Welding program creation device, welding program creation method, and welding program creation program

Abstract

The present invention is configured to be capable of performing: a first-processing rotation information specification process for specifying a rotation direction and rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of a table at the start of processing on the basis of arrangement information of a plurality of metal pins that are arranged along the circumferential direction of the table, which can rotate in the circumferential direction, and that move in the circumferential direction according to the rotation of the table and a clockwise and counterclockwise rotatable range with reference to the origin rotation angle of the table; and a program creation process for creating a welding program that causes a welding device to perform a process to rotate the table in the specified rotation direction at the specified rotation angle.

Description

Welding process program creation device, welding process program creation method, and welding process program creation program

[0001] The present invention relates to a welding process program creation device, a welding process program creation method, and a welding process program creation program.

[0002] Conventionally, there is a laser welding device for flat corner lines that abuts the welding target surfaces of two adjacent flat corner lines, and irradiates laser light from a laser light irradiation unit onto a welding range along the boundary line where the two flat corner lines are abutted for welding (Patent Document 1, etc.). The laser welding device for flat corner lines described in Patent Document 1 is used for welding flat corner lines used for, for example, the stator of a motor.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-115294

[0004] The flat corner lines used for the stator are attached to a large number of stator cores. The laser welding device welds the tips of two adjacent flat corner lines in order by moving the laser light irradiation unit or rotating the table that supports the stator core. When welding while rotating the table, the clockwise and counterclockwise rotatable ranges based on the origin rotation angle of the table are limited, so it may not be possible to continuously rotate the table in one direction to weld all the flat corner lines.

[0005] In such a case, it is necessary to rotate the table clockwise and counterclockwise several times. Therefore, it is preferable to rotate the table 20 so that the flat corner lines can be welded in the order that minimizes the processing time required for welding all the flat corner lines. However, manually setting the rotation direction and rotation angle so that the processing time is minimized is not easy, and there is also a problem that the setting work takes time. [[ID=十六]]

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is a welding process program creation device, a welding process program creation method, and a welding process program creation program that can create a welding process program that can be welded efficiently.

[0007] A welding processing program creation apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention is configured to perform an initial processing rotation information identification process that identifies the direction and angle of rotation of the table from the origin rotation angle at the start of processing, based on arrangement information of a plurality of metal pins arranged along the circumferential direction of a circumferentially rotatable table and moving in the circumferential direction in accordance with the rotation of the table, and the rotatable ranges of clockwise and counterclockwise rotations based on the origin rotation angle of the table, and a program creation process that creates a welding processing program to cause a welding apparatus to perform a process of rotating the table in the identified direction and angle of rotation.

[0008] A welding program creation method according to one aspect of the present invention involves a welding program creation device that performs the following steps: an initial processing rotation information identification step that identifies the direction and angle of rotation of the table from the origin rotation angle at the start of processing, based on arrangement information of a plurality of metal pins arranged along the circumferential direction of a circumferentially rotatable table and moving in the circumferential direction in accordance with the rotation of the table, and the rotatable ranges of clockwise and counterclockwise rotations based on the origin rotation angle of the table; and a program creation step that creates a welding program to cause the welding device to perform the process of rotating the table in the identified direction and angle of rotation.

[0009] A welding processing program creation program according to one aspect of the present invention causes a welding processing program creation device to perform the following: an initial processing rotation information identification process that identifies the direction and angle of rotation of the table from the origin rotation angle at the start of processing, based on arrangement information of a plurality of metal pins arranged along the circumferential direction of a circumferentially rotatable table and moving in the circumferential direction in accordance with the rotation of the table, and the rotatable ranges of clockwise and counterclockwise rotations based on the origin rotation angle of the table; and a program creation process that creates a welding processing program that causes the welding device to perform the process of rotating the table in the identified direction and angle of rotation.

[0010] According to one aspect of the present invention, a welding processing program creation apparatus, a welding processing program creation method, and a welding processing program creation program, the rotation direction and rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table at the start of processing are automatically determined, and a welding processing program is created, thereby enabling the creation of a welding processing program that can be efficiently welded.

[0011] According to one aspect of the present invention, a welding process program creation apparatus, a welding process program creation method, and a welding process program creation program can be created to efficiently produce a welding process program.

[0012] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing a welding system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing a table according to this embodiment. Figure 3 is a functional block diagram showing a welding processing program creation device according to this embodiment. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a welding processing program according to this embodiment. Figure 5 is a flowchart showing a part of the processing performed by the welding processing program creation device according to this embodiment. Figure 6 is a diagram showing the selection of the tip of a metal pin according to this embodiment. Figure 7 is a diagram showing the tip identification process according to this embodiment. Figure 8 is a flowchart showing a part of the processing performed by the welding processing program creation device according to this embodiment. Figure 9 is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement information according to this embodiment. Figure 10 is a diagram showing an example of the identification of the first processed metal pin according to this embodiment. Figure 11 is a diagram showing an example of the identification of the first processed metal pin according to this embodiment. Figure 12 is a diagram showing an example of the identification of the first processed metal pin according to this embodiment. Figure 13 is a diagram showing an example of the temporary positioning process according to this embodiment. Figure 14 is a diagram showing an example of the temporary positioning process and bounding box determination process according to this embodiment. Figure 15 is a diagram showing an example of the temporary positioning process and bounding box determination process according to this embodiment. Figure 16 is a diagram showing an example of the adoption candidate identification process according to this embodiment. Figure 17 is a diagram showing an example of the candidate identification process and processing sequence setting process of this embodiment. Figure 18 is a flowchart showing an example of the welding program creation method of this embodiment. Figure 19 is a diagram showing a modified example of the nearest metal pin identification process of this embodiment.

[0013] The best embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the following embodiments are not intended to limit the invention as described in each claim, and not all combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

[0014] [Overall Configuration of the Welding System According to This Embodiment] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing a welding system according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, with reference to Figure 1, the welding system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be outlined. The welding system 1 according to this embodiment generally comprises a welding device 10 and a welding processing program creation device 200, as shown in Figure 1. The welding device 10 comprises a table 20, a welding head 30, a camera 50, and a control device 100. The welding device 10 may also be equipped with a gas nozzle for blowing assist gas.

[0015] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the table of this embodiment. As shown in Figure 2, the table 20 is configured to be able to attach a plurality of metal pins P (for example, flat wire) to be welded. The plurality of metal pins P are arranged along the circumferential direction of the table 20. In this embodiment, "arranged on the table 20" includes not only a configuration in which the plurality of metal pins P are attached to the table 20 via a welding jig, but also a configuration in which the plurality of metal pins P attached to the stator core (motor core) SC are attached to the table 20 via the stator core SC, and a configuration in which the stator core SC with the plurality of metal pins P attached is attached to the table 20 via a welding jig.

[0016] In this embodiment, the multiple metal pins P are arranged in pairs along the circumferential direction of the table 20, and the pair of metal pins P are welded by laser irradiation as described later. In this embodiment, unless otherwise specified, the pair of metal pins P before welding are also referred to as "metal pins P".

[0017] The table 20 has a rotating part and is configured to be rotatable in the circumferential direction. That is, the multiple metal pins P move in the circumferential direction of the table 20 in accordance with the rotation of the table 20. In this embodiment, the table 20 rotates with clockwise direction being positive (rotation angle +) and counterclockwise direction being negative (rotation angle -). However, it is not limited to this, and the table 20 may rotate with counterclockwise direction being positive.

[0018] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the table 20 can be rotated 240° (±240°) clockwise and counterclockwise, respectively, with respect to the rotation angle of the origin of the table 20. However, it is not limited to this, and the rotatable range of the table 20 can be any range depending on the configuration of the rotating part of the table 20. Also, since the table 20 can adopt various known configurations, a detailed explanation thereof is omitted.

[0019] As shown in Figure 1, the welding head 30 is positioned above the table 20 and is configured to weld a pair of adjacent metal pins P. A laser beam emitted by a laser oscillator (not shown) is sent to the welding head 30 via an optical fiber. The welding head 30 welds a pair of adjacent metal pins P by irradiating them with laser light from a nozzle (not shown).

[0020] Furthermore, the welding head 30 is attached to a Cartesian coordinate movement device or the like, and is configured to move freely in three axes on the table 20 in the front-rear, left-right, and depth directions. The welding head 30 also has a pivot axis, allowing the direction of laser beam irradiation to be freely changed. In addition, the welding head 30 has a galvanometer scanner, and by tilting the internal scan mirror, welding can be performed within the range (processing range PR in this embodiment) where laser beam can be irradiated, simply by driving the scan mirror without moving the position of the welding head 30. That is, multiple metal pins P located within the processing range PR can all be welded simply by driving the scan mirror. Note that various known configurations can be adopted for the welding head 30, so a detailed explanation is omitted.

[0021] A welding apparatus 10 equipped with such a table 20 and welding head 30 can perform welding of multiple metal pins P without moving the position of the welding head 30 by repeatedly rotating the table 20 and irradiating it with laser light from the welding head 30.

[0022] The camera 50 has one lens and one image sensor, and is positioned above the table 20 so as to be able to photograph an area that includes at least one pair of adjacent metal pins P. In this embodiment, the camera 50 is configured to photograph a plurality of metal pins P arranged on the table 20 from above.

[0023] The camera 50 is configured to supply captured image data to the control device 100. In this embodiment, the camera 50 may be configured to directly output a digital signal (image data) from the camera 50 to the control device 100, or it may be configured to convert the analog signal (captured image signal) output from the camera 50 into a digital signal (image data) using an A / D converter (not shown) or the like and output it to the control device 100.

[0024] The control device 100 according to this embodiment is, for example, a numerical control device or an electronic computer such as a desktop personal computer, laptop computer, or tablet terminal. The control device 100 is configured to control the table 20, the welding head 30, and the camera 50.

[0025] In other words, the control device 100 functions as an HMI (Human Machine Interface) for operating the table 20, welding head 30, and camera 50. The control device 100 is also configured to acquire image data captured by the camera 50 and to identify the welding position based on the acquired image data.

[0026] Specifically, the control device 100 is configured to perform a pin position identification process that identifies the position of each metal pin P from image data captured by the camera 50, and a welding position identification process that identifies the welding position of a pair of metal pins P based on the identified positions of each metal pin P. The pin position identification process includes a pin position candidate identification process that identifies candidate positions for the metal pins P from the image data, and a center position identification process that identifies the center position of each metal pin P.

[0027] The control device 100, having the above configuration, is configured to correct the welding program 245 based on the specified welding position. Since the control device 100 can employ various known configurations, a detailed explanation is omitted.

[0028] Figure 3 is a functional block diagram showing the welding program creation device of this embodiment. The welding program creation device 200 is, for example, a numerical control device or an electronic computer such as a desktop PC, notebook PC, or tablet terminal, and comprises an input unit 210, a display unit 220, a control unit 230, and a storage unit 240. The welding program creation device 200 also has CAM (computer-aided manufacturing) software.

[0029] The input unit 210 is comprised of input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, touchpad, and joystick. By operating the input unit 210, in addition to the information input functions normally required in the welding program creation device 200, operations such as selecting the tip S of the metal pins P (described later), selecting the material information MI and processing conditions PC (described later), and selecting the row of metal pins P to be processed first (described later) can be performed.

[0030] The display unit 220 has a display as a display device, and in addition to the screen display functions normally required in a welding processing program creation device 200, it displays the screen of CAM software (not shown), etc.

[0031] Furthermore, the display unit 220 may be configured as a touch screen having the same functions as the input unit 210. If the display unit 220 is configured as a touch screen, the user can perform various operations on the welding program creation device 200 by operating the display unit 220, such as selecting the tip S of the metal pins P, selecting material information MI and processing conditions PC, and selecting the row of metal pins P to be processed first.

[0032] The configuration of the input unit 210 and the display unit 220 is not limited to the configuration described above. Any configuration with equivalent functionality (for example, a remotely accessible display means or input means) can be used instead of the input unit 210 and the display unit 220. In this embodiment, each selection operation by the user will be described as being performed via the input unit 210.

[0033] The control unit 230 is composed of, for example, an integrated computing device having a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). Furthermore, as shown in Figure 3, the control unit 230 includes a sorting unit 231, an information linking unit 233, an angle identification unit 235, a scanner section identification unit 237, and a processing sequence setting unit 239.

