| United States Patent | 5,821,493 |
| Beyer, et. al. | Oct. 13, 1998 |
Abstract
A welding process in which laser radiation is trained on the seam area fod between two sheet-metal workpieces, one of which has an edge projecting above the other. In addition, the arc is guided along this edge to melt the edge and contribute molten metal to the pool formed by the laser.
| Inventors: | Beyer; Eckhard (Roetgen-Rott, DE); Imhoff; Ralf (Aachen, DE); Neuenhahn; Jan (Braunschweig, DE); Maier; Christof (Aachen, DE). |
| Assignee: | Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Zur Forderung Der Angewandten Forschung E.V. (Munich, DE). |
| Appl. No.: | 817,410 |
| Filed: | Jun. 5, 1997 |
| PCT Filed: | Jul. 22, 1995 |
| PCT No: | PCT/DE95/00965 |
| 371 Date: | Jun. 5, 1997 |
| 102(e) Date: | Jun. 5, 1997 |
| PCT Pub. No.: | WO96/09135 |
| PCT Pub. Date: | Mar. 28, 1996 |
| Sept. 23, 1994 [DE] | 44 34 125.3 |
| Jan. 10, 1995 [DE] | 195 00 512.0 |
| Intl. Cl. : | B23K 10/00, B23K 26/00 |
| Current U.S. Cl.: | 219/127.46; 219/121.45; 219/121.59; 219/121.64; 219/137.R |
| Field of Search: | 219/121.45, 121.46, 121.59, 137 R, 137.2, 137.31, 121.63, 121.64 |
| 4,390,774 | Jun., 1983 | Steen et al. | 219/121.64 |
| 4,507,540 | Mar., 1985 | Hamasaki | |
| 4,782,205 | Nov., 1988 | Shira | 219/74 |
| 5,006,688 | Apr., 1991 | Cross | |
| 5,532,454 | Jul., 1996 | Kuhnen | 219/137.R |
| 5,591,360 | Jan., 1997 | Mombo-Caristan | 219/121.64 |
| 87 16 668.2 | Mar., 1988 | DE |