Method of welding an optical component to a metal attachment element and

Abstract

The invention is directed to a method for welding a large optical component to a metal fixture. The transparent optical component is held in a vibration damping manner at its edge generally at opposite locations and next to an attachment location. The attachment is placed on the attachment location and the metal attachment is placed on the attachment location at the edge of the expanded optical component and the sonotrode is then placed on the attachment while applying only slight bending torques, if at all, and shearing forces. The ultrasonic welding is then carried out. In this way, the ultrasonic welding of optical components to metal attachments is made available even for large highly sensitive optical components. This is so especially when these components can be subjected only to slight loads because of their high sensitivity and/or high optical quality.