[0034] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a welding program in this embodiment. Furthermore, the control unit 230 is configured to create a welding program 245 for the welding apparatus 10 to perform welding. In this embodiment, the control unit 230 is configured to create a scanner pattern SP for welding by the welding head 30. As shown in Figure 4, the scanner pattern SP is included in the welding program 245. The number of scanner patterns SP included in the welding program 245 varies depending on the number and arrangement of metal pins P placed on the table 20.

[0035] The scanner pattern SP includes multiple scanner sections SS. Each scanner section SS is a group of metal pins that fall within the range captured by the camera 50 of the welding apparatus 10. In this embodiment, the scanner section SS is set to be the same range as, or narrower than, the processing range PR that the welding head 30 can process, simply by tilting the scan mirror of the galvanometer scanner of the welding head 30.

[0036] Furthermore, the scanner pattern SP contains, for each scanner section SS, position information of the welding head 30, specifically, position information of the processing range PR, and information on the rotation direction and rotation angle of the table 20 (rotation information in this embodiment). The welding apparatus 10 moves the welding head 30 to a position where the welding location among the plurality of metal pins P is within the processing range PR, according to the scanner pattern SP of the welding processing program 245. Then, while rotating the table 20, the welding apparatus 10 sequentially welds the plurality of metal pins P arranged on the table 20 along the circumferential direction of the table 20.

[0037] In this embodiment, multiple metal pins P that can be processed with a single scanner pattern SP must satisfy the following conditions: 1. They must be metal pins P of the same shape. 2. The arrangement of metal pins P within each scanner section SS included in the scanner pattern SP must be the same. 3. The metal pins P must have the same material information MI and processing conditions PC.

[0038] The control unit 230 is configured to automatically determine the processing order of the metal pins P, the scanner section SS, and the scanner pattern SP that minimize the time required for welding all the metal pins P, taking into consideration the shape and arrangement of the metal pins P, material information MI, and processing conditions PC.

[0039] Figure 5 is a flowchart showing a part of the processing performed by the welding program creation device of this embodiment. Next, the specific configuration of the control unit 230 according to this embodiment will be described. The sorting unit 231 is configured to sort a plurality of metal pins P based on the arrangement information 241, which will be described later. In this embodiment, the sorting unit 231 is configured to identify metal pins P that are the same height and shape as the metal pin P selected by the user from among the plurality of metal pins P, and to add them to the same group as the selected metal pin P. Specifically, the sorting unit 231 displays a 3D model 243 on the display unit 220 and performs a pin selection acceptance process to accept the selection of a pair of metal pins P included in the 3D model 243 (S1 in Figure 5).

[0040] The 3D model 243 is 3D CAD (computer-aided design) data of multiple metal pins P placed on the table 20, and the 3D models of the multiple metal pins P are placed based on the placement information 241. The placement information 241 includes pin information 244, which will be described later, for each metal pin P placed on the table 20. The pin information 244 has position information 242 that has the coordinates of the center point C of a pair of metal pins P and the angle between the center point C of the pair of metal pins P. In this embodiment, it will be described as not including height information for each metal pin P included in the 3D model 243.

[0041] Figure 6 shows the selection of the tip of a metal pin in this embodiment. As shown in Figure 6, the user can select the tip S (surface) of any pair of metal pins P from among a plurality of metal pins P included in the 3D model 243 displayed on the CAM software screen.

[0042] Furthermore, the sorting unit 231 is configured to execute a group generation process that generates groups containing the metal pins P received in the pin selection acceptance process (S2 in Figure 5). The sorting unit 231 may store the generated groups in the storage unit 240, or in other devices such as a server.

[0043] Figure 7 is a diagram showing the tip identification process of the present embodiment. Further, the assembling unit 231 is configured to be able to execute a tip identification process for identifying the tips S of the metal pins P existing on the same plane as the tip S of the metal pin P received in the pin selection reception process (S3 in FIG. 5). In the tip identification process, as shown in FIG. 7, the assembling unit 231 obtains a virtual plane i that includes the tips S of a pair of metal pins P selected on the 3D model 243 and extends in a direction intersecting those metal pins P, and identifies other metal pins P whose tips S are included in the virtual plane i. In other words, in the tip identification process, the assembling unit 231 identifies the metal pins P with which the virtual plane i contacts the tip S.

[0044] Further, the assembling unit 231 is configured to be able to execute a group addition process for identifying metal pins P having the same shape as the metal pins P received in the pin selection reception process from the metal pins P identified in the tip identification process and adding them to the group generated in the group generation process (S4 in FIG. 5). The assembling unit 231 adds the metal pins P identified in the tip identification process to the same group as the pair of metal pins P received in the pin selection reception process.

[0045] In the present embodiment, since all the plurality of metal pins P have the same height, all the metal pins P are added to one group, but it is not limited to this. When metal pins P with different heights are mixed, the assembling unit 231 repeatedly executes the pin selection reception process, the group generation process, the tip identification process, and the group addition process until all the metal pins P included in the arrangement information 241 are assembled into any group.

[0046] Also, in the present embodiment, all the plurality of metal pins P have the same shape, but when metal pins P with different shapes are mixed, the assembling unit 231 assembles them for each metal pin P having the same height and the same shape. Further, the assembling unit 231 assigns a shape ID, which is a unique identifier, to each metal pin P having the same shape.

[0047] By having such a configuration, the welding process program creation device 200 can automatically select metal pins P of the same height. Therefore, it is possible to perform the selection operation in a shorter time than the conventional method in which the user manually selects metal pins P of the same height, improving the work efficiency and reducing the burden on the user.

[0048] Further, by having such a configuration, the welding process program creation device 200 has the advantage that it can automatically select and assemble metal pins P of the same height even without the height information of the metal pins P.

[0049] However, it is not limited thereto. The 3D model 243 or the arrangement information 241 may include the height information of each metal pin P. When the 3D model 243 or the arrangement information 241 includes the height information of the metal pins P, the assembling unit 231 may not execute the above-described processing. Further, instead of the above-described processing, the assembling unit 231 may assemble a plurality of metal pins P into a plurality of groups for each metal pin P of the same height based on the height information included in the 3D model 243 or the arrangement information 241.

[0050] The information association unit 233 is configured to be able to (set) collectively associate the material information MI and the processing conditions PC of the metal pins P with respect to the plurality of metal pins P included in the group assembled by the assembling unit 231. Specifically, the information association unit 233 is configured to be able to execute a group selection reception process (S5 in FIG. 5), a material information selection reception process (S6 in FIG. 5), a processing condition selection reception process (S7 in FIG. 5), and an association process (S8 in FIG. 5).

[0051] In the group selection reception process, the information association unit 233 displays a list of the groups assembled by the assembling unit 231 on the display unit 220 and receives a selection of a group to which the material information MI and the processing conditions PC of the metal pins P are to be associated. Specifically, the information association unit 233 reads out and displays the groups assembled by the assembling unit 231 from the storage unit 240 or another device. The user can select an arbitrary group from the list of groups displayed on the screen of the display unit 220.

[0052] In the material information selection acceptance process, the information linking unit 233 accepts the selection of material information MI to be linked with the group received in the group selection acceptance process. Specifically, the information linking unit 233 is configured to read one or more candidate material information MI to be linked and display them on the display unit 220. The user can select the material information MI to be linked from the candidate material information MI displayed on the display unit 220.

[0053] The candidate material information MI is stored in the storage unit 240, and the information linking unit 233 may read the candidate material information MI from the storage unit 240. Alternatively, the candidate material information MI is stored in another device such as a server, and the information linking unit 233 may read the candidate material information MI from the other device.

[0054] In this embodiment, the information linking unit 233 reads all material information MI from the storage unit 240, etc., regardless of the group selected by the user, and displays them on the display unit 220 as selectable candidates, but is not limited to this. The information linking unit 233 may be configured to extract and read candidate material information MI to be linked from the list of material information MI according to the group selected by the user, and display them on the display unit 220.

[0055] In the processing condition selection acceptance process, the information linking unit 233 accepts the selection of processing condition PCs to be linked with the group received in the group selection acceptance process. Specifically, the information linking unit 233 is configured to extract and read one or more candidates for the processing condition PCs to be linked from the list of processing condition PCs according to the material information MI selected by the user, and display them on the display unit 220. The user can select the processing condition PC to be linked from the candidates of processing condition PCs displayed on the display unit 220.

[0056] The candidate processing condition PCs are stored in the storage unit 240, and the information linking unit 233 may read the candidate processing condition PCs from the storage unit 240. Alternatively, the candidate processing condition PCs are stored in another device such as a server, and the information linking unit 233 may read the candidate processing condition PCs from the other device.

[0057] Furthermore, the information linking unit 233 is not limited to the configuration described above, and does not need to display candidate processing condition PCs to be linked according to the material information MI selected by the user. Regardless of the material information MI selected by the user, the information linking unit 233 may read all processing condition PCs from the storage unit 240, etc., and display them on the display unit 220 as selectable candidates. When all processing condition PCs are displayed, the information linking unit 233 can execute the processing condition selection acceptance process before the material information selection acceptance process.

[0058] In the linking process, the information linking unit 233 links the material information MI received in the material information selection acceptance process and the processing conditions PC received in the processing conditions selection acceptance process to the group received in the group selection acceptance process. Alternatively, the information linking unit 233 may link the material information MI and processing conditions PC to each individual metal pin P included in the group, rather than linking the material information MI and processing conditions PC to the group.

[0059] The welding program creation device 200, with the above configuration, simplifies operation compared to the conventional method in which the user manually associates material information MI and processing conditions PC with each metal pin P. As a result, material information MI and processing conditions PC can be associated with the metal pins P in a short time. Furthermore, this configuration improves work efficiency and reduces the burden on the user.

[0060] Figure 8 is a flowchart showing a part of the process performed by the welding program creation device of this embodiment. The angle determination unit 235 is configured to perform an initial machining rotation information determination process that determines the rotation direction and rotation angle of the table 20 from the origin rotation angle at the start of machining, based on the arrangement information 241 of a plurality of metal pins P arranged on the table 20 along the circumferential direction of the table 20 and the rotatable ranges of clockwise and counterclockwise rotations based on the origin rotation angle of the table 20 (S13 in Figure 8).

[0061] Specifically, the angle determination unit 235 acquires the arrangement information 241 and the rotation range information of the table 20. If the arrangement information 241 and the rotation range information are stored in the storage unit 240, the angle determination unit 235 reads the arrangement information 241 and the rotation range information from the storage unit 240. If the arrangement information 241 and the rotation range information are stored in another device such as a server, the angle determination unit 235 acquires and reads the arrangement information 241 and the rotation range information from that device.

[0062] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement information of this embodiment. As shown in Figure 9, the arrangement information 241 includes pin information 244 for each metal pin P arranged on the table 20. The pin information 244 includes position information 242 having the coordinates of the center point C of a pair of metal pins P and the angle between the center point C of a pair of metal pins P, as well as a shape ID assigned to each metal pin P by the sorting unit 231, and material information MI and processing conditions PC linked by the information linking unit 233.

[0063] In the arrangement information 241 of this embodiment, the multiple metal pins P are arranged in three rows along the circumferential direction of the table 20. In the outermost row (the outermost row in this embodiment), "metal pin 1" is positioned at 0°, which is the rotation angle of the table 20's origin. In the outermost row, 48 metal pins P are arranged at equal intervals, spaced 7.5° apart. In this embodiment, the metal pins P arranged in the outermost row are designated as "metal pin 2" and "metal pin 3" in a counterclockwise direction from "metal pin 1", and the metal pin P adjacent to "metal pin 1" in a clockwise direction is designated as "metal pin 48".

[0064] However, this is not limited to the above, and various arbitrary configurations can be adopted for the number of metal pins P, the spacing between the metal pins P, and the number of rows of metal pins P.

[0065] Furthermore, the angle determination unit 235 is configured to execute a column selection acceptance process that accepts the selection of the column to be processed first when there are multiple rows of metal pins P arranged circumferentially (S9 in Figure 8). The user can select any column to be processed first from among the multiple rows of metal pins P on the CAM software screen. In this embodiment, the angle determination unit 235 accepts the selection of whether to process from the outermost column or the innermost column.

