An automatic and manual welding apparatus includes an operation changeover switch which is provided to be capable of switching a manual input mode for switching off power supplied to an infeed motor to and from an automatic input mode for applying power supplied to the infeed motor, so as to switch the rotation of the infeed motor automatically and manually. A control unit controls the infeed motor such that the power supplied to the forward and backward transfer motor is switched off when the input of the operation changeover switch is in a manual input mode and the power to the infeed motor is applied when the input of the operation changeover switch is in an automatic input mode.

A welding system comprises a welding module and a moving module adapted to move the welding module to a predetermined welding position. The welding module includes a guiding device and a welding tool. The guiding device has a plurality of tubular guiding heads arranged in a row, ends of the plurality of tubular guiding heads are disposed close to joints of a plurality of cables so as to guide a plurality of welding wires to the joints of the plurality of cables. The welding tool has a plurality of tooth-shaped welding heads arranged in a row, ends of the plurality of tooth-shaped welding heads are disposed close to the joints of the plurality of cables and configured to simultaneously heat the plurality of welding wires guided to the joints of the plurality of cables, so as to simultaneously weld the joints of the plurality of cables onto a circuit board.

A plasma cutting apparatus includes a housing, a workpiece support, a movable plasma nozzle, and a nozzle drive arrangement. The housing includes a base, an upright pedestal extending upward from the base, and a stationary head cantilevered from the upright pedestal. The workpiece support extends from the upright pedestal and is located below the stationary head. The nozzle extends downward from an underside of the stationary head and is oriented for delivering a cutting plasma generally along one direction and toward a workpiece on the workpiece support. The nozzle drive arrangement is mounted to the stationary head and is connected for moving the plasma nozzle during a cutting operation.

Computer numerical control (CNC) machines have dramatically changed manufacturing processes including plasma based cutting. Typically, plasma based cutting executes a single continuous process. However, gratings cut from a grating sheet require a number of discrete cuts be made within a grating sheet to cut each element within the grating sheet to isolate the element required from the grating. Accordingly, embodiments of the invention provide enterprises and facilities employing CNC cutting systems with a means to overcome the limitations of CNC cutting systems when cutting such elements.

A plasma-torch cutting machine gantry moves in a first axis and the torch mounted through a pantograph to a drive box moves along the gantry in a second axis. The drive box rotates the torch about a third axis, and tilts the torch about a fourth axis. The drive box moves vertically in a fifth axis. The torch is mountable with tip at pantograph focal point or in an extended position. A controller firmware computes and apply offsets in the first, second and fifth axis to maintain the plasma torch tip in desired position despite the torch being mounted in extended position, rotation and tilt of the torch. In embodiments the torch is rotatable /+90 degrees from vertical; and a laser scanner maps surfaces and edges of beams to determine movements and rotations for cutting beams.

A longitudinal welded pipe assembly and welding mill contains a trestle, on which a welding bridge configured to move is mounted, such bridge carrying welding equipment with the first welding head designed for welding on the outside of the pipe blank. A pipe blank rotation system and assembly mandrels, each containing a blank pipe longitudinal edge clamping mechanism, are installed in the trestle leg span. The mill is fitted with a cantilever crossbar mounted in the supporting assembly, with the second welding head designed for inside welding, the clamping mechanism made as hydraulic stops. The pipe blank rotation system is a welding trolley configured to move over guides and having rotary rollers designed for positioning a pipe blank in the welding position, and supporting rotary rollers located near the assembly mandrels and configured to diverge crosswise with respect to the guides to enable movement of the welding trolley into the assembly mandrel area and move in reverse up to the stop to the pipe blank surface. Technical result: expansion of the technological capabilities of existing mills by integrating equipment enabling to weld from inside and outside of the pipe blank in various sequence using various technologies and observing the geometrical accuracy of bringing together the blank edges for pipes of various diameter, in particular, for large diameter pipes.

In various examples, a computer-implemented method of generating instructions for a welding robot. The computer-implemented method comprises identifying an expected position of a candidate seam on a part to be welded based on a Computer Aided Design (CAD) model of the part, scanning a workspace containing the part to produce a representation of the part, identifying the candidate seam on the part based on the representation of the part and the expected position of the candidate seam, determining an actual position of the candidate seam, and generating welding instructions for the welding robot based at least in part on the actual position of the candidate seam.

A pipe assembly station for performing operations on a field joint during pipe assembly has an active rail extending around an opening through which the pipe can pass. Tool carriages are arranged to traverse along the active rail and around a periphery of the pipe. The station also comprises a standby position, distanced from the active rail and a switch arranged to transfer the tool carriage from the active rail to the standby position. By providing such a combination of a rail and a standby position, a tool carriage can be brought into position on the active rail to perform a pipe joining operation and can be subsequently set back to the standby position, where it is out of the way of operations taking place on the pipe. Such a switching arrangement allows for more effective use of the limited space around the joint.

In some examples, an autonomous robotic welding system comprises a workspace including a part having a seam, a sensor configured to capture multiple images within the workspace, a robot configured to lay weld along the seam, and a controller. The controller is configured to identify the seam on the part in the workspace based on the multiple images, plan a path for the robot to follow when welding the seam, the path including multiple different configurations of the robot, and instruct the robot to weld the seam according to the planned path.

A welding apparatus has a guide rail arrangement with at least one guide rail attachable to a welding target. A carriage has a carriage housing and a rail follower assembly that is movably mountable to the guide rail arrangement for relative movement along the at least one guide rail. A feedstock source is disposed within the carriage housing and configured to deposit a feedstock material on a target surface of the welding target. An ultrasonic weld head is partially disposed within the carriage housing and has a sonotrode that extends toward the target surface so as to engage the deposited feedstock material and apply a normal welding force to the deposited feedstock material and the target surface. The sonotrode is operable to conduct ultrasonic vibrations into the deposited feedstock material and the target surface to weld the feedstock material to the target surface.