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:
Feb. 15, 2000
Filed:
Dec. 04, 1998
Howard W Ludewig, Groveland, IL (US);
Samuel L McClallen, East Peoria, IL (US);
Ilhan Varol, Peoria, IL (US);
Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, IL (US);
Abstract
A method for determining the quality of a weld bead includes producing a weld bead along a work surface during a welding process and scanning the weld bead with a vision system to obtain positional data points for defining a weld bead profile. The weld bead has a weld toe zone or region, which is formed at the interface between the weld bead and the work surface. A curve fit is determined for the weld bead profile bases on the positional data points obtained by the laser scan vision system. The toe radius is derived bases on the curve fit and is then compared to a first predetermined limit and a second predetermined limit, greater than the first predetermined limit, to determine the quality of the weld bead. If the toe radius is less than the first predetermined limit or greater than the second predetermined limit, the welding process is modified to produce a weld bead with a toe radius that falls within the desired range. In one embodiment the weld toe radius is determined from first and second derivations of a numerical relationship representative of the curve fit. In another embodiment the curve fit is compared to a plurality of curves to find a corresponding match and the weld toe radius is determined from the matching