Ultrasonic welder with dynamic nodal horn support
AssigneeAmerican Technology Corporation
InventorMichael Patrikios
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An ultrasonic welder is provided which automatically recognizes and reliably welds varying weld zone sizes of material. The welder comprises a base, a transducer, a tip, an anvil, a gathering tool, and an actuator for moving both the anvil and gathering tool to define a weld zone. An encoder reads movement of the actuator and a microprocessor determines weld zone size to control the transducer for maximizing weld efficiency. Preferably, a horn is mounted between the transducer and tip and the horn is dynamically mounted along an axis of the transducer to transmit the maximum amount of ultrasonic energy to the weld.
Claims8
An ultrasonic welder for measuring and adjusting to variable weld zone sizes and including a dynamic nodal horn support for improving transmission of transducer energy to the weld, comprising:
- a base;
- an ultrasonic transducer mounted to said base;
- a horn having a weld tip said horn mounted to said base along an axis of said ultrasonic transducer;
- a gathering tool mounted to said base and slidable along a face of the weld tip;
- a frame movably mounted to said base;
- an anvil mounted to said frame and spring biased toward said gathering tool;
- an actuator for moving said frame between a first position at which said anvil is spaced apart from both the tip and said gathering tool and a second position defining a weld zone at which said gathering tool has moved said anvil against its spring bias and at which said anvil has moved toward the tip;
- an encoder for sensing a size of the weld zone;
- a microprocessor responsive to said encoder for controlling said ultrasonic transducer;
- a collar for radially supporting said horn at its nodal point;
- and
- a spring for axially, movably mounting said collar to said horn.
An ultrasonic welder having a dynamic nodal horn support for improving transmission of transducer energy to the weld, comprising:
- a base;
- an ultrasonic transducer mounted to said base;
- a horn having a weld tip said horn mounted to said base along an axis of said ultrasonic transducer;
- a collar for radially supporting said horn at its nodal point;
- and
- a spring for axially, movably mounting said collar to said horn.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.