US 11,794,273 B2
Friction stir welding apparatus and friction stir welding method
Tomio Odakura, Hitachi (JP); Hiroki Abe, Hitachi (JP); Akihiro Satou, Hitachi (JP); Kohei Funahara, Hitachi (JP); Koichi Ishiguro, Hitachi (JP); Shun Shinohara, Hitachi (JP); Yukihiro Sugimoto, Hiroshima (JP); Katsuya Nishiguchi, Hiroshima (JP); Koujirou Tanaka, Hiroshima (JP); and Yasuhiro Morita, Hiroshima (JP)
Assigned to Hitachi Power Solutions Co., Ltd., Hitachi (JP)
Appl. No. 17/41,346
Filed by Hitachi Power Solutions Co., Ltd., Hitachi (JP)
PCT Filed Mar. 27, 2019, PCT No. PCT/JP2019/013446
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 24, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/189509, PCT Pub. Date Oct. 3, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. 2018-063420 (JP), filed on Mar. 29, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0086293 A1, Mar. 25, 2021
Int. Cl. B23K 20/12 (2006.01); B23K 101/18 (2006.01); B23K 37/04 (2006.01)
CPC B23K 20/1245 (2013.01) [B23K 20/123 (2013.01); B23K 20/127 (2013.01); B23K 37/0408 (2013.01); B23K 2101/185 (2018.08)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A friction stir welding apparatus that joins joining target members by friction stir welding, the friction stir welding apparatus comprising:
an apparatus main body;
a control device that controls an operation of the friction stir welding apparatus;
a C-shaped frame connected to the apparatus main body via a first vertical movement drive mechanism unit;
a holder unit connected to one end of the C-shaped frame via a second vertical movement drive mechanism unit; and
a joining tool held by the holder unit,
wherein the C-shaped frame includes
a held portion connected to the apparatus main body via the first vertical movement drive mechanism unit,
a holder unit holding portion connected to the holder unit via the second vertical movement drive mechanism unit, and
a pressing force receiving portion connected to the other end of the C-shaped frame and receiving a pressing force from the joining tool,
the control device includes
a first joining mode that performs friction stir welding based on a joining command signal that determines a joining condition of the joining tool, and a first holding position determining signal that determines a first holding position of the first vertical movement drive mechanism unit, and
a second joining mode that performs friction stir welding based on the joining command signal and a second holding position determining signal obtained by correcting the first holding position determining signal such that a depth or a range of a joined portion becomes constant in accordance with a state of the pressing force receiving portion, and
the first joining mode and the second joining mode are included in one joining pass from insertion of the joining tool into the joining target members to extraction of the joining tool.