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 method and installation for joining a cover layer to an object in a continuous process. Joining is effected with the aid of a joining material having thermoplastic properties, wherein the joining material is arranged between the cover layer and the object and is liquefied using ultrasonic vibration energy. Before application of the ultrasonic vibration energy, the joining material is preheated in a contactless manner with the aid of electromagnetic induction in the region of the glass transition temperature of the joining material or above this glass transition temperature. The object is in particular a chip board and the cover layer an edge strip to be joined to an edge of the chip board.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for joining a longitudinal seam in a tube, to an apparatus and method of joining a longitudinal seam in a tube in a borehole, to an apparatus and method of repairing a tube and to a pig. In an aspect an apparatus is provided for joining a longitudinal seam in a tube. The apparatus (200) includes a spool (202) for progressively unwinding a coiled member (10) into an extended form (12). The member (10) transitions from a flat form when coiled (11) to a slit tube form when extended (12), in which form the member is resiliently biased. A joining device (214) is positioned downstream of the spool arranged to provide energy to a portion of the member in its extended form to cause heating so as to progressively join together the longitudinal edges of the slit tube as the member passes the joining device. A longitudinal seam (20) is thereby formed in the tube.

A method of directly joining a polymer to a metal along a joint interface through the formation of CO-M chemical bonds, where M represents an element in the metal to be joined. The method includes heating the metal to a predetermined temperature above a glass transition temperature of the polymer and less than a flash ignition temperature of the polymer and less than a metal melting temperature of the metal; and applying force to the joint interface of the metal and the polymer to generate intimate atomic contact between the metal and the polymer to create CO-M chemical bonds between the metal and the polymer.

A method for manufacturing a laminated film and an apparatus for manufacturing a laminated film obtains a laminated film including a cured layer having a uniform thickness at the time of manufacturing a laminated film obtained by sandwiching the cured layer obtained by curing an actinic ray curable-type resin between two sheets of films. Steps include forming a coating film of a coating solution containing an actinic ray curable-type resin on the surface of a first film while continuously transporting the first film, laminating a second film on the coating film while continuously transporting the second film, and forming a cured layer of the coating film by irradiating the coating film with an actinic ray while continuously transporting the coating film by sandwiching the coating film between the first film and the second film, in a state where the first film is being wound around a backup roller.

To achieve universal welding of thermoplastic workpiece parts with simple equipment, an infrared light transmission welding method is disclosed in which simple polychromatic, incoherent infrared light is generated by a simple infrared light source and is directed through a first workpiece part to a weld point for the purposes of connection to a second workpiece part. In particular, the infrared light is directed through a transparent bracing element.

The presented solution describes an apparatus for attaching a building material to a base, the apparatus comprising at least one infrared heater for producing heat to a surface of the building material and a motor for moving the apparatus. In the apparatus, the building material, once straightened out onto the base, is adapted to be fed in from a first end of the apparatus and to be discharged from a second end of the apparatus while being attached to the base. A method of attaching a building material to a base by means of the apparatus is also described.