Methods of and means for securing together thermoplastic members

• US 3,062,695 A
• Filed: 06/30/1959
• Issued: 11/06/1962
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/1959
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Walter E. Hull
• Original Assignee: Walter E. Hull
• Inventors: Hull, Walter E.
• Application Number:
  US03/823,872
• Time in Patent Office: 1,225 Days
• US Class Current: 156/73.5
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 65/06 using friction, e.g. spin welding non-plastics elements to plastic elements B29C65/645
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 65/0672 Spin welding
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/1142 Single butt to butt joints
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/54 Joining several hollow-preforms, e.g. half-shells, to form hollow articles, e.g. for making balls, containers; Joining several hollow-preforms, e.g. half-cylinders, to form tubular articles
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/81423 being concave
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/81431 comprising a single cavity, e.g. a groove
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/8161 said pressing elements being supported or backed-up by springs or by resilient material
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/8221 Scissor or lever mechanisms, i.e. involving a pivot point
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/8322 Joining or pressing tools reciprocating along one axis
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/1744 Means bringing discrete articles into assembled relationship

Claims

1. THE METHOD OF BONDING A THERMOPLASTIC MEMBER TO ANOTHER MEMBER IN PREDETERMINED ALIGNMENT, WHICH COMPRISES PRESSING SURFACES OF SAID MEMBERS AGAINST EACH OTHER AND SIMULTANEOUSLY RUBBING SUCH SURFACES THROUGH AN AMPLITUDE OF MOVEMENT AND DURING A TIME INTERVAL SUFFICIENT TO SOFTEN THE THERMOPLASTIC MEMBER SURFACE BY FRICTIONALLY INDUCED HEAT, THEREAFTER PROGRESSIVELY REDUCING THE AMPLITUDE OF RUBBING MOVEMENT AND PROGRESSIVELY BRINGING SAID MEMBERS TO SAID PREDETERMINED ALIGNMENT UNTIL RUBBING MOVEMENT CEASES WITH SAID MEMBERS DISPOSED IN SAID PREDETERMINED ALIGNMENT, AND THEN HOLDING SAID MEMBERS IN SAID PREDETERMINED ALIGNMENT WITH SAID SURFACES PRESSED AGAINST EACH OTHER UNTIL THE SOFTENED THERMOPLASTIC MATERIAL HARDENS.

5. APPARTUS FOR BONDING A THERMOPLASTIC MEMBER TO ANOTHER MEMBER IN PREDETERMINED ALIGNMENT, COMPRISING BODY MEANS SUPPORTING SAID MEMBERS WITH RESPECTIVE SURFACES PRESSED TOGETHER, DRIVE MEANS HAVING A PAIR OF RELATIVELY MOVABLE PARTS WHICH IN A FIRST POSITION EFFECT RELATIVE MOVEMENT OF SAID BODY MEANS AND CONSEQUENTLY THAT OF SAID MEMBERS TO RUB SAID MEMBER SURFACES AGAINST EACH OTHER THROUGH A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE AND DURING A TIME INTERVAL SUFFICIENT TO SOFTEN THE THERMOPLASTIC MEMBER SURFACE BY FRICTIONALLY INDUCED HEAT, IN A SECOND POSITION SAID DRIVE MEANS PARTS HOLDING SAID BODY MEANS AND CONSEQUENTLY THEIR SUPPORTED MEMBERS IN SAID PREDETERMINED ALIGNMENT, AND IN A POSITION INTERMEDIATE SAID FIRST AND SECOND POSITIONS SAID DRIVE MEANS PARTS EFFECTING RELATIVE MOVEMENT OF SAID BODY MEANS TO RUB SAID MEMBER SURFACES AGAINST EACH OTHER THROUGH LESS THAN SAID