Patent ID: 7721938
Filing Date: 2010-05-25
Classification: B23K

Abstract:
1. A friction stir welding method, comprising: providing two workpieces of metal, a friction-stir-welding tool having a probe, and two clamp members for clamping the workpiece, at least one of said clamp members having a holder portion with a cooling-medium accommodation recess opening upward thereby exposing the cooling-medium to an outer environment; clamping said workpieces at a prospective joint region; plunging said probe of a friction-stir-welding tool into the prospective joint region of said two workpieces of metal from above; and rotating the probe, such that the probe and the two workpieces are caused to undergo relative movement, thereby moving the probe along the prospective joint region of the two workpieces and friction-stir-welding the two workpieces together, such that a cooling medium for removing latent heat during friction stir welding is held on said holder portion of at least one of the clamp members for clamping the workpiece from above.