KR102494142B1 - Welding guiding system providing high quality image - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a welding system that supports high-definition images, and relates to a welding system that provides images for guiding a user's welding state. A display unit including a front part corresponding to the welding direction and a rear part corresponding to the direction of the face part, at least one eyepiece display mounted on one area of the rear part of the display unit, a plurality of displays mounted on one area of the front part of the display unit, depending on shooting conditions for each frame Controls at least one camera for acquiring welding image frames and shooting conditions of the at least one camera, obtains a first synthesized image by synthesizing in parallel based on a plurality of welding image frames, and displays the first synthesized image. and a processor controlling the eyepiece display to

Description

Welding guiding system providing high quality image

The present invention relates to a welding system that provides a high-definition camera image to a user so that a shape of a welding bead and a welding progress direction can be recognized.

In addition, the present invention relates to a welding system for guiding information on a welding state by displaying welding state information necessary for a user on a display.

Wear protective gear to protect workers from light and high heat generated during welding processes such as arc welding. Since the worker can only check the progress of welding through the protective gear while wearing the protective gear, it is a hassle to remove the protective gear and check with the naked eye to check various information for welding, such as the conditions set in the welding device. there is

If the operator's skill level is not high, especially when wearing the automatic welding face or the manual welding face, the operator can see only the part adjacent to the welding light, and it is difficult to recognize the specific welding situation such as the welding environment. Accordingly, it is necessary to provide a high-definition image that the operator can visually check up to the environment around the welding to the operator, and to provide the operator with detailed information about the welding state.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in accordance with the above-described needs, and an object of the present invention is to provide a high-definition welding image capable of showing a welding environment to a worker.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a system for guiding information on welding state information to an operator.

However, these tasks are illustrative, and the scope of the present invention is not limited thereby.

A welding support system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a display unit including a front portion corresponding to a welding direction and a rear portion corresponding to a facial direction; at least one eyepiece display mounted on a region of the rear surface of the display unit; at least one camera mounted on one region of the front portion of the display unit and acquiring a plurality of welding image frames according to shooting conditions for each frame; and a processor controlling the photographing condition of the at least one camera and obtaining a first synthesized image by synthesizing the plurality of welding image frames in parallel based on the plurality of welding image frames. and a processor controlling the eyepiece display to display the first synthesized image.

In addition, the welding support system further includes a first sensor for detecting welding information, and the processor provides guiding corresponding to the welding information based on the welding information sensed through the first sensor. The display can be controlled.

In addition, the first sensor is characterized in that it is mounted on one region of the front portion of the display unit.

In addition, the welding support system further includes a welding torch including a second sensor for sensing welding information, and the processor provides a guide corresponding to the welding information based on the welding information received from the second sensor. The display unit may be controlled to provide a ding.

In this case, the welding information may include welding speed information, welding direction information, welding temperature information, and distance information between the welding mother material and the welding torch.

In this case, the camera includes a light-shielding cartridge installed in front of the camera lens and having a changeable light-shielding degree, the first sensor detects welding light to obtain welding light information, and the processor determines the shooting conditions for each frame. The camera and the light blocking cartridge may be controlled to obtain the plurality of welding image frames while maintaining the same, changing the degree of light blocking of the light blocking cartridge based on the welding light information.

In addition, the at least one camera may include a first camera; and a second camera, and the processor may control shooting conditions of the first camera and the second camera, respectively.

In addition, the processor controls the first camera and the second camera so that the frame-by-frame shooting conditions of the first camera and the frame-by-frame shooting conditions of the second camera are different, and the plurality of images captured by the first camera are different. The first synthesized image may be obtained by synthesizing frame by frame based on the first welding image of and a plurality of second welding images photographed through the second camera.

In addition, the at least one eyepiece display may include a first eyepiece display; and a second eyepiece display, wherein the processor controls the first eyepiece display to display an image captured by the first camera and controls the second eyepiece display to display an image captured by the second camera. You can control it.

In addition, the processor obtains a second synthesized image by synthesizing in parallel based on the plurality of first welding images, and obtains a third synthesized image by synthesizing in parallel based on the plurality of second welding images. and control the display unit to display the second synthesized image on the first display and to display the third synthesized image on the second display.

Also, the photographing conditions may include shutter speed, ISO sensitivity, and GAIN.

Other aspects, features, and advantages other than those described above will become clear from the detailed description, claims, and drawings for carrying out the invention below.

According to the present invention, by synthesizing photos taken under various shooting conditions in an HDR method, it is possible to provide a high-definition image that can easily identify the welding surrounding environment in addition to the portion adjacent to the welding light.

In addition, according to one embodiment of the present invention made as described above, welding quality can be improved by providing efficient guiding to the operator with respect to the current welding operation state.

Of course, the scope of the present invention is not limited by these effects.

