A welding system including a fine tuning knob and a coarse adjustment knob for setting a weld wire feed speed are provided. The welding system may include a welder having the coarse adjustment knob and a spool gun having the fine tuning knob. A user may adjust the knob on the welder to set a coarse adjustment wire feed speed and may adjust the knob on the spool gun to fine tune the wire feed speed setting.

A welding or cutting system is provided using a performance module which monitors the real-time performance of a welding or cutting system and displays this information on a user interface on the system. Other embodiments of the system also include a cost calculation function in which a cost of the welding or cutting operation is calculated.

A machine-vision-assisted welding system comprises welding equipment, a time of Flight (ToF) camera operable to generate a three-dimensional depth map of a welding scene, digital image processing circuitry operable to extract welding information from the 3D depth map, and circuitry operable to control a function of the welding equipment based on the extracted welding information. The welding equipment may comprise, for example, arc welding equipment that forms an arc during a welding operation, and a light source of the ToF camera may emit light whose spectrum comprises a peak that is centered at a first wavelength, wherein the first wavelength is selected such that a power of the peak is at least a threshold amount above a power of light from the arc at the first wavelength.

A machine-vision-assisted welding system comprises welding equipment, a time of Flight (ToF) camera operable to generate a three-dimensional depth map of a welding scene, digital image processing circuitry operable to extract welding information from the 3D depth map, and circuitry operable to control a function of the welding equipment based on the extracted welding information. The welding equipment may comprise, for example, arc welding equipment that forms an arc during a welding operation, and a light source of the ToF camera may emit light whose spectrum comprises a peak that is centered at a first wavelength, wherein the first wavelength is selected such that a power of the peak is at least a threshold amount above a power of light from the arc at the first wavelength.

The invention relates to a monitoring module (1 . . . 1″) for monitoring an electric arc machining process, the module comprising a camera (2), a photo flash lamp (3) and a control system (4) that controls the photo flash lamp (3) and a control system (4) that controls the photo flash lamp (3) in such a way that it illuminates when the camera (2) records the image. According to the invention, the components (2, 3, 4) are arranged in a common housing (5).

This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that are not different from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims.

An arc welding apparatus and corresponding method includes a torch, a non-consumable electrode and a consumable electrode both disposed within the torch, a wire feeder configured to feed the consumable electrode in a vicinity of the non-consumable electrode, a first power source and a second power source that provide independent current, respectively, to the non-consumable electrode and the consumable electrode, and a weld process controller to control outputs of the first power source and the second power source such that a concentrated arc is formed, as a heat source, between the non-consumable electrode and a workpiece, and an inter-electrode arc is formed between the consumable electrode and the non-consumable electrode to melt the consumable electrode. The approach is characterized by low heat input, low distortion, low spatter, and the relative high speed or high deposition of laser and laser-MIG hybrid and other forms of multi-wire/multi-electrode welding, cladding, and additive manufacturing.

An arc welding apparatus and corresponding method includes a torch, a non-consumable electrode and a consumable electrode both disposed within the torch, a wire feeder configured to feed the consumable electrode in a vicinity of the non-consumable electrode, a first power source and a second power source that provide independent current, respectively, to the non-consumable electrode and the consumable electrode, and a weld process controller to control outputs of the first power source and the second power source such that a concentrated arc is formed, as a heat source, between the non-consumable electrode and a workpiece, and an inter-electrode arc is formed between the consumable electrode and the non-consumable electrode to melt the consumable electrode. The approach is characterized by low heat input, low distortion, low spatter, and the relative high speed or high deposition of laser and laser-MIG hybrid and other forms of multi-wire/multi-electrode welding, cladding, and additive manufacturing.

A simulator facilitates virtual welding activity of boss (e.g., orbital) weld joints. The simulator may include a logic processor based system operable to execute coded instructions for generating an interactive welding environment that emulates welding activity on a section of virtual pipe having at least one virtual weld joint. It also includes a display connected to the logic processor based system for visually depicting the interactive welding environment, wherein the display depicts the section of virtual pipe. A pendant is provided for performing welding equipment setup and virtual welding activity on the at least one weld joint in real time where one or more sensors are adapted to track movement of the input device in real time for communicating data about the movement of the input device to the logic processor based system.

Systems are disclosed relating to a mobile device mounted to a welding helmet such that a wearer of the welding helmet can see a display of the mobile device when wearing the welding helmet. In some examples, the mobile device is mounted such that a camera of the mobile device is unobscured and positioned at approximately eye level, facing the same way the wearer's eyes are facing. In some examples, the simulated training environment may be presented to the user via the display screen of the mobile device, using images captured by the camera of the mobile device, when the mobile device is so mounted to the welding helmet.