Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Joseph Clifford Simmer

Pei-chung Wang

Jorge F Arinez

Guoxian Xiao

Hamid Ghavami Kia

Hong-Hsiang Kuo

Yar-Ming Wang

Sheila Farrokhalaee Kia

Terrence Wathen

Hsai-Yin Lee

Mark A Buffa

Wayne R Witkop

A resistance spot welding method can be used to join polymeric and metallic workpieces together and includes the following steps: (a) placing an electrically conductive coating between a polymeric workpiece and a metallic workpiece, wherein the metallic workpiece has a textured surface facing the polymeric workpiece; (b) piercing the polymeric workpiece with first and second electrically conductive pins of a welding electrode assembly; (c) applying electrical energy to the first and second electrically conductive pins so that an electrical current flows through the first electrically conductive pin, the electrically conductive coating, and the second electrically conductive pin in order to at least partially melt the polymeric workpiece and the electrically conductive coating, thereby forming a weld pool; and (d) cooling the weld pool to form a solid weld nugget in order to establish a mechanical interface lock between the solid weld nugget and the textured surface.

Resistance spot welding method

A resistance spot welding system can join two polymeric workpieces and includes a power supply. The power supply has a positive terminal and a negative terminal. The resistance spot welding system further includes a welding electrode assembly electrically connected to the power supply. The welding electrode assembly includes a housing, a first electrically conductive pin and a second electrically conductive pin. The first and second electrically conductive pins both protrude from the housing. The first electrically conductive pin is electrically connected to the positive terminal of the power supply, and the second electrically conductive pin is electrically connected to the negative terminal of the power supply. The second electrically conductive material is electrically insulated from the first electrically conductive pin. The first and second electrically conductive pins are at least partly made of a material having a hardness ranging between 50 HRC and 70 HRC.

Resistance spot welding system and method

A wheel house liner for a wheel house of a vehicle includes a main body and at least one flange along at least a portion of an end of the main body, the at least one flange forming a hemmed edge. The wheel house liner also includes a bonding agent to hold the at least one flange and the main body together, and at least one fastener hole. The main body is formed by a forming machine. The at least one flange is then formed by bending, by a bending tool, at least a portion of an end of the main body. The bonding agent may be applied to the portion of the end before or after the forming of the at least one flange. Finally, the hemmed edge is formed by folding, by the bending tool, the at least one flange against the main body.

Wheel house liner with hemmed edge, and system and method of manufacturing thereof

The present invention uses a two-step anodizing process to produce a colored anodized coating on the surface of an aluminum part. In accordance with this invention, a thin hard anodized coating layer is first formed on the surface of the aluminum part and then growing a softer a clear anodized coating layer on the surface of the aluminum part underneath the hard coat layer. The soft coat is essentially colorless and suitable for color finishing. This invention drastically improves the wear resistance of the aluminum part while maintaining a desired amount of clarity for effective electrolytic coloring.

Method for producing hard surface, colored, anodized aluminum parts

A molding process that uses a textured interfacial layer to isolate the surface of a mold from the surface of a composite article produced with the mold. A solution is deposited on the mold surface to form the interfacial layer, whose surface opposite the mold is textured. The texture of the interfacial layer is then transferred to the surface of the composite article produced with the mold. After demolding, the interfacial layer adheres to the article as a protective coating, but can be readily removed from the article to expose an underlying textured surface of the article.

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Richmond, MI, United States of America

Joseph Clifford Simmer