[0066] Furthermore, the angle identification unit 235 is configured to perform an initial processing metal pin identification process, which identifies the first processing metal pin P1 to be processed first among the multiple metal pins P, based on the arrangement information 241 and the rotatable range (S12 in Figure 8). In addition, in the initial processing rotation information identification process, the angle identification unit 235 identifies the rotation direction and rotation angle in which the first processing metal pin P1 identified in the initial processing metal pin identification process is included in the processing range PR of the welding head 30 that irradiates the metal pins P with laser light when the table 20 is rotated.

[0067] If the arrangement information 241 includes multiple rows of metal pins P arranged circumferentially, the angle determination unit 235 identifies the first processed metal pin P1 from among the multiple metal pins P arranged in the row (outermost row or innermost row) received in the row selection acceptance process. However, it is not limited to this, and the angle determination unit 235 does not have to be able to perform the row selection acceptance process. If the arrangement information 241 includes multiple rows of metal pins P, the angle determination unit 235 may always identify the first processed metal pin P1 from among the multiple metal pins P arranged in the outermost row, or it may always identify the first processed metal pin P1 from among the multiple metal pins P arranged in the innermost row. In this embodiment, the first processed metal pin P1 will be described as being identified from among the multiple metal pins P arranged in the outermost row.

[0068] In this embodiment, the angle determination unit 235 is configured to perform a clockwise determination process (S10 in Figure 8) that determines whether at least one of the plurality of metal pins P is positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR, assuming that the table 20 is rotated clockwise to a predetermined allowable amount, and a counterclockwise determination process (S11 in Figure 8) that determines whether at least one of the plurality of metal pins P is positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR, assuming that the table 20 is rotated counterclockwise to a predetermined allowable amount. In the initial machining metal pin identification process, the first machining metal pin P1 is identified based on the determination results of the clockwise determination process and the counterclockwise determination process.

[0069] Note that the order of the clockwise and counterclockwise rotation determination processes is not limited to the order shown in Figure 8. In other words, the clockwise rotation determination process may be performed after the counterclockwise rotation determination process.

[0070] In the initial machining rotation information identification process, clockwise rotation determination process, and counterclockwise rotation determination process according to this embodiment, the machining range PR of the welding head 30 is described as being such that the center of the machining range PR coincides with the center point C of the "metal pin 1" which is positioned at the rotation angle of the origin, and the machining range PR can include only a pair of metal pins P.

[0071] Furthermore, the angle determination unit 235 is configured to determine, in the clockwise rotation determination process, that at least one of the multiple metal pins P is located in a position where it cannot reach the machining range PR, and in the counterclockwise rotation determination process, that at least one of the multiple metal pins P is located in a position where it cannot reach the machining range PR, and then to determine, among the metal pins P located in positions where it cannot reach the machining range PR, the metal pin P located at the position where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is maximum is identified as the first machining metal pin P1. The angle determination unit 235 is then configured to determine the rotation angle at which the identified first machining metal pin P1 is included in the machining range PR as the machining start angle.

[0072] Figure 10 shows an example of identifying the first processed metal pin in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the predetermined allowable amount of rotation of the table 20 is the same as the rotatable range of the table 20, and the table 20 can rotate 240° clockwise and counterclockwise from the rotation angle of the origin. Therefore, assuming that the table 20 is rotated 240° counterclockwise from the rotation angle of the origin (-240° rotation), as shown in Figure 10, 15 metal pins P from "metal pin 2" to "metal pin 16", which are metal pins P with a center point C angle of 7.5° to 112.5°, are metal pins P positioned in a location that cannot reach the processing range PR.

[0073] Similarly, assuming that the table 20 is rotated 240° clockwise from the origin rotation angle (+240° rotation), 15 metal pins P, specifically "metal pin 34" to "metal pin 48," whose center point C angles range from 247.5° to 352.5°, are positioned in a location where they cannot reach the machining range PR.

[0074] Therefore, in the clockwise rotation determination process, the angle determination unit 235 determines that at least one of the multiple metal pins P is positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR, and in the counterclockwise rotation determination process, it determines that at least one of the multiple metal pins P is positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR. The angle determination unit 235 then identifies the metal pin P ("metal pin 2" to "metal pin 16" and "metal pin 34" to "metal pin 48") positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR as the first machining metal pin P1, which is positioned at the location where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is maximum.

[0075] In other words, the angle determination unit 235 identifies the metal pin P that is at the position of the origin rotation angle (0°) as the first processed metal pin P1, assuming that the table 20 is rotated by +112.5° (112.5° clockwise) or -112.5° (112.5° counterclockwise) from the origin rotation angle. Therefore, the angle determination unit 235 identifies the "metal pin 16" with an angle of 112.5° at its center point C, or the "metal pin 34" with an angle of 247.5° at its center point C, as the first processed metal pin P1.

[0076] In this embodiment, if multiple metal pins P are identified that are positioned at the location where the rotation angle from the origin is maximized, the angle identification unit 235 identifies the metal pin P positioned at the location where the rotation angle from the origin is maximized when it is assumed to be rotated counterclockwise, i.e., the "metal pin 16", as the first processed metal pin P1.

[0077] In this embodiment, as described above, the outermost row has metal pins P arranged at equal intervals, so there is no difference in processing time regardless of whether "metal pin 16" or "metal pin 34" is identified as the first processed metal pin P1.

[0078] Furthermore, when the angle determination unit 235 determines "metal pin 16" as the first processed metal pin P1, it determines +112.5° (112.5° clockwise) as the starting angle for processing, where "metal pin 16" is included in the processing range PR. In other words, in the initial processing rotation information determination process, the angle determination unit 235 determines the direction of rotation of the table 20 from its origin rotation angle at the start of processing to be clockwise, and determines the rotation angle of the table 20 from its origin rotation angle at the start of processing to be 112.5°.

[0079] Furthermore, when the angle determination unit 235 determines that the metal pin 34 is the first metal pin to be processed P1, it determines that -112.5° (112.5° counterclockwise), where the metal pin 34 is included in the processing range PR, is the starting angle for processing. In other words, in the initial processing rotation information determination process, the angle determination unit 235 determines that the direction of rotation of the table 20 from the origin rotation angle at the start of processing is counterclockwise, and determines that the rotation angle of the table 20 from the origin rotation angle at the start of processing is 112.5°.

[0080] Furthermore, the angle identification unit 235 according to this embodiment identifies the metal pin P adjacent to the first rotation direction side that causes the first processed metal pin P1 to reach the processing range PR as the second processed metal pin P2, and identifies the metal pin P adjacent to the second processed metal pin P2 on the first rotation direction side as the third processed metal pin P3. The angle identification unit 235 also identifies the metal pin P adjacent to the second rotation direction side opposite to the first rotation direction of the first processed metal pin P1 as the metal pin P to be processed last in that row. In this embodiment, the angle identification unit 235 identifies the second processed metal pin P2 and the third processed metal pin P3 from among the metal pins P grouped together with the first processed metal pin P1.

[0081] In the example arrangement shown in Figure 9, the case where "metal pin 16" is identified as the first processed metal pin P1 will be explained in detail as an example. The angle identification unit 235 identifies the metal pin P adjacent to "metal pin 16" and grouped with "metal pin 16", which is adjacent to "metal pin 16" in a clockwise direction to reach the processing range PR, as the second processed metal pin P2. In this embodiment, since all metal pins P are added to one group, in the example arrangement shown in Figure 9, the metal pin P adjacent to "metal pin 16" in a clockwise direction is "metal pin 15". Therefore, the angle identification unit 235 identifies "metal pin 15" as the second processed metal pin P2.

[0082] Furthermore, the metal pin P adjacent to the "metal pin 15" identified as the second processed metal pin P2, on the clockwise side, is "metal pin 14". Therefore, the angle identification unit 235 identifies "metal pin 14" as the third processed metal pin P3. In addition, the angle identification unit 235 identifies the metal pin P adjacent to "metal pin 16", on the counterclockwise side, which is the side in the opposite rotational direction to the clockwise direction that brings "metal pin 16" to the processing range PR, as the metal pin P to be processed last in the outermost row. In the arrangement shown in the example in Figure 9, the metal pin P adjacent to the "metal pin 16" on the counterclockwise side is "metal pin 17". Therefore, the angle identification unit 235 identifies "metal pin 17" as the 48th processed metal pin P48 to be processed last in the outermost row.

[0083] However, the second processed metal pins P2 to the 48th processed metal pins P48 are not limited to these. As will be described later, if there is more than one pair of metal pins P included in the processing range PR, the second processed metal pins P2 to the 48th processed metal pins P48 may be different metal pins P from the metal pins P identified by the angle identification unit 235.

[0084] Furthermore, if the angle determination unit 235 determines in either the clockwise or counterclockwise determination process that at least one of the multiple metal pins P is located in a position where it cannot reach the machining range PR, it identifies the metal pin P located at the position where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is minimized, assuming that the pin is rotated in the opposite direction to the direction in which it was determined to be located in an unreachable position, as the first machining metal pin P1. The angle determination unit 235 then identifies the rotation angle at which the identified first machining metal pin P1 is included in the machining range PR as the machining start angle.

[0085] Figure 11 shows an example of identifying the first processed metal pin in this embodiment. For example, as shown in Figure 11, suppose that only "metal pin 1" to "metal pin 9" and "metal pin 25" to "metal pin 33" are arranged in the outermost row. If we assume that the table 20 is rotated 240° counterclockwise from the rotation angle of the origin (-240° rotation), then as shown in Figure 10, eight metal pins P from "metal pin 2" to "metal pin 9", which are metal pins P with a center point C angle of 7.5° to 60°, are metal pins P that are positioned in a location that cannot reach the processing range PR.

[0086] On the other hand, assuming that the table 20 is rotated 240° clockwise from the origin rotation angle (+240° rotation), no metal pins P are positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR. Therefore, in the clockwise rotation determination process, the angle determination unit 235 determines that no metal pins P are positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR, and in the counterclockwise rotation determination process, it determines that at least one of the multiple metal pins P is positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR.

[0087] Then, assuming that the table 20 is rotated in the opposite direction to the counterclockwise direction in which it was determined that the pins are located in an unreachable position, i.e., in the clockwise direction, the angle determination unit 235 identifies the metal pin P located at the position where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is minimized as the first processed metal pin P1. In other words, assuming that the table 20 is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise, the angle determination unit 235 identifies the metal pin P at which the rotation angle to reach the origin rotation angle (0°) is minimized as the first processed metal pin P1.

[0088] In the arrangement shown in Figure 11, the "metal pin 1" has a center point C at an angle of 0° and is located at the origin rotation angle. Therefore, assuming that the table 20 is rotated clockwise, the rotation angle of the table 20 from the origin rotation angle is 0°. Thus, the angle identification unit 235 identifies the "metal pin 1" as the first processed metal pin P1.

[0089] Furthermore, if "metal pin 1" is not positioned, that is, if metal pin P is not located at the origin rotation angle, the angle determination unit 235 identifies "metal pin 2" as the first processed metal pin P1, assuming that the table 20 is rotated clockwise, and the rotation angle of the table 20 from the origin rotation angle is the smallest at +7.5 (7.5° clockwise).

[0090] Furthermore, when the angle determination unit 235 determines "metal pin 1" as the first processed metal pin P1, it determines 0°, where "metal pin 1" is included in the processing range PR, as the processing start angle. In other words, in the initial processing rotation information determination process, the angle determination unit 235 determines the rotation angle of the table 20 from the origin rotation angle at the start of processing as 0°.

[0091] Furthermore, when the angle determination unit 235 determines "metal pin 2" as the first processed metal pin P1, it determines +7.5° (7.5° clockwise) as the starting angle for processing, where "metal pin 2" is included in the processing range PR. In other words, in the initial processing rotation information determination process, the angle determination unit 235 determines the direction of rotation of the table 20 from its origin rotation angle at the start of processing to be clockwise, and determines the rotation angle of the table 20 from its origin rotation angle at the start of processing to be 7.5°.

[0092] Furthermore, the angle-specification unit 235 according to this embodiment identifies a metal pin P adjacent to the first processed metal pin P1, which is adjacent to the second rotation direction side opposite to the first rotation direction that causes the first processed metal pin P1 to reach the processing range PR, as the second processed metal pin P2. The angle-specification unit 235 then identifies a metal pin P adjacent to the second rotation direction side of the second processed metal pin P2 as the third processed metal pin P3. The angle-specification unit 235 also identifies a metal pin P adjacent to the first rotation direction side of the first processed metal pin P1 as the metal pin P to be processed last in that row.