1 is a diagram for explaining the structure of a welding system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a simple block diagram for explaining the components of the welding system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3A and 3B are perspective views illustrating a welding helmet equipped with a plurality of cameras according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating a head mounted display (HMD) and a welding helmet including the HMD according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a diagram for explaining how a camera acquires an image according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6A and 6B are diagrams for explaining that a processor according to an embodiment of the present invention synthesizes acquired images as in FIG. 5 and improves the quality of the synthesized image.
7 is a diagram for explaining that a plurality of cameras acquire images according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a method of synthesizing captured images obtained in FIG. 7 .
9 is a diagram for explaining a method of providing an image to a display unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
10 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of displaying welding information according to an embodiment of the present invention.
11A and 11B are views for explaining that a welding helmet guides a UI for a welding direction of a torch through visual feedback.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Various embodiments of the present disclosure may make various changes and have various embodiments, and specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and related detailed descriptions are described. However, this is not intended to limit the various embodiments of the present disclosure to specific embodiments, and should be understood to include all changes and/or equivalents or substitutes included in the spirit and technical scope of the various embodiments of the present disclosure. In connection with the description of the drawings, like reference numerals have been used for like elements.

“Comprising” may be used in various embodiments of the present disclosure. or "may contain." Expressions such as the disclosure indicate the existence of a corresponding function, operation, or component, etc., and do not limit one or more additional functions, operations, or components, etc. Also, in various embodiments of the present disclosure, “comprises.” or "to have." The terms such as are intended to specify that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, but one or more other features or numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or It should be understood that it does not preclude the possibility of existence or addition of combinations thereof.

Expressions such as "first", "second", "first", or "second" used in various embodiments of the present disclosure may modify various components of various embodiments, but do not limit the components. don't For example, the above expressions do not limit the order and/or importance of corresponding components. The above expressions may be used to distinguish one component from another. For example, the first user device and the second user device are both user devices and represent different user devices. For example, a first element may be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element may also be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of rights of various embodiments of the present disclosure.

When an element is referred to as being “connected” or “mounted” to another element, the element may be directly connected or connected to the other element, but not with the other element. It should be understood that other new components may exist between the other components. On the other hand, when a component is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly mounted” to another component, it will be understood that no other new component exists between the certain component and the other component. should be able to

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, terms such as “unit” and “part” are terms used to refer to components that perform at least one function or operation, and these components are implemented as hardware or software, or hardware and It can be implemented as a combination of software. In addition, a plurality of "units", "parts", etc. may be integrated into at least one module or chip and implemented by at least one processor, except when each of them needs to be implemented by individual specific hardware. there is.

Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the meaning in the context of the related art, and unless explicitly defined in various embodiments of the present disclosure, ideal or excessively formal. not interpreted as meaning

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail using the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram for explaining the structure of a welding system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the welding system 10 of the present invention may include a welding helmet 100 and a welding torch 200 . The welding helmet 100 and the welding torch 200 may be connected through a communication network to transmit and receive data. The welding helmet 100 and the welding torch 200 may be matched and operated on a one-to-one basis, but are not limited thereto, and a one-to-n relationship is possible. That is, n welding torches 200 may be connected to one welding helmet 100, and one welding torch 200 may be connected to n welding helmets 100.

The welding helmet 100 may provide information about welding conditions to a worker. Specifically, the welding helmet 100 may acquire a welding image acquired using at least one camera mounted on the welding helmet 100, generate a composite image based on the acquired welding image, and display the result to a worker. At this time, the welding helmet 100 may generate a synthesized image using HDR (High Dynamic Range) technology, and display and provide a high-quality synthesized image to a worker. At this time, the operator can visually check information on the surrounding environment other than the shape of the welding bead and the portion adjacent to the welding light through a high-definition composite image.

The welding helmet 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may acquire images through two or more cameras and display each image through at least one LCD in order to synthesize and provide high-quality welding images. At this time, the welding helmet 100 may synthesize images by repeatedly photographing with different shutter speed, ISO sensitivity, and gain values of each camera. The welding helmet 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention can improve image quality through contrast processing on the obtained synthesized image.

In addition, the welding helmet 100 of the present invention can provide a function of displaying welding information in a preferred color (eg, green or blue) using RGB. In addition, the welding helmet 100 of the present invention may provide a magnifying glass diopter correction function (eg, screen enlargement and reduction). In addition, the welding helmet 100 of the present invention may provide a temperature synthesis image using a separate thermal imaging camera. At this time, the welding helmet 100 may display the welding temperature in color. The welding helmet 100 of the present invention can support functions that provide sound (eg, guidance alarm) or guidance voice for all the functions described above.

The welding torch 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention measures welding conditions including welding temperature, welding direction, welding inclination, welding speed, and the distance between the parent and the welding torch for real-time welding work through at least one sensor. can detect The welding torch 200 may monitor the state of the torch and change the setting value of the torch operation according to the welding situation.

The welding helmet 100 of the present invention can receive information on work settings and work conditions from the welding torch 200 through a communication network connected to the welding torch 200, and provides work information to the operator based on the received welding information. can be provided through visual feedback.

For example, upon receiving sensing information on a welding temperature value, the welding helmet 100 may output a notification corresponding to the temperature value in various ways such as light, vibration, or a message. At this time, the notification may be visual feedback provided to the display unit or display of the welding helmet 100, and may be auditory feedback through sound (eg, guidance alarm) or guidance voice.

