Patent ID: 8541746

Claim:
A process for the non-destructive determination of the quality of a weld seam, the process steps comprising: providing a first and a second component; connecting the first and second components by a weld seam produced by a welding operation; measuring a surface temperature of the weld seam and surface temperatures of areas of the first and second components adjacent to the weld seam that were heated by the welding operation; establishing a location-dependent heat profile from the measured surface temperatures; comparing the location-dependent heat profile with a desired profile; wherein the temperature measuring takes place perpendicular to a longitudinal dimension of the weld seam; wherein the temperature measuring takes place in a non-contact manner by detection of the emitted heat radiation; wherein the temperature measuring takes place by a measuring device which detects the heat radiation, in a line-by-line manner, emitted by the weld seam and the areas of the first component and the second component adjacent to the weld seam; and wherein the measuring device detecting the heat radiation moves at the same speed along the weld seam as a tool producing the weld seam.