[0093] In the example arrangement shown in Figure 11, the case where "metal pin 1" is identified as the first processed metal pin P1 will be explained in detail. The angle identification unit 235 identifies the metal pin P adjacent to the clockwise side as the second processed metal pin P2 in order to process the multiple metal pins P arranged in the same row in a clockwise direction, that is, in order to perform processing while rotating the table 20 counterclockwise. In the example arrangement shown in Figure 11, the metal pin P adjacent to the clockwise side of "metal pin 1" is "metal pin 33". Therefore, the angle identification unit 235 identifies "metal pin 33" as the second processed metal pin P2.

[0094] In the example shown in Figure 11, where "metal pin 1" is absent, we will specifically explain the case where "metal pin 2" is identified as the first processed metal pin P1. The angle identification unit 235 identifies the metal pin P adjacent to "metal pin 2" that is adjacent to the counterclockwise rotation side, that is, the side opposite to the clockwise rotation that brings "metal pin 2" to the processing range PR, as the second processed metal pin P2. In the example shown in Figure 11, the metal pin P adjacent to "metal pin 2" on the counterclockwise side is "metal pin 3". Therefore, the angle identification unit 235 identifies "metal pin 3" as the second processed metal pin P2.

[0095] Furthermore, the metal pin P adjacent to the counterclockwise side of the "metal pin 3" identified as the second processed metal pin P2 is "metal pin 4". Therefore, the angle identification unit 235 identifies "metal pin 4" as the third processed metal pin P3. In addition, the angle identification unit 235 identifies the metal pin P adjacent to "metal pin 2" on the clockwise side that allows "metal pin 2" to reach the processing range PR as the metal pin P to be processed last in the outermost row. In the arrangement shown in Figure 11 where "metal pin 1" is absent, the metal pin P adjacent to the clockwise side of "metal pin 2" is "metal pin 33". Therefore, the angle identification unit 235 identifies "metal pin 33" as the 17th processed metal pin P17 to be processed last in the outermost row.

[0096] Furthermore, the second processed metal pins P2 to the 48th processed metal pins P48 are not limited to these. If there is more than one pair of metal pins P included in the processing range PR, the second processed metal pins P2 to the 48th processed metal pins P48 may be different metal pins P from the metal pins P identified by the angle identification unit 235.

[0097] Furthermore, if the angle determination unit 235 determines in the clockwise rotation determination process that no metal pins P are positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR, and in the counterclockwise rotation determination process that no metal pins P are positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR, then it identifies the metal pin P among the multiple metal pins P that is positioned at the location where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is smallest as the first machining metal pin P1. The angle determination unit 235 then identifies the rotation angle at which the identified first machining metal pin P1 is included in the machining range PR as the machining start angle.

[0098] Figure 12 shows an example of the identification of the first processed metal pin in this embodiment. For example, as shown in Figure 12, suppose that only "metal pin 1" and "metal pins 17" to "metal pins 33" are arranged in the outermost row. If we assume that the table 20 is rotated 240° counterclockwise from the origin rotation angle (-240° rotation), no metal pins P are placed in positions that cannot reach the processing range PR. Also, if we assume that the table 20 is rotated 240° clockwise from the origin rotation angle (+240° rotation), no metal pins P are placed in positions that cannot reach the processing range PR.

[0099] Therefore, in the clockwise rotation determination process, the angle determination unit 235 determines that the metal pin P is not positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR, and in the counterclockwise rotation determination process, it determines that the metal pin P is not positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR.

[0100] The angle identification unit 235 then identifies the metal pin P located at the position where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is smallest among the multiple metal pins P as the first processing metal pin P1, and identifies the rotation angle in which the identified first processing metal pin P1 is included in the processing range PR as the processing start angle.

[0101] In the arrangement shown in Figure 12, the "metal pin 1" has a center point C at an angle of 0° and is located at the origin rotation angle, so the rotation angle of the table 20 from the origin rotation angle is 0°. Therefore, the angle identification unit 235 identifies "metal pin 1" as the first processed metal pin P1.

[0102] If "metal pin 1" is not positioned, that is, if metal pin P is not located at the origin rotation angle, the angle determination unit 235 determines "metal pin 17" with the smallest rotation angle of +120 (120° clockwise) from the origin rotation angle of the table 20, or "metal pin 33" with -120° (120° counterclockwise), as the first processed metal pin P1.

[0103] Furthermore, when the angle determination unit 235 determines "metal pin 1" as the first processed metal pin P1, it determines 0°, where "metal pin 1" is included in the processing range PR, as the processing start angle. In other words, in the initial processing rotation information determination process, the angle determination unit 235 determines the rotation angle of the table 20 from the origin rotation angle at the start of processing as 0°.

[0104] Furthermore, when the angle determination unit 235 determines "metal pin 17" as the first processed metal pin P1, it determines +120° (120° clockwise) as the starting angle for processing, where "metal pin 17" is included in the processing range PR. In other words, in the initial processing rotation information determination process, the angle determination unit 235 determines the direction of rotation of the table 20 from its origin rotation angle at the start of processing to be clockwise, and determines the rotation angle of the table 20 from its origin rotation angle at the start of processing to be 120°.

[0105] Furthermore, when the angle determination unit 235 determines that the metal pin 33 is the first processed metal pin P1, it determines that -120° (120° counterclockwise), where the metal pin 33 is included in the processing range PR, is the starting angle for processing. In other words, in the initial processing rotation information determination process, the angle determination unit 235 determines that the direction of rotation of the table 20 from the origin rotation angle at the start of processing is counterclockwise, and determines that the rotation angle of the table 20 from the origin rotation angle at the start of processing is 120°.

[0106] Furthermore, the angle-specification unit 235 according to this embodiment identifies a metal pin P adjacent to the first processed metal pin P1, which is adjacent to the second rotation direction side opposite to the first rotation direction that causes the first processed metal pin P1 to reach the processing range PR, as the second processed metal pin P2, and identifies a metal pin P adjacent to the second rotation direction side of the second processed metal pin P2 as the third processed metal pin P3. In addition, the angle-specification unit 235 identifies a metal pin P adjacent to the first rotation direction side of the first processed metal pin P1 as the metal pin P to be processed last in that row.

[0107] In the example arrangement shown in Figure 12, the case where "metal pin 1" is identified as the first processed metal pin P1 will be explained in detail. The angle identification unit 235 identifies the metal pin P adjacent to the clockwise side as the second processed metal pin P2 in order to process the multiple metal pins P arranged in the same row in a clockwise direction, that is, in order to perform processing while rotating the table 20 counterclockwise. In the example arrangement shown in Figure 12, the metal pin P adjacent to the counterclockwise side of "metal pin 1" is "metal pin 33". Therefore, the angle identification unit 235 identifies "metal pin 33" as the second processed metal pin P2.

[0108] In the example shown in Figure 12, where there is no "metal pin 1", the case where "metal pin 17" is identified as the first processed metal pin P1 will be explained in detail using this example. The angle identification unit 235 identifies the metal pin P adjacent to "metal pin 17" that is adjacent to the counterclockwise rotation side, that is, the side opposite to the clockwise rotation that brings "metal pin 17" to the processing range PR, as the second processed metal pin P2. In the example shown in Figure 12, the metal pin P adjacent to "metal pin 17" on the counterclockwise side is "metal pin 18". Therefore, the angle identification unit 235 identifies "metal pin 18" as the second processed metal pin P2.

[0109] Furthermore, the metal pin P adjacent to the counterclockwise side of the "metal pin 18" identified as the second processed metal pin P2 is "metal pin 19". Therefore, the angle identification unit 235 identifies "metal pin 19" as the third processed metal pin P3. In addition, the angle identification unit 235 identifies the metal pin P adjacent to "metal pin 17" on the clockwise side that allows "metal pin 17" to reach the processing range PR as the metal pin P to be processed last in the outermost row. In the arrangement shown in Figure 12 where "metal pin 1" is absent, the metal pin P adjacent to the clockwise side of "metal pin 17" is "metal pin 33". Therefore, the angle identification unit 235 identifies "metal pin 33" as the 17th processed metal pin P17 to be processed last in the outermost row.

[0110] Furthermore, the second processed metal pins P2 to the 48th processed metal pins P48 are not limited to these. If there is more than one pair of metal pins P included in the processing range PR, the second processed metal pins P2 to the 48th processed metal pins P48 may be different metal pins P from the metal pins P identified by the angle identification unit 235.

[0111] As shown in Figure 9, etc., if there are multiple rows of metal pins P arranged along the circumferential direction of the table 20, for the second row and beyond, the angle identification unit 235 identifies the metal pin P that should be processed first among the multiple metal pins P arranged in that row, based on the arrangement information 241 and the clockwise and counterclockwise rotation ranges based on the rotation angle of the table 20 at the end of processing the previous row. Then, the angle identification unit 235 identifies the rotation direction and rotation angle that include the identified metal pin P in the processing range PR when the table 20 is rotated from the rotation angle at the end of processing the previous row.

[0112] In this embodiment, the angle determination unit 235 is configured to perform clockwise rotation determination processing and counterclockwise rotation determination processing, similar to the first row. Furthermore, the angle determination unit 235 is configured to identify the metal pin P that should be processed first among the plurality of metal pins P arranged in that row, based on the determination results of the clockwise rotation determination processing and counterclockwise rotation determination processing.

[0113] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the angle identification unit 235 performs processing for the second row and subsequent rows at least after the scanner section identification unit 237 has performed the candidate selection process described later based on the first processed metal pin P1. In the candidate selection process, if the scanner section identification unit 237 identifies a scanner section candidate SSC containing metal pins P in multiple rows as a scanner section candidate SSC to be adopted for the scanner section SS, the angle identification unit 235 is configured to omit processing for the rows included in the scanner section SS together with the first row.

[0114] For example, as described later, if the scanner section identification unit 237 identifies a candidate scanner section SSC that includes metal pins P in the first and second rows as the candidate scanner section SSC to be adopted for the scanner section SS, the angle identification unit 235 omits processing of the second row. Then, based on the arrangement information 241 and the rotatable ranges in clockwise and counterclockwise directions based on the rotation angles of the table 20 at the end of processing for the first and second rows, the angle identification unit 235 identifies the metal pin P that should be processed first among the multiple metal pins P located in the third row (in this embodiment, the innermost row). Furthermore, the angle identification unit 235 identifies the rotation direction and rotation angle that include the metal pin P identified in the processing range PR when the table 20 is rotated from the rotation angles at the end of processing for the first and second rows.

[0115] However, it is not limited to this. The angle identification unit 235 may perform processing for the second row and subsequent rows before the scanner section identification unit 237 performs the candidate identification process based on the first processed metal pin P1. Alternatively, if the processing for the second row and subsequent rows is performed before the candidate identification process, and the scanner section identification unit 237 identifies a scanner section candidate SSC containing metal pins P in multiple rows as a scanner section candidate SSC to be adopted, the welding processing program creation device 200 may discard the processing results for the rows included in the scanner section candidate SSC together with the first row.

[0116] Note that the explanation of the processing for the second column and beyond will be omitted as it will overlap with the explanation of the processing for the first column.

[0117] As described above, the predetermined allowable ranges for the clockwise and counterclockwise rotation angles of the table 20 according to this embodiment are 240° each. However, here we will describe the case where the predetermined allowable ranges for the clockwise and counterclockwise rotation angles of the table 20 are 360° each.

[0118] If the predetermined allowable ranges for clockwise and counterclockwise rotation angles are 360°, then no matter whether the table 20 is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise, all metal pins P positioned on the table 20 will always be able to reach the machining range PR. Therefore, the angle determination unit 235 determines in the clockwise rotation determination process that there are no metal pins P positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR, and in the counterclockwise rotation determination process, similar to the case where it determines that there are no metal pins P positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR, it identifies the metal pin P positioned at the location where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is smallest among the multiple metal pins P as the first machining metal pin P1, and identifies the rotation angle at which the identified first machining metal pin P1 is included in the machining range PR as the machining start angle.

