The invention relates to a process (100) for manufacturing an object (1) made of thermoplastic polymer composite from at least two parts (10) made of thermoplastic polymer composite, said thermoplastic polymer composite comprising a fibrous reinforcement and a thermoplastic polymer matrix, said process comprising the steps of:

arranging (120) the two parts (10) made of thermoplastic polymer composite adjacently or overlapping at an assembly interface zone (11), and

heating (130) to melt the thermoplastic polymer matrix at said assembly interface zone (11), so as to form an object (1) made of thermoplastic polymer composite comprising a welded interface (12).

Systems and methods are provided for consolidating thermoplastic parts. One embodiment is a method of automatically forming a thermoplastic composite structure. The method includes heating a thermoplastic preform to a forming temperature, forming the thermoplastic preform into a thermoplastic part having a desired shape, aligning multiple thermoplastic parts together, and consolidating the multiple thermoplastic parts together while controlling crystallization to form a complex thermoplastic part.

An end effector for welding composite components includes an end effector housing and a welding member mounted to the end effector housing. The end effector further includes a leading roller mounted to the end effector housing forward of the welding member and at least one follower roller mounted to the end effector housing aft of the welding member. The end effector further includes at least one first cooling air jet positioned to direct a first stream of cooling air toward the at least one follower roller.

A fusible fitting of this disclosure includes a saddle having a radially extending branch with a closed bottom end. The closed bottom end forms a portion of the saddle and contains some of the fusion wires that run through the saddle. After the fitting is fused to a pipe, the closed bottom end may be tapped through, with that portion of the fusion wires being removed along with the coupon. Because of this configuration, the branch may be a size-on-size or near size-on-size branch. For example, the radially extending branch may have an inside diameter in a range of greater than 75% of an inside diameter of the pipe to 100% of the inside diameter of the pipe plus one wall thickness of the pipe.

A sealed fluidic component for use in a fluidic flow path is made by providing a composite material comprising a first material and a second material, wherein the first material and the second material are different PAEK materials with the first material having a lower melting point than the second material. The composite material is heated to provide a sealing by the first material.

Provided are a laser-welded structure and a laser welding method for a cover and a housing ensuring high reliability and suppressing changes in characteristics due to burrs protruding into a subpassage of the flow sensor. To this end, this flow sensor is provided with a housing, a cover, a circuit chamber sealed between these and housing electronic components or wiring, and a subpassage through which the fluid flows that is to be sensed, and is characterized in that there are projections provided on both ends of the joining section of the cover where the housing and the cover are laser-welded, and the height of the projection on the subpassage side is greater than the height of the projection on the side opposite of the subpassage.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a flow sensor that makes it possible to detect temperature abnormalities that the flow sensor has been exposed to and the time history of the flow sensor in a high-temperature environment from an externally visible cover material and that uses a cover material for which the laser welding quality can be guaranteed through visual inspection when the sensor is delivered as a product and even if the sensor is used in an abnormal state. A flow sensor provided with a housing, a cover, a circuit chamber that houses a wiring portion sealed between the housing and the cover, and an auxiliary passage through which the liquid to be sensed flows, wherein: a joint portion formed on the housing and a joint portion formed on the inner surface of the cover are joined together through the laser welding; the main material of the cover is a crystalline resin; the cover includes an amorphous alloy; and the cover is made to have a natural color.

The invention relates to a method for laser welding two plastic components A, B brought into contact at least in the joining area, wherein component B facing away from the laser radiation consists of a plastic matrix with a white pigmentation of 1.5 5-20 wt.-%, and component A facing the laser radiation, through which the laser beam passes in the welding process, exhibits a plastic matrix. For a given laser wavelength the travel distance of the laser beam through the component A measures at most 10 mm, and given a white pigmentation of the component A in wt.-%, the product of the travel distance of the laser 10 beam through the component A in mm and white pigmentation in wt.-% is less than 1.25, and the travel distance of the laser beam through the component A measures at most 1 mm.

Provided is a low-cost flow sensor which improves productivity while maintaining high quality and high reliability. This flow sensor is provided with a housing, a cover, a circuit chamber sealed between these and housing electronic components or wiring, and a subpassage through which the fluid flows that is to be detected, and is characterized in that the welding width of a first welded portion forming the circuit chamber is greater than the welding width of a part of the second welded portion forming the subpassage unit.

Provided is a welding structure which enables external visual checks and has improved stability of bonding properties at a laser weld between a cover and a housing of this flow sensor. This flow sensor is provided with a housing, a cover, a circuit chamber sealed between these and housing electronic components or wiring, and a subpassage through which the fluid flows that is to be sensed, and is characterized in that at least the part near the gate section of the cover that transmits the laser is thinner than the other parts that transmit the laser.