Method and Apparatus For Welding With Battery Power

Abstract

A method and apparatus provides welding-type power and preferably includes a removable battery or other energy storage device, a converter connected to the battery, and a controller. The controller may have a CV and/or a CSC and/or an AC weld control module, and/or an ac auxiliary control module. The converter is a boost converter, a buck converter, a cuk converter, a forward converter, an inverter, a bridge converter, and/or a resonant converter. The controller may include a battery charging control module, and may have one or more charging schedules, and/or data for stored charge, thermal information, expected life of the battery, maximum amp-hour charge for the battery, maximum charging current and/or feedback. The battery charging schedules may include at least 3 phases, such as a phase of increasing voltage and a phase of decreasing current, a substantially constant power phase. The controller can wirelessly provide data to a display or pda. A generator may provide power to the battery, charger, and/or the weld. It can include a vehicle and use its dc power system.

1 - 16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . A method of providing welding-type power comprising:
 receiving battery power;   converting the battery power to welding-type power; and   converting the battery power to ac auxiliary power.   
     
     
         18 . The welding-type power supply of  claim 17  wherein the controller has at least one of a CV weld control module, a CSC weld control module, and an AC weld control module in electrical communication with the control output. 
     
     
         19 . The welding-type power supply of  claim 18 , further comprising removing and reinserting the battery, wherein the battery is removable. 
     
     
         20 - 22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . A welding-type power supply, comprising:
 a battery;   a battery charger, in electrical communication with the battery;   a weld converter, having an input in electrical communication with the battery, and having a control input, and having a welding-type power output; and   a controller, having a control output in electrical communication with the control input, and having a weld power control module.   
     
     
         24 . The welding-type power supply of  claim 23 , further comprising a preregulator including a first converter and a bus, wherein the first converter is in electrical communication with the battery, and in electrical communication with the dc bus, and wherein the bus is connected as an input to the weld converter. 
     
     
         25 . The welding-type power supply of  claim 24 , wherein the first converter has an ac auxiliary output and a first control input, and the controller has an ac auxiliary control module in electrical communication with the first control input. 
     
     
         26 . The welding-type power supply of  claim 24 , further comprising a second converter that has an ac auxiliary output and a second control input, and the controller has an ac auxiliary control module in electrical communication with the second first control input. 
     
     
         27 . The welding-type power supply of  claim 23 , wherein the battery charger includes a charger control input, the controller includes a charger control output in electrical communication with the charger control input, and the controller further includes a charging schedule control module. 
     
     
         28 . The welding-type power supply of  claim 27 , wherein the battery charger is removable. 
     
     
         29 . The welding-type power supply of  claim 27 , wherein the battery charging control module includes a data storage control module in which charge data is stored. 
     
     
         30 . The welding-type power supply of  claim 29 , wherein the battery charging control module include a data port in electrical communication with the data storage control module. 
     
     
         31 . The welding-type power supply of  claim 30 , wherein the battery charging control module includes data relating to at least one of the expected life of the battery, and thermal data, and a maximum desired amp-hour charge for the battery. 
     
     
         32 . The welding-type power supply of  claim 27  wherein the charging schedule control module includes a battery charging schedule that includes at least 3 phases. 
     
     
         33 . The welding-type power supply of  claim 32 , wherein the battery charging schedule includes a constant power phase. 
     
     
         34 . The welding-type power supply of  claim 27 , wherein the battery charging control module includes a plurality of charging schedules. 
     
     
         35 . The welding-type power supply of  claim 23 , further comprising a generator, having a generator output in electrical communication with at least one of the battery and the charger. 
     
     
         36 . The welding-type power supply of  claim 35 , further comprising a second converter, having an input in electrical communication with the battery, and having a second control input, and having an ac auxiliary output, and wherein the controller, has an ac auxiliary control module with a second control output in electrical communication with the second control input. 
     
     
         37 . The welding-type power supply of  claim 35 , wherein the weld converter further has an ac auxiliary output and the controller further has an ac auxiliary control module in electrical communication with the control output. 
     
     
         38 . The welding-type power supply of  claim 23 , further comprising a weld power circuit in electrical communication with the generator, and having a second welding-type power output, wherein the welding-type power output and the second welding-type power output is combined. 
     
     
         39 . The welding-type power supply of  claim 38 , wherein the weld power circuit includes a second converter with a second control input, and the controller has a second control output in electrical communication with the second control input. 
     
     
         40 - 46 . (canceled)