[0119] Furthermore, if the predetermined allowable range of rotation angles is 360° and there are multiple rows of metal pins P arranged along the circumferential direction of the table 20, then for the second row and beyond, the angle identification unit 235 is configured to identify the metal pin P that should be processed first among the multiple metal pins P arranged in that row, based on the arrangement information 241 and the clockwise and counterclockwise rotation ranges of the table 20 based on the rotation angle at the end of processing the previous row. In addition, the angle identification unit 235 is configured to identify the rotation direction and rotation angle that include the identified metal pin P in the processing range PR when the table 20 is rotated from the rotation angle at the end of processing the previous row.

[0120] In this embodiment, the angle determination unit 235 is configured to perform clockwise rotation determination processing and counterclockwise rotation determination processing, and to identify the metal pin P that should be processed first among the plurality of metal pins P arranged in that row based on the determination results of the clockwise rotation determination processing and counterclockwise rotation determination processing.

[0121] The scanner section identification unit 237 is configured to identify the position of the processing range PR of the welding head 30 that can process other metal pins P together with the first processing metal pin P1, based on the arrangement information 241, without rotating the table 20 or moving the welding head 30. Specifically, the scanner section identification unit 237 is configured to identify the position of the processing range PR that maximizes the number of metal pins P that can be processed together with the first processing metal pin P1. In other words, the scanner section identification unit 237 is configured to identify the scanner section SS that maximizes the number of metal pins P included in the processing range PR.

[0122] The scanner section identification unit 237 is configured to perform a temporary positioning process (S14 in Figure 8) in which, when identifying a scanner section SS including metal pins P arranged in the first row, the position of the welding head 30 is virtually moved in the CAM software so that the center point C of the first processed metal pin P1 coincides with the center of the processing range PR of the welding head 30, thereby performing a temporary positioning of the scanner section SS.

[0123] In this embodiment, the range of the scanner section SS is described as being the same as the processing range PR, but this is not limited to this.

[0124] Figure 13 shows an example of the temporary positioning process in this embodiment. As shown in Figure 13, the scanner section identification unit 237 virtually moves the position of the welding head 30 so that the center point C of the first processed metal pin P1, which is located in the outermost row, coincides with the center of the processing range PR.

[0125] Furthermore, if the innermost row is selected during the row selection acceptance process, the first processing metal pin P1 is located in the innermost row. Therefore, the scanner section identification unit 237 virtually moves the position of the welding head 30 so that the center point C of the first processing metal pin P1, which is located in the innermost row, coincides with the center of the processing range PR.

[0126] Furthermore, as will be described later, when identifying a scanner section SS that includes metal pins P arranged in the second row or later, the scanner section identification unit 237 virtually moves the position of the welding head 30 in the CAM software so that the center point C of the metal pin P to be processed first among the multiple metal pins P arranged in that row identified by the angle identification unit 235 coincides with the center of the processing range PR of the welding head 30, thereby performing a provisional positioning of the scanner section SS.

[0127] Furthermore, the scanner section identification unit 237 is configured to perform a bounding box determination process to determine whether the bounding box BB of the target metal pin P is within the processing range PR (S15 in Figure 8). In this embodiment, the bounding box BB is the smallest rectangle capable of enclosing one or more metal pins P. In the bounding box determination process, the scanner section identification unit 237 performs the determination based on numerical values ​​on a coordinate plane, specifically the coordinates of the center point C of the pair of metal pins P, the outer diameters of the pair of metal pins P, and the coordinates of the four corners that constitute the rectangle of the bounding box BB.

[0128] In the example shown in Figure 13, the target metal pin P is only the first processed metal pin P1 that has been temporarily positioned by the scanner section SS, and the bounding box BB of the first processed metal pin P1 is included in the processing range PR. Therefore, in the bounding box determination process, the scanner section identification unit 237 determines that the bounding box BB of the target metal pin P is within the processing range PR.

[0129] If it is determined that the bounding box BB of the target metal pin P is within the processing range PR (YES in S15 of Figure 8), the scanner section identification unit 237 performs a candidate addition process to register the position of the welding head 30 and the pin information 244 of the metal pin P included in the processing range PR as a candidate for scanner section SS (candidate scanner section SSC) (S16 of Figure 8).

[0130] After the candidate addition process is executed, the scanner section identification unit 237 is configured to perform the temporary positioning process again (S14 in Figure 18). In the second and subsequent temporary positioning processes, the scanner section identification unit 237 is configured to perform a same-type metal pin identification process based on the pin information 244 to identify metal pins P (referred to as the same type of metal pin in this embodiment) that have the same shape ID, material information MI, and processing conditions PC as the metal pins P (referred to as the first registered metal pin in this embodiment) that were registered as scanner section candidate SSCs in the first instance.

[0131] The scanner section identification unit 237 searches for pin information 244 of unregistered metal pins and identifies metal pins P whose shape ID, material information MI, and processing conditions PC match. In this embodiment, since all of the multiple metal pins P have the same shape ID, material information MI, and processing conditions PC, all remaining metal pins P are identified as the same type of metal pin.

[0132] Furthermore, the scanner section identification unit 237 is configured to perform a nearest-neighbor metal pin identification process when there are multiple identified metal pins of the same type, in order to identify the metal pin P that is closest to the center of the processing range PR (scanner section SS) that was initially registered as a candidate scanner section SSC.

[0133] Specifically, the scanner section identification unit 237 identifies a metal pin P in a different row from the initially registered metal pin, but of the same type, whose center point C angle is the same as the initially registered metal pin, as the nearest neighbor metal pin. Furthermore, if there is no metal pin P in a different row from the initially registered metal pin that has the same type and center point C angle as the initially registered metal pin, the scanner section identification unit 237 identifies a metal pin P in the same row as the initially registered metal pin, located in a counterclockwise direction from the initially registered metal pin, as the nearest neighbor metal pin. Moreover, if there is no metal pin P in the same row as the initially registered metal pin that is located in a counterclockwise direction from the initially registered metal pin, the scanner section identification unit 237 identifies a metal pin P in a different row from the initially registered metal pin, located in a counterclockwise direction from the initially registered metal pin, and whose center point C angle is closest to the initially registered metal pin, as the nearest neighbor metal pin.

[0134] In the example shown in Figure 13, there are no identical metal pins P in a different row from the first processed metal pin P1, which is the initially registered metal pin, whose center point C has the same angle as the initially registered metal pin. Therefore, in the nearest neighbor metal pin identification process, the scanner section identification unit 237 identifies the identical metal pin located in a counterclockwise direction (adjacent) to the initially registered metal pin (first processed metal pin P1) as the nearest neighbor metal pin.

[0135] After the nearest metal pin identification process, the scanner section identification unit 237 identifies the midpoint between the center of the processing range PR, which was previously registered as the scanner section candidate SSC, and the center point C of the nearest metal pin. The scanner section identification unit 237 then virtually moves the position of the welding head 30 in the CAM software so that the identified midpoint coincides with the center of the processing range PR, thereby performing the temporary positioning of the scanner section SS.

[0136] Figure 14 shows an example of the temporary positioning process and bounding box determination process in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the scanner section identification unit 237 moves the position of the welding head 30, as shown in Figure 14(a). Then, as shown in Figure 14(b), the scanner section identification unit 237 performs a bounding box determination process to determine whether or not the bounding box BB of the target metal pin P is within the processing range PR.

[0137] In the example shown in Figure 14, the target metal pins P are the initially registered metal pins and the nearest metal pins, and the bounding box BB surrounding these metal pins P is included in the processing range PR. Therefore, in the bounding box determination process, the scanner section identification unit 237 determines that the bounding box BB is included in the processing range PR. The scanner section identification unit 237 then performs a candidate addition process to register the position of the welding head 30 and the pin information 244 of the metal pins P included in the processing range PR as a scanner section candidate SSC (S16 in Figure 8).

[0138] After the candidate addition process is executed, the scanner section identification unit 237 performs a provisional positioning process again. Specifically, it identifies a second neighboring metal pin among the unregistered similar metal pins, and identifies the midpoint between the center of the processing range PR, which was previously registered as the scanner section candidate SSC, and the center point C of the identified second neighboring metal pin. Then, the scanner section identification unit 237 virtually moves the position of the welding head 30 again in the CAM software so that the identified midpoint coincides with the center of the processing range PR, and provisionally positions the scanner section SS.

[0139] In this embodiment, the scanner section identification unit 237 identifies metal pins P around the initially registered metal pin that have not been identified as the nearest neighbor metal pin among the unregistered metal pins of the same type as the initially registered metal pin, as second nearest neighbor metal pins. Specifically, if a metal pin P of the same type in a different row from the initially registered metal pin has the same angle of center point C as the initially registered metal pin and is identified as the nearest neighbor metal pin, the scanner section identification unit 237 identifies a metal pin P of the same type in the same row as the initially registered metal pin and is located in a counterclockwise direction from the initially registered metal pin as the nearest neighbor metal pin. Furthermore, if a metal pin P of the same type in the same row as the initially registered metal pin has been identified as the nearest neighbor metal pin, the scanner section identification unit 237 identifies a metal pin P of the same type in a different row from the initially registered metal pin, is located in a counterclockwise direction from the initially registered metal pin, and has the angle of center point C closest to the initially registered metal pin as the nearest neighbor metal pin.

[0140] Figure 15 shows an example of the temporary positioning process and bounding box determination process in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the scanner section identification unit 237 identifies a metal pin P in a different row from the initially registered metal pin, which is located in a counterclockwise direction from the initially registered metal pin, and whose angle of center point C is closest to that of the initially registered metal pin, as the second parametal pin, and moves the position of the welding head 30 as shown in Figure 15(a). Then, as shown in Figure 15(b), the scanner section identification unit 237 performs a bounding box determination process to determine whether or not the bounding box BB is inside the processing range PR.

[0141] In the example shown in Figure 15, the target metal pins P are the initially registered metal pin, the nearest metal pin, and the second nearest metal pin, and the bounding box BB surrounding these metal pins P is included in the processing range PR. Therefore, in the bounding box determination process, the scanner section identification unit 237 determines that the bounding box BB is included in the processing range PR. The scanner section identification unit 237 then performs a candidate addition process to register the position of the welding head 30 and the pin information 244 of the metal pins P included in the processing range PR as a scanner section candidate SSC (S16 in Figure 8).

[0142] Subsequently, the scanner section identification unit 237 identifies the third neighboring metal pin using the same procedure as for identifying the second neighboring metal pin, and identifies the midpoint between the center of the processing range PR, which was previously registered as the scanner section candidate SSC, and the center point C of the third neighboring metal pin. Then, as shown in Figure 16, the scanner section identification unit 237 virtually moves the position of the welding head 30 again in the CAM software so that the identified midpoint coincides with the center of the processing range PR, and performs a provisional positioning of the scanner section SS.

[0143] In the example shown in Figure 13, since there is no identical metal that can be identified as the third neighboring metal pin, the scanner section identification unit 237 terminates the registration of the scanner section candidate SSC. That is, if the scanner section identification unit 237 cannot identify the second neighboring metal pin and the third neighboring metal pin, it terminates the registration of the scanner section candidate SSC at that point. Also, if the scanner section identification unit 237 determines in the bounding box determination process that the bounding box BB is not included in the processing range PR (NO in S15 of Figure 8), it terminates the registration of the scanner section candidate SSC.

[0144] Furthermore, if metal pins P with different conditions are present, the scanner section identification unit 237 virtually moves the position of the welding head 30 in the CAM software so that the center point C of the metal pin P located in the outermost row among the unregistered metal pins with different conditions coincides with the center of the processing range PR, and performs a temporary positioning process to temporarily position the scanner section SS. Then, it performs a bounding box determination process and a candidate addition process in the same procedure as described above.

[0145] Furthermore, the scanner section identification unit 237 is configured to perform a candidate selection process to identify a scanner section candidate SSC to be adopted as a scanner section SS from among a plurality of registered candidate scanner section SSCs (S17 in Figure 8). Specifically, the scanner section identification unit 237 is configured to determine whether a candidate scanner section SSC satisfies predetermined conditions and to identify a candidate scanner section SSC that satisfies the predetermined conditions from among a plurality of candidate scanner section SSCs as the candidate scanner section SSC to be adopted.

