Daimler Chrysler Ag

Heinz Grunauer

Rudolf Reinhardt

Helmut Horn

A spot weld joint of a balancing plate on the exterior side of a rotationally symmetrical, rotating hollow body such as a motor vehicle drive shaft. In order to also be able to balance thin-walled hollow bodies in a secure manner with respect to the process, as well as rapidly and durably in the case of different pairings of material of the hollow body and the balancing plate, the weld joint is constructed as an ultrasonic weld. The zone of thermal influence of the weld joint extends from the contact surface between the balancing plate and the hollow body maximally by approximately 0.3 mm, preferably approximately 0.1 to 0.15 mm, into the wall of the hollow body. Expediently, the zone of thermal influence extends deeper into the balancing plate than into the wall of the hollow body. Irrespective of the hollow shaft material--steel, aluminum or plastic--, the balancing plate may consist of a metal of high density, particularly of steel, brass or copper. In the case of fiber-reinforced hollow plastic shafts, the balancing body may also consist of plastic or of a metal strip coated with plastic on the contact side or of a sintered-together metal/plastic composite material.

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Augsburg, Germany

Heinz Grunauer