ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 25 -- United States Patent no. 12,337,409, issued on June 24, was assigned to SOUTHEAST UNIVERSITY (Nanjing, China).
"Friction stir welding apparatus and method" was invented by Xiaochao Liu (Nanjing, China), Zhonghua Ni (Nanjing, China), Jingyue Luo (Nanjing, China), Xianjun Pei (Nanjing, China) and Yongzhe Li (Nanjing, China).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A friction stir welding apparatus includes a hollow stirring bar, a clamping mechanism, a welding machine main shaft, a supporting carriage, a cooling system, a coolant tank, a guide rail, and pipes. The cooling system is connected with the outer surface of the welding machine main shaft through two sealed bearings; t...