Apparatus, system and method to facilitate reconfigurable welding power supply

Abstract

An apparatus, system and method for a welding power supply adapted to be reconfigured is provided. The welding power supply includes a power supply control and a power supply control data store. Optionally, the welding power supply can include a communications component, an I/O component, a wire feed control component and a welding procedure(s) store. The welding power supply can provide information regarding configuration of the welding power supply to other welding power supplies and remote system(s) to facilitate troubleshooting, servicing, operating, maintenance and/or upgrading of the welding power supply. The invention further comprises a methodology for providing configuration information to a welding power supply.

1 . A system that facilitates configuring a welder power supply during a welding procedure comprising: 
 a component that receives a welding parameter; and    a configuration component that automatically applies a welder configuration to a welder power supply based at least upon the welding parameter.    
   
   
       2 . The system of  claim 1 , the welder configuration is tailored to a production node.  
   
   
       3 . The welder configuration of  claim 3  is at least one of: a voltage setting; a waveform; and a current setting.  
   
   
       4 . The system of  claim 1 , the configuration component further comprises a communication component that provides an update to the welder configuration.  
   
   
       5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the update is located on a remote system.  
   
   
       6 . The system of  claim 5  wherein the remote system is at least one of another welder power supply, a personal digital assistant, a local system and a remote system.  
   
   
       7 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the update comprises at least one of: a date of configuration of the power supply control; a service schedule of a power supply; a time of configuration of the power supply control; a hardware configuration of the welder supply; a component listing of the power supply; a maintenance schedule of the components; a software version of the power supply control; a serial number of the power supply control; an identification of the power supply control; a welding program installed in the welding power supply control; a welding program installed in the welding power supply; a component change history of the welding power supply; and a memory capacity of the welding power supply.  
   
   
       8 . The system of  claim 1  further comprises an artificial intelligence component that infers service and configuration of the welder power supply based upon historical data.  
   
   
       9 . The system of  claim 1  further comprises an artificial intelligence component that infers service and configuration of the welder power supply based upon extrinsic data.  
   
   
       10 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a wire feed control component that facilitates rate of delivery of consumable wire.  
   
   
       11 . A system that facilitates configuring a welder power supply during a welding procedure comprising: 
 a communications component that updates welder configuration from a remote system;    an analyzer that determines a welder configuration to employ; and    a configuration component that applies the welder configuration to a welder power supply.    
   
   
       12 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the configuration is at least one of: a date of configuration of the power supply control; a service schedule of a power supply; a time of configuration of the power supply control; a hardware configuration of the welding power supply; a component listing of the power supply, a maintenance schedule of the components; a software version of the power supply, a serial number of the power supply control; an identification of the power supply control; a welding program installed in the welding power supply; a component change of the welding power supply; and a memory capacity of the welding power supply.  
   
   
       13 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the communication component communicates with the remote system via at least one of: a frequency adjusting wireless communication protocol; CDMA 200 systems capacity; a post second generation service; an IrDA protocol; a third generation service; a wide area network; a local area network; the Internet; and a personal area network.  
   
   
       14 . The system of  claim 11  further comprises a security component that facilitates securing communication utilizing at least one of: a password login; a digital signature; data encryption; an authentication service; and an authorization service.  
   
   
       15 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the configuration is at least one of: an ASCII text file; HTML; SHTML; VB Script; JAVA; CGI Script; dynamic HTML; PPP; RPC; TELNET; TCP/IP; FTP; ASP; XML; PDF; EDI; and WML.  
   
   
       16 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the remote system is one of: a programmable logic device; field-programmable gate array; and a microprocessor based computer.  
   
   
       17 . A computer implemented method that facilitates configuration of a welder power supply, comprising: 
 receiving a welding parameter;    determining a welder power supply configuration based at least upon the welding parameter; and    controlling the welder power supply based at least upon the welder power supply configuration.    
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , the welder power supply configuration comprising at least one of: a date of configuration of the power supply control; a service schedule of a power supply; a time of configuration of the power supply control; a hardware configuration of the welding power supply; a component listing of the power supply; a maintenance schedule of the components; a software version of the power supply; a serial number of the power supply control; an identification of the power supply control; a welding program installed in the welding power supply; a component change of the welding power supply; and a memory capacity of the welding power supply.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising: 
 determining if the welder power supply is to be serviced; and    ordering at least one of hardware and software associated with the service to be performed on the welder power supply.    
   
   
       20 . A data packet adapted to be transmitted between a communications component and a remote system, the data packet comprising: 
 a configuration of at least one welder power supply, the configuration facilitating the configuration and service of the welder power supply.    
   
   
       21 . The data packet of  claim 20 , wherein the configuration comprises at least one of: a date of configuration of the power supply control; a service schedule of a power supply; a time of configuration of the power supply control; a hardware configuration of the welding power supply; a component listing of the power supply; a maintenance schedule of components; a software version of the power supply; a serial number of the power supply control; an identification of the power supply control, a welding program; a component change of the welding power supply; and a memory capacity of the welding power supply.