The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 06, 2005
Filed:
Mar. 15, 2001
Horst Dragon, Moenchengladbach, DE;
Horst Dragon, Moenchengladbach, DE;
GenCorp Property Inc., Sacramento, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for joining the ends of two profile sections () such as two sealing, trimming or finishing strips for use in motor vehicle body construction, is shown. The two profile sections () are clamped in respective retaining devices () and a length of heat-responsive foil-like material () is unwound from a roll () into a position between the facing ends of the profile sections. Heaters () carried by a heater unit () are then moved into position between the ends of the profile sections () and the foil (). The outermost heaters () heat the ends of the profile sections, and the innermost heaters () heat the foil. The heaters (to) are then withdrawn, and the two retaining devices () are then moved towards each other so as to move the ends of the two profile sections into contact with opposite sides of the heated foil () which thus heat-bonds the ends of the profile sections together. The retaining devices () are then opened to release the joined profile sections. The heaters (to) are non-contact type heaters to avoid contaminating the foil or the ends of the profile sections. The use of the separate heaters allows the foil () to be heated to a temperature which is different from that of the ends of the profile sections, to achieve optimum bonding.