Meanwhile, the sensing information on the temperature value may include information on whether or not the temperature value exceeds a preset temperature range. In addition, the sensing information on the temperature value may include a numerical value, grade, level, etc. corresponding to the temperature value of the welding surface.

If the welding helmet 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention determines that the temperature values of the torch and the welding surface are out of a preset temperature range, it may guide the operator to stop the work. In the case of welding out of a preset temperature range, there is a risk of deterioration in quality, and thus, guiding can be performed so that the operator can adjust the temperature value of the torch.

When the current or voltage state of the welding torch 200 is detected as abnormal, the welding helmet 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may provide visual feedback for warning.

At this time, the visual feedback may be to provide an icon indicating danger to a partial area of the display unit of the welding helmet 100 displaying the work site. As another example, the welding helmet 100 may provide work stop guiding through visual feedback by repeating increasing and decreasing the saturation of a specific color (eg, red) on the entire screen of the display unit.

* According to one embodiment of the present invention, the welding helmet 100 includes at least one sensor (eg, a second sensor) included in the welding torch 200, as well as a sensor (eg, a second sensor) included in the welding helmet 100. 1 sensor) can sense welding information. In this case, the welding information may detect a welding situation including a welding temperature, a welding direction, a welding inclination, a welding speed, and a distance between a parent material and a welding torch for real-time welding work through at least one sensor.

Similarly, the welding helmet 100 may provide guiding corresponding to welding information based on welding information sensed through a sensor (eg, a first sensor) included in the welding helmet 100 .

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the welding helmet 100 may change the operation of the welding torch by sensing a preset user's motion or a preset user's voice after providing guidance for work stoppage.

In another embodiment, the welding helmet 100 may obtain temperature values of the torch and the welding surface through its own image sensing in a state where communication with the welding torch 200 is not smooth. For example, the welding helmet 100 may obtain temperature values of the torch and the welding surface based on image data acquired through a thermal imaging camera.

The above example describes only the case where the information received from the welding torch 200 is welding temperature information, and the welding helmet 100 may provide various guiding for various welding information.

Figure 2 is a simple block diagram for explaining the components of the welding system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the welding helmet 100 of the welding system 10 may include at least one camera 110, a communication unit 120, a display unit 130, and a sensor 140, and the welding system 10 The welding torch 200 of ) may include a communication unit 210, a sensor 220, and a welding torch processor 230.

The camera 110 is a component for capturing an image of a welding work site. The camera 110 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be a camera implemented as a device included in the display unit 130 of the welding helmet 100. For example, among the cameras 110, the first camera and the second camera may be symmetrically mounted on one area of the front portion of the display unit 130 of the welding helmet 100, respectively.

The camera 110 may receive a control command from the processor 150 and change settings such as shutter speed, ISO sensitivity, and GAIN in response to the control command to capture a welding work site. When the camera 110 has a plurality of configurations, the first camera and the second camera according to an embodiment of the present invention may each photograph a welding work site through different photographing settings.

The camera 110 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include an automatic light blocking cartridge in front of a lens that receives light from a subject. That is, in the case of an embodiment in which the camera 110 is included in one area of the front portion of the display unit 130, the automatic light blocking cartridge may also be included in the front portion of the display unit 130.

The automatic light-blocking cartridge can block welding light generated when welding by a worker. That is, the automatic light blocking cartridge (not shown) may be blackened based on welding light information detected through the sensor 140, for example, a photosensor, thereby increasing the degree of light blocking of the cartridge. At this time, the automatic light blocking cartridge may include, for example, a liquid crystal protection panel (LCD panel) capable of adjusting the degree of blackening according to the alignment direction of liquid crystals. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be implemented with various panels such as a Vertical Align (VA) method LCD, a Twist Nematic (TN) method LCD, and an In Plane Switching (IPS) method LCD.

The blackening degree of the automatic light blocking cartridge can be automatically adjusted according to the brightness of the welding light. As described above, the sensor 140 may be used when it is automatically adjusted according to the brightness of the welding light. For example, when the sensor 140 detects the light intensity of the welding light to obtain the welding light information, and transmits the information on the intensity of the welding light included in the welding light information to the processor 150 to be described later as a predetermined electrical signal, The processor 150 may control the degree of blackening based on the intensity of the welding light.

That is, the automatic light-shielding cartridge (not shown) can change the light-shielding degree of the panel in real time to correspond to the intensity of light generated from the welding surface at the welding work site, and the camera 110 is controlled by the automatic light-shielding cartridge installed on the front side. A welding image in which a certain amount of welding light is shielded may be captured.

The camera 110 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a thermal imaging camera. The welding helmet 100 may obtain a temperature image by synthesizing a thermal image obtained through a thermal image camera with an image of a welding site.

The communication unit 120 is a component for receiving welding information from the welding torch 200 and transmitting commands for controlling the welding torch 200 . According to an embodiment of the present invention, the communication unit 120 may transmit the synthesized image to an external device other than the welding torch 200 . In this case, the external device may include various devices including a communication module such as a worker/third party's smart phone or computer.

