Ultrasonic Plastic Welding

Over the previous 50 years, welding has become more productive, automated, and safer. Generally, the welding norm was resistance based and performed with big machinery. The aerospace industry spurred the innovation of new ways to weld thin metal. At this point in history, all welding systems had good and bad aspects; the choice should be made with a balance between the different capabilities of the systems, including its power requirements and limitations.
Manufacturers used this welding technology to hold together a lot of different products. Most of the advanced materials that are available today did not exist fifty years ago. The space program, advanced aircraft, nuclear power, and nuclear weapons helped the advancement of materials science, including titanium and aluminum, and the science of joining them.
Ultrasonic welding was developed in 1960 by Aeroprojects Inc. Fine wire bonding was the first commercial use of ultrasonic welding. A disadvantage of ultrasonic welding is how many variables involved. Ultrasonic plastic welding was first used in 1963. Robert Soloff experimented with a probe and used it to weld two halves of a tape dispenser together. Soloff then realized sound waves traveled around corners as well as down the sides of rigid plastics to weld the joint area. To automate the ultrasonic plastic welding machine he attached it to drill press using some simple mechanical items. This method of joining made the use of plastics wide-spread, and is still the most common welding method today. Automobiles today use ultrasonic welding to attach most all subsystems, and because of this it completely changed the auto industry. Precision pneumatic components and microprocessors have made it easier to use ultrasonic welding. Greater knowledge of ultrasonic welding fundamentals led to wider use, as well as better joint design, and product designs that are based on the advantages of this process.
Robotic welding was developed by the auto