A modular two-part welding and processing platform is described. A cart section is capable of rotating around objects such as pipes and cylinders, or of linear travel along plates or the like. This cart section reversibly couples to a processing section supplied for instance with welding apparatus, painting apparatus, cleaning means, analysis means or the like. By means of this two-part device, work pieces can be cleaned, welded, and inspected quickly and accurately. Special marks may be provided on the work piece which in conjunction with sensors and motoring means on the cart, allow for precise positioning of the process head with respect to the work.

A mobile welding system that does not rely exclusively on a track to define the path of the welder. The present invention generally provides a mobile welder adapted to move along a work piece, the mobile welder including a chassis supporting a motor assembly; a travel assembly attached to the chassis and adapted to support the chassis over a portion of the work piece, wherein the motor is coupled to the travel assembly to selectively cause the chassis to move relative to the work piece; a controller connected to the motor assembly to control movement of the chassis relative to the work piece; a chassis holder connected to the chassis, the chassis holder being adapted to provide a force holding the chassis a selected distance from the work piece; and a welder supported on the chassis, the welder including an implement adapted to perform a welding operation, wherein the implement is supported on the chassis at a location where the implement and the chassis define an uninterrupted line of sight from the implement to the work piece, wherein the chassis holder is spaced from the line of sight a distance sufficient to prevent the chassis holder from interfering with the welding operation.

The invention described herein generally pertains to systems and methods related to repeatable and accurate setting of welding torch lead and lag positions, particularly with orbital welding systems. Specifically, a torch is coupled with a lead-lag coupler having a stop lug. A stop set with a stop pin is rotated to a desired position of lead or lag and secured. The lead-lag coupler, and torch which rotates therewith, are then unsecured and rotated until the stop lug contacts the stop pin. In this position, the torch is maintained at the desired angle. The stop pin remains in place throughout operation(s) to permit quick, accurate return to the desired angle if the torch is temporarily moved out of position.

An internal clamping and welding device for joining tubes by their distal ends, the device comprising movement means in order to be moved inside the tubes, separate clamping means for cooperating with the inner surfaces of the tubes to be welded, and a welding head mounted so as to be able to both rotate about a longitudinal axis of the tubes, and also pivot in order to be tiltable relative to a support of the clamping means.

A device for welding together cylindrical sections of a casing. The device comprises a clamping ring configured to surround and attach to a section of the casing and a robot provided with a welding gun and at least one joint, wherein the robot is movably attached to the clamping ring by cooperating means. A method for welding cylindrical sections of a casing by using such a device includes the steps of a) positioning and clamping the clamping ring at the correct position, b) moving the robot along the clamping ring to the correct position for welding, c) welding the sections to each other by the welding gun of the robot, and d) releasing the clamping ring.

The invention is an apparatus and method for Orbital welding of pipes or pipe segments together to form a pipeline, i.e., Orbital welding. A scanner welding unit, a control unit and a welding unit are combined to travel along and above a seam, which is formed between two interfacing base/cylindrical surfaces of every two pipe or pipe segments, scan the pipes/pipe segments relative positioning, alignment and levelling, and their surface geometry and topography and overlay a welding material starting from the root layer at the bottom of the seam and up to its edge and sealing it with a capping layer. The welding unit lowers a welding tip into the seam that may rotate on its axis at different angels relative to the surface during welding. The scanner unit may alert on mismatches on the relative position of the pipes/pipe segments before or after welding and in some cases enable repositioning for a more hermetically sealed weld.

Provided is an apparatus for coating a girth weld and a cutback region surrounding said girth weld, said apparatus having lateral travel at least equal to the length of the cutback region and circumferential rotational travel around the pipe. The apparatus can provide a multiple component coating accurately and safely, without the need for solvent flushing of the apparatus.

An orbital welding device (1) for welding two pieces of pipe, the orbital welding device (1) having a welding current source (10) in a welding current source housing (11) and an orbital welding head (20), which is separate from the welding current source housing (11) and is connected to the welding current source (10) by a cable (2), the orbital welding head (20) having a chamber (50) for the use of shielding gas (50) and/or the orbital welding device (1) having a purging device (90) for the use of shielding gas, preferably back-up shielding gas or purge gas, the orbital welding device (1) having an oxygen sensor (40), wherein the oxygen sensor (40) is arranged in or on the welding current source housing (11).

An orbital welding device (1), having a welding current source (10) in a welding current source housing (11) and an orbital welding head (20), which is separate from the welding current source housing (11) and is connected to the welding current source (10) by a cable (2), the orbital welding head (20) having a pipe mount (21) and a welding electrode holder (22) for holding a welding electrode (23). An electric motor (31) is designed to drive the welding electrode holder (22) and thus turn it with respect to the pipe mount (21). The orbital welding head (20) has a chamber (50) for shielding gas. An optical oxygen sensor (40) is designed to measure an oxygen concentration in a measuring region (51) in the chamber (50). The oxygen sensor (40) is arranged outside the chamber (50) and is optically coupled to the measuring region (51) by an optical coupling.

A multi-position clamp is disclosed for positioning and holding a portable friction welding tool adjacent a substrate for friction welding a plurality of fixtures in a precise pattern referenced from a fixed position on a substrate. The clamp has a clamp base temporarily securable at the fixed position on the substrate, a traveling mount comprising a tool mount for receiving said portable friction welding tool, and a connection to the clamp base allowing relative movement of the tool mount over the substrate. Index stops help install the plurality of fixtures in the pattern and an articulated fixture loading system allow positioning and loading successive fixtures without disengaging and removing said portable friction welding tool from connection with the clamp base.