The communication unit 120 may be a component that performs communication with various types of external devices according to various types of communication methods. The communication unit 120 may include at least one of a Wi-Fi chip, a Bluetooth chip, a wireless communication chip, and an NFC chip. In particular, in the case of using a Wi-Fi chip or a Bluetooth chip, various types of information such as an SSID and a session key are first transmitted and received, and various types of information can be transmitted and received after communication is connected using the same. The wireless communication chip refers to a chip that performs communication according to various communication standards such as IEEE, Zigbee, 3rd Generation (3G), 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), and Long Term Evolution (LTE). The NFC chip refers to a chip that operates in a Near Field Communication (NFC) method using a 13.56 MHz band among various RF-ID frequency bands such as 135 kHz, 13.56 MHz, 433 MHz, 860 to 960 MHz, and 2.45 GHz.

The display unit 130 is a component for providing a high-definition synthesized image to a worker. In detail, the display unit 130 may be implemented in the form of goggle glasses including a display for displaying a synthesized image synthesized from images obtained through the camera 110 to an operator.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the front portion of the display unit 130 may include at least one camera 110 and an automatic blackening cartridge mounted on the front of the lens of the camera 110 . In addition, the rear portion of the display unit 130 may include a display for displaying a high-definition image to a worker, and an eyepiece and eyepiece for viewing the display.

The display included in the display unit 130 may display a high-definition synthesized image so that a worker can visually check a surrounding environment (eg, a shape of a previously worked welding bead) other than a portion adjacent to the welding light. In addition, the display unit 130 may guide the operator with visual feedback (eg, a welding progress direction) on the welding progress state.

The display included in the display unit 130 may be a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED), Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode (AM-OLED), Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LcoS), or Digital Light Emitting Diodes (DLP). Processing) and the like can be implemented with various display technologies. At this time, the display according to an embodiment of the present invention is implemented as a panel made of an opaque material, and a worker may not be directly exposed to harmful light.

The sensor 140 may include a plurality of sensors as a configuration for detecting various information about a welding site and obtaining welding information. In this case, the welding information may include a welding temperature, a welding direction, a welding inclination, a welding speed, and a distance between a parent material and a welding torch for real-time welding work.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the sensor 140 may include an illuminance sensor, and at this time, the sensor 140 may obtain information about the intensity of welding light at a welding site. In addition to the illuminance sensor, the sensor 140 may further include various types of sensors such as a proximity sensor, a noise sensor, a video sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, and an RF sensor. Various changes related to the welding work environment can be detected.

The processor 150 may synthesize welding images received through the camera 110 to generate a high-quality synthesized image. The processor 150 may obtain a synthesized image by differently setting photographing conditions for each frame of the camera 110 and synthesizing frames obtained in time order in parallel. Specifically, the processor 150 may control the camera 110 to take pictures by changing the shutter speed, ISO sensitivity, and GAIN of the camera 110 .

At this time, the processor 150 may differently set shooting conditions according to conditions such as welding light, ambient light, and the degree of motion of the welding torch 200 at the welding site. Specifically, the processor 150 may set shooting conditions such that ISO sensitivity and GAIN are reduced as the welding light and/or ambient light of the welding site is higher. In addition, when it is detected that the movement and/or work speed of the welding torch 200 is fast, shooting conditions may be set to increase the shutter speed.

The processor 150 may synthesize images of a predetermined number of frames in parallel. According to an embodiment of the present invention, each image within a preset frame may be captured under different photographing conditions.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the processor 150 may control the shutter speed, and if there are two or more cameras 110, the processor 150 differently sets shooting setting conditions for each camera to shoot. Even in this case, the processor 150 may synthesize images of a predetermined number of frames in parallel.

The processor 150 may control the overall operation of the welding helmet 100 using various programs stored in a memory (not shown). For example, the processor 150 may include a CPU, RAM, ROM, and a system bus. Here, the ROM is a configuration in which a command set for system booting is stored, and the CPU copies the operating system stored in the memory of the welding helmet 100 to the RAM according to the command stored in the ROM, and executes the O / S to boot the system . When booting is completed, the CPU can copy various applications stored in memory to RAM and execute them to perform various operations. In the above, the processor 150 has been described as including only one CPU, but may be implemented with a plurality of CPUs (or DSPs, SoCs, etc.).

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the processor 150 may be implemented as a digital signal processor (DSP), a microprocessor, or a time controller (TCON) that processes digital signals. However, this It is not limited to, a central processing unit (CPU), a micro controller unit (MCU), a micro processing unit (MPU), a controller, an application processor (AP), or a communication processor ( communication processor (CP)), an ARM processor, or may include one or more of the ARM processor 150. In addition, the processor 150 may include a System on Chip (SoC) with a built-in processing algorithm, a large scale integration (LSI) ), or may be implemented in the form of a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).

The welding torch 200 may include a communication unit 210 , a sensor 220 and a welding torch processor 230 .

The communication unit 210 transmits and receives data to and from the welding helmet 100 . The communication unit 210 is capable of short-range wireless communication (eg, Bluetooth, Wifi, Wifi-Direct) or long-distance wireless communication (3G, High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) or Long Term Evolution (LTE)). modules may be included.