[0146] In this embodiment, the scanner section identification unit 237 determines whether all predetermined conditions are met in the candidate selection process, starting with the last registered scanner section candidate SSC. If the scanner section identification unit 237 determines that the last registered scanner section candidate SSC meets all conditions, it identifies the last registered scanner section candidate SSC as the scanner section candidate SSC to be adopted as scanner section SS. On the other hand, if the scanner section identification unit 237 determines that the last registered scanner section candidate SSC does not meet one or more of the predetermined conditions, it determines whether the scanner section candidate SSC immediately preceding the last registered scanner section candidate SSC meets all predetermined conditions.

[0147] In this embodiment, if the scanner section identification unit 237 determines in the placement determination process described later that the angle difference described later does not match for each of the metal pins P registered as scanner section candidate SSCs, it determines whether the scanner section candidate SSC immediately preceding the last registered scanner section candidate SSC satisfies all predetermined conditions without executing the interference determination process described later. Furthermore, if the scanner section identification unit 237 determines in the placement determination process that the angle difference for the immediately preceding scanner section candidate SSC does not match for each of the metal pins P registered as scanner section candidate SSCs, it determines whether the scanner section candidate SSC immediately preceding that also satisfies all predetermined conditions.

[0148] In the candidate selection process, the scanner section identification unit 237 first performs an arrangement determination process to determine the arrangement of the metal pins P registered as candidate scanner section SSCs. In this embodiment, in the last registered candidate scanner section SSC, the processing range PR is located at the position shown in Figure 15(a).

[0149] In the placement determination process, the scanner section identification unit 237 specifically calculates the difference between the angle of the center point C of a metal pin P registered as a candidate scanner section SSC and the angle of the center point C of a metal pin P that is not registered as a candidate scanner section SSC but is adjacent to the registered metal pin P in a counterclockwise direction. The scanner section identification unit 237 then determines whether the calculated difference matches for each of the metal pins P registered as candidate scanner section SSCs.

[0150] Figure 16 shows an example of the candidate identification process in this embodiment. In this embodiment, since the multiple metal pins P are arranged at equal intervals as described above, as shown in Figure 16, the difference between the angle of the center point C of the metal pin P adjacent to the registered metal pin P in the counterclockwise direction is always 15°. Therefore, in the arrangement determination process, the scanner section identification unit 237 determines that they match.

[0151] Furthermore, in the placement determination process, if the scanner section identification unit 237 determines that the calculated angle difference matches for each of the metal pins P registered as scanner section candidate SSCs, it executes an interference determination process to determine whether the bounding box BB of one or more metal pins P registered as scanner section candidate SSCs interferes with the surrounding metal pins P of the scanner section candidate SSCs. Specifically, the scanner section identification unit 237 determines whether the bounding box BB interferes with the metal pin P registered as a scanner section candidate SSC and with the metal pin Ps adjacent to it, which are metal pins in the same row, Psr.

[0152] Furthermore, the scanner section identification unit 237 determines whether the bounding box BB interferes with a metal pin Psa of the same angle, which is a metal pin P located in a row that does not contain a metal pin P registered as a candidate scanner section SSC, and which has the same angle of center point C as the metal pin P registered as a candidate scanner section SSC.

[0153] Figure 17 shows an example of the candidate identification process and processing sequence setting process of this embodiment. Furthermore, the scanner section identification unit 237 determines whether the bounding box BB interferes with the metal pins Pdr of different rows, which are metal pins P adjacent to the metal pin Psa of the same angle in the clockwise and counterclockwise directions. As shown in Figure 17, the bounding box BB does not interfere with any of the metal pins Psr of the same row, the metal pin Psa of the same angle, or the metal pins Pdr of different rows. Therefore, the scanner section identification unit 237 determines that the bounding box BB does not interfere with any of the metal pins Psr of the same row, the metal pin Psa of the same angle, or the metal pins Pdr of different rows.

[0154] Therefore, the scanner section identification unit 237 determines that the last registered scanner section candidate SSC satisfies all the conditions and identifies the last registered scanner section candidate SSC as the scanner section candidate SSC to be adopted for the scanner section SS.

[0155] Furthermore, after identifying the scanner section SS in the row containing the first processed metal pin P1 (the first row), the scanner section identification unit 237 is configured to identify scanner sections SS containing metal pins P located in the second row and beyond. In doing so, it virtually moves the position of the welding head 30 in the CAM software so that the center point C of the metal pin P to be processed first, identified by the angle identification unit 235 among the multiple metal pins P located in that row, coincides with the center of the processing range PR of the welding head 30, thereby performing a provisional positioning of the scanner section SS and identifying the scanner sections SS in the second row and beyond.

[0156] Furthermore, the scanner section identification unit 237 is configured to omit processing of columns included in the scanner section SS along with the first column if it identifies a candidate scanner section SSC containing metal pins P in multiple columns as the candidate scanner section SSC to be adopted for the scanner section SS when identifying the first column scanner section SS.

[0157] For example, as described above, if a candidate scanner section SSC containing metal pins P in the first and second rows is identified as a candidate scanner section SSC to be used for the scanner section SS, the scanner section identification unit 237 omits processing of the second row. Then, the scanner section identification unit 237 identifies a scanner section SS containing metal pins P located in the third row (in this embodiment, the innermost row).

[0158] The processing order setting unit 239 is configured to execute a processing order setting process that sets the processing order of the metal pins P within the scanner section SS identified by the scanner section identification unit 237 (S18 in Figure 8). As shown in Figure 17, the processing order of the metal pins P within the scanner section SS prioritizes the metal pins P located in the processing start column accepted in the column selection acceptance process. In addition, if there are multiple metal pins P in the same column, the metal pins P located in the opposite direction to the rotation direction during processing are prioritized.

[0159] The control unit 230, having the above configuration, is configured to execute a program creation process that creates a welding processing program 245 for causing the welding apparatus 10 to perform a process of rotating the table 20 in the rotation direction and rotation angle specified by the angle specification unit 235 (S19 in Figure 8).

[0160] The storage unit 240 has a storage medium such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or SSD (Solid State Drive) and stores various data in a read-write manner. As shown in Figure 3, the storage unit 240 stores arrangement information 241, a 3D model 243, pin information 244, a welding processing program 245, and a welding processing program creation program 248. Furthermore, the storage unit 240 stores programs necessary for controlling each part of the welding processing program creation device 200.

[0161] The welding program 245 can be configured to perform a first rotation control process that rotates the table 20 in a first rotation direction to bring the first work metal pin P1 to the work area PR, and a second rotation control process that rotates the table 20 in a second rotation direction opposite to the first rotation direction to bring the second work metal pin P2, which is adjacent to the first work metal pin P1 on the first rotation direction side, to the work area PR.

[0162] Furthermore, the welding program 245 may be configured to perform a first rotation control process that rotates the table 20 in a first rotation direction to bring the first work metal pin P1 to the work range PR, and a second rotation control process that rotates the table 20 in a first rotation direction to bring the second work metal pin P2, which is adjacent to the first work metal pin P1 on the side of the second rotation direction opposite to the first rotation direction, to the work range PR.

[0163] The welding processing program creation program 248 causes the welding processing program creation device 200 to execute a welding processing program 245, which causes the welding device 10 to perform a welding processing program 245, based on the arrangement information 241 of a plurality of metal pins P arranged along the circumferential direction of the table 20 and moving in the circumferential direction of the table 20 in accordance with the rotation of the table 20, and the rotation ranges of clockwise and counterclockwise rotations based on the rotation angle of the origin of the table 20, and the arrangement information 241 of a plurality of metal pins P arranged along the circumferential direction of the table 20 and moving in the circumferential direction of the table 20 in accordance with the rotation of the table 20, and the rotation ranges of clockwise and counterclockwise based on the rotation angle of the origin of the table 20, based on rotation direction and rotation angle of the table 20 at the start of processing, and arrangement information 241 of a plurality of metal pins P arranged along the circumferential direction of the table 20 and moving in the circumferential direction of the table 20 in accordance with the rotation of the table 20, and the rotation ranges of clockwise and counterclockwise based on the rotation angle of the origin of the table 20.

[0164] [Method for Creating a Welding Process Program According to This Embodiment] Figure 18 is a flowchart showing an example of the welding process program creation method according to this embodiment. Next, the welding process program creation method by the welding process program creation device 200 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 8 and 18. In general terms, the welding process program creation method according to this embodiment is performed by the welding process program creation device 200, which determines the rotation direction and rotation angle of the table 20 at the start of processing based on arrangement information 241 of a plurality of metal pins P arranged along the circumferential direction of the table 20 on a circumferentially rotatable table 20 and moving in the circumferential direction of the table 20 in accordance with the rotation of the table 20, and the rotatable ranges in clockwise and counterclockwise directions based on the origin rotation angle of the table 20, and the welding process program creation device 200, which determines the rotation direction and rotation angle of the table 20 at the start of processing, and the welding process program creation method 245 for causing the welding device 10 to execute the process of rotating the table 20 in the determined rotation direction and rotation angle.

[0165] First, the angle determination unit 235 of the control unit 230 of the welding processing program creation device 200 acquires arrangement information 241 and information on the rotational range in clockwise and counterclockwise directions based on the rotational angle of the origin of the table 20. Next, the angle determination unit 235 determines whether at least one of the multiple metal pins P is positioned in a location that cannot reach the processing range PR, assuming that the table 20 is rotated clockwise to a predetermined allowable amount (S10 in Figure 8: clockwise determination step).

[0166] Furthermore, the angle determination unit 235 determines whether at least one of the multiple metal pins P is positioned in a location that cannot reach the processing range PR of the welding head 30, assuming that the table 20 is rotated counterclockwise to a predetermined allowable amount (S11 in Figure 8: counterclockwise determination step). Then, based on the determination results of the clockwise determination step and the counterclockwise determination step, the angle determination unit 235 identifies the first processing metal pin P1 that should be processed first among the multiple metal pins P (S12 in Figure 8: first processing metal pin identification step).

[0167] In the clockwise rotation determination process, the angle determination unit 235 determines that at least one of the multiple metal pins P is positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR, and in the counterclockwise rotation determination process, it determines that at least one of the multiple metal pins P is positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR (YES in S100 in Figure 18). In this case, the angle determination unit 235 identifies the metal pin P positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR as the first machining metal pin P1, which is positioned at the location where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is maximum (S101 in Figure 18).

[0168] Next, the angle determination unit 235 determines the rotation direction and rotation angle in which the determined first work metal pin P1 is included in the work area PR when the table 20 is rotated (S102 in Figure 18). Then, the control unit 230 creates a welding work program 245 to cause the welding apparatus 10 to perform the process of rotating the table 20 in the determined rotation direction and rotation angle (S19 in Figure 8, S103 in Figure 18: program creation process).

[0169] On the other hand, if the angle determination unit 235 determines in either the clockwise determination step or the counterclockwise determination step that at least one of the multiple metal pins P is positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR (NO in S100 in Figure 18, and YES in S104 in Figure 18), it identifies the metal pin P that is positioned at the location where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is minimized, assuming that the pin is rotated in the opposite direction to the direction in which it was determined to be positioned in an unreachable location, as the first machining metal pin P1 (S105 in Figure 18).

[0170] Then, the angle determination unit 235 determines the rotation direction and rotation angle in which the specified first work metal pin P1 is included in the work area PR when the table 20 is rotated (S102 in Figure 18), and the control unit 230 creates a welding work program 245 (S19 in Figure 8, S103 in Figure 18: program creation process).

[0171] Furthermore, if the angle determination unit 235 determines in the clockwise rotation determination process that no metal pins P are positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR, and in the counterclockwise rotation determination process it determines that no metal pins P are positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR (NO in S100 in Figure 18, and NO in S104 in Figure 18), then it identifies the metal pin P among the multiple metal pins P that is positioned at the location where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is smallest as the first machining metal pin P1 (S106 in Figure 18).

[0172] Then, when the table 20 is rotated, the angle determination unit 235 determines the rotation direction and rotation angle in which the determined first processed metal pin P1 is included in the processing range PR (S102 in Figure 18), and the control unit 230 creates a welding processing program 245 (S19 in Figure 8, S103 in Figure 18: program creation process). Through the above steps, a series of welding processing program creation methods by the welding processing program creation device 200 according to this embodiment are executed.

