The invention relates to a method for producing a composite sheet metal part having at least one metallic region from a composite sheet metal blank which has two outer cover sheets of metal and at least one layer which is arranged between the cover sheets and consists of plastics material. The invention provides an apparatus and method by which complex formed composite sheet metal parts can easily be produced in a few steps and which still have metallic regions which can be used for joining to further parts.

A method of single-sided resistance welding includes providing a first workpiece and a second workpiece. The first workpiece is positioned so that at least a portion of the first workpiece is in contact with at least a portion of the second workpiece. A weld electrode is positioned in contact with the first workpiece, and a ground electrode is positioned in contact with the second workpiece. A determination is made as to whether a gap or other high resistance condition is present between the first workpiece and the second workpiece. If a gap or other high resistance condition is determined to be present between the first workpiece and the second workpiece, the gap or other high resistance condition is reduced, and the first workpiece and the second workpiece are joined through welding.

A method of single-sided resistance welding includes providing a first workpiece and a second workpiece. The first workpiece is positioned so that at least a portion of the first workpiece is in contact with at least a portion of the second workpiece. A weld electrode is positioned in contact with the first workpiece, and a ground electrode is positioned in contact with the second workpiece. A determination is made as to whether a gap or other high resistance condition is present between the first workpiece and the second workpiece. If a gap or other high resistance condition is determined to be present between the first workpiece and the second workpiece, the gap or other high resistance condition is reduced, and the first workpiece and the second workpiece are joined through welding.

Provided are a method and an apparatus for resistance spot welding in which preliminary current application is executed and then main welding is executed in accordance with master patterns of various parameters obtained during the preliminary current application. The main welding is executed under welding conditions of the master patterns, and whether a welding abnormality has occurred and whether the welding abnormality is likely to occur are determined. When the welding abnormality is likely to occur, the welding conditions for the main welding are corrected so as to prevent the welding abnormality. When the welding abnormality is unlikely to occur, the welding conditions for the main welding are corrected so as to match the master patterns.

A spot welding system includes a position detection part which detects the position of a movable arm, a first calculation part which calculates the combined spring constant of the movable arm and a fixed arm based on a position when the movable arm is driven by a predetermined drive force and the drive force, a second calculation part which calculates the spring constant of the movable arm based on a position when the movable arm is driven by a predetermined drive force and the drive force, a third calculation part which calculates the spring constant of the fixed arm based on the combined spring constant and the spring constant of the movable arm, and an elastic displacement calculation part which calculates an amount of elastic displacement of the fixed arm based on the spring constant of the fixed arm and a drive force when welding is performed.

A welding portion inspection system includes a sensing head, and first and second electrodes that are disposed a predetermined distance from each other at one side of the sensing head, where front end portions of the first and second electrodes contact both sides of a welding portion to apply current such that a temperature of the welding portion is heated, and an infrared camera is disposed on the sensing head and detects a temperature distribution of the welding portion.

A new weld configuration is used to obtain a robust and consistent resistance weld between the tabs of an anode current collector and the casing of an electrochemical cell. This is done by adding a resistive transferable electrode tip between at least one of the welding electrodes, preferably the movable welding electrode, and the stacked parts that are being joined together. The purpose of the transferable electrode tip is to generate a sufficient amount of heat during the welding process so that the stacked parts are joined together without adding any product functionality. In one embodiment of the present invention, the transferrable electrode tip is a stainless-steel ball, the stacked anode current collector tabs are of nickel, and the cell casing is of stainless-steel.

A new weld configuration is used to obtain a robust and consistent resistance weld between the tabs of an anode current collector and the casing of an electrochemical cell. This is done by adding a resistive transferable electrode tip between at least one of the welding electrodes, preferably the movable welding electrode, and the stacked parts that are being joined together. The purpose of the transferable electrode tip is to generate a sufficient amount of heat during the welding process so that the stacked parts are joined together without adding any product functionality. In one embodiment of the present invention, the transferrable electrode tip is a stainless-steel ball, the stacked anode current collector tabs are of nickel, and the cell casing is of stainless-steel.

A spot-welding system including a spot-welding gun including a movable part including a movable electrode, and a drive part that drives the movable part, a controller that controls the drive part, an applied pressure sensor that measures an applied pressure from the movable electrode of the spot-welding gun, and an own-weight calculator that calculates an own weight of the movable part based on the applied pressure detected by the applied pressure sensor in two different postures of the spot-welding gun that places the movable electrode in different movement directions. The controller superimposes a dither signal onto a control signal so as to control the drive part in measuring the applied pressure for use in calculating the own weight of the movable part by the own-weight calculator, and after the own weight is calculated, the controller corrects the control signal based on the calculated own weight.

A welding apparatus includes a movement assembly for at least one electrode configured to which can be passed through by current for the execution of welding treatments. The assembly includes at least one cylinder and at least one stem which rigidly supports the electrode; the stem is at least partially accommodated in the cylinder and is coaxially movable with an alternating straight motion along the longitudinal axis of the cylinder, in order to press the electrode against the parts to be welded with a corresponding welding force.

A device for measuring the welding force is also provided, which has a plate, which is stably interposed between the stem and the electrode with the respective faces arranged at right angles to the longitudinal axis, and a plurality of deformation sensors accommodated in through slots provided in the plate and distributed along an imaginary circumference which is centered along the longitudinal axis.