The sensor 220 or the second sensor is included in the welding torch and is configured to sense welding conditions such as welding temperature, welding speed, welding inclination, welding direction, and the distance between the parent material and the welding torch.

The sensor 220 detects at least one of various changes such as a change in posture of the user holding the welding torch 200, a change in roughness of a welding surface, a change in acceleration of the welding torch 200, and the like, and generates an electrical signal corresponding thereto. It can be delivered to the processor 230. That is, the sensor 220 may detect a state change based on the welding torch 200 and generate a corresponding detection signal to transmit to the processor 230 .

In the present disclosure, the sensor 220 may be composed of various sensors, and when the welding torch 200 is driven (or based on a user setting), power is supplied to at least one preset sensor according to the control to state the welding torch 200. change can be detected.

In this case, the sensor 220 may include at least one of all types of sensing devices capable of detecting a change in state of the welding torch 200 . For example, the sensor 220 may include an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, an illuminance sensor, a proximity sensor, a pressure sensor, and a noise sensor. It may be configured to include at least one sensor among various sensing devices such as a video sensor, a gravity sensor, and the like.

In particular, the acceleration sensor is a component for sensing the movement of the welding torch 200. Specifically, since the acceleration sensor can measure dynamic forces such as acceleration, vibration, and shock of the welding torch 200, it can measure the movement of the welding torch 200.

The gravity sensor is a component for detecting the direction of gravity. That is, the detection result of the gravity sensor may be used to determine the movement of the welding torch 200 together with the acceleration sensor. In addition, the direction in which the welding torch 200 is gripped may be determined through the gravity sensor.

In addition to the above-described type of sensor, the welding torch 200 may further include various types of sensors such as a gyroscope sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, and an RF sensor, and may detect various changes related to the welding work environment. .

3A to 4B are views schematically showing a welding helmet 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3A and 3B are perspective views illustrating a welding helmet equipped with a plurality of cameras according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3A, the welding helmet 100 of the present invention includes a body 160, a display unit 130 installed on the front of the body 160, and at least one camera ( 110), at least one sensor 140, and a fixing part 170 disposed on the rear surface of the main body 160 to fix the welding helmet 100 to the head of a worker.

According to one embodiment, a plurality of cameras 110 may be implemented. In particular, when there are two cameras 110 , they may be symmetrically mounted on one area of the front of the display unit 130 . In this case, the front portion of the display unit 130 may be an external area (an area shown in FIG. 3A ) corresponding to the direction in which the welding operation proceeds. Conversely, the rear portion of the display unit 130 may be an internal area corresponding to the direction of the operator's face.

In FIG. 3A , at least one sensor 140 (or first sensor) is shown as being mounted on one area of the front portion of the display unit 130, but according to an embodiment of the present invention, the sensor 140 is the main body 160 may be included in At this time, the sensor 140 may be mounted in the front direction of the main body 160 to detect the welding situation.

The main body 160 that protects the worker's face may be formed of a material having a predetermined strength, such as reinforced plastic, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and any material resistant to elements such as sparks that may occur during welding Can be used in a variety of ways.

The fixing part 170 is configured to directly contact the head of the operator, and one side of the fixing part 170, that is, at least a part of the inner surface in direct contact with the head of the operator may include a soft material such as a textile material or a cushion material. there is.

Referring to Figure 3b, the main body 160 for protecting the face of the operator of the present invention may include a display unit 130 and a sensor 140 installed on the front of the main body 160. In addition, at least one camera 110 may be symmetrically mounted on both sides of the main body 160 . In addition, the welding helmet 100 may include a fixing part 170 disposed on the rear surface of the main body 160 to fix the welding helmet 100 to the head of a worker.

In particular, the camera 110 is implemented as two cameras, each of which can be mounted on both sides of the main body 160 in a direction corresponding to the working direction of the operator. Although not shown in this drawing, when the number of cameras 110 is odd, they may be mounted at the upper center of the main body 160 .

In this example, the rear portion of the display unit 130 is directed toward the operator's face, and may display a synthetic welding image to the operator. In addition, the front portion of the display unit 130 is directed toward the operator's welding operation, and a preset event is set. When occurs, a UI for a current state such as a battery state of the welding helmet 100 may be displayed.

In FIG. 3B , at least one sensor 140 (or first sensor) is shown as being mounted on one area of the front portion of the display unit 130, but according to an embodiment of the present invention, the sensor 140 is the main body 160 may be included in According to another embodiment, the sensor 140 may be included and mounted on at least a part of the at least one camera 110 .

4a and 4b show a welding helmet including a Head Mounted Display (HMD) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4A , the display unit 130 of the welding helmet 100 may be implemented in the form of an HMD. The display unit 130 may be implemented in a structure capable of arbitrarily opening a portion corresponding to one eye.

