Method of laser welding coated members

Abstract

There is disclosed a method of laser welding a number of coated metal sheets including the steps of: providing the coated sheets to be joined, and creating a raised region on at least one of the coated sheets. The raised region is formed on a first surface of the metal sheet while the second opposite surface of the sheet remains continuous and uninterrupted. A laser is then applied forming a weld joint where gases produced during the forming of the laser weld escape via the at least one embossment. In an alternative embodiment fine particles may be distributed on the surface of one or both of the sheets of coated metal to introduce a gap for the gases produced during the forming of the laser weld a place to escape. Preferably the fine particles will be zinc dust to maintain the coating between the two sheets to be joined.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.