Patent ID: 7855350

Claim:
An apparatus for clamping components during welding of sheet-metal components arranged in two or multiple layers, having a holder for a laser machining head which can be fitted on an industrial robot in order to guide the laser machining head along a machining line, a pressure-exerting element which is fitted on the holder in a movable fashion relative thereto, a pressure-exerting device which is provided operatively between the holder and the pressure-exerting element and has a first actuating element for moving the pressure-exerting element relative to the holder into a first direction, and a second actuating element for moving the pressure-exerting element into a second direction which is opposite to the first direction, a force-setting device which controls the pressure-exerting device appropriately in order to set the clamping force (F), and a force sensor which detects a clamping force exerted by the pressure-exerting element on the component and whose output signal corresponding to the detected clamping force (F act ) is fed to the force-setting device, which controls the pressure-exerting device as a function of the output signal of the force sensor in order to set the clamping force (F) to a desired value (F des ), wherein the force sensor is provided operationally between the pressure-exerting element and the pressure-exerting device.