comprise one or more application specific integrated circuit or chip. Some implementations may comprise a non-transitory machine-readable (e.g., computer readable) medium (e.g., FLASH memory, optical disk, magnetic storage disk, or the like) having stored thereon one or more lines of code executable by a machine, thereby causing the machine to perform processes as described herein.

As utilized herein, "and/or" means any one or more of the items in the list joined by "and/or. " As an example, "x and/or y" means any element of the three-element set {(x), (y), (x, y)}. As utilized herein, the terms "e.g." and "for example" set off lists of one or more non-limiting examples, instances, or illustrations.

Claim 1:
A welding-type power source (<NUM>), comprising:
power conversion circuitry (<NUM>) configured to convert input power to welding-type power;
the welding-type power source (<NUM>) being characterised by:
a user interface (<NUM>) comprising a first input device (<NUM>), a second input device (<NUM>), and an output device for showing a status and/or information regarding the welding type power source (<NUM>); and
control circuitry (<NUM>) configured to, in response to a first input via the first input device (<NUM>):
control the output device to output an indication that the welding-type power source is in a preconfigured state;
set predetermined ones of welding-type parameters to respective predetermined values;
set a welding current, when there is an input from the second input device (<NUM>), to a value indicated by the second input device (<NUM>); and
set the welding current, when there is not an input from the second input device (<NUM>), to one of: a default value when a default welding current has not been changed, or a welding current that has been changed previously via the second input device (<NUM>);
control the power conversion circuitry (<NUM>) based on the pre-determined welding-type parameters and the welding current; and
the control circuitry (<NUM>) is further so configured that the predetermined ones of the welding-type parameters cannot be changed while in the preconfigured state.