[0173] [Advantages of the welding processing program creation apparatus, welding processing program creation method, and welding processing program creation program according to this embodiment] As described above, the welding processing program creation apparatus 200 according to this embodiment is configured to perform an initial processing rotation information identification process that identifies the rotation direction and rotation angle of the table 20 from the origin rotation angle at the start of processing, based on arrangement information 241 of a plurality of metal pins P arranged along the circumferential direction on a circumferentially rotatable table 20 and moving in the circumferential direction in accordance with the rotation of the table 20, and the rotatable ranges of clockwise and counterclockwise directions based on the origin rotation angle of the table 20, and a program creation process that creates a welding processing program 245 for the welding apparatus 10 to execute a process of rotating the table 20 in the identified rotation direction and rotation angle.

[0174] Furthermore, the welding program creation device 200 according to this embodiment has the advantage of being able to create a welding program 245 that can be efficiently welded by automatically determining the rotation direction and rotation angle of the table 20 from the origin rotation angle at the start of processing and creating a welding program 245.

[0175] Furthermore, the welding program creation device 200 according to this embodiment is configured to further perform an initial processing metal pin identification process that identifies the first processing metal pin P1 to be processed first among a plurality of metal pins P, based on the arrangement information 241 and the rotatable range. In the initial processing rotation information identification process, when the table 20 is rotated, the device identifies the rotation direction and rotation angle in which the first processing metal pin P1 identified in the initial processing metal pin identification process is included in the processing range PR of the welding head 30 that irradiates the metal pins P with laser light. By having such a configuration, the device has the advantage of automatically identifying the first processing metal pin P1 to be processed first, and creating a welding program 245 that can be efficiently welded because the rotation direction and rotation angle in which the first processing metal pin P1 is included in the processing range PR at the start of processing are set.

[0176] Furthermore, the welding program creation apparatus 200 according to this embodiment is configured to perform a clockwise determination process that determines whether at least one of the plurality of metal pins P is positioned in a location that cannot reach the processing range PR, assuming that the table 20 is rotated clockwise to a predetermined allowable amount, and a counterclockwise determination process that determines whether at least one of the plurality of metal pins P is positioned in a location that cannot reach the processing range PR, assuming that the table 20 is rotated counterclockwise to a predetermined allowable amount. The apparatus is configured to identify the first processing metal pin P1 in the initial processing metal pin identification process based on the determination results of the clockwise determination process and the counterclockwise determination process. By having such a configuration, the first processing metal pin P1 is identified taking into account the metal pins P that are positioned in a location that cannot reach the processing range PR, assuming that the table 20 is rotated clockwise and counterclockwise to predetermined allowable amounts, and thus has the advantage of being able to create a welding program 245 that can be welded more efficiently.

[0177] Furthermore, in the welding program creation device 200 according to this embodiment, if, in the clockwise determination process, it is determined that at least one of the multiple metal pins P is located in a position where it cannot reach the processing range PR, and in the counterclockwise determination process, it is determined that at least one of the multiple metal pins P is located in a position where it cannot reach the processing range PR, then the metal pin P located at the position where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is the maximum among the metal pins P located in a position where it cannot reach the processing range PR is identified as the first processing metal pin P1, and the rotation angle in which the identified first processing metal pin P1 is included in the processing range PR is identified as the processing start angle. With this configuration, all metal pins P located in the same row as the first processing metal pin P1 can be welded simply by rotating the table 20 in one direction from the first processing metal pin P1, which has the advantage of being able to create a welding program 245 that can weld more efficiently.

[0178] Furthermore, in the welding processing program creation apparatus 200 according to this embodiment, the welding processing program 245 is configured to perform a first rotation control process that rotates the table 20 in a first rotation direction to bring the first processing metal pin P1 to the processing range PR, and a second rotation control process that rotates the table 20 in a second rotation direction opposite to the first rotation direction to bring the second processing metal pin P2, which is adjacent to the first processing metal pin P1 on the first rotation direction side, to the processing range PR. With this configuration, it is possible to create a welding processing program 245 in which the rotation distance of the table 20 is minimized (the amount of rotation of the table 20 is minimized) regardless of the arrangement of the metal pins P, and thus has the advantage of being able to create a welding processing program 245 that can weld more efficiently.

[0179] Furthermore, in the welding program creation device 200 according to this embodiment, if it is determined in either the clockwise or counterclockwise determination process that at least one of the multiple metal pins P is located in a position where it cannot reach the processing range PR, the device identifies the metal pin P located at the position where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is smallest, assuming that the table 20 is rotated in the opposite direction to the direction in which it was determined to be located in an unreachable position, as the first processing metal pin P1, and identifies the rotation angle at which the identified first processing metal pin P1 is included in the processing range PR as the processing start angle. With this configuration, all the metal pins P located in the same row as the first processing metal pin P1 can be welded simply by rotating the table 20 in one direction from the first processing metal pin P1, which has the advantage of being able to create a welding program 245 that can weld more efficiently.

[0180] Furthermore, in the welding program creation device 200 according to this embodiment, if it is determined in the clockwise rotation determination process that no metal pins P are located in a position that cannot reach the processing range PR, and in the counterclockwise rotation determination process that no metal pins P are located in a position that cannot reach the processing range PR, then the device identifies the metal pin P located at the position where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is smallest among the multiple metal pins P as the first processing metal pin P1, and identifies the rotation angle in which the identified first processing metal pin P1 is included in the processing range PR as the processing start angle. With this configuration, all metal pins P located in the same row as the first processing metal pin P1 can be welded simply by rotating the table 20 in one direction from the first processing metal pin P1, which has the advantage of being able to create a welding program 245 that can weld more efficiently.

[0181] Furthermore, in the welding processing program creation apparatus 200 according to this embodiment, the welding processing program 245 is configured to perform a first rotation control process that rotates the table 20 in a first rotation direction to bring the first processing metal pin P1 to the processing range PR, and a second rotation control process that rotates the table 20 in the first rotation direction to bring the second processing metal pin P2, which is adjacent to the second rotation direction side opposite to the first rotation direction of the first processing metal pin P1, to the processing range PR. With this configuration, it is possible to create a welding processing program 245 in which the rotation distance of the table 20 is minimized (the amount of rotation of the table 20 is minimized) regardless of the arrangement of the metal pins P, and thus has the advantage of being able to create a welding processing program 245 that can weld more efficiently.

[0182] The welding program creation device 200 according to this embodiment is configured to be able to group a plurality of metal pins P based on arrangement information 241, and is configured to identify the second processing metal pin P2 from among the metal pins P grouped together with the first processing metal pin P1. With this configuration, metal pins P grouped together with the first processing metal pin P1, for example, metal pins P of the same height and shape as the first processing metal pin P1, can be processed after the first processing metal pin P1. In this case, there is no need to change the processing conditions PC after processing the first processing metal pin P1 and before processing the second processing metal pin P2, which has the advantage of being able to create a welding program 245 that can weld more efficiently.

[0183] The welding program creation device 200 according to this embodiment is configured to identify the position of the processing range PR of the welding head 30 that can process other metal pins P together with the first processing metal pin P1, based on the arrangement information 241, without rotating the table 20 or moving the welding head 30. By having such a configuration, the number of times the table 20 is rotated can be reduced, which has the advantage of being able to create a welding program 245 that can weld more efficiently.

[0184] The welding program creation device 200 according to this embodiment is configured to identify the position of the processing range PR where the number of metal pins P that can be processed together with the first processing metal pin P1 is maximized. By having such a configuration, the position of the processing range PR where the total number of scanner sections SS is minimized can be identified, and the number of times the table 20 is rotated can be further reduced, which has the advantage of enabling the creation of a welding program 245 that can be welded more efficiently.

[0185] [Modifications] Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. Various modifications or improvements can be made to the embodiments described above.

[0186] For example, in the embodiment described above, the welding program creation device 200 is configured to further perform an initial processing metal pin identification process that identifies a first processing metal pin P1 among a plurality of metal pins P that should be processed first, based on the arrangement information 241 and the rotatable range. In the initial processing rotation information identification process, it was described that when the table 20 is rotated, the rotation direction and rotation angle are identified so that the first processing metal pin P1 identified in the initial processing metal pin identification process is included in the processing range PR of the welding head 30 that irradiates the metal pins P with laser light. However, the invention is not limited to this. The welding program creation device 200 does not need to be able to perform the initial processing metal pin identification process. Also, instead of identifying a first processing metal pin P1 among a plurality of metal pins P that should be processed first, the welding program creation device 200 may identify a metal pin P among a plurality of metal pins P that should be processed last. Furthermore, the welding program creation device 200 may identify one or more priority processing metal pins that should be processed preferentially.

[0187] In the embodiment described above, the welding program creation device 200 is configured to perform a clockwise determination process to determine whether at least one of the plurality of metal pins P is positioned in a location that cannot reach the processing range PR, assuming that the table 20 is rotated clockwise to a predetermined allowable amount, and a counterclockwise determination process to determine whether at least one of the plurality of metal pins P is positioned in a location that cannot reach the processing range PR, assuming that the table 20 is rotated counterclockwise to a predetermined allowable amount. In the initial processing metal pin identification process, the device is configured to identify the first processing metal pin P1 based on the determination results of the clockwise determination process and the counterclockwise determination process, but it is not limited to this. The welding program creation device 200 may not be able to perform at least one of the clockwise determination process and the counterclockwise determination process.

[0188] In the embodiments described above, the welding program creation device 200 determines in the clockwise rotation determination process that at least one of the multiple metal pins P is located in a position where it cannot reach the machining range PR, and in the counterclockwise rotation determination process that at least one of the multiple metal pins P is located in a position where it cannot reach the machining range PR, then identifies the metal pin P located at the position where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is maximized as the first machining metal pin P1, and identifies the rotation angle in which the identified first machining metal pin P1 is included in the machining range PR as the machining start angle. However, the device is not limited to this. The welding program creation device 200 does not need to identify the metal pin P located at the position where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is maximized as the first machining metal pin P1.

[0189] For example, the welding program creation device 200 may identify the metal pin P located at the position where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is maximum among all the metal pins P located on the table 20 as the first processed metal pin P1. Alternatively, the welding program creation device 200 may identify the metal pin P located at the position where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is minimum among all the metal pins P located on the table 20 as the first processed metal pin P1.

[0190] In the embodiments described above, the welding program 245 is configured to perform a first rotation control process that rotates the table 20 in a first rotation direction to bring the first processed metal pin P1 to the processing range PR, and a second rotation control process that rotates the table 20 in a second rotation direction opposite to the first rotation direction to bring the second processed metal pin P2 adjacent to the first processed metal pin P1 on the side in the first rotation direction to the processing range PR. However, it is not limited to this configuration. In the second rotation control process, the welding program 245 may also rotate the table 20 in the first rotation direction to bring the second processed metal pin P2 adjacent to the first processed metal pin P1 on the side in the second rotation direction to the processing range PR.

[0191] In the embodiment described above, the welding program creation device 200, in either the clockwise determination process or the counterclockwise determination process, determines that at least one of the multiple metal pins P is located in a position where it cannot reach the processing range PR. In this case, assuming that the table 20 is rotated in the opposite direction to the direction in which it was determined to be located in an unreachable position, the device identifies the metal pin P located at the position where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is minimized as the first processing metal pin P1, and identifies the rotation angle at which the identified first processing metal pin P1 is included in the processing range PR as the processing start angle. However, the device is not limited to this. The welding program creation device 200 does not need to identify the metal pin P located at the position where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is minimized as the first processing metal pin P1.

[0192] For example, the welding program creation device 200 may identify as the first processing metal pin P1 a metal pin P located adjacent to a metal pin P located at the position where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is maximum, and which is located at a position where it can reach the processing range PR, among the metal pins P located in positions that cannot reach the processing range PR. Alternatively, the welding program creation device 200 may identify as the first processing metal pin P1 a metal pin P located at the position where the linear distance from the position of the origin rotation angle is maximum among a plurality of metal pins P. Furthermore, the welding program creation device 200 may identify as the first processing metal pin P1 a metal pin P located at a position where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle is 180°.

[0193] In the embodiment described above, the welding program creation device 200 determines in the clockwise determination process that no metal pins P are positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR, and in the counterclockwise determination process that no metal pins P are positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range PR. In this case, the device identifies the metal pin P positioned at the location where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is minimized as the first machining metal pin P1, and identifies the rotation angle in which the identified first machining metal pin P1 is included in the machining range PR as the machining start angle. However, the device is not limited to this. The welding program creation device 200 does not have to identify the metal pin P positioned at the location where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is minimized as the first machining metal pin P1. For example, the welding program creation device 200 may identify the metal pin P positioned at the location where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table 20 is maximized as the first machining metal pin P1.

