Apple Inc.

Other

Umakaran Nemallan

Alfredo Castillo

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.

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Cupertino, CA, United States of America

Umakaran Nemallan