DIFFERENTIAL WELD BEAD GEOMETRY

摘要

The invention involves a method of vibration welding thermoplastic surfaces together by using specially formed weld beads. In a disclosed embodiment of this invention, a plastic surface has at least one weld bead (20) with an outermost portion (30) smaller than the base of the weld bead. Due to the smaller width of the outermost portion, greater pressure is brought to bear on the point of surface contact during vibration welding than by using uniform and conventional flat faced weld beads. Moreover, a smaller load of frictional heat is required to commence the welding process given the smaller point of contact.