Weld cap and tip inspection method and apparatus

1. An apparatus for assessing characteristics of a weld cap comprising:

a welding robot including at least one weld cap with a weld cap tip;

a machine vision sensor generating image data representing said at least one weld cap tip; and

a control pendant having a visual screen configured to simultaneously display said at least one weld cap in response to the image data and a form of visual measurement for visually comparing said at least one weld cap to weld cap threshold measurement data, said control pendant in communication with a control system having a processor and a data storage, said control pendant being separate from and connected to a robot controller of the welding robot to permit an operator to operate the welding robot and teach the robot controller operation programs, said data storage storing the weld cap threshold measurement data representing a definable threshold of at least one predetermined characteristic of said at least one weld cap, said control system performing an assessment of the at least one predetermined characteristic of said at least one weld cap by comparing the image data with the weld cap threshold measurement data stored in said data storage, and said control system generating an alarm when the definable threshold is exceeded.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one predetermined characteristic of said at least one weld cap is one of a weld cap tip face measurement, a weld cap tip wear measurement, and a weld cap tip alignment measurement.

3. A method for measuring a weld cap tip characteristic of a weld cap in a welding system including a welding robot having the weld cap with a weld cap tip, a machine vision sensor and a control pendant including a visual screen, said control pendant in communication with a control system having a processor and a data storage, said control pendant being separate from and connected to a robot controller of the welding robot to permit an operator to operate the welding robot and teach the robot controller operation programs, the method comprising the steps of:

a. providing threshold measurement data representing a definable threshold of a predetermined characteristic of the weld cap tip;

b. storing the threshold measurement data from the machine vision sensor in the data storage;

c. generating from the machine vision sensor image data representing the weld cap tip;

d. comparing the image data with the threshold measurement data in the control system;

e. simultaneously displaying on the visual screen the weld cap tip from the image data, the definable threshold from the threshold measurement data, and a form of visual measurement for visually comparing the weld cap tip to the threshold measurement data; and

f. using the control system to generate an indication of a status of the weld cap tip based upon performing said step d.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the weld cap tip characteristic is tip face and further comprising a step of determining with the control system when the weld cap tip on the welding robot needs to be dressed.

5. The method of claim 4 and further comprising steps of generating from the control system a request to dress the weld cap tip, and dressing the weld cap tip.

6. The method of claim 5 and further comprising a step of verifying with the control system that the weld cap tip has been dressed.

7. The method of claim 4 and further comprising a step of verifying with the control system that the weld cap tip has been dressed.

8. The method of claim 4 and further comprising steps of the control system indicating that the weld cap needs to be changed, and verifying that the weld cap has been changed.

9. A method for measuring alignment of a weld cap tip for aligning the weld cap tip in a welding system including a welding robot having a weld cap with the weld cap tip, a machine vision sensor and a control pendant including a visual screen, said control pendant in communication with a control system having a processor and a data storage, said control pendant being separate from and connected to a robot controller of the welding robot to permit an operator to operate the welding robot and teach the robot controller operation programs, the method comprising the steps of:

a. providing threshold measurement data representing a definable threshold of weld cap tip alignment;

b. storing the threshold measurement data in the data storage;

c. generating from the machine vision sensor image data representing the weld cap tip;

d. comparing the image data with the threshold measurement data in the control system;

e. simultaneously displaying on the visual screen the weld cap tip from the image data, the definable threshold from the threshold measurement data, and a form of visual measurement for visually comparing the weld cap tip to the threshold measurement data; and

f. using the control system to determine when the weld cap tip needs aligning based upon performing the step d.

10. The method of claim 9 and further comprising a step of aligning the weld cap tip with a servo gun.

11. The method of claim 9 and further comprising steps of generating a request to align the weld cap tip with the control system, and aligning the weld cap tip.

12. The method of claim 11 and further comprising a step of verifying by the control system that the weld cap tip has been aligned.

13. The method of claim 9 and further comprising steps of the control system indicating that the weld cap needs to be changed, and verifying that the weld cap has been changed.

