US Patent Issued to SHIBAURA MACHINE on April 29 for "Friction stir joining attachment, friction stir joining head, and friction stir joining apparatus" (Japanese Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,285,817, issued on April 29, was assigned to SHIBAURA MACHINE Co. LTD. (Tokyo).

"Friction stir joining attachment, friction stir joining head, and friction stir joining apparatus" was invented by Kouichi Katoh (Shizuoka, Japan), Hirohiko Matsuzaki (Shizuokja, Japan) and Toshinao Aoki (Shizuoka, Japan).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A friction stir welding attachment includes a body configured to be attached to a spindle of a machine tool, a metalworking shaft rotatably supported by the body and including an attachment portion configured to attach a welding tool at an end thereof, and a pair of press components supported by the body and pro...