Patent ID: 7064289

Claim:
A short-time arc welding system operable to weld an element to a component, the system comprising: a welding head device having a drive device operable to move the element in relation to the component; a control and energy device having a plurality of members, including: a power supply device operable to supply an electrical power to the welding head device; a feed control device operable to control both an element feed and a movement of an individual element relative to the component; a central control device operable to coordinate and monitor the members of the control and energy device; and a safety switch independent of the central control device having a first plurality of control lines and a second plurality of test lines, the safety switch directly connected via individual ones of the plurality of control lines to each of the power supply device, the feed control device and the central control device, the safety switch operable to monitor a plurality of safety functions of the welding system; wherein the safety switch defines a first operating state operable to enable at least one welding operation, and at least a second operating state.