Joining method
AssigneeThe Welding Institute
InventorsDerek J. Russell, Christopher J. Dawes
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of joining a covering layer (9) onto a substrate (10) comprises placing part of the covering layer (9) on the substrate (10) with the remaining part of the covering layer spaced from the substrate so as to expose a region of contact (5) between the covering layer and substrate. A focussed power beam such as a laser or electron beam impinges on the contact region (5) so as to bond or fuse the substrate (10) and covering layer (9) together. The spaced part of the covering layer (9) is then moved towards the substrate (10) so as to change the position of the contact region (5) and the focussed power beam is caused to impinge on the new contact region. These steps are repeated until the covering layer is bonded or fused to the substrate.
Claims13
A method of joining a covering layer to a substrate, the method comprising placing part of the covering layer on the substrate with the remaining part of the covering layer spaced from the substrate so as to expose a region of contact between the covering layer and substrate;
- causing a focussed power beam to impinge on the contact region so as to bond or fuse the substrate and covering layer together;
- and thereafter
- a) moving the spaced part of the covering layer towards the substrate so as to change the position of the contact region;
- b) causing the focussed power beam to impinge on the new contact region so as to cause bonding or fusion;
- and,
- c) repeating steps a) and b) until the covering layer is bonded or fused to the substrate, characterised in that the beam is traversed along the contact region in step (b);
- and in that step (a) is carried out in a non-continuous stepwise manner.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.