Honeycomb panel and process for producing same

• US 5,635,306 A
• Filed: 06/07/1995
• Issued: 06/03/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/1992
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: SAES Getters SpA (SAES Getters S)
• Original Assignee: Nippon Steel Corporation
• Inventors: Ishibashi, Akira, Takeda, Mamoru, Oikawa, Masashi, Sugihashi, Atsushi, Minamida, Katsuhiro
• Primary Examiner(s): ZIMMERMAN, JOHN J
• Application Number:
  US08/485,884
• Time in Patent Office: 727 Days
• Field of Search: 52/793.1, 428/593, 428/603, 228/181, 29/897.32
• US Class Current: 428/593
• CPC Class Codes: B21D 47/00 Making rigid structural elements or units, e.g. honeycomb structures
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 2101/02 Honeycomb structures
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 26/22 Spot welding
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 26/242 Fillet welding, i.e. involving a weld of substantially triangular cross section joining two parts
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 26/244 Overlap seam welding
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 26/26 of rectilinear seams
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 3/12 characterised by a layer of regularly- arranged cells, e.g. a honeycomb structure
• CPC Class Codes: E04C 2/3405 spaced apart by profiled spacer sheets
• CPC Class Codes: E04C 2002/3455 with trapezoidal corrugations
• CPC Class Codes: E04C 2002/3494 Apparatus for making profiled spacer sheets
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49629 Panel
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/1234 Honeycomb, or with grain orientation or elongated elements in defined angular relationship in respective components [e.g., parallel, inter- secting, etc.]

Abstract

The present invention is a honeycomb panel comprising metal face sheets respectively disposed on upper and lower faces of said honeycomb core characterized in that said honeycomb panel has a metal side plate disposed on at least one side face thereof, for mutually connecting honeycomb panels to each other, and a process for producing a honeycomb panel, said process characterized by comprising the steps of: welding a corrugated honeycomb core at an end face of its corrugation to a side plate along the end face of said corrugation; welding the honeycomb core at top portions of its corrugation to an upper face sheet from the side of the honeycomb core by means of an energy beam; welding bottom portions of the corrugation of the honeycomb core to a lower face sheet from the side of the face sheet by means of an energy beam; and welding the face sheets to the side plate before or after welding the honeycomb core to the face sheets.

Claims

1. A process for producing a honeycomb panel, including a corrugated honeycomb core formed from a sheet having a thickness, said process comprising the following sequence of steps:

1) providing a side plate with a groove having a wider width than the honeycomb core sheet thickness for fitting an end face of the corrugated honeycomb core,

2) filling up with a metal filler a clearance gap between the groove of said side plate,

3) fitting the honeycomb core and side plate into each other

4) laser beam welding along fitting portions from the side of the core, and then laser beam welding the side plate and the core to each other,

5) laser beam welding the core at top portions of corrugations of the core to an upper face sheet from the side of the core,

6) laser beam welding at bottom portions of corrugations of the core to a lower face sheet from the side of the lower face sheet,

7) and laser beam welding the side plate to the upper and the lower face sheets.

2. A honeycomb panel comprising an integrated structure composed of a corrugated honeycomb core, a side plate, and upper and lower face sheets welded to the honeycomb core produced by means of a laser beam welding process according to claim 1.

3. A process for producing a honeycomb panel, including a corrugated honeycomb core formed from a sheet having a thickness, said process comprising the following sequence of steps:

1) providing a side plate with a groove having a wider width than the honeycomb core sheet thickness for fitting an end face of the corrugated honeycomb core,

2) filling up with a metal filler a clearance gap between the groove of said side plate,

3) fitting the honeycomb core and side plate into each other,

4) laser beam welding along fitting portions from the side of the core, and then laser beam welding the side plate and the core to each other,

5) laser beam welding the side plate to upper and lower face sheets,

6) laser beam welding the core at top portions of corrugations of the core to the upper face sheet from the side of the core, and

7) laser beam welding at bottom portions of corrugations of the core to the lower face sheet from the side of the lower face sheet.

4. A honeycomb panel comprising an integrated structure composed of a corrugated honeycomb core, a side plate, and upper and lower face sheets welded to the honeycomb core produced by means of a laser beam welding process according to claim 3.