The display unit 130 of the present invention may be equipped with a camera 110 and a sensor 140 . The camera 110 and the sensor 140 may be mounted on one area of the front of the display unit 130 . At this time, the front part of the display unit 130 means an area corresponding to the direction in which welding work is performed, and the rear part of the display unit 130 corresponds to the direction of the worker's face and means the area corresponding to the direction in which the welding image is displayed. can

Referring to FIG. 4A , the display unit 130 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include four cameras 110 and two sensors 140 . According to an example, some of the four cameras 110 may be thermal imaging cameras. The four cameras 110 may be mounted on one area of the front of the display unit 130, two by two, corresponding to each eye. In this case, images of various angles can be acquired, and thus high-definition images with a three-dimensional effect can be provided to the operator.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the processor 150 may also be included in the display unit 130 . That is, the display unit 130 may synthesize images acquired using the camera 110 and the sensor 140 in the processor 150 and display the images to the user. In this case, the display unit 130 of the present invention can be used in a form separable from the main body.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, at least one sensor 140 may be mounted on one area of the front of the display unit 130 to correspond to each eye. As another example, the sensor 140 may be included in the main body 160, and the sensor 140 may be mounted on the front of the main body 160 to detect a welding situation.

4B is a diagram illustrating a rear portion of the display unit 130 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4B , the display unit 130 may be separated from the welding helmet 100 and implemented as a separate configuration. The rear part of the display unit 130 may include an eyepiece part 131 and an eyepiece display 132 . The eyepiece part 131 may be fixed so as not to move by closely contacting both eyes. A worker may bring both eyes into close contact with the eyepiece part 131 and watch a high-definition synthesized image displayed on the eyepiece display 132 . In one embodiment, each of the eyepiece parts 131 may include a lens unit, and the lens unit may magnify a high-definition synthesized image implemented on the eyepiece display 132 so that the image is easily formed on the user's eyes.

On the other hand, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the display unit 130 displays the synthesized image based on the images obtained by the camera 110 corresponding to each eye on the eyepiece display 132 corresponding to each eye can do.

For example, when the first camera mounted on the area corresponding to the left eye of the front portion of the display unit 130 acquires an image under the first shooting condition, the display unit 130 is included in the area corresponding to the left eye of the rear portion. A first synthesized image synthesized based on the first photographing condition may be displayed on the first eyepiece display 132 . Likewise, when the second camera mounted on the area corresponding to the right eye of the front portion of the display unit 130 acquires an image under the second shooting condition, the display unit 130 displays the second camera included in the area corresponding to the right eye of the rear portion. A second synthesized image synthesized based on the second shooting condition may be displayed on the eyepiece display 132 .

According to the foregoing, it is possible to provide a synthesized image with a three-dimensional effect and flexibility compared to displaying the same synthesized image for both eyes. However, this is only an example, and each eyepiece display 132 can display the same synthesized image even if the camera 110 corresponding to each image is taken under different conditions.

5 is a diagram for explaining how a camera acquires an image according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 shows an example in which two cameras 110 of the present invention are implemented. Referring to FIG. 5 , the first camera and the second camera of the camera 110 may photograph a welding site while changing photographing conditions in chronological order. In this case, the shooting condition may include ISO sensitivity, GAIN, shutter speed, and the like.

The first frame a11 and the fifth frame a21 are taken under the first shooting condition, the second frame a12 is taken under the second shooting condition, and the third frame a13 is taken under the third shooting condition. will be. In this example, it is shown that the first camera and the second camera take pictures in the same frame under the same shooting conditions.

For example, the first shooting condition may be shooting with a higher shutter speed, higher sensitivity, and higher gain than the second shooting condition, and the third shooting condition may be a low sensitivity setting with the slowest shutter speed. However, the above-described example is only an example, and the camera 110 may acquire images under various photographing conditions.

6A and 6B are diagrams for explaining how a processor according to an embodiment of the present invention synthesizes acquired images as in FIG. 5 and improves the quality of the synthesized image.

The processor 150 of the present invention may synthesize images based on a predetermined number of frames. In this case, the number of frames for one synthesized image may be set by an operator or may be set at the time of shipment.

The processor 150 of FIG. 6A may generate a synthesized image based on the number of three frames. In detail, the processor 150 may obtain a first intermediate synthesized image b1 by synthesizing the first frame a11 and the second frame a12. Also, the processor 150 may obtain a second intermediate synthesized image b2 by synthesizing the second frame a12 and the third frame a13.

The processor 150 may obtain the first synthesized image c1 by synthesizing the first intermediate synthesized image b1 and the second intermediate synthesized image b2.

Similarly, the processor 150 may synthesize a third intermediate composite image (not shown) by synthesizing the third frame a13 and the fourth frame a14, and may combine the second intermediate composite image b2 and the third intermediate composite image b2. A second synthesized image c2 may be obtained by synthesizing synthesized images (not shown).

As described above, according to the present invention, a high-quality composite image can be obtained by synthesizing photos taken under various shooting conditions using an HDR method. Through the high-definition composite image described above, there is an effect that a worker can easily identify a peripheral part other than a part adjacent to the welding light. That is, in the past, the brightness of the welding light was overwhelmingly brighter than that of the surrounding area, so there was a problem in that the shape of the previously worked welding bead and the environment around the welding could not be easily identified. However, according to the welding system 10 of the present invention, high-quality images This makes it easy to identify even for beginners.

