System and method for start flow approach control for a proportional valve in a plasma cutter

1. A plasma cutting system comprising:

a plasma torch actuated by a trigger and connected to a power source;

a gas supply system constructed to receive pressurized gas and provide a gas flow to the plasma torch;

a sensing device;

an air pressure-closing proportional valve configured to regulate the gas flow; and

a controller configured to:

determine a target gas pressure set point for a plasma cutting operation;

determine a ramp pressure set point offset from the target gas pressure set point;

apply a full-open drive signal to the air pressure-closing proportional valve;

monitor a pressure of gas flow output from the air pressure-closing proportional valve via the sensing device;

apply a ramping drive signal to the air pressure-closing proportional valve after the pressure of gas flow has reached the ramp pressure set point; and

apply a target-pressure drive signal to the air pressure-closing proportional valve after the pressure of the gas flow has reached the target gas pressure set point.

2. The plasma cutting system of claim 1 wherein the controller is further configured to increment the ramp pressure set point after the pressure of the gas flow has reached the ramp pressure set point.

3. The plasma cutting system of claim 2 wherein the controller is further configured to:

set a timer; and

increment the ramp pressure set point based on a value of the timer.

4. The plasma cutting system of claim 2 wherein the controller is further configured to:

modify the ramping drive signal to increase the pressure of the gas flow if the pressure of the gas flow is under the ramp pressure set point; and

modify the ramping drive signal to decrease the pressure of the gas flow if the pressure of the gas flow is over the ramp pressure set point.

5. The plasma cutting system of claim 1 wherein the controller is further configured to:

set a timer; and

set a fault flag if the timer has at least reached a predetermined value during application of the full-open drive signal.

6. The plasma cutting system of claim 1 wherein the sensing device, the air pressure-closing proportional valve, and the controller are located within the plasma torch.

7. The plasma cutting system of claim 1 wherein the sensing device is a pressure sensor arranged to measure the pressure of the gas flow output from the air pressure-closing proportional valve.

8. The plasma cutting system of claim 1 wherein the controller is further configured to:

modify the target-pressure drive signal to increase the pressure of the gas flow if the pressure of the gas flow is under the target gas pressure set point; and

modify the target-pressure drive signal to decrease the pressure of the gas flow if the pressure of the gas flow is over the target gas pressure set point.

9. The plasma cutting system of claim 1 wherein the ramping drive signal and the target-pressure drive signal are pulse-width-modulated.

10. The plasma cutting system of claim 9 wherein the full-open drive signal, the ramping drive signal, and the target-pressure drive signal are each one of the current signal and a voltage signal.

11. A method of controlling an air pressure-closing proportional valve of a plasma cutting system comprising:

determining a desired gas pressure threshold for a desired cutting operation to be performed;

setting a target gas pressure threshold designed to minimize overshoot;

driving the air pressure-closing proportional valve away from a fully-closed position via a full-boost drive signal;

driving the air pressure-closing proportional valve away from the fully-closed position via a ramp boost drive signal after an output pressure of the air pressure-closing proportional valve has crossed the target gas pressure threshold, the ramp boost drive signal configured to drive the air pressure-closing proportional valve away from the fully-closed position more slowly than the full-boost drive signal; and

driving the air pressure-closing proportional valve via a pressure-maintaining drive signal after the output pressure of the air pressure-closing proportional valve has crossed the desired gas pressure threshold.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising periodically incrementing the target gas pressure threshold while driving the air pressure-closing proportional valve via a ramp boost drive signal.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising modifying the ramp boost drive signal to drive the air pressure-closing proportional valve toward a position that causes the output pressure to move toward the target gas pressure threshold.

14. The method of claim 11 further comprising set a fault flag if a timer has at least reached a predetermined value during driving of the air pressure-closing proportional valve via the full-boost drive signal.

15. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

modifying the pressure-maintaining drive signal to drive the air pressure-closing proportional valve toward the fully-closed position if the output pressure of the air pres sure-closing proportional valve is greater than the desired gas pressure threshold; and

modifying the pressure-maintaining drive signal to drive the air pressure-closing proportional valve away from the fully-closed position if the output pressure of the air pressure-closing proportional valve is less than the desired gas pressure threshold.

16. A welding-type system comprising:

a torch actuated by a trigger;

a gas flow system constructed to receive pressurized gas;

an air pressure-closing proportional valve comprising a plunger, wherein a force acting to translate the plunger away from a fully-open position decreases toward a minimum value as the plunger is translated from a fully-closed position toward a first position and increases thereafter as the plunger is translated from the first position toward the fully-open position; and

a controller configured to control the air pressure-closing proportional valve to regulate gas flow, the controller configured to:

cause the plunger to translate to a first target position between the first position and the fully-open position via a kick-open drive signal, wherein the first target position is further between the first position and a second target position; and

cause the plunger to translate to the second target position via a ramp-up drive signal after translating to the first target position.

17. The welding-type system of claim 16 wherein the first and second target positions correspond to first and second gas flow pressures, respectively; and

wherein the controller is further configured to:

measure gas flow; and

determine that the plunger is in one of the first and second target positions based on a comparison of the measure gas flow with the at least one of the first and second gas flow pressure.

18. The welding-type system of claim 16 wherein the air pressure-closing proportional valve further comprises a spring having a spring force configured to bias the plunger toward the fully-closed position.

19. The welding-type system of claim 18 wherein the force is a combined net force of the spring force with a force of the pressurized gas.

20. The welding-type system of claim 16 wherein the controller is further caused to maintain the plunger about the second target position while the torch is activated.