There is provided an optical axis adjustment jig including a flat parallel-surface plate having an upper surface and a lower surface with reflective films disposed respectively thereon, and an image capturing unit disposed beneath the flat parallel-surface plate for capturing an image of a laser beam applied thereto. The flat parallel-surface plate is made of a material that is transmissive of a wavelength of the laser beam. The laser beam is applied through the flat parallel-surface plate to the image capturing unit. A tilt of the optical axis of the laser beam is detected on the basis of the shape of the beam spot of the laser beam whose image has been captured by the image capturing unit.

A welding fixture includes a flexible substrate, which is sufficiently flexible to be reconfigurable between a planar configuration and a folded or rolled compact configuration and is dimensioned to support a plurality of frame members to form a structural frame for a recreational vehicle (RV). The welding fixture further includes a plurality of guide surfaces mounted to the flexible substrate, which are arranged on the flexible substrate to align the frame members in a predefined arrangement with a plurality of weld points and to align the frame members in the predefined arrangement while being welded together at the weld points.

Present invention teaches a height adjustable rest having four main parts: a base, a cylindrical knob, a cylindrical post and a snap ring. The cylindrical post has a vertical straight groove to guide the up-and-down height adjustment when the knob is turned relative to the base. The base holes and the knob holes, along with the corresponding rods, provide increased torque when larger and/or heavier workpiece is being supported. The matching inner thread portion (on the inside of the cylindrical knob) and the outer thread portion (on the outside of the base) is a desired feature to make the product less susceptible to damages or work debris compared to other products with exposed threads.

Embodiments of welding work cells are disclosed. One embodiment includes a workpiece positioning system, a welding power source, and a welding job sequencer. The workpiece positioning system powers an elevating motion and a rotational motion of a workpiece mounted between a headstock and a tailstock to re-position the workpiece for a next weld to be performed. The welding power source generates welding output power based on a set of welding parameters of the power source. The welding job sequencer commands the workpiece positioning system to re-position the workpiece from a current position to a next position in accordance with a next step of a welding sequence of a welding schedule. The welding job sequencer also commands the welding power source to adjust a current set of welding parameters to a next set of welding parameters in accordance with the next step of the welding sequence of the welding schedule.

Rather than machine tools, nowadays robots are used to some extent for the machining of workpieces. The robot holds the tool and machines the workpiece directly. On account of the stiffness of the robot arm, this is currently possible only with imprecise applications with tolerances of not less than 0.1 mm. The invention is intended to make it possible to improve the feed by such robots or portal solutions such that the tolerances are reduced without substantially acting on the production processes. This is allowed by a table-mounted positioning apparatus, in which a positioning unit is connected to the table. The positioning unit has a position sleeve, into which the robot introduces an external holding device for receiving the workpiece, or for receiving the tool. On account of a defined mounting of the position sleeve about a first main axis of rotation about an inner holding device, which holds the tool, or the workpiece, improved positioning of the robot arm can be achieved by the additional support thus created. The positioning unit is in this case passive, i.e. is moved by the robot arm itself.

A workpiece rotating apparatus including a first rotary positioner and a second rotary positioner which are arranged to face each other in a direction along a substantially horizontal rotation axis, which hold, respectively, one end portion and the other end portion of a long workpiece, and which can rotate the workpiece around the rotation axis, a linear motor which linearly moves the second rotary positioner in a direction along the rotation axis, and a motor controller which controls the linear motor to adjust a position of the second rotary positioner in a direction along the rotation axis, and the motor controller controls the linear motor so that magnitude of force acting on the linear motor from the other end portion of the workpiece via the second rotary positioner becomes equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold.

A welding device for automatically welding a workpiece by a welding robot using a welding wire includes a welding control device that controls operation and welding work of the welding robot. The welding control device includes a sensing unit configured to detect a position of the workpiece, a root gap calculating unit configured to determine a root gap, and a storage unit including wire melting information as a database of a proper welding current corresponding to a feeding rate for each of the welding wire. A lamination pattern and a welding condition are provided in accordance with the root gap determined by the root gap calculating unit and the wire melting information so that an amount of heat input is equal to or less than a predetermined amount of heat input.

Embodiments of welding work cells are disclosed. One embodiment includes a workpiece positioning system, a welding power source, and a welding job sequencer. The workpiece positioning system powers an elevating motion and a rotational motion of a workpiece mounted between a headstock and a tailstock to re-position the workpiece for a next weld to be performed. The welding power source generates welding output power based on a set of welding parameters of the power source. The welding job sequencer commands the workpiece positioning system to re-position the workpiece from a current position to a next position in accordance with a next step of a welding sequence of a welding schedule. The welding job sequencer also commands the welding power source to adjust a current set of welding parameters to a next set of welding parameters in accordance with the next step of the welding sequence of the welding schedule.

A welding fixture includes a flexible substrate, which is sufficiently flexible to be reconfigurable between a planar configuration and a folded or rolled compact configuration and is dimensioned to support a plurality of frame members to form a structural frame for a recreational vehicle (RV). The welding fixture further includes a plurality of guide surfaces mounted to the flexible substrate, which are arranged on the flexible substrate to align the frame members in a predefined arrangement with a plurality of weld points and to align the frame members in the predefined arrangement while being welded together at the weld points.

A welding system for welding a first elongated element and a second elongated element together by a laser beam that is emitted from a laser welding head after the ideal welding center point of the aligned first and second elongated elements has been positioned at a focal point of the laser beam that is emitted from the laser welding head.