Bonding objects together

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016341234-A1
Application number	US-201515112019-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 3, 2015
Priority date	Feb 4, 2014
Publication date	Nov 24, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method of bonding a connector to a first object includes providing the connector, the connector being separate from the first object and including a thermoplastic material; arranging the first object and the connector relative to one another so that the connector reaches from a proximal side of the object through a first opening in the object; generating and applying vibrations and mechanical pressure to the connector until a flow portion of the thermoplastic material is liquefied and caused to flow sideways radially into an open space; and removing the source of the vibrations and causing the liquefied thermoplastic material to re-solidify, resulting in the connector with a foot portion, a head portion, and a shaft portion between the foot portion and the head portion. The shaft portion extends along an axis through the first opening, and secures the connector to the first object.

First claim

1 . A method of bonding a connector to a first object, comprising:
providing the first object with a first opening, the first opening being a through opening; providing the connector, the connector being separate from the first object, the connector comprising a thermoplastic material; arranging the first object and the connector relative to one another so that the connector reaches from a proximal side through the first opening; using a source of mechanical vibrations to generate vibrations, and applying the vibrations and mechanical pressure to the connector until, under the effect of the vibrations and the pressure, a flow portion of the thermoplastic material is liquefied and caused to flow sideways radially into an open space; and removing the source of the vibrations and causing the liquefied thermoplastic material to re-solidify; wherein after the step of removing, the connector comprises a foot portion, a head portion, and a shaft portion between the foot portion and the head portion, the shaft portion extending along an axis through the first opening, and thereby securing the connector to the first object; wherein the flow portion forms at least a part of the foot portion or the head portion or both, the foot portion and the head portion; and wherein at least one of the following conditions is fulfilled:
the connector in addition to the thermoplastic material comprises a body of a material that is not liquefiable or liquefiable only at substantially higher temperatures than the thermoplastic material;
the step of applying the vibrations and the pressure comprises coupling the vibrations through a proximal coupling-in face of the connector and transmitting the vibrations through the connector to a distal end face of the connector.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , comprising further providing a second object with a second opening, the second object being separate from the connector, wherein the step of arranging comprises arranging the first and second objects and the connector relative to one another so that the first and second openings are aligned and that the connector reaches from a proximal side through the first opening distally into the second opening.

3 . A method of bonding a first object and a second object together, comprising the steps of:
providing the first object with a first opening and the second object with a second opening, at least the first opening being a through opening; providing a connector separate from the first and second objects, the connector comprising a thermoplastic material; arranging the first and second objects and the connector relative to one another so that the first and second openings are aligned and that the connector reaches from a proximal side through the first opening distally into the second opening; using a source of mechanical vibrations to generate vibrations, and applying the vibrations and mechanical pressure to the connector until, under the effect of the vibrations and the pressure, at least a flow portion of the thermoplastic material is liquefied and caused to flow sideways radially into an open space; and removing the source of the vibrations and causing the liquefied thermoplastic material to re-solidify; wherein after the step of removing, the connector comprises a foot portion, a head portion, and a shaft portion between the foot portion and the head portion, the shaft portion extending along an axis through the first opening and through at least a part of the second opening, and thereby securing the first and second objects together; and wherein the flow portion forms at least a part of the foot portion or the head portion or both, the foot portion and the head portion.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein in the step of generating vibrations, the vibrations are generated on the proximal side and transmitted to a distal side, wherein the flow portion forms at least a part of the foot portion.

5 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein the step of arranging comprises introducing the shaft portion through the first opening, and wherein the foot portion after the step of causing the thermoplastic material to re-solidify has a cross section larger than a cross section of the shaft portion.

6 . The method according to claim 5 comprising providing the second object, wherein the step of introducing the shaft portion comprises introducing the shaft portion through the first opening until it projects into or through the second opening.

7 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein the source of mechanical vibrations is coupled to a sonotrode, the sonotrode comprising a distal coupling-out face, wherein in the step of applying the vibrations the coupling-out face is coupled to a proximal end face of the connector, and wherein transmitting the vibrations to the distal side comprises transmitting the vibrations through the connector from its proximal end face to a distal end face.

8 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the connector in an initial state comprises the head portion, the head portion forming a distally facing shoulder that forms a stop when the connector is inserted from the proximal side into the first opening or into the aligned first and second openings, respectively.

9 . The method according to claim 7 , comprising the step forming the head portion after forming the foot portion.

10 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein a sonotrode is used to apply the vibrations, and wherein the sonotrode has a shaft portion and a distal proximally-facing coupling-out face and during the step of applying is subject to a pulling force.

11 . The method according to claim 10 , wherein the sonotrode after the step of applying remains connected to the thermoplastic material and constitutes a core of the connector.

12 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein the sonotrode comprises a sonotrode foot, and wherein the sonotrode foot after the step of causing the thermoplastic material to re-solidify forms part of the foot portion.

13 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the connector is provided with a pre-manufactured foot portion, wherein the connector in the step of arranging is inserted into the aligned first and second openings from a distal side, and wherein the vibrations are applied to form the head portion.

14 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein in the step of applying, vibrations are applied both, to the proximal side and to the distal side.

15 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein the step of arranging comprises introducing the shaft portion through the first opening, and wherein the foot portion after the step of causing the thermoplastic material to re-solidify has a cross section larger than a cross section of the shaft portion.

16 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein in the step of applying, the vibrations are applied to the proximal side and to the distal side simultaneously at least for some time.

17 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein the vibrations are applied to the proximal side by a proximal sonotrode and to the distal side by a distal sonotrode, and wherein at the distal sonotrode or the proximal sonotrode or both have a mould feature to defining a shape of the foot portion or head portion, respectively.

18 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the connector in the step applying the vibrations and mechanical pressure comprises a flowing zone and a non-flowing zone, wherein the flowing zone consists of thermoplastic material and is liquefied whereas the non-flowing zone is not liqu

Assignees

• Woodwelding Ag

Inventors

• Germann Jonas
• Mayer Jörg
• Kvist Joakim
• Poschner Patricia

Classifications

• B29C66/524

  Joining profiled elements · CPC title

• B29C65/088

  using several cooperating sonotrodes, i.e. interacting with each other, e.g. for realising the same joint · CPC title

• B29C66/21

  said joint lines being formed by a single dot or dash or by several dots or dashes, i.e. spot joining or spot welding · CPC title

• B29C66/81423

  being concave · CPC title

• B29C66/727

  being porous, e.g. foam · CPC title