Meanwhile, the processor 150 may perform the first synthesized image c1 and the second synthesized image c2 in parallel. According to the present invention, the processor 150 may acquire a plurality of synthesized images at the same speed as the speed at which frames are photographed through the camera 110 by performing parallel image synthesis with a difference of one frame.

6B is a diagram illustrating that a processor performs contrast ratio processing on a synthesized image according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6B , the processor 150 may perform contrast ratio processing on the obtained synthesized image. For example, the processor 150 may obtain a second synthesized image c12 and a third synthesized image c13 by performing additional contrast ratio or contrast ratio processing on the obtained first synthesized image c11.

As described above, the contrast ratio can be increased through additional contrast ratio processing on the synthesized image, and the light state of the welding surface can be clearly grasped.

7 is a diagram for explaining that a plurality of cameras acquire images according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the first camera and the second camera may capture a welding situation in the same frame of time under different photographing conditions.

For example, the first frame d11 of the first camera and the third frame e11 of the second camera may be captured under the first photographing condition. The second frame d12 of the first camera and the first frame e12 of the second camera are the second shooting condition, and the third frame d13 of the first camera and the second frame e13 of the second camera are It was taken under the third shooting condition. That is, in this example, it is shown that the first camera and the second camera take pictures in the same frame under different shooting conditions.

For example, the first shooting condition may be shooting with a higher shutter speed, higher sensitivity, and higher gain than the second shooting condition, and the third shooting condition may be a low sensitivity setting with the slowest shutter speed. However, the above-described example is only an example, and the camera 110 may acquire images under various photographing conditions.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a method of synthesizing captured images obtained in FIG. 7 .

Referring to FIG. 8 , the processor 150 may obtain a first intermediate composite image f1 by synthesizing the first frame d11 of the first camera and the first frame e12 of the second camera. Also, the processor 150 may obtain a second intermediate synthesized image f2 by synthesizing the second frame d12 of the first camera and the second frame e13 of the second camera.

The processor 150 may generate a first synthesized image g1 by synthesizing the first intermediate synthesized image f1 and the second intermediate synthesized image f2. Similarly, the processor 150 may obtain the second synthesized image g2 by synthesizing the second intermediate synthesized image f2 and the third intermediate synthesized image f3. In the same way, the processor 150 may obtain a third synthesized image (not shown).

As described above, according to the present invention, the welding light of the image can be easily identified by synthesizing the photos taken under various shooting conditions using the HDR method.

Meanwhile, the processor 150 may perform the first synthesized image g1 and the second synthesized image g2 in parallel. According to the present invention, the processor 150 performs image synthesis in parallel at the same time as the first camera and the second camera capture the frame, so that the plurality of composites are synthesized at the same speed as the speed at which the frame is captured through the camera 110. can get video

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the processor 150 may display the synthesized image on only one side of the display unit 130 including the binocular display. For example, a synthesized image synthesized by the method of FIG. 6A may be displayed on a display of the eyepiece display 132 corresponding to the first camera. On the other hand, the synthesized image synthesized by the method of FIG. 8 may be displayed on the display of the eyepiece display 132 corresponding to the second camera. Through this, there is an effect that a three-dimensional effect can be imparted by providing an image in which the welding light of the welding surface is corrected in the HDR method to only one display among the eyepiece displays 132 .

In FIGS. 5 to 8 , it has been described that a welding site image or a welding image frame is acquired by changing the photographing conditions of the camera 110 frame by frame. However, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the processor 150 of the present invention may change the degree of light blocking of the automatic light blocking cartridge based on the sensing information about the intensity of welding light obtained through the sensor 140 . That is, the camera 110 may obtain a welding image frame by changing the degree of light blocking of the automatic light blocking cartridge installed on the front of the camera.

In this case, the processor 150 maintains the photographing conditions of the camera 110 the same and changes the degree of light blocking to frame (a11 to a13, a21, d11 to a11 to a13, a21, d11 to d13, e11 to e13, etc.) can be obtained.

9 is a diagram for explaining a method of providing an image to a display unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9 , the camera 110 of the present invention may include a first camera, a second camera, and a third camera. The display unit 130 may include a first eyepiece display 132-1 and a second eyepiece display 132-2. In this case, the first camera may be a camera corresponding to the first eyepiece display 132-1, the second camera may be a camera corresponding to the second eyepiece display 132-2, and the third camera may be a thermal image. It may be a sensing camera.

The first eyepiece display 132-1 and the second eyepiece display 132-2 of the present invention may display a high-definition synthesized image to which an HDR technique is applied based on images acquired by the first camera and the second camera.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the processor 150 may obtain a temperature synthesis image obtained by additionally synthesizing a thermal image obtained by a third camera with a high-definition synthesis image. The first eyepiece display 132-1 and the second eyepiece display 132-2 may respectively display a thermal image synthesis image. In this case, the first eyepiece display 132-1 and the second eyepiece display 132-2 may provide visual information about the welding temperature using color.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first eyepiece display 132-1 may display different images. For example, an image to which the HDR technique is not applied may be displayed on the first eyepiece display 132-1, and a synthesized image to which the HDR technique is applied may be displayed on the second eyepiece display 132-2. Even in this case, the processor 150 may synthesize a thermal image image for each of the image to which the HDR technique is not applied and the composite image to which the HDR technique is applied, and the first eyepiece display 132-1 and the second eyepiece display 132-1 2) can control the display unit 130 to display on each.

