Apple Inc.

Other

Google Inc.

Alfredo Castillo

Umakaran Nemallan

Maj Isabelle Olsson

Peter Michael Cazalet

Gina Reimann

Christoph Gredler

Arun R Varma

Ross C Heyman

Peter R Muller

Adithya Raghavan

Watch body glass dome

An enclosure for an AC to DC adapter has a continuous and apparently monolithic exterior appearance. The enclosure includes a housing and a cap that are joined together by one or more weld joints. The weld joints create flash on the exterior surface of the enclosure and the flash is removed by forming a chamfer along the weld joint such that it removes a portion of the housing and the cap.

Electronic device enclosures having a monolithic appearance

Magnetic apparatuses and systems for shaping parts are described. One or more magnets can be used to direct a magnetically responsive fluid having magnetically responsive particles around surfaces of a part. The magnetically responsive fluid can include abrasive particles that follow movement of the magnetically responsive fluid across surfaces of the part and remove material from the part until the part takes on a desired shape. The magnetic apparatuses can be configured to provide a rough cut, similar to machining process, and/or a fine cut, similar to polishing or buffing process, to the part.

Electromechanical surface texturing

A method for simulating friction stir welding is provided. The method may include restraining first and second parts in a fixture. The method may also include axially forcing a non-rotating friction stir welding tool against a joint between the parts. Thereafter one or more resultant parameters may be measured, such as displacement of the first part, the second parts, and/or the fixture. The resultant parameters may also include the force applied to the first part, the second parts, and/or the fixture. Thereby, movement of the parts and fixture that may occur during friction stir welding may be simulated without actually completing a welding operation. A related system and computer program product are also provided.

Method, system, and computer program product for simulating friction stir welding

A method for friction stir welding is provided. The method may include determining the temperature of one or both parts being welded. The parts may then be heated to a desired temperature and then friction stir welded together. By preheating the parts, the friction required to plasticize the parts during welding may be reduced. Thereby, the rotational speed of the friction stir welding tool may be reduced, and thus the tool life may be extended without decreasing the rate at which welds are created. Additionally, the cooling rate of the weld may be regulated with a thermal control device.

Friction stir welding with temperature control

A method for controlling friction stir welding is provided. The method may include initiating friction stir welding and determining the position of a friction stir welding tool and at least one part being welded. The method may also include adjusting the position of the friction stir welding tool while friction stir welding based at least in part on the positions of the tool and at least one of the parts. The position of the parts may be determined downstream of the friction stir welding tool in order to prospectively account for the position of the parts. Accordingly, the position of the friction stir welding tool may be dynamically adjusted during friction stir welding to account for part movement. Related systems and computer code are provided.

Dynamic path correction of friction stir welding

Alignment of two surfaces of two objects in a manufacturing process is achieved by determining a best fit orientation of the two objects with respect to each other using captured images reflected from the two surfaces. An image pattern is projected on a surface of each object, and a reflected image pattern is captured from the surface of each object. A reconstructed surface is determined from the captured reflected image patterns, and the two reconstructed surfaces are superimposed to determine a best fit orientation of the two objects with respect to each other. One or more movable portions of a base are actuated to align the two surfaces to each other to achieve the determined best fit orientation.

Growing community of inventors

San Jose, CA, United States of America

Alfredo Castillo