Ultrasonic soldering apparatus

Claim 2

An ultrasonic apparatus comprising: a tank adapted to contain a bath of molten metal; an electroacoustic converter; a horn adapted to resonate as a half wavelength resonator at a predetermined frequency coupled to said converter; means mounting said horn substantially at its nodal region of longitudinal motion through the bottom of said tank to extend into said tank, causing the frontal portion of said horn to be in contact with the molten metal below the surface thereof and responsive to electrical energy of predetermined frequency applied to said converter imparting sonic energy to said metal bath, and a slot of horseshoe type configuration and a width sufficient to receive therein a workpiece to be treated by the sonically excited molten metal bath disposed in said horn, said slot extending from the frontal surface of said horn by a predetermined distance rearwardly toward said nodal region.

Claim 3

An ultrasonic apparatus as set forth in claim 1, the frontal portion of said horn being of substantially rectangular cross-section.

Claim 4

An ultrasonic apparatus as set forth in claim 1, said means mounting said horn comprising a flange secured to said horn substantially at its nodal region, an aperture in said bottom of said tank, and means sealing said flange in liquid-tight relation to said bottom of said tank.

Claim 5

An ultraosnic apparatus as set forth in claim 1, said horn having a substantially rectangular cross-sectional area, and the narrow surfaces of the frontal portion of said horn being convergingly inclined relative to one another.

Claim 6

An ultrasonic apparatus as set forth in claim 1,said slot being of a width sufficient to receive therein the U-shape return bend of radiators.

Claim 7

An ultrasonic apparatus comprising: a tank adapted to contain a bath of molten metal; a plurality of electro-acoustic converters; a horn adapted to resonate as a half wavelength resonator at a predetermined frequency coupled to each of said converters; means mounting said horns in a staggered array substantially at their respective nodal regions of longitudinal motion through the bottom of said tank to extend into said tank, causing the frontal portion of each horn to be in contact with the molten metal below the surface thereof and, responsive to electrical energy of predetermined frequency applied to said converters, imparting sonic energy to said metal bath, and each horn having a slot of horseshoe type configuration and a width sufficient to receive therein a workpiece to be treated by the sonically excited molten metal bath, each slot extending from the frontal surface of a respective horn by a predetermined distance rearwardly toward the respective nodal region of the corresponding horn.

Claim 8

An ultrasonic apparatus comprising: a tank adapted to contain a bath of molten metal; a plurality of electro-acoustic converters; a horn adapted to resonate as a half wavelength resonator at a predetermined frequency coupled to each of said converters; means mounting said horns in a staggered array substantially at their respective nodal regions of longitudinal motion through the bottom of said tank to extend into said tank, causing the frontal portion of each horn to be in contact with the molten metal below the surface thereof and, responsive to electrical energy of predetermined frequency applied to said converters, imparting sonic energy to said metal bath, and each horn having a slot of horseshoe type configuration and a width sufficient to receive therein a workpiece to be treated by the sonically excited molten metal bath, each slot extending from the frontal surface of a respective horn by a predetermined distance rearwardly toward the respective nodal region of the corresponding horn.

Claim 9

An ultrasonic apparatus as set forth in claim 6, said converters being adapted to operate at substantially the same frequency.

Claim 10

An ultrasonic apparatus as set forth in claim 7, said converters operating at a predetermined frequency in the range from 1 to 100 kHz.