Friction stir welding flash removal component
AssigneeEsab AB
InventorsHåkan Larsson, Jörgen Säll
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The flash removal unit presented herein is suitable for a friction stir welding (FSW) head and includes a blade and an annular body. The blade removes flash created by a FSW tool during FSW operations. The an annular body defines a flash capture area around the blade and is configured to at least temporarily retain the flash removed by the blade within the flash capture area. The flash removal unit may also define a flow path along which the flash can be suctioned away from the flash removal unit.
Claims19
A flash removal unit suitable for a friction stir welding (FSW) head, comprising:
- a blade that removes flash created by a FSW tool during FSW operations;
- and
- an annular body that defines a flash capture area around the blade, the annular body being configured to at least temporarily retain the flash removed by the blade within the flash capture area, wherein the annular body is an annular brushing unit and is disposed radially exterior of the blade.
A cutting unit suitable for a friction stir welding (FSW) head, comprising:
- an annular body with one or more openings formed in the annular body, a top, and a bottom, the bottom including an inner edge and an outer edge;
- and
- a partially annular blade that extends around at least a portion of the inner edge of the bottom of the annular body, wherein the annular body is fixed to the FSW head so that the partially annular blade is stationary with respect to the FSW head during FSW operations of the FSW head and so that the blade is positioned to trail a FSW tool included in the FSW head and cut flash created by the FSW tool during FSW operations off of a weld seam,
- wherein the one or more openings formed in the annular body are configured to guide the flash cut off of the weld seam away from the weld seam.
A friction stir welding (FSW) head, comprising:
- a head housing that extends from a top end to a bottom end;
- an axle that is coaxial with and rotatable within the head housing, the axle including an end portion that extends beyond the head housing;
- an FSW tool disposed at the end portion;
- and
- an annular flash removal unit that removes flash created by the FSW tool during FSW operations of the FSW head, wherein the annular flash removal unit defines a flash capture area around the FSW tool and at least temporarily retains removed flash within the flash capture area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.