US 12,103,119 B2
Robotic welding system with orbital welder positioned on robotic arm
Leon Adcock, Chillicothe, IL (US); Michael Alan Brewer, Metamora, IL (US); Michael H. Noble, Peoria, IL (US); and Kevin Joustra, Juneau, WI (US)
Assigned to Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, IL (US)
Filed by Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, IL (US)
Filed on Aug. 3, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/392,894.
Prior Publication US 2023/0041636 A1, Feb. 9, 2023
Int. Cl. B23K 9/095 (2006.01); B23K 9/028 (2006.01)
CPC B23K 9/0953 (2013.01) [B23K 9/0282 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system, comprising:
a motor;
an articulating arm coupled to the motor;
an orbital welder coupled to the articulating arm, the orbital welder including a torch head that is configured to rotate about a rotational axis, while the articulating arm remains stationary, to weld a wear plate to a blade of a machine;
a sensor configured to capture sensor data associated with a plurality of joint locations between the wear plate and the blade of the machine; and
a controller configured to receive the sensor data from the sensor, access stored part data indicating characteristics of the wear plate, and identify, based at least in part on the sensor data and the part data, a joint location of the plurality of joint locations, wherein, based at least in part on identification of the joint location by the controller:
the motor is configured to move the articulating arm relative to the wear plate such that the torch head of the orbital welder is positioned proximate the joint location, and the rotational axis is disposed substantially colinear with a central axis of a passage extending through the wear plate at the joint location, and
the orbital welder is configured to weld the wear plate to the blade at the joint location by rotating the torch head, about the rotational axis, while the articulating arm remains stationary.