METHOD AND DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY TRACKING SYSTEMS TO THE CENTER OF WELD GAPS, WELD JOINTS AND WELD REINFORCEMENTS

摘要

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY DIRECTINGSYSTEMS TO THE CENTER OF WELD GAPS, WELD JOINTSAND WELD CHAMBERSABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREAn arrangement for automatically tracking systemsto the center of weld gaps, weld joints or weld reinforce-ments, in which a scanning probe is used for receivingsignals reflected by a workpiece surface, as long as thesurface is substantially parallel to an acting surfaceof the probe. The signals break down spontaneously whenthe surface clearly deviates from the parallel as in thecase with left and right flanks of gaps, joints or rein-forcements. The signal breakdown is a decrease in intensityof a reflection signal to a fraction of previous reflectionenergy. The breakdown of the signal is applied for storingan electrical value corresponding to the instantaneousprobe position. The center of the gap, of the joint or ofthe reinforcement is computed from the stored electronicposition values, and the computed value is compared withan electrical value corresponding to the center positionof the system. A control command signal is formed from adifference of compared values for actuating a drive unitto return the system to the computed center of the weldgap. The signals are evaluated only up to their first re-flection breakdown per probe oscillation direction.