A laser brazing and welding system is disclosed and includes: a laser; a first cutting tool including a first cutting tip; and a control module. The control module is configured to control the laser to laser braze or laser weld two parts; and control ultrasonic vibration of the first cutting tip to remove one or more layers from at least one of the two parts prior to or subsequent to the laser brazing or laser welding of the two parts.

Described is a process for introducing perforations in a laminate that comprises a silicone gel. The process includes the following steps: bringing an array of perforating elements in contact with a deformable layer of a laminate that at least includes a substrate layer, a layer comprising a silicone gel and a deformable layer, wherein said deformable layer covers said layer including the silicone gel; applying ultrasonic energy to said laminate in order to simultaneously introduce a plurality of perforations into said laminate, while providing deformed portions in said deformable layer, wherein said deformed portions penetrate into the plurality of perforations in said laminate; after having introduced said plurality of perforations into said laminate, keeping said deformable layer in contact with said layer including the silicone gel, such that said deformed portions remain penetrating into said plurality of perforations, for at least 12 hours.

Systems, methods and devices for harvesting plants include an ultrasonic blade for severing top portion(s) of one or more plants. The system includes a first conveyor surface which moves the one or more plants in a linear direction. The ultrasonic blade is disposed above the first conveyor surface at an end of a second conveyor surface of a retrieval system. A first top portion of the one or more plants is severed by contacting a first plant at a first height with the ultrasonic blade. Also, the height of the ultrasonic blade can be adjusted such that a second top portion of the one or more plants is severed by contacting a second plant at a second height with the ultrasonic blade. Furthermore, the ultrasonic blade can have an edge which vibrates at a frequency of 20 kHz or greater to severe the top portion(s).

An ultrasonic knife has a cutting portion formed with at least one cutting edge and a fastening portion. The fastening portion has an external thread for connection to a sonotrode. The cutting portion and the fastening portion are formed in one piece from cemented carbide material. The cemented carbide material includes hard particles that are, at least predominantly, formed by tungsten carbide and a metallic binder. The external thread of the fastening portion has a thread pitch p and is shaped such that the root of the thread turns has a rounded shape with a root radius R of 0.2*pR0.3*p.

A production method of a wafer includes a wafer production step in which ultrasonic water is ejected against an end face of an ingot with cleavage layers created therein, thereby severing the wafer from a rest of the ingot to produce the wafer.

A peeling apparatus includes an ingot holding unit holding an ingot in a hanging state where a portion of the ingot to be peeled off as the wafer is directed downwardly, a water container containing water therein, an ultrasonic unit immersed in the water in the water container, a moving unit moving the ingot holding unit vertically into a position where the ingot holding unit faces the ultrasonic unit and at least the portion of the ingot to be peeled off as the wafer is immersed in the water in the water container, and a nozzle ejecting water to the portion of the ingot to be peeled off as the wafer thereby to promote the peeling of the wafer from the ingot.

A blade-protecting sheath is configured to protect a cutting blade of an ultrasonic cutting system. The blade-protecting sheath includes a main body having a first end and an opposite second end, a blade-receiving channel formed through the first end, and a nut-retention chamber connected to the blade-receiving channel. The nut-retention chamber is defined by interior planar walls that are configured to receive and constrain a nut of the ultrasonic cutting system. A blade slot is connected to the nut-retention chamber. The cutting blade is configured to pass into the blade slot and be secured within a blade chamber.

An assembly line technique is described in which food items with a deposited layer of smear prior to baking can be cut and segregated into small pieces. The food pieces are deposited randomly into an ovenable serving container in such a way as to reduce contact between the smear coated surface(s) of the food pieces. This results in a pull-apart food product that can be rapidly microwave heated in the container and served in the container.

A system for fracturing a frame of a deployed prosthesis with ultrasonic vibration includes a shaft, a tip assembly, an ultrasonic electric generator, and an ultrasonic transducer. The shaft includes a proximal portion and a distal portion. The tip assembly is coupled to the distal portion of the shaft. The tip assembly includes a cutting edge. The ultrasonic transducer is electrically coupled to the ultrasonic generator. Ultrasonic vibration generated by the ultrasonic transducer is translated to the tip assembly. The cutting edge of the tip assembly is configured to focus the vibration of the tip assembly onto a frame of a deployed prosthesis to fracture the frame of the prosthesis. The ultrasonic transducer may be coupled to the proximal portion or the distal portion of the shaft.

In a plastic strand granulator the width of a cutting gap between a cutting rotor and a knife strip is gauged by an adjustment mechanism by setting the position of the knife strip. For this purpose the adjustment mechanism has an actuator with a differential thread having a reducing transmission ratio. The adjustment mechanism can advantageously be gauged automatically to a predetermined cutting gap width by a control circuit, wherein the adjustment mechanism is gauged in dependence on vibration parameters which are captured on the knife strip or on the cutting rotor. For this purpose, ultrasonic vibrations are introduced into the component in question and detected at some distance therefrom and evaluated.