A system and method for welding thermoplastic components by positioning and moving a heated plate between the components to melt their respective faying surfaces, and as the plate moves, pressing the components together so that the melted faying surfaces bond together as they cool and re-solidify, thereby creating a composite structure. The plate has a heated portion which is positioned between and heated to melt a portion of the first and second faying surfaces. A manipulator mechanism moves the plate along an interface from between the portion to between a series of subsequent portions of the first and second faying surfaces, thereby welding the thermoplastic components along the entire interface to create the composite structure. The heated portion may contact the faying surfaces and melt them through conduction, or may be suspended between them and melt them through radiation and convection.

A thermoplastic product includes a fabric-based reinforcing sheet and a polymerized thermoplastic material. The fabric-based reinforcing sheet is wound about a mandrel to form a plurality of layers having a cross-sectional shape that corresponds to the mandrel. The fabric-based reinforcing sheet includes a plurality of fiber bundles, which may have a bidirectional orientation or configuration. A polymerized thermoplastic material is disposed within each layer of the fabric-based reinforcing sheet. The polymerized thermoplastic material bonds each layer of the fabric-based reinforcing sheet to an adjacent layer.

A plastic welding machine for welding plastic parts together is capable of controlling the weld force vector in both magnitude and direction.

An apparatus for thermoplastic welding includes at least one tool configured to support first and second thermoplastic composite parts in a first welding position having one or more joint lines between the first and second thermoplastic composite parts. The tool includes a plurality of induction coils. The apparatus further includes a susceptor removably positioned along the one or more joint lines. The susceptor is configured to heat the one or more joint lines when exposed to a magnetic flux generated by the plurality of induction coils to bond the first and second thermoplastic composite parts along the one or more joint lines. The apparatus also includes a susceptor removal device coupled to the susceptor and configured to remove the susceptor during bonding of the first and second thermoplastic composite parts.

According to a method or an apparatus for fastening bristles in a bristle carrier (10) without using an anchor a heating (39) is provided in a tool part configured to transport the bristles. After inserting the bristles into anchoring openings (12) in the bristle carrier (10), the anchoring openings are closed by applying pressure.

According to a method or an apparatus for fastening bristles in a bristle carrier (10) without using an anchor a heating (39) is provided in a tool part configured to transport the bristles. After inserting the bristles into anchoring openings (12) in the bristle carrier (10), the anchoring openings are closed by applying pressure.

This invention provides: a method for manufacturing a supercharger compressor housing, in which a supercharger compressor housing is manufactured through at least a local heating step for locally heating an area to be heated, which is part of an abradable seal, and a mounting/fixing step for mounting and fixing the abradable seal to a mounting/fixing surface of a compressor housing main body, the locally heated area to be heated being inserted while being deformed into groove parts provided to the mounting/fixing surface in the mounting/fixing step; and a compressor housing created using this manufacturing method.

An apparatus for manufacturing rectangular frames of plastic material includes an apparatus frame and welding heads. A material clamp cooperates with an associated frame member to hold the associated frame member in a desired location during a frame assembly operation. A heat plate is movably attached to each welding head. The heat plate can be selectively positioned to an operating position. The material clamp positions the associated frame member in close proximity to the heat plate to heat a set of ends of the associated frame member utilizing only radiation and convection of heat developed by the heat plate. The plurality of welding heads exert pressure on adjoining associated frame members after the heat plate is removed from the operating position in order to weld the adjoining associated frame members together to form a rectangular frame.

A thermoplastic product includes a fabric-based reinforcing sheet and a polymerized thermoplastic material. The fabric-based reinforcing sheet is wound about a mandrel to form a plurality of layers having a cross-sectional shape that corresponds to the mandrel. The fabric-based reinforcing sheet includes a plurality of fiber bundles, which may have a bidirectional orientation or configuration. A polymerized thermoplastic material is disposed within each layer of the fabric-based reinforcing sheet. The polymerized thermoplastic material bonds each layer of the fabric-based reinforcing sheet to an adjacent layer.

A plastic welding machine for welding plastic parts together is capable of controlling the weld force vector in both magnitude and direction.