Stanley C Gordon

US Patent:

39756114, Aug 17, 1976

Filed:

Dec 1, 1969

Appl. No.:

4/881044

Inventors:

Stanley H. Gordon - Winchester MA

Assignee:

TRW Inc. - Cleveland OH

International Classification:

B23K 1104

US Classification:

219 98

Abstract:

An article of manufacture having a synthetic, thermoplastic substructure, a metallic plating on the external surface of the substructure, and a metallic stud joined to the article in contact with the plating, is adapted to be electrically welded to a metallic supporting structure, whether or not the surface of the structure to which the article is to be welded is coated with an electrically nonconductive material, and a sealing of the area of the structure adjacent the welded joint is effected during the welding operation, with the material forming the seal having derived from the body of the substructure. The welding is accomplished by applying a load to the article, preferably by creating a vacuum about the article and the confronting surface of the supporting structure, to press the stud into effective metal-to-metal contact with the structure, and while maintaining the load applying a heating current from a supply electrode to the metallic plating on the article, which current traverses the conductive path from the plating through the stud and to the supporting structure's surface and precipitates a molten pool of metal at the interface of the stud and the structure, which pool solidifies into an autogenous joint when the current flow is subsequently interrupted.