1. A welding apparatus comprising:
a wire source having welding wire;
a wire feed drive for driving the welding wire from the wire source; and
a wire pulser having a first end associated with the wire feed drive and a second
end associated with a wire conduit,
wherein the wire is fed through the wire conduit to a wire nozzle,
wherein the wire pulser increases and decreases the effective length Of the wire as the wire moves through the wire conduit from the wire feed drive to the wire nozzle.
2. The welding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the wire pulser has a slider crank disposed therein, wherein the slider crank of the wire pulser increases and decreases the effective length of the wire.
3. The welding apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a GTAW torch in association the wire nozzle, and wherein the slider crank of the wire pulser oscillates at least a portion of the wire exiting the wire nozzle by a distance of between about 0.1 inches to about 0.25 inches toward and away from the GTAW torch.
4. The welding apparatus of claim 2, wherein the slider crank includes a t-nut having a t-nut bore disposed in a mating slot of a split block, wherein the split block is disposed about a tube adapted to receive the welding wire, wherein a pin formed from a hub is adapted to be received by the t-nut bore, and a motor is further disposed within the wire pulser housing and adapted to rotate the pin formed from a hub, wherein rotation of the pin formed from the hub actuates the tube in at least a linear direction.
5. The welding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the welding apparatus is a GTAW welding apparatus.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method for detecting direction of motion of an aircraft having an axle-mounted remote data concentrator (\u201cRDC\u201d) coupled to a wheel of the aircraft, the method comprising:
equipping said RDC with an accelerometer;
configuring a foreaft orientation for the accelerometer in response to a forward motion indication;
maintaining the foreaft orientation for the accelerometer while the RDC remains powered;
obtaining, at the RDC, a speed value and rotational direction for the wheel of the aircraft;
comparing the speed value to a threshold value; and
assigning a forward motion indicator to said rotational direction if the speed value exceed the threshold value by a processor.
2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising detecting, at the RDC, the speed value for the wheel of the aircraft.
3. A method according to claim 1, further comprising detecting, at the RDC, the rotational direction for the wheel of the aircraft.
4. A method according to claim 1, further comprising receiving, at the RDC, the speed value for the wheel of the aircraft, the speed value being generated by a source external to the RDC.
5. A method according to claim 1, further comprising receiving, at the RDC, the rotational direction for the wheel of the aircraft, the rotational direction being generated by a source external to the RDC.
6. A method according to claim 1, wherein:
comparing the speed value to the threshold value occurs during aircraft taxi maneuvers; and
the threshold value is indicative of a speed of the aircraft that is exceeded during forward taxi maneuvers and that is not exceeded during reverse taxi maneuvers.
7. A method for automatically detecting direction of motion for an axle-mounted remote data concentrator (\u201cRDC\u201d) coupled to a wheel of an aircraft, the method comprising:
processing, by the RDC, a speed value and a clockwise-counterclockwise rotational direction indicator for the wheel of the aircraft;
comparing the speed value to a threshold value during aircraft taxi maneuvers; said threshold value is indicative of a speed of the aircraft that is exceeded during forward taxi maneuvers and that is not exceeded during reverse taxi maneuvers; and
correlating forward motion to the clockwise-counterclockwise . . . threshold value by a processor.
8. A method according to claim 7, wherein:
the RDC includes an accelerometer; and
the method further comprises determining a foreaft orientation for the accelerometer in response to the correlating step.
9. A system for automatically detecting direction of motion for an axle-mounted remote data concentrator (\u201cRDC\u201d) coupled to a wheel of an aircraft, the system comprising:
a wheel speed sensor configured to generate a speed value for the wheel of the aircraft;
a rotation sensor configured to generate a clockwise or counterclockwise rotational direction for the wheel of the aircraft; and
a processing architecture coupled to the wheel speed sensor and to the rotation sensor, the processing architecture being configured to compare the speed value to a threshold value during aircraft taxi maneuvers, said threshold value is indicative of a speed of the aircraft that is exceeded during forward taxi maneuvers and that is not exceeded during reverse taxi maneuvers, and to
correlate forward motion to the clockwise or counterclockwise . . . threshold value by a processor.
10. A system according to claim 9, further comprising an accelerometer coupled to the processing architecture, wherein the processing architecture is configured to assign a foreaft indicator to the accelerometer to indicate a forward orientation.
11. A system according to claim 9, further comprising a memory module coupled to the processing architecture, the memory module being configured to store the foreaft indicator.