Patent ID: 7210610

Claim:
A friction-stir welding system, said friction-stir welding system comprising: at least two planar or non-planar workpieces forming a planar or non-planar joint line therebetween; a friction-stir welding system having a feed direction and configured to weld the joint line by moving the planar or non-planar workpieces and joint line with respect to the friction-stir welding system, wherein the friction-stir welding system further includes: a “C”-frame structure having a first arm and a second arm; a friction-stir welding tool attached to said first arm by a spindle, wherein the friction-stir welding tool rotates about a first axis; and a disk-shaped anvil mounted to said second arm and having an anvil diameter being greater than its length, wherein the anvil rotates about a second axis, parallel with the feed direction and nonparallel to the first axis, wherein said friction-stir welding tool and said anvil are capable of accommodating and supporting during welding non-planar, multi-dimensional workpieces with a curvilinear, non-planar multi-directional joint line.