Plastic joining method
AssigneeEdison Welding Institute, Inc.
InventorRobert A. Grimm
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A plastic joining method directs polychromate, non-coherent electromagnetic radiation through a transmitting plastic to an absorbing material that absorbs the radiation with the generation of heat. The heat is used to heat a bond line formed from the transmitting plastic and a substrate sufficiently to bond the transmitting plastic and substrate. A radiation filter of the same material as the transmitting plastic is used to reduce effectively unwanted absorption (and heat) in the transmitting plastic. Radiation focusing, masking, transmitting plastic cooling, bond line component drying, double pass welding, and additional bond line pressure are used to improve the bond of the resulting manufacture.
Claims20
A method of plastic joining comprising:
- a) providing a radiation source of polychromatic, non-coherent electromagnetic radiation;
- b) providing an absorbing material that absorbs said polychromatic, non-coherent electromagnetic radiation with the generation of heat;
- c) providing a substantially rigid transmitting plastic that transmits said polychromatic, non-coherent electromagnetic radiation;
- d) providing a substrate;
- e) forming a bond line by placing said absorbing material in said bond line in proximity with said transmitting plastic and said substrate;
- f) filtering polychromatic, non-coherent electromagnetic radiation from said radiation source;
- g) directing said polychromatic, non-coherent electromagnetic radiation from said filtering step initially through said transmitting plastic and then to said absorbing material;
- h) absorbing said polychromatic non-coherent electromagnetic radiation with said absorbing material to produce sufficient heat in said bond line to afford intermixing of molten transmitting plastic and molten substrate;
- and
- i) cooling said bond line containing said absorbing material to bond said transmitting plastic and said substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.