A welding apparatus including: a welding unit (20) that includes a pair of electrode wheels (21A, 21B) arranged to face each other with a welding object therebetween; a pressing unit (30) that includes a pair of press rolls (31A, 31B) that are arranged to face each other with the welding object therebetween and press a welded portion of the welding object welded by the electrode wheels (21A, 21B); a cooling unit (40) that supplies a cooling medium toward the welded portion pressed by the press rolls; a heating unit (50) that heats the welded portion cooled by the cooling unit (40); and a moving body (10) that supports the welding unit (20), the pressing unit (30), the cooling unit (40), and the heating unit (50), and reciprocates in a welding direction of the welding object.

A lithium-ion secondary-battery case that allows bonding without weld spatter and has high strength against external force acting on the battery case, and a method for manufacturing the lithium-ion secondary-battery case are provided. Specifically, an austenitic stainless steel foil is used for a cup component (2), and a two-phase stainless steel having an austenite transformation start temperature A.sub.C1 in a temperature increase process at 650 C. to 950 C. and an austenite and ferrite two-phase temperature range of 880 C. and higher, is used for a cover component (3), and the diffusion bonding is proceeded while accompanied by grain boundary movement upon transformation of the two-phase steel from a ferrite phase into an austenite phase within a heating temperature range of 880 C. to 1080 C.

A method of monitoring a manufacturing status of an electric resistance welded pipe manufactured by shaping a steel strip into a pipe and butt welding both end parts of the steel strip in a width direction along a lengthwise direction includes: arranging an imaging unit in a gas shield nozzle having an opening opposing a region in which both of the end parts of the steel strip in the width direction are butt welded and shielding the region with inert gas by ejecting the inert gas onto the region through the opening, the imaging unit having a visual filed including the region; and determining quality of a butt-welded part based on an image shot by the imaging unit.

A vacuum insulation panel manufacturing method that makes it possible to manufacture low-cost, high-performance vacuum insulation panels, and a vacuum insulation panel are provided. This method of manufacturing a vacuum insulation panel involves: a stacking step in which a first metal plate is stacked on one side of an insulating core material, and in which a backing member having an opening and a second metal plate having an evacuation port are stacked, with the opening and the evacuation port stacking, on the other surface of the core member in the order of backing member and second metal plate from the core member side; a first welding step for welding outwards of where the core member is arranged in the first metal plate and the second metal plate; an evacuating step from the evacuation port to create a vacuum in an inner area which is held between the first metal plate and the second metal plate and in which the core member is arranged; and a laser welding step in which, in a state in which the inner area is made into a vacuum by the evacuating step, the evacuation port is sealed by means of a sealing material and the sealing material, the second metal plate and the backing member are laser welded.

A vacuum insulation panel manufacturing method that makes it possible to manufacture low-cost, high-performance vacuum insulation panels, and a vacuum insulation panel are provided. This method of manufacturing a vacuum insulation panel (1) involves: a stacking step in which a first metal plate (20) is stacked on one side of an insulating core material (10), and in which a backing member (50) having an opening (51) and a second metal plate (30) having an evacuation port (32) are stacked, with the opening (51) and the evacuation port (32) stacking, on the other surface of the core member (10) in the order of backing member (50) and second metal plate (30) from the core member (10) side; a first welding step for welding outwards of where the core member (10) is arranged in the first metal plate (20) and the second metal plate (30); an evacuating step from the evacuation port (32) to create a vacuum in an inner area which is held between the first metal plate (20) and the second metal plate (30) and in which the core member (10) is arranged; and a laser welding step in which, in a state in which the inner area is made into a vacuum by the evacuating step, the evacuation port (32) is sealed by means of a sealing material (60) and the sealing material (60), the second metal plate (30) and the backing member (50) are laser welded.

An electrode orientation checking apparatus includes a machine stand attached to a seam welding apparatus from which one roller electrode of a set has been removed, a positioning guide and a set of distance sensors that are provided on the machine stand, and a calculating section. A positioning surface of the positioning guide is fixed at a position corresponding to a portion of an outer circumferential surface of the one roller electrode before being removed, the portion lying on a line segment connecting rotational centers of the roller electrodes. The distance sensors are respectively fixed forward and backward of the positioning surface in a progression direction of the roller electrodes. The calculating section calculates data for acquiring a direction of the line segment relative to the stacked body.

An electrode orientation checking apparatus includes a machine stand attached to a seam welding apparatus from which one roller electrode of a set has been removed, a positioning guide and a set of distance sensors that are provided on the machine stand, and a calculating section. A positioning surface of the positioning guide is fixed at a position corresponding to a portion of an outer circumferential surface of the one roller electrode before being removed, the portion lying on a line segment connecting rotational centers of the roller electrodes. The distance sensors are respectively fixed forward and backward of the positioning surface in a progression direction of the roller electrodes. The calculating section calculates data for acquiring a direction of the line segment relative to the stacked body.

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a sandwich panel as a semi-finished product where at least one layer of a non-metallic material is positioned between at least two metallic layers. At least one of the metal layers is shaped into a three dimensional layer, and the metal layers are in direct mechanical contact to enable resistance weldability of the semi-finished product in order to connect the semi-finished product to a desired combination of solutions in a subsequent manufacturing process.

System (2) for automatically applying a coating element (4) to a support surface comprises a heating device (1) for applying the coating element (4) along an application path of the support surface, by administration of heat obtained by the Joule effect, comprising a first electrode (5) and a second electrode (6) which can be connected to an electric power generator and are configured to form a part of an electric circuit, a portion of the coating element (4) being able to be arranged between the first electrode (5) and the second electrode (6), so as to close the electric circuit, such that the Joule effect heats the portion of the coating element (4) following a flow of current in the electric circuit, the overall configuration of the heating device being such that the first electrode (5) and the second electrode (6) are able to be moved with respect to the coating element (4) during application of the coating element (4) to the support surface, and an automatic movement device (3) being able to move the device (1) along a path for applying the coating element (4) to the support surface.

System (2) for automatically applying a coating element (4) to a support surface comprises a heating device (1) for applying the coating element (4) along an application path of the support surface, by administration of heat obtained by the Joule effect, comprising a first electrode (5) and a second electrode (6) which can be connected to an electric power generator and are configured to form a part of an electric circuit, a portion of the coating element (4) being able to be arranged between the first electrode (5) and the second electrode (6), so as to close the electric circuit, such that the Joule effect heats the portion of the coating element (4) following a flow of current in the electric circuit, the overall configuration of the heating device being such that the first electrode (5) and the second electrode (6) are able to be moved with respect to the coating element (4) during application of the coating element (4) to the support surface, and an automatic movement device (3) being able to move the device (1) along a path for applying the coating element (4) to the support surface.