Method and apparatus for the lateral positioning of a member relative to a joint

United States Patent im

Detriche

[li] Patent Number: 4,513,195 [45] Date of Patent: Apr. 23, 1985

[54] METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR THE LATERAL POSITIONING OF A MEMBER RELATIVE TO A JOINT

[75] Inventor: Jean-Marie Detriche, Saint Germain en Laye, France

[73] Assignee: Commissariat a I'Energie Atomique, Paris, France

[21] Appl. No.: 532,394

[22] Filed: Sep. 15,1983

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data

Sep. 15, 1982 [FR] France 82 15569

[51] Int. C1.3 B23K 9/12

[52] U.S. Q 219/124.34; 318/576;

318/653

[58] Field of Search 219/124.34, 124.22;

318/576, 653

[56] References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

4,206,391 6/1980 Varacins 318/576

4,441,010 4/1984 Cornu et al 219/124.34

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

0036358 9/1981 European Pat. Off. .

0064454 11/1982 European Pat. Off. .

1615529 12/1970 Fed. Rep. of Germany .

2267854 11/1975 France .

Primary Examiner—Clifford C. Shaw

Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Obion, Fisher, Spivak,

McClelland & Maier

[57] ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for the lateral positioning of a member relative to a joint formed between two metal surfaces and having discontinuities.

Use is made of an eddy current sensor having at least two probes staggered in the direction of the joint. The signals supplied by each probe are processed separately to obtain a signal representing the lateral displacement. By comparing said signal with a given threshold below the amplitude of the signal in the presence of a discontinuity, it is possible to only transmit to a servomotor signals which are below this threshold, which correspond to an effective measurement of the lateral displacement.

Application is to automatic welding machines. 12 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures