ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 21 -- United States Patent no. 12,766,631, issued on Oct. 20, was assigned to OSAKA UNIVERSITY (Osaka, Japan).
"Friction stir welding method" was invented by Hidetoshi Fujii (Osaka, Japan), Muneaki Mukuda (Osaka, Japan) and Yoshiaki Morisada (Osaka, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The present invention provides a simple and efficient friction stir welding method that, in addition to enabling localized friction stir welding, makes it possible to obtain a smooth friction stir surface and increase tool lifespan. This friction stir welding method is characterized in that the tip end of a tool that is rotated at a prescribed speed is pressed into a material to be welded,...