[0194] In the embodiment described above, the welding program 245 was described as being configured to perform a first rotation control process that rotates the table 20 in a first rotation direction to bring the first processed metal pin P1 to the processing range PR, and a second rotation control process that rotates the table 20 in the first rotation direction to bring the second processed metal pin P2 adjacent to the first processed metal pin P1 on the side of the second rotation direction opposite to the first rotation direction to the processing range PR, but is not limited to this. In the second rotation control process, the welding program 245 may also rotate the table 20 in a second rotation direction to bring the second processed metal pin P2 adjacent to the first processed metal pin P1 on the side of the first rotation direction to the processing range PR.

[0195] In the embodiments described above, the welding program creation device 200 is configured to be able to group a plurality of metal pins P based on the arrangement information 241, and is configured to identify the second processing metal pin P2 from among the metal pins P grouped together with the first processing metal pin P1. However, it is not limited to this. The welding program creation device 200 does not need to be able to group a plurality of metal pins P based on the arrangement information 241. Also, the welding program creation device 200 may identify the second processing metal pin P2 from among the metal pins P grouped together with a different group from the first processing metal pin P1. Furthermore, in the embodiments described above, the welding program creation device 200 is configured to be able to identify and group metal pins P of the same height and shape from among a plurality of metal pins P. However, it is not limited to this. The welding program creation device 200 does not need to be able to identify and group metal pins P of the same height and shape from among a plurality of metal pins P.

[0196] In the embodiments described above, the welding program creation device 200 was described as being configured to identify the position of the processing range PR of the welding head 30 that can process other metal pins P together with the first processing metal pin P1 without rotating the table 20 or moving the welding head 30, based on the arrangement information 241, but is not limited to this. The welding program creation device 200 does not need to identify the position of the processing range PR of the welding head 30 that can process other metal pins P together with the first processing metal pin P1 without rotating the table 20 or moving the welding head 30, based on the arrangement information 241.

[0197] In the embodiments described above, the welding program creation device 200 was described as being configured to identify the position of the processing range PR where the number of metal pins P that can be processed together with the first processing metal pin P1 is maximized, but it is not limited to this. The welding program creation device 200 does not need to identify the position of the processing range PR where the number of metal pins P that can be processed together with the first processing metal pin P1 is maximized.

[0198] In the embodiments described above, the welding program creation device 200 was described as being provided separately from the control device 100 of the welding apparatus 10, but this is not limited to this. The control device 100 and the welding program creation device 200 may be configured as an integrated unit.

[0199] In the embodiments described above, the camera 50 was described as being mounted above the table 20, such as on the ceiling surface, but it is not limited to this. The camera 50 may be built into the welding head 30 and oriented in the same direction as the welding head 30 emitting laser light. Alternatively, the camera 50 may be mounted on the outside of the welding head 30. Furthermore, if the camera 50 is built into the welding head 30 or mounted on the outside of the welding head 30, the control device 100 may rotate the image data to match the orientation of the welding head 30 (camera 50).

[0200] In the embodiments described above, the scanner section identification unit 237 was described as identifying a metal pin P in a different row from the initially registered metal pin, but having the same angle at its center point C as the initially registered metal pin, as the nearest neighbor metal pin, but is not limited to this. Furthermore, if there is no metal pin P in a different row from the initially registered metal pin, but has the same angle at its center point C as the initially registered metal pin, the scanner section identification unit 237 was described as identifying a metal pin P in the same row as the initially registered metal pin, but has the same angle at its center point C as the initially registered metal pin, as the nearest neighbor metal pin, but is not limited to this. Moreover, if there is no metal pin P in the same row as the initially registered metal pin, but has the same angle at its center point C as the initially registered metal pin, the scanner section identification unit 237 was described as identifying a metal pin P in a different row from the initially registered metal pin, having the same angle at its center point C as the initially registered metal pin, as the nearest neighbor metal pin, but is not limited to this.

[0201] Figure 19 shows a modified example of the nearest-neighbor metal pin identification process in this embodiment. For example, as shown in Figure 19, the scanner section identification unit 237 may identify the nearest-neighbor metal pin by calculating the distance between the following similar metal pins as candidates for the nearest-neighbor metal pin and the initially registered metal pin: 1. A metal pin P in the same row as the initially registered metal pin, located in a counterclockwise direction from the initially registered metal pin (first candidate for nearest-neighbor metal pin Pn1). 2. A metal pin P in a different row from the initially registered metal pin, located in a counterclockwise direction from the initially registered metal pin, with the same angle of its center point C as the initially registered metal pin (second candidate for nearest-neighbor metal pin Pn2). 3. A metal pin P in a different row from the initially registered metal pin, located in a counterclockwise direction from the initially registered metal pin, with the angle of its center point C being closest to the initially registered metal pin (third candidate for nearest-neighbor metal pin Pn3).

[0202] More specifically, the scanner section identification unit 237 calculates the straight-line distance between the center point C of the initially registered metal pin and the center point C of the candidate nearest metal pins (first candidate Pn1 to third candidate Pn3), and identifies the same metal pin with the shortest calculated distance as the nearest metal pin. In the example shown in Figure 19, the same metal pin (first candidate Pn1) located in a counterclockwise direction (adjacent) to the initially registered metal pin is identified as the nearest metal pin.

[0203] Furthermore, if the straight-line distance between the center point C of the initially registered metal pin and the center points C of the first candidate Pn1 to the third candidate Pn3 are all the same, the scanner section identification unit 237 may identify the candidate with the closest angle to the initially registered metal pin (in this embodiment, the second candidate Pn2) as the nearest metal pin. Alternatively, the scanner section identification unit 237 may identify the nearest metal pin based on various arbitrary information such as the placement position of the gas nozzle.

[0204] Furthermore, when the scanner section identification unit 237 identifies the nearest metal pin from among the first candidate Pn1 to the third candidate Pn3, it may identify the candidate with the second shortest straight-line distance from the center point C of the initially registered metal pin as the second nearest metal pin, and the candidate with the third shortest distance as the third nearest metal pin.

[0205] 1 Welding System 10 Welding Equipment 20 Table 30 Welding Head 50 Camera 100 Control Device 200 Welding Processing Program Creation Device 210 Input Unit 220 Display Unit 230 Control Unit 231 Sorting Unit 233 Information Linking Unit 235 Angle Identification Unit 237 Scanner Section Identification Unit 239 Processing Order Setting Unit 240 Storage Unit 241 Arrangement Information 242 Position Information 243 3D Model 244 Pin Information 245 Welding Processing Program 248 Welding Processing Program Creation Program BB Bounding Box C Center Point MI Material Information P Metal Pins P1 First Processing Metal Pins Pdr Different Row Metal Pins Psa Same Angle Metal Pins Psr Same Row Metal Pins PC Processing Conditions PR Processing Range S Tip of Metal Pins SC Stator Core SP Scanner Pattern SS Scanner section SSC Candidate scanner section i Virtual plane

Claims

1. A welding processing program creation device configured to perform the following: an initial processing rotation information identification process that identifies the direction and angle of rotation of the table from the origin rotation angle at the start of processing, based on arrangement information of a plurality of metal pins arranged along the circumferential direction of a table that is circumferentially rotatable and move in the circumferential direction in accordance with the rotation of the table, and the rotatable ranges of clockwise and counterclockwise rotations based on the origin rotation angle of the table; and a program creation process that creates a welding processing program to cause the welding device to perform the process of rotating the table in the identified direction and angle of rotation.

2. The welding program creation apparatus according to claim 1, further configured to perform an initial processing metal pin identification process to identify a first processing metal pin among a plurality of metal pins that should be processed first, based on the arrangement information and the rotatable range, wherein in the initial processing rotation information identification process, when the table is rotated, the rotation direction and rotation angle are identified so that the first processing metal pin identified in the initial processing metal pin identification process is included in the processing range of the welding head that irradiates the metal pin with laser light.

3. The welding program creation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the apparatus is configured to perform a clockwise determination process to determine whether at least one of the plurality of metal pins is positioned in a location that cannot reach the processing range, assuming that the table is rotated clockwise to a predetermined tolerance, and a counterclockwise determination process to determine whether at least one of the plurality of metal pins is positioned in a location that cannot reach the processing range, assuming that the table is rotated counterclockwise to a predetermined tolerance, and the apparatus is configured to identify the first processing metal pin in the initial processing metal pin identification process based on the determination results of the clockwise determination process and the counterclockwise determination process.

4. In the clockwise determination process, if it is determined that at least one of the plurality of metal pins is located in a position where it cannot reach the processing range, and in the counterclockwise determination process, if it is determined that at least one of the plurality of metal pins is located in a position where it cannot reach the processing range, then the metal pin located in a position where it cannot reach the processing range is identified as the first processing metal pin, and the rotation angle in which the identified first processing metal pin is included in the processing range is identified as the processing start angle.

5. The welding program creation apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the welding program is configured to perform a first rotation control process that causes the first processed metal pin to reach the processing range by rotating the table in a first rotation direction, and a second rotation control process that causes the second processed metal pin adjacent to the first processed metal pin on the first rotation direction side to reach the processing range by rotating the table in a second rotation direction opposite to the first rotation direction.

6. In either the clockwise rotation determination process or the counterclockwise rotation determination process, if it is determined that at least one of the plurality of metal pins is located in a position where it cannot reach the machining range, the metal pin located at the position where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table is smallest, assuming that the metal pin is rotated in the opposite direction to the direction in which it was determined to be located in an unreachable position, is identified as the first machining metal pin, and the rotation angle in which the identified first machining metal pin is included in the machining range is identified as the machining start angle, as described in claim 3.

7. The welding program creation apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, in the clockwise determination process, it is determined that the metal pin is not positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range, and in the counterclockwise determination process, it is determined that the metal pin is not positioned in a location that cannot reach the machining range, then, among the plurality of metal pins, the metal pin positioned at the location where the rotation angle from the origin rotation angle of the table is smallest is identified as the first machining metal pin, and the rotation angle in which the identified first machining metal pin is included in the machining range is identified as the machining start angle.

8. The welding program creation apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the welding program is configured to perform a first rotation control process that causes the first processed metal pin to reach the processing range by rotating the table in a first rotation direction, and a second rotation control process that causes a second processed metal pin adjacent to the first processed metal pin on the side of the first processed metal pin opposite to the first rotation direction to reach the processing range by rotating the table in a first rotation direction.

9. The welding program creation device according to claim 8, which is configured to be able to group a plurality of metal pins based on the arrangement information, and is configured to identify the second processed metal pin from among the metal pins grouped together in the same group as the first processed metal pin.

10. A welding processing program creation device according to any one of claims 2 to 7, configured to identify the position of the processing range of the welding head capable of processing other metal pins together with the first processed metal pin, without involving rotation of the table or movement of the welding head, based on the arrangement information.

11. The welding program creation device according to claim 10, configured to identify the position of the processing range where the number of metal pins that can be processed together with the first processed metal pin is maximized.

12. A welding processing program creation method in which a welding processing program creation device performs the following steps: an initial processing rotation information identification step, which identifies the direction and angle of rotation of the table from the origin rotation angle at the start of processing, based on arrangement information of a plurality of metal pins arranged along the circumferential direction of a circumferentially rotatable table and moving in the circumferential direction in accordance with the rotation of the table, and the rotatable ranges of clockwise and counterclockwise rotations based on the origin rotation angle of the table; and a program creation step, which creates a welding processing program to cause the welding device to perform a process of rotating the table in the identified direction and angle of rotation.

13. A welding processing program creation program that causes a welding processing program creation device to execute the following: an initial processing rotation information identification process that identifies the direction and angle of rotation of the table from the origin rotation angle at the start of processing, based on arrangement information of a plurality of metal pins arranged along the circumferential direction of a circumferentially rotatable table and moving in the circumferential direction in accordance with the rotation of the table, and the rotatable ranges of clockwise and counterclockwise rotations based on the origin rotation angle of the table; and a program creation process that creates a welding processing program for causing a welding device to execute a process to rotate the table to the identified direction and angle of rotation.

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