The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 16, 1980
Filed:
Dec. 14, 1978
George T Peters, Farmington, CT (US);
Kjell Lonning, Stord, NO;
United Technologies Corporation, Hartford, CT (US);
Abstract
An automated welding facility for the fabrication of shell sections suitable for ship construction utilizing laser welding is disclosed. The facility includes a panel welding station which includes an optical system for providing radiation for automated two-sided welding of plates to form panels utilizing sequential welding of the top and bottom halves of the plates. The panel welding station is adapted for aligning the plates to form a seam therebetween and for providing tack welds along the length of abutting plates while simultaneously providing position coordinates of the seam to a controller adapted for controlling the positioning of laser welding heads for automating finish welding of the plates to form panels. The panel welding station further includes automated means for marking the panels for positioning stiffeners, webs and/or bulkheads thereon. An embodiment includes a stiffener welding station, located downline the panel welding station, for positioning and aligning stiffeners on the panel utilizing the markings made at the panel welding station and for simultaneous two-sided fillet welding of the stiffeners to the panels utilizing laser radiation, and means for moving the panels between stations. A further embodiment includes an automated web/bulkhead laser welding station for welding webs and/or bulkheads to the stiffeners and panel to form shell sections suitable for ship construction.