10 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of displaying welding information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The welding system 10 of the present invention may provide feedback on the state of the welding current and/or voltage in the welding power cable based on welding information sensed from the welding torch 200 . Specifically, referring to FIG. 10 , the welding system 10 may provide a UI for a current state on a portion of an image screen displayed by the display unit 130 . At this time, the UI may display information in a preset color using RGB.

For example, when the current and/or voltage state of the welding torch 200 is detected as abnormal, the welding helmet 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention displays a red UI 1010 as visual feedback for warning. In other cases, a green UI 1020 may be displayed.

The welding system 10 may provide feedback on various types of welding information in addition to the current state. For example, as shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B , the welding helmet 100 may guide the UI for the welding direction of the torch through visual feedback.

Referring to FIG. 11A , the welding system 10 may display welding direction information as an arrow UI 1110 . Specifically, the welding helmet 100 may display a straight arrow for each welding direction performed in a straight line based on information detected through an acceleration sensor included in the welding torch 200 and provide the information to the operator.

Alternatively, referring to FIG. 11B , the welding system 10 may display information about a welding direction as a curved arrow UI 1110 . Specifically, based on the information detected through the acceleration sensor included in the welding torch 200, the previously worked welding direction may be displayed as a curved arrow and provided to the operator.

However, this is only an example, and the welding system 10 includes the welding temperature, welding inclination, welding speed, and parent material for the real-time welding operation sensed through at least one sensor 220 included in the welding torch 200. Based on the sensing information including the distance between the welding torches, a corresponding UI may be displayed on a partial area of the display unit 130 .

For example, when the welding helmet 100 receives sensing information about a welding temperature value, it can display a UI corresponding to the temperature value in various ways such as light, vibration, and a message. In this case, the UI may be visual feedback displayed on the display unit 130 or a partial area of the display, or may be auditory feedback through voice.

Meanwhile, the sensing information on the temperature value may include whether or not the temperature of the parent child exceeds a preset temperature range. In addition, the detection information on the temperature value may include a numerical value, grade, level, etc. corresponding to the temperature value of the welding surface.

If the welding system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention determines that the temperature value of the welding parent material is out of a preset temperature range, it may guide the operator to stop the operation. In the case of welding out of the preset temperature range, there is a risk of deterioration in quality, and thus, guiding may be performed so that the operator can adjust the temperature value of the welding parent material.

As another example, upon receiving sensing information about a welding speed value, the welding system 10 may display a UI corresponding to the value. In this case, the UI may be visual feedback provided to the display unit 130 or the display, or may be auditory feedback through voice.

When the welding system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention determines that the welding speed of the torch is out of the normal range, it may guide the operator to stop the operation through visual feedback. In this case, the visual feedback may be to provide an icon indicating danger to a partial area of the display unit displaying the work site.

As another example, the welding system 10 may provide a UI so that a worker can easily identify a shape corresponding to a pre-worked welding bead. Specifically, when the shape of the welding bead is detected, the welding helmet 100 may overlap and display a UI for the shape of the welding bead on a high-definition composite image.

At this time, the shape of the welding bead may be obtained by detecting residual temperature of the mother material after the welding operation through the thermal imaging camera included in the welding system 10 . This is just one embodiment, and the welding system 10 may acquire the shape of the weld bead through various methods.

In this way, the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, but this is only exemplary, and those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom. . Therefore, the true technical scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

10: welding system
100: welding helmet
110: camera
120: communication department
130: display unit
140: sensor
150: processor
160: body
170: fixing part
200: welding torch
210: communication department
220: sensor

Claims (1)

welding helmet; and
A welding torch for transmitting and receiving information through the welding helmet and a communication network; includes,
The welding helmet,
a display unit including a front part corresponding to the welding direction and a rear part corresponding to the face part direction;
at least one eyepiece display mounted on a region of the rear surface of the display unit;
at least one camera mounted on one area of the front portion of the display unit and acquiring a plurality of welding image frames according to shooting conditions for each frame; and
A processor for controlling the shooting condition of the at least one camera, obtaining a first composite image by synthesizing the plurality of welding image frames in parallel based on the plurality of welding image frames, and controlling the eyepiece display to display the first composite image. including;
The welding torch,
A sensor for sensing welding information including welding temperature, welding speed, welding inclination, welding direction, and the distance between the parent and the welding torch; includes,
the processor,
Controlling the display unit to provide guiding corresponding to the welding information based on the welding information received from the sensor;
The sensor,
A welding support system configured to detect a state change based on the welding torch, including a change in posture of a user holding the welding torch, a change in roughness of a welding surface, and a change in acceleration of the welding torch.

Images