Patent ID: 7137544

Claim:
Apparatus for performing welding on a workpiece at elevated temperature, comprising: a workpiece housing having a quartz window therethrough and having a welding access therethrough for a welder to an interior of the workpiece housing, wherein the interior of the workpiece housing is sized to receive the workpiece therein, and wherein the workpiece housing is metallic with a heat-insulating thermal barrier coating on an internal surface thereof; a lamp heat source directed through the window and at the workpiece in the interior of the workpiece housing, wherein the lamp heat source comprises a quartz lamp having a lamp output beam, a cooled lamp housing in which the quartz lamp is received, and a support upon which the cooled lamp housing is supported, wherein the support is adjustable to establish an angle of incidence of the lamp output beam upon the workpiece and a distance of the lamp from the workpiece; a gas source that delivers a controllable flow of a shielding gas to the interior of the workpiece housing, wherein the gas source has a gas distribution structure in a bottom of the workpiece housing; a temperature sensor that senses a temperature of the workpiece within the interior of the workpiece housing; and a feedback controller having a setpoint input and an input responsive to the temperature sensor, wherein the feedback controller controls the power to the lamp heat source responsive to the temperature of the workpiece.