Welding gun and method for monitoring a welding process

1 . A handheld welding gun for welding a fastener to a component according to a welding process, the handheld welding gun comprising:

a housing with a main portion and a grip with a trigger, the grip extending from the main portion;

a holding unit mounted on the main portion and adapted to hold the fastener;

a linear actuator adapted to actuate the holding unit in order to move the fastener between a lift position and a plunge position;

a nozzle surrounding the holding unit and adapted to contact the component;

a welding current contact element arranged in the housing and adapted to direct a welding current to the fastener;

a processing system with a control card, wherein the control card is adapted to control the welding process; and

a sensor unit adapted to measure different parameters during the welding process, the sensor unit including a gyroscope sensor mounted within the housing and arranged on the control card.

2 . The handheld welding gun according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor unit further includes an accelerometer and a magnetometer mounted within the housing, and wherein the accelerometer and the magnetometer communicate with the processing system and are arranged on the control card.

3 . The handheld welding gun according to claim 2 , wherein the magnetometer is detecting the magnetic field of the linear actuator, and wherein the magnetometer is arranged on the side of the control card opposite the side facing a linear actuator housing.

4 . The handheld welding gun according to claim 2 , wherein the gyroscope sensor and/or the accelerometer and/or the magnetometer are MEMS sensors.

5 . The handheld welding gun according to claim 2 , wherein the gyroscope sensor and/or the accelerometer and/or the magnetometer are mounted in the main portion of the housing.

6 . The handheld welding gun according to claim 2 , wherein the gyroscope sensor and/or the accelerometer are mounted in the grip of the housing.

7 . The handheld welding gun according to claim 2 , wherein the motion and/or the position and/or the orientation of the handheld welding gun is detected by the gyroscope sensor and/or the accelerometer and/or the magnetometer, and the processing system is configured to adapt the welding process depending on the position and/or the motion and/or the orientation of the handheld welding gun.

8 . The handheld welding gun according claim 1 , wherein the main portion and the holding unit longitudinally extend along a longitudinal axis corresponding to a welding axis, wherein the grip extends longitudinally along an axis orthogonal to the longitudinal axis, and wherein the gyroscope sensor continuously senses the orientation of the handheld welding gun.

9 . A method for monitoring the behaviour of a handheld welding gun during welding of a fastener to a component according to a welding process, the method comprising:

providing a handheld welding gun including:

a housing with a main portion and a grip with a trigger, the grip extending from the main portion;

a holding unit mounted on the main portion and adapted to hold the fastener;

a linear actuator adapted to actuate the holding unit in order to move the fastener between a lift position and a plunge position;

a nozzle surrounding the holding unit and adapted to contact the component;

a welding current contact element arranged in the housing and adapted to direct a welding current to the fastener;

a processing system with a control card adapted to control the welding process; and

a sensor unit adapted to measure different parameters during the welding process, the sensor unit including a gyroscope sensor mounted within the housing;

determining an orientation of the handheld welding gun using the gyroscope sensor; and

adapting a parameter of the welding process associated with a period after its initiation based on the orientation of the handheld welding gun.

10 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising

providing a library including a plurality of predetermined welding programs,

comparing the orientation of the handheld welding gun to a plurality of profiles of use corresponding to the plurality of predetermined welding programs; and

selecting a particular welding program from the library dependent on the comparison.

11 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising comparing the orientation of the handheld welding gun to target data and determining an improper operation based on the comparison.

12 . The method according to claim 10 , wherein the selecting of a particular welding program further depends on a parameter recorded by the gyroscope sensor.

13 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising counting and recording the number of weld spots based on a parameter recorded by the gyroscope sensor.

14 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising:

recording the acceleration of the handheld welding gun along a welding axis during the welding process;

recording the strength of the magnetic field along the welding axis; and

detecting whether an early removal of the handheld welding gun from the component has occurred based on the recorded acceleration and the recorded strength.