Patent ID: 7638734

Claim:
A method for the contactless ignition of a welding arc, in which high-frequency ignition pulses are applied between the welding electrode and the workpiece to be worked to ionize the gap between the welding electrode and the workpiece, and in which the welding current is connected after the ignition of the welding arc, wherein several pulse packets ( 44 ) with presettable frequencies and packet period durations ( 47 ), or time periods, are applied, wherein several successive ignition pulses ( 45 ) are emitted in a pulse packet ( 44 ) and a packet interval ( 46 ) is each executed between said pulse packets ( 44 ), so that overall energy expenditure during ignition can be minimized even while having a maximum energy in each ignition pulse, and wherein the welding current is connected only after a defined period after application of a first ignition pulse, so that preionization of the gap occurs between the welding electrode and the workpiece.