A system for manufacturing of a sintered wire and in-situ feeding to a laser wire welding system is presented. The system includes a pressure vessel connected to a powder feed system for delivering at least two powders to a powder mixing zone of the pressure vessel. The at least two powders are mixed via a rotating cone in the pressure vessel. After mixing, a heating device contained within the pressure vessel heats the mixture so that liquid phase sintering occurs and a sintered rod is created. The sintered wire is continuously fed to a laser metal deposition system for depositing a layer of additive material on a base material. A method of additively manufacturing or repairing a superalloy component is also presented.

An electrical connector includes a barrel type terminal, having a first connecting area and a second connecting area. The first connecting area has a first non-soldering surface and a first soldering surface. The second connecting area has a second non-soldering surface and a second soldering surface. Each of the first and second soldering surfaces and the first and second non-soldering surfaces has a first solder layer. A sleeve sheathes outside the barrel type terminal, and has a first fixing area and a second fixing area. Two second solder layers are provided between the first fixing area and the first soldering surface and between the second fixing area and the second soldering surface. The amount of solder provided between the first fixing area and the first soldering surface and between the second fixing area and the second soldering surface is greater than that provided on the first and second non-soldering surfaces.

A soldering apparatus comprises a soldering mechanism and a management unit. The management unit converts operation history of the soldering mechanism into a numerical value, compares the numerical value to a predetermined threshold value, and generates a notifying signal if the numerical value exceeds the predetermined threshold value. The notifying signal may result in cessation of operation of the soldering mechanism. The notifying signal may result in a visual and/or audio reminder to the operator to inspect or replace a part of the soldering mechanism. With the management unit, the operator need not guess or rely on personal experience to determine when to perform an inspection or replacement. Reliance on personal experience can be error prone and lead to inefficiency. The management unit may reduce the possibility of soldering with a degraded soldering tip or other part, which may have an adverse effect on soldering quality.

A soldering apparatus is provided with a soldering iron for soldering with a tip, a driving portion for moving the soldering iron, a storage portion that stores position information indicating a soldering position and identification information associated each other, a reading portion that reads target identification information attached to the work target, an acquiring portion that acquires position information in the storage portion matching the target identification information read by the reading portion, and a process control portion for controlling the driving portion and the soldering iron so as to perform soldering at the position indicated by the position information acquired by the acquiring portion.

A composite material comprising a plurality of round particles bound together by a binding material. Each of the plurality of round particles includes a wear resistant element, an intermediate coating on the wear resistant element, and a round outer layer encapsulating the intermediate coating and the wear resistant element. The intermediate coating is metallurgically bonded to the wear resistant element, and is metallurgically bondable to the binding material.

A wire bonding includes a capillary that extrudes a wire; a wire clamp assembly disposed on the capillary; a support disposed on the wire clamp assembly; a wire contact member; and a slide rail that provides a slide hole. The wire clamp assembly includes: a first member; a second member spaced apart from the first member; a first contact member coupled to the first member; and a second contact member coupled to the second member and spaced apart from the first contact member. The first member includes a first body that extends in a first direction and a first tilting member that extends at an acute angle relative to the first direction. The second member includes a second body that extends in the first direction and is spaced apart from the first body in a second direction a second tilting member.

A solder feed structure has a solder exit aperture with an elongated shape. The elongated shape can help reduce the incidence of clogging, as it has a dimension that is significantly larger than the wire diameter of solder. The solder feed structure has a bent segment leading up to the solder exit aperture. The arc of the bent segment can cause the solder wire to be in a stable position at one end of the elongated shape of the solder exit aperture instead of wobbling within the solder exit aperture.

A solder supply unit includes a base member, a reel holder that is provided on the base member and rotatably holds a reel of a tape-like solder material, a support member provided on the base member, and a guidance member that is provided on the support member and that guides at least a lower surface of the tape-like solder material wound around the reel when the tape-like solder material is fed out.

A laser brazing system including a torch body, a wire feed tip, a laser processing head, and a cooling collar. The torch body includes nozzle, mounting, and cooling sections. The nozzle section has a nozzle wall and a feed wire conduit. The cooling section has a cooling barrel, a coolant supply connection, and a coolant return connection. The wire feed tip has a feed wire outlet and is connected to one end of the torch body. The laser processing head directs laser light toward the feed wire outlet. The cooling collar is disposed on the nozzle section and includes a collar body and a coolant conduit. The collar body has a through-bore that receives the nozzle wall. The coolant conduit has an end portion attached to the collar body and a leg portion that transports coolant to and from the end portion.

A soldering apparatus and method involves capturing an image of a soldering operation, and storing image data in association with that particular soldering operation. A soldering tool that is used to perform the soldering operation has a position during the soldering operation, and the image data could also be stored in association with data for that particular position. The position data could be for an operation start point and/or an operation endpoint. Associating the image data in this way could help a manufacturer investigate soldering abnormalities that might be reported after a product is shipped to a customer.