14. A method for measuring tip wear of a weld cap in a welding system including a welding robot having the weld cap with a weld cap tip, a machine vision sensor and a control pendant, said control pendant in communication with a control system having a processor and a data storage, said control pendant being separate from and connected to a robot controller of the welding robot to permit an operator to operate the welding robot and teach the robot controller operation programs, the method comprising the steps of:

a. providing threshold measurement data representing a definable threshold of wear of the weld cap tip;

b. storing the threshold measurement data in the data storage;

c. generating from the machine vision sensor image data representing the weld cap tip;

d. comparing the image data with the stored threshold measurement data in the control system;

e. simultaneously displaying on the visual screen the weld cap tip from the image data, the definable threshold from the threshold measurement data, and a form of visual measurement for visually comparing the weld cap tip to the threshold measurement data;

f. using the control system to generate an indication of a status of the weld cap tip based upon performing said step d.; and

g. determining with the control system when the weld cap needs to be changed based upon the status indication.

15. The method of claim 14 and further comprising a step of aligning the weld cap with a servo gun.

16. The method of claim 14 and further comprising steps of generating a request to align the weld cap from the control system, and aligning the weld cap.

17. The method of claim 16 and further comprising a step of verifying with the control system that the weld cap has been aligned.

18. The method of claim 14 and further comprising steps of the control system indicating that the weld cap needs to be changed, and verifying that the weld cap has been changed.

19. A method for verifying replacement of a weld cap in a welding system including a welding robot having the weld cap, a machine vision sensor and a control pendant, said control pendant in communication with a control system having a processor and a data storage, said control pendant being separate from and connected to a robot controller of the welding robot to permit an operator to operate the welding robot and teach the robot controller operation programs, the method comprising the steps of:

a. providing threshold measurement data representing a definable threshold of a profile of the weld cap;

b. storing the threshold measurement data in the data storage;

c. generating from the machine vision sensor image data representing the weld cap;

d. comparing the image data with the stored threshold measurement data in the control system;

e. simultaneously displaying on the visual screen the weld cap from the image data, the definable threshold from the threshold measurement data, and a form of visual measurement for visually comparing the weld cap to the threshold measurement data;

f. using the control system to generate an indication of a status of the weld cap based upon performing said step d.; and

g. determining when the weld cap has been replaced based upon performing said step d.

20. The method of claim 19 and further comprising steps of verifying with the control system the status of the weld cap from at least one of: measuring an alignment of a weld cap tip of the weld cap; measuring a face of the weld cap face for dressing the weld cap tip; and measuring a wear of the weld cap tip for replacement.

21. The method of claim 19 and further comprising steps of generating a request to replace the weld cap from the control system, and replacing the weld cap.

22. The method of claim 19 and further comprising a step of verifying with the control system that the weld cap has been replaced.

23. A method for verifying a type of weld cap in a welding system including a welding robot having a weld cap, a machine vision sensor and a control pendant, said control pendant in communication with a control system having a processor and a data storage, said control pendant being separate from and connected to a robot controller of the welding robot to permit an operator to operate the welding robot and teach the robot controller operation programs, the method comprising the steps of:

a. providing threshold measurement data representing a definable threshold of a profile of a preferred weld cap;

b. storing the threshold measurement data in the data storage;

c. generating from the machine vision sensor image data representing the weld cap;

d. comparing the image data with the stored threshold measurement data in the control system;

e. simultaneously displaying on the visual screen the weld cap from the image data, the definable threshold from the threshold measurement data, and a form of visual measurement for visually comparing the weld cap to the threshold measurement data;

f. using the control system to generate an indication of a status of the weld cap based upon performing said step d.; and

g. determining whether the weld cap is the preferred weld cap.

24. The method of claim 23 and further comprising a step of, when the at least one weld cap is determined to be preferred weld cap, adjusting an alignment of a weld cap tip of the weld cap.

25. The method of claim 23 and further comprising steps of generating from the control system a request to replace the weld cap, and replacing the weld cap.